Book Journal: The Black Jacobins

The book ‘The Black Jacobins’ is a pen craft of Mr. C. L. R. James. James has scrutinized here an event happened in 1791; which brought out the Revolution of Haitian. The reasons that caused this revolution to take place are the main concerns of his account. He has analyzed the points of progress where economic and class differences overpowered the racial differences. Gradually picturing the whole scenario, he has carefully plotted his findings comparing the French and Haitian revolutions.He has matched his findings on every event with the French and Haitian revolutions. French camp was San Domingo and all the slave trade used to happen here only to cater the French government. All the efforts that France was making against USA, UK, and the communal divisions that existed within her had put a customary influence over the stepping forward of the San Domingo revolt. Writer percepts the class difference had overpowered racial difference.The French revolution is one of the m ajor causes of Haitian revolution as far as the influence is concerned. Other causes include the events like insurgence of the working class natives, and Bastille event. The above-discussed causes affected the slaves very much. Another hub of attention is the leadership of Toussaint L’Ouverture. L’Ouverture’s life has also been analyzed by James. It has been suggested for this forefront facing revolting head that he had organized people, unified the rebellious forces, and also headed some fundamental wars.He fought from the forefront and after he was caught, his army generals became his predecessors. He had been a terrible idol and his character has almost been vague in the writings of different authors. The work of C. L. R James is depicting a great and influential description of the struggles and events occurred at that time and author has almost idealized the leadership qualities of that time (James, 1989). Works Cited James, C. (1989). The Black Jacobins: To ussaint L'Ouverture and the San Domingo Revolution . Vintage.

Reflections for Sociology Research Paper Example

Reflections for Sociology Research Paper Example Reflections for Sociology Paper Reflections for Sociology Paper The reason I am taking Soc 101 is for that exact reason. It is one of the classes that I am missing to fulfill my general education requirements. When I went into this class I was not exactly sure what to expect. I was not sure what sociology meant or what the study of sociology meant, but after Professor Green described it, I am more interested in the subject now. I hope to learn maybe something about myself. Why I am the way I am, or behave the way I do. I hope to be able to analyze myself, from what I have learned from the class. By being a party of this class, I believe that I will bring a lot of discussion to the class. Want to know the price of your unique Paper? 126 writers online Deadline Paper topic Pages 550 words(double spaced) Get a price Subjects that I do not have a lot of knowledge on often cause curiously which leads me to asking questions. I think I will ask questions that will start section discussions each week. I look forward to learning more about sociology. ?CÃ' ,-. ?0 Today my outlook is different. Over the course I have learned a lot about what sociologist analyze in the world today, and over the course I have found myself tying things that I used to take for granted, back to what I have learned in this course. One topic that we discussed in class was about social norms. What was normal in society and what was not? In discussion I remember this topic vividly because I remember Professor Green giving the example of a male being able to scratch his private parts with no up roar reaction, but If a female did that, it would cause disgust. At that point It made me think about social norms. Why was It was k for males to do that and not females? In an assignment we had on social norms It was the perfect time to teach my friends a little bit about what I had learned in sociology and to see what they thought; I was going to break social norm. Their reaction was priceless. When given this assignment, I had no idea what I was going to do. As the weekend approached, I thought that would be the perfect time to do something that would throw my friends for a loop. On Saturday night, the plan was to all meet up at my house and we were going to go out to a party. It was not until everyone had arrived that I suddenly came up with an idea. I was almost ready, all I had left was to put on my shoes and that is where I decided to break a social norm. As I completed my outfit, I put on one tennis shoe and one flip flop and walked out into the living room where everyone sat waiting. When I first walked out It was hard to keep from smiling. One of my girl friends said, you trying to decide what shoe to wear? ? 1 said no, wearing these shoes. They all looked at me puzzled. They had that kind of look like, she It was not normal for them to see me or anyone In Tanat case wearing two Deterrent snows. You never see people doing that. As I continued walking around the house in these two different shoes, they all Just laughed at me, asking me if I was serious. It was hard to stay confident, and trying not to laugh with them was the hardest. After about 20 minutes of walking around the house we finally were ready to go. I went in my room and changed my shoes. I then came out and told my friends what I was doing, and explained to them how society has impacted us. I asked them, why is it not k for people to wear two different shoes? And I told them it is because it is not normal in our society. It was not normal because in society that is not what you see. It is not even an option to buy two different shoes as a pair. In stores you only see pairs of shoes that match. Although one fits a left foot and the other fits a right foot, they are identical in colors and style. In advertisements and in the media you always see people wearing matching shoes, and to be seen in mismatch shoes would be pretty embarrassing. Because of the media and advertisements, wearing the same shoes is the only thing we recognize as being normal, not wearing two different shoes. Many of my friends were very interested and I could tell they really thought about it. Although this assignment was somewhat embarrassing, I had fun doing it and I think I taught my friends a little bit about sociology. Another topic that we tended to focus a lot on that I found relations to in my life was the idea of sociological imagination. In the book, Big Picture?C,-1?0 sociological imagination is defined as the and ability to look at the connection between who we are as individuals and the larger social and historical forces that shape our lives. ?C,-1?0 In other words you do not know why a person may be the way he or she is unless you know what they have been through. You cannot relate on a personal level to that person until you have witnessed their experiences. I felt this was the overall concept of sociology. It is a way for a person to look at their life as a result of their interaction with society. The sociological imagination examines these and figure out why I am the way I am and also why I have chosen to do certain things For me I have faced many issues in my life that