European Court of Justices judgment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

European Court of Justices judgment - Essay Example The complainants presented the issue before the Belgian Constitutional Court in an effort to inspire the annulment of the Belgian law that transposed the directive. It is from this perspective that the Belgian Constitutional Court asked the Court of Justice for appropriate assessment on the validity of the derogation with respect to higher-ranking legal rules, and with reference to the principle of equality of genders enshrined in European Union law (Europe Log, 2011). The directive provided that the Member States had the authority to permit exemptions from the rule of unisex premiums and benefits for as long as they could prove that underlying actuarial and statistical data were reliable, available to the public and regularly updated. Under Belgian insurance law, the insurance contract must have an element of uncertainty. An insurance contract under Article 1A of the Insurance Contract Law, 1992 states:A contract according to which, in return for the payment of a fixed or variable p remium, a party, the insurer, commits itself towards another party, the policyholder, to provide the benefit stipulated in the contract in case an uncertain even emerges, that depending on the circumstances, either the insured or the beneficiary does not wish to emerge.Insurance disputes are brought before any court although the domicile of the policyholder has jurisdiction. Regulation of the Belgian insurance sector is also under Europe's highest court, the ECJ, which issues directives to member countries.

Information Technology Sub-sector Analysis Essay

Information Technology Sub-sector Analysis - Essay Example Porters four analysis gives two dimensions that define the strategies. One is the competitive advantage source, and two is the scope of the advantage. The first one comprises of product differentiation or low-cost approach. The second one consists of narrow or broad approach. When crossed the dimensions gives the porters four business strategies. To win competitive advantage, the IT organization should apply cost focus in a small group of the target section. A Cost Focus strategy usually emerges as a competitive move, at times to challenge a certain competitor. A smaller IT firm can as well gain entry to a market by competing on cost within a particular niche. Competition in the mobile application industry has lead to the rise in a totally new product called smartphones that have greater functionality as compared to normal mobile phones due to their capability of running mobile apps. The cost of these smartphones is not over exaggerated to discourage the customers from buying them. The IT organizations maintain lesser cost across different product offerings. An analysis of competitors cost should be carried out prior to setting products costs. For instance, by 2010, the mobile apps industry was highly flooded as new competitors got into the market saturating it with several varieties of utilitarian and lifestyle apps (Tarnacha & Maitland, 2006). In most instances, apps are designed by third-party developers like companies that wish to advertize their products, or by freelance designers who trade their apps at a profit. The major operating systems, Android and Apple, each have an equivalent dedicated marketplace due to its subsidized costs. Limiting Apple policies with regards to app development in the preliminary stage have had a verifiable effect on the iOS apps market. A larger percentage of all mobile app developers have a preference for developing apps for the Android operating system whereas a smaller percentage prefer to do so for Apple’s iOS

United Nations in the Israel-Palestine Conflict

United Nations in the Israel-Palestine Conflict What was the role that the United Nations (UN) played in the conflict between Palestine and Israel since the 1940s, up until the beginning of the 21st century? This is a topic that particularly interests me as an IB student because of its origins and its current development. On a personal level, I am interested in the topic because of my childhood and adolescence in the United Arab Emirates, where I came across a number of interpretations regarding the subject. I feel that it is an important topic as, growing up, I made subconscious links between world issues and this symbolic conflict. These links are strengthened by world politics today. I will make use of a number of primary and secondary sources to research the question, including a variety of internet sources and books to back support my claims. One particular book caught my attention during my studies of the topic. It is Noam Chomskys What We Say Goes. It is a collection of interviews with different journalists at different times, in which they ask him about his thoughts on the current political and military situation in the USA and other countries around the world. He gives educated insight on dilemmas that the world faces today, with particular reference to the Palestine-Israel conflict. The conclusion I reached when writing this essay is that this conflict cannot possibly be resolved by simple observers of the situation. I feel that quick UN intervention could have been helpful to the people but due to outside factors, this was not possible. The wounds endured by both Palestine and Israel would take years to heal if, hypothetically speaking, the conflict were to be resolved now. Unfortunately, these wounds are constantly reopened and lead to more pain. Introduction This topic is particularly important in modern day society, as I feel that it is a potential disaster zone. The history behind the Israel-Palestinian conflict is truly fascinating as it relates a message of passion and honor to peoples faiths and beliefs. The fact that this conflict has turned Jerusalem, the place that historically has the most religious significance, into one of the most dangerous cities in the world is one that I deplore. How can something so precious in humanitys entire heritage be used as a message of violence and seemingly irresolvable conflict? I have decided to study the UNs take on the situation and how the organization has attempted to deal with the problems at hand. I find that the decisions made by the UN are generally viable alternatives to the conflicts that cause it to intervene in different countries. My question; What was the role that the United Nations played in the conflict between Palestine and Israel since the 1940s, up until the beginning of the 21st century? is focused at finding out why, with all the UNs decision making, a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine has not yet been reached. Having grown up in a young Arab state, the United Arab Emirates, I feel I can see the point of view of the Israelis, while on the other hand, having listened to the Arab point cause, I understand the anger that the Palestinians and other Arab states must feel towards the Jewish state. The conflict is not only over land, but over faith as well, which is extremely dangerous, for there is nothing worse than a holy war in my opinion. Origin of UN Intervention After the Second World War, the creation of the state of Israel was followed my numerous cases of aggression towards this state as a protest against its existence in the area. Palestinian refugees wanted to return to their homeland after the 1947-48 war between Arab and Jewish communities in the area, six months before the separation of the British mandate of Palestine. The UN passed Resolution 194  [1]  , which gave Palestinian refugees the right to return, in addition to them receiving compensations for their losses. The UN Partition Plan was drawn up under Resolution 181  [2]  in November 1947, giving recommending the separation of the region into an Arab state of Palestine, a Jewish state of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. The establishment of the state of Israel was declared on the 14th of May 1948, which was followed by an all out attack by surrounding Arab countries in support of their Palestinian counterparts. This was the start of a long and painful struggle for bo th Israel and Palestine, a conflict which has yet to be resolved, with its violence and extremism only increasing in later years. UN involvement Pre-Six Day War It seems that, after the partition plan and the creation of Israel, the UN was not heavily involved in the conflict, nor was it particularly concerned with it in terms of political and humanitarian aid to the region. The concern was that war would occur between Egypt and Israel, as Egypt opposed Israels foreign policies. The UN placed peacekeepers on the border between both countries and the UN Refugee Works Agency (UNRWA) took care of refugees until they could return home. These were the same refugees that had been mentioned in Resolution 194. This can be explained by the dominant European and American powers interests in the region after the Second World War. These powers were leading the Security Council and had the power to prevent extra UN involvement in solving the conflict. These powers supported the Israeli state and would not openly admit to supporting their cause because of the huge number of refugees fleeing Palestine. Noam Chomsky says in his book What We Say Goes that th e USA saw, and still sees, a potential US powerbase in Israel.  [3]  From here, we can argue that the Security Councils leading powers did not allow for the UN to take a more significant action. As tensions increased between Israel and the surrounding Arab countries, the US supplied the Jewish state with advanced military equipment in 1966,  [4]  for it felt that in order to keep its ally in the Middle East, it should at least be able to defend itself against possible and likely invasion from neighboring countries. James Feron referred to Israel as a first line to stave off Americas direct involvement.  [5]  He implied that the USA realized that the situation would be hard to handle and that the local Middle Eastern countries would not take kindly to another foreign power intervening in their affairs after the mandates had been given self-determination. The tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors culminated to the point where Nasser demanded the removal of UN troops from Egypt and closed the Straits of Tiran to Israel, leading to the latter bombing the Egyptian air force in Cairo, sparking the Six Day War in 1967. By the end of this war, Israel had taken over the rest of the Palestinian land, including the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, including the Golan Heights in Syria and Sinai in Egypt.  [6]  Over a million more Palestinians found themselves under Israeli authority while US-Israeli relations eased greatly. UN Involvement Post-Six Day War The UN reacted to this by passing Resolution 242 which condemned the actions taken by Israel. It called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces in the occupied territories, yet made little reference to the Palestinian refugees. Years later, this would cause more tensions between the two states, as allowing that Palestinian refugees back in to their former lands would mean relocating thousands of Israelis who had made their homes there. In the case of Egyptian Sinai, eleven years after the invasion, it was given back to Egypt and thousands of Israelis had to move to make way for the Egyptians to return to their lands. The emergence of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) encouraged the UN to repeatedly vote for a peace conference between the conflicting countries under its supervision. The PLO was included for it was a viable organization and had some potential in aiding the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The constant US VETO meant that this conference did not take place. In the midst of the Cold War, the UN was, technically speaking, controlled by the USA and USSR, always at odds as to what to do next.  [7]   In 1970, Nassers successor, al-Sadat, began reconciliation with the USA, for he strongly believed that it was the only power which was able to convince Israel to return Sinai to Egypt. As a sign of good faith to the American power, he demanded the withdrawal of all Soviet troops from Egypt. This was not enough to get the USAs support however, as American diplomats did not take kindly to the Egyptians, who began to believe that war was the only solution. The US was starting to feel that it would lose its Arab supporters in the region, which was troubling as it had a steady relation with OPEC. Saudi Arabia in May 1973 signaled that this could not continue as long as USA so obviously backed Israel as local Arab powers would not be willing to support their enemys friend. This was agreed with American oil companies, who recognized the huge financial benefits of having a good relation with a country rich in oil. The economic superiority that the USA would gain over Europe would be huge and would allow for massive American interests development in Arab countries. All of a sudden, Israel found itself being pressured by its long time ally to leave the occupied territories. Soon after that, on 6th October 1973, Egypt and Syria worked in a coalition against Israel to take back their lost territories. OPEC soon decided to cut oil production by 25% and put a prohibition on US oil shipments. UN actions after 1973 The UN Security Council called for peace talks between USA and the USSR as tensions were rising over USSRs determination of protecting Egypt against Israeli aggression. The oil embargo set on the USA by OPEC was a big stressor for the US, so it worked with the USSR to call for a ceasefire between Israel and the other warring countries. All were invited to the conferences. The USSR had not stopped its communication with Egypt, even after the expulsion of its troops, for it felt that it was a country that could counter the USs advances in the region through Israel. Naturally, the peace talks achieved little due to differed interests between each country and the US sponsored peace agreements between Israel and the Arab nations without the aid of the UN. Once again, these talks did not include Palestine, which resulted in huge international support for the PLO, led by Yasser Arafat. He appealed to the UN General Assembly and called for a recognition of the right of Palestinian right to self-determination. This, in addition to giving the PLO an observers status within the UN, was granted in a vote with an overwhelming for the Palestinian cause. Only USA and Israel, as well as two other countries voted against the recognition. It was a good move on Arafats part to go to the General Assembly, as, had he gone to the Security Council, the USA would have surely vetoed his initiative. The peace talks sponsored by the USA between Israel and Egypt ended very well, with Sinai being returned to Egypt and the later signing a non-aggression pact in 1975. The installments, however, were slowed until 1977, when al-Sadat travelled to Jerusalem to finalize the evacuation of Israeli residents from Sinai. The UN was not needed in the agreements, which the US took advantage of by moving quickly to take control of the diplomatic situation. It hoped that other countries would follow suit and move to make peace negotiations with Israel after Egypt and Israel had signed the Camp David Accords, but this did not happen, for the Arab nations would only negotiate peace terms under UN auspices. In June 1980, the European common market supported Israeli security but this time included the Palestinian cause in their discussions. They stressed that Palestine had the right to self-determination and called for the PLOs involvement in a peace talk. This was issued in the Venice Declaration, to which the USA retaliated by stressing on its opposition of the PLO, causing Europe to pull out of Middle Eastern diplomatic maneuvers. The UN reacted quickly to Israels invasion of Lebanon in 1978, passing Resolution 425 which called for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the country. This was done, however Israel ignored that Resolution in 1982, when it invaded again, under anti-PLO pretences. It withdrew eighteen years later. UN and the Oslo Process UN exclusion continued throughout the 80s and 90s in Israel-Palestine peace talks. In participated in a few minor international conflicts but could do nothing against the Israeli occupation of the Gaza strip and West Bank. The Oslo Declaration of Principles was signed in 1994, after which the General Assembly discovered that the Resolutions made by the UN regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict were to be made obsolete by the US as negotiations were taking place. Israel bombed a UN refugee camp in Lebanon, wounding and killing many. The report issued to the General Assembly caused a lot of anger towards Israel from other countries, as it showed Israels non-commitment to the United Nations. Western European powers were invited to spend billions on its infrastucture. They were still kept out of any political or military decisions regarding the opposed peoples. UN and Camp David Summit By 2000, no progress had been made regarding the most important problems facing Israel and Palestine during the Oslo interim period. Problems such as the Palestinian border and state, what to do about Jerusalem, Israeli settlers and Palestinian refugees had yet to be resolved and smaller issues had yet to be resolved, despite the promise of a quick solution. Gaza still had problems with its air and seaports as well as security arrangements. American president Clinton, taking the initiative for a resolution to the problem, invited both parties once again to Camp David to discuss the issues at hand and possible answers to the existing problems. Discussion failed and the situation worsened when Ariel Sharon declared Temple Mount to be under complete Israeli control. Temple Mount is the third holiest site for Muslims and first holiest for the Jews. This infuriated Palestinians, who protested and were shot down by Israeli forces during a march the following day. This was a signal to the UN and other countries in the region that the USAs control of Israel had grown weaker over the past years. If Israel dared to shoot down protesters, it was a sign that it was confident enough without the USAs backing, even with their disapproval, to decide on its own actions without first consulting its closest ally. Outside powers suddenly came into play, once again opening diplomatic relations with Israel. The second Intifada  [8]  escalated and the Arab League converged in Cairo in October 2000. This was a huge change, as the League wanted to prove that the Palestinian cause was more important than the Gulf War. This was a cry against US dominance in the area, as Saddam Hussein, Iraqi president at the time, was invited to the summit. Anti-USA/Israel protests broke out in Middle Eastern capitals, although their governments still relied on American aid for financial or military reasons. Egypt and Jordan, being the only two Arab countries bound to Israel