Canada's Prosperity at Risk Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Canada's Prosperity at Risk - Essay Example The country at the focal point of the study happens to be Canada. Canada is one of the most developed and richest countries in the world. The country is blessed rich natural resources and has a diverse and highly educated population. However, the country is going through a phase of change and facing certain challenges on various fronts which could reduce the prosperity of the nation. (Cowan, 2005). Based on in depth research it has been decided that the country faces prosperity challenges in the domain of infrastructure, innovation, demographics, natural resource, government regulation and politics. From an infrastructural point of view it is to be said that the cities of Canada are at the cross roads. The government of Canada does not have any strong agenda on the infrastructural commitments. From the perspective of innovation the prosperity of the country is threatened on three fronts such as the global competition, demographics and productivity. There is very little doubt over the fact that China has a population which is highly educated and skilled. But from a demographic perspective off late the country has been facing a problem of aging population. As mentioned before, Canada has been blessed with rich and large amount of natural resources. Such resources are used for the production of energy which also happens to be a major contributor to the overall GDP of the country. But the growing demand of power has been creating a misbalance in the ecosystem. Also another major problem faced by the country has been the fact the present government regulations are believed to be quite complex and lack robustness. On the political fore front there lie various political complexities especially in the domain of taxations. The present looks to critically analyze all the cause and effects of the challenges mentioned above and looks to propose probable recommendations to over the challenges (Henry, 2008). Cause and effect From the perspective of innovation one of the majo r challenges faced by the country is the transformation face of the global economy. The global economy is still looking to recover from the after effects of the 2008 recession. Also the economy is going through a transformation phase due to the rise of the emerging economies like china, India, Brazil, etc. This most certainly creates opportunities for the exporters and investors of the country. But the continuous expansion of information and technologies would lead to a high value knowledge network. As a result each and every Canadian enterprise is faced with new levels of intense competition. Just like some of the other developed countries one of the major problems faced by the country is of aging population. The increasing number of proportion of senior citizens would add to the demand of the demand of services in the public domain, especially health care. Also aging the population would mean that there would less number of working and taxpaying Canadians. However, the biggest cha llenge would come in the form of its effect on the labour market; which would be discussed later (Burgemeister, 2003). Also the innovation of the nation would depend upon the growth of the productivity. However, the recent performance of Canada leaves a lot of scope for improvement. Over the last decade or so the productivity grew by just 0.7 percent. This is far below as compared to other developed countries like USA if the rate of growth in productivity in the near future then the potential economic growth of the

Initial Public Offering Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Initial Public Offering Analysis - Essay Example This has made the company to invest in various portfolios. One of the major developments that the company undertook in 2010 was the initial public offer (IPO). Based on the huge amount of funds that were generated by the IPO, it became to be one of the largest IPOs in the world up to date. In 2011, General Motors revenue stood at US$150.276 billion while the net income was US$ 7.585 billion, the operating income was US$ 9.287 billion while the total company assets stood at US$ 144.60 billion. Based on the large investment and effective marketing strategies, the company has since 2010 continued to generate high annual profits. Based on the huge funds generated by the IPO in 2010, GM was able to expand its operations in 2011 an aspect that made it to produce 9 million units thus making it to be in the leading position. In 2011, the company global market share stood at 12%. Key markets where the company brands enjoy high demand are US and China. For example, 2.55 and 2.5 million units are sold in China and US respectively per year with Chevrolet brand taking the lead (Rae, 1965). Despite the financial challenge in the form of bankruptcy that the company experienced in 2009, GM has been able to create a strong financial relationship with banks and other stakeholders. In raising the capital, the IPO was successful. Having raised $20.1 billion, the IPO became the largest IPO in US history (Clare and Soyoung, 2010). 478 million common shares were sold by the company at the price of $33 per share. After the IPO, $4.35 billion was raised in the form of preferred shares as compared to the planned figure of $4 billion. One of the major aspects as to why large number of investors participated in the IPO was due to the high level of confidence that they had on GM after being bailed out by the US government in 2009. The company incurred an expense amounting to $25