I consider personal, but one that I can tie back to imagination?C,-1?0 that may some what seem as a humorous story is one that actually happened to a friend of mine, but then later also effected me. My friend who had been dating her boyfriend for a couple years decided to break up. After her break up she was depressed and never wanted to do anything. She changed as a person, and became someone I no longer recognized. I ad no idea why she was acting the way she was. She acted as if someone had died. My friend and I exchanged many words, sometimes hurtful but it was not until a few months later that me and my boyfriend faced the same issue. My opinion immediately changed after that moment. I knew exactly what she was feeling when this happened to her. My attitude changed and I soon became a stranger to my friends. I relate this issue back to because when this happened to my friend my opinion on it was to Just get over it, but when it happened to me, I realized it was not that easy. In society it is so normal to have a boyfriend. It somewhat feels like something your expected to have, because eventually It wall lead to marriage Ana or naval a Tamely. It Is not Like we can Just go out right after a break up and be with any guy we see. It Just is not normal. Society has shaped us to think that we be single all our lives. Eventually we have to find someone or else be lonely forever. The only solution to this problem was to be in my shoes, and once I was I knew exactly how she felt. Any situation that people go through I think should be tied back to sociological imagination because it is the truth. No one knows what one is going wrought until you yourself experience it. On a more emotional note, in what was stated previously, the social imagination which explains why we live the life we do or do the things we do makes this concept very important to me. In my life there is a story, and not until I took this course did I learn why my life was the way it was or why I did things the way I do. I grew up without a mother, pretty much all my life. She died from breast cancer when I was only five and ever since I have learned to become a woman, basically on my own. Growing up with a family of boys, I never had the omen role model and till this day I still do not. Before this course in sociology, it would make me emotional when I question myself with why it had to happen to me, but now I know it was because it was to make me the person I am today. It has made me do things that I never in million years would have thought to do. I have been a participant in many breast cancer events and I even held a fundraiser where I raised 5300 dollars in order to donate to the American Cancer Society. For me, sociological imagination, although I found a story in it, it also opened a pathway for me to see life in a different perspective. Today, our society is what we would refer to as a capitalist society. Although Capitalism is huge among our society it was hard for me to relate it to my personal life. I had trouble comprehending exactly what the concept was unfolding. Capitalism, which is an economic system based on private property in which revenue seeking individuals, companies or businesses compete in the marketplace is exactly how we live today. We live in a society where there is room for competition. In a communist society, the system is based on everyone being given the same things and no one being able to compete to make money. Capitalism has impacted my life in many ways. Capitalism is everything. It is in school, my family, and even in the Jobs I work. My family consists of a family of four, not because my parents had to have a family of four but because they wanted to. In China, because they are a communist country, everyone is given the same amount of freedom. No one is better than the other, but everyone is equal. For example in the article around the you are only aloud to have one child. If you have more than one, they take your child away from you. Here, unlike China, looking for a Job goes pretty much as you please. You are able to choose where you want to work and which Job is going to pay more. As school goes, you are able to choose what classes you want, and sometimes if you are lucky, what teachers you want to have. Capitalism is almost like freedom. Without it everyone would be the same and there would be no room for competition or options. We need capitalism in order to have choices. If we were ruled by the government, who told us that we all had to be the same, the world would be a boring place to live. Every family would be the same, every working man and women would make the same amount of money ND it would be like looking at your-self in a mirror all over the world. If everyone was n Dealing ten same as everyone else In ten world, Ana 010 not want to compete with one another for more money, then capitalism would not be necessary. Economy has had a dramatic effect on me and many other people living in California. Today the economy has become almost unbelievable. With gas prices rising to almost 4 dollars a gallon is ridiculous. The price of living is almost unimaginable. For me the economy has made it almost impossible for me to live on my own, let alone survive. Any student living in our economy, going to school full time and working part time is barley getting by. Although the goal of capitalism is to give everyone their freedom and independence, the economy has made it very hard to live and be independent, and that is why I am where I am now. Living at home, working two part time Jobs and going to school full time. Although it is almost unimaginable it is due able. The fact of the matter is though; I am able to make a choice. I can either go to school or work full time, or do both. There is no one telling us what we have to do as an order. We are given options. If I wanted to move out I could, but I would have to work a lot more than I do now. Although it is hard to get by today, glad I have the choice to make my own independent decisions. For me I agree with what Karl Marx says about our society. In Big it states that Marx believes that economy determines society. ?C,-1?0 Max Weber believed that ideas were more important and thought that those and other contributions shaped our society. In world though, the economy does shape our society, or at least that is what I believe. The way we live, the clothes we where, the places we go, the families we have are all because of the economy. The society we live in today, no one cares about ideas anymore, it is all about how much money you have and where you stand in society. No one is going to listen to a homeless person on the streets who might have a good idea, but they are going to listen to someone with higher power, maybe someone with money who can actually buy himself to the top to prove a point. In politics, there is never a poor person running for president, it is always people with money, who have higher power than everyone else. Economy says everything about the society we live in today. One of my favorite themes in this course was gender. It was Just interesting to hear different opinions people had on this topic. For this topic, I lead the discussion in my section. I was glad to have picked that week to lead discussion because I have a lot of different