Free Essays on Pop Art

Pop Art Pop art was a movement that wasn’t so much a style, as a shared viewpoint about the artist’s modern environment. Some believe that pop art came about as a direct reaction against abstract impressionism. But the art is deeper than simply a rebellion; it allows a new perspective on culture. This perspective being the realization and acceptance of the twentieth century’s commercial culture that emerged out of the Second World War in a need by the public to reinvent the way they see their ordinary lives. When President Roosevelt formed the Works Progress Administration in 1935 to help artists through the depression, it had a stimulating affect on the New York art scene. Artists could meet together and discuss, and soon they saw that you didn’t need to go to Paris to paint, the artist simply needed to embrace his own confidence and knowledge and experience to produce fine art. Many European painters had been in New York at this point participating in the New York art scene, so when they returned home, many to England where simultaneously another independent pop art movement had started, there was a newfound reverence for American art, and culture. The enthusiastic, and ironic, paintings of these artists chose to embrace what the German called Capitalist Realism. The artists chose to incorporate the mass media and this consumerism into their art, both celebrating it and critiquing it. These artists painted for the now, they didn’t use an object, whether it be a symbol, person, or situation, until it was already well known to its audience in its usual setting. They highlighted not the commonplace in a painting, but the commonplace as a painting. Each artist in this movement had their own way to express their take on Capitalist Realism. One of the first English pop artists was Richard Hamilton, who defined pop art to him as, â€Å"popular, transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmi... Free Essays on Pop Art Free Essays on Pop Art Pop Art Pop art was a movement that wasn’t so much a style, as a shared viewpoint about the artist’s modern environment. Some believe that pop art came about as a direct reaction against abstract impressionism. But the art is deeper than simply a rebellion; it allows a new perspective on culture. This perspective being the realization and acceptance of the twentieth century’s commercial culture that emerged out of the Second World War in a need by the public to reinvent the way they see their ordinary lives. When President Roosevelt formed the Works Progress Administration in 1935 to help artists through the depression, it had a stimulating affect on the New York art scene. Artists could meet together and discuss, and soon they saw that you didn’t need to go to Paris to paint, the artist simply needed to embrace his own confidence and knowledge and experience to produce fine art. Many European painters had been in New York at this point participating in the New York art scene, so when they returned home, many to England where simultaneously another independent pop art movement had started, there was a newfound reverence for American art, and culture. The enthusiastic, and ironic, paintings of these artists chose to embrace what the German called Capitalist Realism. The artists chose to incorporate the mass media and this consumerism into their art, both celebrating it and critiquing it. These artists painted for the now, they didn’t use an object, whether it be a symbol, person, or situation, until it was already well known to its audience in its usual setting. They highlighted not the commonplace in a painting, but the commonplace as a painting. Each artist in this movement had their own way to express their take on Capitalist Realism. One of the first English pop artists was Richard Hamilton, who defined pop art to him as, â€Å"popular, transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, gimmi...

5 nursing career specialties to pursue in 2019

5 nursing career specialties to pursue in 2019 Healthcare is one of the fastest-growing fields right now- and nursing is at the heart of this growth. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nursing profession is expected to grow by at least 19% by 2026, much faster than average for all jobs. If you’re thinking about a career in nursing, here are five fast-growing specialties to consider.Nurse PractitionerNurse practitioners (also known as advanced practice registered nurses, or APRNs) are an MVP when it comes to family or general medical practices. They provide standard nursing care (recording patient histories, examining patients, performing diagnostic tests, administer medicine or treatments), while also being able to perform tasks usually done by physicians, like prescribing medicine, ordering tests, and diagnosing illnesses.What you’ll need: A master’s degree in nursing, plus passing a national certification exam and becoming licensed. Each state’s licensing requirements may vary, so be sure to check your own state’s requirements.What it pays: The median salary for nurse practitioners is $110,930 per year, or $53.33 per hour.The outlook: The number of nurse practitioner jobs is expected to grow by an incredible 31% by 2026.Neonatal NurseNeonatal nurses care for premature babies, usually in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in a hospital. Because of the critical health problems experienced by many newborns, neonatal nurses provide essential, extensive care.What you’ll need: A bachelor’s degree in nursing, plus specialized training. You’ll need to be licensed as well. Each state’s licensing requirements may vary, so be sure to check your own state’s requirements.What it pays: The median salary for neonatal nurses is $65,000 per year, or $31.25 per hour.The outlook: The number of neonatal nurse jobs is expected to grow at least 17% by 2026.Nurse MidwifeNurse midwives are advanced practice nurses who care for expectant m others and their newborns. A nurse midwife coordinates care during pregnancy and assists during childbirth and after the delivery for both the mother and baby.What you’ll need: A bachelor’s degree in nursing, plus specialized training. You’ll need to be licensed as well. Each state’s licensing requirements may vary, so be sure to check your own state’s requirements.What it pays: The median salary for nurse midwives is $100,590 per year, or $48.36 per hour.The outlook: The number of nurse midwife jobs is expected to grow at least 31% by 2026.Nurse AnesthetistOne of the fastest-growing and highest-paying nursing specialties is the nurse anesthetist. Nurse anesthetists provide anesthesia to surgical patients, working with physicians, surgeons, and other operating room staff. In addition to anesthesia, nurse anesthetists may help coordinate pre-and post-surgical care for patients as well.What you’ll need: A bachelor’s degree in nursing, p