Environmental Impact Assessment for Airport Construction

Environmental Impact Assessment for Airport Construction This report is about the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the evaluation and consideration of building a new airport for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to replace the existing Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur. The proposed new Kuala Lumpur International Airport is in Sepang, Selangor. This report is prepared by consultant group from Syaszee Co. appointed by the government for carrying out studies on the EIA for new airport projects in Malaysia. The report is following the Malaysian Government EIA guidelines and methodologies as described in the Environmental Assessment Requirements and Environmental Review Procedures of the Asian Development Bank (1993) and Environmental Guidelines for Selected Infrastructure Projects (1990). The preparation of this report consist of various discussion with the stakeholders, academicians, local government, policy maker and private consultants to give opinion and overview regarding the impact and viability of this new airport project. In order to proceed with the studies, various methods are being used to gather the information as follows: (i) review of available literature, (ii) meetings with National and local government officials, (iii) site visits to the new airport and surrounding areas, (iv) discussions with inhabitants near the site, (v) ambient noise and air quality and surface water quality sampling and testing in the field and in the laboratory, and (vi) application of professional knowledge and experience. The requirement of conducting the Environmental Impact Assessments in any project by the countries has been reflected in the: (i) Principle 17 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (ii) Article 5 of the Legal Principle for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (iii) Principle of Environmental Impact Assessment developed under the UNEP. Besides that, an EIA generally includes the following aspects which are: Project definition Screening of the project and scoping of the assessment Stakeholder identification Identification and gathering of social and environmental baseline data Impact identification and analysis Development of mitigation and / or management measures and actions Public Disclosure (a) Project Definition Project definition is detailed description about the proposed project. It describes the existing airport facilities and its operation along with the proposed construction of new facilities and the plans for operation following the construction of the new facilities that are needed for the convenient of the users. The proposed facilities must meet the standard of the international airport requirement and can accommodate more aircraft at the airport. (b) Screening The project was reviewed against applicable legal requirements and government policy imposed to the development of new airport in Kuala Lumpur. The results are finally used to identify the impacts and any further assessments that need to take into consideration before proceed with the project. (c) Stakeholder Identification The appropriate organizations and individuals should been interviewed to identify environmental impacts. They were requested to identify any issues or concerns with the project, identify appropriate standards and identify further parties for consultation. For example, representatives from various department and agencies such as Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture, Ministry of Works and Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and Town Planning Department and Airport Authority. (d) Identification and Gathering of Social and Environmental Baseline Data Baseline data was gathered to describe the existing physical, biological and socio-economic conditions. The following technical studies were conducted to collect additional baseline data: Baseline Assessment establish baseline conditions and compliance with requirements Site Assessment establish nature and extent of contamination within the Project area Flora and Fauna Assessment identify any risks within the Project area and collect information to support the development of a wildlife and habitat management plan to reduce the risk of wildlife and aircraft interaction Hazardous Building Materials Assessment identify risks of hazardous building materials in the existing buildings Stormwater Considerations / Alternatives identify opportunities to improve existing drainage and accommodate additional drainage loads from the Expansion Project (e) Impact Identification and Analysis All potential risks and impacts will be documented and analysed. All phases of the project including design, construction, operations, and decommissioning will be considered. The following table is extracted from Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency as a guidance material on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to determine if an impact or risk is adverse or significant. Table 1. Factors in Determining Adverse Environmental Effects Changes in the Environment Effects on People Resulting from Environmental Changes Negative effects on the health including plants, animals, and fish. Negative effects on human health, well-being or quality of life Threat to rare or endangered species Increase in unemployment or shrinkage in the economy. Reductions in species diversity or disruption of food webs Reduction of the quality or quantity of recreational opportunities or amenities Loss of or damage to habitats, including habitat fragmentation. Detrimental change in the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by aboriginal persons. Discharges or release of persistent and/or toxic chemicals, microbiological agents, nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus), radiation, or thermal energy (e.g., cooling wastewater) Negative effects on historical, archaeological,  paleontological, or architectural resources Population declines, particularly in top visual  amenities (e.g., views) Decreased aesthetic appeal or changes in  predator, large, or long-lived species Loss of or damage to commercial species Loss of biodiversity The removal of resource materials (e.g., or  resources; peat, coal) from the environment Foreclosure of future resource use or production Transformation of natural landscapes Obstruction of migration or passage of wildlife Negative effects on the quality and/or quantity of the biophysical environment (e.g., surface water, groundwater, soil, land, and air) (f) Development of Mitigation and / or Management Measures and Actions The development of new airport basically already outline in the long term National Plan. The plans outlines things need to be consider including the environmental effects and impacts to the society. Besides that, the airport project is already assigned to the respective Ministry to appoint contractors responsible for building this mega project. All the plan outlines and progress report should be handled to the respective Ministry which is Ministry of Works and Ministry of Transport. Besides that, the contractor will be required to develop and implement an environmental management plan (EMP) in accordance with contract documents to ensure the mitigation outlined in this EIA is performed. An independent environmental consultant will be retained to perform regular site monitoring to ensure compliance with the contractors EMP and this EIA. Reports should be submitted to the monitoring committee set by the Government every month throughout the construction period. (g) Public Disclosure Once the project is completed, a public meeting will be held and advertised in local newspapers. Questions raised and the responses are welcome while the project os being evaluated by the authority or government. 2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN MALAYSIA The Malaysian EIA procedures are comparable to the National Environmental Policy Act 1969 (NEPA) model in the United States. The Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987 was gazetted as a project planning tool for new projects or the expansion of existing ones. Section 34A of the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Act 1985 requires anyone who intends to undertake a prescribed activity to first conduct a study to assess the likely environmental impacts that will occur from that activity and the mitigating measures that need to be undertaken. The Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (EIA) Order 1987 specifies some 19 categories of activities requiring EIA reports prior to implementation. The EIA procedure is shown in Figure 1. The project initiator will prescribed the activities that will be carried out during the construction of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Once it is completed, the report will be assessing by the re spective department before send to the Department of Environment (DOE) for further reviewing. If the DOE still need further information regarding the project, they will called for further assessment before proceed to the panels. After reviewing the report, if the panel satisfied with the report, they will request for detailed report which consists all the details about the airport project before the report is send to the approving authority. Once the Authority is satisfied and the government also satisfied, therefore the project will be initiated by the respective contractors. 