Notes for Pakistan

Culture (Short Note)

2012-01-28T07:25:00.002-08:00

CULTURE:

Culture is a term that has different meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. However, the word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses:

excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture
an integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning
the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group.

When the concept first emerged in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture. In the nineteenth century, it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-nineteenth century, some scientists used the term "culture" to refer to a universal human capacity.

In the twentieth century, "culture" emerged as a concept central to anthropology, encompassing all human phenomena that are not purely results of human genetics. Specifically, the term "culture" in American anthropology had two meanings:

(1) The evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively; and

(2) The distinct ways that people living in different parts of the world classified and represented their experiences, and acted creatively. Following World War II, the term became important, albeit with different meanings, in other disciplines such as sociology, cultural studies, organizational psychology and management studies.

Civil Society (Short Note)

2012-01-28T07:25:00.000-08:00

CIVIL SOCIETY:

Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that state's political system) and commercial institutions of the market.

Civil society refers to the arena of uncoerced collective action around shared interests, purposes and values. In theory, its institutional forms are distinct from those of the state, family and market, though in practice, the boundaries between state, civil society, family and market are often complex, blurred and negotiated. Civil society commonly embraces a diversity of spaces, actors and institutional forms, varying in their degree of formality, autonomy and power. Civil societies are often populated by organizations such as registered charities, development non-governmental organizations, community groups, women's organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, trade unions, self-help groups, social movements, business associations, coalitions and advocacy groups.

Secularization (Short Note)

2012-01-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

SECULARIZATION:

Secularization or generally refers to the transformation by which a society migrates from close identification with religious institutions to a more separated relationship. It is also the name given to a general belief about history, namely that the development of society progresses toward modernization and lessening dependence on religion as religion loses its position of authority.

Secularization has many levels of meaning, both as a theory and a historical process. Social theorists such as Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, Max Weber, and Émile Durkheim, postulated that the modernization of society would include a decline in levels of religiosity. Study of this process seeks to determine the manner in which, or extent to which religious creeds, practices and institutions are losing their social significance (if at all).

The term also has additional meanings, primarily historical. Applied to church property, secularization involves the abandonment of goods by the church where it is sold to purchasers after the government seizes the property, which most commonly happens after reasonable negotiations and arrangements are made. In Catholic theology, the term can also denote the permission or authorization given for an individual (typically clergy, who become secular clergy) to live outside his or her religious colony (monastery), either for a fixed or permanent period.

Civilization and its Definition

2012-01-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

CIVILIZATION:

A civilization is a society or culture group normally defined as a complex society characterized by the practice of agriculture and settlement in towns and cities. Compared with other cultures, members of a civilization are commonly organized into a diverse division of labor and an intricate social hierarchy.

Definition:

Civilization is often used as a synonym for the broader term "culture" in both popular and academic circles. Every human being participates in a culture, defined as "the arts, customs, habits... beliefs, values, behavior and material habits that constitute a people's way of life". However, in its most widely used definition, civilization is a descriptive term for a relatively complex agricultural and urban culture. Civilizations can be distinguished from other cultures by their high level of social complexity and organization, and by their diverse economic and cultural activities.

In an older but still frequently used sense, the term "civilization" can be used in a normative manner as well: in societal contexts where complex and urban cultures are assumed to be superior to other "savage" or "barbarian" cultures, the concept of "civilization" is used as a synonym for "cultural (and often ethical) superiority of certain groups." In a similar sense, civilization can mean "refinement of thought, manners, or taste".

In his book The Philosophy of Civilization, Albert Schweitzer, one of the main philosophers on the concept of civilization, outlined the idea that there are dual opinions within society; one regarding civilization as purely material and another regarding civilization as both ethical and material. He stated that the current world crisis was, then in 1923, due to a humanity having lost the ethical conception of civilization. In this same work, he defined civilization, saying:

“It is the sum total of all progress made by man in every sphere of action and from every point of view in so far as the progress helps towards the spiritual perfecting of individuals as the progress of all progress.”

Moen-jo-Daro (Summary)

2011-12-25T06:40:00.001-08:00

Moen-jo-Daro is one of the oldest cities of world. It’s ruins are about 4500 years old. Moen-jo-Daro is situated on the right bank of river Indus and about 27 kilometers far from Larkana. It was discovered in 1922 by an English archaeologist Sir John Marshal.

Once it was a large busy city. The city was well planned and clean. The houses were made of backed bricks. Each house had a bath room and servant quarters close by. There were covered drains beside the streets. Streets were made of backed bricks. There was straight road in the middle of city having shops on both sides. There was a public pond and a big storing hall also.

The people were good cultivators and craftsmen. They grew wheat, rice, cotton etc. They also kept cattle. Craftsmen were very skilled. They worked in gold, silver, ivory and other metals. They made toys for children to play with. They wore long and loose dresses.

There is museum near the ruins of Moen-jo-Daro. Objects found from Moen-jo-Daro have been kept there on exhibition. They include seals, jewellery toys, weapons and painted pottery. Best find of Moen-jo-Daro is the head of bull. The metal statue of dancing girl is also a best find.

Shab Abdul Latif Bhittai (Summary)

2011-12-25T06:39:00.000-08:00

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai, the great saint, poet and philosopher was born in 1689 in small village “Hala Haveli” District Hyderabad. He was son of Syed Habib Shah. Shah Latif’s ancestors migrated from Hirat to Sindh during the days of Tamer Lane and made it their home.

Shah Latif started composing poetry when he was only a boy. He was very fond of learning. He married a nice lady with whom he lived for many years. He showed kindness to her. After the death of his father he went to live on Bhit. There he prayed to God with much devotion.

Shah Latif composed his poetry in language of common people. He was also a great musician. He simplified the music of his time. He invented simple musical instrument “Tambooro” which is even now popular all over Sindh.

Shah Latif died in 1752 A.D at Bhit Shah. Famous king of Sindh Ghulam Shah Kalhoro built a shrine over his grave. Shah Latif’s Urs is held at shrine on 14^th Safar every year. People come from all over Pakistan to offer their gratitude.

Shah’s message is the message of love and brotherhood. He believed in equality of men and pleasing God by good deeds. According to him it was goal of life.

Income Tax Authorities

2011-12-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

1. Central Board of Revenue

“Central Board of Revenue” means the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) established under the Central Board of Revenue Act 1924.

Who appoints the CBR?

CBR is a statutory body appointed by the Federal Government by the authority of the Central Board of Revenue Act, 1924.

Basic Function of the CBR:

Tax collection is the basic function of the CBR.

Status of the CBR:

CBR is the highest executive tax authority in Pakistan.

Head of the CBR:

Chairman of the CBR is the main authority in the CBR who is appointed by the Federal Government.

Members of the CBR:

CBR consist of four members who are as office joint _______ in the Government of Pakistan.

Powers & Functions of the Central Board of Revenue (CBR):

The CBR has following powers & performs the following functions in the presence of its powers:

1) Certification of research institutions: [26(2)]

The CBR is authorized to certify an institution as conducting scientific research in Pakistan.

2) Approval of employee training scheme: [27(c)]

The CBR is empowered to approve a Pakistani employee training scheme against which a business is allowed a deduction.

3) Approval of Leasing Companies & Modaraba: [28(3)]

The CBR has authority to approve such leasing companies & Modaraba where lease rental payment made to such companies is allowed as deduction to person against income from business.

4) Method of accounting: [32(3)]

The CBR may prescribe that any class of persons shall account for income chargeable to tax under the head “Income from Business” on a cash or accrual basis.

5) Approval of security: [46(d)]

The CBR is authorized to approve any security that the profit received by a non-resident person on such approved security shall be exempt from tax.

6) Approval of charitable institutions: [61]

The CBR is empowered to approve the charitable institutions for the purposes of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 specially, for donation purposes.

7) Apportionment of Deductions: [67(2)]

The CBR may make rules u/s 237 for the purposes of apportioning deductions where the expenditure relates to the derivation of more than one head of income.

8) Decision of application u/s 74:

The CBR is authorized to decide an application submitted by a person against the decision of the CIT for granting or withdrawing the permission regarding use of a special or normal tax year.

9) Power to collect information regarding exempted income: [180]

The CBR may authorize any department or agency of the Government to collect and compile any data in respect of incomes from industrial and commercial undertakings exempt from tax under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

10) Authority of circulars: [206]

The CBR may issue circulars to achieve consistency in the administration of Ordinance and to provide guidance to taxpayers and officers of the CBR.

11) Empowerment of advance ruling: [260A]

The CBR may issue to the non-resident taxpayer an advance ruling setting out the Commissioner’s position regarding the application of the Income Tax Ordinance, 20001 to a transaction proposed or entered into by the taxpayer.

12) Empowerment of General Administration:

The CBR shall exercise the general administration of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

13) Appointment of income tax authorities: [208]

The CBR may appoint as many Regional Commissioners of Income Tax, Commissioners of Income Tax, Commissioners of Income tax (Appeals), Taxation officers and such other executive or ministerial officers and staff as may be necessary.

14) Criteria for audit selection: [177(1)]

The CBR may lay down criteria for selection of any person for an audit of person’s income tax affairs, by the Commissioner.

15) Appointment of the auditor: [177(8)]

The CBR may appoint a firm of Chartered Accountants, to conduct an audit of the income tax affairs of any person.

16) Determination of the scope of audit: [179(8)]

The scope of any audit conducted by firm of Chartered Accountants shall be determined by the CBR on a case to case basis.

17) determination of jurisdiction: [209(6)]

Where a question arises as to whether a Commissioner has jurisdiction over a person, the question shall be decided by the RCIT or RCITs concerned and, if they are not in agreement, it is determined by the CBR.

18) Authority of Approval: [212]

The CBR may, by a general or special order, authorize the RCIT or the CIT to grant approval on behalf of the CBR.

19) Determination: [217]

Forms, notices, returns, statements, tables and other documents required under this Ordinance may be in such form as determined by the CBR.

20) Registration of Income tax practitioners: [223(10)]

The CBR may make rules u/s 237 for the registration of income tax practitioners.

21) Power to make rules: [237(1)]

The CBR may, by notification in the official Gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

22) Delegation of powers: [209(2)]

The CBR may assign to any Taxation Officer or any authority all or any of the powers its powers & functions for the purposes of administrative convenience.

23) Unexplained income or assets:

The CBR may make rules u/s 237 for the procedure of taxation of any unexplained income or asset discovered by any income tax authority.

24) Supervision of subordinate authorities:

The CBR supervises the functions, duties and jurisdiction of its authorities.

2. Regional Commissioner of Income Tax (RCIT)

Definition:

“Regional Commissioner” means a person appointed to be a Regional Commissioner of Income Tax (RCIT) u/s 208 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. It also includes a Director-General of Income Tax & Sales Tax.

Who appoints the RCIT?

RCIT is appointed by the CBR.

Basic function of the RCIT:

The RCIT has to supervise the functioning of his subordinate tax authorities. He shall make such arrangement to ensure that the provisions of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 and directions given by the CBR are being complied with.

Jurisdiction of the RCIT:

The jurisdiction of the RCIT is decided by the CBR.

Authorities subordinates to RCIT:

The following authorities are sub-ordinate to the CBR.

i) Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT)

ii) Additional Commissioner of Income Tax

iii) Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax

iv) Income Tax Officer

v) Special Officer

vi) Any other officer appointed by the CBR.

Powers & Functions of the RCIT:

The RCIT may exercise the following powers & functions:

1) Transfer of jurisdiction:

The RCIT may transfer the jurisdiction in respect of cases or persons from one Commissioner subordinate to another.

2) Decision of jurisdiction:

If any dispute arises regarding the jurisdiction of two Commissioners within same region, it is decided by the RCIT of that region.

3) Revision of orders:

The RCIT may revise any order passed by any sub-ordinate authority of the RCIT.

4) Appointment of sub-ordinate authorities:

The RCIT may appoint any of his subordinate authority with the approval of the CBR.

5) Inspection of sub-ordinate offices:

The RCIT may inspect the subordinate offices.

6) Delegation of power:

The RCIT with the approval of the CBR may delegate all or any of its powers and functions to any sub-ordinate income tax authority in respect of any person, classes of persons or areas.

7) Supervision of Technical work:

This RCIT is responsible to supervise the technical work performed in the region.

8) Power to write-off irrecoverable demands:

This RCIT has powers to write off irrecoverable demands in respect of the instructions issued by the CBR.

9) Supervision of tax collection procedure:

The RCIT being an administrative authority is responsible to supervise the tax collection procedure under his region.

10) Internal audit of tax department:

The RCIT may conduct internal audit of his subordinate offices.

11) Regulation of inspection work:

The RCIT may supervise & regulate the inspection work of the Additional Commissioner.

12) Examination of inspection notes:

The RCIT may examine the inspection notes received from the Additional Commissioners of Income Tax and take necessary follow up actions.

13) Action against tax evasion:

The RCIT may take action in respect of the complaints of tax evasion under the region.

14) Posting of subordinate authorities:

The RCIT may pos different subordinate authorities in different offices in the region.

15) Any function assigned by the CBR:

The RCIT shall perform any function assigned to him by the CBR.

3. Commissioner of Income Tax

“Commissioner” means a person appointed as a Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) u/s 208, and includes a Taxation Officer vested with all or any of the powers, and functions of the Commissioner.

Who appoints the Commissioner?

Commissioner is appointed by the CBR u/s 208 of the Income Tax Ordinance 2001.

Basic function of the Commissioner:

Commissioner performs all such functions as are required by any provision of the Income Tax Ordinance and as directed by the CBR.

Powers of the Commissioner:

Briefly speaking the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, revolves around the Commissioner because lot of powers has been granted under such Ordinance to the Commissioner.

Authority which supervises the CIT:

CBR and RCIT under whose jurisdiction, the Commissioner works, supervises the Commissioner of Income Tax.

Note: Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 also permits the delegation of work. If some work of Commissioner is delegated to a Taxation Officer, such Taxation Officer may enjoy all powers of the Commissioner.

Powers & Functions of the Commissioner of Income Tax:

1) Change in method of accounting [32(4)]

The Commissioner may allow a change in method of accounting, if the CIT is satisfied that the change is necessary to clearly effect the person’s income chargeable to tax under the head “Income from Business”.

2) Change in stock valuation method [35(6)]

A stock valuation method, once chosen, may be changed only within the written permission of the Commissioner.

3) Allowability of Special Tax Year [74(3)]

The Commissioner may allow a person to use special tax year, only if the person has shown a compelling need to use special tax year.

4) Allowability of Normal Tax Year [74(4)]

The Commissioner may allow a person to use normal tax year instead of special tax year, only if the person has shown a compelling need to use normal tax year.

5) Imposition of conditions regarding tax year [74(5)]

The Commissioner may imposer certain conditions while permitting a person to use a special tax year or normal tax year.

6) Withdrawal of permission to use a specific tax year:

The Commissioner may withdraw the permission granted to a person in respect of using the specific tax year (special tax year or normal tax year), after providing the opportunity of being head.

7) Transactions between associations [108(1)]

The Commissioner may, in respect of any transaction between associates, distribute apportionate or allocate income, deduction or tax credits.

8) Unexplaiend income or assets [111]

The Commissioner may charge to tax the value of any unexplained income or asset and determine the value if it has been declared less than the fair market value (FMV).

9) Issuance of notice for filing of return [114(3) & (4)]

The Commissioner may issue a notice to a person or a person’s representative for filing a return for a period of less than 12 months or to a person who is required to file a return but has failed to do so.

10) Issuance of notice to furnish Wealth Statement [116(1)]

The Commissioner may be notice, require any person to furnish a wealth statement in the prescribed form and verified in the prescribed manner.

11) Return of discontinued business [117(3)]

The Commissioner may serve a notice on the person who has discontinued the business or is likely to discontinue the business to furnish the return of income within the specified time & specified period in the notice.

12) Extension of time [119]

The Commissioner may grant the applicant an extension of time for furnishing the return certificate, or statement etc.

13) Best judgment assessment [121]

If the tax payer has not furnished required return or any other document, the Commissioner may, based on any available information or material and to the best of his judgment, make an assessment of the taxable income of the person and the tax due thereon.

14) Amended assessment order [122]

The Commissioner may amend an original assessment order by making necessary alterations or additions.

15) Recovery of tax from defaulting tax payer [138]

The Commissioner may take all necessary and appropriate actions for recovery of tax from a defaulting taxpayer.

16) Recovery of tax from other person on behalf of taxpayer [140]

The Commissioner may recover the tax from a person who holds money on behalf of the defaulting taxpayer.

17) Issuance of an exemption certificate [159]

The Commissioner may issue an exemption or lower rate certificate to the person whose income is not likely to be chargeable to tax under this Ordinance or at lower rate.

18) Adjustment & refund of tax [170]

Where a person applies for refund, the Commissioner after necessary adjustments shall refund the balance to the taxpayer within 34 days of receipt of a refund application.

19) Power to enter & search premises [175]

The Commissioner may enter in any business premises of the taxpayer within his jurisdiction to perform any task which is deemed fit for the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

20) Power to impound documents [175]

The Commissioner or any authorized officer may impound any accounts or documents relating to taxpayer and retain them for so long as may be necessary for examination or for the purpose of prosecution.

21) Power to make inventory [175]

The Commissioner may make an inventory of articles found in any premises or place of taxpayer during special inspection of taxpayer records & inventory etc.

22) Power to select a person for audit [177]

The Commissioner may select a person for audit of his income tax affairs.

23) Imposition of penalties [Part-X of Chapter-X]

The Commissioner may impose penalties for different defaults discussed under Part-X of Chapter-X of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

24) Imposition of additional tax [205]

The Commissioner may impose additional tax if the tax payer fails to pay the tax by due date.

25) Appointment of subordinates [208(2)]

Any income tax authority may appoint any income tax authority subordinate to it by the approval of the CBR. So, the Commissioner may appoint any subordinate authority by the approval of the CBR.

26) Delegation of powers:

The Commissioner may delegate to any Taxation Officer all or any of its powers or functions, other than the powers of delegation.

27) Rectification of mistakes [221]

The Commissioner may amend his own order to rectify any mistake apparent from the record on his own activity or any mistake brought to its notice by a taxpayer or any income tax authority.

28) Appointment of expert [222]

The Commissioner may appoint any expert for the purposes of audit or valuation etc.

29) Recognition of funds:

The Commissioner may recognize the provident fund, superannuation fund and gratuity fund etc. under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

30) Supervision of subordinate authorities:

The CIT supervises the functions, duties and jurisdiction of its subordinate authorities.

4. Directorate General of Inspection & Audit:

Head of the Directorate:

Director General of Inspection (DG1) is the head of Directorate.

Who appoints the Directorate General of Inspection & Audit?

It is appointed by the Federal Government.

How many officers are appointed?

The Federal Government may appoint as many officers as are required to discharge the functions of the Directorate-General of Inspection & Audit.

Qualification of officers of the Directorate:

The officers from income tax group are appointed as officers of the Directorate.

Authorities working under the Directorate General of Inspection & Audit:

The following officers shall perform their functions under the supervision of the DG1:

i) Directors of inspection

ii) Additional Directors of Inspection

iii) Deputy Directors of Inspection

iv) Assistant Directors of Inspection

v) Extra Assistant Directors of Inspection

vi) Inspectors of Inspection

Powers & Functions of the Directorate-General of Inspection & Audit:

Generally, the following functions & powers are exercised by the Directorate-General.

1) Inspection of cases & offices:

Directorate General caries out inspection of income tax cases & offices.

2) Investigation of cases regarding tax evasion:

It investigates the cases involving leakage of revenue or evasion of taxes.

3) Investigation of staff of income tax department:

It investigates the officers and staff of the income tax officers allegedly involved in corruption & malpractice and recommends the case to competent authority for necessary action.

4) Audit of cases or offices:

It may carry out audit of cases or officers involving income tax revenues.

5) Recommendations to the CBR:

It may recommend the CBR in matters of tax policy, tax administration and tax operations.

6) Preparation of annual report:

An annual report about the working of Income Tax Officers is furnished by the directorate to the CBR. So, preparation of the report is the responsibility of the directorate.

7) Acquirement of evidence on oath:

The Directorate may acquire evidence on oath regarding cases under consideration.

8) Performance of work assigned by the Federal Government:

The Directorate may perform any other function as may be assigned to it by the Federal Government.

5. Director-General of Investigation & Intelligence:

Definition:

Director-General of Investigation & Intelligence (DGII) means a person appointed to be a Director-General of Investigation & Intelligence under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

Who appoints the DGII?

The DGII is appointed by the CBR.

Basic function of the DGII:

The Director-General of Investigation & Intelligence performs the function of intelligence in finding out the concealed income & assets etc. Further, he shall perform such functions as may be specified by the CBR.

Jurisdiction of the DGII:

The CBR shall specify the jurisdiction of the DGII.

Authorities subordinate to DGII:

The following authorities work under the DGII.

i) Director of Investigation & Intelligence

ii) Additional Director of Investigation & Intelligence.

iii) Deputy Director of Investigation & Intelligence.

iv) Assistant Director of Investigation & Intelligence.

v) Extra Assistant Director of Investigation & Intelligence.

6. Director-General of Training & Research:

Definition:

“Director-General of Training & Research” (DGTR) means a person appointed to be a Director-General of Training & Research under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

Who appoints the DGTR?

The DGTR is appointed by the CBR.

Basic function of the DGTR:

The DGTR provides training & research facility to the Income Tax Department. Further, he shall perform such functions as may be specified by the CBR.

Jurisdiction of the DGTR:

The jurisdiction of the DGTR is specified by the CBR.

Authorities subordinate to DGTR:

The following authorities are subordinate to the DGTR:

i) Director of Training & Research

ii) Additional Director of Training & Research

iii) Deputy Director of Training & Research

iv) Assistant Director of Training & Research

v) Any other officer appointed to perform the functions of the DGTR.

Appointment of a Firm of Chartered Accountants:

The CBR may appoint a firm of Chartered Accountants to conduct an audit of the income tax affairs of any person and the scope of such audit shall be determined by the CBR on case to case basis.

Any person employed by a firm for audit may exercise the powers to enter and search premises & may issue a notice to obtain information or evidence.

Appointment of Surveyor:

The CBR is authorized to appoint any private agency, firm or company to carry out survey. Such survey may relate to certain persons or areas as deemed fit by the CBR. The CBR shall authorize surveyor to conduct survey in writing. The scope of survey is determined by the CBR on case to case basis.

Valuer:

Valuer is not an income tax authority under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. However, he assists the Commissioner in the valuation assets, so it is necessary to know about him.

1) Who appoints the valuer?

The Commissioner may appoint the valuer as a result of an application made by a person willing to be a valuer.

2) Basic function of the valuer:

The main function of the valuer is to assist the CIT in valuation of the capital assets belonging to a taxpayer.

3) Status of valuation made by valuer:

Valuation made by the valuer is not binding on the Commissioner. The Commissioner may disagree with the value determined by a valuer.

4) Qualification of valuer:

A person should be competent according to nature of assets normally valued by him. Generally, a person who holds a recognized degree or equivalent qualification in civil, mechanical & electrical engineering & architectural field etc.

5) Disqualification of a valuer:

The following persons are qualified for appointment as a valuer:

i) A person who has been dismissed or removed from government service.

ii) An un-discharged insolvent.

iii) A person who has been found quality of misconduct in his professional capacity.

iv) Representative of taxpayer.

6) Termination of valuer:

The Commissioner may terminate the valuer at any time without assigning any reason and without paying any compensation.

7) Remuneration of value:

A valuer is remunerated on the basis of the value of the assets valued by him. Remuneration list has been provided in the Rule-227 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

7. Income Tax Appellate Tribunal [ITAT]

1) Status of the ITAT:

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is the highest appellate authority under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

2) Who appoints the ITAT?

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) is appointed by the Federal Government.

3) Who may appeal to the ITAT?

If a taxpayer or Commissioner of Income Tax (CIT) is not satisfied with the decision of the Commissioner’s (Appeals). The un-satisfied party may appeal the appellate tribunal.

4) Basic function of the tribunal:

The basic function of the tribunal is to hear the appeals against the decisions of Commissioner (Appeals).

5) head of the appellate tribunal:

Head of the appellate tribunal is called Chairman. Chairman is appointed by the Federal Government, generally, out of the judicial members of the tribunal.

6) Members of the ITAT:

There are two types of Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) members.

i) Judicial members

ii) Accountant members

7) Who appoints the members?

The Federal Government appoints the members of the ITAT considering their qualifications.

8) Qualification of members:

i) Judicial members:

A person may be appointed as a judicial member of the appellate tribunal if the person:

a) Has exercised the powers of a district judge and is qualified to be a judge of a high court; or

b) Is or has been an advocate of a high court and is qualified to be a judge of a high court.

ii) Accountant member:

A person may be appointed as an accountant member if the person is an officer of the Income Tax Group equivalent in rank to the Regional Commissioner of Income Tax.

9) Number of the ITAT members:

The Federal Government may appoint as many members of the appellate tribunal as are considered necessary.

Powers & Functions of the Appellate Tribunal:

The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal is the head of the Appellate system under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. It is independent from the CBR. In other words, the CBR may not interfere in the appellate functions of the ITAT.

1) Performance of the functions of ITAT:

The powers and functions of ITAT are exercised and discharged by the Benches.

2) Establishment of Benches:

The Benches of the ITAT are constituted by the Chairman out of the judicial and accountant members of the ITAT.

3) Placement of Benches:

The ITAT shall decide that where the Benches of the ITAT shall hold their sittings.

4) Power to regulate its own procedure:

According to section 130(12), the Appellate Tribunal has the power to regulate its own procedure.

5) Decision of the appeals:

The appellate tribunal performs its functions in deciding the appeals against decisions of the Commissioner (Appeals) through establishment of Benches.

6) Decision about number of the members of the Benches:

Where the members are equally divided in their opinion, the matter is referred to the chairman of ITAT. Chairman shall appoint one or more other members of the tribunal for hearing of disputed point.

7) Power of final decision:

The decision of the appellate tribunal on a point of fact is final. If the decision involves point of law, it may be referred to high cart.

Number of the Members of a Bench:

A bench, generally, consist of at least two members. Normally, a bench consists of equal number of judicial as well as accountant members (one judicial + one accountant) but in certain cases, the number of one type of members may exceed the other.

(For example, one judicial + two accountants or two judicial + one accountant)

Note: The Federal Government may authorize only one member of the tribunal to alone hear and decided the case.

Who Regulate the Procedure of ITAT:

According to section 130(12), the Appellate Tribunal has the power to regulate its own procedure, and the procedure of its Benches in all matters arising out of.

1) The discharge of its functions

2) The places at which the Benches shall hold their sittings.

Procedure of the Decision of a Bench:

Decision is made by the bench. If the members of a bench differ in opinion on any point, the majority decision is accepted. Where the members are equally divided in their opinion, the matter is referred to the Chairman. Chairman shall appoint one or more other members of the tribunal for hearing of disputed point. The point shall be decided according to the opinion of the majority of the members of the tribunal who have heard the case including those who first hear it.

Note: If there are an equal numbers of the Appellate Tribunal, the Federal Government may appoint an additional member for the purpose of deciding the case on which there is a difference of opinion.

Why Appellate Tribunal is called Final Fact Finding Authority?

It is called final fact finding authority because the decision of the appellate tribunal on a point of fact is final. If the decision involves point of law, it may be referred to high cart.

Administration:

Registrar is the responsible authority in the office of appellate tribunal who works under the guidance of Chairperson and entertains the appeals provisionally, fixes the date for hearing and looks after the Appellate Tribunal office matters.

Incomes Exempt from Tax

2011-12-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, provide a list of the incomes which either has been exempted fully from tax or some concession in the tax has been provided on such income. Section 53 of the Ordinance, authorizes the Federal Government to specify the incomes or classes of incomes, persons or classes of persons which shall either be exempt from tax or whose tax liability shall be reduced.

The incomes or classes of incomes, the persons or classes of persons specified in the Second Schedule all under any of the following categories:

1) Fully exempt from tax (subject to certain conditions and to the extent specified)

2) Reduction of tax rates (rates specified in the First Schedule)

3) Reduction in tax liability

4) Exempt from the operation of any specified provision of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

The Federal Government may, from time to time, by notification in the Official Gazette, make such amendments in the Second Schedule by:

a) Adding any clause or condition

b) Omitting any clause or condition

c) Making any change in any clause or condition as the Government may think fit.

Note: The Federal Government shall place before the National Assembly all amendments made by it to the Second Schedule in a financial year.

Agricultural Income:

Agricultural income means an income:

a) Derived from land (it may in the form of rent or revenue)

b) Land is situated in Pakistan

c) Land is used for agricultural purposes.

In other words, any rent or revenue derived from agricultural land situated in Pakistan represents agricultural income.

Note: Agricultural income is fully exempt from the tax irrespective of the quantum of the income.

Types/Sources of Agricultural Income:

1) Rent or revenue derived from the land situated in Pakistan and is used for agricultural purposes.

2) Any income derived by a person from land situated in Pakistan from agriculture.

3) Income of cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind, from the performance of any process which is ordinarily performed by such person (cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind) to render the produce fit to be taken to market.

Income of cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind from the sale of agricultural produce without performing any further process.

Income from a building shall also be treated as agricultural income if

a) The building is owned and occupied by the cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind.

b) It is situated in Pakistan in the immediate vicinity of the land used for agricultural purpose.

c) It is required by the cultivator or receiver of rent-in-kind, by reason of the person’s (cultivator etc.) connection with the agricultural land and it is required as:

i) A dwelling house

ii) A store house

iii) Other out-building

Examples of Agricultural Income:

Some examples of agricultural income are as follows:

1) Income from growing flowers and creepers.

2) Income from growing forest for example: Changa Manga forest

3) Amount received from cattle owners for allowing the cattle to graze in growing forest.

4) Income from cultivation of growing rice, tobacco, wheat, tea, coffee, sugarcane, rubber etc.

5) Profit on sale of standing crops;

6) Compensation received from an insurance company for danger caused by natural calamities to crops or agricultural produce.

7) Rent received by lessor of agricultural land.

8) Income received by lessee of agricultural land by cultivation.

9) Profit on sale of the produce raised after harvesting by the cultivator or the owner of an agricultural land.

10) Fee paid by tenant for renewal of lease.

Examples of Non-agricultural Income:

1) Income from sale of spontaneous fruits, flowers and creepers.

2) Income from spontaneous forest.

3) Amount received from cattle owners for allowing the cattle to graze in spontaneous forest.

4) Income from sale of wild grass and weeds of spontaneous growth.

5) Interest received by a money-lender in the form of agricultural produce.

6) Income from sale of irrigation water.

7) Commission earned by the landlord for selling agricultural produce of his tenant.

8) Income from fisheries & ferries.

9) Royalty income of mines.

10) Income received from land let out for storing crops or timbers.

11) Income from butter and cheese making.

12) Income from poultry farm.

13) Maintenance allowance charged on agricultural land.

14) Income from sale of earth for brick making.

15) Income from stone quarries.

Examples of Partly Agricultural & Partly Non-agricultural Income:

1) Income of a Sugar Mill owner who grows sugarcane on his own agriculture farm and uses it as raw material in manufacturing sugar.

2) Income of a person who grows tea leaves on his own farm and uses leaves as raw material in manufacturing of tea.

3) Income of a person who grows tobacco on his own farm and uses it as material in manufacturing of cigarettes.

Where a person uses his own farm agriculture produce in the manufacturing that article whose income is treated as business income. The market value of such produce used as raw material is allowed as deduction against income from business is calculated as follows:

Total income from business XXX

Less: Market value of the agricultural produce

Utilized in the business as raw material XXX

Taxable income from business XXX

Note: Only the market value of the agricultural produce is deducted. No full deduction shall be made in respect of any expenditure incurred by the taxpayer as cultivator or as a receiver of rent-in-kind.

Diplomatic and United Nations Exemptions:

The income of an individual entitled to privileges under:

i) The Diplomatic and Consular Privileges Act, 1972; or

ii) The United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1948 shall be exempt from tax.

Pension of United Nation Employees:

Pension income of a Pakistani shall be exempt from tax provided that:

i) Pension has been received being an employee of United Nations or its specialized agencies (including the international court of justice).

ii) His salary income from such employment was exempt from tax.

Foreign Government Officials [43]

Any salary received by an employee of a foreign government shall be exempt from tax provided that:

1) Foreign nationality:

The employee is not a citizen of Pakistan.

2) Similar services:

This employee is performing such services as are being performed by the employees of the Federal Government (Govt. of Pakistan) in foreign country.

3) Similar exemption:

The foreign government grants a similar exemption to the employees of the Government of Pakistan performing similar services in such foreign country.

Explanation:

Salary income of Indian High Commissioner appointed in Pakistan shall be exempt from tax, if salary income of Pakistan High Commissioner appointed in India is exempt from tax by the Government of India.

Exemptions under International Agreements:

Exemption as a result of tax treaty:

Any Pakistan-source income for which Pakistan is not permitted to tax under a tax treaty shall be exempt from tax under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.

Salary Income of an Individual Performing Services under an Aid Agreement:

The salary income of an individual shall be exempt from tax, if the following conditions are satisfied:

1) Foreign nationality:

The person is not a citizen of Pakistan.

2) Performance of services under Aid Agreement:

The person is performing services under an Aid Agreement between the Federal Government and a foreign government or public international organization.

3) Non-resident or resident only due to service:

The person is either not a resident or is resident only due to his service under the Aid agreement.

4) Nationality of aiding country:

The person is a citizen of that foreign country with which the Aid Agreement has been entered into.

5) Payment of salary from aided funds:

The salary is being paid to the person out of the funds or grants released as aid to Pakistan.

Income of Contractor, Consultant or Expert:

Income from business of a contractor, consultant or expert shall be exempt from tax if the following conditions are fulfilled:

1) Foreign nationality:

The person is not a citizen of Pakistan.

2) Performance of services under Technical Assistant Agreement:

The person is engaged on a project in Pakistan being undertaken under a bilateral or multilateral technical assistance agreement between the Government of Pakistan and foreign government or Public International Organization.

3) Non-resident or resident only due to service:

The person is either a non-resident or a resident only due to the performance of services under the agreement.

4) Financing of project from aided funds:

The project is being financed out of the funds available in accordance with the aid agreement.

5) Receipt of income from aided funds:

The person received income out of the funds of the grant available according to the agreement.

Allowances Attached to President’s Honours, Awards etc. [45]

i) Any allowance attached to any honour, award or medal; or

ii) Any monetary award granted to a person by the president of Pakistan shall be fully exempt from tax.

Explanation:

The President of Pakistan awarded to player of Pakistan Cricket Team Rs. 100,000 each as a result of winning of test series in India. Such monetary award granted by President of Pakistan is fully exempt from tax.

Profit on Debt Received by a Non-resident Person [46]

Any profit on debt received by a non-resident person on a security issued by a resident person shall be exempt from tax, where:

1) Payer & payee are not associates:

The persons are not associates (if such payment is made by the associate of the non resident person, exemption shall not be granted to non-resident person).

2) Security was widely issued outside Pakistan for raising loan:

The security was widely issued by the resident person outside Pakistan for the purposes of raising a loan outside Pakistan for using such loan in a business carried on by the resident person in Pakistan.

3) Payment of profit outside Pakistan:

The profit was paid outside Pakistan to non-resident person.

4) Approval of security from the CBR for exemption:

The security is approved by the CBR for the purposes of this exemption.

Explanation:

ICI Pakistan Limited issued 6% debentures outside Pakistan to raising loan for its business in Pakistan. Mr. Lewis, a British Nationality Holder & non-resident in Pakistan during the tax year purchased debentures. ICI paid profit (interest) on such debentures to Mr. Lewis from its bank account in London.

It is fully exempt from tax.

Scholarship [47]

Any scholarship granted to a person to meet the cost of the person’s education shall be exempt from tax provided that such scholarship has not been paid by an associate of the payee.

Explanation:

Shezan International Limited decided to provide management course to its employees. They contracted with LUMS to provide such facility & incurred Rs. 500,000 in respect of each employee Mr. Muhammad Ali is one of the employees who enjoyed free management course facility provided by the employer.

Point to be noted:

This facility is fully exempt from tax for Mr. Muhammad Ali.

Support Payment under an Agreement to Live Apart [48]

Any income received by a spouse as support payment under an agreement to live apart shall be exempt from tax.

The Federal and Provincial Government & Local Authority:

Income of the following persons shall be exempt from tax:

i) The Federal Government;

ii) A Provincial Government; and

iii) A local authority in Pakistan.

However, “Income from Business” derived by a Provincial Government or a local authority from a business carried on outside its jurisdictional area shall be taxable.

For example:

Government of Punjab invested in certain business carried on in the jurisdiction of Government of Sindh. So, any income derived by the Government of Punjab shall be taxable.

Foreign-Source Income of Short-Term Resident Individuals [50]

Foreign-source income of short-term resident individual shall be exempt from tax provided that:

1) Resident only due to employment:

The person is resident only due to his employment in Pakistan.

2) Resident period not exceeding three years:

The person is resident in Pakistan for a period which is not more than three years.

However, the income of short-term resident individual shall not be exempt from tax if such income is:

1) Income derived from business:

Derived by the individual from the business established in Pakistan; or

2) Foreign source income brought into Pakistan:

Any foreign source income has been brought into Pakistan or received in Pakistan by the person.

Foreign-Source Income of Returning Expatriates:

Foreign-source income of a Pakistani returning back in Pakistan is exempt for two years starting from the year in which he became resident if:

i) The income accrues or arises outside Pakistan.

ii) The person was not resident of Pakistan in any of the four years immediately preceding the year in which he became again resident.

For example:

Mr. Ali settled in England with his family in year 1999 as a result of immigration. He returned to Pakistan August 2006 to reside in Pakistan again as a resident. He earned Rs. 5000,000 as income from business in England and brought into Pakistan. His income from business shall be exempt from tax up to the tax year, 2008.

However, Salary income of a Pakistani shall be exempt from tax if the person:

a) Left Pakistan during the tax year;

b) Remained abroad during the tax year; and

c) Earned “Salary” income from outside Pakistan during the tax year.

Exemptions under Part-1 of the Second Schedule

Part-1 of the Second Schedule provides certain incomes, or classes of income, or persons or classes of persons which shall be exempt from tax, subject to the conditions and to the extent specified under each case.

Salary Income of an Employee of a Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital:

The salary income of an employee of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital & Research Centre, Lahore is exempt from tax, if it satisfies the following conditions:

1) Foreign nationality holder:

Employee is a foreign nationality holder.

2) Non-resident employee:

Employee is a non-resident during the tax year.

3) Health Professional:

He is a health professional.

4) Approval of service contract by the Federal Government:

Contract of the service of employee has been approved by the Federal Government for the purpose of such exemption.

Employee of Agha Khan Development Network Pakistan (AKDNP)

The salary income of a person working as expert, advisor, consultant or senior management staff in any institution run by AKDNP is exempt from tax if the employee is not citizen of Pakistan.

Salary Income of a Pakistani Seafarer Working on a Foreign Ship:

Income derived by a seafarer working on a foreign vessel or on Pakistan flag vessels for 183 days or more during a tax year, has been exempted from the tax. It is necessary, however, that such amount:

a) Shall be remitted to Pakistan within two months of the income year in which it is received.

b) Shall be remitted through normal banking channels.

Employee of British Council:

Salary income of an employee of British Council is exempt from tax if the person is not a citizen of Pakistan.

Allowance etc. to a Person Working Outside Pakistan

Any allowance and perquisites paid by the Government of Pakistan to a Pakistani appointed by the Government of Pakistan to a Pakistani appointed by the Government of Pakistan in any foreign country is exempt from tax.

Explanation:

Mr. Ansar is working as Pakistani High Commissioner in USA. The Government of Pakistan has incurred the following expenditures in respect:

Furnished accommodation Rs. 300,000

Utilities Rs. 100,000

Conveyance Rs. 150,000

Medial allowance Rs. 70,000

Pointed to be noted:

Although accommodation, utilities & conveyance is taxable in Pakistan up to some extent but if is received by a Pakistani appointed by the Government of Pakistan in any foreign country is exempt from tax. So, all perquisites received by Mr. Ansar is fully exempt from tax.

Pension:

Pension received by the following persons is exempt from tax:

1) Pension received by any citizen of Pakistan.

2) Pension received by members of armed Forces of Pakistan or employees of the Federal Government or a Provincial Government.

3) Commutation of pension received from Government or under any pension scheme approved by the CBR.

4) Pension received by dependents of “Shaheeds”

Notes:

i) Exemption in respect of pension shall be withdrawn if the retired person is reemployed by the same employer or an associate of the employer.

ii) Where a person receives more than one pension, then only one pension having higher amount will be exempt and remaining others will be taxable.

Leave Encashment:

Any amount received by a Government employee on encashment of ‘leave preparatory to retirement’ (LPR) is exempt from tax.

Explanation:

Exemption on leave encashment is only available to government employees. It is fully taxable for private employees.

Annuity:

Any income received as annuity is exempt up to Rs. 10,000 per annum, if it is received from:

a) Pakistan Postal Annuity Certificate Scheme; or

b) State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan; or

c) A life insurance company registered under the Issuance Companies Ordinance, 2000.

Funds:

Any amount received by any person on account of:

i) Provident fund registered under the Provident Fund Act, 1925.

ii) Accumulated balance of recognized provident fund.

iii) Benevolent Fund.

iv) Approved superannuation fund.

v) Worker’s Profit Participation Fund (WPPF)

Mr. Sheraz appeared in Supreme Court in respect of company litigation matters, Company provided him Rs. 4,000 as travelling allowance (T/A) & Rs. 2,000 as daily allowance (D/A). Actual expenses incurred by Mr. Sheraz in such tour were Rs. 5,000.

Point to be noted:

Special allowance is fully exempt from tax irrespective of actual expenses against special allowance. So, all amount received by Mr. Sheraz is fully exempt from tax.

Perquisites without Marginal Cost Incurred by Employer:

The following perquisites received by an employee by virtue of his employment are fully exempt from tax.

1) Free or concessional passage to own employees:

Free or concessional passage provided by transporters (including airlines) to their employees or family members or dependents of the employees.

2) Free or subsidized food to own employees:

Free or subsidized food provided by hotels and restaurants to its employees during duty hours.

3) Free or subsidized education to own employees:

Free or subsidized education provided by an educational institution to the children of its employees.

4) Free or subsidized medical treatment to own employees:

Free or subsidized medical treatment provided by a hospital or a clinic to its employees.

5) Any other perquisite or benefit to own employees:

Any other perquisite or benefit for which the employer does not have to bear any marginal cost, as notified by the CBR.

Explanation:

1) Mr. Atta Ullah is working as flight engineer in Aero Asia Airlines. His son visited London & company provided him free return ticker in Aero Asia Airbus. It is fully exempt from tax although it is perquisite by the employer to Mr. Atta Ullah.

2) Mr. Khalid is working as a manager in Marriot Hotel Islamabad. His family visited hotel during the duty hours of Mr. Khalid at Marriot Hotel. Free lunch was provided to his family. It is fully exempt from tax although it is perquisite by the employer.

3) Mr. Mubashar Malik is working as a Registrar in Minhaj University Lahore. University has provided a free admission & education facility during current year to his daughter. This is fully exempt from tax.

4) Mr. Ahsan is working as a Neuro Surgeon in Sheikh Zaid Hospital, Lahore. Unfortunately, he met with serous accident. He was provided a free medical treatment in Sheikh Zaid Hospital. It is fully exempt from tax. It has no concern with the amount of the medical expenses.

Flying Allowance:

Any amount received as flying allowance by pilots, flight engineers and navigators of the Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Army and Pakistan Navy, Civil Aviation Authority or any Pakistani Airline is exempt from tax. Further any sum received as flying allowance by junior commissioned officers or other ranks or Pakistan Armed Forces is also exempt from tax.

Income of National Investment (Unit) Trust:

Any income derived by National Investment (Unit) Trust of Pakistan established by the National Investment Trust Limited from voluntary contributions, house property and investments in securities of the Federal Government shall be exempt from tax provided that.

a) At least 90% of its units are held by the public at the end of the relevant year.

b) At least 90% of its income of the (relevant) year is distributed among the units-holders.

Income of Mutual Funds:

Incomes of mutual funds, investment companies and collective investment schemes from any instrument of redeemable capital are exempt, if at least 90% of their incomes (whether realized or unrealized) are distributed among Unit or certificate holders.

Incomes of Trust, Welfare Institutions or Non-Profit Organizations:

Any income derived by a trust, welfare institutions or non-profit organizations from donations, voluntary contributions, subscriptions, house property, investment in securities of the Federal Government and so much of the income chargeable under the head “Income from Business” as is expected in Pakistan for the purposes of carrying out welfare activities. Provided that:

1) Purpose of profit:

Trust is established for the benefit and welfare of the employees (whether past or current) of the Federal Government, Provincial Government or Armed Forces.

2) Place of establishment:

Trust has been established in Pakistan and is being administered under a scheme approved by the Government.

3) Approval by the CBR for exemption:

A trust, welfare institution or non-profit organization is approved by the CBR for this purpose.

Income of Modarba:

Income of a Modarba registered under the Modarba Companies and Modarba (Floatation and Control) Ordinance, 1980, is not taxable subject to the following conditions:

a) Income other than trading activity:

Income should not be from trading activity.

b) Distribution of profit:

At least 90% of the profits of the year (as reduced by the amount transferred to a mandatory reserve required under the law) should be distributed among the certificate holders.

Profit on Debt (Under the Second Schedule)

1) Profit on debt against approve loan:

Profit on debt derived by a non-resident person against an approved loan.

2) Profit on debt derived by Hub Power Company:

Profit on debt derived by Hub Power Company Limited on its bank deposits or accounts with financial institutions.

3) Profit on debt derived by foreign government, foreign national person etc:

Profit on debt derived by an agency of foreign government, foreign national (company, firm or AOP), or any other non-resident person approved by the Federal Government on moneys borrowed under a loan agreement or in respect of foreign currency instrument approved by the Federal Government.

4) Profit derived by non-resident person from the Islamic Mode of Financing:

Any profit derived by a non-resident person (whether a citizen of Pakistan or not) in respect of the Islamic mode of financing including Istisna, Morabha, Musharika.

5) Profit on debt derived from foreign currency account:

Any profit on debt derived from foreign currency account held with authorized bank Pakistan or certificates of investment issued by investment banks.

6) Profit on debt from a rupee foreign currency account:

Any profit on debt derived from a rupee foreign currency account held with a scheduled bank in Pakistan by a Pakistani residing abroad, if the deposits are made from remittances from outside Pakistan.

7) Profit on debt derived from private foreign currency account:

Any income derived from private foreign currency account held with an authorized ban in Pakistan or certificate of investment issued by investment banks only on such deposits as were on 16-12-1999.

8) Profit on debt from foreign currency bearer certificates:

Profit on debt received by any person (other than bank and financial institution) on Foreign Currency Bearer Certificates on existing holdings till the certificates are encashed.

9) Profit on Special US Dollar Bonds:

Profit on Special US Dollar Bonds, exemption shall be allowed only on such deposits as were on 16-12-1999.

10) Profit on debt from Pak rupees account created by conversion:

Profit on debt from Pak rupee account or certificates created by conversion of foreign currency accounts held on 28-05-1998.

Income of Textbook Boards:

Any income derived by the textbook boards of all the provinces is fully exempt from tax.

Income of Educational Institutions:

Any income of any university or other educational institution established solely for educational purposes and not for purposes of profit is fully exempt from tax.

Income of Computer Training Institute or Scheme:

Any income derived by the taxpayer from the running of any computer training institute or computer training scheme is exempt for five years if the following conditions are satisfied:

1) Recognized institute or scheme:

The institution or scheme is recognized by the Board of Education or a University or the University Grants Commission; and

2) The Institution or scheme is set up between 01-07-1997 and 30-06-2006.

Income of Vocational or Technical or Poly-Technical Institute:

Profit and gains of a taxpayer from the running of any vocational, technical or poly-technical institutes shall be exempt from tax for a period of five years, if the following conditions are satisfied:

1) The institute is recognized by:

i) A Board of Technical Education.

ii) A University; or

iii) Any other authority appointed in this behalf by the Federal Government or Provincial Government; and

2) The institute is set up between 01-07-2004 and 30-06-2008.

Note: The exemption period of five years shall begin from the tax year in which the institution is recognized.

Income of Sports Board:

Any income derived by any Board or other organization established in Pakistan for the purposes of controlling, regulating or encouraging major games and sports recognized by the Government is fully exempt from tax.

For example: Income of Pakistan Cricket Board is fully exempt from tax.

Subsidy by the Federal Government:

Subsidy received by a person from the Federal Government which is granted for the purpose of implementation of any order of the government is exempt from tax.

Explanation:

The Government of Pakistan has provided subsidy to the WAPDA to facilitate the general consumer in respect of lower rated electricity. Any income of the WAPDA in respect of subsidy from Government is fully exempt from tax.

Dividend Received by the Investment Corporation of Pakistan (ICP):

Any dividend received by the Investment Corporation of Pakistan (ICP) from any other company which has paid or will pay tax in respect of the profits out of which such dividends are paid is fully exempt from tax.

Capital Gains:

The Second Schedule of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 allows exemption to certain capital gains from tax. Following capital gains are exempt from tax.

According to clause 110 of the Second Schedule:

Capital gains from sale of:

1) Modarba certificates

2) Redeemable capital; like

i) Participation Term Certificates (PTCs)

ii) Term Finance Certificates (TFCs)

iii) Musharika Certificates

iv) Any other security not based on interest (excluding shares)

3) Pakistan Telecommunication Vouchers issued by the Government of Pakistan.

4) Shares of Public Company

Period of exemption:

Exempt up to June 30, 2007 (up to tax year 2007)

According to clause 111 of the Second Schedule:

Any capital gain arising from the sale of shares of a public company, if shares have been sold by a foreign institutional investor approved by the Federal Government.

Period of exemption:

Permanently exempt

According to clause 113 of the Second Schedule:

Company registered in Special Industrial Zone (SIZ):

Any capital gain arising from the sale of shares of public company set up in any Special Industrial Zone is exempt from tax.

Period of exemption:

It is exempted up to five years from the date of commencement of commercial production.

According to clause 114 of the Second Schedule:

Industrial Undertaking Set Up in Export Processing Zone (EPZ):

Any capital gain arising from the sale of shares of an Industrial undertaking set up in Export Processing Zone.

Period of exemption:

Permanently exempt

Income from Transport Business:

Any income derived by a person from plying of any vehicle registered in the territories of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, excluding income arising from the operation of such vehicle in Pakistan, to a person who is president in Pakistan and non-resident in those territories.

Profits and Gains from Industrial Undertaking:

Profits and gains of a taxpayer from an industrial undertaking shall be exempt from tax for a period of ten years starting from the later of the month in which it is set up or has commenced the commercial production. This exemption shall be allowed if the following conditions are satisfied:

1) Period of establishment of Industrial Undertaking:

The Industrial Undertaking is set up between 01-07-1995 and 31-12-2002.

2) Situated in Special Industrial Zone:

It has been setup in such area as is notified by the Federal Government as a Special Industrial Zone.

3) New establishment:

It is newly set up industrial taking.

4) Managed by company engaged in industrial undertaking:

It is owned and managed by a company formed exclusively for operating such industrial undertaking and registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 having its registered office in Pakistan.

5) Limitation on nature of business:

It is not engaged in any of the following businesses:

i) Manufacture of arms and ammunition;

ii) Security printing, currency & mint;

iii) High explosives, radioactive substances;

iv) Alcohol (except industrial alcohol);

v) Cotton ginning, spinning (except as part of integrated textile unit);

vi) Sugar manufacturing (white), flour milling;

vii) Steal re-rolling and furnace;

viii) Tobacco industry, ghee or vegetables oil industry;

ix) Plastic bags (including polypropylene & polyethylene);

x) Beverages (excluding fruit juices);

xi) Polyester industry, automobile assembly and cement industry.

Income Earned from Foreign Enterprise:

If a company registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984, and having its registered office in Pakistan, derives any income by way of royalty, commission or fee for consideration of usage of any patent, invention or other intangible property rights, it shall be exempt from tax subject to the following conditions:

a) Received as result of services rendered outside Pakistan:

The royalty, fee etc. should be received from a foreign enterprise for technical services rendered outside Pakistan.

b) Amount received in Pakistan:

The amount is received in Pakistan.

Income from Electric Power Generation Project:

Any profits and gains derived from an electric power generation project set up in Pakistan shall be exempt from tax if:

1) Period of establishment:

The project is set up on or after 01-07-1998.

2) Managed by company engaged in Electric Power Generation Project:

The project is owned and managed by a company formed for operating such project and registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 and having its registered officer in Pakistan.

3) New establishment:

The project has been newly started (it has not been formed by splitting up or reconstitution of a business already in existence).

Notes:

i) It is not necessary for Hub Power Company Limited to be managed by a company whose registered office is in Pakistan.

ii) Any project, which is oil-fired power plant, shall not be exempt from tax with effect from 22-10-2002. However, the Duel Fuel (Oil and Gas) power projects set up on or after September 1, 2001, 1005 shall be exempt from tax.

Income from Export of Computer Software:

Income from export of computer software or IT enabled services up to the period ending on 30^th day of June, 2016.

a) “It Services” include software development, software maintenance, system integration, web designing, web development, web hosting and net work design.

“IT enabled services” include inbound or outbound call centres, medical transcription, remote monitoring, graphics design, accounting services, HR services, telemedicine centres, data entry operators and insurance claims processing.

Income from Transfer of Membership Rights:

Any income derived by an individual from transfer of his membership rights or shares of a Stock Exchange in Pakistan to a company at any time between 01-07-2005 and 30-06-2006 is fully exempt from tax.

Income of Special US Dollar Bonds:

Any amount received on encashment of Special US Dollar Bonds issued under the Special US Dollar Bonds Rules, 1998.

Income Tax Ordinance 2001

2011-10-01T07:23:00.000-07:00

Question: Elaborate the income tax ordinance 2001, and discuss deductibility of bad debts.

Answer:

Income Tax Ordinance, 2001

Another Commission constituted by the government submitted its report in May 2001. The commission suggested that Income Tax Ordinance, 1979, should be replaced by Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, which is claimed to be simple and less complicated. This new Income Tax Ordinance was promulgated on 13^th September 2001 and it has become effective from 1^st July 2002, Before promulgation necessary changes have been made through Finance Ordinance 2002. The assessments of tax year 2003 onwards are finalized under Income Tax Ordinance, so this book is completely based on the new Ordinance. The Central Board of Revenue has claimed that the new Ordinance is a justifiable, pragmatic easy to understand and in accordance with the global environments.

The government claims that by introduction of this Ordinance truly revolutionary changes have been brought in the income tax law and these changes are aimed at simplifying its application and enabling taxpayers to comply with its provisions.

The new law has abolished the role of “assessing officer” who used to determine the income of taxpayer and compute his tax liability. These responsibilities have now been entrusted to taxpayer himself.

It has also been claimed that under the new Ordinance the self assessment procedure will be more meaningful and many conditions which were necessary for such an assessment have been withdrawn. It will be universal in the true sense of the word, as all classes of taxpayers, without any exception will be entitled to the use of the scheme. The new concept is a removal of one of the most pervasive distortion of income tax system. This change is likely to bring modernity and progress in the system.

The government is also hopeful that the new law will obtain uniformity of tax rates and tax treatment, encourage voluntary compliance and ensure an effective dispute resolution.

In spite of all these claims it has been observed that the new Ordinance will need lot of changes and additions to become a workable law in our society. Actually a lot of changes have already been made through Finance Order, 2002, as well as subsequent Finance Acts. With these hopes and observations the “Income Tax Ordinance, 2001” has been enforced and all income tax returns for income earned from 1^st July 2002 onward are being taxed under this law.

Tax Administration Reforms Programme

The Government of Pakistan has started a Tax Administration Reforms Programme with the help of International Monetary Fund. The basic objectives of the programme are to bring cultural, operational and structural changes in the taxation system. The Central Board of Revenue has planned to replace the existing divisional structure of income tax with a functional structure. Three Large Taxpayers Units have been established at Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. In the big cities Medium Taxpayers Units have also been established. Ultimately it is planned that all Medium Taxpayers Units will be converted into Regional Tax Offices. In total fourteen Regional Tax Offices will be established which will be responsible for collection of all domestic taxes, i.e. income tax, sales tax and excise. Under this programme, twenty three Taxpayers Facilitation Centres have been opened whereas twenty-nine more such Centres are planned to be started. The Programme is expected to be completed by 2008. It will be only then that an assessment of the achievements of the programme will be possible.

In order to properly implement the Tax Administration Reforms Programme the Central Board of Revenue is being transformed into Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The Federal Board of Revenue Act, 2007, has empowered the tax officials to formulate policy for performance management awards, incentive packages, golden handshake scheme and integrated management policy for the tax machinery. It will also provide powers to implement a complete human resource policy, power to assess, identify, create, decrease and reduce or designate various posts. The FBR Act empowers the Board to make rules for maintaining discipline in the organization. It also ensures complete autonomy of the Board to run its day to day affairs in an efficient manner. The implementation process of the FBR Act, 2007, is likely to be completed in six months.

Income Tax Authorities except that through this implementation the tax base will be broadened and the tax collection in the country will be enhanced.

Scope of Income Tax Laws

We shall discuss the scope of Income Tax Laws from two different angles:

1. The territorial limits to which the Income Tax Ordinance applies.

2. The components of Income Tax Law in our country.

1. Extent of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001

The Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, applies to the whole of Pakistan. The definition of word “Pakistan” has been provided in the Article 1(2) of the Constitution of Pakistan 1973. The following territories have been included therein:

(a) Provinces of Balochistan, North-West Frontier Province, Punjab and Sindh.

(b) Federal Capital.

(d) States and territories as may be included in Pakistan, whether by accession or otherwise.

Under Article 246 of the Constitution

(a) Tribal Areas means the areas in Pakistan which, immediately before the commencing day, were Tribal Areas, and includes:

1. The Tribal Areas of Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province; and

2. The former States of Amb, Chitral, Dir and Swat.

(b) Provincially Administered Tribal Areas means:

1. The districts of Chitral, Dir and Swat (which includes Kalam), Malakand protected area, the Tribal Area adjoining Hazara district and the former State of Amb; and

2. Zob district, Loralai district (excluding Bhuke Tehsil), Dalbandin Tehsil of Chagai district and Marri and Bugti Tribal territories of Sibi district.

1. Tribal Areas adjoining Peshawar district

2. Tribal Areas adjoining Kohat district

3. Tribal Areas adjoining Bannu district

4. Tribal Areas adjoining Dera Ismail Khan district

5. Bajaur in Malakand Agency

6. Mohamand Agency

7. Khyber Agency

8. Kurram Agency

9. North Waziristan Agency

10. South Waziristan Agency

Subject to the Constitution, the executive authority of the Federation shall extend to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the executive authority of a Province shall extend to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas therein.

No Act of Parliament shall apply to any Federally Administered Tribal Areas or to any part thereof, unless the President so directs and no Act of Parliament or a Provincial Assembly shall apply to Provincially Administered Tribal Areas, or to any part thereof, unless the Governor of the Province in which the Tribal Area is situated, with the approval of the President, so directs, and in giving such a direction with respect to any law, the President or, as the case may be, the Governor may direct that the law shall, in the application to a Tribal Area, or to a specified part thereof, have effect subject to such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in the direction.

The President may, at any time, by order direct that the whole or any part of a Tribal Area shall cease to be a Tribal Area, and such order may contain such incidental and consequential provisions as appear to the President to be necessary and proper. But before making any order, the President shall ascertain, in such manner as he considers appropriate, the views of the people of the Tribal Area concerned as represented in tribal jirga.

2. Components of Income Tax Law

The following are the constituents of Income Tax Law in Pakistan:

(a) Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 (as amended)

(b) Rules framed by the Board

(d) Income Tax Case Law

(e) Finance Acts or Ordinances

(a) Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 (as Amended)

It is the basic constituent of income tax law in our country. On its basis, the whole taxation structure of the country is founded. The whole procedure of taxation including matters regarding payment of tax, collection of tax, penalties, assessment, refund, appeals etc. has been provided in the Ordinance. It consists of thirteen chapters. Each chapter deals with a particular subject and has been divided into parts. Many parts are further subdivided into divisions. There are 240 sections of the new Ordinance as compared to 167 sections of Income Tax Ordinance, 1979 (repealed). The Ordinance also contains seven schedules. Schedules are also treated as part of the Ordinance. The changes in the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, are brought about by the Finance Ordinance or Finance Act every year. Such changes are of a payment nature.

(b) Income Tax Rules

The Federal Board of Revenue, which is the highest income tax executive authority in Pakistan, makes rules from time to time which are meant for the guidance of its officers as well as the tax payers. The Central Board of Revenue has been assigned this power under section 237 of the “Income Tax Ordinance, 2001”. These rules are notified in the official gazette. Such rules have the same force as the sections in Income Tax Ordinance itself and are implemented in the same manner.

Since 1924, CBR has framed a number of rules regarding rates of depreciation, registration of firms, submission of returns, forms of appeals, etc. which are treated as a part of income tax law. The latest rules “Income Tax Rules, 2002” have been issued to meet the requirements of Finance Ordinance, 2001. During 2007, Federal Board of Revenue will replace CBR and perform all its functions.

In the interpretation of tax laws, the possibility of different types of disputes is evident. When such a dispute arises, the aggrieved party presents its case to a court of law, which decides the case and provides correct interpretation of the law. Such decisions of the courts are known as Income Tax case law and reference to such decisions is subsequently made in order to get necessary guidance. Thousands of cases, regarding the interpretation of tax laws and the definitions of terms, used in the Ordinance, have been decided by the courts. These are also a very important component of income tax law in Pakistan.

(d) Finance Acts or Ordinances

In order to meet the budgetary requirements and other social and economic needs of the country an annual law known as Finance Act or Ordinance is promulgated every year. It usually prescribes the maximum income which is not liable to tax. Changes in the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, itself are also brought about through this legislation. Rates of tax applicable for the next financial year are also specified. The principles of taxation and computation of tax are also laid down by the Finance Act or Ordinance. These changes are made in order to bring the law in line with the changing economic environments of the country. The Finance Act or Ordinance contains provisions of general character which are of permanent operation and it forms part of the general law of taxation.

History of Sales Tax Act

2011-10-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

History of Sales Tax Act

Sales tax was imposed in Canada in 1920 and is still in force with some modifications. In United States, Federal Government has never sured officially this tax as sales tax. Actually it was an assortment of commodity tax both at manufacture and retail levels and it was introduced in 1930. Great Britain introduced purchase tax in 1940. Before the partition of subcontinent, India Sales Tax was regarded under the item of 48 of the provincial legislative in the seventh schedule to the Government of India Act, 1930. Pakistan adopted General Tax Act which was earned by the provincial government in the Punjab.

Federal Government in 1948 took over the sales tax and an addition was made to the federal legislative list an item No. 54B. Pakistan General Sales Tax Act, 1948 came into force on the 1^st day of April 1948, which was based on the multiple point tax system.

In 1950, a sales tax enquiry committee was appointed to examine and report on the administration, incidence, general structure and leakage of sales tax revenue. The committee made various recommendations including the adoption of the single point tax system and the collection of tax in respect of imported goods at the import stage along with customs duty.

The present Sales Tax Act was introduced in the federal legislature on the 30^th day of March 1951 to give effect to the recommendations of the committee. After discussions and debates in Parliament the bill was passed by the legislature and was given consent by the time Governor General on the 20^th day of April 1951.

Sales Tax could not be charged on importation and exportation of commodities but on only consumption, this was further improved by the presidential order, Taxation of Sales and Purchase Order, 1960, on the 30^th day of June 1960, according to which the power to impose taxes on the sales, purchases, consumption, importation, exportation, manufacture and production of goods was conferred since 31^st day of March 1948. The preamble of the Act was amended by inserting the words “importation and exportation, production, and manufacture” after the word “sale”. Sales tax when levied was fixed at 10% but increased to 12.5% from 1^st July 1961 and again further increased to 15% from 1^st July 1964. A surcharge of 25% of the sales tax was levied on the sales of taxable manufactured goods by the Finance Supplementary Act, 1965 which was done to meet defence requirements. However, the Defence Surcharge and Rehabilitation Tax were abolished by the Finance Ordinance, 1972. The Federal Government has the powers to enhance the general limit or general rates of sales tax or reduce such rates by a notification published in the official gazette.

Sales Tax Act 1990

By virtue of Finance Ordinance, 1990, the Sales Tax Act, 1951 has been completely substituted by a new Act known as Sales Tax (Amendment) Act, 1990. This complete change has been made in order to update the Act so that it should be able to meet country’s economy. Moreover, government has tried to simplify the rules regarding sales tax for the benefit of assessees and collection authorities. The 16 chapters of repealed act have now been replaced by 10 new chapters. The new Act became effective on 1^st July 1990.

The Act prescribed a Value Added Tax (VAT) type system in which the value added component at each stage of business transaction could be taxed. The sales tax is chargeable from a registered person at import and sale of taxable manufactured goods. Tax credit or input tax is allowed when the registered person keeps proper record of claim regarding tax invoice and bill of entry. The goods meant for export were zero-rated. The tax paid on raw materials and other goods purchased in the course of business are deducted automatically while determining the tax liability. The new system is based on self-assessment/clearance procedure and payment of tax.

Salient Features of VAT Type System

1. Administrative structure changed from geographical jurisdiction to functional division.

2. Introduction of combined return-cum-payment challan form.

3. Filing of return-cum-payment challan in the bank.

4. Simplified record keeping i.e. a register for sales and a register for purchases and issuance of tax invoices.

5. No posting of sales tax officials on the business premises.

6. No authentication of documents by the Sales Tax officials.

7. No checking of taxable goods during transportation.

8. No seizure of goods during transportation or otherwise.

Extract of the Budget Highlights 2002—2003

1. Sales tax exemptions withdrawn on supplies of vegetable ghee and cooking oil.

2. Immunity from further tax granted on vegetable ghee, cooking oil and fertilizers.

3. Tax rate on imported vegetable oils increased from 15% to 20%. Similarly, tax rate on five other items (Talc, Solvent Oil (non-composite), Calcium Carbonate, Maleic Anhydride and Acrylic Tops) increased to 20%.

4. Zero-rating facility (complete exemption of sales tax) granted on the locally manufactured plant and machinery supplied to petroleum and gas sector E&P companies including OGDC, their contractors and sub-contractors.

5. Input tax adjustment allowed on electricity bills showing registration number and address of a registered person.

6. The scope of tax repayment extended to both imported and domestic inputs used in exportables.

7. The institution of Collector (Appeals) revived to hear appeals against orders passed by officers up to Deputy Collector.

8. An alternate dispute resolution system developed involving participation from private sector for settlement of disputes of taxpayers.

9. Classification of sales tax exemptions made in line with new version of H. S. Code.

10. A statutory provision created for relaxation of expired time limitations in genuine cases.

11. A system of inter-collectorate transfer of registrations evolved.

12. Legal framework developed for establishment and operation of Large Taxpayers Unit (LTU) with effect from 1^st day of July 2002.

13. Federal Government authorized to allow input tax adjustment in case of determination of past tax liabilities.

14. Collectors empowered to allow adjustment instead of cash refund of un-utilized input tax in subsequent tax period.

15. Ambiguities in the definitions of “input tax”, “registered person” and “enrolled person” removed.

16. 72 new branches of National Bank of Pakistan designated for payment of sales tax.

17. Ambiguities in the recovery related statutory provisions removed and recovery procedure streamlined.

Extract of the Budget Highlights 2003—2004

1. Under SRO 500(i) 2003, dated 7^th June 2003, reduction/waiver off the past liabilities of sales tax to already registered persons has been granted and non-registered persons have been provided incentives to come in the tax met by 31^st August 2003. No audit shall be conducted of the persons availing benefit of this notification.

2. In order to encourage retailers to come in the tax net, limit for turnover tax for them has been enhanced from Rs. 5 million to 20 million. Necessary amendments in the Act as well as in the rules have been made accordingly.

3. New entry No. 60 has been added in the Sixth Schedule to grant exemption on supply of fixed assets against which the input tax adjustment is not available under a notification issued in terms of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 8 of the Sales Tax Act, 1990.

4. There was no concept of filing of revised return in the Sales Tax Act, 1990. Amendment in sections 26, 26A and 26AA of the Sales Tax Act, 1990, has been made which allows the registered/enrolled persons and retailers to file revised return on payment of evaded amount of tax, additional tax and penalty. However, full or partial exemption from payment of penalty in certain cases has also been granted. Show cause notice shall also stand abated on payment of tax and penalty.

5. The present provisions of law do not allow sales tax registered persons to deduct the amount of sales tax paid on purchases during any preceding tax period which could not be taken into account for the purposes of deduction of total amount of input tax during that period for any reason. Consequently, a large number of refund claims were arising whose disposal was inordinately delayed. Therefore, section 7 has been amended to allow adjustment of input tax of preceding three months.

6. Section 33 has been amended to reduce the penalty for late filing of return for the first fifteen days of the due date.

Lamb as an English Essayist

2011-09-05T08:11:00.000-07:00

Question:

Discuss Lamb as an English essayist.

Question:

Justify the claim of Charles Lamb as the Prince among theEnglish essayists.

Question:

“In the essay Lamb has no superior.” Discuss theappropriateness of this remark.

Question:

Illustrate from the essays you have read, the peculiarqualities of Lamb’s genius which have endeared him to his reader.

Question:

What are the causes of Lamb’s enduring popularity as anessayist?

Answer:

Charles Lamb has been acclaimed by common consent as the Princeamong English essayist. He occupies a unique position in the history of Englishessay. William Hazlitt, himself a great essayist, praised Lamb in high terms:“The prose essays, under the signature of Elia form the most delightful sectionamongst Lamb’s works. They traverse a peculiar field of observation,sequestered from general interest, and they are composed in a spirit toodelicate and unobtrusive to catch the ear of the noisy crowd, clamouring forstrong sensations. This retiring delicacy itself, the pensiveness chequered bygleams of the fanciful, and the humour that is touched with cross-lights ofpathos, together with the picturesque quaintness of the objects casuallydescribed, whether men, or things, or usages; and in the rear of all this theconstant recurrence to ancient recollections and to decaying forms of householdlife, as things retiring before the tumult of new and revolutionary generations– these traits in combination communicate to the papers a grace and strength oforiginality which nothing in any literature approaches, whether for degree orkind of excellence, except the most felicitous papers of Addison, such as thoseon Sir Roger de Coverley and some other sin the same vein of compostion.” HughWalker also applauds the genius of Lamb, “There are essayists like Bacon, ofmore massive greatness, and other like Sir Thomas Browne, who can attainloftier heights of eloquence, but there is no other who has in an equal degree thepower to charm. If an attempt be made to discover the secret of this power, itwill be found that first and chief among the factors contributory to it is theincomparable sweetness of disposition which Lamb not only possessed but had aunique gift of communicating to his writings.” These verdicts of such criticsare a sufficient testimony to the greatness of the genius of Charles Lamb. Infact, Lamb’s essays are popular for various reasons, such as genial humour,touching pathos, humanitarian outlook, practical commonsense, nobility andgentility of nature and above all the revelation of their creator’s self. Thesefactors, individually as well as collectively, have won for Lamb a unique placein the history of English essay. Let us have a look into them one by one.

The Immense Variety of Essays

Lamb’s essays are as various asthe very human nature. Lamb’s ‘thinking heart’ finds a tale in everything thathe saw or experienced. In fact, since Bacon, essay had been used as a vehicleto give expression to the writer’s thoughts and ideas on matters of generalinterest. But Lamb did not find pleasure in expressing his thoughtsystematically. His themes are suggested by sudden flashes of imagination. As amatter of fact, his essays are his own revelations. It is his likes anddislikes—prejudices and opinions that find place in the essays. In the words ofEdmund Blunden, Lamb’s essays “range from the vision of beautiful children thatnever were to be to the drollery consequent upon old George Dyer’s tumblinginto the New River’s tenuous trickle, from nonsensicalrebellion against Beethoven, Bath,Mozart to the contemplation of true and false imaginative paintings. Perhapsthe editors of the London Magazine had not placed any conditions upon Lambregarding the choice of subject matter for his essays. He was free to chooseany subject at his will from his experiences of life, and to reproduce them inany form, and with any discursiveness into which he might be allured on theway.” Blunden further remarks, “In treatment almost every essay moves through aseries of moods, wild and sweet, grave and subdued, clear and practical,sumptuous and sonorous—Elia is all there. They are promiscuous, meagre andfragmentary, the essays are differenced many blossomed and handsome.”

Autobiographical Nature of theEssays

From the Essays of Elia the wholelife of Lamb may be reconstructed. His essays are deeply personal andautobiographical. As Thomson remarks, “Lamb wrote in his essays a record ofepisodes which can be connected with the addition of a few links and theelimination of a considerable amount of delightful fiction into a substantialaccount of a large part of his life.” Ainger also expresses the same view, “Alarge portion of Lamb’s history is related in these essays, and with the additionof a few names and dates, a complete biography may be constructed from them alone.”In several well-known essays, Lamb describes the various facets of his life.For example, in Christ’s Hospital he tells about his days of childhood at the Temple,in Blakesmoor in Hertfordshire, he describes his boyish days of fun and merrymaking, his holiday trips to the sea-side with his sister Mary, his recoveryfrom serious illness, the drudgery of the office work and other various detailsof his life. In My Relations, he gives full and living pictures of hisrelations—his brother John (James Elia) and his sister Mary (Bridget Elia). Hisfather is the Lovel of the Old Benchers, his grandmother in Dream Children. Inthe words of H. G. Hill, “Apart from these biographical details revealed in hisessays, the man himself is more than reflected in his work.” Lamb’s sweet andcharming personality reflected in his essays is the secret of the popularity ofEssays of Elia.

Humour and Pathos

Humour in the essays of Lamb isthe humour of life. It is most akin to pathos. We can say that it is savinggrace for him, for after all it enables him to detach himself from the painfulrealities, or rather to view them as things apart from himself. Lamb needs toput a good face upon life with the dark tragedy ever haunting him in life.According to Ainger, “With Lamb, as with all true humorists, humour was but oneside of an acute and almost painful sympathy.” His humour is a mingling oflaughter and tears, and they are again angelic laughter and angelic tears. