Where Is Bactria and What Is Its History

Bactria is an ancient region of Central Asia, between the Hindu Kush Mountain range and the Oxus River (today generally called the Amu Darya River). In more recent times, the region also goes by the name Balkh, after one of the tributary rivers of the Amu Darya. Historically often a unified region, Bactria now is divided among many Central Asian nations: Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, plus a sliver of what is now Pakistan. Two of its significant cities that are still important today are Samarkand (in Uzbekistan) and Kunduz (in northern Afghanistan). Brief History of Bactria Archaeological evidence and early Greek accounts indicate that the area east of Persia and northwest of India has been home to organized empires since at least 2,500 BCE, and possibly much longer. The great philosopher Zoroaster or Zarathustra is said to have come from Bactria. Scholars have long debated when the historical personage of Zoroaster lived, with some proponents claiming a date as early as 10,000 BCE, but this is all speculative. In any event, his beliefs form the basis for Zoroastrianism, which strongly influenced the later monotheistic religions of southwest Asia (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). In the sixth century BCE, Cyrus the Great conquered Bactria and added it to the Persian or Achaemenid Empire. When Darius III fell to Alexander the Great in the Battle of Gaugamela (Arbela), in 331 BCE, Bactria was thrown into chaos. Due to strong local resistance, it took the Greek army two years to put down the Bactrian insurgency, but their power was tenuous at best. Alexander the Great died in 323 BCE, and Bactria became part of his general Seleucuss satrapy. Seleucus and his descendants governed the Seleucid Empire in Persia and Bactria until 255 BCE. At that time, the satrap Diodotus declared independence and founded the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, which covered the area south of the Caspian Sea, up to the Aral Sea, and east to the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains. This large empire did not last long, however, being conquered first by the Scythians (around 125 BCE) and then by the Kushans (Yuezhi). The Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire itself lasted only from the 1st to 3rd centuries CE, but under the Kushan emperors, its power spread from Bactria into the whole of northern India. At this time, Buddhist beliefs mingled with the earlier amalgam of Zoroastrian and Hellenistic religious practices common in the area. Another name for the Kushan-controlled Bactria was Tokharistan, because the Indo-European Yuezhi were also called the Tocharians. The Sassanid Empire of Persia under Ardashir I conquered Bactria from the Kushans around 225 CE and ruled the area until 651. In succession, the area was conquered by the Turks, Arabs, Mongols, Timurids, and eventually, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Tsarist Russia. Because of its key position astride the overland Silk Road, and as a central hub between the great imperial areas of China, India, Persia and the Mediterranean world, Bactria has long been prone to conquest and contestation. Today, what was once called Bactria forms much of the Stans, and is once more valued for its reserves of oil and natural gas, as well as for its potential as an ally of either moderate Islam or Islamic fundamentalism. In other words, watch out for Bactria - it has never been a quiet region! Pronunciation: BACK-tree-uh Also Known As: Bukhdi, Pukhti, Balk, Balhk Alternate Spellings: Bakhtar, Bactriana, Pakhtar, Bactra Examples: One of the most important modes of transport along the Silk Road was the Bactrian or two-humped camel, which takes its name from the region of Bactria in Central Asia.