thoughts on gender and recently I encountered a situation that made me think about this topic after the situation had occurred. While at a Padre Game with a group of friends, we were leaving walking towards the trolley when my male friend was approached by another person who started to bad mouth him. My friends first reaction was to stand up for himself, so him and this other errors started to get close to one another bumping each other with their chests. My friend, who was male, was with a group of girls, one of us being his girlfriend. She was the first one to notice that the person her boyfriend was about to get in a fight with was not who he thought it was. He was about to fight a female, who could barely be identified as a female because of her short hair and her boyish clothing. Once we all realized her name was Heather and her friends were telling her to stop, we shouted for him to stop because he was about to fight a female, which was something he would never do. When we got on the trolley we were laughing about it, out teen I tongue auto It I leaned to my Eternal slating next to me Ana toll near now I had Just been discussing gender in my sociology class. I wondered why it made a difference that she was a girl. Why did my friend automatically back off when he figured it out that she was a girl? I never witnessed something like that. I have seen girls that dress like guys and sometimes you have to really analyze the person, but this was the first time I really started to think about it. It made me think about the reading it Means to be Gendered Me?C,-1?0 by Betsy Local from the kook Mapping the Social Landscape by Susan J. Ferguson. The reading described the life of a woman who was similar to what I witnessed at the baseball game. In the book the women describes her life as sometimes hard but because society only has two gender structures, she has to deal with the consequences. Recently an event occurred at San Diego State that has everyone talking, including people around the world. It struck a discussion among the campus that I related back to sociology. Of the 96 students who were arrested, 75 of them were students at SUDS. It made me wonder why those students did what they did. Was it because of their family, gender or socioeconomic class that caused these students to take action in this illegal action? Was it because of society and the influence that drugs and weapons have on us or was it Just because they wanted to experiment with new things, and maybe needed some extra money? It is something that still makes me wonder even now. Behind each situation in life there is a theory. At least that is how it is analyzed in a sociological outlook. Are systematic and ever-evolving expressions that, in sociology, seek to explain why we act and think as we do?C,-1?0 (Witt 2007: 5). In every condition I encountered, It made me think why I acted and thought as I did. From putting on different shoes to not being able to identify a girl who was dressed like a boy. Over the time being in Sociology 101, I feel that I have learned a lot. Some things that we went over in class got to me on and emotional level and some discussions in class were very intense. The week we discussed Capitalism, the topic got to me in an emotional way. We had the guest speaker who was the actor in Marx in Soho (which I watched) and also a few who Joined our discussion that day. One T. A ho I can not seem to remember his name broke down our system a little bit better. The way he spoke and the way he delivered his message had some kind of effect on me. It really made me question why I was going to school and getting an education and what will happen if I am not successful in life. What would I tell my family or how would I survive. It was a matter of what I could do to make the world different, and some ways a better place. Sociology has now become one of my favorite subjects. Although sometimes some subjects are boring, many of them make you really think about life. Why everything happens and why people act the way they do. I find myself relating a lot of things I hear or see back to sociology. I think about things before I react and try to pass the word on to friends. They sometimes look at me weird but when they think about it, it catches them by surprise, Just as it did to me when I was taught it. It is hard to imagine how I was so oblivious too subject that is all around us. It is what we see, do, and hear about every day. It is our society that we live in that makes I t ten way It Is ay when I enrolled In sociology 101 at ten Degrading AT ten ear, I never would have thought it would become a subject of interest, one that I am almost tempted to change my major to. But I love to look beyond the box and I love to help others and I think that is what sociology is all about. At the beginning of the year when I had written about what I hoped to accomplish out of this course, I think I have. I now have learned something new about myself, why I am the way I am and why I react and behave the way I do. I am glad that I took this course and if it was not a GE course, I would recommend it to all students. I would call it a class that will leave a lasting impression on many.

How to Find an Abortion Clinic

How to Find an Abortion Clinic If youre absolutely sure you want an abortion and are trying to find a legitimate abortion clinic, it can be confusing to locate an abortion clinic that actually offers abortion services. Many that advertise themselves as abortion centers are actually run by anti-abortion organizations. Look for "Abortion Services" or "Abortion Referrals" Whether youre looking through a phone book or searching the internet, you may find that anti-choice centers (many with warm and fuzzy names) are often listed alongside abortion clinics and legitimate womens health clinics that support reproductive choice. This can make choosing an abortion clinic more confusing, but dont be fooled by them. The goal of these centers is to reverse, block, interfere with, or delay your decision to terminate your pregnancy until its too late to obtain an abortion. A reputable abortion clinic will either provide abortion services on-site or will refer you to an abortion provider. It will clearly state that it offers abortion services or abortion referrals in its advertising or on its website. Any clinic or center that states that it does not provide abortion referrals will not help you obtain an abortion, regardless of your circumstances. Getting accurate facts online about abortion methods and procedures is also tricky. If you search the phrase I need an abortion the results will include websites that claim they provide unbiased medical information on abortion but are created to scare you and convince you not to terminate your pregnancy. "Abortion" in the Title Isn't Always Pro-Choice Even websites with abortion in the title arent necessarily abortion providers or even pro-choice. As Fox News reports: On the Internet... anti-abortion groups buy up Web addresses similar to those of abortion providers or abortion-rights groups, then use them to lead to Web pages with anti-abortion materials. Our idea is to change the hearts and and minds of people about abortion, said Ann Scheidler, executive director of the Chicago-based Pro-Life Action