lus a master’s degree and/or specialized training in nurse anesthesia. You’ll need to be licensed as well. Each state’s licensing requirements may vary, so be sure to check your own state’s requirements.What it pays: The median salary for nurse anesthetists is $160,270 per year, or $77.05 per hour.The outlook: The number of  nurse anesthetist jobs is expected to grow at least 22% by 2026.Nurse EducatorOne of the most valuable roles in the nursing community is teaching the next waves of nurses. This crucial role combines medical and clinical skills with teaching skills, and can be a good fit for nurses who have strong communication and leadership skills. Nurse educators may teach and train nurses at all levels, from specialized nursing training programs to bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate nursing programs. The constant demand for high-quality nurses means that there is high demand for nursing teachers as well.What you’ll need: A ba chelor’s degree in nursing, and potentially a master’s degree or PhD, depending on what you’ll be teaching. You may also need specific clinical experience, depending on the program.What it pays: The median salary for nurse educators is $71,260 per year.The outlook: The number of nurse educator jobs is expected to grow at least 19% by 2026.Whichever nursing path you choose, know that it’s a rewarding, challenging field with many opportunities open to explore your specific passion and talent.

Marketing management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Marketing management - Case Study Example Thus, â€Å"marketing is the art of finding, developing and profiting from opportunities,† Kotler (1999 p. 36). A need satisfying product or service is exchanged for a certain value and there are mainly four variables that constitute a market offering and they are: product, distribution/place, price, and marketing communication (Strydom, 2000 p.2). This is widely regarded as the marketing mix. As a point of departure, it must be noted that marketing is concerned with satisfying the needs of the consumers with the aid of using various tools in marketing mixes and it should be noted that luxury brands do not constitute basic needs hence the strategies in marketing them are slightly different from those employed when marketing tangible products. According to the offering concept, â€Å"an offering consists of benefits or satisfaction provided to target markets by an organisation. It consists of tangible product or service which may include packaging, warranties as well as guaranties,† (Berry and Wilson 2001 p.149). Thus, providing the right product when and where and how the customer wants it is the major aim of marketing where marketers attempt to make sure that all of these elements fit together. The primary aim of marketing therefore, is attempting to satisfy the needs and interests of the customers profitably. It is a business concept that is meant to increase the profitability of a company.Marketing of luxury brands is mainly determined by focusing on the offering rather than on the actual product or service in order to analyze the customer’s alternatives, to better identify their unmet needs. Marketing tools such as the internet or television that are very popular and easily accessible can be employed to reach the targeted consumers. Advertisements in this particular case are very effective. When marketing a luxury brand, there is need to consider the actual reason why

Administrative Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Administrative Law - Essay Example mining the grounds for judicial review and, through case law, determining when the doctrine of ultra vires has been used as well as the common law theory. It should then be possible to reach a conclusion as to which approach is more convincing. Judicial review is the method used for challenging an alleged misuse of power by a public body1. An application for judicial review can be brought by anyone who has been affected by the alleged misuse of power. In order for someone to seek a review they must be of the opinion that the public has acted ultra vires or in breach of the law of natural justice. This can be established by proving that the public body had done something for which it had no legal authority in statute or common law2. Problems occurred in the case of R (on the application of Heather) v Leonard Cheshire3 were the Court of Appeal held that the authority was not performing a public function when they made their decision, and therefore could not be subject to judicial review. Applicants for a judicial review must make an application to the High Courts for leave to be granted a judicial review. Applications must be made within 3 months from when the grievance occurred, and the applicant must have sufficient interest in a matter to which the legislation relates and it must be a public law issue. The courts have occasionally granted leave to appeal even if one of the conditions for review has not been satisfied4. Where the courts consider that the interest of the applicant is insufficient they can refuse to grant a remedy5. Before leave to appeal will be granted the courts have to be satisfied that the decision complained of was taken by a public body. In some instances the legislator can prevent the review of their decision through the utilisation of an ouster clause. Ouster clauses are rarely used and have only been allowed in cases were the legislation has been clearly worded6. There are 3 grounds under which judicial review can be sought. These are

Product Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Product Development - Essay Example Some of the well-informed customers often work out what improvements need to be made before other customers are aware. Some ideas are also arrived at by seeing what the products lack and rushing to bridge the gap. Sony is known for its innovative products. With Apple iPod being a big success with a market share of 80% in the digital portable media player market and sold over 30 million iPod devices by 2005. A market research of about 20,000 iPod consumers was undertaken in order to receive a feedback. The sample was random and consisted of subjects surveyed in diverse geographical areas of the UK and France. The target segment included current iPod users and future iPod purchasers as well as those who were planning to purchase a home sound system or a high-level stereo system within the next year. The fact that emerged most often was that multiple numbers of speakers were used to project sound in the room, and this was slightly frustrating and the positioning required some effort. The separate speakers like the Dolby Surround Sound 5.1 standard based speakers, required several wires to be installed and once the speakers were installed, their positions were fixed and the sound was confined to the one spot. Portability was an issue. The survey subjects welcomed the idea of a single integrated speaker doing the work of the multiple ones. Idea generation Brainstorming sessions were held to discuss the gap in the market for the Sony Speaker. With the spark for an idea generated, the cross-functional team consisting of manufacturers, market researchers, financial analysts and advertising agencies met to discuss and develop the concept. The benefits of having a cross-functional team were that it brought in expertise from all related departments. The diversity of the team members brought in different cultural viewpoints that added to decision making potential. It helped reduce inefficiencies because problems were addressed such as the dimensions of the speaker and the types of possible packaging in the initial process itself, rather than addressing them afterwards, which might have proved costly at the end of the product development process. The idea generation sessions that were on going, specific and involved, resulted in several viable alternatives. These were carefully screened to see if they aligned closely to the goals and strategy of Sony they were compatible to the existing production and packaging lines could be marketed through the current distribution channels and promotional expenditure that would be required Concept Development and Testing Careful analysis of the concept design, product/packaging prototype, justification, feasibility, delivery model was undertaken. The need for an integrated speaker replacing several speakers capable of throwing sound to various areas in the room was an interesting product idea to pursue for the Research and Development department. The product would be Sony's new spherical speaker that can be placed in the middle of a room to project sound in all directions. This would be instead of the consumer having to buy many speakers to project the sound inwards. It would include the following features: Delivers, stereo sound using reflector technology Automatic tuning receiver for reception up to 150' from the transmitter Built-in 4 watt

Cultural Perspectives in Education Essay Example for Free

Cultural Perspectives in Education Essay The word ‘Culture’ refers to civilization or human activity. It can also refer to universal human capability to categorize skills, and to train and convey them characteristically. Therefore, one can say that Culture evolves over a period of time in response to adaptive challenges. What activities are carried out, who should participate, why they are valued and the rules of interaction are coded into the cultural models. There are different ways to educate, express or reveal knowledge to a student. The student’s education very much depends upon the teacher’s philosophy of education. This philosophical point of view appears to be true that could bring a negative influence in the classroom, no matter what syllabus is designed for the student. The students possess different qualities and beliefs that teachers should realize and learn to adapt to in the classroom. If teachers are not able to go beyond the boundaries of social class, religion, race, creed, gender, sex, disability or cultural background, then the focus of the students will also turn heavily upon differences and the classification of students as special needs or underachiever, thus building insensitive pre-expectations toward students in the classroom. â€Å"The primary goal of education is to show students different points of view and encourage them to evaluate their own beliefs. The teacher should help the students to appreciate how ones observations and interpretations are influenced by social identity and background†. Chang, H. (1993). Students should be allowed to feel free to voice an opinion and empowered to defend it. A student is able to focus on and enjoy learning more when the school and classroom make him feel safe-comfortable with himself and with his surrounding. The learning situation should be made culturally neutral by keeping in mind the potential barriers and obstacles that each student may have. Taking this into account Marda Steffey (2001) suggests a four point motivational framework for culturally open teaching: 1. Establishing inclusion—norms, procedures, and structures woven together to form a learning context in which all learners and teachers feel respected by and connected to one another. 2. Developing attitude—â€Å"norms, procedures and structures that create through relevance and choice a favorable disposition among learners and teachers toward the learning experience or learning goal. 3. Enhancing meaning—norms, procedures, and structures that expand, refine, or increase the complexity of what is learned in a way that matters to learners, includes their values and purposes, and contributes to a critical consciousness. 4. Engendering competence—norms, procedures, and structures that create an understanding for learners of how they are or can be effective in learning something of personal value†. (Nawang, 1999) The main idea of the four points is that when student and teachers find themselves submerged in a unique world of the classroom, the interaction of culture is invaluable for the success of the learning process. Solomon, B. B. (1991). Teacher should recognize any biases or stereotypes in the class room, â€Å"by treating each student as an individual, and respect each student for whom he or she is. Amend any language practices or examples that exclude or degrade any group, should be aware of how students feel about the cultural climate in the classroom†. (Woolbright, 1989) A productive education must start with an awareness of these issues and some basic schemes for overcoming them. Although a variety of teachings can be fruitful, it seems especially cooperative to offer an atmosphere where students can easily hold an open discussion rather than class session in which a correct answer is required. True open discussion will send a message of authority between equal students who have something substantial to add to a common endeavor. Sharing the facts and principles of ones discipline with students is very important as that helps to prepare an environment of comfort, trust and joint respect. Therefore, such an environment makes it possible for people to exchange ideas and thoughts on complex and often terrifying issues. It opens a way for students to carry out a common ground of joint practices and respect which can bind students together and at the same time make it easier for them to understand and observe many differences. The teacher should not only establish a content of diversity but a procedure that creates and demonstrate appreciation of diversity. It is important to keep in mind that students always observe and learn their teachers’ behavior as well as their expressions. The classroom environment not only represent the fundamental value of appreciation of diversity of cultures nevertheless it also capitulate great rewards in terms of vital thinking skills, especially the aptitude to value sophisticated multiple point of views on complex rational and ethical issues. The school or college should recognize all of the various types of diversities, whether it is cultural or not. Students should understand when they go their classroom that they will be interacting with many different types of students from all walks all of life. Levinson, B. A. , and Holland, D. (1996). They should understand that they are all in this facility for a reason and that it doesn’t matter what they look like or what language they speak, they need to cooperate to make their class environment more conducive to learning. It is very unfortunate to say that not much improvement in this has been made around the world except few countries, while in rest there is still school and colleges where cultural factors are given preferences. Every discipline is influenced by the inequity of power that exists across racial and cultural groups, between genders, and among other socially created classes of difference. In spite of advances in race and cultural relations, gender equality, and religious tolerance, significant documented differences continues to exist around the world. In order to gain a true moderate education, school administration should honor diversity of cultures. It should recognize holidays of other ethnicities and always study new and interesting ways of life. The students of the respective schools and colleges should â€Å"love learning about other cultures and how they interact with one another†. (Harold, 2006) The students should be allowed to do arts and projects that are representatives of other cultures and take great pride in the fact that they now have knowledge of their brothers and sisters around the world. Educators have a responsibility to assist the people who are privileged enough to be students in becoming aware of the inequalities around them. Therefore, each educator should work to infuse each class with the diverse voices that contributed to the knowledge base of the discipline. References Chang, H. (1993) Affirming Childrens Roots: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Early Care and Education: California Tomorrow. Hodgkinson, Harold L. (2006) Education in Social and Cultural Perspectives: Prentice-Hall Levinson, B. A. , and Holland, D. (1996). The cultural production of the educated person: An introduction. In B. A. Levinson, D. Foley, and D. Holland (Eds. ), Albany: SUNY Press. Phuntsog, Nawang. Magic of culturally responsive pedagogy: In search of the Genies lamp in multicultural education. Teacher Education Quarterly, Summer 1999 Solomon, B. B. (1991) Impediments to Teaching a Culturally Diverse Undergraduate Population: Kendall/Hunt Publishing. Woolbright, C. (Ed. ). (1989) Valuing Diversity on Campus: A Multicultural Approach. Bloomington, Ind. : Association of College Unions-International.

India and UK Financial Insurance Industry Analysis

India and UK Financial Insurance Industry Analysis Chapter 1: Introduction The financial performance of insurance industry can be assessed by knowing either its strategies or by knowing its profitability. Knowledge of strategy will helps in examining internal and external position of a company. Comparative study of insurance sector is analysis of financial performance of any insurance company. This is directly linked with the earning potential and effectiveness of management strategies of a company. Choosing a wise insurance is very crucial because of, balance to the risks and returns. The reason for choosing Indian and UK insurance industry for the research is because of improved economical status of the country and increase in the value of insurance in the country during last several years. The UK Economy is the largest in Europe and is also ranked as the fifth worldwide as per the market exchange rates, in terms of GDP (Broadberry et al, 1992) were Indian economy is now improving and it is now booming growth in insurance companies were greatest effect of Indian economy during the last several years. This would need a grate deal of financial planning knowledge, as well as the knowledge about the current financial market thus it can compare the other to the insurance companies the analysis of different insurance companies from India and UK. Also insurance companies has to manage their investment in such a way that the principal amount should not erode, investor should get the assured returns those company has promised. This would involve a grate deal of knowledge about the portfolio management of the risk and return and comparative study of insurance industries. Comparative study of insurance is also a topic of hunger for many economists. Till date many researches has been carried out for comparative study of financial analysis in banking sector and very few research has been taken on insurance industry. The main purpose of the research is to find comparative study of insurance companies in India and UK. What characteristic will determine of insurance industry is the main thrust behind the research. Further research is carried out to know in depth relationship of various characteristics that will make up the of Indian and UK insurance industry. The main outline objectives of the research are as under; A Research Design is the framework or plan for a study which is used as a guide in collecting and analyzing the data collected. It is the blue print that is followed in completing the study. The basic objective of research cannot be attained without a proper research design. It specifies the methods and procedures for acquiring the information needed to conduct the research effectively. It is the overall operational pattern of the project that stipulates what information needs to be collected, from which sources and by what methods. Objectives of the research This research has been carried out to comparative study of insurance companies and analyzes financial performance between Indian and UK’s insurance companies. The main aims of the research are: To analyze financial performance of insurance companies in India and UK To evaluate factors that determine financial performance of insurance companies To carry out strategic financial analysis of insurance in India and UK The structure of the research paper is as follows: Chapter 2 reviews the literature on comparative study of insurance sector; Chapter 3 describes the subject matter of the research: the Indian and UK economy and insurance industries ; Chapter 4 outlines the methodology and data used in this study; Chapter 5 presents the analysis and Findings and Chapter 6 discusses the results obtained in the context of the underlying theory the findings of other empirical research; Chapter 7 concludes the research outlining the limitations of the current