During The Last Couple Of Years, Chicago Public Schools

During the last couple of years, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) have gone through many difficulties; ranging from teacher strikes to low funding, which has tremendously taken a toll on the students attending these schools. The Illinois Policy Institute, which writes to inform the public of issues affecting Illinois states, â€Å"Seventy-five percent of students at the lowest-performing elementary schools failed to meet standards on state exams. More than 20 percent of these students scored in the lowest category in reading, meaning they have a difficult time determining the main idea of a persuasive essay or the plot of a short story†¦Students at Chicago’s lowest-performing high schools drop out at nearly 12 times the rate of average Illinois†¦show more content†¦That’s according to a Fordham University marketing professor who has made an estimate†¦80 million: The number of homes that carry her new network, OWN†¦ 300,000: Average number of prime-t ime viewers who watch OWN at night†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (1). Oprah’s Empire can draw in the attention needed to help CPS become successful. By attracting the attention of the nation, the Illinois government will try harder to fix the problem, and more funding can be put in the school from private philanthropists around the nation (even from Winfrey herself). Oprah Winfrey is the best known icon of philanthropy. She has given away more than three hundred and fifty million dollars towards charity organizations also known as The Angel Network, which provides charity grants to various countries for poverty, disease, education, homelessness, and child neglect. The funding’s have helped changed the lives of many, as Ryan Haggerty from the Chicago Tribune states, â€Å"Years removed from high school and busy raising her family, Bertha Medrano figured she d never realize her dream of becoming a teacher. But thanks in large part to a $25,000 grant from Oprah Winfrey s Angel Network t o the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, the Chicago resident is just months from earning a college degree and likely teaching for Chicago Public Schools†¦Harpo doesn t track how much of Winfrey s overall giving goes to Chicago-based organizations, and it sShow MoreRelatedUnequal City : Race, Schools, And Perceptions Of Injustice Essay894 Words   |  4 Pagesone that holds different meanings for people of various backgrounds. Within the last couple of years, the news has been flooded with stories relating to racial inequality amongst minorities on college campuses and racial discrimination via the police force. On November 20th, 2015, an article released by NPR suggests that these emerging adults have been more aware of injustice because of the schools they attended during their adolescence. In this article, Carla Shedd—an assistant professor of SociologyRead MoreJohn Stanley Gacy, A Engineer And World War I Veteran1231 Words   |  5 PagesMarion Elaine Robinson, a pharmacist, and John Stanley Gacy, a mechanic and World War I veteran, were married on January 7, 1939. On March 17, 1942, the couple gave birth to their second child, and only son, John Wayne Gacy in Edgewater Hospital, Chicago Illinois. Gacy was reportedly born with a congenital heart defect, an enlarged heart. John Sr. suffered with severe alcoholism, believed to stem from his military service in World War I. As a toddler, Gacy watched his father physically abuse hisRead MoreTeacher Strike1426 Words   |  6 PagesThe impact of the 7 day Chicago Public School teacher strike is a complex problem for each stakeholder. City officials, principals, teachers, parents and children all voice their frustrations and positions regarding the teacher strike. The strike was positioned as Emanuel vs. Lewis, but Lewis was contending with a union that installed her in order to take a more active stance and Emanuel’s plan, at least from publicly, was similarly aggressive. Inevitably, Emanuel and Lewis would meet. ConsensusRead MoreCompare and Contrast Essay on Obama and Romney1499 Words   |  6 Pagesmade his first ever public speech vocalizing his disdain for the Occidental College’s policy of apartheid pertaining to South Africa. In 1981 he transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science and with a focus on international relations, he graduated with a bachelor of arts in 1983. After some years of work at two corporations and a couple more as a community organizer which I will get into later Barack began to attend Harvard Law School in 1988, where heRead MoreWalter Elias Disney s Life1216 Words   |  5 PagesWalter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. His father was Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian, who was a building contractor, and his mother, Flora Call Disney, was German-American, who was a public school teacher. Walt was one of fi ve children, four boys and a girl. He lived most of his youth in Marceline, Missouri, where he began painting, drawing, and selling pictures to neighbors and family friends. In 1911, his family moved to Kansas City, where Walt acquired a loveRead MoreWalt Disney : An American Motion Picture And Television Producer And As The Creator Of Disneyland1175 Words   |  5 Pagestelevision producer and showman, famous as a pioneer of cartoon films and as the creator of Disneyland. Early Life Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. His father was Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian, who was a building contractor, and his mother, Flora Call Disney, was German-American, who was a public school teacher. Disney was one of five children, four boys and a girl. He lived most of his childhood in Marceline, Missouri, where he began drawing, painting and sellingRead MoreLady Gaga By Stefani Joanne Jolie Germanotta1383 Words   |  6 PagesHeart, an all-girls private Roman Catholic school. She later joined CAP21 before dropping out of the school, at the age of 19 to pursue her music career. She describes her academic years as being full of dedication, studious and discipline. These are the common stuff you will certainly come across in the dailies. Peruse through some of the shocking facts about Lady Gaga mentioned below that you probably didn’t know. She was still starving until last year Lady Gaga admitted in an interview in FebruaryRead MorePresident Obama President Barack Obama1620 Words   |  7 PagesSince this is President Obama last term as president; everybody is trying to run for it now. People believe they can do a better job then President Obama. President Obama assumed the office as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009. President Obama accomplished a lot during both terms as president. President Obama has â€Å"passed health care reform and expanded national service. President Barack Obama term is coming to an end and there are some people that believe they can do betterRead MoreThe Impact of Emmett Tills Death Essay1478 Words   |  6 Pages28th, 1955. A young, African American, fourteen year old boy, Emmett Louis â€Å"Bobo† Till, was murdered in Money, Mississippi after flirting with a white woman (â€Å"Emmett Till†, 2014). Emmett Till’s story brought attention to the racism still prevalent in the south in 1955, even after attempts nationwide to desegregate and become equal. Emmett’s harsh murder and unfair trial brought light into the darkness and inequality that dominated the south during the civil rights movement. Emmett’s life was proofRead MoreWalgreens History and Background Essay1477 Words   |  6 Pagesoff his left middle finger from the top joint. This injury also stops him from playing any sports at school. After a year and a half with the drug store, Mr. Walgreen left to pursue something bigger in the big city-Chicago. Mr. Walgreen moved to Chicago in 1893, where he found at least 1,500 drug stores already competing for business. Mr. Walgreen was broke and threw a couple of pennies in the Chicago River and committed himself to his profession and a lifetime of perseverance and hard work. He did

The Romanticism Period - 1174 Words

History is the story and knowledge of the past. There are individuals that are interested by history and wish to study it by learning more. It is very informative to know what has happened in the past for self-knowledge. An individual cannot be naà ¯ve to the past including but not limited to how literature came to. One can understand literature more when they understand the time period the author wrote during and the way they wrote. There are several time periods different authors have been through with each period having specific beliefs. Romanticism is the time period that interests me the most; it was a time during the eighteenth century and focused on nature along with the individual’s expression of imagination and emotion. The†¦show more content†¦He is known as the father of Romanticism. â€Å"He believed that humans must follow ‘the promptings of our own nature’, and not be bound by social laws of politeness.† He also wrote an autobiograph y, Confessions that discusses his experience of crossing the Alps alone on foot; Confessions is a perfect example of his Romantic passion, for example, â€Å"I need torrents, rocks, firs, dark woods, mountains†¦ to make me afraid† (King 11). Smart is recognized as an original poet and forerunner of the Romantics, â€Å"best known is his loving itemization of the qualities of his cat, a classically Romantic appreciation of a being that rejoices in being itself and living for the day.† Chatterton inspired Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Shelley because of his determination to seek his life in London although he was depressed and died at a young age. He was a product of youthful genius. Coleridge describes him as â€Å"the marvelous Boy, the sleepless Soul that perished in his pride.† Chatterton’s early death is also said to be a â€Å"Romantic foreshadowing of the early deaths of all three of the second generation of Romantic poets† (King 13-15). Go dwin was an atheist and believed humans could improve themselves without institutions or laws. His daughter was Mary Godwin, who married Percy Shelley. She wrote Frankenstein, which is known as a Gothic novel in Romanticism (King 16). The period also developed lyrical ballads, short poems that express personalShow MoreRelatedRomanticism: 19th Century and Time Period785 Words   |  4 PagesWebsters dictionary states the definition of Romanticism as a movement in literature and art during the late 18th and early 19th centuries that celebrated nature rather than civilization. Romanticism was a movement that helped generated other movements, but brought a new form of literature that was well embraced during the 18th and 19th centuries. Romanticism started during the end of the 18th century as politics and society were changing in Europe. Gaps were growing farther and farther apartRead More Literary Analysis of the Enlightenment Period and Romanticism1461 Words   |  6 Pagesnineteenth centuries, the literary world witnessed the birth of the Enlightenment and Romantic Periods. There were similarities as well as very notable differences between the two. There were also two prominent voices that gained notoriety during each of these two periods. Voltaire is considered to be the pioneer of the power of reason and Rousseau is looked upon as a legendary figure of Nineteenth Century Romanticism. This analysis will evaluate the two eras, both writers and a literary piece. The EnlightenmentRead MoreNature Trhough Romanticism and Victorian Period2582 Words   |  11 PagesCOMPARATIVE OF WORDSWORTH AND TENNYSON: LIFE, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL EVENTS AND WORKS. NATURE TRHOUGH ROMANTICISM AND VICTORIAN PERIOD         Ã‚  Ã‚  In this paper, I’m going to compare the two great poets there is in each period that we have study: William Wordsworth as a Romantic poet and Lord Tennyson as a Victorian one. I’m going to compare their life, works and the political and social context in which they were involved because I want to demonstrate why they were the most important poets in their respectiveRead MoreThe Romanticism Period By William Cullen Bryant880 Words   |  4 PagesFirst of all, the Romanticism Period is all about the ideas of nature, beauty, fantasy, and love, not necessarily having to do with a boy and a girl. As for Realism behind all the weird and beautiful ideas to live happily ever after, the people realized the problems were not fixed with the Civil War. Therefore, the people started to convert into Realism seeing the world focusing on details, facts, and the people. The two periods follow each other because the time the world came to a revolution whichRead MoreThe New A merican Literature : The Period Of Romanticism Essay1265 Words   |  6 PagesThe New American Literature The period of Romanticism, occurring between the years 1800 and 1860, left a significant impact on not only the literature of that time, but the literature of today as well. Prior to romantic writings, the world focused on society and logic. Romanticism allowed people to start valuing individualism and to appeal to emotional responses. This new way of thinking brought new literary styles, themes, and genres that were never explored before and are still found today. TheRead MoreEssay on Neoclassical Art Period vs Romanticism Art Period1046 Words   |  5 Pages   Neoclassical   Art   Period    Romanticism   Art   Period    RIWT   Task   1       Swinford,   Beth    8/23/2012                Neoclassical Art Period The Neoclassical art period overlapped with the 18th century Age of Enlightenment and continued into the early 19th century. Neoclassicism left almost no feature of visual culture untouched. This was regardless of the realistic and hypothetical connections to the classical tradition of WesternRead MoreEssay on An Analysis of the Renaissance and Romanticism Art Periods1241 Words   |  5 PagesA1. Earlier Historical Art Period In the early 1300s, Europeans began to shed the dark and oppressing mindsets of the Middle Ages. This sparked a revolution that would begin in Italy and spread throughout Europe, and is known today as the Renaissance. The word Renaissance literally (and fittingly) means ‘rebirth’ – making it a fitting title for a period where interest in learning, philosophy, and the classical arts were ‘reborn’. Where the Middle Ages took the meaning out of the arts – usingRead MoreThe Period Called Romanticism: Representations of Terror in Literature2051 Words   |  9 PagesThe period called Romanticism appeared as a reaction against the fixed standards of neoclassicism which emphasized reason and logic, and in this way, Wordsworth, in the preface of his Lyrical Balads claimed for a imaginative approach to nature and the overflow of feelings. Thus, English writers of the Romantic period believed individualism as being the most important feature; they valued subjectivity, imagination, and the expression of emotions over rational thought as a true source of aestheticRead MoreRomanticism : The Age Of Reason1210 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"To say the word Romanticism is to say modern art - that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.† – Charles Bauldaire. Romanticism is a type of style of writ ing in fine arts and literature that focuses on passion imagination and intuition rather than emphasizing on reason and logic. There are no restraints or order in Romanticism; complete spontaneous actions are welcome in this style of writing. Romanticism, or also knownRead MoreRomanticism in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake1393 Words   |  6 PagesRomanticism in William Blakes Poem William Blake was a poet, painter, and a printmaker all during the period in literature known as the Romantic time period. The Romantic time period, also known in Literature as Romanticism began in Europe, mainly France and Britain around the 1800s (Barker) and it was first defined as a tool to in literature and literary criticisms (Galitz). The Romantic period did not just focus on literature, but also on the subjects of art and knowledge which was fueled

What Is Poetry free essay sample

Poetry really has no set definition. Trying to define poetry can be very difficult as poetry doesn’t have a clear definition. It can be defined as the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings. But to me Poetry is just simply writing about something that you’re are passionate about or something that you are interested about, or a subject that deeply inspires your feelings about a subject. I think a could example of poetry being writing about something your are passionate about and about a subject that deeply inspires feelings about the subject is a poem called the â€Å"Root Cellar† by Theodore Roethke. Theodore Roethke had a personal relationship with the subject of this poem, this is the reason for the deep and vivid details of this poem. I like this poem because the subject of a cellar of roots for a greenhouse has personal ties to the author’s child hood as his father and uncle were owners’ of a local greenhouse. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is Poetry? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Theodore was constantly around the family greenhouse that is why this poem has so much meaning and he uses vivid details to create the imagery of the root cellar that once apart of his life. Roethke uses great details to describe the details of the root cellar. He says, â€Å"Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as ditch† this line he uses to describe the overall feeling of the cellar that it was cold, dark and wet. This is how it felt when Theodore walked in the cellar. Another great line that describes the imagery in this poem is the line, â€Å"Hung down long yellow evil necks, like tropical snakes. I particularly like this line because it gives you a good visual of what it looks like in one of these root cellars with the stringy yellowish roots hanging down. I think some reason for Roethke’s strong imagery is that the root cellar was a big part of his childhood. The subject of the root cellar was a subject that inspired some deep feelings from Theodore Roethke, probably about his father who past away from cancer when Theodore was just fifteen, or his uncle who committed suicide around the same time his father died, both who owned the greenhouse. My definition of a poem is writing about something you feel strong, passionate, and a subject you have great feeling towards. I feel the poem â€Å"The Cellar† by Theodore Roethke strongly represents this definition because the cellar that Roethke writes about represents the cellar to his family’s greenhouse that his father and uncle owned who both past away when Roethke was young. I thin this event contributes to the strong imagery in this poem.

Rijecima danskog filozofa Sorena Kierkegaarda ,Nas Essays

Rijecima danskog filozofa Sorena Kierkegaarda ,Nas zivot je rezultat nasih dominantih misli". Kakve su to nase dominantne misli? Da li su istinite, tacne i azurne, ili su, kao Sigismundu, indoktrinisane, isprane i lazne. Da li mi u ovom spektru ,istine", koji nazivamo zivotom, pod kontrolom sila jacih od nas, vidimo sve boje tog spektra? Nama, kroz masovno kontrolirane medije, koji su nam iz tog razloga, pristupacniji neko ikome ikad u historiji, rijeci lazova, pobjednika, manijaka moci zednih nam se kao zavjesa pred ocima njise. Ta zavjesa, crvena od krvi jadnika poginulih kako bi je poderali, nam sakriva skoro nedostiznu istinu iza sebe. Rekoh, ,skoro nedostiznu". Sigismund je jadan i zeljan istine. Da li ga mozemo kriviti zbog njegove histerije nakon saznanja istine? Jer u rijecima Platona ,Ljudsko ophodjenje proizilazi iz tri izvora, a to su zelja, emocije i svijest (znanje)". A znamo kakva je bila Sigismundova osvijest. Mi sanjamo, spavamo. A kada je vrijeme za budjenje? Kada ce mo zagledati sta se nalazi iza crvene zavjese, te tanke barijere do istine? Kada cemo da prestanemo biti stado ovaca, kojima se kroz razne izvore lazne istine govori: sta cemo danas da radimo, kako cemo danas da se ophodimo, koga cemo da antagoniziramo, a kome da se privrzimo, u sta da vjerujemo, u sta da ne vjerujemo? Naime, Sigismund je, kao i mi, otudjen od istine, a vjerujte mi, ta istina je eminentno neprocjenjiva. Dobri ljudi su lazima demonizirani, a te lazi niko ne pokusava da ispita. Sad je to nas izbor, da li cemo da se probudimo, ili cemo da spavamo. Da pokusamo da otkrijemo te tajne, a vjerujte mi, ko zeli, moze ih otkriti. Ko tu istinu otkrije slobodan je da sam kuje svoje misljenje, ideologiju, perspektivu, baziranu na istinitim cinjenicama. Do kad cemo zivjeti u toj tudjoj kovacnici, gdje drugi, losi ljudi, nam kuju lazi, a mi ih, prihvacamo i percepciramo kao istinu. Ali nama, kao i u Sigismundu, je ziv jedan dio, koji zna istinu, koji zeli da zna jos, koji zna da zi vot nije san, nase druge oci, koje su potisnute kako nama od strane svijeta i medija, tako i Sigismundu od strane Bazilija i zidova tamnice. Mi smo nasa vojska, na nama je porazimo ,Bazilija" i srusimo zidove, okove istine. Sve dok su te oci, taj jedan istinoljubivi dio nas potisnut, potcinjen, gusen, nama, covjecanstvu je 5 minuta do ponoci. Nase spavanje, sanjarenje gusi taj jedan dio. Da li cemo spavati, da li ce nam zivot biti san, da li cemo dopustiti da budemo indoktrinisani, jer sve do trenutka dok se ne predamo snu, toj indoktrinaciji, nasih zadnjih 5 minuta je proslo, ponoc je dosla, a dan se vise nece vratiti.

College is called Da Xue in Chinese. †Education Essay

College is called Da Xue in Chinese. – Education Essay Free Online Research Papers College is called Da Xue in Chinese. Education Essay Da means big or great. I believe that college is a place of greats, such as great masters or minds, great ideas or principles, great traditions or histories. Without considering these kind of Das, some people take the view that just some big money or big buildings can make up a great college. How crazy! And Xue means study or follow. In a real college, we do our study by follow the other great brains. First of all, Xue is personal –– when a free man study, however ignorant he is, he is of his own. If someone is forced to learn, he may be the slave of knowledges, for he never have the chance to experience the wonderful feeling of independent thinking by which a free man develops his personality naturally. Nowadays many people hate study partly because our schools are always the best-killers of passions and pleasures of learning process. Sometimes I cannot help but thinking that our schools are barely the right places where you can buy a diplomat with your vitality, your green time, your childlike simplicity†¦ Do you want to make the deal? Secondly, Xue is to follow –– If you found a wise man who, to a degree, can help you to develop your own way of studying and prevent you from wasting up your time and energy due to going so far away in the wrong direction, I would say congratulations to you. The word college has its Latin root –– collegium, which means society. In another word, college is a academic society. The word academy is from Greek , which is the name of a public garden where Plato and his students lived and studied together for some years and is also regarded as the first college in the world. Therefore, in my opinion, college is a place or society where provide golden opportunities for us to argue with and learn from each other. Nobody have the right to declare that it is only he that hold the truth in his palm. The essence of college is freedom. No freedom, No college. From my point of view, There is no great college in China now. A great college or university must be a regional or worldwide academic center, which can influence the world. As a member of the new generation of China, I feel ashamed of it. With our hard work, maybe in the foreseen future there will be a great college in China that will make as many contributions to human race as those famous ones in the foreign countries. Research Papers on College is called Da Xue in Chinese. - Education EssayHip-Hop is ArtPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyStandardized TestingDefinition of Export QuotasCapital PunishmentInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenWhere Wild and West MeetThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

How to become a veterinary receptionist

How to become a veterinary receptionist Healthcare careers are a hot ticket these days- but that’s not just human healthcare. The veterinary industry is also growing, with job openings in clinics and facilities that take care of our furry (and aquatic/scaly/feathered) friends. If you find yourself more drawn to animal patients than human patients, then becoming a veterinary receptionist could be a good option for your administrative career.What does a veterinary receptionist do?A veterinary receptionist’s job is pretty similar to most receptionist jobs. These administrative professionals may be responsible for being the face of the veterinary office, handling the daily traffic in and out of the practice.A veterinary receptionist’s day-to-day responsibilities may include:Answering phone callsScheduling appointmentsGreeting patients (and their humans)Arranging for follow-up careTaking patient informationUpdating and filing patient chartsAssisting with pet supply purchasesProcessing payments and insurance informationMaintaining the waiting roomVeterinary receptionists often work standard full-time hours, though nights and weekends may be required for emergency vets or animal hospitals that provide round-the-clock care.What skills do veterinary receptionists need?Veterinary receptionists need to have a combination of administrative skills and clinical knowledge, since they’re working in a medical environment.Skill with animals:Â  This is a must, given the nature of the daily work of a veterinary receptionist. You don’t have to love all creatures great and small, but it helps- and being afraid of patients who come through the door can lead to more stress and unhappiness than you would want out of your job.Skill with people:Â  Yes, animals are the patients, but they almost always come with humans in tow- humans who may be nervous wrecks about their animal family members’ health concerns. Being friendly and customer service-oriented is a very helpful skill for vet erinary receptionists to have, even when the focus is on the animals.Knowledge of medical/veterinary terminology:Â  A veterinary receptionist should be well-versed in the medical terms and general knowledge that is specific to the vet’s office. The receptionist is often taking down preliminary information about a patient’s condition and recording it in a chart, so there needs to be a strong base of knowledge about pet care and animal medical needs.Organizational skills:Â  Depending on the size of the veterinary practice, the receptionist may be the only front-line defense for the entire office. That means being able to organize all incoming information (like phone calls, messages, appointments, arriving patients, etc.) in a way that helps the practice run smoothly.Tech-savviness:Â  Like any modern medical practice, a vet’s office increasingly relies on digital technology to make appointments, store patient information, and handle incoming calls. The veterinar y receptionist should be able to tackle things like email, digital record management, and digital or multi-line phone systems in order to do the job efficiently.What do you need to become a veterinary receptionist?A high school degree is typically sufficient for this job, although some veterinary receptionists also have some schooling or degrees in an administrative or animal-related field. Direct experience working with animals is a major asset if you’re looking for a job in this field.How much do veterinary receptionists make?According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, receptionists in general make a median annual salary of $27,920, or $13.42 per hour.What’s the outlook for veterinary receptionists?Receptionist jobs in general are expected to grow about 9% by 2026 (about average), per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, healthcare-specific careers, including veterinary roles, are expected to grow at a much faster rate, so this specialty is expected to grow faster than average as well.One of the best things about a job in the healthcare industry is that you can find a niche for your interests and experience. And if you’ve always liked animals a little more than humans (it’s okay to admit that here!), becoming a veterinary receptionist could be a great way to parlay your administrative skills into a job where you get to greet and pet dogs and cats every day.

Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Finance - Essay Example Overview The term liquidity refers to the ability of the firm to cover its debt obligations through its liquid assets, without incurring a large loss. For example, if a firm wants to repay its outstanding commercial paper obligation of one month, then it might issue new commercial papers instead of selling its assets (The Economist 2001). Thus, liquidity risk involves the inability of the firm to meet its current and its future collateral needs and cash flows, without affecting the overall financial operations of the firm (FRBSF 2010, 1). The financial firms are generally sensitive regarding funding the liquidity risks, as transforming debt maturity such as purchasing assets with the short-term deposits, funding the long-term loans or debt obligations, are the major business areas. As a response to the liquidity risk, the financial firms generally maintain and establish a system for liquidity management. This system helps in assessing the prospective requirements of funds and also en sures that the funds are accessible during the appropriate time. Before moving on to discuss the solutions firms prepare to meet out the liquidity risks, we will discuss the types of liquidity risk that prevails (Nikolaou 2009, 10-11). Figure 1 Source: (Fiedler 2002). There are two types of liquidity risks that would be discussed in this study, namely: a) Market Liquidity Risk, and b) Funding Liquidity Risk. The Market Liquidity Risk means that the assets cannot be sold in the market due to constraints in liquidity in the market. It can be due to widening of the offer spread, expansion of holding period, or making unambiguous liquidity reserves. The Funding Liability Risk means having risk when the liabilities cannot be met, when they are due, can be met when the price is uneconomic, or is systematic. There are different situations or causes due to when liquidity risk can be assessed. The situation when not a single buyer is available in the market to trade for an asset or assets, l eads to liquidity risks. Liquidity risk can be denoted as a financial risk which occurs due to uncertain liquidity. Liquidity risks might arise when the credit ratings of the firm falls, or when it experiences a sudden outflow of cash (Drehmann, and Nikolaou 2009, 4-5). The recent disintegration of several huge financial institutions reveals the critical nature of the liquidity risks and also depicts the critical role that it plays for the regulators, globally. The Bank of International Settlements (BIS) was among the first to adopt the comprehensive regime of testing liquidity risk and protecting the institutional stakeholders. The Financial Service Authorities (FSA) has also issued policy statement PS09/16, for strengthening the liquidity standards. Liquidity risk can be regarded as both eccentric as well as systematic. It plays a crucial role for the banking entities and the other industries too. Liquidity risks may vary between assets, liability and time. It includes the institu tional stakeholders like the creditors, debtors, owners, etc (Oracle Financial Services 2009, 2-4). Risk Measurement The recent fluctuations in the financial market included the payment system and several banking processes which are directly related to short-term forecasting. The control system should be such so that it can measure the liquidity risks and the performance with relation to the models utilized for market and credit risks.

Focus on the furure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Focus on the furure - Essay Example In having the skills used by the military, a lot of people may be subjected to mishandledment by the police (Scafer, 2007). Ever since 9/11, a lot of situations that policing have become seen doing involved using techniques from the military when dealing with internal operations. The police force has become forced to start adopting means used by the military in the past years in order to sharpen the way in which they handle people. With the increase in terrorism levels in the country, the police force had to learn some means of handling situations like those used by the military (Scafer, 2007). What is the relationship between police education and training, why is it seen as a critical matter for the future of policing, and what support becomes raised by Buerger for college-educated police officers to meet the needs of the future? Police education becomes defined as a process of acquiring or imparting particular or general police-related knowledge which leads to obtaining a given academic degree. Police training can be defined as acquiring or imparting skills or knowledge necessary for police work and does not lead to any issuance of degree, but can have some form of certificate (Smith, 2007). Both prove to improve the quality of policing. An educated, and a well trained police handle situations presented to him or her in a more orderly way as he or she understands the rights of the person arrested (Wright,

The World That We Live in Essay Example for Free

The World That We Live in Essay Not long ago the law of the jungle prevailed â€Å"kill or be killed†. Barbarism was at its heinous best. Darwin’s theory of â€Å"survival of the fittest† was apt for those times. The smaller animals were at the mercy of the bigger ones and the latter were at the mercy of the biggest and so on. Evolution continued and finally we are today at a position of being called the ultramodern man who has lots and lots of knowledge and education, robots and gadgets to assist him. He has every comfort that one can think of ! He can traverse the longest of distances in minutes, view matches and ceremonies being conducted thousands of kilometres away in his bedroom and so on because the list seems endless. But I have a serious concern†¦.i sometimes wonder whether we are still in the same precarious situation as our ancestors were? Is there any similarity between those times and the era that we live in? And my answer would unfortunately be â€Å"yes†. I have come to the conclusion after long hours of brainstorming and analysis. There is ample proof of this in our daily newspapers and television’s breaking news! How else do you justify the acts of crime and violence in the name of sex, caste, religion, panchs, fatwas, state, country, political parties etc. Hooliganism in any form for any cause should not be tolerated but it is being given wings to fly in our present day society. Everyday we have some slogans by our leaders (religious and political) which vent venom at somebody else and we are misguided. Everyday a son kills his parents or a girl is tortured for dowry. Everyday we find a minister being charged of fund misappropriation worth many crores. Everyday there are stories of gang war and shootouts for â€Å"supari†. We are living in a very dangerous era where this ugly problem is gathering tremendous momentum as it is sliding downhill and is threatening to wipe out the very progress made by man since existence. Hence I am very scared as a child. My fear is will man destroy himself? Will this world come to an end because of man’s inner insecurity and his own undoing? What is the need to develop nuclear warfare? What is the need to spread religious hatred and communal disharmony? Can’t we live in peace and harmony with a sense of eternal brotherhood? I pray god almighty to make every human sane enough to understand the motto of life and to lead it peacefully with love for others. Life is precious. We have made enough progress and we are making too. So let us not destroy ourselves,  rather live together and make this world a better place to live in.

A Poverty Stricken Paradise - Original Writing :: Papers

A Poverty Stricken Paradise - Original Writing On arrival in a small village called Wamba in Northern Kenya, the first thought that struck me as I stepped out of the Land Rover was the intensity of the midday sun blazing down upon me. As I took in the sights around me, a huge crowd of inquisitive children appeared from their huts and flocked towards the vehicle. So many happy faces in such a deprived village. This image will stay in my mind forever. To experience what life was really like in this small, but highly populated village, I stayed in a basic hotel among the villagers. The hotel was not a five star, luxury hotel, but was simply a bed and an integrated shower and squat toilet. For the villagers this would have been luxurious, as they lived in mud huts using whatever discarded plastic materials they could find to act as a roof. For me, this was like taking a trip back to the Stone Age. Everything was so basic. The most extraordinary view was one child's favourite toy. This was not some computer game, but an old car tyre. The poverty that these people were enduring was overwhelming, yet they were so happy with what little they had. The smiles on their faces were there constantly, even though they may not have eaten for many days due to the continuing drought that was affecting the area. When I asked one woman how she coped with not eating for so long, she replied, "When I feel hungry, I tighten my belt." This was horrific to hear, but for her it was a way of life. Because of the ongoing drought, water was becoming very scarce. To such an extent that their beloved cows and goats, which were their sign of wealth, were starting to die, leaving their owners with no food and no milk to drink. This leaves the people frail, but they are still both physically and mentally strong. The best example that showed this was one small boy, around twelve years old, carrying a

Romeo and Juliet vs Wesi Side Story

Rooney 1 Samuel Rooney Danielle Cornum English 9 30 January 2012 Similarities and Differences of Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story No one goes through all of life without the knowledge of these two timeless classics: West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet. These films are each a great literary work that defines the true meaning of life, sorrows and love. We all have knowledge of Shakespeare’s original Romeo and Juliet. In 1957 Leonard Bernstein created a Broadway Musical with a plot similar to Romeo and Juliet.As well as this film, Baz Luhrmann created a film in 1996 using the exact play write from the original Romeo and Juliet set in modern times. Luhrmann entitled his film simple, Romeo and Juliet. These two timeless tales can be compared in many ways, such as: the differences and similarities Romeo and tony, the differences and similarities of each of the fighting scenes, and the differences and similarities of the wedding scene. Rome and Tony are two of the most complex c haracters in all of literature. They can be compared and contrasted in many ways.The two different characters each have their very own attitude, this sets them apart but also brings the similarities out. â€Å"Ay me! Sad hours seem long. Was that my father that went hence so fast? (Lit Book) when you first come upon Romeo he is sad and lovesick. On the contrary when you first come upon Tiny he is very upbeat and joking Rooney 2 with his friends; two very different attitudes. The actions of these two are also very good examples of comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story. What shall this speech be spoken for our excuse? Or shall we go on without apology? † (Lit Book) Romeo is very reluctant to go to the party, he is nervous and scared. On the contrary, Tony is happy and excited to go the party, he welcomes the challenge to meet new women. Last but not least both Rome and Tony are hopeless Romantics, and there is no cure for such a disease as romanticism. â€Å"It is I my lady. Oh, it is my love! Oh, that she knew she were! (Lit Book) they both have a very potent form of love. They cannot get over Juliet in Romeo’s case and Maria in Tony’s case.Hopeless Romanticism is the most common similarity that Tony and Romeo have. Many more similarities and differences can be found, these are the main points that have been brought to attention for this particular essay. Many think that these two fighting scenes are straight forward and not complex, but on the contrary there are many similarities and differences. In Romeo and Juliet the fighting scene is somewhat of a duel, and not a full on combat such as in West Side Story. â€Å"Romeo, the love I bear for thee can afford. No better term than this: thou art a villain. † In Romeo and Juliet Tybalt challenges

Celta Assignment- Lesson from the Classroom

We are almost half way through the CELTA course and it is admirable that all of us have had such a tremendous growth curve. Personally, I know I have become much more confident about standing in front of a classroom full of students and talking about different aspects of English language. I discovered the very first day that it was important to establish a good rapport with the students and be comfortable talking with them.I learned it was also important to engage students in conversation rather than assume the role of a traditional teacher. When Guy commented on September 13, after my first lesson, that I established a good rapport with the students and marked my performance on â€Å"building/maintaining a good rapport† above the standard, I felt more comfortable from the second lesson onwards. I think I also did well in class management from the beginning. I made sure I kept all students involved in the ongoing activity.In the third week, Guy as well as my peers commented th at I dealt well with the student arriving late, and also another student asking a question which I did not know the answer to but confidant enough to use my ipad to search for the correct answer and gave it to her. I think my class management skills have only improved since then. Also on October 4, my forth lesson, Gui wrote: â€Å"well done† in the additional notes on my ability to focus accurately and clearly on specific lexis and grammar (meaning, form, phonology) and to include effective use of the white board or other visual support.Guy also commented on my first lesson TP feedback that I did a good job explaining some difficult lexis i. e. effortless, lean meat†¦ I think I have developed adequate skills to teach lexis. (300) I haven't done a very good job at providing productive practice to students because I don't time my lessons too well. During my first and third lesson, students didn't have enough time for speaking or even practicing the grammar thought at the end of the lesson.In my TP feedback on September 13, Guy suggested that I should give students a â€Å"restrict time limit† to avoid wasting so much time on every task. Gui also commented in my TP feedback from my third lesson, on September 27, that although I was able to contextualize well but not economically and consequently not enough time for even a controlled practice. However, I feel the area I really need to develop and work on in future is my lesson planning. Since the beginning of the course, I have never felt comfortable with my lesson plans and it has not improved yet.The lack of detailed information is still there, even in my latest lesson plan. I’ve been advised by both Guy and Gui to include more information in my plans about analyzing the language used in each lesson and identifying potential problems and how to respond to them. Another area that I am very self-conscious of is my own oral and written language. I am not an English native speaker and I co nstantly think that I may use inaccurate language when I am speaking in the class.As Guy has drawn my attention to this point in my stage one progress record on September 22, I need to provide accurate and appropriate models of both oral and written language in the classroom. (270) I must add that I have gained a lot by observing both experienced and CELTA trainee teachers. I think I have gained most by observing my CELTA colleagues. I have learnt from their mistakes and picked up many good techniques from them. Observing Guy in the first week of the class was a big bonus. He was so much at ease in class, so much at home.He made the students feel comfortable and involved his Intermediate English students in the process of teaching and learning. His lesson thought me it is very important to have an interesting lead in and connect it smoothly into the main aim of the lesson. It was also great to observe Hayley because it showed how exciting a grammar practice can be to students. Hayle y prepared a police-thief game for the students to investigate a crime using present perfect tense. I found it a very effective method of practicing the language for students and at the same time they enjoyed speaking English.I learned about collocation when I observed John’s and Martina’s lesson on lexis. John allowed the students to speak about different types of relationships and elicited the words that go side by side together such as: ‘married to’ or ‘mother-in-law’. Martina also did the same with eliciting the focus lexis which were comparative and superlative adjectives. Observing James made me realize the effect of proper use of voice when he used his firm voice to say: ‘liar’ while instructing a complicated game. (250) Total word count: 820

Project Appraisal to Working Capital Essay Example

Project Appraisal to Working Capital Essay Example Project Appraisal to Working Capital Essay Project Appraisal to Working Capital Essay GOI came out with a new textile policy that outlines the direction of policy reforms to be followed in near term. The steps outlined in the policy are geared mainly towards removing the bias in policy towards the small scale sectors and promoting modernization. Technical Feasibility Location and site The site chosen for the cotton spinning unit is in Gujarat which has many advantages such as ? Project located in well developed industrial area where land availability and conversion of land and getting necessary approval is easy. ?Low labor cost ?Easy availability of skilled and semi skilled labor ?Favorable industrial environment ?One of the new textile hub in India ?Peaceful labor environment ?All infrastructural facilities such as roads, natural gas for power plant and effluent discharge facility with water. Technology and Manufacturing process The company has initiated the process of setting up world class integrated textile plant in order to make it one of the leading textile companies in the country. The adoption of new and latest technology will transform their manufacturing process into an efficient mode. NC textiles proposes to set up a spinning unit with a capacity of 52224 spindles, fully automated with almost non touch manufacturing process, automation would also reduce the number of workmen resulting in non dependence on workmen. The report explains the entire manufacturing process in detail and how the production would be carried out. Availability of raw materials Cotton: The main raw material for the plant is cotton which is easily available in Indian markets at reasonable prices. Fuel: Company has made provisions to establish captive power plants of matching requirements. The supply line of gas is already available. Power: The power demand for the spinning unit has been estimated to be about 4 MW. The power requirements will be met by installing a 4 MW gas based captive power plant by the company itself. Firefighting: Appropriate equipment and gadgets such as carbon dioxide and dry powder extinguishers are considered. Plant lighting: The entire plant area, work shed will be provisioned with adequate luminous lighting as per laid down industry standards. Further, all internal transport routes and general working areas are provided with adequate lighting. Pollution control measures The provision of water treatment plant and effluent treatment plant of matching capacities has been made to recover and recycle the water and minimize the water requirement. Financials Project cost and Means of Finance The total cost of the project is estimated to be 211 crores which will be financed through DER of 2. 2. The company proposes to bring in additional capital from its existing operations amounting to 60 crores which becomes the part of promoter’s contribution. The table below gives the project cost and means of finance: ParticularsCotton spinning unit at Gujarat (Rs lacs) Location XYZ Capacity 52224 spindles Cost of project Land 500 Building 2050 Plant and machinery13978 Misc. fixed assets2207 Total 18 735 Preliminary expenses375 Interest during construction1281 Contingency expenses335 Margin money for working capital380 Total 2410 Grand total21100 Means of finance Internal sources6000 Term loan15100 Grand total21100 From the above table, it can be concluded that the cost of the project has been estimated to be around 21100 lacs which the company is planning to finance through debt of Rs 15100 lacs and equity of Rs 6000 lacs. The DER for the project comes to around 2. 52. Overall comments on plant and machinery The cost of entire plant and machinery is estimated at 13978 lacs inclusive of freight, insurance, and taxes including custom duty. The suppliers for most of the equipments have already been finalized after suitable negotiations. The comparative analysis related to the cost of plant and equipment has found to be comparable with other projects of similar capacity. Finally, the proposed plant, machinery and equipments are suitable for the envisaged production capacity and incorporate the well established and proven technology. Breakeven analysis As per the estimates, the company is to achieve breakeven point at the sales of Rs 7137 lacs at the capacity utilization of 90% in the year 2014. This is illustrated in the following table (Rs in lacs) Capacity 90 % (2014)Variable (%)Fixed (%)Variable costsFixed costs Sales (A)10499 Expenses Raw materials3929100%3929 Power and fuel713100%713 Wages 35080%20%28070 Factory overheads24280%20%19349 Adm. Expenses20880%20%16642 Interest 1794100%1794 Depreciation 1592100%1592 Total 88275281 (B)3547 Contribution (A- B)5218 Breakeven (sales)7137 Break even (capacity)67. 98% DSCR calculation DSCR helps to understand the debt servicing capability of the company. Generally, higher the ratio, greater is the ability of the company to pay its debt. The project of cotton spinning unit will start its commercial operations in 2013 and start generating revenue. The profit that will be generated will first be used to pay off its debts in the form of installments and interest. This ratio forms a crucial part from banker’s point of view as it helps the bank to know the financial status of the company in near future. The profits generated in future are calculated based on certain assumptions which are the used to calculate DSCR (Rs in Lacs). Year ending 31 march20132014 EBITDA46955058 PAT549947 Depreciation18291829 Deferred tax liability189182 Interest19071657 Total44744616 Interest19071657 Installment18881888 Total37943544 DSCR1. 181. 30 ISCR2. 52. 79 The above table shows two ratios DSCR (debt service coverage ratio) which seems to be reasonable and it can be said that the company will be able to service its debt without any difficulty. ISCR (interest service coverage ratio) tells the ability of the company to pay the interest on debt on time. The above values of this ratio seem to be satisfactory without causing any problem to the com pany. Normally, the above ratios are calculated for the entire period of debt (period for which the debt service is availed) and the average of these ratios is considered for bank’s purpose. Management The project is being promoted by one of the largest companies in the country, NC textiles. The promoters have long experience of setting up of new textile projects, running and operating plants with complete range of textile fabrics, backed by well qualified team of professional and management personnel. The management has a good track record of execution of projects of similar costs and has serviced its debts timely. The vast experience of the management personnel is the major strength of the company which makes it eligible for sanctioning of loan. The company has planned expansion with the best technology and machinery from suppliers of good reputation to become competitive in international market. The company is also known for maintaining good industrial relations and has a very good reputation in the domestic market. Economic The project has also been considered useful for the society as a whole. The project would be creating a large number of employment opportunities for the locals thus providing self sufficiency and financial support to the workers. This distribution of income would ultimately lead to increase in saving and the standard of living for the people. Finally, the project aims to develop textiles of world class quality that will be able to give stiff competition to international brands and thus leading to the growth of Indian economy. The above section explains the appraisal system followed at PNB. This appraisal is carried out by the technical cell of the bank and it is based on this report that the viability of the project is determined. The techno-economic viability of the project is of major concern for the bank and forms an important step in decision making. The appraisal system at PNB is very crucial for sanctioning of financing facility and with the help of it, the bank gets to know in depth detail of the company and the project being undertaken. CREDIT RISK RATING What is Credit Risk? The risk that the borrower might fail to meet the obligations towards the bank in accordance with the agreed terms and conditions is called credit risk. It measures the inability or unwillingness of the borrower to pay its debt. Identification of credit risk forms the crucial part of risk management and is very important for the bank. It helps the bank in determining the potential defaulters and abstain the bank from providing financing facility to such borrowers or in case they provide, than provide them at a higher r

How to Be a Better Student and Still Have Fun

How to Be a Better Student and Still Have Fun If you ask random college students from across the country why they’re in school, most will either say, â€Å"I’m just trying to have fun!† or, â€Å"I just want to graduate on time and get out of here.† A rewarding college experience doesn’t have to mean sacrificing going beast mode. With a little planning you make college everything it can be! In this article we’re going to go through the process step by step. 1. Build Your Student Asset List College has a lot to offer, especially when the campus is located within a decent-sized city. Faced with so much potential many students simply forego everything and settle for a couple memorable parties and a few good summers. Not cool. The first thing you need to build is an asset list. What are you capable of doing? Can you travel and study abroad? Can you volunteer? What skills do you have to offer the many school organizations and clubs? What sports would you be good at? Are you down to learn an instrument or sing in the choir? You get the idea. If you’re working, then make this list just about the free time that you do have. Make the most of it. If you lack time for having rest, we can help you do your homework. Take some time to sit down, see what the school has to offer and what you’re open to. This is going to naturally begin to narrow things down a bit. You’ll begin crossing things off the list, for example trying out for the college football or chess teams, and leaving others open for debate. 2. Choose Your Triad Now, you’re going to pick one activity for three categories: sports, clubs and hobbies. As you’ll see, it’s all about people. The more of them you’re exposed to and able to network with, the more fun college can be without sacrificing your GPA. 1. A Sport: This could be anything really. You don’t have to go straight for something like baseball or basketball. Consider tennis, rugby or flag football. Anything team related and physical is going to work wonders. Plus, you’ll stay in shape. In the beginning just try to fill at least half of each year with a sport. Chances are by your senior year you’ll be in a sport the entire time. 2. A Club: Again, you have your pick. The asset list should have narrowed things down, but make sure you consider expanding your skills. Maybe something on the more political side? Or, perhaps the culinary club? Don’t automatically choose something within your major. Go outside your comfort bubble. 3. A Hobby: Music, painting, photography, etc. Expand your boundaries. Try strange and new things that you’re technically capable of and interested in. So throughout the year regardless of how cool or uncool you may be you’re competing in a sport, taking part in a club and pursuing a hobby along with your studies. Your schedule alone will make it nearly impossible not to have a good time. You’ll be too busy to complain. 3. Weave Activities into Class Scheduling Weave these into your class schedule as you progress through your major. Each quarter needs to have the triad in them. You have to work at it and be strategic with your available time. You have to get yourself on a proper sleeping schedule (this keeps you out of trouble). You’ve got to strike a balance where you’re always active and involved but have enough time to eat, study and ace exams as well. 4. Make â€Å"Yes† Your College Mantra Chances are you’re going to be getting invited to tons of parties because of your triad of activities. Never say no. Always say yes. No matter what you have to make an appearance and BRING A GIFT. If there’s studying and sleeping to be done, then stay twenty minutes and then bail. People will appreciate that you showed and the gift will make up for the loss of your presence. When people ask you for favors, if you can do them then do them. Become the proverbial â€Å"yes man† and see where life takes you. 5. Be Good to Professors This isn’t about brown nosing anybody or looking for breaks. It’s about showing respect and being willing to go above and beyond for professors to ensure that college has less bumps in the road. Do what you can to reach out to them and form a professional teacher/student relationship beyond class. This quasi-guide didn’t mention dating because dating is too tricky and unpredictable. The right special someone can make really make college an incredible journey. While the wrong person turn it into a nightmare. But, that’s a topic for another time. Remember, to really make college fun you have to get out there and get involved. Build an asset list, choose your activity triad and weave them into your day to day experience. What do you think, did we nail it? Tell us in the comments!

Social Intelligence Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Social Intelligence - Assignment Example In my case, I would consider my dressing sense as one of the attributing factors to my professional presence. I would always wear formal clothes to work with sober yet pleasant color combinations. The reason I am motivated to dress professionally is to send across an implicit message to my colleagues and clients that I am serious and dedicated to my work. This has a reflective effect, in that their communication toward me also becomes more professional. I have also attuned my workplace behavior to enhance my professional presence. Replying to emails and telephone calls at the earliest possible time is a habit I have tried hard to inculcate. I also pay a lot of attention to detail so that my competence is reflected in my work. By working to enhance my professional presence, I am set to achieve both personal and team goals. While the image I create of myself has ramifications for my career prospects and growth, they also help improve the image of the organization at large. Hence there is a symbiotic benefit to be exploited thus. 2. Albrecht discusses the importance of authenticity in Social Intelligence. Summarize the key points that he makes in our text concerning authenticity. In your opinion, why do you believe that authenticity is important to SI and in particular, with leadership? Albrecht explains ‘authenticity’ as the opposite of being phony. The implication being that an employee will have to be honest with himself and his behavior should reflect the personal value system he has adopted. Authenticity is a particularly important quality for a business leader, for those working under him look up to him as a role model. A leader will also function as a wise counselor to those employees who are in need of guidance. In such scenarios, the role of a business leader turns into one of a mentor.

Questions answering 2053 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Questions answering 2053 - Essay Example The firm is incorporated in one country and opens foreign subsidiaries in the countries (Cullen and Parboteeah, 2013). The existing literature identifies that globalization can take two different forms namely forced globalization and participative globalization (McCann and Acs, 2011). MNCs enter the globalization through the avenue of participative globalization. The opening of companies in foreign land has received huge boost during the past three decades and this is entirely because of globalization. It has been estimated that multinational companies comprise two-third of the global trade (McCann and Acs, 2011). Reduced cost of production, expansion of market for products and earning higher profits are driving forces to expand business. The cost of labour is considerably lower in the developing countries compared to the developed countries and this motivates firms to relocate production. When domestic markets become saturated it becomes imperative to capture other consumers and foreign expansion is a lucrative option for companies (Dunning, 2012). Difference in cultures is perhaps the most formidable challenge that has to be faced by companies in their quest for expansion. Management of interpersonal relationships in the MNCs require integrating the national culture of the managers and employees (Sweeney and McFarlin, 2014). Additionally MNCs requires modifying their products and services according to the niche taste of the masses depending on the country. For instance, when New York Fresh Deli opened franchises in Dubai, vinegar had to be removed from the salad dressings as it was considered as spirit in Dubai (Guffey and Loewy, 2010). According to Hofstede (2011) culture can be treated as mental software that affects the way in which a person thinks or behaves. Effective management of human resource is important for the MNC’s as people are often exposed to

Paraphrase Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Paraphrase - Coursework Example Comment. The word internet starts with capital â€Å"I†, in addition it is not grammatically correct to say â€Å"internet has assured people†. This is because internet is not a living thing. The APA in text citation is correct. Response. People, who actually believe that the Internet can really take them anywhere, are actually just deceiving themselves. As the maximum the internet can take someone is only within the virtual world, instead of the real world. Consequently, people are growing apart from one another due to the Internet which has deceived them. This is a great job. I like your response; this is because some people waste so much time on the internet without doing any meaningful work. Your APA in text citation is also great. However, your paraphrase seems not to relate to the author’s idea. This is because the author wanted to show that internet exposes people to a lot of opportunities. However, not everyone ends up making a good living from the internet. The grammar is good. There is a logical flow of ideas. There is subject- predicate agreement and proper linking devices. The paper has proper punctuation. The format used in the paper is in accordance with the APA format sixth edition. This type of format ascertains that, there must be a comma between the surname of the author and the year. For example (Leili,

Engineering procurement and construction

Engineering procurement and construction Integrated Project Teams With Multi Office Execution, A Study Of EPC Projects In Canada Abstract Engineering procurement and construction (EPC) projects in the Canadian oil and gas industry have gained significant economic importance due to rising hydrocarbon commodity price. The oil and gas industry in Alberta has planned to spend approximately 142 billion dollars (Government of Alberta, 2010) within the next two decades on capital projects. Alberta has recognized the shortage of human resources during peak economic activities, to execute mega capital projects. Multi office execution (MOE) is a way forward for all the major EPC houses in Canada to meet the demands of Clients within budget and on schedule. Further, it has been identified by the industry needs that integrated project teams are critical to the success of these complex oil and gas projects. In this environment, project management techniques need to be adapted to match project complexity. This paper will provide much insight through case studies related to project teams in multi office execution, and review the existing literature body of knowledge. An analysis is presented based on the project management knowledge areas. Recommendations are made based on this analysis. The objectives of this paper are to review literature related to managing MOE projects and to determine the keys to success and areas that need improvement in MOE. Introduction Alberta oil and gas industry has gained significant economic importance over the past decades. In 2010, it is estimated that the industry has an inventory of 57 capital oil and gas projects with a total value of 142 billion dollars (Government of Alberta, 2010). Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) companies have been providing oil and gas owner companies with expertise and resources to execute these capital projects. Under current market condition, the oil and gas owner companies want the EPC companies to share more risks. More and more projects are based on lump sum and fixed-fee contracts and are executed under lower budgets and tighter schedules. To stay competitive, many EPC companies have adopted global execution business model. Work is carried out in multiple offices or even by multiple organizations (Macquary, 2003). Cost saving benefit is achieved by allocating project scopes to high-value low-cost offices in other provinces or other countries. The companies may develop a partnership with other companies with specific technical expertise or local business expertise in order to gain market share in a new or emerging market. The MOE improves resource availability under booming economy, where resource shortage becomes a sig nificant problem in executing large projects. Despite several benefits, MOE projects can be very challenging to manage. Although the project management methodology is applicable to both single-office and multi-office projects (Cowle et al, 1995), the multi-office projects require particular emphasis on some of the project management processes. The objectives of this paper are to review literature related to managing MOE projects and to determine the keys to success, challenges and areas that need improvement in MOE. Interviews with project management experts from the EPC industry who have experience managing multi-billion dollar MOE projects provided insights into MOE best practices. The interviews were designed based on project management knowledge areas established by Project Management Institute or PMI (Project Management Institute, 2004) in order to present the findings using internationally accepted framework. These knowledge areas are: project integration management, project scope management, project time management, project cost management, project quality management, project human resource management, project communication management, project procurement management, and project risk management. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 reviews literature related to MOE. Section 3 briefly describes methodology and the MOE projects studied in this paper. Keys to success and challenges for MOE are discussed in Section 4. This is followed by conclusions in Section 5.   Literature Review Multi-Office Execution Concepts Engineering and Construction Risk Institute (2009) defines two main elements of a multi-office executing organization: 1) Lead office which is an office that provides leadership and has overall responsibility for the execution of the project; 2) Support office which is an entity participating in the project under the overall management and supervisory control of the lead office. The multi office execution strategy is found to be popularly framed within concepts such as virtual teams and offshore outsourcing (off shoring). A common definition available for a virtual group/team is a group of geographically and temporally dispersed individuals who are assembled via technology to accomplish an organization task. Joseph (2005) specifically defines Global Virtual Engineering Team (GVET) as a group of geographically dispersed individuals organized through communication and information technologies that need to overcome space, time, functional, organizational, national, and cultural barriers for the completion of a specific engineering task. According to Joseph (2005), the following comparison can be made between a virtual team and a conventional team. The most critical and important feature of virtual teams is that they cross boundaries of space. Whereas the members of traditional teams work in close proximity to one another, the members of virtual teams are separa ted, often by many miles or even continents. Although many traditional, localized teams also communicate through computerized communication media, technology such as video conferencing is typically used by virtual team members to supplement their rare face-to-face communication. In physically collocated teams, members of the team are likely to have similar and complementary cultural and educational backgrounds since they have gone through the same recruitment and selection procedures as they are employed by the same organization. In a virtual team the members may vary in their education, culture, language, time orientation and expertise. There can also be conflicting organizational and personal goals among the members of a virtual team. Multi-office execution also can be part of off shoring when local EPC companies subcontract project activities to branches or a different company in a foreign country. Off shoring is an extreme version of outsourcing, and it refers to the transfer of production/service capacity from a site within a country to a site in another country and then importing back for national consumption of goods and services that had previously being produced locally (Goff, 2005). Off shoring business operations offer a potential for 15-20% cost savings, but further analyses show that organizations that properly plan and operate offshore initiatives can reap substantially higher rewards (Fox and Hughes, 2008). According to Goff (2005) the benefits of off shoring for large companies include: maintaining or increasing profitability by reduced labor costs if resources with the same or higher level of expertise can be obtained in the foreign countries; maintaining its competitive position or even protecting it from going out of business; and increasing the market share of a company by improving their capacity and utilizing available in-house resources to more value added ventures. Canada ranks high among most attractive host countries for companies wishing to locate abroad to improve their financial position according to the offshore location attractive index (Goff, 2005). The multi-office execution has been made possible and successful, solely due to the advancements in the information and communication technology. With the rapid advancement of the electronic age the ability to staff a project from multiple offices has gone from a dream to a practical reality (Cowle et al, 1995). The latest developments in communication technology such as teleconferencing, video conferencing and host of other online applications coupled with ever increasing speed of data, voice and video transfer literally eliminate distance barriers. According to Macquary (2003) we are at a point in time where information technology is allowing us to change many of our traditional way of doing work. Hence it is possible to create an organizational structure agile enough to accept them and quickly apply them to add value. MOE Driving Forces Economy conditions are the main driving forces for the MOE strategy (Macquary (2003), Joshep (2005), Global Insight USA (2004), and Engineering and Construction Risk Institute (2009)). Under booming economy, labor shortage becomes a problem for many organizations and the MOE is a way to acquire project teams from other remote offices or even other companies. The MOE strategy is also used to add resources in order to meet tighter/compressed project schedules. On the other hand, slower economy growth demands constant vigilance over cost. Companies with global operations often allocate or outsource work to high-value low-cost offices, especially when qualified resources with lower wages are available. For instance, offices in India, China or Far East countries could be candidates for such support offices. Company policy to gain market share is another driver for MOE strategy. Companies can setup offices in other countries or develop business partnership with local companies to capture global or emerging markets. A joint venture between companies (or even competitors) with complementing expertise to take on a project that requires diversified expertise is also another driver for MOE. Other driving forces are: development in technology such as internet connections and other communication tools; a need to free resources for core business or higher value purposes; change in educational trend which results in smaller number of graduates in some studying fields (Joseph, 2005). Managing MOE Projects Engineering and Construction Risk Institute (2009) suggested issues to be addressed for MOE projects during sales/pre-execution, project mobilization, project execution, and project completion phases. Key issues are: early engagement with the client to obtain agreement to MOE and address clients concerns; early engagement of the support offices; clear definition of scopes and responsibilities for individual offices and kick-off meetings; alignment of work processes, deliverables, and reports; selecting suitable key project roles who are opened to MOE; and communication plan. Joseph (2005) has identified technology, management, organization, project control and team communication as important items to consider in global virtual team formation and execution. Clear and frequent communication, periodic face-to-face meetings, good communication tools and compatibility in information technology, standard work processes and communication procedures, and clearly defined scope expectations are named as top success criteria for multi-office execution. Whereas lack of or poor communication, lack of face-to-face meetings, lack of understanding of local work practices/ cultural differences and/or language issues, lack of management involvement experienced leadership, changes not handled properly, slow response to changes, incompatible or poor technology including hardware and software are top failure factors found within EPC industry for multi-office execution. Chinowsky and Rojas (2003) outlined the top 10 management issues that must be addressed when initiating and maintaining virtual teams. They are categorized as Team issues and Process issues. Team issues include: initial face-to-face meetings are required to develop a sense of ‘‘team, managers must visit remote participants during the course of the project, trust between team members is difficult to establish when operating in a virtual environment, and virtual team leaders should be selected with an acknowledgment of the unique demands placed on distributed teams. Process issues includes: project objectives must be restated and reinforced frequently to ensure that all members remain focused on a common outcome; conflicts must be addressed quickly to prevent unresolved issues from interfering with communications; discussions on decisions will be more difficult as participants continue discussions via electronic media; expectations of each team member must be stated clearly to assist the members as they work independently; team member workloads should be monitored to ensure that significant increases do not occur due to increased electronic communications; and regular training must occur equally for all members of the virtual team. Methodology And Studied MOE Projects The methodology used in this paper to gain insights into MOE best practices and challenges is interviewing project management experts who have experience managing MOE projects in EPC industry. The interviews were designed using project management knowledge areas: project integration management, project scope management, project time management, project cost management, project quality management, project human resource management, project communication management, project procurement management, and project risk management. The project management knowledge areas are identified by its knowledge requirements and described in terms of their component processes, practices, inputs, outputs, tools, and techniques (Project Management Institute, 2004). The two major reasons for the projects to implement MOE strategy found in this paper are resource constraint and cost saving. All of the projects discussed in this paper were executed during the booming economy (i.e. high oil price) and manpower shortage became a problem for many projects. Therefore, the MOE beame a necessary strategy to acquire project teams with required skills from locations with more resource availability. To save cost, project scopes were allocated to high-value low-cost offices in either other provinces or other countries (e.g., India and China). Cost benefit was achieved in both cases. Some of the projects allocated â€Å"less technical† work such as cloning design work and closing project work to these support offices. Another driving force identified is a company strategy to expand and maintain national or global operations. The MOE strategy is used to balance resource utilization. In booming economy, work is allocated to reduce workload at some offices. During an economy down turn, work is allocated to maintain support offices as it is more economical than closing the support offices and rebuilding them when demand resumes. Engineering work is usually allocated among lead and support offices. For better coordination, a procurement organization is usually setup in the offices that perform engineering design. However, smaller projects may choose to have only one procurement organization in the lead office. Construction is mostly executed by the lead office. However, some construction scopes (e.g., fabrication and modularization programs) may be subcontracted to local or international third-parties, therefore they are considered as MOE. Prime contract management/ legal functions are usually executed by the lead office only. Other project functions such as Project Management, Project Controls, and Document Management are executed from the lead office. However, depending on the size of the project and project strategy, these functions may also be executed from other support offices. Keys To Success Challenges In MOE Further discussion on keys to success, challenges, and areas required improvement for MOE projects is divided into 9 subsections per Project Management Knowledge Areas (Project Management Institute, 2004): project integration management, project scope management, project time management, project cost management, project quality management, project human resource management, project communication management, project procurement management, and project risk management. The discussion is summarized at the end of this section. Project Integration Management For MOE projects, the lead office is normally responsible for developing the project charter and preliminary project scope statement. This is due to closer contact with the Client. Furthermore, at the early stage of the project, the support offices may not have been involved yet. It is important that the project management team provides MOE justification to gain support from the Client. It is recommended that the project management plan developed during the planning phase addresses the MOE strategy including high-level justification, organization, resource utilization and scope allocation. Some projects may choose to develop a separate subsidiary plan which addresses MOE issues such as scope allocation, responsibility, and communication in more detail. The MOE brings many challenges in monitoring and controlling project work. All offices should take responsibility for their own work but the lead office must take the responsibility to monitor and control overall project work. Managers in the lead office need to understand their roles in monitoring and controlling project work even though the work may be executed by the support offices. Basic communication approaches such as regular phone calls and VDO conference meetings and information systems that allow progress information to be collected from support offices are used for monitoring and controlling project work. Project changes should be managed and controlled centrally by the lead office. Changes are initiated from all offices but only the lead office should have authorization to approve changes. The approved changes need to be captured and project plans (e.g., budget and schedule) are adjusted accordingly. It is important that no office should start executing the changes before they are approved even if the changes are initiated by the Client. Closing project is identified in this paper as one of the major challenges in MOE. Each office is normally responsible for closing the work under their scopes. However, the support offices have smaller scopes of work, therefore they usually de-staff earlier than the lead office. If the support offices de-staff before the close out is complete, the work is transferred to the lead office which may not have sufficient background understanding to properly close out the work/scope. To avoid this circumstance, the projects must plan and execute the project closing process carefully. It is also important that sufficient budget is allocated for the project closing process. Electronic archiving of project documents is recommended to facilitate the project closing. Other challenge identified for project closing process is lessons-learned management. Lessons learned from all offices need to be captured, analyzed for follow-up actions or recommendations, archived, and internally published. Lessons learned are proprietary and required careful review before they are published to avoid any commercial or legal impacts. Some EPC companies may have a corporate function dedicated to manage lessons learned from all projects. If not, the project management team in the lead office should be responsible for managing lessons learned from all offices. As this is a part of project closing, management of lessons learned needs to be planned, scheduled and have budget provided for like other project work. Project Scope Management After the preliminary project scope statement is developed, the project scope must be further refined. Scope allocation among the offices is a major part of scope management for MOE projects. Depending on the types of projects, the scope can be further divided vertically or horizontally. For example, oil and gas facility construction projects normally divide scope vertically by geographical areas of the facilities while power plant construction projects usually divide the scope horizontally, by specialized technical systems such as steam lines, control systems, rotating equipments, etc. Nevertheless, the project scope should be divided in the fashion that requires as little coordination as possible. In reality establishing a balance between MOE scope division and effort to coordinate the project scopes becomes a fine art for the project management team. Several criteria are used to allocate the scopes among the multiple offices. These include expertise and experience, cost, resource availability, and organizational strategy. The lead office is mainly responsible for scope allocation. It is identified in this paper that clear understanding of scope is one of the key elements to successful MOE. Therefore, it is highly recommended that the lead office organize kick-off meetings to engage the support offices as soon as possible in order to develop the scope definition and WBS. It is crucial that these processes are a joint effort between the lead office and support offices. This will develop a better understanding of the scope and a sense of ownership for the support offices which will later benefit the scope control process (e.g., recognizing scope changes and their impacts). Tools that are used for scope planning are responsibility matrices that clearly indicate the responsibility among the offices at project deliverable level (e.g., division of responsibility, material assignment schedule, control and monitoring needs, etc.). Detail responsibility to verify and accept the project deliverables can also be included in the responsibility matrix. Critical deliverables are accepted directly by the lead office for review before transferring to the Client, while the other deliverables can be submitted directly by the support offices to the Client. However, the lead office has overall responsibility to ensure that the project deliverables are completed as per project scope. The scope should be controlled centrally by the lead office as a part of integrated change management discussed in the previous section. As a result, it is important that the lead office has a good understanding and control of the scopes that are performed by all offices. Project Time Management Project work broken down into tangible components and assigned to a resource is essential for schedule development. Project schedules should be developed by the lead office in close communication and cooperation of support offices. The lead office usually initiates high-level schedule which contains major project milestones usually knows as master schedule, then the support offices provide detail information (e.g., activity sequence, activity resource estimating and activity duration estimating) to be incorporated into the master schedule. Once the project schedule is developed and adopted as a time management tool, activity status information required to update this schedule is collected from all offices. It is important that all offices follow the master project schedule. Use of universal scheduling tools that provides visibility to all offices particularly benefits the MOE execution. Communicating and resolving schedule misalignments among offices is considered to be one of the challenges for MOE. Therefore, it is recommended that the master schedule control is centralized and the lead office assign personnel to coordinate schedule information from all offices. Project Cost Management Cost estimating is a significant activity during the early execution of the project. During the early stage the scope and responsibilities are with the lead office, therefore the cost estimating is also performed by the lead office. Early estimates are conceptual estimates with some details (e.g., major equipment cost, estimated bulk quantities and construction cost). When further design development takes place and if significant scopes are allocated to support offices, area estimators could be assigned to provide input to the lead estimating team. Detail estimates are developed when significant engineering is completed. Input and feedback from all the execution offices are used in developing detail estimates. Once the detailed estimates are approved and implemented each support office is responsible for its scope of work. Typically, total cost management and final reporting remain the responsibilities of the lead office. Cost control strategy can be either centralized or decentralized, depending upon the scope splits, project staffing, level of effort needed to control and report project cost. For instance, if a support office is allocated a small scope (e.g., the support office only produces isometric drawings), total cost control can be performed by the lead office. On the other hand, if a support office has significant scope (i.e. a complete plant area), cost control for that area can be assigned to the support office with periodic reporting to the lead office. Regardless of centralized or decentralized cost control strategy, the lead office has a responsibility to control and report to the Client overall project cost. Project Quality Management The quality planning should be initiated by the lead office with consideration to Clients quality standards and requirements. Project quality assurance and quality control are typically executed by all offices. For the MOE projects that involve support offices from foreign countries or from different companies, different quality practices may be allowed as long as they comply with the project quality management plan. In case the quality assurance and control of support offices do not comply to project quality plan, the lead office may need to execute these two processes as appropriate. Project Human Resource Management For MOE projects, the lead office should initiate the human resource planning by providing allocated man-hour budget to the support offices. Factors such as capability, reliability, quality, and expertise of the support offices should also be considered when developing the budgets. Then the support offices are responsible for developing their own staffing plans. The lead office should also ensure that: the budgets allocated to the support offices are appropriate; all managers are trained to do staff planning; and the staffing plans developed by the support offices align with project plans (e.g., budget, schedule, and scopes of work). As leadership is crucial for project success, the project lead roles (e.g., engineering leads) in the support offices should be identified early. These lead roles provide direction to the teams and are communicating channels between the lead office and the support offices. Some projects may instead select to assign a coordinating role for smaller scope of work allocated to the support offices. Lead offices may influence staff assignments at support offices especially for the lead positions. However, the support offices are usually responsible for acquiring their own project teams for the reasons that they have better knowledge and understanding of their staff as well as they are directly responsible for the staff career development. MOE projects have to overcome many challenges in developing the project team. Phone calls and meetings between offices in different time zones are more difficult to arrange while communicating only via emails may not be an ideal approach to develop a working relationship. Cultures and languages also add challenges to communication. It also takes time to develop trust and working relationship between offices which is a challenge for offices that have never worked together before or offices that have high-turnover or are downsized. Other challenges are standardizing or aligning work processes. This paper identifies that having staff from the leading office visit support offices at regular intervals and vice versa is an effective approach to build project team for MOE projects. These visits could be for training, meetings, or trouble shootings. The project should arrange these visits as often as possible during the project life cycle. VDO conference is also recommended as a more effective meeting tool than just a phone conference. The project management should be instrumental in arrange all-office team building activities such as project progress presentation, discipline presentations and recognition and reward program. Each office is responsible for managing its own staff. However, the lead office needs to manage overall performances of the support offices. Cultural difference should be considered for appropriate management style. It should also be noted that the performances between offices should not be compared without understanding the legitimate factors that may impact the performance from each office (e.g., expertise experience). Other challenge found in managing the MOE team is that delivery and performance issues (e.g., rework, delay, or actual amount of remaining work) may not be communicated to the lead office. These are often driven by fear of negative consequences such as losing work. Therefore, it is important to set reasonable performance targets based on capability of the support offices and the lead office provides support in solving any performance issues such as training and trouble shooting. Project Communication Management As a part of communication planning, it is recommended that the stakeholder analysis is performed for all offices to determine the project communication requirements. Communication planning should address information, information originator, information receiver, frequency, and communication medium. It is important that the lead office is the only point of contact for handling commercial and contractual matters. When appropriate, mass communication methods such as group email, project portal, shared drive are recommended for MOE projects. It is important that project changes (e.g., revisions) are communicated with high priority between offices to prevent rework, especially if work is shared between multiple offices (e.g., outputs from one office become inputs for the other offices). To facilitate the information distribution during the execution phase, the use of information distribution matrix is recommended. The matrix determines the list of employees that the information is to be distributed to and is managed by document management group. Overall project performance reporting should be a responsibility of the lead office with inputs from support offices. The performance reporting should be included in the communication management plan. Reporting schedule and format should be developed and agreed upon by all offices. Necessary trainings (e.g., use of tools to collect performance information, data gathering and data analysis) should be provided to all offices to ensure reporting accuracy and consistency. Project Procurement Management One of procurement decisions to be made at the beginning of an MOE project is purchasing and managing strategy for each material commodity. It is generally more economical that bulk material (e.g., bulk piping materials, steel, and cables) requirements from all offices are consolidated and purchased together by the lead office. However, commodities that require customized engineering design such as mechanical and electrical equipments may be managed more effectively if they are procured by the same engineering office. After the decisions are made, the procurement organization then can be setup to support the commodity management strategy. It is a best practice to have procurement organizations in all engineering offices. However, some smaller projects may choose to setup only one project procurement organization in the lead offices. Subcontract function (which is a part of procurement management per project pr