League. These websites mask an underlying pro-life agenda, but theyre easy to spot. They will immediately emphasize the risks of abortion, as well as the regret and fear they say many women suffer from afterward. They often include graphic depictions of abortion that play to your emotions; ignore accepted medical facts and cite other unverified claims as truth (such as the unproven link between breast cancer and abortion); inflate the level of post-abortion complications involved; and suggest possible outcomes (such as damage to internal organs, sepsis, scarring and even death) that rarely occur in developed countries where abortions are performed by trained health care professionals with sterile medical instruments. "Pregnancy" in the Title Usually Means Pro-Life Clinics that support reproductive choice will either offer abortion services or provide a referral to an abortion provider. Clinics that oppose reproductive choice will not refer you to an abortion provider. Many of these anti-choice clinics call themselves pregnancy centers, pregnancy resource centers, or abortion counseling centers. Names like new life or new hope indicate a health center whose sole goal is to maintain pregnancy, not terminate it. They promote adoption over abortion. Yet its significant to note that very few unmarried women who complete their pregnancies ultimately give the baby up for adoption; according to the National Center for Health Statistics, less than 1% did so between 1989–1995. In short, pregnancy or new life centers will not help you obtain an abortion or give you a referral to an abortion provider. Visiting them will only waste valuable time if youre determined to have an abortion. Adult or Minor - Laws Regarding Reproductive Choice It may seem that getting an abortion is very difficult. And it can be, depending on where you live. Its estimated that 85% of counties within the U.S. are not served by an abortion provider. Although abortion has been legal in the United States for over three decades, the laws regarding abortion vary from state to state depending on your age: If you are an adult (18 and older), reproductive choice is your right.If you are a teenager, depending on your age and the abortion laws in your state, you may or may not need parental consent. You should know what the laws are in your state to make an informed choice. Factors in Choosing an Abortion Provider When choosing an abortion clinic or abortion provider, it is also essential that you understand the differences between the two types of abortion medical and surgical before you make your decision. What type you choose will depend on the availability of services, how many appointments are required for the abortion itself and any follow-up exams you may need, and how far along you are in your pregnancy. Not all abortion services are available at all clinics, and youll need to leave ample time to make arrangements for travel to and from the clinic, recovery at home, and payment for the services. Armed with this information on how to find an abortion clinic, you can locate abortion clinics in your area and make contact online, over the phone, or in person.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Essay - 5

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave - Essay Example The book is a detailed account of his life as a slave until he was emancipated. As with every other race story and accounts in the different literature books such as Handlin’s or even Daniel’s, the minority race (in this case the blacks) were always on the receiving end of every evil their white masters and even the rest of the white people subjected them to. Fredrick’s case is not different, in chapter 10 when he was working in Mr. Covey’s plantation, he was constantly thoroughly whipped and mercilessly for that matter until he ran away because he thought he was going to die after collapsing one day from the beating (Douglass 77). He is also abused by other white men when he goes to work in the shipyard and he has to leave there too. This is an indication of how one race considered them so superior over the other that even people on the same job category still treated the blacks as slaves and with disdain. The worst part is that even with evidence of physical abuse, the police and lawyers cannot come to the rescue of the blacks simpl y because even the system is wretched and corrupt with racism. Fredrick may have managed to get slavery abolished but that does not mean that other forms of modern-day slavery do not exist. Issues such as racism as explained by Fredrick are still in existence even to date with some white still feeling superior to the blacks and even people of law (such as police, lawyers, advocates, and some judges) still separates these two races to date. Even though the slavery may not be as intense as it used to be when Fredrick was growing up where even the food provided by the master was little and children were separated from their parents at a very tender age so that they cannot know love (Douglass 20), there is still the lack of complete freedom for the immigrants and people of minority race and ethnicity not only in the United States but in other nations of the world as well.

The philosophical ideas of determinism, compatibilism and Essay

The philosophical ideas of determinism, compatibilism and libertarianism - Essay Example Determinism and compatibilism are two philosophical concepts which are strongly connected to human acts, behavior and events happening as a result. Determinism and compatibilism is voluntary in nature and when compared both these concepts has certain similarities. Determinism is a freedom which influences man to act in a certain manner which leads to further events or happenings. In the same manner, compatibilism is also an act which when performed in align with a person’s surroundings bring about positive after effects. In the same way, determinism is exclusively related to the freedom of human to act or react, just as compatibility. Compatibility is a philosophical idea which states that the free will is strongly linked with the pre- destined fate. Determination is also in a way, a strong belief within a person to act in a certain way to achieve a positive result in align with their fate. Comparision of Determinism and Libertarianism While determinism is a strong belief within a person to achieve some goal in align with pre- destined fate. Libertarianism is also a concept which believes that the human actions and events related to it are not within our control. Determinist believes that irrelevant to the action and thoughts of a person, the events happen according to a predetermined frame work of deeds. Same way, libertinism claims that actions of a person are not controllable and free will is just an opportunity for a person to prove his integrity and truthfulness to humanity and universe. Comparison of Compatibilism with Libertianism Compatibilism is a philosophical idea which believes that determinism and free will is connected deeply but the applicability of a person’s thought and actions is out of control in relation to uncontrollable external environment .On the other hand, libertinism is a concept which propagates complete freedom to human beings in any circumstances. Compatibility also detail about ethics and moral responsibility on a person, whereas libertinism states that ethical and moral responsibility of a person high due to the ultimate freedom given to him. Compatibility believes that freewill and determinism makes a complete combination. Obviously, Libertinism agrees with this matter as it advocates ultimate freedom to the human in every circumstance. According to (Wilmot) â€Å"Libertinism is the conviction that one has to be liberated from moral restraints in