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 4

Business Law - Essay Example However, under the intention to contract, neither of the parties had the intention to contract because Bob only offered a gift to Ted as a form of gratitude for helping him. Therefore, since there was no intention to contract, then it implies that there was no existing contract between Bob and Ted. The element of consideration also indicates that there had been no existing contract between the two parties (Burton, 2009). Under the element of consideration, a gift is different from a contract. A gift is a cost-free and voluntary conveyance of property from one individual to another (Stone, 2008). Therefore, it does not serve as fulfillment of a promise. Therefore, Ted cannot sue Bob for failure of paying him the $100 since there was no existing contract between them. Question Two (a) Betty’s contract is indeed valid since there was an offer to contract, made by Betty, which the owner of the local sporting goods store accepted. The element of consideration also exists in the con tracts since; Betty gave out her collection of dolls for the bat, ball and glove. Both parties also intended to contract because; they both expressed willingness to reach into an agreement, which they both fulfilled. However, in the case of capacity to contract, Betty had no capacity to contract since, under the law, she is an infant. ... Therefore, Betty can indeed get out of the contract since; the law does not view her baseball items as necessities. Question Two (b) In the case where Betty had contracted to exchange her doll collection for shoes and clothes, she will not be able to get out of the contract since; she will now be bound by the contract. The law defines necessities as all goods that infants require, and are suitable to the infant’s conditions at the time of sale and delivery (Feinberg, 2005). Therefore, shoes and clothes are necessities because, Betty had worn out clothes and; therefore; she needed the clothes. Consequently, in this case, the contract binds the infant (Betty) and thus she will not be able to get out. Question 3 (a) An intended beneficiary is an individual who is a third party to the contract apart from the other two basic parties to the contract. The individual benefits from the contract when one party (the promisee) gets into an agreement with another party (the promisor) to pr ovide services to the promisor while the third party (intended beneficiary) receives the benefits (Feinberg, 2005). Therefore, the promisee must intend to benefit the third party. Ethel is indeed an intended beneficiary of the contract because she is benefitting from services that Dan is receiving from Jen. Although she is not part of the contract between Dan and Jen, she benefits through Jens intention. Question 3 (b) The contract between Dan and Jen must indeed be in writing in order to ensure certainty of transactions and future security. According to the element of formalities, the requirement of writing prevents fraud by either of the parties (O'Sullivan & Hilliard, 2006). A party to a contract may perpetuate fraud by insisting that there is no

Crime and Punishment and ways to make our prison system better Essay

Crime and Punishment and ways to make our prison system better - Essay Example This essay describes how hard it is for the imprisoned people to find their place in society after coming out. The Policy Information Report by the Educational Testing Service finds that the rate of black youths incarcerated has increased to the point that it â€Å"jeopardize(s) the achievement of broader social justice goals†. This is especially true for those who dropped out from school. This indicates that there is a gap in the educational opportunities of the Black youth as compared to the White youth. It is a matter of common knowledge that when people are not educated, they receive lesser opportunities for employment and, therefore, some of them turn to alternatives such as criminal activities to earn their living. Therefore, it can be construed that lack of education causes crime, which in turn increases the incarceration rates. Besides, research evidence suggests that â€Å"illiteracy† and the lack of mathematical skills are quite high in prisoners and a â€Å" half of all prisoners† do not possess any education at all. It is also seen that there is an increased trend of early dropout from schools, which can be attributed to drug use, lack of family support or the want of economic resources. Therefore, any reformations of prison systems must also encompass the concept of educating the prisoner through in house sources so that when they get released, they can engage in some productive employment. This will decrease the chances of recidivism and, thereby, eliminate the chances of their repeated incarceration. In the present day, the job market has become highly competitive and business entities have a wide variety of choices of people to hire. This means that people who do not possess adequate qualification, such as a college degree and professional skills, remain unemployed. In addition, the fact of being imprisoned casts the shadow of social stigma of ex-convicts and, usually, employers would not be interested in hiring them. This si tuation forces them to look for alternative sources of income and they end up relying on criminal activities for income and this

Mental Illness and Substance Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mental Illness and Substance Abuse - Essay Example On ingestion the THC is found to be absorbed into the blood stream from where it is carried to the brain, producing a high feeling. The THC molecules is found to affect a number of areas of brain, inclusive of the areas of control balance, perception of time, sound, color and as any other drug the Glucose craving. Psychosis on the other hand can be defined as a cluster of symptoms characterized by hallucination and impaired reality. Psychosis is often symptom associated with Schizophrenia. Cannabis used have shown to produce symptoms similar to psychotic disorder as Schizophrenia, when ingested at large amount. Mounting researchers have indicated that Cannabis found to trigger the onset of Schizophrenia or its relapse and also aggravates the symptoms. (Hambrecht, M. and Hafner,1996). The users of Cannabis experienced unpleasant effects on usage as anxiety and pain, while some may experience hallucinations. The unpleasant effects are found to disappear as cannabis wears off. But some people may have frightening experience as it withdraws. It is found that of 1 in 10 people who use cannabis are found to be addicted to it. It is worrying fact that usually it is the young people who get hooked to it and they smoke cannabis on daily basis. The early the age they are exposed, early is the onset of Psychotic symptoms. It is found to be still more severe in people with existing mental disorders as Schizophrenia or bipolar, where they undergo negative psychological effect on cannabis use. Researchers pouring in point to the direction that cannabis may be the gateway for many other drugs to enter in. Thus one point is established as, in persons having mental illness are for persons with known family history of mental illness, cannabis triggers adheres psychotic symptoms. (Imade and Ebie ,1991) Though the usage of cannabis is known from 1970s now it has become an issue of concern as more young people are found to be the smokers of cannabis. Most cannabis users started in very early teens, thus causing a psychological transition and misadventures on a young persons life. This issue of regular Cannabis use is found to be a menace in developed countries. This has really become a national crisis mainly for countries as Australia and New Zealand. The Government has taken wide range of steps from forming a forum, organizing discussion, releasing pamphlets, funding research to create an awareness about cannabis and its link to mental illness.( Jerrell and Ridgely,1995) So this essay tries to unravel the above facts by discussing and reviewing the articles published with this concern. The List of articles selected and the reason for the selection : 1. Cannabis use and mental health - facts - is an study based on Australian community with case study done among 2 age groups as adolescent and adults, aiming to pinpoint the majority groups age by which they start this habit. 2. Cannabis and psychosis - Information for health care workers - An research report done under the instruction and funding of Victorian government health information, by the state government of Victoria, Australia, tends to explore the relationship between the

Histroy of English Language Essay Example for Free

Histroy of English Language Essay History of English language will explain, why learning English as a second language is difficult without proper instruction, even though basic components are same. Throughout its history English has been influenced by the varieties of language. Living languages never remain static. Every language is the product of change and continues to change as long as it is spoken. Only dead languages like Latin or Sanskrit change no longer, since no one speaks them now. The changes, while they do occur are gradual and slow and hence almost imperceptible. Over a span of centuries, however, their cumulative effect is appreciable. Shakespeare English is difficult for modern readers; Chaucer’s is almost is incomprehensible without formal instruction. The History of the English language: The origin During the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. English belongs, in all its stages, to the Indo European family of languages, formerly called Indo-Germanic, and still earlier Aryan. Indo European is the name given to the set of linguistic forms from which nearly all European languages as well as those of Persia and very large part of India can be shewn to descend. The historians have used the word Indo-European because it merely suggests that the languages it comprises cover most of the Europe and India mark the length of its confines. The predominance and pioneering s of the position of the German Philologist English is one of the most important languages in the world today. More the an 350 million people in Great Britain are native speakers. In addition 150 million non-native speakers of English are there. English however is not spoken by large number of people in the world . Chinese, for instance spoken by more than 880 million people in China alone. Among the western languages English has the advantage in numbers. Spanish in spoken by about 210 million people. Russian is spoken about 200 million people Portuguese is spoken about 105 million people etc . Importance of a language is associated with political role played by the nations using it and their influence in the international affairs. Several reasons may be adduced for current importance and popularity of English. Historically the colonial expansion of the British Empire over which the sun never sets, was responsible for the imposition of the English on aspiring natives. Even after achieving independence many countries like Nigeria, India, Ghana continue to use English as official language for several reasons. The nature of the English language and its tolerance to change has made it very popular. One of the major assets of the English language is the mixed character or its vocabulary. English being the Germanic descent has many words from the Germanic languages viz, German Dutch, Flemish, Danish, Scandinavian, Swedish, Norwegian. It also shares a large number of words with the European languages derived from Latin viz,French Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Hence English seems very familiar to anyone who speaks a Germanic and Roman language. Instead of making new words chiefly by the combination of existing elements, English has shown the marked tendency to go outside its own linguistic resources and borrow from other languages. These words have been so well assimilated into English the no one ever remembers or recognizes that they have been borrowed. Any etymological dictionary will show that English has borrowed from almost every language of the world; Hebrew Arabic Hindi Tamil,Malay,WestAfrica,Chinese,Brazil etc. This is the reason why we call English a cosmopolitan vocabulary which is an asset to any language which seeks to attain international use. Modern linguists therefore accept the dynamic nature of language. One of their axioms is that there are no pure forms of language, for language, for languages keep changing all the time. If English had remained pure over the centuries, we should still be speaking the language of Chaucer. Throughout the history, the English language has accepted with comparative equanimity words from other languages with which it has been in contact. There have been periods in which speakers and writers have indulged in large-scale use of foreign words. In general, most people will agree that the foreign contribution to English has been useful. Some languages avoid as far as possible the use of alien terms; instead they substitute new words made up of native elements. English however, has always accepted foreign words. Many hundreds of words of non-English origin are now part and parcel of the English vocabulary, indistinguishable from the native stock except to those with some knowledge of etymology. Of all the world languages, English has probably the vocabulary which is the most copious, heterogeneous and varied, at the same time this also one of the reason that learning English as second language becomes difficult. All the people, with whom its speakers have come in contact during more than thirteen centuries of its growth, have left permanent marks on the language. Some of the contacts have been deep and lasting like Greek, French and Latin. A study of the history of the English language, therefore, unfolds the panorama of English history-both social and political. With an empire over which sun never sets, the English language has been particularly open to foreign influences. The Romans with whom the ancient Germanic tribes had dealings, the Romanized Britons, the Latin fathers of the church who were once eagerly studied the Danish and Norwegian invaders, the Norman French conquerors, the revival of ancient Latin and Greek classics at Renaissance, the Italian artists and men of letters of the 16th century the colonizing nations of the same century—all these have made their contributions to the English language. Arab mathematicians from Spain have enriched the language: so have American Redskins and Indian sepoys. The Italianate Englishman of Queen Elizabeth’s time of whom Shakespeare made fun and famous writers like Dryden, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift have left something of value in the English word—hoard. It is no doubt, that such statement might fairly be made about other language and their history; but what stands out so remarkably about English is the abundance, the unparalleled variety and the length of the time during which foreign influences have been effective. Further, no other language has so much copious and heterogeneous material. In historical linguistics the contribution of particular foreign language to another is referred to as borrowing . In common parlance, ‘borrowing’ means getting something form somebody on the understanding that it is to be returned. Luckily, this definition does not apply to words which are borrowed, never to be returned. Linguists wonder whether ‘stealing’ might be a more appropriate term for this phenomenon. As Haugen says† The borrowing takes place without the lender’s consent or even awareness and the borrower is under no obligation to repay the loan. One might as well call it stealing, were it is not the owner is deprived of nothing and feels no urge to recover his goods. The process might be called adoption, for the speaker does adopt element from a second language into its own. Even though English language has adopted variety of languages into it, the basic structure of the English language has not changed. English language’s basic structure is, it has fixed word order. Due to more than two hundred years of English rule, Tamil has borrowed copiously from English. Now these words are not recognized as foreign at all. One hears an uneducated Tamil speaker use words like office school, ticket, gate, bus etc. In fact, practically no one remembers the Tamil equivalent of these words. The problem arises for the second language learners only when they were asked to use the language or reproducing it. Tamil is Dravidian language spoken by more than 65 million people. It is the official language of Tamil nadu state in India and one of the official languages of Srilanka also. Large Tamil-speaking communities also reside in South Africa,Singapore, Malaysia and the other Indian ocean islands. The earliest Tamil inscriptions dates from 200B. C. The literature in the language have a 2,000-year history. There are 247 letters in the Tamil alphabet. The 247 letters in the Tamil alphabet can be divided into 12 vowels 18 consonants, 216 vowel consonants and 1 special letter. The vowel consonants are formed by combining the vowel letters and consonants letters. The vowel-consonants letters also have long and short sounds. The History of English is divided into three ages. Old English, Middle English and Modern English. There are 26 letters and 44 sounds, in that there 6 pure vowels and 18 diphthongs and 20 consonants in English language. Compared to Tamil language English has less number of letters ,but ironically language that has 247 letters(Tamil) has limited in terms of vocabulary, but English language that has 26 letters has million words. According THE HINDU newspaper which published an article duirng 2006, The department of Tamil language in the University of Madras has benn revising, enlarging and updating the Tamil lexicon. During 1924-39, the University of Madras had Published the Tamil Lexicon in seven volumes comprising 124,405 entries. Such a dictionary was pioneering venture in the pre-independence period. Prof. Vaiyapuri Pillai had played a huge role in the complication and publication. There have been persistent demands for updating and expanding the lexicon. The many social, political and technological changes in the six-decade period have direct bearing on the Tamil language. It is in this background that the Department of Tamil language of the Madras University had out forth its plan to revise enlarge and update the lexicon. The present Tamil lexicon, under preparation ,will come out in 10 volumes, comprising atleast 500,000 entries ,will be bilingual in nature and at the same time render the meaning chronologically. On top of the vast difference in the number of letters in their alphabet, the Tamil language also differs in many grammatical items compared to the English language. The earliest period of English was formerly called as ANGLO SAXON. The history of English language is divided into three main periods . They are old English (from earliest writings till 1100) Middle English extends from about 1100A. D- 1450A. D, from 1450A. D till date its Modern English. The English language is spoken or read by the largest number of people in the world, for historical, political and economic reasons. First and foremost feature of English language is its extraordinary receptive and adaptable heterogeneousness-the varied ease and readiness with which it has taken to itself material from almost everywhere in the world and has made the new elements of language its own. Throughout its history English has accepted with equinamity words from other languages with which it has been in contact. Foreign elements with ease and assimilated them all to its character. Though it is copiousness of vocabulary is outstanding. A second outstanding characteristic of English is simplicity of inflexion-the ease with which it indicates the relationship of words in a sentence with only the minimum of change in their shapes or variation of endings. A third quality of English is its relatively fixed-word order. An inflected language like Latin or Russian can afford to be fairly free in the arrangement of its words, since the inflexions show clearly the proper relationship in the sentence and ambiguity is unlikely. Of all world languages, English has probably the vocabulary which is most copious, heterogeneous and varied. All the peoples with whom its speakers have come into contact during more than thirteen centuries of the growth, have left permanent marks on the language. Some of the contacts have been deep and lasting like those of ancient Rome and France. Others have been casual like those of Spain or Czechoslovakia. During the Roman invasion, the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. While the Roman soldiers in town used Latin, the Britons in the countryside spoke Celtic. Later this was replaced by English. The history of the English language in Britain begins with the settlement of the Angels, Saxons and Jutes in Brtian. These three tribes came from the plains near Schelswing Holstein in North Germany. They had to encounter varying degrees of hostility from the Celts. For mutual protection the tribes combined into small kingdoms. The most important among these were: Northumbria, Mercia. East Anglia, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and Kent. Under King Alfred Wessex enjoyed the leadership in learning. The English language of today reflects many centuries of developments. The political and social history of England has exerted a considerable impact on the language. The Christianizing of Britain in 597 brought English into contact with Latin civilization and many Latin words were added to the English vocabulary. Then the Scandinavian invasion resulted in considerable two people and their languages. For two centuries after the Norman Conquest English remained the language of the lower classes. When English once more gained importance, it had been considerably changed from what it was in 1066. In a similar way the Hundred Years War, the rise of an important middle class, the Renaissance the development of the British empire, the growth of commerce and industry, science and literature have all contributed to make the English language what it is today. In short the English language reflects in its entire development the political, social and cultural history of the English people.

Environmental Impact Of Leather Tanning Industry

Environmental Impact Of Leather Tanning Industry The global environment is gradually worsening as a result of the socio-economic activities of mankind. Leather tanning industry plays significant role in economy of a country through employment and export earnings; but resulting pollution from tanning process causing severe environmental degradation. Tanning is the process by which hides or skins are converted into leather. After removal of flesh and fur from the hide it is treated with chemicals which cross linked the microscopic collagen fibers to form a stable and durable leather product. A schematic diagram of tanning is presented and this indicates the type of waste stream generated from tanning process (Fig.1.1) (Harrison, 2001). Leather processing comprises of series of operations that can be classified as pre-tanning, in which hides or skins are cleaned; tanning process, which permanently stabilizes the hides and post-tanning or finishing operations, where final shape value is added for manufacturing of leather (Ramasami, Rao, Chandrababu, Parthasarathi, Rao, Gayathri and Sreeram, 1999). Production of leather from tanning of hides and skins has been an important activity since ancient times. For processing a ton of hide approximately 30-40 cubic meter (m3) of water is used (Suthanthararajan, Ravindranath, Chitra, Umamaheswari, Ramesh and Rajamani 2004). Currently, about 6.5 millions tons of wet salted hides and skins are processed worldwide annually. About 3.5 millions of various chemicals are used for leather processing. A considerable part of this amount is discharged into the effluent (Ludvik, 1996). Tanning of hides and skins by the usual tanning process is wholly a wet process from which a large volume of liquid waste is almost continuously discharged throughout the working hours of an industry. Usually soak waste, liming wastes and spent vegetable tan liquors are discharged intermittently (Song, Williams and Edyvean, 2000). It is approximated that 30-40 x 1010 liters of effluent is generated by worldwide annual processing of 9 x 109 kg hides and skins (Thanikaivelan, Jonnalagadda, Balachetran and Ramasami, 2004). Leather industry consumes a large amount of water so the availability of good quality water and the treatment of large amount of effluent are the two major issues. The tannery wastewater is a mixture of bio matter of hides and a large variety of organic and inorganic chemicals. Tanneries leave the wastewater usually contain organic and inorganic matter with high level of salinity, ammonia and organic nitrogenous pollutants and other toxic pollutants including sulphide and residues of chromium metal salt) (Ros and Gantar, 1998). Tannery effluents are characterized as highly colored, foul smelling with acidic and alkaline liquor (World Bank, 1998). Poor processing practices and use of unrefined conventional leather processing further aggravate the pollution problem. In tannery effluents presence of chromium and hydrogen sulfide formed due to sulfide are highly toxic to many living beings. Indiscriminate discharge of effluents into water bodies or open land causing contamination of surface and ground water in addition to degradation of flora and fauna of soil have direct impacts on agricultural land (Khawaja, Rasool, Fiaz and Irshad, 1995; Ramasami, Sreeram and Gayatri, 1997). The leather tanning industry significantly contributes to economy of a country. The major leather production centers in the world are found in Mexico, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, China, India and Pakistan. Leather tanneries generate three type of waste including wastewater, solid waste and air emissions. So far, wastewater is considered as the most important environmental challenge faced by Pakistans tanneries (Iqbal, 1998). In Pakistan, tanneries are established both in formal and informal sector presently over 596 tanneries are established in the formal sector and equally large number of tanneries exists in the informal sector (ETPI, 2001). Increasing number of tanneries in Pakistan is to be considered as the major cause of environmental degradation because untreated effluents from tanneries are released into environment. Kasur district has more than 350 tanning and it has become the mean livelihood of most of residents. The present study focuses on identification environmental problems related to tanneries wastewater in Kasur through participatory action and involve local communities for self managed collective actions for application of locally available and cost effective wastewater treatment technologies within their industry premises. In this process participants learn wastewater treatment technologies through social learning process which is based on the principle of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“learning by doingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ . Participatory research allows researchers to gain a better understanding of problem. Participatory GIS approach is used for the purpose of involving community and development of GIS database. Participatory GIS is a spatial decision making tool designed to utilize GIS technology with participatory approach in the perspective of needs and capabilities of communities that are involved through and affected by development projects. Novel community mapping and modeling methods linked to GIS for implementing community-based planning, have been studied and developed since the 1990s (Dunn, Atkins and Townsend, 1997; Abbott, Chambers, Dunn, Harris, DeMerode, Porter, Townsend and Weiner,1998; Sieber, 2006) and began to spread into China through international development projects (Cai, Zhu and Dai, 2001; McConchie and McKinnon, 2002; Wang, 2003). Participatory GIS technique encourages community participation and involves community in the production of GIS (Cinderby, 1999). Participatory GIS generally resulted from the combination of participatory methods i.e. Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) with geo-spatial technologies (Rambaldi, Kyem, Mbile, McCall and Weiner, 2005). Within this broad range of approaches different techniques have been employed in specific locations and projects to investigate specific issues or encourage participation from particular groups or stakeholders. It has been a commonality of many participatory GIS that the process of participation (including the collection and collation of information) has often been emphasized in the process more than the technical utilization of GIS which requires access to specific expertise (McCall, 2004). Geographic information system (GIS) is a computer-based system for capturing, storing, manipulating, analyzing, and displayi ng geographic data for solving spatial complex resource planning and management problems (Densham, 1991). In GIS framework data is categorized into spatial data and attribute data. The data is stored in current GIS within two separate databases one for spatial data and one for attribute data. In most GIS representation of spatial data is in vector (points, lines, and polygons) and raster (pixels or grids) forms (Burrough, 1986). These conventional vector and raster representation of geographic features in GIS focus on database management including query and spatial analysis (Rhind, 1990). In the development of a GIS database, different features are processed and stored in separate data layers representing geographic themes. All data layers in the same GIS database are required to be geocoded to a standard coordinate system such as State Plane coordinate system. Therefore, a GIS database can be conceptualized as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“sandwichedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  data layers containing different types of geographic features, registered to a common base map. GIS store, manage, and analyze geographically referenced data and devices that measure geographic location such as Global Positioning System (GPS) provides data on location in terms of latitude, longitude and altitude required for the GIS (Deichmann and Wood, 2001). Participatory action research combines aspects of popular education, community based research, and social action. Participatory action research is collaborative processes in which researchers work with community to identify an area of concern and community take part to generate knowledge about the issue, formulate plan and carry out actions meant to address the issue in substantial way (Brydon, 2001). Participatory research approach empowers community members to collaborate with researchers to better understand their own problems and to find effective and viable solutions. Participants in the research process can identify a problem, collect and analyze relevant information, and act upon it in order to develop solutions and to promote social and/or political transformation (Selener, 1997). Participatory research represents a distinct set of practices or approaches to generate knowledge, including a variety of quantitative and qualitative research methods (e.g., participant observation, personal interviews, focus groups, and participatory needs assessment surveys). Treatment of tannery effluents has been searched for physical, chemical and biological methods. The biological treatment, especially the use of microorganisms to improve polluted water quality is effective and widespread due to environmentally and economically as compared to chemical treatment. Effective Microorganisms or EM Technology is selected for the treatment of tannery wastewater. The concept of EM Technology was developed by Professor Teruo Higa, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. EM consists of beneficial naturally occurring microorganisms that have a reviving action on humans, animals, and the natural environment. EM is a mixed culture of selected species of microorganisms including predominantly lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, photosynthetic bacteria, actinomycetes and other types of organisms which are mutually compatible and can coexist in liquid culture (Higa, 1991; Higa and Wididana, 1991). The ultimate goal of this research is to break psychological, social, technical and economic barriers in technology adoption by tanneries owners and workers. So that tanneries owners and workers are enabled for self organized collective wastewater management within their working environment. Through this process community participation is anticipated in all stages of action research including problem identification, data collection, participatory GIS and application of wastewater treatment technology. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The objectives of my study are as follows: Preparation of GIS database of small tanneries through participation of stakeholders in Kasur. Demarcation of small tanneries and wastewater channels discharging from tanneries through participatory GIS mapping. Identification and selection of locally available and effective wastewater treatment technologies. Laboratory experimentation to check the efficacy of selected wastewater treatment technology. Develop simplified methods to increase social acceptance of waste minimization techniques through community participation.