Great Gatsby Symbols :: essays papers

Great Gatsby Symbols Different symbolism The Great Gatsby is enhanced by the great number of symbols in the story. The story is revolved around symbols which represent different things. There are three types of symbols color, object, name symbols. Each symbol represents a different kind of situation in the story. The color represents all colors that are involved in the story, each color has its own meaning in the story. Object symbols explain the person himself and his situation in the story. Name symbols give the inner meaning of the person and how the name is related to the character. Color symbolizes a lot in the story. In the story you see excessive use of colors. The first most clear color symbol is white which doesn't express the purity but the false purity and goodness in the people. The next is gray, valley of ashes, which expresses the lack of spirit in that area. The green shows the hope of a new start, or to work for something. Red is death , or blood. Yellow expresses the corruptness in society and dishonest behavior in society. Also yellow represents the coward image of characters. The objects that are represented in the story are very interesting. Most obvious is West Egg and East Egg which are described as white from the outside which represents purity and the yellow inside which is the rotten part. Owl eyes is the person who is all knowing in this book from the start. When he was first introduced he was introduced very positively. Cars had a big role in The Great Gatsby, they symbolized the status of the person and the careless and there reckless personality . In summer was the boiling part of the novel and conflict, where everything was told. Flowers symbolize everything in the great Gatsby grace, beauty and love. Names express what the person is and his back round. For the Gatsby, Gat means pistol, and he was murdered by one.

Sms Banking

Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 SMS BASED SECURE MOBILE BANKING Manoj V, Bramhe Department of Information Technology, RTM Nagpur university St. Vincent Pallotti College of Engg. And Technology, Nagpur, India [email  protected] com Abstract— M-banking has emerged as one of the main division of m-commerce. Mobile banking services consists of information inquiry, notifications and alerts, applications and payment transfer. Mobile based application is used for connecting customer handset with bank server for all such services.Current M-banking applications used by banks are facing security challenges for payment transfer banks are using secure payment gateway and other security measures which increases cost and infrastructure for bank but major day-to-day banking applications are inquiries, notifications and alerts. The problem with current banking applications is that they send data directly to customer in plain te xt form compromising with security. We present SMS based secure mobile banking which enhances security with minimum cost.In this approach bank hides customer transaction data is secure SMS using AES symmetric cryptographic algorithm and send it customer application supported handset. Customer application decrypts data in secure manner. Keywords: M-banking, MD5, AES, MPIN I. INTRODUCTION M-banking system is one which provides all daily banking operations to customer with one click of his mobile handset with supported application. M-banking system has potential to provide access or delivery of very specific and highly necessary information to customer as given in [2].Growth in the M-Banking is driven by various facilities like convenience of banking operations, greater reach to consumers and Integration of other m-commerce services with mobile banking. In M-banking there is no place restriction, it is highly penetration coefficient as growth of mobile phones are more than computers, i t is fully personalized and private increasing transaction authenticity and is 100% available all the time with users. However, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to completely utilize the benefits of the M-Banking like handset compatibility, security, scalability, reliability.Due to increase in use of mobile handsets for many m-commerce applications, Chances of mobile hacking for financial benefits are heavily increased. Currently mostly all banks in India and outside are sending text SMS directly to the customer handset for basic bank services without any security which can be accessed by any malicious person and can use this information for getting access to customer account. OTA (Over-the-air) mobile data can be hacked in network path from bank to customer mobile handset including MPIN, a password use for user identification in M-banking.Thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. Our objec tive is to provide cost effective, secure, fast M-banking solution combining features of cryptography. In this paper we have presented SMS based secure mobile banking with minimum cost using cryptography. II. M-BANKING CHANNELS M-banking can be executed using various channels like SMS, USSD, GPRS, WAP; Phone based Application, SIM Application. All of these channels are used separately or combined for various banking operations ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 472Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 A. Short Message Service (SMS) SMS is the simplest form of mobile banking. It is largely used for information-based services. SMS has the maximum reach amongst consumers since all the mobile phones support SMS. Short messages are stored and forwarded by SMS centres. These messages have some security issues. B. Unstructured Supplementary Services Delivery (USSD) USSD is a technology unique to GSM. It is a capability built into t he GSM standard for support of transmitting information over the signalling channels of the GSM network.USSD provides session-based communication. Turnaround response times for interactive applications are shorter for USSD than SMS. In USSD, the interaction is in the form of a continuous session as opposed to SMS. USSD is available on all handsets. C. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) GPRS is a packet-switched data service available to GSM users. GPRS enables services such as WAP access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access in mobile phones. . WAP is wireless application protocol used over GPRS. It is similar to Internet banking.The consumer’s handset needs to be WAP enabled. WAP banking is open to similar threats as Internet banking. D. Phone-based Application Phone based applications are developed in various languages like J2ME, . NET having advantages that it can use GPRS, USSD or SMS, MMS to carry the consumer data/instruction in an encrypted format and it is operator independent. These are secure application which resides on supported handset. E. SIM Application Tool Kit The SIM Application Toolkit allows for the service provider or bank to house the consumer’s mobile banking menu within the SIM card. STK is the most secure method of mobile banking.It allows the bank to load its own encryption keys onto the SIM card with the bank’s own developed application. III. CURRENT M-BANKING Even though various channels are available for M-banking most of the banks uses SMS as basic and cheap channel for basic banking operations. Currently all banks in India like ICICI, HSBC, SBI etc are not using any encryption techniques in SMS based M-banking system. They are using simple text based SMS for customer queries in which they directly send account information to customer only hiding some digits of account number which can be easily ha cked by any hacker or seen by anyone from message inbox.Even though some banks do provide some other channel like GPRS and WAP but cost of implementation is more and these facilities are not available on all types of mobile handset thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. A. Issues in M-banking 1) Lack of Standards: The lack of standards gives rise to lot of local and fragmented versions of m-payments offered by different stakeholders. Standards need to address security and privacy concerns of customers as well as interoperability between various implementations. ) Device constraints: There are technical issues related to the mobile devices . The mobile phones suffers from various constrains like less processing power and memory, bandwidth, short battery life , frequent disconnections, tiny screens, poor resolution and privacy issues. 3) Security Issues: Securing m-Commerce is even more difficult than wired tra nsaction. Device constraints raise the questions as to whether there will be adequate security for users without compromising the ease of use and speed.Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile and used it for malicious purpose thus direct sending of data is not suggestible for M-banking. SMS are prone to spoofing and there are issues related to SMS encryption. However technology manufacturers are developing improved security for applications with authentication and encryption technologies and many claims that the ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 473 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 transaction using mobile device is fully secure. There are many techniques for secure M-banking operations but major research work has been done on Cryptography and steganography techn iques. Cryptography is a process of converting plaintext data into cipher text using cryptographic algorithms. They insure basic security requirements like authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation. B. Basics of Short Message ServiceShort Message Service (SMS) is the ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile telephones. SMS was launched as a part of GSM1 standard. Each short message is up to 160 characters in length. The 160 characters can comprise of words, numbers, or punctuation symbols. Short Message Service is a store and forward service; this means that messages are not sent directly to the recipient but via a network SMS Centre. SMS comprises two basic point-to-point services as Mobile-originated short message (MO-SM) and Mobile-terminated short message (MT-SM).Mobile-originated short messages are transported from MOcapable handset to SMSC whereas Mobile-terminated short messages are transported from SMSC to the handsets. The figure no. 1 shows a typical organization of network elements in a GSM network supporting SMS. Fig. 1. Basic model of SMS based M-banking The benefits of SMS to subscribers are convenience, flexibility, and seamless integration of messaging services and data access, delivery of notifications and alerts, guaranteed message deliver, reliable, low-cost communication mechanism, increased subscriber productivity, delivery of messages to ultiple subscribers at a time. The SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives or sends SMS. The SMSC usually has a configurable time limit for how long it will store the message. SMS Gateway SMS Gateway is an interface between software applications mobile networks.An SMS Gateway allows interfacing software applications to send and /or receive SMS messages over mobile network. A GSM Modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to signals for a GSM network and demodulates the incoming GSM signal and converts it to a digital signal for the computer or other digital device. IV. PROPOSED SOLUTION Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data in SMS banking hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile.Proposed secure M-banking is based on symmetric cryptographic techniques where common secret key is shared among bank customer and bank server. Proposed Architecture consists of 4 components as Customer Mobile application, Bank Server application, Bank side mobile / GSM Modem, Bank database and wireless OTA [1]. Our solution uses windows mobile as client application platform and . NET framework as server side software. Customer interested in using M-Banking facilities has to make registration only once with corresponding bank. Bank has all necessary details of customer in database.Bank sends Customer–side mobile application developed for windows mobile to user. Application will be installed once on windows mobile supported handset. This application consists of Login screen along with get session key option, menu screen for bank services options, and encryption and decryption screens for outgoing and incoming secure SMS and send message screen to send SMS to server GSM handset /Modem. Application will be updated as and when bank updates it. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 474 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479Bank will have GSM mobile Handset / GSM modem connected to bank application server. GSM handset will be connected to application server using either Bluetooth or USB cable having SIM card installed in it which has task of receiving, processing and replying customer SMS continuou sly. GSM handset/ modem are cheaper and can be easily installed but have slow speed for message handling which can be increased by connecting modem with SMSC centre over internet. Secure M-Banking server side application is developed in windows compatible environment like VB. NET which can be installed on bank application server.Application is consisting of SMS Service, Information Manage, Account Details Manage, User Request modules to receive and process secure encrypted message from customer mobile. SMS Service module is responsible for retrieving and replying secure SMS automatically whenever they reaches server GSM handset / Modem. Bank database consists of various tables storing customer details pertaining to his personal information, Account information and transaction information. Bank database stores customer confidential information like his MPIN, Mobile identification pin and encryption keys in encrypted and secure manner.We have discussed various major types of M-Banking channels as SMS, GPRS, WAP and USSD out of which every channel has own advantages and disadvantages. WAP and GPRS are good and provide session based security but they are handset dependent and also in rural part of India all mobile operators are not providing respective services. USSD is used along with SMS and requires separate infrastructure. Thus SMS channel is simple, easy to implement, cheaper and widely used channel which is device independent. Current SMS based M-banking service has many drawbacks s SMS is inherently developed in GSM for non-sensitive message transfer among users. Mutual authentication, text encryption, end-to-end security and non-repudiation is not present in design of GSM architecture [16]. Major issues with SMS based banking are SMS Spoofing which is an attack where malicious user sends out SMS message which appears to be sent by original sender. Current SMS architecture allows hiding original sender’s address by altering respective field in origin al SMS header. Also SMS has encryption only during path from base transreceiver station and mobile station. End-to-end encryption is not available.V. IMPLEMENTATION We have implemented proposed solution in . NET platform for windows mobile in windows environment. Customer mobile application in . NET framework runs on supported windows mobile handset for which we have used HTC mobile and bank server application is running in . NET along with any GSM handset connected in Bluetooth / USB mode to it. We have added secure SMS structure which provides extra security along with satisfying security parameters. This secure SMS will add extra security features like cryptographic and hashing algorithm to satisfy confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation.Our system is based on secure SMS protocol and it uses SMS as media to send and receive encrypted information. . A. Secure SMS Message Structure The secured SMS message is divided into multiple fields’s to accommodat e for the various security checks required for the protocol. Figure no. 2 shows the structure overview for a secure SMS message. The use of each labelled structure is explained below. Account No. Session Key Cipher Text (6 digit) (Generated From MPIN) (Plain Text + MPIN) Message Digest Fig. 2. Secure SMS message Structure Secure SMS message structure proposed by us consists of 4 fields’s as shown in above figure.Account Number: – It is customer account number in bank which is first field used for authentication purpose. This information is stored in plain test format so that at the server end, information can be retrieved to get required keys from database. Session key: – It is onetime key randomly generated from customer MPIN inputted in bank server database during M-Banking registration process. This key is stored in 2nd field of message. Customer makes a request to get session key from his handset to bank server. Bank server will reply this with encrypted ses sion keys stored in file, which will be stored on customer handset. ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 475 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Cipher Text: – This text is created from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 3rd filed of message structure. Main idea behind this is to protect data from malicious attacker. As MPIN is most important data and from which session keys are created to be used for encryption and decryption purpose, hence it s send in encrypted manner. Message Digest: – Message digest is used for checking integrity. Customer message digest is calculated from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 4th field of secure SMS.MD5 algorithm is used to calculate message digest on both ends. This received digest will be compared with calculated digest at bank server end , if not found of same size then message will be discarded as fake transaction and no message will be send to mobile handset from which request is sent. B. Sending Secure SMS from Client Mobile Whenever customer wish to make any transaction using M-banking, he will run application installed on handset and provide all necessary details. We have used 6 transactions for testing purpose and information collected from user on his handset is used to generate secure SMS.After registration customer will get mobile application installed once on his windows mobile. Customer will enter 4-digit MPIN which will be stored in server database in encrypted format using his password. For non-repudiation purpose we have added concept of one time session key. Server uses customer MPIN to generate session key randomly and again stored them in encrypted format. Customer runs the banking application and feed details of 6-digit account number, 4-digit MPIN and 4digit password and click button to get session key. Server sends generated session key to customer handset which will be stored in encrypted format on his handset.Customer goes to menu screen, chooses requires account type and type of transaction he wish to perform and goes to next screen. Mobile client application shows 4 entries on next screen consisting of session key received, generated fixed plain text message depending upon transaction chosen, cipher text created from combination of plain text and MPIN and 4-part secure message. Secure SMS contains account number in plain text, session key in encrypted format, cipher text created from plain text and MPIN and message digest calculated from message.Customer will send message to sever using as normal message. C. Receiving and Replying Secure SMS from Server Module Proposed Server is running on computer installed with required software like VB. NET, Windows mobile device centre and SDK, . NET compact framework, MS-access and Server side application. Server side application has four modules as SMS Service, Information Manage, Transaction Manage and User Requests. SMS service module retrieves SMS received at Server side handset and decode it to get original query send by customer.Server application process query, get required data from bank database and then sends it in encrypted format to customer mobile through bank side modem. Whenever Customer sends any secure SMS containing his transaction query to server side GSM Modem, Server application automatically retrieves secure SMS and deletes it from server attached handset to avoid flooding of message inbox. We have used ActiveX control for this purpose. Bank Server application splits received secure SMS in same 4-parts. Server reads first part, a plain text 6-digit account number and compares it with database stored account number.If match is not found, it will send message â€Å"Wrong Account Number† to customer handset. If account match is found then server uses 2nd part of secure SMS, which is session key send by user to decrypt 3rd part of received secure SMS. After decrypting 3rd part of SMS, server application gets combination of plaintext as customer original transaction query followed by 4-digit MPIN. Server application compares received MPIN with stored MPIN from server table if a match is not found, will send message â€Å"Wrong Pin Number† to customer handset.Server calculates message digest of 3rd part received using MD5 algorithm and compare it with received massage digest, 4th part of secure SMS to check for message integrity. If match is not found, server generates message on server side â€Å"Fake Transaction† and sends nothing to customer side handset as it may be off any malicious user. If all security checks are proper, Server application process query of customer and get required data from database encrypts data using session key received from customer and sends automatically to customer handset.VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS We have developed two applications for client and server side. Mobile client application is developed using . NET compact framewor k and VB. NET, installed on windows mobile supported HTC mobile device. This application is used by customer for various M-banking transactions to send encrypted secure SMS to bank ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 476 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Server and gets back encrypted reply from bank Server.Client and Server side application performs symmetric encryption and decryption using 256-bit AES symmetric encryption algorithm. MD5 algorithm is used for hashing purpose. Server side bank application is developed using VB. NET it uses SMS toolkit, an ActiveX control to retrieve and process secure SMS automatically. Server side application also contains certain modules for database management of customer account and transactions Normally symmetric cryptographic algorithm don’t have non-repudiation as both party shares common secret key but we have used session key concept for maintaining non-repudiation propert y of encryption.Since Session key is used only once and created randomly, no two users can have common session key and it is created from MPIN, a master key which customer only knows so he cannot deny that he has done transaction. We have carried out 6 types of transaction including Account Balance, Mini transactions, Cheque Book Request, Cheque Stop request, Pay Bill and Fund Transfer. Following are some sample client application module. The figure no. 3 shows session key, user query in fixed plain text format, cipher text generated from combination of plain text and his MPIN and 4-part secure SMS message generated as per format discussed.This last message is sent to server. Fig. 3. Generating 4-Part Secure Message This secure SMS is retrieved by server side SMS service module. Server application split message and decrypt it to get original transaction query of customer. This query is processed to get response data from database which is firstly encrypted and then send to customer handset. Customer handset get auto reply from server side in cipher text, which is decrypted on mobile by client side application to get server response in plain text. The Figure no. 4 shows response obtained automatically from server for account balance.This reply consists of 3 parts. First part is common session key used by server and client. Second part is cipher text received from server application in secure manner. Third part is plain text message obtained after decrypting secure message received from server. Client mobile application uses 256-bit AES algorithm to decrypt message using common session key. This message will be hidden from customer and he will only get final query results in plain text format but for result purpose we have shown this screen. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 477Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Fig. 4. Secure Reply from Server To be a secure system, it must satisfy Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation Secure SMS system maintains confidentiality using AES cryptography and Non-Repudiation using session key. Here 3-factor authentication is used for authentication and security purpose whereas Message integrity is carried out using MD5 algorithm. VII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK We have implemented a secure SMS based Mobile Banking system.The system allows user to carry out all banking transaction securely from anywhere, anytime. All messages from user windows mobile are sent in encrypted format to bank server. Bank server decrypt message, process query and encrypt result in SMS. Server sends message to customer which will be decrypted on his handset. The evaluation of the system was studied for varying banking transaction and under various security threatening malicious activities were recorded. Performance of the transaction is studied. We have executed few banking transaction from HTC windows mobile and using VB.Net server side applicati on. We have used LG GSM mobile as server attached mobile device. Experiments shows that secure SMS Mobile banking provides cost effective and secure system with satisfying Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation using symmetric cryptography. Application can be used on any windows mobile supported handset from anywhere as no GPRS and WAP are required. We have implemented system using symmetric key AES algorithm. In future better power consumption algorithm like blowfish can be tried out.Steganogrpahy can also be applied for secure M-banking transactions. We can use concept of STK, SIM application toolkit where bank can stored the application and encryption keys on SIM. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza and M. Hassan Shirali-Shahreza, â€Å"Mobile banking Services in bank area†, SICE Annual Conference 2007, Japan Martinez Borreguero, F. Javier and Chaparro Pelaez, Julian,†Spanish Mobile Banking Services: An Adoption Study†, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Business 2005.Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza,†Improving Mobile Banking Security Using Steganography â€Å", International Conference On Information Technology. Przemyslaw Krol, Przemyslaw Nowak, Bartosz Sakowicz,†Mobile Banking Services Based On J2ME/J2EE†, CADSM’2007. Yousuf S. AlHinai, Sherah Kurnia and Robert B. Johnston,†Adoption of Mobile, Commerce Services by Individuals: A Meta-Analysis of the Literature†, Sixth International Conference on the Management of Mobile Business . ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 478 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. (6), 2011, 472-479 [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] T N T Nguyen, P Shum and E H Chua,†Secure end-to-end mobile payment System†. Ashutosh Saxena, Manik Lal Das and Anurag Gupta,†MMPS: A Versatile Mobile-to-Mobile Payment System†, Proceedings of the International Conference On Mobile Business 2005. Iuon-Chang Lin and Yang-Bin Lin,†An Efficient Steganography Scheme for M- Commerce†. Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza and M. Hassan Shirali-Shahreza, †Text Steganography in SMS†, 2007 International Conference on Convergence Information Technology.Sandeep Singh Ghotra, Baldev Kumar Mandhan, Sam Shang Chun Wei, Yi Song, Chris Steketee, †Secure Display and Secure Transactions Using a Handset†, Sixth International Conference on the Management of Mobile Business. Jiehua Wang, Song Yuan, â€Å"A Novel Security Mobile Payment System Based On Watermarked Voice Cheque†. M. Shirali-Shahreza, â€Å"Stealth Steganography in SMS†, Proceedings of the third IEEE and IFIP International Conference on Wireless and Optical Communications Networks 2006.Kewin Chikomo, Ming Ki Chong, Alpan Arnab, Andrew Hutchison, â€Å"Security of Mobile Banking†. Dilla Salama Abdul Minaam. Hatem M. Abdul Kadir, Mohily Mohamed Hadhoud ,† Evaluating the effects of Symmetric Cryptographic algorithms on Power Consumption for different data types†, International Journal of Network Security, Volume 11, September 2010. Managing the Risk of Mobile Banking Technologies, Bankable Frontier Associates. Deshpande Neeta, kamalapur Snehal,† Implementation of LSB Steganography and its Evaluation for various bits†. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 479 Sms Banking Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 SMS BASED SECURE MOBILE BANKING Manoj V, Bramhe Department of Information Technology, RTM Nagpur university St. Vincent Pallotti College of Engg. And Technology, Nagpur, India [email  protected] com Abstract— M-banking has emerged as one of the main division of m-commerce. Mobile banking services consists of information inquiry, notifications and alerts, applications and payment transfer. Mobile based application is used for connecting customer handset with bank server for all such services.Current M-banking applications used by banks are facing security challenges for payment transfer banks are using secure payment gateway and other security measures which increases cost and infrastructure for bank but major day-to-day banking applications are inquiries, notifications and alerts. The problem with current banking applications is that they send data directly to customer in plain te xt form compromising with security. We present SMS based secure mobile banking which enhances security with minimum cost.In this approach bank hides customer transaction data is secure SMS using AES symmetric cryptographic algorithm and send it customer application supported handset. Customer application decrypts data in secure manner. Keywords: M-banking, MD5, AES, MPIN I. INTRODUCTION M-banking system is one which provides all daily banking operations to customer with one click of his mobile handset with supported application. M-banking system has potential to provide access or delivery of very specific and highly necessary information to customer as given in [2].Growth in the M-Banking is driven by various facilities like convenience of banking operations, greater reach to consumers and Integration of other m-commerce services with mobile banking. In M-banking there is no place restriction, it is highly penetration coefficient as growth of mobile phones are more than computers, i t is fully personalized and private increasing transaction authenticity and is 100% available all the time with users. However, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to completely utilize the benefits of the M-Banking like handset compatibility, security, scalability, reliability.Due to increase in use of mobile handsets for many m-commerce applications, Chances of mobile hacking for financial benefits are heavily increased. Currently mostly all banks in India and outside are sending text SMS directly to the customer handset for basic bank services without any security which can be accessed by any malicious person and can use this information for getting access to customer account. OTA (Over-the-air) mobile data can be hacked in network path from bank to customer mobile handset including MPIN, a password use for user identification in M-banking.Thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. Our objec tive is to provide cost effective, secure, fast M-banking solution combining features of cryptography. In this paper we have presented SMS based secure mobile banking with minimum cost using cryptography. II. M-BANKING CHANNELS M-banking can be executed using various channels like SMS, USSD, GPRS, WAP; Phone based Application, SIM Application. All of these channels are used separately or combined for various banking operations ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 472Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 A. Short Message Service (SMS) SMS is the simplest form of mobile banking. It is largely used for information-based services. SMS has the maximum reach amongst consumers since all the mobile phones support SMS. Short messages are stored and forwarded by SMS centres. These messages have some security issues. B. Unstructured Supplementary Services Delivery (USSD) USSD is a technology unique to GSM. It is a capability built into t he GSM standard for support of transmitting information over the signalling channels of the GSM network.USSD provides session-based communication. Turnaround response times for interactive applications are shorter for USSD than SMS. In USSD, the interaction is in the form of a continuous session as opposed to SMS. USSD is available on all handsets. C. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) GPRS is a packet-switched data service available to GSM users. GPRS enables services such as WAP access, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access in mobile phones. . WAP is wireless application protocol used over GPRS. It is similar to Internet banking.The consumer’s handset needs to be WAP enabled. WAP banking is open to similar threats as Internet banking. D. Phone-based Application Phone based applications are developed in various languages like J2ME, . NET having advantages that it can use GPRS, USSD or SMS, MMS to carry the consumer data/instruction in an encrypted format and it is operator independent. These are secure application which resides on supported handset. E. SIM Application Tool Kit The SIM Application Toolkit allows for the service provider or bank to house the consumer’s mobile banking menu within the SIM card. STK is the most secure method of mobile banking.It allows the bank to load its own encryption keys onto the SIM card with the bank’s own developed application. III. CURRENT M-BANKING Even though various channels are available for M-banking most of the banks uses SMS as basic and cheap channel for basic banking operations. Currently all banks in India like ICICI, HSBC, SBI etc are not using any encryption techniques in SMS based M-banking system. They are using simple text based SMS for customer queries in which they directly send account information to customer only hiding some digits of account number which can be easily ha cked by any hacker or seen by anyone from message inbox.Even though some banks do provide some other channel like GPRS and WAP but cost of implementation is more and these facilities are not available on all types of mobile handset thus there is a need of secure and cost effective solution which can be easily provided on all types of handsets. A. Issues in M-banking 1) Lack of Standards: The lack of standards gives rise to lot of local and fragmented versions of m-payments offered by different stakeholders. Standards need to address security and privacy concerns of customers as well as interoperability between various implementations. ) Device constraints: There are technical issues related to the mobile devices . The mobile phones suffers from various constrains like less processing power and memory, bandwidth, short battery life , frequent disconnections, tiny screens, poor resolution and privacy issues. 3) Security Issues: Securing m-Commerce is even more difficult than wired tra nsaction. Device constraints raise the questions as to whether there will be adequate security for users without compromising the ease of use and speed.Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile and used it for malicious purpose thus direct sending of data is not suggestible for M-banking. SMS are prone to spoofing and there are issues related to SMS encryption. However technology manufacturers are developing improved security for applications with authentication and encryption technologies and many claims that the ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 473 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 transaction using mobile device is fully secure. There are many techniques for secure M-banking operations but major research work has been done on Cryptography and steganography techn iques. Cryptography is a process of converting plaintext data into cipher text using cryptographic algorithms. They insure basic security requirements like authentication, confidentiality, integrity and non-repudiation. B. Basics of Short Message ServiceShort Message Service (SMS) is the ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile telephones. SMS was launched as a part of GSM1 standard. Each short message is up to 160 characters in length. The 160 characters can comprise of words, numbers, or punctuation symbols. Short Message Service is a store and forward service; this means that messages are not sent directly to the recipient but via a network SMS Centre. SMS comprises two basic point-to-point services as Mobile-originated short message (MO-SM) and Mobile-terminated short message (MT-SM).Mobile-originated short messages are transported from MOcapable handset to SMSC whereas Mobile-terminated short messages are transported from SMSC to the handsets. The figure no. 1 shows a typical organization of network elements in a GSM network supporting SMS. Fig. 1. Basic model of SMS based M-banking The benefits of SMS to subscribers are convenience, flexibility, and seamless integration of messaging services and data access, delivery of notifications and alerts, guaranteed message deliver, reliable, low-cost communication mechanism, increased subscriber productivity, delivery of messages to ultiple subscribers at a time. The SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) is the entity which does the job of store and forward of messages to and from the mobile station. The SME (Short Message Entity), which is typically a mobile phone or a GSM modem, can be located in the fixed network or a mobile station, receives or sends SMS. The SMSC usually has a configurable time limit for how long it will store the message. SMS Gateway SMS Gateway is an interface between software applications mobile networks.An SMS Gateway allows interfacing software applications to send and /or receive SMS messages over mobile network. A GSM Modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to signals for a GSM network and demodulates the incoming GSM signal and converts it to a digital signal for the computer or other digital device. IV. PROPOSED SOLUTION Current real time M-banking application of various banks uses plain text messages without any security algorithm for sending data in SMS banking hence any malicious user can access customer important data on mobile.Proposed secure M-banking is based on symmetric cryptographic techniques where common secret key is shared among bank customer and bank server. Proposed Architecture consists of 4 components as Customer Mobile application, Bank Server application, Bank side mobile / GSM Modem, Bank database and wireless OTA [1]. Our solution uses windows mobile as client application platform and . NET framework as server side software. Customer interested in using M-Banking facilities has to make registration only once with corresponding bank. Bank has all necessary details of customer in database.Bank sends Customer–side mobile application developed for windows mobile to user. Application will be installed once on windows mobile supported handset. This application consists of Login screen along with get session key option, menu screen for bank services options, and encryption and decryption screens for outgoing and incoming secure SMS and send message screen to send SMS to server GSM handset /Modem. Application will be updated as and when bank updates it. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 474 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479Bank will have GSM mobile Handset / GSM modem connected to bank application server. GSM handset will be connected to application server using either Bluetooth or USB cable having SIM card installed in it which has task of receiving, processing and replying customer SMS continuou sly. GSM handset/ modem are cheaper and can be easily installed but have slow speed for message handling which can be increased by connecting modem with SMSC centre over internet. Secure M-Banking server side application is developed in windows compatible environment like VB. NET which can be installed on bank application server.Application is consisting of SMS Service, Information Manage, Account Details Manage, User Request modules to receive and process secure encrypted message from customer mobile. SMS Service module is responsible for retrieving and replying secure SMS automatically whenever they reaches server GSM handset / Modem. Bank database consists of various tables storing customer details pertaining to his personal information, Account information and transaction information. Bank database stores customer confidential information like his MPIN, Mobile identification pin and encryption keys in encrypted and secure manner.We have discussed various major types of M-Banking channels as SMS, GPRS, WAP and USSD out of which every channel has own advantages and disadvantages. WAP and GPRS are good and provide session based security but they are handset dependent and also in rural part of India all mobile operators are not providing respective services. USSD is used along with SMS and requires separate infrastructure. Thus SMS channel is simple, easy to implement, cheaper and widely used channel which is device independent. Current SMS based M-banking service has many drawbacks s SMS is inherently developed in GSM for non-sensitive message transfer among users. Mutual authentication, text encryption, end-to-end security and non-repudiation is not present in design of GSM architecture [16]. Major issues with SMS based banking are SMS Spoofing which is an attack where malicious user sends out SMS message which appears to be sent by original sender. Current SMS architecture allows hiding original sender’s address by altering respective field in origin al SMS header. Also SMS has encryption only during path from base transreceiver station and mobile station. End-to-end encryption is not available.V. IMPLEMENTATION We have implemented proposed solution in . NET platform for windows mobile in windows environment. Customer mobile application in . NET framework runs on supported windows mobile handset for which we have used HTC mobile and bank server application is running in . NET along with any GSM handset connected in Bluetooth / USB mode to it. We have added secure SMS structure which provides extra security along with satisfying security parameters. This secure SMS will add extra security features like cryptographic and hashing algorithm to satisfy confidentiality, integrity, authentication and non-repudiation.Our system is based on secure SMS protocol and it uses SMS as media to send and receive encrypted information. . A. Secure SMS Message Structure The secured SMS message is divided into multiple fields’s to accommodat e for the various security checks required for the protocol. Figure no. 2 shows the structure overview for a secure SMS message. The use of each labelled structure is explained below. Account No. Session Key Cipher Text (6 digit) (Generated From MPIN) (Plain Text + MPIN) Message Digest Fig. 2. Secure SMS message Structure Secure SMS message structure proposed by us consists of 4 fields’s as shown in above figure.Account Number: – It is customer account number in bank which is first field used for authentication purpose. This information is stored in plain test format so that at the server end, information can be retrieved to get required keys from database. Session key: – It is onetime key randomly generated from customer MPIN inputted in bank server database during M-Banking registration process. This key is stored in 2nd field of message. Customer makes a request to get session key from his handset to bank server. Bank server will reply this with encrypted ses sion keys stored in file, which will be stored on customer handset. ISSN : 0975-4024Dec 2011- Jan 2012 475 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Cipher Text: – This text is created from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 3rd filed of message structure. Main idea behind this is to protect data from malicious attacker. As MPIN is most important data and from which session keys are created to be used for encryption and decryption purpose, hence it s send in encrypted manner. Message Digest: – Message digest is used for checking integrity. Customer message digest is calculated from combination of plain text and MPIN and stored in 4th field of secure SMS.MD5 algorithm is used to calculate message digest on both ends. This received digest will be compared with calculated digest at bank server end , if not found of same size then message will be discarded as fake transaction and no message will be send to mobile handset from which request is sent. B. Sending Secure SMS from Client Mobile Whenever customer wish to make any transaction using M-banking, he will run application installed on handset and provide all necessary details. We have used 6 transactions for testing purpose and information collected from user on his handset is used to generate secure SMS.After registration customer will get mobile application installed once on his windows mobile. Customer will enter 4-digit MPIN which will be stored in server database in encrypted format using his password. For non-repudiation purpose we have added concept of one time session key. Server uses customer MPIN to generate session key randomly and again stored them in encrypted format. Customer runs the banking application and feed details of 6-digit account number, 4-digit MPIN and 4digit password and click button to get session key. Server sends generated session key to customer handset which will be stored in encrypted format on his handset.Customer goes to menu screen, chooses requires account type and type of transaction he wish to perform and goes to next screen. Mobile client application shows 4 entries on next screen consisting of session key received, generated fixed plain text message depending upon transaction chosen, cipher text created from combination of plain text and MPIN and 4-part secure message. Secure SMS contains account number in plain text, session key in encrypted format, cipher text created from plain text and MPIN and message digest calculated from message.Customer will send message to sever using as normal message. C. Receiving and Replying Secure SMS from Server Module Proposed Server is running on computer installed with required software like VB. NET, Windows mobile device centre and SDK, . NET compact framework, MS-access and Server side application. Server side application has four modules as SMS Service, Information Manage, Transaction Manage and User Requests. SMS service module retrieves SMS received at Server side handset and decode it to get original query send by customer.Server application process query, get required data from bank database and then sends it in encrypted format to customer mobile through bank side modem. Whenever Customer sends any secure SMS containing his transaction query to server side GSM Modem, Server application automatically retrieves secure SMS and deletes it from server attached handset to avoid flooding of message inbox. We have used ActiveX control for this purpose. Bank Server application splits received secure SMS in same 4-parts. Server reads first part, a plain text 6-digit account number and compares it with database stored account number.If match is not found, it will send message â€Å"Wrong Account Number† to customer handset. If account match is found then server uses 2nd part of secure SMS, which is session key send by user to decrypt 3rd part of received secure SMS. After decrypting 3rd part of SMS, server application gets combination of plaintext as customer original transaction query followed by 4-digit MPIN. Server application compares received MPIN with stored MPIN from server table if a match is not found, will send message â€Å"Wrong Pin Number† to customer handset.Server calculates message digest of 3rd part received using MD5 algorithm and compare it with received massage digest, 4th part of secure SMS to check for message integrity. If match is not found, server generates message on server side â€Å"Fake Transaction† and sends nothing to customer side handset as it may be off any malicious user. If all security checks are proper, Server application process query of customer and get required data from database encrypts data using session key received from customer and sends automatically to customer handset.VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS We have developed two applications for client and server side. Mobile client application is developed using . NET compact framewor k and VB. NET, installed on windows mobile supported HTC mobile device. This application is used by customer for various M-banking transactions to send encrypted secure SMS to bank ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 476 Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Server and gets back encrypted reply from bank Server.Client and Server side application performs symmetric encryption and decryption using 256-bit AES symmetric encryption algorithm. MD5 algorithm is used for hashing purpose. Server side bank application is developed using VB. NET it uses SMS toolkit, an ActiveX control to retrieve and process secure SMS automatically. Server side application also contains certain modules for database management of customer account and transactions Normally symmetric cryptographic algorithm don’t have non-repudiation as both party shares common secret key but we have used session key concept for maintaining non-repudiation propert y of encryption.Since Session key is used only once and created randomly, no two users can have common session key and it is created from MPIN, a master key which customer only knows so he cannot deny that he has done transaction. We have carried out 6 types of transaction including Account Balance, Mini transactions, Cheque Book Request, Cheque Stop request, Pay Bill and Fund Transfer. Following are some sample client application module. The figure no. 3 shows session key, user query in fixed plain text format, cipher text generated from combination of plain text and his MPIN and 4-part secure SMS message generated as per format discussed.This last message is sent to server. Fig. 3. Generating 4-Part Secure Message This secure SMS is retrieved by server side SMS service module. Server application split message and decrypt it to get original transaction query of customer. This query is processed to get response data from database which is firstly encrypted and then send to customer handset. Customer handset get auto reply from server side in cipher text, which is decrypted on mobile by client side application to get server response in plain text. The Figure no. 4 shows response obtained automatically from server for account balance.This reply consists of 3 parts. First part is common session key used by server and client. Second part is cipher text received from server application in secure manner. Third part is plain text message obtained after decrypting secure message received from server. Client mobile application uses 256-bit AES algorithm to decrypt message using common session key. This message will be hidden from customer and he will only get final query results in plain text format but for result purpose we have shown this screen. ISSN : 0975-4024 Dec 2011- Jan 2012 477Manoj V, Bramhe / International Journal of Engineering and Technology Vol. 3 (6), 2011, 472-479 Fig. 4. Secure Reply from Server To be a secure system, it must satisfy Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation Secure SMS system maintains confidentiality using AES cryptography and Non-Repudiation using session key. Here 3-factor authentication is used for authentication and security purpose whereas Message integrity is carried out using MD5 algorithm. VII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK We have implemented a secure SMS based Mobile Banking system.The system allows user to carry out all banking transaction securely from anywhere, anytime. All messages from user windows mobile are sent in encrypted format to bank server. Bank server decrypt message, process query and encrypt result in SMS. Server sends message to customer which will be decrypted on his handset. The evaluation of the system was studied for varying banking transaction and under various security threatening malicious activities were recorded. Performance of the transaction is studied. We have executed few banking transaction from HTC windows mobile and using VB.Net server side applicati on. We have used LG GSM mobile as server attached mobile device. Experiments shows that secure SMS Mobile banking provides cost effective and secure system with satisfying Confidentiality, Authentication, Integrity and Non-Repudiation using symmetric cryptography. Application can be used on any windows mobile supported handset from anywhere as no GPRS and WAP are required. We have implemented system using symmetric key AES algorithm. In future better power consumption algorithm like blowfish can be tried out.Steganogrpahy can also be applied for secure M-banking transactions. We can use concept of STK, SIM application toolkit where bank can stored the application and encryption keys on SIM. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza and M. Hassan Shirali-Shahreza, â€Å"Mobile banking Services in bank area†, SICE Annual Conference 2007, Japan Martinez Borreguero, F. Javier and Chaparro Pelaez, Julian,†Spanish Mobile Banking Services: An Adoption Study†, Proceedings of the International Conference on Mobile Business 2005.Mohammad Shirali-Shahreza,†Improving Mobile Banking Security Using Steganography â€Å", International Conference On Information Technology. 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