Write a discution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write a discution - Essay Example tough environment to retain or get the right skilled employees, and it is for this reason, that organizations are continuously seeking for the best skills in their HR teams. My experience in HR has been great; the feeling of identifying and managing talent has been the best and on top of my professional goals. I always feel proud to create a connection between the employees and management. I agree with you on the point that the most important resource an organization has are its employees. Therefore, having a good management system to attract and retain skilled employees really improves the performance of the organization. Finally, helping the employees get benefits and rewards for their efforts, while at the same time proving to the management that the organization is performing at its optimum point is an important task for the HR. I agree with you on the role of HR towards the employees. They should be able to address employee issues, and create a conducive environment that will allow the employees improve their performance. A happy employee is a positive sign towards a company’s performance and the HR should always be responsible in ensuring the employees are happy and

Analysis Of Life Insurance Industry In India Economics Essay

Analysis Of Life Insurance Industry In India Economics Essay Since inception the Indian life insurance industry has its own origin and history. It has passed through many hurdles and hindrances in order to attain the present status. However, the income earning capacity of an individual citizen of a nation and the eagerness and awareness of the general public are the two key determinants of the growth of any insurance industry. In the Indian context, the insurance habits among the general public during the independence decade was rare and in the following decades, it has slowly increased. There was a remarkable improvement in the Indian insurance industry soon after the economic reform era (1991). After 1991 the Indian life insurance industry has geared up in all respects, as well as it is being forced to face a lot of healthy competition from many national as well as international private insurance players. In this paper we have analyzed the performance of LIC over a time period of 1980 to 2009, attempt has been made to analyse the overall performance of Life Insurance Industry of India between pre- and post economic reform era. To measure the current status, volume of competitions and challenges faced by the Life Insurance Corporation of India and to measure the effectiveness of investment strategy of LIC over the period 1980 to 2009. Data were analysed by using Regression, Trend Analysis and Anova. The study reveals that there is a tremendous growth in the performance of Indian Life Insurance industry and LIC due to the policy of LPG. Insurance industry also improved a lot due to the emergence of Private sector and opening up for foreign players. Further there is also a huge change in the investment pattern of LIC. There is a increasing trend toward the investment in Stock market by LIC from 60% to 93% from 1980 to 2009 due to the effective regulation of SEBI and increasing transparen cy of stock market. I. Introduction Life insurance is a contract for the payment of a sum of money to a person assured on happening of the event ensured against. Usually the contracts provide for the payment of the amount on a date of maturity or at a specified date at periodic intervals or at unfortunate death, if it occurs earlier. Life insurance is universally acknowledged to be an institution, which eliminates risk, substituting certainty for uncertainty and comes to the timely aid of the family in the unfortunate event of death of breadwinner. Life insurance is civilisations partial solution to the problems that caused by death. In short, life insurance is concerned with two hazards that stand across the life-path of every person: 1.That of dying prematurely is leaving a dependent family to fend for itself. 2. That of living till old age without visible means of support. The nationalization of insurance business in the country resulted in the establishment of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) in 1956 as a wholly- owned corporation of the government of India. Indias life insurance market has grown rapidly over the past six years, with new business premiums growing at over 40% per year. The premium income of Indias life insurance market is set to double by 2012 on better penetration and higher incomes. Insurance penetration in India is currently about 4% of its GDP, much lower than the developed market level of 6-9%. In several segments of the population, the penetration is lower than potential. For example, in urban areas, the penetration of life insurance in the mass market is about 65%, and its considerably less in the low-income unbanked segment. In rural areas, life insurance penetration in the banked segment is estimated to be about 40%, while it is marginal at best in the unbanked segment. The total premium could go up to $80-100 billion by 2012 from the present $40 billion as higher per capita income increases per capita insurance intensity. The average household premium will rise to Rs 3,000-4,100 from the current Rs 1,300 as will penetration by the existing and new players. Indias ratio of life insurance premium to its GDP is around 4 per cent against 6-9 per cent in the developed world. It could rise to 5.1-6.2 by 2012 in tandem with the countrys demographic profile. India has 17 life insurers and the state owned Life Insurance Corp. of India dominates the industry with over 70 percent market share, though private players have been growing aggressively. Considering the worlds largest population and an annual growth rate of nearly 7 per cent, India offers great opportunities for insurers. US based online insurance company ebix.com plans to enter the Indian market following deregulation of its insurance sector. In a diverse country such as India it is imperative that a universal insurance infrastructure be created to maximize efficiency in the insurance industry. Online insurer ebix.com can offers the Indian market a business-to-consumer internet portal where consumers have more choice while purchasing insurance and an internet-based agency management system that will help agents work more efficiently with multiple carriers. Foreign holding in Indian insurance companies is limited to 26 per cent. The market is moving beyond single-premium policies and unit linked insurance products which are easier to sell. The agency model is the dominant sales channel accounting for more than 85 per cent of fresh premiums but overall inactivity and attrition is much higher at 50-55 per cent than the global