2.1 EIA Procedures In July 1987, Malaysias Department of Environment (DOE) published the first edition of the Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines (hereafter EIA Guidelines). The EIA Guidelines state that: The aim of environmental impact assessment in Malaysia is to assess the overall impact on the environment of development projects proposed by the public and private sectors. To achieve this overall aim, the EIA Guidelines list the following five objectives of environmental impact assessment: To examine and select the best from the project options available; To identify and incorporate into the project plan appropriate abatement and mitigating measures; To predict residual environmental impacts; To determine the significance of the residual environmental impacts predicted; and To identify the environmental costs and benefits of the project to the community. 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT : NEW KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KLIA) Malaysia is one of the famous destinations to visits around the world. With the rapid economic growth and expansion of good facilities and also infrastructure has attracted many visitors and investors came to Malaysia. According to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, from January to November 2009 it is recorded that 25,575,774 foreigners had came to Malaysia. From January to June 2010 it is recorded that 11,868,103 visitors compared to the same period in 2009 which recorded only 11,346,444 people. As the number of visitors shows an increasing trend every year, therefore it is the right time for Malaysia to build new airport which can accommodate more air craft all over the world in order to equip with the demand and number of visitors came to Malaysia. As the project initiator, this paper will give appropriate guidelines that need to take into account before airport project can be taken off. All aspects and opinions from the government and publics are needed before the new airpor t can be built. Therefore, this report will discuss about the background, security measures and environmental impacts for the development of the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The purpose of this Environmental Impact Assessment Report as an evaluation and consideration of Malaysian government for the development of New Kuala Lumpur International Airport to replace the existing Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur. Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur is located in Subang Jaya which is 17.2 km from the Kuala Lumpur City. The airport started the operation on August 30, 1965. It had the longest runway with 3.7  km long, 45m wide and runway 15 33 in the Southeast Asia. The airport basically had three terminals which are Terminal 1 for international flights, Terminal 2 for Singapore KL shuttle flights by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, and Terminal 3 for domestic flights. By the end of 1997, Subang Airport handled 15.8 million passengers. KLIA is proposed to develop in the area which is situated in Sepang, in the south area of state of Selangor. The proposed site spanning almost 100  km2 and it is built on a piece of agricultural land owned by the Government. The building of the new airport is already highlighted in 10th Malaysia Plan. The cost of building of the new airport is about RM8.5 billion or US$3.5 billion. It is expected that the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) can handle 35 million passengers and 1.2 tonnes of cargo a year and this figure is expected to increase in the future. Besides that, the wide area can accommodate and handle more international aircraft. The new airport or Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang is strategically located to serves the need of people from the Klang Valley, Shah Alam, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak. Besides that, the development of Multimedia Super Corridor with the new township area such as Cyberjaya and Putrajaya as the Governments Office Centre will encourage more passengers using the facilities in the KLIA in Sepang. In order to improve the quality of services to attract more people using the KLIA, high speed train will be used for transporting passengers fr om KL Sentral to KLIA in more easier and convenient way. It is hopes with the proper plan and implementation of the development of new airport will encourage more people used the facilities in the new airport. Local and foreign expertise will be responsible for the development of new airport for Kuala Lumpur. The master plan of Kuala Lumpur International Airport involves constructing five runways and two terminals accompanied by two satellite terminals. Phase One of the development includes construction of one main terminal accompanied by one satellite terminal to accommodate 25 million passengers and dual full service runways. Under the implementation of Phase One, sixty contact piers, twenty remote parking bays with eighty aircraft parking positions, four maintenance hangars and fire stations will be built. Implementation of phase two and three will be expansions of the airport to include increasing number of passengers. As all three phases is completed, it is expected that the airport can handle 100 million passengers per annum. 4.0 ENVIRONEMNTAL ISSUES According to the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines produce by International Finance Corporation from World Bank group, all projects that need to develop are required to follow these guidelines according to the policies and standards set by the organization. For the purpose of develop an airport project, the following environmental measures should taken into consideration. (i) Noise and vibrations (ii) Storm water and waste water (iii) Hazardous materials management (iv) Solid waste (v) Air emissions (vi) Energy and water consumption 4.1 Noise and vibrations Noise can be significant during the construction and development of the airport project. A widely used standard for measuring the noise is for LA10, the A-weighted level in decibels that is exceeded for 10% of the time. The noise measures standard usually relate to the impact on human being. Therefore, the most significant sources of noise and vibrations from airport operations are aircraft during the landing and takeoff (LTO) cycles. The noise also can come from ground operations equipment including aircraft taxiing, operation of ground support vehicles for example passenger buses, mobile lounges, fuel trucks, aircraft tugs, aircraft and baggage tractors, aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs) and aircraft engine testing activities in airports with aircraft maintenance activities. Other indirect sources of noise include ground vehicle traffic from access roads leading to the airport. In order to control the noise, preventive measure should be taken into consideration which is hardly depends on land-use planning and flight management activities. Recommended noise management practices that can be carried out are as follows: (i) Strategic location for airport development which is far away from the communities and residential and also business premises. Therefore, it will minimize the disturbance of the surrounding area. (ii) For aircraft landing and take off (LTO), the implementation of preferred procedures and routes is essential to minimize noise especially in noise-sensitive area. These procedures may include instructions on the use of descent profiles or noise preferential routes (NPRs), such as the continuous descent approach to avoid noise-sensitive areas, the use of Low Power / Low Drag (LPLD) procedure to fly the aircraft in a clean condition such as no flap or wheels deployed as long as possible to minimize airframe noise, and instructions on minimizing reverse thrust on landing. An alternative approach may include the dispersion of noise through equal use of multiple flight tracks as opposed to a preferential flight track. (iii) Restrictions of the nighttime and operation of aircraft activities should be controlled. (iv) Reducing noise in flight operations and activities or use the sound barriers and deflectors to eliminate and reduce noise. 4.2 Air Emissions Another source of pollution that is expected from the development of new airport is from the air. This pollution include combustion exhaust from aircraft during landing and takeoff and ground operation, from ground service vehicles, vapors from fuel storage and handling and emissions from local ground transportation activities servicing the airport. Other sources of emissions may include fuel combustion during fire training activities, combustion emissions from on-site electricity and heat generation systems and emissions from solid waste incineration activities. Therefore, in order to reduce the air emission pollution from the aircraft, various steps can be taken as follows: (i) Optimizing and improving the ground service infrastructure to reduce aircraft and ground vehicle movements (ii) Try to minimizing fugitive air emissions from jet kerosene and other fuel storage and handling activities. (iii) In fire-fighting drills, select the cleaner fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas to be used and choose firefighting drill locations and atmospheric conditions that best avoid short-term impacts to the air quality of nearby populated areas. (iv) The use of the incinerators can help reduce pollution. In controlling air emission pollution, incineration of wastes activities can be continued. 4.3 Stormwater and Wastewater Other preventive measures in reducing the pollution, effluents from rhe airport also need to be control. The effluents from airport operations basically consist of stormwater runoff from paved surfaces and sanitary wastewater from public and employee services and from airplanes. This situation happened can be associated with leaks and spills of oil, diesel, and jet fuels during operation and maintenance of ground service vehicles, and fuel storage and handling aircraft activities. Therefore, the proposed strategies to control the impacts associated with stormwater and wastewater are as follows: (i) Improve the drainage in strategic location that are potentially facing with the leaks and spills of chemicals and fuels problem such as fuel and chemical storage, transport and dispensing facilities, fire training areas, airplane maintenance hangars, and ground service vehicle maintenance facilities by using an oil / water separator to discharge from the surface. (ii) The managing of collection of sanitary sewage for aircraft and airport should be carried out efficiently in order to control the wastewater effluents. (iii) Monitoring of effluents is essential in order to avoid aircraft accidents. 4.4 Hazardous Materials Management The operations of any airport in the world will be facing with dangerous items or easily contaminated. These includes the storage and handling of fuels such as jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline primarily associated with aircraft fueling activities as well as with ground support vehicles. Fuels may be stored in aboveground or underground storage tanks and conveyed to dispensing locations via aboveground or underground piping systems that may be subject to accidental releases during transfer or leaks due to tank and piping containment failure. Hazardous materials which are dangerous to human health and environment should be managed efficiently in order to prevent accidental releases, fire, or explosions. Training in handling with the hazardous waste should be carried out more frequent as the preparation if something happened. The knowledge about the chemicals handling is a must for the operators. 4.5 Waste Management Basically, an International Airport will receive different types of aircraft landed in the airport. All these aircraft will produce waste that need to be handled by the airport operators. For instance, passengers in the commercial airports may produce solid, nonhazardous, waste food from food establishments, packaging materials from retail facilities, and paper, newspaper, and a variety of disposable food containers from offices and common passenger areas. Food waste from international flights is considered a potentially infectious material by some national jurisdictions. Some airlines may also dispose of pillows following the completion of every flight. Airport operations may also generate liquid or solid hazardous wastes such as used lubricating oils and solvents from aircraft and ground service vehicle maintenance. Recommended waste management strategies include: Encourage a recycling program or use biodegradable materials that will be dispose easily especially food container, plastic bags and so forth. Besides that the food waste can be use as agricultural fertilizer and animal feed. Airline crew members and cleaning operators can segregate all the waste by separating the collection through recycle program according to the characteristics such as papers, plastic and metallic container. Used pillows also can be recycled. The cleanliness and hygiene of food preparation is a must to avoid diseases. Food catering waste should be managed according to the rules and regulation set by the health organization in order to protect human being. 4.6 Energy and Water Consumption The operation of the airport may need significant levels of energy for running the machines, ventilation, space cooling and heating in terminals, lighting and the operation of luggage conveyance systems. Water consumption may depend on the types of passenger and airplane maintenance services offered and may include the operation of sanitary facilities for large numbers of transiting passengers or cleaning activities in general. Recommended strategies and methods for energy and water conservation are presented in the General EHS Guidelines. 5.0 COST BENEFIT ANALYSES Finally, before the construction of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport started, we also have to look at the cost benefit analysis. First, is to identify and take into consideration of all geographical impacts of the project without limitation of the surrounding areas. We have to consider the impact to the local community, other local community within the same state and finally other states in the country as describe in the figure below. (i) Internal Rates of Return It is expected by the development of new airport will give economic return to the country. By encouraging more investors and tourists throughout the world come to Malaysia, it is belief it will increase the demand for local industries especially in hotel and resorts, restaurants and so forth as the new interesting place to visit. A large postion of investment is required to develop this airport. Therefore, the margin rate of return also should be high. (ii) Economic Benefits The new airport also will give economic benefit to the country. According to economic analyst, the major benefits will be (i) incremental net visitor expenditures, (ii) time savings of passengers, and (iii) the value of foregone passenger and cargo traffic. Besides that, the cost savings in domestic aircraft operation and time landed in the airport will also included in the analysis. (iii) Project Costs The allocation of the project cost will be approved by the government. This cost should include (i) civil works, (ii) construction, (iii) equipment and its installation, and (iv) consulting engineering design and supervision. Besides that, the abatement cost also should take into consideration in order to reduce the pollution which will harm the community and human beings. (iv) Monitoring and Reporting Costs During the construction period, the monitoring process should be required in order to make sure that the construction of the airport is according to the schedule and the quality of the building is according to the world standard. Therefore, it will incur some cost that should be borne by the contractor. The minor cost of the equipment required for monitoring environmental impacts is also included in the project cost. (v) Nonquantified Environmental Impacts The construction of the new airport also will produce the non quantified environmental impacts from airport development and increased other development off-site, including noise pollution, air pollution, and surface water pollution, were considered marginal, and additional economic assessment. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, the abatement cost also should be included in the project cost. 5.0 CONCLUSION As a conclusion, the development of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport is one of the mega projects that government should initiated. Supports from all are needed in order to make sure that the project implementation is successful. However, various aspects especially in the environmental impacts need to be considered before the projects can be proceed. With the development of new airport in Kuala Lumpur it is expected that it will give more benefits to the country in respect of diplomatic relationship, economic improvement and rapid growth in all aspects of economy.

Neoclassical Literature Essay

The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished In France and swept through the whole Western Europe at the time. the movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. The enlighteners celebrated reason or rationality, equality and science. They held that rationality or reason should be the only, the final cause of any human thought and activities. They called for a reference to order, reason and rules. They believed that when reason served as the yardstick for the measurement of all human activities and relations, every superstition, injustice and oppression was to yield place to â€Å"eternal truth,† â€Å"eternal justice† and â€Å"natural equality. † The belief provided theory for the French Revolution of 1789 and the American War of Independence in 1776. At the same time, the enlighteners advocated universal education. They believed that human being were limited, dualistic, imperfect, and yet capable of rationality and perfection through education. If the masses were well educated, they thought, there would be great chance for a democratic and equal human society. As a matter of fact, literature at the time, heavily didactic and moralizing, became a very popular means of public education. Famous among the great enlighteners in England were those great writers like John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison and Sir Richard Steele, the two pioneers of familiar essays, Jonathan Swift, Daniel Defoe, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Henry Fielding and Samuel Johnson. In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. According to the neoclassicists, all forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers and those of the contemporary French ones. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. This belief led them to seek proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions, in an effort to delight, instruct and correct human beings, primarily as social animals. Thus a polite, urbane, witty, and intellectual art developed. Neoclassicists had some fixed laws and rules for almost every genre of literature. Prose should be precise, direct, smooth and flexible. Poetry should be lyrical, epical, didactic, satiric or dramatic, and each class should be guided b its own principles. Drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets (iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines); regularity in construction should be adhered to, and type characters rather than individuals should be represented. John Bunyan Like most working men at the time, Bunyan had a deep hatred for the corrupted, hypocritical rich who accumulated their wealth â€Å"by hook and b crook. † As a stout Puritan, he had made a conscientious study of the Bible and firmly believed in salvation through spiritual struggle. It was during his second term in prison that he wrote The Pilgrim’s Progress, which was published in 1678 after his release. Bunyan’s style was modeled after that of the English Bible. With his concrete and living language and carefully observed and vividly presented details, he made it possible for the reader of the least education to share the pleasure of reading his novel and to relive the experience of his characters. Bunyan’s other works include Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666), The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680), The Holy War (1682) and The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part II (1684) As Milton was the chief Puritan poet, so Bunyan was the chief Puritan writer of Prose. Bunyan was born in a tinker’s family, and he himself was a tinker. He did not have much education and at sixteen he joined the parliamentary army and then became a preacher. Like Milton he was put into prison in the period of the Restoration, but remained there much longer. He might have written his work The Pilgrim’s Progress in prison although it was published in prison although it was published in 1678 after his release. The Pilgrim’s Progress is written in the old fashioned medieval form of allegory and drama. The book opens with the author’s dream in which he sees a man â€Å"with a book in his hand, and a great burden upon his back†. The man is Christian the Pilgrim, the book is the Bible, and the burden on his back is the weight of worldly cares and concerns. It tells how Christian starts his pilgrimage from his home to the kingdom of Heaven, and of his experiences and adventures on his journey. In the western world the book has usually been read and appreciated as religious allegory, though critics have noted that the many allegorical figures and places Christian meets on the way are such as might have been seen in Bunyan’s day on any English market road and that the landscape and houses in the story seem to be no other than those of Restoration England. It gives a real picture of how life was during the 17th century. It is a faithful panoramic reflection of Bunyan’s age. The book’s most significant aspect is its satire, the description of the Vanity Fair. Here Bunyan gives a symbolic picture of London at the time. in bourgeois society, all things are bought and sold, including honour, title, kingdom, lusts; there cheating, roguery, murder, and adultery prevail. The punishment of Christian and Faithful for disdaining things in the Vanity Fair may have its significance in alluding to Bunyan’s repeated arrests and imprisonment for preaching. After all, like Milton, Bunyan in his book is preaching his religious views. He satirizes his society which is full of vices that violate the teachings of the Christian religion. However, his Puritanism weakens the effect of his social satire by exhorting his readers to endure poverty with patience in order to seek the â€Å"Celestial City†. Besides, the use of allegory in most of his works makes his satirical pictures less direct and more difficult to see. His books are more often read as religious books than as piercing exposures of social evils. Bynyan is known for his simple and lively prose style. Everyday idiomatic expressions and biblical language enables him to narrate his story and reveal his ideas directly and in a straightforward way. The influence of his prose in the development of the English language is great, on account of the great popularity of the book. Selected Reading: â€Å"The Vanity Fair,† an excerpt from Part I of The Pilgrim’s Progress The story starts with a dream in which the author sees Christian the Pilgrim, with a heavy burden on his back, reading the Bible. When he learns from the book that the city in which he and his family live shall be burnt down in a fire, Christian tries to convince his family and his neighbours of the oncoming disaster and asks them to go with him in search of salvation, but most of them simply ignore him. So he starts off with a friend, Pliable. Pliable turns back after they stumble into a pit, the Slough of Despond. Christian struggles on by himself. Then he is misled by Mr. Worldly Wiseman and is brought back onto the right road by Mr. Evangelist. There he joins Faithful, a neighbor who has set out later but has made better progress. The two go on together through many adventures, including the great struggle with Apollyon, who claims them to be his subjects and refuses to accept their allegiance to God. After many other adventures they come to the Vanity Fair where both are arrested as alien agitators. They are tried and Faithful is condemned to death. Christian, however, manages to escape and goes on his way, assisted by a new friend, hopeful. Tired of the hard journey, they are tempted to take a pleasant path and are then captured by Giant Despair. Finally they get away and reach the Celestial City, where they enjoy eternal life in the fellowship of the blessed. The Pilgrim’s Progress is the most successful religious allegory in the English language. Its purpose is to urge people to abide by Christian doctrines and seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils. It is not only about something spiritual but also bears much relevance to the time. Its predominant metaphor—life as a journey—is simple and familiar. The objects that Christian meets are homely and commonplace, and the scenes presented are typical English ones, but throughout the allegory a spiritual significance is added to the commonplace details. Here the strange is combined with the familiar and the trivial joined to the divine, and, at the same time, everything is based on universal experiences. Besides, a rich imagination and a natural talent for storytelling also contribute to the success of the work which is at once entertaining and morally instructive. The meaning of â€Å"Vanity Fair†, and its reflection of the theme of the allegory of â€Å"The Pilgrim’s Progress† The â€Å"Vanity Fair† symbolizes human world, for â€Å"all that cometh is vanity. † Everything and anything in this world is â€Å"vanity†, having no value and no meaning. The Vanity Fair, a â€Å"market selling nothingness† of all sorts, is a dirty place originally built up by devils, but, this town â€Å"lay† in the way to the Celestial City, meaning pilgrims had to resist the temptations there when they made their way through. So, the depiction of the â€Å"Fair† in selling things worldly and in attracting people bad, represents John Bunyan’s rejection of the worldly seeking and pious longing for the pure and charming â€Å"Celestial City†, his Christian ideal. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) Pope was a London draper’s son. His parents were Roman Catholics, and Pope kept this faith all his life in spite of the hostility of the public in the 18th century toward his religion. At the age of 12, a disease left him a hunchback of less than 5 feet tall. Because of his religion he was denied entrance to Oxford and Cambridge Universities and his deformity often made him the victim of contempt. His early unhappy experiences, in fact, was responsible for his strong reaction to criticism. Pope was self-educated. He worked hard against poor health and unfavourable condition and gained a profound knowledge of both the classics and the craft of writing. The 18th century was an age in which writers had to obey many strict literary rules. But Pope mastered them very thoroughly and used them better and in a more skillful way than most of his contemporaries. He lived an active social life and was close friend to such eminent literary figures as the essayist Joseph Addison and the satirist Jonathan Swift. But he also made many enemies through ridiculing people in his writings. The most popular of his poems is, perhaps, An Essay on criticism, which contains a great number of quotable lines that have passed into everyday speech as popular sayings, such as: â€Å"To err is human, to forgive divine†, and â€Å"For fools rush in where angels fear to tread. † However, as a piece of literary theory, it lacks original ideas. Its significance comes from its assertion that literary criticism is an art form and should function actively like a living organism. The Rape of the Lock is a brilliant satire written in the form of a mock-heroic poem. It offers a typical example of the 18th-century classical style, and a satirical view as well of the tastes, manners, and morals of the fashionable world in Queen Anne’s reign. In fact, Pope not only ridicules a trivial incident that sparks a serious feud, but also mocks the highflown style and language of epic poetry itself. The Dunciad, meaning the study of the dunces, launches attacks on everyone who had ever criticized or insulted him, many of whom are totally unknown to the readers of today The theme and style of A. Pope’s â€Å"An Essay on Criticism† The poem is a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism. The poet first laments the loss of true taste in poetic criticism of his day and calls on people to take classical writers as their models. Then he discusses various problems in literary criticism and offers his own ideas and presents the classical rules. At the end of the poem, he traces the history of literary criticism from Aristotle to his day. The poem is a typical didactic one. Written in the form of heroic couplets, it is plain in style, and it is easy to read. Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe is based on a real incident. In 1704, Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, was thrown onto a desolate island by the mutinous crew of his ship. He lived there alone for 5 years. Defoe read about his adventures in a newspaper and went to interview him to get first-hand information. He then embellished the sailor’s tale with many incidents out of his own imagination. Robinson Crusoe has the appearance of a picaresque novel, showing a lowly person’s wonderings over the world. However, there are some fundamental changes in Defoe’s book. A picaro (Spanish for a rogue) is somebody with a doubtful moral character who does not have a fixed goal in life. Nor does he care much about accumulating money. Robinson Crusoe is in fact a new species of writing which inhabits the picaresque frame with a story in the shape of a journal and has a strong flavour of journalistic truth. The hero is typical the rising English bourgeois class, practical and diligent, with a restless curiosity to know more about the world and a desire to prove individual power in the face of social and natural challenges. Defoe attaches individual power in the face of social and natural challenges. Defoe attaches great importance to the growth of Crusoe and tries to teach a moral message through his story. crusoe starts an inexperienced, naive and tactless youth, who through years of tough sea travels, develops into a clever and hardened man. He is tempered and tried by numerous dangers and hardships, but always emerges victorious. He is a real hero, not in the sense of the knight or the epic hero in the old literary genres, but a hero of the common stock, an individualist who shows marvelous capacity for work, boundless courage and energy in overcoming obstacles and a shrewdness in accumulating wealth and gaining profits. In Robinson Crusoe sings the praises of labour, presenting it as the source of human pride and happiness as well as a means to change man’s living conditions from desperation to prosperity. But at the same time, through relationship with Friday and his activities of setting up colonies overseas, Defoe also beautifies colonialism and Negro slavery. His attitude toward women, though not much concerning women is said in the novel, is also open to criticisms, for he lets Crusoe treat women as articles of property and as a means to breed and establish a lineage. But on the whole, this novel is significant as the first English novel which glorifies the individual experience of ordinary people in plain and simple language, and also as a vivid and positive portrayal of the English bourgeoisie at its early stage of development. The novel â€Å"Robinson Crusoe† tells the story of the titular hero’s adventure on a deserted island. Robinson Crusoe, longing to see the wonders of the world, runs away from home, and after many setbacks, settles down in Brazil. The call of the sea attracts him to second voyage in which he is brought along to an island after the shipwreck in a storm through many hardships, he finds ways to get daily necessities from the wrecked ship to the shore, and settles on the island for twenty four years. During the years, he tries to make himself a living in one way or another, rescues a savage whom he names Friday, and builds up a comfortable home for himself. Finally they are picked up and saved by an English ship and return to England. With an inevitable trace of colonialism, the novel depicts a hero who grows from an inexperienced youth into a shrewd and hardened man. The adventures of Robinson Crusoe on the island is a song of his courage, his wisdom, and his struggle against the hostile natural environment. As the very prototype of empire builder and the pioneer colonist, Robinson Crusoe can be seen as an individualistic man who carries human labour and the Puritan fortitude to their greatest effect. Jonathan Swift In some ways Jonathan Swift’s career parallels that of Defoe. Both were considerably occupied in the dangerous career of political writers, and both affiated themselves to Robert Harley, first a Whig and turning the Tory in 1710. swift also followed Harley and shifted from the Whig to the Tory when the latter came to power in 1710. But they differed from each other in the fact that Defoe was a businessman and did not have much knowledge of the classics whereas Swift was a churchman and a university graduate. Another difference between the two was that Swift was a member of the Anglican Church whereas Defoe was a dissenter. Both of them viewed the world with common sense but Defoe aimed to improve the morals of his time, whereas Swift viewed himan society with contempt and has been called a cynic and even a misanthrope. â€Å"Gulliver’s Travels† Consisting of four parts, the novel tells four stories of the hero. In part One, the hero is in Lilliput where he becomes â€Å"Man Mountain†, for the inhabitants are only six inches tall, twelve times smaller than human beings. Yet, as a kind of â€Å"man† their sayings and doings forms a miniature of the real world. Part Two brings the hero to Brobdingnag. This time, he comes to dwarf, for the Brobdingnagians are ten times taller and larger than normal human beings. Also superior in wisdom, they look down upon the ordinary human beings for the latter’s evil or harmful doings. The third part depicts Gulliver’s travel on the flying Island where the so called philosophers and scientists devoted themselves to absurd doings, for example, to extract sunlight from cucumbers. The last part tells the hero’s adventure in the Houyhnhnm Land. There horses are endowed with reason and all good and admirable qualities, while the hairy, man-like creature, Yahoos are greedy and disgusting brutes. Henry Fielding During his career as a dramatist, Fielding had attempted a considerable number of forms of plays: witty comedies of manners or intrigues in the Restoration tradition, farces or ballad operas with political implications, and burlesques and satires that bear heavily upon the status-quo of England. Of all his plays, the best known are The Coffee-house Politician (1730), The Tragedy of Tragedies (1730), Pasquin (1736) and The Historical Register for the Year 1736 (1737). These successful plays not only contributed to a temporary revival of the English theatre but also were of great help to the playwright in his future literary career as a novelist. Fielding has been regarded by some as â€Å"Father of the English Novel,† for his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel. Of all the eighteenth-century novelist he was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a â€Å"comic epic in prose,† the first to give the modern novel its structure and style. Before him, the relating of a story in a novel was either in the epistolary form (a series of letters), as in Richardson’s Pamela, or the picaresque form (adventurous wanderings) through the mouth of the principal character, as in Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, but Fielding adopted â€Å"the third-person narration,† in which the author becomes the â€Å"all-knowing God. † He â€Å"thinks the thought† of all his characters, so he is able to present not only their external behaviors but also the internal workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is. Throughout, the ordinary and usually ridiculous life of the common people, from the middle-class to the underworld, is his major concern. Fielding’s language is easy, unlaboured and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished by logic and rhythm, and his structure carefully planned towards an inevitable ending. His works are also noted for lively, dramatic dialogues and other theatrical devices such as suspense, coincidence and unexpectedness. Samuel Johnson Johnson was an energetic and versatile writer. He had a hand in all the different braches of literary activities. He was a poet, dramatist, prose romancer, biographer, essayist, critic, lexicographer and publicist. His chief works include poems: â€Å"London†, â€Å"The Vanity of Human Wishes†; a romance: â€Å"The History of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia; a tragedy: Irene. As a lexicographer, Johnson distinguished himself as the author of the first English dictionary by an Englishman—A dictionary of the English Language, a gigantic task which Johnson undertook single-handedly and finished in over seven years Johnson was the last great neoclassicist enlightener in the later eighteenth century. He was very much concerned the theme of the vanity of human wishes: almost all of his writings bear this theme. He tried to awaken men to this folly and hoped to cure them of it through his writings. In literary creation and criticism, he was rather conservative, openly showing his dislike for much of the newly rising form of literature and his fondness for those writings which carried a lot of moralizing and philosophizing. He insisted that a writer must adhere to universal truth and experience, i. e. Nature; he must please, but he must also instruct; he must not offend against religion or promote immorality; and he must let himself be guided by old principles. Like Pope, he was particularly fond of moralizing didacticism. So, it is understandable that he was rather pleased with Richardson’s Pamela but was contemptuous of Fielding’ Tom Jones. Johnson’s style is typically neoclassical, but it is at the opposite extreme from Swift’s simplicity or Addison’s neatness. His language is characteristically general, often Latinate and frequently polysyllabic his sentences are long and well structured, interwoven with paralled words and phrases. However, no matter how complex his sentences are, the thought is always clearly expressed; and though he tends to use â€Å"learned words,† they are always accurately used. Reading his works gives the reader the impression that he is talking with a very learned man. â€Å"To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield† The letter is regarded as a strong indignation of Samuel Johnson at the Earl’s fame-fishing, for the later coldly refused giving him help when he compiled his dictionary and hypocritically wrote articles to give honeyed words when the dictionary was going to be published. The Earl was a well-known â€Å"patron of literature† at the time, and it remained a rule for writers to get a patron if they wanted to get financial support or make themselves known by public. But this letter of Johnson made a break-through in that tradition implying their independence in economy and writing, and therefore opened a new era in the development of literature. Richard Brinsley Sheridan Sheridan was the only important English dramatist of the eighteenth century. His plays, especially The Rivals and The School for Scandal, are generally regarded as important links between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw, and as true classics in English comedy. In his plays, morality is the constant theme. He is much concerned with the current moral issues and lashes harshly at the social vices of the day. In The Rivals, a comedy of manners, he is satirizing the traditional practice of the parents to arrange marriages for their children without considering the latter’s opinion. And in The School for Scandal, the satire becomes even sharper as the characters are exposed scene by scene to their defenseless nakedness. Sheridan’s greatness also lies in his theatrical art. He seems to have inherited from his parents a natural ability and inborn knowledge about the theatre. His plays are the product of a dramatic genius as well as of a well-versed theatrical man. Though his dramatic techniques are largely conventional, they are exploited to the best advantage. His plots are well organized, his characters, either major or minor, are all sharply drawn, and his manipulation of such devices as disguise, mistaken identity and dramatic irony is masterly. Witty dialogues and neat and decent language also make a characteristic of his plays. The School for Scandal The comedy of manners, written by R. B. Sheridan, mainly tells a story about two brothers. The elder one Joseph Surface is hypocritical, and the younger one Charles Surface kind, imprudent and spendthrift. Lady Sneerwell, one of the scandal-mongers in the play, instigates Joseph to run after Maria, the ward of Sir Peter. But, Joseph, while pursuing Maria, the love of his younger brother, tries to seduce Lady Teazle, the young wife of Sir Peter. Misled by the scandal of Lady Sneerwell and Joseph, Sir Peter Teazle believed Charles was the person who flirted with his wife until one day, Lady Teazle, coming from the screen in Joseph’s library, made the truth known that person who intended to seduce her was Joseph. Thus, the latter’s hypocrisy was exposed. At the same time, Sir Oliver Surface, the rich, old uncle of the two brothers, wanted to choose one of them to be his heir. He first visited Charles in the guise of a usurer. Charles sold to him all the family portraits except that of his uncle, and thus won the favor of his uncle. Then he went to Joseph as a poor relative. But Joseph refused giving him any help by saying that he himself was in trouble. For a second time, Joseph’s hypocrisy was exposed. The play ends with Lady Teazle’s reconciliation with her husband and Charles’ winning of the hand of Maria and the inheritance of his uncle. Thomas Gray Although neoclassicism dominated the literary scene in the 18th century, there were poets whose poetry had some elements that deviated from the rules and regulations set down by neoclassicist poets. These poets had grown weary of the artificiality and controlling ideals of neoclassicism. They craved for something more natural and spontaneous in thought and language. In their poetry, emotions and sentiments, which had been repressed, began to play a leading role again. Another factor marking this deviation is the reawakening of an interest in nature and in the natural relation between man and man. Among these poets, one of the representatives was Thomas Gray. Gray was born in London and educated at Eton and Cambridge, where he, after a grand tour on the Continent, spent the rest of his life. He was first a Fellow and 1768 was appointed professor of history and modern languages. On his return from the Continent, he stayed for a short time at Stoke Poges in Bucks, where he first sketched â€Å" The Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard†, though it was finished eight years later in 1750. In contrast to those professional writers, Gray’s literary output was small. His masterpiece, â€Å"Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard† was published in 1751. the poem once and for all established his fame as the leader of the sentimental poetry of the day, especially â€Å"the Graveyard School. † His poems, as a whole, are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present. His other poems include â€Å"Ode on the spring† (1742), â€Å"Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College† (1747), â€Å"Ode on the death of a Favourite Cat† (1748), â€Å"Hymn to Adversity† (1742), and two translations for old Norse: The Descent of Odin (1761) and The Fatal Sisters (1761) A conscientious artist of the first rate, Gray wrote slowly and carefully, painstakingly seeking perfection of form and phrase. His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form. His style is sophisticated and allusive. His poems are often marked with the trait of a highly artificial diction and distorted word order. Selected Reading: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard â€Å"Elegy written in a Country Churchyard† is regarded as Gray’s best and most representative work. The poem is the outcome of about eight years’ careful composition and polish. It is more or less connected with the melancholy event of the death of Richard West, Gray’s intimate friend. In this poem, Gray reflects on death, the sorrow of life, and the mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy. The poet compares the common folk with the great ones, wondering what the commons could have achieved if they had had the chance. Here he reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despise the poor and bring havoc on them. The poem abounds in images and arouses sentiment in the bosom of every reader. Though the use of artificial poetic diction and distorted word order make understanding of the poem somewhat difficult, the artistic polish—the sure control of language, imagery, rhythm, and subtle moderation of style and tone—gives the poem a unique charm of its own. The poem has been ranked among the best of the eighteenth century English poetry. Selected Reading: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

The United States And The Sharing Economy - 2694 Words

The United States has serious labor market challenges as a result of rising wage inequality between people and the slow middle class wage growth. The need to provide individuals with variety of goods, service and information raise specific economic phenomena called â€Å"sharing economy†. This model of economy includes different types of industry categories: sharing information (YouTube), property (Airbnb), transportation (Uber) and more. The sharing economy works in the same way as a traditional market, where individuals exchange different goods and service. The central concept of sharing economy (collaborative consumption) is the access to the goods. The application of regulation is the major issue with this type of innovated economy. The sharing economy is a nontraditional, because the workers’ luck of benefits and the type of economical market system that creates an income and job opportunity. On the other hand this type of market provides a different type of benefi ts as: flexible schedule and employment; saving energy and less waste; self regulation; lower costs of the product. The context is of a great interest since participation in sharing communities and services is characterized by obligation to do good for other people and for the environment, such as sharing, and engaging in sustainable behavior (Prothero et al, 2011). The challenge of any market includes and market of sharing economy is to ensure the supply and demand. Specifically for the sharing market is the wayShow MoreRelatedDisadvantages Of The Middleman Economy1221 Words   |  5 PagesMichael Munger, the director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Duke University, constructs two fundamental arguments discussing the Middleman Economy and the Sharing Economy. However, to understand Munger’s arguments we must first define transactions costs. Transactions costs are compromised of the three main components: triangulation, transfer and trust. Triangulation is the process of connecting the seller and the buyer which can be difficult due to language or geographical barriersRead MoreThe Government s Methods Of Intervention891 Words   |  4 PagesThe government’s methods of intervention are to enhanced public/private collaboration, proposing new cybersecurity legislations, established partnerships to secure technology, data information sharing, protected consumers, and increase security on Federal networks† (Fact Sheet). By detecting common cyber dangers and obtain additional resources from the private sector assets can reduce the risk of threats against our country. President Obama and his Administration has addressed the major risk of cybersecurityRead MoreDr. Vernon Krieble Company Essay957 Words   |  4 Pagesthe largest groups. (Merchant Van der Stede, 2012) Mexican Environment The Mexican environment is considerably different from the United States. Jose Monteiro will need to consider Mexico’s culture when designing and using his management control system. Mexican employees seem to be more group oriented than individual oriented, as they are in the United States. As a result, Jose needs to familiarize himself with Mexico’s culture, and understand what motivates employees to work hard. MexicoRead MoreOn This Prepare I Will Talk About Uber And The Sharing1261 Words   |  6 PagesOn this prepare I will talk about Uber and the sharing Economy. How Uber and sharing economy has connect and how the Uber company benefiting from this economic system. Also, I will try to discuss about greater worker flexibility and worker insecurity. What make us to claimed that Uber has a magnificent work flexibility and worker insecurity or does it add to a climate of worker insecurity? Or does it do both? If both, what is the predominate effect of Uber on w orkers? Is Uber’s ‘market-based’Read MoreThe Digital Revolution835 Words   |  4 Pagesinformation is secure, commerce is not compromised, and the infrastructure is not infiltrated† (United States, 2009). The United States (US) government has a responsibility to its people to protect commerce, critical infrastructure and itself from cyber threats. From the beginning of President Barack Obama’s administration, he has made it clear that cybersecurity is one of the most important challenges the United States face. The US government has applied a wide variety of policies to improve cyber defensesRead MoreFicial Language Of The United States933 Words   |  4 PagesAmericans speak English, why is the government not making it the official language of the United States? (Mujica). A lot of people have been arguing about this topic for decades. So far, the American Congress has declined all the charges to make English the official language. The Congress claims that it may be an infringement of individual rights. Nevertheless, making English the official language of The United States will significantly benefit the American people. It will create a sense of union amongRead MoreAn avowed nationalist, who had impact on the American dream, Theodore Roosevelt brought presidency1200 Words   |  5 Pagesbrought presidency and nation into the twentieth century. (Theodore) Theodore Roosevelt was the twenty sixth president of the United States, a president that had great impact in politics. He was born into a rich family, and he suffered from asthma during his childhood (United States. National Park service). He studied at Harvard University, and the Columbia law school (United States. National Park service 2). He attended the New York Assembly, which was his first step in to politics (Hall of Governors)Read MoreThe Problem Of Homeless Heroin Injectors For A 10 Year Period1046 Words   |  5 Pagestheir commitment to heroin (5). Throughout my paper, it will show that medication has an important implication in the lives of the homeless heroin injectors. Moral expectations in the Edgewater drug community is based on sharing, fairness, and justice (6). This type of economy is perfect for small communal societies, where their motto is to get mutual aid in order to avoid the free rider problem. Members of the community pool their money together to purchase heroin, and then they all get an equalRead MoreMight Grass Growth Be Inhibited by Salt783 Words   |  4 PagesEffective Presentation Mariam Kenyab â€Å"Economic growth is the raise in price of the goods and services created by an economy.† (GDP Growth Definition, n.d., para1). It is measured by the percent rate of increase and calculated in real terms, for example: inflation- adjusted terms to net in the result of inflation on the price of the goods and services produced. The GDP per capita is frequently used as a pointer as the average of living for individuals in a specific area, and economic growthRead MoreCauses and Effects of The Great Depression in the United States1238 Words   |  5 PagesGreat Depression in the United States of America. One cause of the depression is the effects of World War One. World War one had many devastating effects on countries all across the globe. In the United States millions of lives were lost to the war, as well as huge amounts of money that had been used to fund the war. All across the globe vast destruction of property was found. This in turn caused a disruption of trade. Countries were more concerned with fixing their own economies than helping others