Comparing Aristotle s The Play Antigone - 1066 Words

Aristotle believed that â€Å"good literature† was composed of 6 different elements. These elements include plot, character, thought, diction, melody, and spectacle. Of these 6 elements he believed plot was the most important followed by character. Aristotle defined plot as the story or action of the play. He defined character as all of the qualities readers associate with different individuals in the play. He said that thought was the process in which characters come to decisions. It’s essentially the process of reasoning that leads a character to do something. Aristotle defined diction as the composition of the lines spoken. He said melody referred to the vocal compositions integrated into the performance. Lastly, he defined spectacle as the costuming, scenery, and all other visual aspects within the play. Aristotle believed that it took all of these elements to create a good piece of literature. The play Antigone by Sophocles contains all of Aristotle†™s poetics in one way or another. This review will focus on the elements of plot, character, and melody. Aristotle says that a plot is essential to any story, so of course it must be reviewed. The plot of a Greek tragedy typically has a certain structure. The structure is made up of 5 parts; the prologue, the parode, the episode, the stasimon, and the exode. The prologue is where the tragedy’s topic is introduced. This is also the beginning of the play. The parode is the entry chant of the chorus. The episodeShow MoreRelatedOedipus Rex Vs. Antigone1417 Words   |  6 PagesComparative Essay 11-20-01 Oedipus Rex Antigone It is only natural that an author use similar vessels of literature, such as figurative language, literary devices, and elements in his/her work. It is even more apparent between works that are connected by character, time, and theme. Sophocles did this when he wrote Oedipus Rex and Antigone. When comparing the two pieces, it becomes evident that very similar vessels connected these very different plays. Sophocles uses a specific type of figurativeRead Moretheme of alienation n no where man by kamala markandeya23279 Words   |  94 Pagesï » ¿ANTIGONE KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING This tragedy is set against the background of the Oedipus legend. It illustrates how the curse on the House of Labdacus (who is the grandson of Cadmus, founder of Thebes, and the father of Laius, whose son is Oedipus) brought about the deaths of Oedipus and his wife-mother, Jocasta, as well as the double fratricide of Eteocles and Polynices. Furthermore, Antigone dies after defying King Creon. The play is set in Thebes, a powerful city-state north of

Biodiversity Profile of India Free Essays

Biodiversity Profile of India Dr. Md. Sabir Hussain Associate Professor Geography and Major Biomes India occupies 7th position in the world in terms of size and Asia’s second largest nation with an area of 3,287,263 square km. We will write a custom essay sample on Biodiversity Profile of India or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Indian mainland stretches from 8 4†² to 37 6†² N latitude and from 68 7†² to 97 25†² E longitude. It has a land frontier of some 15,200 kms and a coastline of 7,516 km (Government of India, 1985). India’s northern frontiers are with Xizang (Tibet) in the Peoples Republic of China, Nepal and Bhutan.In the north-west, India borders on Pakistan; in the north-east, China and Burma; and in the east, Burma. The southern peninsula extends into the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean with the Bay of Bengal lying to the south-east and the Arabian Sea to the south-west. For administrative purposes India is divided into 24 states and 7 union territories. The country is home to around 846 million people, about 16% of the World’s population (1990 figures). Summary data for India are given.Physically the massive country is divided into four relatively well defined regions – the Himalayan Mountains, the Genetic river plains, the southern (Deccan) plateau, and the islands of Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar. The Himalayas in the far north include some of the highest peaks in the world. The highest mountain in the Indian Himalayas is Kanchenjunga (8586 m) which is located in Sikkim on the border with Nepal. To the south of the main Himalayan massif laid the Lesser Himalaya, rising to 3,600- 4,600 m, and represented by the Pir Panjal in Kashmir and Dhaula dhar in Himachal Pradesh.Further south, flanking the Indo-Gangetic Plain, are the Siwaliks which rise to 900-1,500 m. The northern plains of India stretch from Assam in the east to the Punjab in the west (a distance of 2,400 km), extending south to terminate in the saline swamplands of the Rann of Kachchh (Kutch), in the state of Gujarat. Some of the largest rivers in India including the Ganga (Ganges), Ghaghara, Brahmaputra, and the Yamuna flow across this region. The delta area of these rivers is located at the head of the Bay of Bengal, partly in the Indian tate of west Bengal but mostly in Bangladesh. The plains are remarkably homogenous topographically: for hundreds of kilometres the only perceptible relief is formed by floodplain bluffs, minor natural levees and hollows known as ‘spill patterns’, and the belts of ravines formed by gully erosion along some of the larger rivers. In this zone, variation in relief does not exceed 300 m (FAO/UNEP, 1981) but the uniform flatness conceals a great deal of pedological variety.The agriculturally productive alluvial silts and clays of the G anga-Brahmaputra delta in north-eastern India, for example, contrast strongly with the comparatively sterile sands of the Thar Desert which is located at the western extremity of the Indian part of the plains in the state of Rajasthan. The climate of India is dominated by the Asiatic monsoon, most importantly by rains from the south-west between June and October, and drier winds from the north between December and February. From March to May the climate is dry and hot. Wetlands India has a rich variety of wetland habitats.The total area of wetlands (excluding rivers) in India is 58,286,000ha, or 18. 4% of the country, 70% of which comprises areas under paddy cultivation. A total of 1,193 wetlands, covering an area of about 3,904,543 ha, were recorded in a preliminary inventory coordinated by the Department of Science and Technology, of which 572 were natural (Scott, 1989). India most important wetland areas are shown in. Two sites – Chilka Lake (Orissa) and Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur) – have been designated under the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) as being especially significant waterfowl habitats. The country’s wetlands are generally differentiated by region into eight categories (Scott, 1989): the reservoirs of the Deccan Plateau in the south, together with the lagoons and the other wetlands of the southern west coast; the vast saline expanses of Rajasthan, Gujarat and the gulf of Kachchh; freshwater lakes and reservoirs from Gujarat eastwards through Rajasthan (Kaeoladeo Ghana National park) and Madhya Pradesh; the delta wetlands and lagoons of India’s east coast (Chilka Lake); the freshwater marshes of the Gangetic Plain; the floodplain of the Brahmaputra; the marshes and swamps in the hills of north-east India and theHimalayan foothills; the lakes and rivers of the montane region of Kashmir and Ladakh; and the mangroves and other wetlands of the island arcs of the Andamans and Nicobars. Forests India possesses a distinct identity, not only because of its geography, history and culture but also because of the great diversity of its natural ecosystems. The pano rama of Indian forests ranges from evergreen tropical rain forests in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats, and the north-eastern states, to dry alpine scrub high in the Himalaya to the north.Between the two extremes, the country has semi-evergreen rain forests, deciduous monsoon forests, thorn forests, subtropical pine forests in the lower mountain zone and temperate mountain forests (Lal, 1989). The distribution of the major evergreen forest formations of the region are depicted in. One of the most important tropical forests classifications was developed for Greater India (Champion, 1936) and later republished for present-day India (Champion and Seth, 1968). This approach has proved to have wide application outside India. In it 16 major forests types are recognised, subdivided into 221 minor types. Structure, physiognomy and floristics are all used as characters to define the types. The main areas of tropical forest are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; the Western Ghats, which fringe the Arabian Sea coastline of peninsular India; and the greater Assam region in the north-east. Small remnants of rain forest are found in Orissa state. Semi-evergreen rain forest is more extensive than the evergreen formation partly because evergreen forests tend to degrade to semi-evergreen with human interference.There are substantial differences in both the flora and fauna between the three major rain forest regions (IUCN, 1986; Rodges and Panwar, 1988). The Western Ghats Monsoon forests occur both on the western (coastal) margins of the ghats and on the eastern side where there is less rainfall, shows the distribution of forest in Kerala State, which contains part of the Western Ghats range. These forests contain several tree species of great commercial significance (e. g.Indian rosewood Dalbergia latifolia, Malabar Kino Pterocarpus marsupium, teak and Terminalia crenulata), but they have now been cleared from many areas. In the rain forests there is an enormous number of tree species. At least 60 percent of the trees of the upper canopy are of species which individually contribute not more than one percent of the total number. Clumps of bamboo occur along streams or in poorly drained hollows throughout the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of south-west India, probably in areas once cleared for shifting agriculture.The tropical vegetation of north-east India (which includes the states of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya as well as the plain regions of Arunachal Pradesh) typically occurs at elevations up to 900 m. It embraces evergreen and semi-evergreen rain forests, moist deciduous monsoon forests, riparian forests, swamps and grasslands. Evergreen rain forests are found in the Assam Valley, the