study and makes recommendations for further work. Chapter 2: Literature Review 2.1 Theory Insurance is, a contract in which one party agrees to compensate another party fir any losses or damages caused by risk identified in the contract in exchange for the payment of a lump sum or periodic amounts of money to the first party. In simple meaning facilitates recompense during crisis situations, insurance means promise of compensation for any potential future losses. Insurance is a form of risk management mainly used to hedge against the risk of a contingent loss. It is designed to protect the financial security of an individual, company or other entity in the case of unexpected loss. Insurance is defined as the realistic transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for a premium. It is a contract between two parties the insurer (the insurance company) and the insured (the person or unit seeking the cover) in which the insurer agrees to pay the insured for financial losses arising out of any unforeseen events in return for a regular payment of premium. These unforeseen events are defined as risk and that is why insurance is called a risk cover. Insurance may be described as a social device to decrease or eliminate risk of loss to life and property. Under the plan of insurance, a large number of people correlate themselves by sharing risks attached to individuals. The risks which can be insured against include fire, the perils of sea, death and accidents and burglary. Any risk contingent upon these, may be insured against at a premium commensurate with the risk involved. Thus collective bearing of risk is insurance. Analyzing insurance companies is very different from analyzing corporate and thus presents unique challenges and industry specific issues. The ability of any insurance company to meet its policy obligations is the foundation of the industry. Absent the trust of policyholders in the financial integrity of any insurer and the industry as a whole, this risk transfer mechanism/industry would collapse. This truth is even more acute in the ES industry where no guaranty funds exist, except New Jersey. However, rapid growth of Insurance sector during the situation liberalization period is seen as the most significant event in financial sector hist. in view of the fact that then, lot of changes take place in the sector as it was exposed to new challenges of competitive competition. For the first time, the private and foreign players were given entry and thus the sector saw a wonderful rate of growth in its business. A well-developed insurance sector is needed for economic development for a rising economy like India as it provides long-term funds for physical and social infrastructure progress at the same time make stronger the risk taking ability. The investment supplies for India in the upcoming years are well-known. Thus, Insurance sector, to some extent, can enable investments in infrastructure development to help maintain economic growth of the country. In this backdrop, we raise two questions: what is the contribution of insurance sector growth towards economic development and financial intermediation in India and United Kingdom. Our study does not stop here as we take a step further to examine the financial and economic growth effects of Insurance sector reforms and the rate of growth of reforms. The insurance companies offer a comprehensive range of insurance plans. The most common types include: term life policies, endowment policies, joint life policies, whole life policies, loan cover term assurance policies, unit-linked insurance plans, group insurance policies, pension plans, and annuities. General insurance plans are also available to cover motor insurance, home insurance, travel insurance and health insurance. Due to the growing demand for insurance, more and more insurance companies are now emerging insurance sector all over the world. With the opening up of the economy, several international leaders in the insurance sector are trying to venture into the insurance industry. The comparative study of insurance sector, Analysis of ratios are calculated from companys balance sheet and income statement and are used to evaluate the performance of the company in a particular reporting period. Analysis of ratios can be compared to the previous years in order to assess trends or between the comparable companies across the industry in classify to get the relative performance estimation. It is very important that every ratio should have a reference point the industry (sector) average or median. The ratio analysis works better if comparing ratios not with the complete set of companies within a particular industry, but with a preferred subset of companies that share certain features, produce the similar product, and have identical macroeconomic and governmental factors affecting them. For the study of companies, operating in several industries it can be helpful to run a cross-sectional analysis to identify a group of firms, involved in the same mix of industries. In some cases a comparison to the economy averages can be meaningful, especially in successful or constricting economies. Therefore, stable margins may be a good indicator during the recession, while the industry and economy averages are declined. It is also important to that usually conclusions can not be made from reviewing one set of ratios. That creates a necessity of a complex analysis of one set of ratios against another. The classification of the objective ratio for the comparison may require a substantial amount of work and a good judgment in order to evaluate a range of achievable and acceptable values. Although the understandable simplicity, such ratios have certain limitations that often make them most useful at identify questions to be answered rather than giving answers to them. There are multiple factors affecting and limiting comparative study of insurance sector, in particular the actual comparability of the firms and different accounting policies used by them are among the most important ones. The issue of comparability may become one the critical aspects to pay attention to while performing the analysis. Various macroeconomic or legislative factors may apply to the companies in the same industry but in different countries that sometimes makes a direct comparison inappropriate. Comparisons with other companies may become even more difficult because of different accounting policies, especially outside the US. Thus different accounting methods may result in significantly different ratio values that require normalization by the analyst. 