by non-aggression or peace treaties, were the only stable countries in the region. Jordan signed a new trade agreement with the US in mid-crisis. The summits statement was not revolutionary as it did not bring any particularly new solutions to the crisis, albeit the language used. It announced full support for the Palestinians and wanted to ask the UN Security Council to put Israel in front of a war crimes tribunal for the killings it had initiated. Efforts of peace-making with Israel were stopped by Arab nations, although leaving Egypt and Jordan out of this call, as they were the countries with the most ties to Israel. The most impressive achievement of the summit was the accumulation of $2 billion to donate to the Palestinians to support families of Intifada casualties and to protect the Arab and Muslim quarters of Jerusalem. Outside Intervention Outside protests in favor of a change in the Israeli-Palestinian situation began to appear. Where the USA had previously dominated diplomatic maneuvers in the area, the world was seeing a sudden influx of previously unseen intervention, such as a large number of foreign power leaders in the region; the most noticeable of these being the renewed foreign interests in the region. Jacques Chirac (French president and chief of the European Union), Russian foreign minister Igor Ivanov, Janvier Solena (EU envoy) were all hurrying to get to the scene as fast as possible. Even the UN Secretary General himself, Kofi Annan, was involved in negotiations leading to the Sharm al-Sheikh summit. The USA was still the leading power in the negotiations, with President Clinton often checking up on the situation as regularly as possible. Kofi Annan, as well as other outside parties were looked down upon by the USA as they were seen as nuisances in the American attempt to regain control over Israel as it once had. That is not to say that the control was absolute, however it did assure many US interests in the Middle East, with Palestine being the least of their worries. The newcomers had to gain Israels acceptance in order to be considered for peace talks or other conferences regarding the problem in Palestine and with other countries in the region. Annan certainly was partly responsible for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, which meant that this new openness towards other nations was genuine on Israels part. He also convinced UN members to accept Israel as a member of the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) in the General Assembly. Membership of this group, or one similar, is required to gain consideration from the Security Council as well as in the obtaining of other UN perks. Israel appreciated Annans efforts in his aid of giving it such help as a mediator. Growing UN Involvement within the Conflict USAs diminished control over Israels actions and over the Middle East is a crucial factor for the growing intervention of outside powers, as a result of a lessening amount of options as to what to do about the crisis. Protests in Arab countries led to worsening relations with the US as they showed clear signs of defiance; the most obvious of those being the landing of planes in and out of Baghdad, despite the sanctions imposed on Iraq by the USA. Palestine refused to stop the second Intifada and the propagation of pro-Palestinian media, namely Al-Jazeera, gave people another insight on the power struggle between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East. This limited the potential of the USA to intervene as effectively as it had in the past. Kofi Annan appeared with a solution after three Israeli soldiers were kidnapped on the Lebanese border. Annan led UN efforts to achieve peace in the region for the Arab countries, urging all governments to follow the plans drawn up by the UN. He hoped for lasting peace and understanding, urging the Palestinians to accept the Israeli ceasefire terms, which include the demand for an international commission of inquiry, allowing for the UN to gather information on the general affairs of Palestine. The UN recently recognized Palestine as an official state, making it much easier for Palestinian economy to develop. Diminutive UN Involvement in the Conflict In order to maintain control over the diplomatic situation in Israel, it was essential for the US to disregard established international understandings. The UN attempted to solve the crisis numerous times by calling for international peace conferences, based on existing UN Resolutions dealing with Israel and Palestine, such as Resolutions 194 and 242 amongst others. Israel refused to take part and the US backed its decision. The US referred to Resolution 242 when speaking of a peace process and a viable option to a unanimous agreement in the region, all the while keeping Israel-Palestine interaction and diplomacy under its control. It assured that it was a medium for communication between the two peoples, while at the same time backing Israels major moves on Arab countries. Requirements in international law such as the agreements made at the Geneva Conventions, which required Israel to protect civilians of the occupied territory and illegalize the settling of Israeli nationals into occupied land, as well as pre-existing UN Resolutions were largely ignored to accommodate for the American sponsored equal opportunity peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians to come to an agreement as to how to resolve the conflict. Naturally, neither power would come to an agreement by themselves, even with the USA as a mediator  [9]  in the talks, for their aims were too different. The main disagreements were over what do with about the refugees and how to deal with Jerusalem, both cultures regarding the city as a place of piousness and sanctity. Neither side would agree to stop the bombings as long as an agreement in favor of themselves was not reached. The US-Israeli coalition stated in 1991 at the Madrid talks that it would not allow the UN to take part in the crisis. The UN was ignored again at the Oslo Process. The USA also informed the General Assembly that Madeleine Albright, who had warned the UN that the US planned on ignoring the Resolutions passed concerning Israel-Palestine, that the dismantlement of a consensus regarding Palestine was her primary objective. At the same time, final status issues were simply disregarded for at least seven years. Signatories of the Geneva Conventions came together in 1999 to examine Israels dedication and following of the Conventions. It was an inconclusive meeting, for it lasted ten minutes to avoid angering the new Israeli government at the time. The list goes on. The necessity of returning the crisis to UN supervision was growing essential, as there were rising numbers of casualties caused by the conflict, a strict ongoing siege and serious military occupation of Palestine. The UN Resolutions remained largely ignored and people called for a new, UN-led peace process. The US interests in the region, by this point were mainly focused on oil and coming to terms with governments in the Arabian Gulf, turning its attention away from the Israel-Palestine crisis for a time. Conclusion UN involvement has not been consistent since the intensification of the crisis in 1948. It has been faced with numerous difficult situations, to which it could do little or nothing. The reason for this would be the already heavy involvement of the United States, due to its interests in Israel and securing a powerful ally in a region rich in oil and other resources. However limited the United Nations physical intervention was, the resolutions passed regarding the crisis seemed reasonable and would certainly have helped to deal with the situation, had they been adhered to by the countries concerned. The recent recognition of the State of Palestine by the UN is a huge step forward in the struggle for peace in the region. It gives the Palestinian cause more weight when appealing to the United Nations and will surely give it more international support. The problem for the UN when getting involved in this conflict is that it is such a long lasting struggle, with horrors caused by one side towards the other still fresh in peoples minds, as is the case for many long standing conflicts. The UN has made several accusations regarding Israel, claiming a grave and massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people by Israel. Victimizing the Palestinians will not help them in their fight against occupation. Hamas, which has long been calling for a two-state settlement in accord with the international consensus  [10]  yet it has never been understood, it seems, by Israel or the USA. If I had a say in the situation, I would draw up a new partition plan giving Israel access to the northern part of the region, given to Palestine in the original partition plan, giving it access to the sea. The countries should then be split more or less diagonally while still leaving a corridor for the Palestinians to access Jerusalem. Unlike the original plan, I believe that a country is stronger if it is not split into different regions as presented by the UN. Jerusalem should have been made a dual-state capital, forcing Muslims and Jews to work together for the benefit of the city, while keeping its religious importance intact. Had the plan been drawn better, I believe that the conflict could have been easily solved. Pe rsuading other Arab states to recognize Israel would have only been a matter of time, for they would have followed the Palestinian example and accepted its right to exist.