average of 25 per cent. GIVE REFERENCE II. Review of Literature In the present section an attempt has been made to examine the review of literature related to the study. Rao, R.T.S. (2000) in this article had explained the phenomenal growth experienced by life insurance industries recently, in line with the countrys improving economic fundamentals. By comparing the growth, penetration, density and other insurance variables, he had shown that India is still an underdeveloped insurance market, it has a huge catch-up potential. According to him even though there is strong potential for expansion of insurance into rural areas, growth has so far remained slow. Considering that the bulk of the Indian population still resides in rural areas, it is imperative that the insurance industrys development should not miss this vast sector of the population. Goyal, K. (2004), in this article has reviewed that private insurance companies had reason to celebrate with the lifting of the sectoral cap in the insurance sector to 49 per cent in the Union Budget 2004-05, as against 26 per cent earlier. However, to offset the excitement, there was also an imposition of service tax of 10 per cent on the risk premium for life insurance, which has the industry with mixed feelings. The FDI hike has been a much-awaited plea of these companies, who believed that they could plough in more money into the business if their foreign partners were permitted an increased holding. Jain, A.K. (2004), revealed that Waves of liberalization have done wonders to proper the insurance occupation to the status of a career with a bright future. The average mindset, particularly of younger generation in India was very amenable to the changes in insurance as an avenue where exhilarating opportunities are opened up in changed environment. Krishnamurthy, S. (2005) in this article had reviewed that Insurance companies have a pivotal role in offering insurance products which meet the requirements of the people and, at the same time, are affordable. Some of the challenges faced by the insurance sector pertain to the demand conditions, competition in the sector, product innovations, delivery and distribution systems, use of technology, and regulation. With the liberalization and entry of private companies in insurance, the Indian insurance sector has started showing signs of significant change. Ray, Subhashish and Pathak, Ajay. (2006) opined that ever since the privatization of the insurance sector in India in 2000, the industries has been witnessing the birth of numerous private players, mostly joint ventures between foreign insurance giants and Indian diversified conglomerates and each one is trying to make an inroad into the huge untapped market. Sinha, Ram Pratap. (2007) opined that the deregulation of general insurance industry in India is having far-reaching consequences in terms of market size, structure and operational practices. As compared to the international standards the penetration level of general insurance companies in India is quite low and, therefore, has tremendous potential for growth. His analysis revealed that the public sector insurers dominate the private sector insurers in terms of mean technical efficiency in constant returns to scale, while the private sector insurers have a slightly higher mean technical efficiency than the public sector insurers in variable returns to scale. Goswami, P. (2007) in this article had reviewed that the insurance industry in India was opened up to private sector participation in the year 2000. Prior to this, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India was the sole player in the life insurance industry in India. In six years since the entry of private players in the insurance market, LIC has lost 29% market share to the private players, although both, market size and the insurance premium being collected, are on the rise. In 2005, life insurance accounted for 79% of the total insurance market in India. It was found that the responsiveness dimension of service quality provides maximum customer satisfaction in the life insurance industry in India. Sabera. (2007) indicated that in March 2000, when the Government of India liberalized the insurance sector, lifted the entry restrictions for private insurance players, allowing the foreign players to enter into the market and start their operations in India. The entry of private players helps in spreading and keeping the operation in the Indian insurance sector which in turn results in restructuring and revitalizing of public sector companies. III. Research Methodology The research article is based upon descriptive as well as exploratory research. Secondary sources of data collection have been adopted for the study. The relevant and required data are collected from the text books, national and international articles, RBI Bulletin (various issues) as well as annual reports of LIC. The Statistical tools used in this research article are Correlation, Regression, ANOVA, the method of least squares and linear trend. The method of least square has been used for analysing the overall performance of Life Insurance Industry of India between pre- and post economic reform era and to measure the current status, volume of competitions and challenges faced by the Life Insurance Corporation of India. For processing the data and estimating the results, Excel, SPSS-16 packages have been used. Objectives: The following are the objectives of the present study To analyze the overall performance of Life Insurance Industry of India between pre- and post economic reform era To measure the current status, volume of competitions and challenges faced by the Life Insurance Corporation of India To measure the change in the effectiveness of the investment strategy of LIC over the period 1980 to 2009. Hypothesis: The study is based on the hypothesis that There is no significance difference in the performance of Life Insurance Industry between pre- and post economic reform era There is no significance Change in the pattern of the investment strategy of LIC over the period 1980 to 2009. Status and Position of Indian Life Insurance Industry in the pre LPG era In India, life insurance in its modern form came from England in the year 1818. The first life insurance was Oriental life insurance Company started by Europeans in Calcutta. All the insurance industries established during that period of time were brought up with the purpose of looking after the needs of European community and Indian natives were not being insured by these companies. Later on with the efforts of eminent people like Babu Muttylal Seal, the foreign life insurance companies started insuring Indian lives. But still Indian lives were being treated as sub-standard lives and heavy extra premiums were being charged on them. However in the year 1870, Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society heralded the birth of first Indian life insurance company and covered Indian lives at normal rates. Starting as Indian enterprise with highly patriotic motives, insurance companies came into existence to carry the message of insurance and social security through insurance to various sectors of the society. Bharat Insurance Company (1896) was another one of such companies inspired by nationalism. The Swadeshi