2.2 Classification of insurance sector There are mainly two types of insurance life and non-life (general) Life insurance is concerned with making provision for specific event happening to the individual, such as death whereas General Insurance(non-life) is more commonly concerned with provision for a specific event affects properly, such as fire, flood , theft, burglary etc. The major difference between Life Insurance and General Insurance is the Principal of indemnity. Indemnity means â€Å"making good the loss† i.e. for tangible goods, one can make good for the loss that has been caused due to reasons like – theft, fire or natural disaster. Here basically we can value the exact monetary value of a commodity, but in case of life insurance the principal of indemnity does not work, since we can not value in any way the value of human life. 2.3 There are five main sectors: Life Insurance Home Insurance Auto Insurance Health Insurance Disability Insurance Section 2 (11) of Insurance Act 1938 defines Life Insurance Business as follows: â€Å"Life insurance Business is the business of effecting contracts of insurance upon human life, including any contract whereby the payment of money is assured on death or the happening of any contingency dependent on human life and any contract which is subject to the payment of premium for a term dependent on human life and shall be deemed to include.† (Mukherjee and Hanif, 2007) In simple term we define life insurance as a contract in which the insurer in consideration of certain premium, either in a lump sum or by other periodical payments, agrees to pay to the assured sum of money , on the happening of specific event contingent on the human life. 2.4 Benefits of insurance industries Life insurance has long been a staple in basic estate planning. Life insurance  can provide an income tax-free death benefit* far in excess of the premiums paid. However, much of the life insurance proceeds can be wasted if the ownership and beneficiary designations are not properly structured. Superior to Any Other Saving Plan Unlike any other savings plan, a life insurance policy affords full protection against risk of death. In the event of death of a policy holder the insurance company makes available the full sum assured to the policyholder’s near and dear ones. Encourages and Forces Thrift A saving deposit can easily be withdrawn. The payment of life insurance premiums, however, is considered sacrosanct and is viewed with the same seriousness as the payment of interest on a mortgage. Thus, a life insurance policy in effect brings about compulsory savings. Easy Settlement and Protection against Creditors A life insurance policy is the only financial instrument the proceeds of which can be protected against the claims of a creditor of the assured by effecting a valid assignment of the policy. Administering the Legacy for Beneficiaries Speculative or unwise expenses can quickly cause the proceeds to be squandered. Several policies have foreseen this possibility and provide for payments over a period of years or in a combination of installments and lump sum amounts. Ready Marketability and Suitability for Quick Borrowing A life insurance policy can, after a certain time period (generally three years) ,be surrendered for a cash value. The policy is also acceptable as a security for a commercial loan, for example, a student loan. It is particularly advisable for housing loans when an acceptable LIC policy may also cause the lending institution to give loan at lower interest rates. Disability Benefits Death is not only hazard that is insured; many policies also include disability benefits. Typically, these provide for waiver of future premiums and payments of monthly installments spread over certain time period. Accidental Death Benefits Many policies can also provide for an extra sum to be paid (typically equal to the sum assured) if death occurs as a result of accident. Tax Relief Under the Indian Income Tax Act, the following tax relief is available 20% of the premium paid can be deducted from your total income tax liability. 100% of the premium paid is deductible from your total taxable income. When these benefits are factored in, it is found that most policies offer returns that are comparable or even better than other saving modes such as PPF, NSC etc. Moreover, the cost of insurance is a very negligible. The issue of comparability may become one the critical aspects to pay attention to while performing the analysis. Various macroeconomic or legislative factors may apply to the companies in the same industry but in different countries that sometimes makes a direct comparison inappropriate. Comparisons with other companies may become even more difficult because of different accounting policies, especially outside the US. Thus different accounting methods may result in significantly different ratio values that require normalization by the analyst. Seasonality may also affect the ratios if the business is a subject to seasonal fluctuations in demand, thus year-end values may not be enough representatives and should also be normalized. Most of the ratios are preferred to be within the industry averages or economy norms. For example, all turnover ratios belong to this category. However, for some ratios the extreme deviations from the industry averages may mean that the company is highly attractive for the investors. This is usually true for all ratios dealing with income or cash flows. There are different insurance companies that offer wide range of insurance options and an insurance purchaser can select as per own convenience and preference. Several insurances provide comprehensive coverage with affordable premiums. Premiums are periodical payment and different insurers offer diverse premium options. Insurance companies may be classified into two groups: Life insurance companies (which sell life insurance, annuities and pensions products) and Non-life, General, or Property/Casualty insurance companies (which sell other types of insurance). Life insurance is concerned with making provision for specific event happening to the individual, such as death whereas General Insurance(non-life) is more commonly concerned with provision for a specific event affects properly, such as fire, flood , theft, burglary etc. The major difference between Life Insurance and General Insurance is the Principal of indemnity. Indemnity means â€Å"making good the loss† i.e. for tangible goods, one can make good for the loss that has been caused due to reasons like – theft , fire or natural disaster. Here basically we can value the exact monetary value of a commodity, but in case of life insurance the principal of indemnity does not work, since we can not value in any way the value of human life. 2.5 Introduction of insurance sector India In India, the concept of insurance was never a serious thought as compared to other countries. People still are under insured, life insurance premium to gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio is a mere 1.4% as compared to a healthier rate of 8% amongst other developing with poor state of services provided. Presently in India, the insurance sector is nationalized, services are rendered by Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and General Insurance Company (GIC) along with its 4 subsidiaries .While LIC provides life insurance, GIC is concerned with non life insurance. – Motor, marine, fire, health and personal accident insurance. LIC employs people in various departments – publicity, public relation department , development department, personal department , accounts department, legal department ,investment department , inspection department, mortgages department vigilance department, foreign department, corporate planning department, building department etc. Of late, parliament’s nod for the insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) bill has changed the whole scenario. With the passage of the bill, entry of Private Indian as well as foreign companies, a long with existing players, in the insurance sector will add variety and quality to the present insurance services. The other positive impact would be on creation of new employment opportunities. Till now employment in the insurance sector was considered akin to any government job, but now with private participation, it will assume significance importance and probably become an exciting career option. UK’s The UK Insurance sector remains a crucial contributor to the UK economy after the public, banking and manufacturing sectors. The industry accounts for approximately 10% of total UK IT expenditure, and positive growth is expected to continue for the next few years as insurance firms begin to realize the benefits to be gained from IT investment. Although the United Kingdom (UK) insurance market is now one of the five largest in the world, relatively little is known about the practices of the major firms and policy-makers which influence its operations. In particular, whilst the determinants of rating agencies’ assessments of United States (US) insurers is well documented, published studies have yet to provide comprehensive evidence about insurance company ratings in the UK. (Hardwick, P and et al, 2000) 2.6 Current scenario of insurance industry Breaking of strict monopoly of LIC was not an easy task where to an audience who spelled insurance as LIC. LIC is working for last 50n years and caved its name for itself in the Indian psyche. Insurance being long term contract, an established name means feeling of security and more importantly LIC policies come with the safety tag-the most touted government guarantee. To enter private insurers with an altogether new agency force, all ready to hawk freshly designed insurance policies. and the market scene – a government owned established insurance entity-the Life insurance Corporation with a field force of over 6,00,000agents and more than 80 products to choose from. Purchase of Insurance is a decision that determine by a number of demographic as well as personal behavior factors. Main responsible factors include Age, Income, Education, Risk, etc. Some of the important determinants as review by different scientists in their research are as under 2.7 Risk and return in industry Risk seems to be a fact of life experienced by an individual as well as by a whole organization. This risk may be economic, physical or financial. There is an increase in unexpected losses caused by natural disasters as well as accidental damage. Wealth is subject to possible loss, and therefore everyone from individual to the whole financial firm desire to invest in loss prevention activities that reduce the probability of loss (Hoffman, 2007). A sense of security may be the next basic goal after food, clothing, and shelter. There are various forms of risk is exist in the market. All the risks are differed from each other. Some risks creates a quick big impact on a business while, the impact of some risks can be seen at a long run. The risk in business is always associated with losses. Prevention and management of risk is only possible after having sufficient information regarding its intensity. Preventing and managing risk is one of the burning issues for the corporate world. The management of any company is always looking for the thing that will reduce the risk on their investment and definitely gives some output on the account of their investment. The ultimate thing that will satisfy this need is the return. Return is the proportionate sum of capital given to the investors for their investment. In other words, return is some kind of security against the investment made for any kind a business. Figure 2.1 Risks management in business Asset Market Credit Operating Business Event Liquidity Catastrophe Non-Catastrophe Risk Financial risk is mainly divided in to 2 main categories i.e. Systematic or Market risks and Unsystematic risk. The risk associated with an investment can be broadly divided into two categories based on nature and occurrence of risk. Some risks are associated with the firm, and that risks are called as firm-specific, whereas the rest of the risk is associated with market condition and generally affects all investments in whole market. The firm specific risk can be further sub-divided in to various categories. Some firm specific risks are affect s project value that is called Project specific risk and in some cases projects value is affected by the nature of competitions and that type of risks are known as Competitive risks. Some risks are affecting the value of a whole industry and so known as Industry associated risks. In some cases, all the companies in a market will affect by macro economic factors and so that type of risk is known as Market specific risk (Friend and Bicksler, 197 7). Default risk is the risk fallen on the part of financial institution or a creditors for your investments i.e. weather they are able to make a monthly return on your asset or not. To achieve short term financial goals most of the investors preferred cash investments. The only limitation with use of cash investments is that, they are unable to produce higher returns over long term as compared to other financial options. The only reason for this is cash investments are unable to adjust inflation rates. In other words cash investments are not preferable source of investment for long term project. So, what are the other options that will satisfies needs for investment of long term project. 2.8 Empirical research Economic decisions are made on both the negative as well as positive issues. Positive issue studies on insurance gradually integrated these issues via assimilating developments in the field of risk and uncertainty following works by Arrow (1963), Lewis (1989), (1953) and others. The economics on insurance demand became more attentive on evaluating the amount of risk to be shared between the insured and the insurer rather than evaluation of life or property values. Economic value judgments are made on both the normative as well as positive issues. Later studies on insurance gradually incorporated these issues via assimilating developments in the field of risk and uncertainty following works by von Neumann and Morgenstern (1947), Arrow (1953), Debreu (1953) and others. The economics on insurance demand became more purposeful when determining the amount of risk to be shared between the insured and the insurer rather than evaluation of property values. Headen and Lee (1974) studied the effects of short run financial market behaviour and consumer expectations on purchase of ordinary life insurance and developed structural determinants of life insurance demand. Morris and Barbara A (2003) study about Risk Insurance and mean study related with a Wedge between Insurers and Reinsurers, authored by credit analysts and legitimate disagreements between insurers and reinsurers about the values attributed. Criteria and claims values, insurers and reinsurers are equally concerned with the Risk. Cole et al, (2008) theoretical in observed research related to the comparative analysis between property-casualty insurance industry, studies commonly focus on either insurers or reinsurers. Richard et al (2008) give article of features a presentation and discussant comments on hurricane and wind insurance organized by Richard A., for the American Risk and Insurance Association (ARIA) 2007 Annual Meeting in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Venard et al. (2008) determine in the article of analyzes Hungarys insurance sector as an important part of the countrys economic transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. It details the historic economic development of the Hungarian insurance market from a state monopoly to a competitive. Yu, Tong et al 2008) study about Intangible assets facilitates insurers capacity to retain existing business and attract new clients. In his study it can be shows that analyze how the incentives to protect intangible assets affect asset risk-taking behaviour of property and ability insurers. Browne et al. (1993) concluded that income and social security expenditures are significant determinants of insurance demand. They further concluded that inflation has a negative correlation with demand of purchasing for insurance. Beck and Webb (2003) identified the two main services provided by life insurance: income replacement for premature death and long-term savings instruments. They further found that demographic variables, higher levels of education and greater urbanization as independent factors in explaining insurance demand. Income has been found to be having a positive association with health insurance purchase decision consistently in different studies conducted in different countries Propper (1989) in UK: Cameron, Trivedi (1988) in Australia and Hurd and McGarry (1997) in USA. Health insurance choice essentially entailed a simple decision whether or not to purchase private health insurance (Barrett and Conlon 2003). Binary discrete choice models using either logit or probit has been used to analyse determinants of this type of purchase decision. Cameron and Trivedi and Cameron (1991) specified a conditional expected utility function that is associated with alternative health care regimes. The consumer chooses the regime that maximizes expected utility. Feldstein (1973) has argued that as the price of health care increases, the demand for insurance should increase as well because this causes an increase in the risk of net worth depletion and thus an increase in the demand for insurance. Healthcare expenditure largely depends on healthcare costs. Recent research has documented that most of the secular change in health insurance coverage can be attributed to higher health care costs (Cutler et al. 2002). Zietz (2003) and Hussels et al (2005) has studied about purchasing behaviour of a customer to purchase life insurance over a period of 50 years. The research further concluded that there is a positive association observed between increase in savings behaviour, financial services industry and demand for life insurance. Beenstock et al. (1988) noted that marginal tendency to insure i.e. increase in insurance spending when income rises by 1$, differs from country to country and premium rates are varies directly with real rates of interest. Browne and Kim (1993) found from his study that income and social security expenditures are significant determinants of insurance demand; however, inflation has a negative correlation with demand of insurance. Beck et al. (2003) found out the two main services provided by life insurance: income replacement for premature death and long-term savings instruments. They considered three demographic variables i.e. young dependency ratio, old dependency ratio and life expectancy, higher levels of education and greater urbanization as independent factors in explaining insurance demand. Income is positively co-related with purchase of health insurance product, concluded from various studies conducted in different countries by Propper (1989) in UK: Cameron and Trivedi (1988) in Australia and Hurd and McGarry (1997) in USA. Barrett and Conlon (2003) concluded from their study that choice of health insurance essentially entailed a simple decision whether or not to purchase private health insurance. Binary discrete choice models using either logit or probit has been used to analyze determinants of this type of purchase decision. Cameron and Trivedi (1991) specified a conditional expected utility function that is associated with alternative health care regimes. The consumer chooses the regime that maximizes expected utility. Feldstein (1973) noted that as the price of health care increases, the demand for insurance should also increase. This is because an increase in the risk of net worth depletion. Healthcare expenditure largely depends on healthcare costs. Nyman (1999) noted that higher healthcare costs may led to higher demand for insurance in the face of rising costs. However, people belonging to different income groups are likely to respond differently to these changes. Kronick and Gilmer (1999) argue persons with low incomes and few assets buy insurance primarily to protect their health. Van De Ven and Van Praag (1981) noted that, education and income are generally positively correlated. Higher income generally decreases the opportunity cost associated with the purchase of private health insurance. Overall, increases in both income and education would be expected to lead to an increase in the probability of buying the insurance. Some studies conducted in context with the financial performance of General Insurance Companies of India. The Researcher has studied those research works which are as follows: Performance of various plans marketed by Life Insurance Corporation of India – A case study of Rajkot Division, A dissertation by Mrs.Sonal Naina evalua