Historical roles of men and women in leadership Essay -- essays rese

While analyzing professions held by men verses those held by women through history, the concept of history that needs to be observed is a vast period of time. For if all or most of known history about humans is not taken into consideration, then much of present day analysis of leadership gender roles might actually start to make sense. The previous sentence was not an error in thought or printing. Much of modern analysis of gender perspectives in leadership and the roles of men and women seem to forget the thousands of years of history and the more recent, evolution of gender equality, which has taken place to get to where we are at present day. The key word is evolution; we are slowly but steadily evolving into a better and more efficient society through gender equality. The meaning better society is one that will optimally utilize its best resources, including people. The past and the ignorance reflected from parts of history are most often overcome with generations of thought and action. Genders in society maybe not are equal quite yet, but through diligent efforts and time, they will be. There is much history and time to overcome to achieve equality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Typically, throughout history men have been the breadwinners in a family unit. Women in the past typically did more of the upkeep of the home and did not bring in an additional income. When they did bring an income, it was usually in some lesser complimentary role to the male. This situation holds true for married couples or single people. Different people throughout the world have many different histories. An example from Chinua Achebe’s novel that takes place within a tribe in Africa during the 1920s stating that a strong man will have many wives (Achebe 20). Ironically in this same novel, it is shown that women could hold a priestess position. Similarly on the other side of the globe in South Korea, the view of giving birth to a girl is somewhat less elation than that of having a boy. In the Korean culture, when a couple has a girl, it is looked upon as if the parents are raising the child for someone else; the baby girl’s future husband (Ahn par. 4) .So how can so many people that populate the earth all have similar histories that guided men towards certain roles and professions while guiding women towards others? To analyze the many histories of people, a person must look t... ...major religion’s beginnings at or around 2500 B.C., and to see the vast amount of time that has elapsed to get to the point at which we are at in today’s society, is a bit discomforting. To move though 4500 years and still not have gender equality is kind of surprising. One could take consolation in the fact that a great majority of this progression towards gender equity has occurred in the last 100 years. Things in society look as if we are on the right track now. Works Citied Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. New York: Anchor Books, 1994 Ahn, Hyontok. The Korean-American Experience. Personal Experiences 10.2   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (2003) 8 pars. 5 December 2003   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  http://www.KoreanWivesAssocoiation/PA.com. Klenke, Karin. Women and Leadership: A Contextual Perspective. New York:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Springer Publishing Company, 1996. The Holy Bible. New International Version. Starting Point Study Bible. Grand   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002. Thompson, J. & Thompson, W. Margaret Thatcher: Prime minister indomitable.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Boulder, CO: Westveiw Press, 1994.

Automobile in Bangladesh Essay

International University Of Bussines Agriculture And Technology. Abstuct: Automobile is the one popular side of engineering. Now-a-days the demand of automobile product is rising high. But automobile is not developed much and it is so rare for our Bangladeshi people. Bangladesh is developing country but here automobile product is not available. And the automobile product price is high for get ride from this problem we have to developing. our automobile side here,I disscuss about problem of developing automobile, Key word: automobile, Introduction: An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transportin passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods. [3] The year 1886 is regarded the year of birth of the modern automobile – with the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, by German inventor Carl Benz. Motorized wagons soon replaced animal-drafted carriages, especially after automobiles became affordable for many people when the Ford Model T was introduced in 1908. The term motorcar has formerly also been used in the context of electrified rail systems to denote a car which functions as a small locomotive but also provides space for passengers and baggage. These locomotive cars were often used on suburban routes by both interurban and intercity railroad systems. [4] An automobile platform is a shared set of common design, engineering, and production efforts, as well as major components over a number of outwardly distinct models and even types of automobiles, often from different, but related marques. [2] It is practiced in the automotive industry to reduce the costs associated with the development of products by basing those products on a smaller number of platforms. This further allows companies to create distinct models from a design perspective on similar underpinnings. [2] Etymology: The word automobile comes, via the French automobile from the Ancient Greek word (autos, â€Å"self†) and the Latin mobilis (â€Å"movable†); meaning a vehicle that moves itself. The loanword was first adopted in English by The New York Times in 1899. [7] The alternative name car is believed to originate from the Latin word carrus or carrum (â€Å"wheeled vehicle†), or the Middle English word carre (â€Å"cart†) (from Old North French), in turn these are said to have originated from the Gaulish word karros (a Gallic Chariot). [8][9] Description: Definition and benefits: Platform sharing is a product development method where different products and the brand attached share the same components. The purpose with platform sharing is to reduce the cost and have a more efficient product development process. [4] The companies gain on reduced procurement cost by taking advantage of the commonality of the components. However, this also limits their ability to differentiate the products and imposes a risk of losing the tangible uniqueness of the product. The companies have to make a trade-off between reducing their development costs and the degree of differentiation of the products. [3] A basic definition of a platform in automobiles, from a technical point of view, includes: underbody and suspensions (with axles) — where the underbody is made of front floor, underfloor, engine compartment and frame (reinforcement of underbody). [5] Key mechanical components that define an automobile platform include: * The floorpa, which serves as a foundation for the chassis and other structural and mechanical components * Front and rear axles and the distance between them – wheelbase * Steering mechanism and type of power steering. * Type of front and rear suspensions * Placement and choice of engine and other powertrain components * Ford Ka * Fiat Panda * Fiat 500 * Fiat Uno Vehicle platform-sharing combined with advanced and flexible-manufacturing technology enables automakers to sharply reduce product development and changeover times, while modular design and assembly allow building a greater variety of vehicles from one basic set of engineered components. [6] Many vendors refer to this as product or vehicle architecture. The concept of product architecture is the scheme by which the function of a product is allocated to physical components. [7] The use of a platform strategy provides several benefits:[5] * Greater flexibility between plants (the possibility of transferring production from one plant to another due to standardization), * Cost reduction achieved through using resources on a global scale, * Increased use of plants (higher productivity due to the reduction in the number of differences), and * Reduction of the number of platforms as a result of their localization on a worldwide basis. The automobile platform strategy has become important in new product development and in the innovation process. [8] The finished products have to be responsive to market needs and to demonstrate distinctiveness while — at the same time — they must be developed and produced at low cost. [5] Adopting such a strategy affects the development process and also has an important impact on an automaker’s organizational structure. [5] A platform strategy also offers advantages for the globalization process of automobile firms. [9] Because the majority of time and money by an automaker is spent on the development of platforms, platform sharing affords manufacturers the ability to cut costs on research and development by spreading the cost of the R&D over several product lines. Manufacturers are then able to offer products at a lower cost to consumers. Additionally, economies of scale are increased, as is return on investment. [2][10] Examples. Originally, a â€Å"platform† was a literally shared chassis from a previously-engineered vehicle, as in the case for the Citroen 2CV platform chassis used by the Citroen Ami and Citroen Dyane, and Volkswagen Beetle frame under the Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. Platform sharing has been a common practice since the 1960s when GM used the same platform in the development of the Pontiac LeMans, the Buick Skylark, the Chevrolet Chevelle, and Oldsmobile Cutlass. In the 1980s, Chrysler’s K-cars all wore a badge with the letter, â€Å"K†, to indicate their shared platform. In later stages, the â€Å"K† platform was extended in wheelbase, as well as use for several of the Corporation’s different models. Fiat Croma| Cadillac BLS| Opel Vectra C| GM used similar strategies with its â€Å"J† platform that debuted in mid-1981 in four of GM’s divisions. Subsequent to that, GM introduced its â€Å"A† bodies for the same four divisions using the same tread width/wheelbase of the â€Å"X† body platform, but with larger body work to make the cars seem larger, and with larger trunk compartments. They were popular through the 1980s, primarily. Even Cadillac started offering a â€Å"J† body model called the Cimarron, a much gussied up version of the other four brands’ platform siblings. A similar strategy applied to what is known as the N-J-L platform, arguably the most prolific of GM’s efforts on one platform. Once more, GM’s four lower level divisions all offered various models on this platform throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. 1986 Opel Ascona C| 1988 Pontiac Sunbird| 1988 Cadillac Cimarron| Daewoo Espero|. Japanese carmakers have followed the platform sharing practice with Honda’s Acura line, Nissan’s Infiniti brand, and Toyota’s Lexus marque, as the entry-level luxury models are based on their mainstream lineup. For example, the Lexus ES is essentially an upgraded and rebadged Toyota Camry. [11][12][13][14] After Daimler-Benz purchased Chrysler, Chrysler engineers used several M-B platforms for new models including the Crossfire which was based on the M-B SLK roadster. [15] Other models that share platforms are the European Ford Focus, Mazda 3 and the Volvo S40. [16] Differences between shared models typically involve styling, including headlights, tail lights, and front and rear fascias. Examples also involve differing engines and drivetrains. In some cases such as the Lexus ES that is a Toyota Camry, â€Å"same car, same blueprints, same skeleton off the same assembly line in the same factory†, but the Lexus is marketed with premium coffee in the dealership’s showroom and reduced greens fees at Pebble Beach Golf Links as part of the higher-priced badge. [17] Platform sharing may be less noticeable now, however, it is still very apparent. Vehicle architectures primarily consist of â€Å"under the skin† components, and shared platforms can show up in unusual places, like the Nissan FM platform-mates Nissan 350Z sports car and Infiniti FX SUV. Volkswagen A platform-mates like the Audi TT and Volkswagen Golf also share much of their mechanical components but seem visually entirely different. Volkswagen Group and Toyota have both had much success building many well differentiated vehicles from many marques, from the same platforms. One of the least conspicuous recent examples is the Chevy Trailblazer and Chevy SSR; both use the GMT-360 platform. Opel Astra and Chevy HHR also share a platform yet are visually entirely different. History: One hundred years ago, the first Model T automobile was made. The Model T automobile was not the first car to be built, but it was the first widely affordable mass-produced car. The first Model T was built for sale on October 1, 1908, at a price of about $850. Between 1908 and 1927, a total of 15 million Model Ts were sold. By the 1920s, half of all the cars in America were model Ts. The 1925 Model T touring car cost about $260 at a time when the average annual income in America was $1236. 1 In January 1906, Dr. C. C. Bachman purchased the first automobile to be owned in Waterloo. His car was a 15 horsepower Pope that he purchased at the automobile show in New York City. In July of that same year, H. I. Buttery purchased a 25 horsepower Pope Hartford automobile that he drove from Syracuse to Waterloo. 2 Automobiles, however, had been seen in Waterloo and Seneca County before 1906. John E. Becker in his A History of the Village of Waterloo states that The Automobile Review of August 13, 1904, gave an extended account of LaRoche’s 3,314 non-stop round-trip run between New York City and St. Louis. Included in this account is this paragraph: â€Å"Between Syracuse and Rochester, at Seneca Falls I think it was, I got stuck in the mud and it took me five hours of hard work to dig the machine out and get started again. My hands are covered with blisters from the work! † This incident is said to have happened just west of the village of Seneca Falls and â€Å"illustrates one of the drawbacks to automobiling through the country. † It was also reported just a few years later that the village of Waterloo was â€Å"known from coast to coast† as having some of the worst streets over which automobiles had to pass in crossing the continent. 3 Becker’s History also reports that seventy-six automobiles came through Waterloo on. Association, covering a distance of 4135 miles in sixteen days. The object of the race was to see which make of machines would last the longest and perform the best work as to endurance and keeping in repair. Becker reported that â€Å"Main Street was lined with sightseers who were well repaid for ‘looking. ’ It took the entire afternoon for the passage of the ‘Cars’ through the village. Late in the forenoon came the pilot cars and finely cut strips of paper (called confetti) were thrown from them to mark the route, which through the business section was on the south side of the street. There were about 300 passengers in the whole number, of whom fifteen were ladies. The latter wore the customary veiling, while the men were generally clad in long brown linen dusters with the regulation caps and goggles. †4 According to a 1967 Reveille article written by June Callahan, what is today the Peter Koch car dealership at 221-229 Fall Street in Seneca Falls was the scene of the manufacture of the Iroquois automobile. The Iroquois Type D car was a 35 horsepower touring car, with a 100 inch wheelbase and was sold F. O. B. Seneca Falls for $2,500. The Iroquois Type E was a 40 horsepower, 7 passenger car with 4. 5 by 32 inch tires and platform springs on the rear, with a selling price of $3,000 F. O. B. Seneca Falls. John Kaiser was the President of the Iroquois Motor Car Company between 1903 and 1909. Only thirteen cars were actually built but they were a good car. The small number of vehicles produced was largely because Mr. Kaiser’s approach to building an automobile was considerably different from today’s procedures. He took his technique from the carriage makers—he built his cars to last. He considered a $3,000 automobile to be a very serious investment and he expected his customers to drive his cars for twenty years or more. Because he wanted to build durability into his cars, he inspected and re-inspected every part and he and his employees assembled the entire automobile. In 1909, the company dissolved because of lack of business. Ms. Callahan speculated in her article that â€Å"had Mr. Kaiser thought the same way as Henry Ford, maybe the Iroquois Motor would be a booming industry in Seneca Falls today†¦. †5 In that same article, Callahan reported that â€Å"the streets of Seneca Falls were traveled in the years that followed by many makes that are no longer in production. † These include the American Under-Slung that Norman Gould owned; Fred Fisher owned a Winton; Walter Ward, Sr. owned a Mora; Dr. Horton had an Overland; Charlie Fegley had a Reo; Harry Fredenburg had a Franklin; Paul Perkins, Sr.had a Savon; W. E. Dickey had a Page; and Mrs. Partridge had a Pearce Arrow. The May 30, 1913, issue of the Seneca Falls Reveille noted that people in Seneca Falls had auto fever. There were 89 Model Ts, plus a number of other car makes in the village. In January 1921, there were 2,073 autos and trucks in the county and by September of that same year the number had increased to 2,945. On October 27, 1922, Fred L. Huntington leased a building at Fall and Mynderse Streets for auto sales. 6 Getting an early automobile started,especially once it stalled out, was not an easy task. Virtually everyone knows of the necessity of â€Å"cranking† the motor. Not everyone knows, however, of the â€Å"runaway automobile† incident on September 17, 1917, in Waterloo. Just as the crowd was dispersing from the New York Central Railroad Station after seeing off a largecontingent of Seneca County young men entering the army for war duty, William Redfield’s big Studebaker car became stalled at the main village intersection. When it wouldn’t start, a number of helping hands gave it a push. The car was still in gear and there was no driver in the seat. The runaway car struck another car and then took to the sidewalk where it tore down awnings along the street. In front of Semtner’s tailor shop the car struck and killed H. Eugene Van Buren who was repairing the sidewalk. The auto then struck two little girls and then a tree in front of John C. Shanks’ residence on the corner of Church and Main Streets. The runaway car then bounded across the street and crashed into the house of Edward Conant just east of the Presbyterian Church. Becker summarized the incident with the comment, â€Å"Every part of the auto’s driverless trip down the street was a freak occurrence. †7 If you want to see this wellpreserved 1903 Ford Model A car, you simply have to go to the N. R. Boyce car dealership in Ovid. They have had this car on display since about 1949. To clarify why it is called a 1903 Ford Model A, early Ford cars were simply lettered model A, then model B, etc. until the Model T proved so popular that Ford kept producing that Model T for severa years. Then Ford went back to producing a new Model A. As the picture at right shows, the 1903 Ford Model A was chain-driven. The car often had the problem of mud, etc. clogging up the operation. 8 As automobiles were increasing in number, our villages were changing as well. Waterloo, for example, erected its first street signs in late 1910. 9 In June 1913, a five year contract was made with Central New York and Electric Co, providing for all night street lighting in Waterloo. This lighting consisted of five ornamental cluster lamps of 60 candlepower each to be placed on each side of Main Street, 100 feet apart. 10 Also in 1913, the village of Waterloo designated street numbers for houses and business places so that free postal delivery could be instituted in the village of Waterloo on September 1, 1913. 11 The Waterloo village board on May 6, 1914,resolved to have East Main, Washington, and River Streets, paved as part of the new state. Highway Law, by which the state, the county, the village and adjoining property owners would pay for the improvement. 12 The rapid increase in the number of automobiles led to the development of many autorelated businesses such as gas stations and tourist cabins. One of the most interesting examples in Seneca County was the Windmill Tourist Camp just west of Seneca Falls. The windmill itself was built in 1929. The Camp had a total of 15 cabins, as many as nine gas pumps, and a restaurant and gift shop. It should also be noted that the rise of the automobile helps to explain the demise of streetcars and railroads in our county and nationwide. 13 In 2007 there were 28,143 registered automobiles in Seneca County for a population of about 33,000, and a total of 24,758 driver’s licenses. 14 Seeing areally old car like a Tin Lizzie while driving along on a highway today promptsstrong reaction and for good reason. Maybe it’s simply because cars today arejust so different in appearance from those old cars. Or perhaps those old cars give us pause to think nostalgically of a time when life itself and the very pace of life were so different. Automobile Industry Automobile industry is a symbol of technical marvel by human kind. Being one of the fastest growing sectors in the world its dynamic growth phases are explained by nature of competition, product life cycle and consumer demand. Today, the global automobile industry is concerned with consumer demands for styling, safety, and comfort; and with labor relations and manufacturing efficiency. The industry is at the crossroads with global mergers and relocation of production centers to emerging developing economies. Due to its deep forward and backward linkages with several key segments of the economy, the automobile industry is having a strong multiplier effect on the growth of a country and hence is capable of being the driver of economic growth. It plays a major catalytic role in developing transport sector in one hand and help industrial sector on the other to grow faster and thereby generate a significant employment opportunities. Also as many countries are opening the land border for trade and developing international road links, the contribution of automobile sector in increasing exports and imports will be significantly high. As automobile industry is becoming more and more standardized, the level of competition is increasing and production base of most of auto-giant companies are being shifted from the developed countries to developing countries to take the advantage of low cost of production. Thus, many developing countries are making serious efforts to grab these opportunities which include many Asian countries such as Thailand, China, India and Indonesia. The rising competition and increasing global trade are the major factors in improving the global distribution system and has forced many auto-giants such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, and Daimler Chrysler, to shift their production bases in different developing countries which help them operate efficiently in a globally competitive marketplace. During the second half of the 1990’s, the globalization of the automotive industry has greatly accelerated due to the construction of important overseas facilities and establishment of mergers between giant multinational automobile manufacturers. Over the years, it is being observed that Asia is emerging as a global automotive hub. Exports of automobiles including components from Asia are also increasing by leaps and bounds. Asia has become the major consumer as well as supplier of automobiles. At this juncture, the study makes an attempt to evaluate the growth pattern, changes in ownership structures, trade pattern, role of government etc. in automobile sector of selected Asian countries (viz. China, India, Indonesia and Thailand). The objective of the study is to understand the dynamics of Indian automobile sector in comparison to the same sector in other selected Asian countries. Thailand is a major auto exporting country from Asia. The sector is mainly driven by Japanese FDI. Chinese automobile sector is growing very fast and is poised to make its dent in the internationalhand is consolidating its position with strong domestic and external demand. The Indonesian automotive industry is essentially an assembly industry, dominated by the major Japanese car manufacturers is also coming up in post-liberalization period and increasing its exports. Japan and Korea Rep already have developed automobile industry. Hence, comparison with these two countries may not be worthwhile. Selected four are developing countries and making an effort to develop the automobile sector through different paths. The paper will compare the alternative strategies for the growth of automobile industry in these selected countries The production of automobiles in volume began in the early 1890s, in Western Europe. The USA started the production of both electric and gas automobiles by 1896. In 1903, Ford stepped in. The price of cars reduced from USD 850 in 1908 to USD 360 in 1916. The great depression and the World Wars saw a drop in sale; but the 1950s and 1960s were the glorious era for automobiles (driven by Ford, GM and Chrysler). Production reached 11 million units in 1970. Industry specialists indicate that international business in the automobile industry dates back to the technology transfer of Ford Motor Company’s mass-production model from the U. S. to Western Europe and Japan following both World Wars I and II. This gives rise to two important trends. The first one is that, the advancements in industrialization led to significant increase in the growth and production of the Japanese and German automotive markets. The second important trend was that due to the oil embargo from 1973 to 1974, the export of fuel efficient cars from Japan to the U. S. Earlier due to low fuel prices, US was producing ‘muscle cars’ but after the oil price shocks US had to compete with Europe and Japan who succeeded in producing fuel efficient cars. For the first time, design, marketing, prices, customer satisfaction etc become important in the automobile market. By 1982, Japan became the world leader in US market. The potential growth opportunities led to global overcapacity in automobile industry. 1990s observed the merger and acquisition (M&A) and formation of strategic alliances to tackle this overcapacity problem. Increasing global trade also act as a major factor for rising growth in world commercial distribution systems, which has also increased the global competition amongst the automobile manufacturers. Japanese automakers have instituted innovative production methods by modifying the U. S. manufacturing model. They are also capableof adapting and utilizing technology to enhance production and increase product competition. There are three major trends of world automotive industry, which are discussed briefly bellow: Global Market Dynamics – The world’s leading automobile manufacturers continue to invest into production facilities in emerging markets in order to reduce production costs and therefore rise in profits. These emerging markets include Latin America, China, Malaysia and other markets in Southeast Asia. Establishment of Global Alliances – Now-a-days, there is trend of joint venture in global automotive industry. Most of the giant automobile manufacturers are merging with each others. The big three U. S. automakers (GM, Ford and Chrysler) have merged with, and in some cases established commercial strategic partnerships with other European and Japanese automobile manufacturers. The Chrysler Daimler-Benz merger, were initiated by the European automaker in order to strengthen its position in the U. S. market. Overall, there has been a trend by the world automakers to expand by merging with other giant automotive companies in overseas markets*. Industry Consolidation – Increasing global competition amongst the global manufacturers and positioning within foreign markets has divided the world’s automakers into three groups, the first group being GM, Ford, Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen, and the two remaining group manufacturers attempting to consolidate or merge with other lower group automakers to compete with the first group companies† . Diagram1 provides a snapshot view of this. World automotive industry, in its early stages of development, was concentrated mainly in hands of developed countries like U. S. , Japan etc. But as automobile industry become more and more standardized, the production base of most of auto-giant companies was shifted from the developed countries to developing countries. Standardization makes production more profitable in developing countries due to low cost of labor. That’s why countries like Thailand, China today are the main production base for many multinational automobile companies, and that explain why this study is concentrated only on selected countries in Asia. Table 1 below compares basic features of automobile industry in three major markets in the world. Table 1: Comparison of Basic Features in Three Major Automobile Market Characteristics| US Market| European Market| East and South East AsianMarket| Contribution to| Motor vehicle| The automotive industry represents| In Japan industry represents 13 %| Economy| Organisational andtechnological changeis the keycharacteristics of theUS industry. Of late,steps are taken toincrease its globalpresence byexpanding globalalliances and seekinggreater collaborationwith other U. S. automakers. Productivity is morethan EU but less thanJapan. | The European automotive market iscomprised of a concentrated andsophisticated global network, whichincludes joint-ventures,cooperatives, productions andassembly sites. Like USA, overcapacity, intense competition andinvestment for technology aregeneral features. The industry isdriven by MNCs mainly located inWestern Europe. However, thegrowing production is noted in theCzech Republic, Hungary, Poland,Slovenia, Slovakia and Turkey. | East Asian market is mainly drivenby Japanese FDI. Apart from this,state sponsored initiatives areobserved in Korea Rep. , China, etc. These countries are making attemptto develop indigenous auto-industrybase. Others are driven by MNCs. Profitability in the industry isrelatively more than EU| Market Share| Ford, GM andChrysler makeupapproximately 76 %of U. S. passengervehicle production,while Japaneseautomakers, Toyota,Honda, Nissan,Mitsubishi, Subaru,Isuzu represents 18%, and Europeanautomakers, BMWand Mercedes(division of Daimler-Chrysler) make upnearly 2%. | The EU’s largest automotiveproducer is Germany estimated at30 % of EU’s total production,followed by France at 19 % andSpain at 17 %, and the UnitedKingdom at 10 %The largest automakers producingmultiple brands, such as GeneralMotors, Ford, Daimler Chrysler,Volkswagen, Fiat and PeugeotCitroen. There are also independentautomakers, such as Porsche, BMWand Bertione. | In Japan Toyota, Honda, Nissan,Mazda etc dominate the market. InKorea Rep, Hyundai acquired Kiaand Asia Motors in 1999, and sold10 % of its equity toDaimlerChrysler in 2000; Daewoopurchased 52 % equity in Ssanyongin 1998; and GM purchased 42 %equity of Daewoo; and in 2000,French automaker Renaultpurchased Samsung Motors. InASEAN region, Toyota, Hyundai,Suzuki, GM are major players. | Demand Pattern(Domestic andexport)| The US producersmainly produce fordomestic market andto some extent forCanadian market. Canada is the largestmarket for U. S. vehicle exports withsubsidiaries of U. S. automakersaccounting for mostof the imports. TheUS big Threecontinues to invest inCanadian market. | Consumer demand is the drivingforce for industry in EU. Moremodels, shorter life-cycle is the keyof demand pattern which is similar toUSA. New EU members show anincreasing demand and manyCompanies shifting some of theirproduction base to these countries. EU is gaining through exporting highvalue services such as design andengineering. Europe’s bus and truck market isstronger than Asia dominated byplayers like Volvo, Scania andMercedes. | Asian market is growing relativelyslowly but steadily in post-financialcrisis period. Asia’s three coremarkets are Japan, Korea andChina. South East Asian marketsare also growing rapidly. Thecompound average growth rate inASEAN countries is expected to bein the order of 10 to 20 percent until2010; 10 percent in India; and only4 percent to 8 percent in PRC;Korea; or Taiwan ,China. In 2010,Japan’s demand will be around 1/3rdof total East and SE Asian demand. Korea, Thailand play major part inexporting vehicles. AFTA isexpected to increase the regional| | | | export market. | Restructuring Status of Automobile Industry in 2000: Economics of Automobile Industry: Today’s global automotive industry is full of opportunities and risks which are everywhere — in emerging and mature markets alike. However, profitable growth is becoming more difficult to achieve due to challenges prevailed from the supply chain to the retail environment. Currently, the automotive industry has too much of everything — too much capacity, too many competitors and too much redundancy and overlap. The industry is in the grips of a global price-war. Production: Today, the large car manufacturers has a production facility in the different markets and from each platform a car is produced for that market as well as for exports to other markets. Big players in automobile industry do not have just one big factory which exports its products to all other countries. In addition, the products are not identical in each different market. It may have the same technical platform, but the design and the options and features differ between countries. They are different because the demands of customers differ between countries. For example, in South America, incomes are lower than in Western Europe and customers need more affordable cars. In the USA the customers want more space in the car, and that’s an important factor for a car to be successful there. On the contrary, small cars are quite popular in India. It is not possible to be in the high volume market and to send the same cars to every market all over the world. So car makers are researching what their customers want and changing the car for each market otherwise they will loose customers. More and more CKD (completely knocked down) cars are being produced for some countries in smaller volumes. That is often the case if there are barriers to exporting cars to particular countries, and they are only being sold in smaller volumes. With larger markets, where sales of particular models are high, companies really need their own plant which has its own suppliers of parts. Due to sharp competition and changing customer demand, product development process advances have been more significant than changes in product architecture. Product cycles continue to grow shorter as more companies adopt the simultaneous engineering approach pioneered by Japanese automakers†¡. At the same time, advances in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) tools are being used to replace physical prototypes and testing processes. Now, major players (in post M&A situation) take greater responsibility for product design and allow production base to get shifted to advantageous location for low cost. However, still due to lack of standardization, number of tiers at the supply chain is not reduced. Moreover, when design is replicated with modification for physical product development, several domestic issues need to be taken into consideration. These are mainly legal liability, and regulatory procedures. Furthermore, there is a technological move towards modules, i. e. self-contained functional units with standardized interfaces that can serve as building blocks for a variety of differen.

Chemistry of Biomolecules Essay

Our class on DNA is divided into 3 parts: (I) Genetics (II) DNA structure (III) Concepts and applications. I. Genetics: In the primordial period, simple molecules were formed from atoms and from these molecules, macromolecules were formed. These macromolecules formed life and all living organisms. The classical genetic and heredity observations in the 19th century started the search for the origin of life. The transforming principle of DNA was demonstrated from the experiment in which non-pathogenic (R-form) and virulent (S-form) but heat treated bacteria, when co-injected, could kill the mice. After that, the link between genes (DNA) and genotype / phenotype was established. The link between the features of an organism and genes was established. II. DNA structure: The genomic DNA of a eukaryotic cell is located in a special organelle, the nucleus, whereas in a prokaryotic cell there is no nucleus. In a virus, including bacteriohage, the genome is packed efficiently. The nucleus of a human cell contains complete genetic DNA, organized in 46 chromosomes (22 autosomal pairs and two sex chromosomes). Chromatid is one of the two identical copies of DNA in a chromosome. The two copies approach each other at the centromere. The ends of DNA in a chromosome are called telomere. The location of a gene in a chromosome is marked as, say, 7q31.2 where 7 refers to the chromosome number, q is the long arm (the short arm of the chromosome is called ‘p’), 3 refers to the region of a chromosome when colored using a particular process, 1 refers to band 1 in that region and 2 refers to a sub-band within band 1. In the chromatin, DNA is wound around the histone core (made by 2 copies each of the H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 proteins) and clamped by the H1 protein. Anytime this DNA is accessed for any biochemical reaction, there will be physical rearrangement of DNA and the histone core and furthermore the histone proteins undergo chemical modifications, like acetylation and methylation. Two strands of DNA form duplex DNA through base-pairing. In a basepair, the two bases are unlikely to be perfectly aligned or coplanar. In the same token, two adjacent basepairs also need not be perfectly parallel to each other. There are three forms of DNA: B-DNA, A-DNA and Z-DNA. The B form is the physiological form. The other two forms are man-made from specific sequences. While the first two forms are right handed helices, the last one is left-handed. In the B-form, the minor groove is narrow and the major groove is wide whereas in the A and Z forms, the groove widths are nearly the same. Also, a basepair in the B-form cuts the helical axis whereas in the A-form, a basepair is very much away from the helical axis. However, in the Z-form a basepair lies in-between. Supercoiled DNA: In a chromosome (or even in a circular plasmid), DNA exists in a supercoiled form. Several studies have established the connection between the number of base-pairs (linking number, twist) and the level of supercoiling (writhing number). Assume there are 260 B-DNA base-pairs (10 base-pairs will form one full turn, Fig. 1; start from base-pair 1 on a strand and come to the same but one earlier position on the same strand after 10 base-pairs; the next 10 base-pairs form the next one round and so on). Now, convert the linear DNA into circular DNA by connecting the ends of the same strands. The twist T = total base-pairs / 10 = 260/10 = 26. The linking number is the number of times one strand crosses the other, which is also 26. So the equation becomes, L = T + W; or 26 = 26 + 0 Now cut only one strand and unwind that strand two times and reconnect the ends. That means, L becomes 24. In order to balance the above equation, 24 = 26 – 2 or W becomes -2. Or, the new circular adjusts (writhes) with two cross-overs. If you over-wind by two, L = 28 and W = +2. Even now, the circular DNA writhes by 2 but in the opposite direction. Apart from DNA, RNAs are also very important in several cellular processes. There are 3 types of RNA, mRNA, rRNA and tRNA. Of these 3 classes, the tRNA is normally depicted in the ‘clover leaf’ form, displaying its amino acid acceptor region and the anti-codon region. An amino-acyl tRNA synthetase enzyme attaches a corresponding amino acid to the tRNA. An important and emerging field is non-coding RNA. Class 1b III. Applications and concepts: There are several applications and processes that involve nucleic acids. However, due to the limitation of time, we will learn only a few applications. 1. DNA replication: In molecular biology, the important fundamental processes are: the cell cycle (including DNA replication – the making of DNA using a DNA template), transcription (the making of mRNA using a DNA template) and translation (the making of a protein using mRNA as a template). The next level of events includes reverse transcription (the making of DNA using an RNA template) and the making of RNA using an RNA template. The making of a protein using a DNA template is not yet known. In prokaryotic DNA replication, DNA is unwound by enzymes like helicases and long leading strands ( for the parental 3’ to 5’ strand) and several short lagging strands (for the parental 5’ to 3’ strand) are made by the DNA polymerase. The short fragments are joined by ligases. If there is any problem during DNA synthesis, like base-pair mismatch, selected enzymes fix those problems. In a eukaryotic cell, there are several origins of DNA replication (dedicated sequences in DNA) in a chromosome. DNA replication must be initiated only once per origin per cell cycle. First, origin replication protein complex (ORC) binds to the origin of replication. The CDC6 protein (CDC28 in yeast) binds to ORC. The CDT1 protein binds to CDC6. Next, the mini chromosome maintenance proteins 2 to 7 (MCM 2-7) binds to the above proteins. The assembly of all these proteins is called ‘licensing’ and the above complex of all these proteins is called the pre replication complex (pre-RC). There are two modes by which DNA re-replication is prevented. The first mode is through the involvement of cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs). We are not going to review that mode here. The other mode is through the involvement of geminin, a protein. Once DNA replication is initiated, Geminin binds to Cdt1 and primes it for degradation. Once Cdt1 is removed from the pre-RC, there cannot be another DNA replication firing. At the end of the cell cycle, even geminin is degraded. This way, DNA replication takes place only once per cell cycle. We have published the structure of geminin. The geminin-Cdt1 complex structure is also published by another group. 2. Cloning: In conventional sexual reproduction or in vitro fertilization (IVF), an egg is impregnated by a sperm cell. But in cloning, the nucleus of an egg is removed and a nucleus from any suitable cell from an individual is implanted. This cell grows with the same genetic make-up of the nucleus donor (not the egg donor). 3. DNA microarray: This development is an important tool to study how a normal cell and an affected cell (say, a cancer cell) behave and what are the genes that are up-regulated and down-regulated. On a commercial DNA chip, unique and short single stranded DNA fragments of all known human genes (as of today) are immobilized on glass. Take a normal cell and a cancer cell. Make complementary DNA for all the RNAs in the cells. Treat the normal cell DNA with a dye (say green) and that of the cancer cell with a red dye. Now pass the two pools of DNA through the chip. The genes that are active only in the normal cell (thereby making mRNA and hence cDNA) will bind to their complementary fragments (immobilized on the chip) and will emit green signal when detected. Similarly, the genes that are active only in the cancer cell will bind to their complementary fragments and will emit red signal. The genes that are common to both cells will give out yellow signal. From this we can learn which genes are upregulated and down regulated in a particular cell for a particular disease condition. 4. Transgenic / reporter genes: Selected color displaying proteins, like green fluorescent protein (GFP), can be used as reporters to identify the location of protein expression for a protein of interest. The GFP gene is attached to the gene of our interest and injected in an embryo and the location of protein expression is visually observed. Such techniques can be used to generate multicolored ornamental fish for the same species. 5. DNA protein interaction: Several proteins interact with DNA. For example, transcription factors bind to the promoter / enhancer regions of a gene. Restriction enzymes bind to and cut DNA. DNA polymerase is involved in DNA replication and RNA polymerase is important for transcription. Furthermore, amino-acyl tRNA synthetases bind to tRNAs and attach corresponding amino acids to them. 6. RNA interference: Most of the free forms of RNA, messenger RNA molecules in particular, are single strands. tRNAs and selected RNA regions are double-stranded. Many viruses, however, form long stretches of double-stranded RNA when they replicate. When our cells find double-stranded RNA, it is often a sign of an infection. However, plant and animal cells have a more targeted defense that attacks the viral double stranded RNA directly, termed RNA interference. Viral double-stranded RNA are cut into pieces (about 21 base-pairs), called small interfering RNA (SiRNA) by the protein Dicer. The argonaute protein strips away one strand from the siRNA, and then looks for any viral messenger RNA that matches it. If it finds some, it cleaves the RNA, destroying it. In this way, the cell removes all viral messenger RNA that is the same as the original double-stranded piece found and processed by dicer. Based on this principle, we can synthesize a non-natural interfering RNA, then insert it into a cell to destroy any messenger RNA that we desire. Researchers use these small RNA molecules to fight disease, for instance, using them to knock out cancer genes. 7. RNA modifying enzymes: RNA has to be modified in selected cellular processes. For example, uridine is modified to pseudo-uridine by pseudo-uridine synthase enzymes.