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PUBLIC HEALTH - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1308 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Intellectual Property Essay Did you like this example? INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PUBLIC HEALTH à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“My ideas of a better ordered world is one in which medical discoveries would be free of patents and there would be no profiteering from life or deathà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ [i] Indira Gandhi Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND PUBLIC HEALTH" essay for you Create order Intellectual property regimes are usually assumed to exert positive enticements on technological innovation. However, given the serious nature of access to critical health technologies for most of the worldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s population, it is worth revisiting this presumption for health technologies. The reasons contributing to this situation range from weak supply systems to exorbitant prices. The factors that stimulate innovation are often biased against conditions that excessively affect the populations of developing nations. For example, there were only 11 medicines for tropical diseases amongst1325 new medicines launched between 1975 and 1997.[ii] The amalgamation of market failure and under-investment by the public sector discourages the innovation in developing countries. The procedure of bringing a new product to the market is both costly and lengthy. Due to the resource implications and the uncertainties involved, creating an environment favorable to successful innovation i s indispensable. Therefore the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) took the initiative to undertake the strenuous task of balancing private and public interests. On one side, it protects the interests of the pharmaceutical companies that invest heavily in research and development of drugs, while on the other hand, it allows nations that are a member of World Trade Organisation (WTO) to support public health in their respective countries. It allows developing and least developed countries to have the benefit of a moratorium[iii] on implementing pharmaceutical patents until the years 2005 and 2016 respectively. However, this is of little consolation[iv]since the dispensation has been effectively neutralized by industrially developed nations. For example, a number of pharmaceutical companies challenged the South African legislation authorized the minister of health to issue compulsory license under certain circumstances. The law was based on the hypothesis tha t expensive drugs were unaffordable to large sections of society and that the following lack of access to drugs was leading to a serious health crisis within the country. The action of the pharmaceutical industry against the South African initiative led to widespread criticism of the TRIPS agreement by the developing world, NGOs and human rights activists led to the Doha Declaration on Public Health of November 2001. Once TRIPS was adopted in 1994, developing and least developed countries were obliged to effect changes in their patent laws in accordance with the agreement. But, in the meantime, they were to provide Exclusive Marketing Rights (EMR)[v] to those who had obtained patents in other member countries on or after the date of the entry into force of the TRIPS agreement. They were also required to create a mechanism to enable the filing of patent applications pending the expiry of the moratorium on the implementation of pharmaceutical patents. The objective of the Doha D eclaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health was to clarify the official stand on certain provisions of TRIPS relating to public health. It recognises the concerns of developing countries and LDCs on the issue. The Declaration clarifies that public health crises can represent a national emergency or other circumstances of extreme urgency, and that an emergency may be either a short-term problem, or a long-lasting situation.[vi] It recognises the gravity of the public health problems afflicting many developing and least developed countries.[vii]It accepts legitimate concerns regarding the pricing of drugs, its effect on access to drugs and the impact of lack of access on public health.[viii]At the same time, it acknowledges that intellectual property protection is important for the development of new medicines. It also reiterates that the agreement should be interpreted and implemented in the light of members right to protect public health and promote access to medicines fo r all.[ix] However there are few significant gaps in the Doha Declaration which makes it vulnerable to narrow interpretations: It does not define the term public health. This leaves the interpretation at the mercy of the whims and fancies of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. It does not recognize the general problems faced by developing countries in promoting public health. The pharmaceutical industry would certainly like to interpret this provision restrictively, leaving out certain diseases prevalent in member countries which may not be internationally acknowledged as epidemics.[x] Another inherent defect is built into the system through the condition that member countries can make use of options such as the compulsory license mechanism to promote public health only when a health crisis has arisen. This limitation clearly weakens their right to utilise the obvious flexibility to take preventive and precautionary action before a disease becomes a full-blown crisis. The Declaration does recognise the problems posed by the pricing of drugs and the impact of this on access. At the same time, it accepts the significance of intellectual property rights for the development of new medicines. Through this apparent even-handedness it does little to reassure member countries that they can undertake action to ensure wider access to medicines without the threat of legal disputes. Further, the Declaration states that the agreement has to be interpreted in the light of its objectives and principles, which means it has to be read with Articles 7 and 8 of TRIPS. Those provisions are liable to be interpreted by developed countries to justify increased patent protection so that pharmaceutical companies can carry out research and development. RD costs are invariably cited as the inevitable reason for the high price of drugs, which naturally put them out of the reach of most people in developing countries,[xi]leading to the situation prior to the Doha Declaration. Also there are other issues such as parallel imports[xii] and compulsory licensing[xiii] which the Doha Declaration tries to address. However it has widened the differences in interpretations and opinions amongst industrialized societies and the developing countries. Hence the TRIPS agreement tries to provide for flexibility to member countries for implementation of policies and programmes to encourage public health. But the contradictions in the agreement make it difficult for developing countries and LDCs to utilise it to promote any long-term public health policy. The provisions are either too vague or too susceptible to restricted interpretations that serve the interests of developed countries and the pharmaceutical industry. Although some of the latest changes in the provisions have the potential to provide increased access to medicines under certain, specified circumstances, TRIPS in its current form cannot, in the longer run, be used to promote public health. [i] https://infochangeindia.org/trade-a-development/intellectual-property-rights/trips-and-public-health.html [ii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK11723/ [iii] Paragraph 7 of the Doha Declaration on Public Health [iv] (US-India mailbox case) referred in: Frederick.M.Abbott, (2002) The TRIPs Agreement, Access to Medicines, and the WTO Doha Ministerial Conference, Journal of World [v] A patent, enabling manufacturers to have the exclusive right to market their products in a country even though the product has not been examined for novelty or non-obviousness in the country concerned. [vi] Carlos Correa, Implications of Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health [vii] Paragraph 1 of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS Agreement and Public Health [viii] Paragraph 3 of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS Agreement and Public Health [ix] Paragraph 5 (c) of the Doha Declaration on TRIPS Agreement and Public Health [x] Oxfam Report [xi] Ellen t Hoen, (2002), TRIPS, Pharmaceutical patents, and access to essential medicines: a long way from Seattle to Doha, Chicago Journal of International Law [xii] Parallel imports take place when a product sold by a patent holder in one country is exported by a buyer to another country where the price for the same patented drug is higher. [xiii] Compulsory licensing refers to permission from a government to produce the patented product or process without the consent of the patent owner.