movement during 1905-1907 gave rise to more insurance companies. The United India in Madras, National Indian and National Insurance in Calcutta and the Co-operative Assurance at Lahore were established in 1906. In 1907, the Hindustan Co-operative Insurance Company took its birth in one of the rooms of the Jorasanko, house of the great poet Rabindra Nath Tagore, in Calcutta. The Indian Mercantile, General Assurance and Swadeshi Life (later Bombay Life) were some of the companies that established during the same period. Prior to 1912, India had no legislation to regulate insurance business. However in the year 1912, the Life Insurance Companies Act, and the Provident Fund Act were passed. The Life Insurance Companies Act, 1912 made it necessary that the premium rate tables and periodical valuations of companies should be certified by an actuary, but in actuall the Act discriminated between foreign and Indian companies on many accounts, putting the Indian companies at a disadvantage. The first two decades of the twentieth century saw lot of growth in insurance industries. From 44 companies with total business-in-force of Rs.22.44 crore, it rose to 176 companies with total business-in-force of Rs.298 crore in 1938. During the mushrooming of insurance companies many financially unsound concerns were also floated which failed miserably. The Insurance Act 1938 was the first legislation governing not only life insurance but also non-life insurance to provide strict state control over insurance business. The demand for nationalization of life insurance industry was made repeatedly in the past but it gathered momentum in 1944 when a bill to amend the Life Insurance Act 1938 was introduced in the Legislative Assembly. However, it was much later on the 19th of January, 1956, that life insurance in India was nationalized. About 154 Indian insurance companies, 16 non-Indian companies and 75 provident were operating in India at the time of nationalization. Nationalization wa s accomplished in two stages; initially the management of the companies was taken over by means of an Ordinance, and later, the ownership too by means of a comprehensive bill. The Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance Corporation Act on the 19th of June 1956, and the Life Insurance Corporation of India was created on 1st September, 1956, with the objective of spreading life insurance much more widely and in particular to the rural areas with a view to reach all insurable persons in the country, providing them adequate financial cover at a reasonable cost. In the year 1956, LIC had 5 zonal offices, 33 divisional offices and 212 branch offices, apart from its corporate office. Since life insurance contracts are long term contracts and during the currency of the policy it requires a variety of services needs felt in the later years to expand the operations and place a branch office at each district headquarter. Re-organization of LIC took place and large numbers of new branch offices were opened. As a result of the re-organization servicing functions were transferred to the branches, and branches were made accounting units. It worked wonders with the performance of the corporation. It may be seen from the fact that about 200.00 crores of New Business in 1957 the corporation crossed 1000.00 crores only in the year 1969-70, and it took another 10 years for LIC to cross 2000.00 crores mark of new business. But with the re-organization happening in the early eighties, by 1985-86 LIC had already crossed 7000.00 crores Sum Assured on new polic ies. Table 1. Growth of LIC between 1959 and 1999 Table 1. Growth of LIC between 1959 and 1999 S.No. Particulars 1957 1999 1 Annual Business: Sum Assured Policies First year premium 336.3 crores 8,00,000 14 crores 75606 crores 14857000 4171 crores 2 Business in force: Sum Assured Policies Renewal premium 1477 crores 5686000 74 crores 459201 crores 91726000 16136crores 3 Group Business in force: Sum Assured No. of Lives 5.29 crores 69558 crores 21671000 4 Life Fund: 41040 crores 127389.06 crores Source: Secondary Data Annual Reports of LIC. Progress of Indian Life Insurance Industry in the Post LPG Era Insurance sector reforms: In 1993, Malhotra Committee headed by former Finance Secretary and RBI Governor R.N. Malhotra was formed to evaluate the Indian insurance industry and recommend its future direction. The Malhotra committee was set up with the objective of complementing the reforms initiated in the financial sector. The reforms were aimed at creating a more efficient and competitive financial system suitable for the requirements of the economy keeping in mind the structural changes currently underway and recognizing that insurance is an important part of the overall financial system where it was necessary to address the need for similar reformsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ In 1994, the committee submitted the report and some of the key recommendations included: 1) Structure Government stake in the insurance Companies to be brought down to 50%. Government should take over the holdings of GIC and its subsidiaries so that these subsidiaries can act as independent corporations. All the insurance companies should be given greater freedom to operate. 2) Competition Private Companies with a minimum paid up capital of Rs.1bn should be allowed to enter the industry. No Company should deal in both Life and General Insurance through a single entity. Foreign companies may be allowed to enter the industry in collaboration with the domestic companies. Postal Life Insurance should be allowed to operate in the rural market. Only One State Level Life Insurance Company should be allowed to operate in each state. 3) Regulatory Body The Insurance Act should be changed. An Insurance Regulatory body should be set up. Controller of Insurance (Currently a part from the Finance Ministry) should be made independent. 4) Investments Mandatory Investments of LIC Life Fund in government securities to be reduced from 75% to 50%. GIC and its subsidiaries are not to hold more than 5% in any company (There current holdings to be brought down to this level over a period of time). 5) Customer Service LIC should pay interest on delays in payments beyond 30 days. Insurance companies must be encouraged to set up unit linked pension plans. Computerisation of operations and updating of technology to be carried out in the insurance industry The committee emphasized that in order to improve the customer services and increase the coverage of the insurance industry should be opened up to competition. But at the same time, the committee felt the need to exercise caution as any failure on the part of new players could ruin the public confidence in the industry. Hence, it was decided to allow competition in a limited way by stipulating the minimum capital requirement of Rs.100 crores. The committee felt the need to provide greater autonomy to insurance companies in order to improve their performance and enable them to act as independent companies with economic motives. For this purpose, it had proposed setting up an independent regulatory body. MAJOR POLICY CHANGES Insurance sector has been opened up for competition from Indian private insurance companies with the enactment of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 (IRDA Act). As per the provisions of IRDA Act, 1999, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was established on 19th April 2000 to protect the interests of holder of insurance policy and to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry. IRDA Act 1999 paved the way for the entry of private players into the insurance market which was hitherto the exclusive privilege of public sector insurance companies/ corporations. Under the new dispensation Indian insurance companies in private sector were permitted to operate in India with the following conditions: Company is formed and registered under the Companies Act, 1956; The aggregate holdings of equity shares by a foreign company, either by itself or through its subsidiary companies or its nominees, do not exceed 26%, paid up equity capital of such Indian insurance company; The companys sole purpose is to carry on life insurance business or general insurance business or reinsurance business. The minimum paid up equity capital for life or general insurance business is Rs.100 crores. The minimum paid up equity capital for carrying on reinsurance business has been prescribed as Rs.200 crores. The Authority has notified 27 Regulations on various issues which include Registration of Insurers, Regulation on insurance agents, Solvency Margin, Re-insurance, Obligation of Insurers to Rural and Social sector, Investment and Accounting Procedure, Protection of policy holders interest etc. Applications were invited by the Authority with effect from 15th August, 2000 for issue of the Certificate of Registration to both life and non-life insurers. IRDA has so far granted registration to 12 private life insurance companies and 9 general insurance companies. If the existing public sector insurance companies are included, there are currently 13 insurance companies in the life side and 13 companies operating in general insurance business. Today LIC functions with 2048 fully computerized branch offices, 100 divisional offices, 7 zonal offices and the corporate office. LICs Wide Area Network covers 100 divisional offices and it connects all the branches through a Metro Area Network. LIC has tied up with some Banks and Service providers to offer an on-line premium collection facility in selected cities. LICs ECS and ATM premium payment facility is an addition to customer convenience. Apart from on-line Kiosks and IVRS, Info Centers have been commissioned at Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, New Delhi, Pune and many other cities. With a vision of providing easy access to its policyholders, the LIC has launched its SATELLITE SAMPARK offices. These satellite offices are smaller, leaner and closer to the customer. The digitalized records of the satellite offices will facilitate the customer anywhere servicing and many other conveniences in the future. LIC continues to be the dominant life insurer eve n in the liberalized scenario of Indian insurance industries and is moving fast on a new growth trajectory surpassing its own past records. LIC has issued over one crore policies during the current year. Table-2: Total Life Insurance Premium (Rs. Crore) INSURER 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 2004-05 2003-04 2002-03 2001-02 LIC 149789.99 127822.84 90792.22 75127.29 63533.43 54628.49 49821.91 (17.19) (40.79) (20.85) (18.25) (16.30) (9.65) (42.79) Aviva 1891.88 1147.23 600.27 253.42 81.50 13.47 NA   Bajaj Allianz 9725.31 5345.24 3133.58 1001.68 220.80 69.17 7.14 Bharti Axa 118.41 7.78 NA   NA NA NA NA Birla Sunlife 3272.19 1776.71 1259.68 915.47 537.54 143.92 28.26 Future Generali 2.49 NA   NA NA NA NA NA HDFC Std 4858.56 2855.87 1569.91 686.63 297.76 148.83 33.46 ICICI Pru 13561.06 7912.99 4261.05 2363.82 989.28 417.62 116.38 IDBI Fortis 11.90   NA NA NA NA NA NA ING Vysya 1158.87 707.20 425.38 338.86 88.51 21.16 4.19 Kotak Mahindra 1691.14 971.51 621.85 466.16 150.72 40.32 7.58 Met Life 1159.54 492.71 205.99 81.53 28.73 7.91 0.48 Max New York 2714.60 1500.28 788.13 413.43 215.25 96.59 38.95 Reliance Life 3225.44 1004.66 224.21 106.55 31.06 6.47 0.28 Sahara 143.49 51.00 27.66 1.74 NA   NA NA SBI Life 5622.14 2928.49 1075.32 601.18 225.67 72.39 14.69 Shriram 358.05 184.17 10.33   NA NA NA NA Tata AIG 2046.35 1367.18 880.19 497.04 253.53 81.21 21.14 Private Total 51561.42 28253.00 15083.54 7727.51 3120.33 1119.06 272.55 (82.50) (87.31) (95.19) (147.65) (178.83) (310.59) (4124.31) Total (LIC+Private) 201351.41 156075.84 105875.76 82854.80 66653.75 55747.55 50094.46 (29.01) (47.38) (27.78) (24.31) (19.56) (11.28) (43.54) Note: Figure in bracket indicates the growth over the previous year in percent. Two way ANOVA Source of Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit Rows 49560705298 17 2915335606 37.2725415 4.7941E-36 1.723833402 Columns 1069788739 6 178298123.2 2.27954002 0.0417493 2.188760765 Error 7978104529 102 78216711.07 Total 58608598567 125 Analysis and Interpretation Table 2 shows total life insurance premium during the year 2001-02 to 2007-08. The proportion of premium collected by LIC out of total premium collected by life insurance industry is declined from 97% in 2001-02 to 74% in 2007-08. It indicates the increasing competition from private sector. ICICI prudential is becoming a stronger and stronger player by keeping over a lot of business of LIC. But still there is a lot of scope of development in the life insurance industry where private sector will be a challenge in the front of LIC. By applying ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance, It is being observed that there is a significance difference in the performance of LIC and other Private Sector insurance companies over a period of 2001-02 to 2007-08 Table 3: Total Life Insurance Premium Year (X) Total life insurance premium (Y) U=X-A/ H U2 UY 2002 50094.46 -3 9 -150283.38 2003 55747.55 -2 4 -111495.1 2004 66653.75 -1 1 -66653.75 2005 82854.80 0 0 0 2006 105875.76 1 1 105875.76 2007 156075.84 2 4 312151.68 2008 201351.41 3 9 604054.23 718653.57 0 28 693649.44 Source- compiled from table 2. Y = A+BX ÃŽÂ £Y=nA+B X ÃŽÂ £XY=A ÃŽÂ £X+BÃŽÂ £ X2 Y=A+Bu ÃŽÂ £Y=nA+B ÃŽÂ £U ÃŽÂ £uY=A ÃŽÂ £u+B ÃŽÂ £u2 ÃŽÂ £Y=nA A= ÃŽÂ £Y/n ÃŽÂ £uY=BÃŽÂ £ u2 B= ÃŽÂ £uY/ ÃŽÂ £u2 A= ÃŽÂ £Y/n A= 718653.57/7= 102664.79 B= ÃŽÂ £uY/ ÃŽÂ £u2= 693649.44/28= 24773.19 Y=A+B (X-2004) 102664.79+ 24773.19 (2012-2004) 102664.79+ 24773.19 (8) 300,850.35 crore Based on the middle year 2005, the trend value for the year 2012 can be calculated using the linear function Y=A+BX, where, AB are constant. If we substitute the values in the trend line equation, the expected total LIC premium for the year 2012 is Rs. 300,850.35 crores. It shows that the total business is in increasing trend. Table 4: Investment strategy of LIC (Rupees crore) Year Sector-wise Instrument-wise of which Total (2 to 5) Or (6 to 7) (end-March) Public Private Joint Co-operative Stock exchange securities Loans 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1979 3411.9 618.1 29.9 527.8 2733.8 1853.1 4587.7 1980 3915.5 770.1 0 602.1 3113.4 2173.6 5287.7 1981 4707.8 647.2 0 665.5 3591.3 2725.6 6020.5 1982 5410.7 698.7 32 753 4040.6 2612 6894.4 1983 6189.7 787.4 32.7 825.2 NA NA 7835 1984 7020.8 891.4 40.1 905.3 NA NA 8857.6 1985 7919.5 1010.6 51.2 972.9 NA NA 9954.2 1986 9063.8 1121.3 68 1036.