foothills of the eastern Himalayas and the lower parts of the Naga Hills, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Manipur where the rain fall exceeds 2300 mm per annum.In the Assam Valley the giant Dipterocarpus macrocarpus and Shorea assamica occur singly, occasionally attaining a girth of up to 7 m and a height of up to 50 m. The monsoon forests are mainly moist sal Shorea robusta forests, which occur widely in this region (IUCN, 1991). The Andamans and Nicobar islands have tropical evergreen rain forests and tropical semi-evergreen rainforests as well as tropical monsoon moist monsoon forests (IUCN, 1986). The tropical evergreen rain forest is only slightly less grand in stature and rich in species than on the mainland.The dominant species is Dipterocarpus grandiflorus in hilly areas, while Dipterocarpus kerrii is dominant on some islands in the southern parts of the archipelago. The monsoon forests of the Andamans are dominated by Pterocarpus dalbergioides and Terminalia spp. Marine Environment The nearshore coastal waters of India are extremely rich fishing grounds. The total commercial marine catch for India has stabilised over the last ten years at between 1. 4 and 1. 6 million tonnes, with fishes from the clupeoid group (e. g. sardines Sardinella sp. , Indian shad Hilsa sp. and whitebait Stolephorus sp. accounting for approximately 30% of all landings. In 1981 it was estimated that there were approximately 180,000 non-mechanised boats (about 90% of India’s fishing fleet) carrying out small-scale, subsistence fishing activities in these waters. At the same time there were about 20,000 mechanised boats and 75 deep-sea fishing vessels operating mainly out of ports in the states of Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Coral reefs occur along only a few sections of the mainland, principally the Gulf of Kutch, off the southern mainland coast, and around a number of islands opposite Sri Lanka.This general absence is due largely to the presence of major river systems and the sedimentary regime on the continental shelf. Elsewhere, corals are also found in Andaman, Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Island groups although their diversity is reported to be lower than in south-east India (UNEP/IUCN, 1988). Indian coral reefs have a wide range of resources which are of commercial value. Exploitation of corals, coral debris and coral sands is widespread on the Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kutch reefs, while ornamental shells, chanks and pearl oysters are the basis of an important reef industry in the south of India.Sea fans and seaweeds are exported for decorative purposes, and there is a spiny lobster fishing industry along the south-east coast, notably at Tuticorin, Madras and Mandapam Commercial exploitation of aquarium fishes from Indian coral reefs has gained importance only recently and as yet no organised effort has been made to exploit these resources. Reef fisheries are generally at the subsistence level and yields are unrecorded. Other notable marine areas are sea grass beds, which although not directly e xploited are valuable as habitats for commercially harvested species, particularly prawns, and mangrove stands.In the Gulf of Mannar the green tiger prawn Penaeus semisulcatus is extensively harvested for the export market. Sea grass beds are also important feeding areas for the dugong Dugong dugon, plus several species of marine turtle. Five species of marine turtle occur in Indian waters: Green turtle Chelonia mydas, Loggerhead Caretta caretta, Olive Ridley Lepidochelys olivacea, Hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata and Leatherback Dermochelys coriacea. Most of the marine turtle populations found in the Indian region are in decline.The principal reason for the decrease in numbers is deliberate human predation. Turtles are netted and speared along the entire Indian coast. In south-east India the annual catch is estimated at 4,000-5,000 animals, with C. mydas accounting for about 70% of the harvest. C. caretta and L. olivacea are the most widely consumed species (Salm, 1981). E. imbricata is occasionally eaten but it has caused deaths and so is usually caught for its shell alone. D. coriacea is boiled for its oil which is used for caulking boats and as protection from marine borers. Incidental netting is widespread.In the Gulf of Mannar turtles are still reasonably common near seagrass beds where shrimp trawlers operate, but off the coast of Bengal the growing number of mechanized fishing boats has had the effect of increasing incidental catch rates (Kar and Bhaskar, 1981), shows known turtle nesting areas in the Andaman Islands. Biodiversity Species Diversity India contains a great wealth of biological diversity in its forests, its wetlands and in its marine areas. This richness is shown in absolute numbers of species and the proportion they represent of the world total (see Table 1). Table 1.Comparison Between the Number of Species in India and the World. Group Number of species Number of species SI/SW in India (SI) in the world (SW) (%) ____________________________________________________________ _________ Mammals 350(1) 4,629(7) 7. 6 Birds 1224(2) 9,702(8) 12. 6 Reptiles 408(3) 6,550(9) 6. 2 Amphibians 197(4) 4,522(10) 4. 4 Fishes 2546(5) 21,730(11) 11. Flowering Plants 15,000(6) 250,000(12) 6. 0 ____________________________________________________________ _________ Table 1 India has a great many scientific institutes and university departments interested in various aspects of biodiversity. A large number of scientists and technicians have been engaged in inventory, research, and monitoring. The general state of knowledge about the distribution and richness of the country’s biological resources is therefore fairly good. Inventories of birds, mammals, trees, fish and reptiles are moderately complete.Knowledge of special interest groups such as primates, pheasants, bovids, endemic birds, orchids, and so on, is steadily improving through collaboration of domestic scientists with those from overseas. The importance of these biological resources cannot be overestimated for the continued welfare of India population. Endemic Species India has many endemic plant and vertebrate species. Among plants, species endemism is estimated at 33% with c. 140 endemic genera but no endemic families (Botanical Survey of India, 1983). Areas rich in endemism are north-east India, the Western Ghats and the north-western and eastern Himalayas.A small pocket of local endemism also occurs in the Eastern Ghats (MacKinnon MacKinnon, 1986). The Gangetic plains are generally poor in endemics, while the Andaman and Nicobar Islands contribute at least 220 species to the endemic flora of India (Botanical Survey of India, 1983). WCMC’s Threatened Plants Unit (TPU) is in the preliminary stages of cataloguing the world’s centres of plant diversity; approximately 150 botanical sites worldwide are so far recognised as important for conservation action, but others are constantly being identified (IUCN, 1987).Five locations have so far been issued for India: the Agastyamalai Hills, Silent Valley and New Amarambalam Reserve and Periyar National Park (all in the Western Ghats), and the Eastern and Western Himalaya. The 396 known endemic higher vertebrate species identified by WCMC. Endemism among mammals and birds is r elatively low. Only 44 species of Indian mammal have a range that is confined entirely to within Indian territorial limits. Four endemic species of conservation significance occur in the Western Ghats.They are the Lion-tailed macaque Macaca silenus, Nilgiri leaf monkey Trachypithecus johni (locally better known as Nilgiri langur Presbytis johnii), Brown palm civet Paradoxurus jerdoni and Nilgiri tahr Hemitragus hylocrius. Only 55 bird species are endemic to India, with distributions concentrated in areas of high rainfall. These areas, mapped by Birdlife International (formerly the International Council for Bird Preservation) are shown in. They are located mainly in eastern India along the mountain chains where the monsoon shadow occurs, south-west India (the Western Ghats), and the Nicobar and Andaman Islands (ICBP, 1992).In contrast, endemism in the Indian reptilian and amphibian fauna is high. There are around 187 endemic reptiles, and 110 endemic amphibian species. Eight amphibian genera are not found outside India. They include, among the caecilians, Indotyphlus, Gegeneophis and Uraeotyphlus; and among the anurans, the toad Bufoides, the microhylid Melanobatrachus, and the frogs Ranixalus, Nannobatrachus and Nyctibatrachus. Perhaps most notable among the endemic amphibian genera is the monotypic Melanobatrachus which has a single species known only from a few specimens collected in the Anaimalai Hills in the 1870s (Groombridge, 1983).It is possibly most closely related to two relict genera found in the mountains of eastern Tanzania. Threatened Species India contains 172 species of animal considered globally threatened by IUCN, or 2. 9% of the world’s total number of threatened species (Groombridge, 1993). These include 53 species of mammal, 69 birds, 23 reptiles and 3 amphibians. A full list of these species is given in. India contains globally important populations of some of Asia’s rarest animals, such as the Bengal Fox, Asiatic Cheetah, Marbled Cat, Asiatic Lion, Indian Elephant, Asiatic Wild Ass, Indian Rhinoceros, Markhor, Gaur, Wild Asiatic Water Buffalo etc.The number of species in various taxa that are listed under the different categories of endangerment is shown below in Table 2. Table 2. Globally Threatened Animals Occurring in India by status Category. Group 1994 IUCN Red List Threat Category Endangered Vulnerable Rare Indeterminate Insufficiently TOTAL Known ____________________________________________________________ __________________________________Mammals 13 20 2 5 13 53 Birds 6 20 25 13 5 69 Reptiles 6 6 4 5 2 23 Amphibians 0 0 0 3 0 3 Fishes 0 0 2 0 0 2 Invertebrates 1 3 12 2 4 22 ____________________________________________________________ _________________ _______________ TOTAL 26 49 45 28 24 172 Source: Groombridge, B. (ed). 1993. The 1994 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. lvi + 286 pp. A workshop held in 1982 indicated that as many as 3,000-4,000 higher plants may be under a degree of threat in India.Since then, the Project on Study, Survey and conservation of Endangered species of Flora (POSSCEP) has partially documented these plants, and published its findings in Red Data Books (Nayar and Sastry, 1987, Table 3 provides summary statistics for this information. Table 3. Summary of Plant conservation status Information at WCMC. IUCN Threat category Number of species _____________________________________________ Extinct 19 Extinct/Endangered 43 Endangered 149Endangered/Vulnerable 2 Vulnerable 108 Rare 256 Indeterminate 719 Insufficiently Known 9 No information 1441 Not threatened 374 _____________________________________________ TOTAL 3120 Source: WCMC Species Unit. Protected Areas Network Development and History The protection of wildlife has a long tradition in Indian history.Wise use of natural resources was a prerequisite for many hunter-gatherer societies which date back to at least 6000 BC. Extensive clearance of forests accompanied the advance of agricultural and pastoral societies in subsequent millennia, but an awareness of the need for ecological prudence emerged and many so-called pagan nature conservation practices were retained. As more and more land became settled or cultivated, so these hunting reserves increasingly became ref uges for wildlife. Many of these reserves were subsequently declared as national parks or sanctuaries, mostly after Independence in 1947.Examples include Gir in Gujarat, Dachigam in Jammu Kashmir, Bandipur in Karnataka, Eravikulum in Kerala, Madhav (now Shivpuri) in Madhya Pradesh, Simlipal in Orissa, and Keoladeo, Ranthambore and Sariska in Rajasthan. Wildlife, together with forestry, has traditionally been managed under a single administrative organisation within the forest departments of each state or union territory, with the role of central government being mainly advisory. There have been two recent developments.First, the wildlife (Protection) Act has provided for the creation of posts of chief wildlife wardens and wildlife wardens in the states to exercise statutory powers under the Act. Under this Act, it is also mandatory for the states to set up state wildlife advisory boards. Secondly the inclusion of protection of wild animals and birds in the concurrent list of the constitution, has pro ved the union with some legislative control over the states in the conservation of wildlife (Pillai, 1982). The situation has since improved all states and union territories with national parks or sanctuaries having set up wildlife wings.The adoption of a National Policy for wildlife conservation in 1970 and the enactment of the wildlife (Protection) Act in 1972 lead to a significant growth in the protected areas network, from 5 national parks and 60 sanctuaries to 69 and 410 respectively, in 1990 (Panwar, 1990). The network was further strengthened by a number of national conservation projects, notably Project Tiger, initiated in April 1973 by the Government of India with support from WWF (IBWL, 1972; Panwar, 1982), and the crocodile Breeding and Management Project, launched on 1 April, 1975 with technical assistance from UNDP/FAO (Bustard, 1982).Protected Areas of the Western Ghats The Western Ghats are a chain of highlands running along the western edge of the Indian subcontinent, from Bombay south to the southern tip of the peninsula, through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kera la and Tamil Nadu. Covering an estimated area of 159,000 sq. km, the Western Ghats are an area of exceptional biological diversity and conservation interest, and are â€Å"one of the major Tropical Evergreen Forest regions in India† (Rodgers and Panwar, 1988).As the zone has already lost a large part of its original forest cover (although timber extraction from the evergreen reserve forests in Kerala and Karnataka has now been halted) it must rank as a region of great conservation concern. The small remaining extent of natural forest, coupled with exceptional biological richness and ever increasing levels of threat (agriculture, reservoir flooding plantations, logging and over exploitation), are factors which necessitate major conservation inputs. † There are currently seven national parks in the Western Ghats with a total area of 2,073 sq. m (equivalent to 1. 3% of the region) and 39 wildlife sanctuaries covering an area of about 13,862 sq. km (8. 1%). The management status of the wildlife sanctuaries in this part of India varies enormously. Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiri wildlife sanctuary, for example, has no human inhabitants, small abandoned plantation areas and no produce exploitation, while the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary in Kerala includes considerable areas of commercial plantations and privately owned estates with heavy resource exploitation. International Programmes and ConventionsIndia participates with many international agreements and programmes concerned with aspects of nature conservation and sustainable development. These range from legal instruments such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, which place obligations on those nations which become contracting parties, to scientific programmes such as the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, a global programme of international scientific cooperation. Examples of agreements and programmes with which India is collaborating include: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)Since India became a party to CITES on 18th October 1976 it has provided data annually to the CITES secretariat on the trade of endangered species through its CITES Management Authority. The text of the CITES convention along with the CITES appendices are provided. World Heritage Convention India ratified the world heritage convention in 1977 and since then five natural sites have been inscribed as areas of ‘outstanding universal value’. These sites are: †¢KazirangaNational Park †¢Keoladeo National Park †¢Manas National Park †¢Sunderbans National Park †¢Nanda Devi National Park Convention on Biological DiversityIndia signed the convention on biological diversity on 5th June 1992, ratified it on 18th February 1994 and brought it into force on 19th May 1994. This convention will provide a framework for the sustainable management and conservation of India’s natural resources. Ramsar (Wetlands) Convention India has been a contracted party to the Ramsar convention since 1st February 1982. India has now six sites covering some 192,973 hectares of important wetlands. How to cite Biodiversity Profile of India, Papers

Mcbride Financial Services Marketing Plan free essay sample

The firm will specialize in conventional, FHA, and VA loans for home purchasing and refinancing. The company intends to expand its operations into Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. We will write a custom essay sample on Mcbride Financial Services Marketing Plan or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † (McBride Financial Services website, 2003) According to their intranet site, McBride’s target market is: 1. Professionals purchasing either a primary or secondary residence. 2. Retirees purchasing a primary or secondary residence. 3. Families and/or individuals purchasing recreational properties. This document will review McBride Financial Services’ existing marketing approach and offer suggestions for focusing market research and what types of media to use. Additionally a review will be made of McBride’s target market and how the existing strategy relates to the marketing principles of the 4Ps and SIVA. Target Market McBride’s target market is professionals and retirees purchasing a primary of secondary residence as well as individuals or families looking to purchase recreational properties. They service the following states: Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and North and South Dakota. In addition, McBride is focusing on using state of the art technology in order to be able to offer their low cost mortgage services which means that the target market must also be willing and able to conduct are large portion of the mortgage application transaction using electronic means, i. e. Internet and email. Media types McBride’s current marketing plan, as listed on their intranet site, includes the use of the following media types: localized TV ads, newspapers, radio and realtors in addition to informational handouts available at airports and major tourist attractions. McBride’s annual advertising budget is $80,000. Given that McBride utilizes technology to reduce the cost of the mortgage application process, it is surprising that the existing marketing plan does not include an online advertising strategy. 4Ps The 4Ps are product, price, promotion and place. McBride’s product is low cost conventional, FHA and VA mortgages. The price for a credit report, the mortgage application, an inspection and appraisal is fixed at $1,500. Promotions are created through the above mentioned media types of TV, radio, newspapers and realtors and through informational handouts at the airports and at tourist attractions. The placement for the application process is via McBride’s website. Marketing Strategy The SIVA marketing methodology is defined as solution, information, value and access. According to Dev and Schultz (2005) this approach to marketing starts with understanding the market and the customers based on true and deep customer insights and then identify and clarify what customer’s value. Market research needs to be focused on identifying customer’s core wants and needs from a mortgage lender so that targeted value propositions can be created. McBride needs to adjust or change their services to align with the marketing research results. Additionally, McBride needs to focus on gaining insight from existing customers as to how to improve their services as well as potentially tapping that customer base for referral, perhaps by creating an incentive for existing customer’s to bring in new clients. Put another way, the market research should investigate McBride’s target market of professionals, retirees, individuals and families to create a solution (S) based on what those customer’s value. That solution can in turn be used to create multiple targeted value propositions (I) highlighting how McBride’s services address the needs and wants of their customers. McBride then delivers on the value proposition as determined by customer needs and wants gained in the research (V). The value is measured through both market research on potential customers and through feedback loops from existing customer’s so that solutions can continually evolve to better meet the needs of the target markets.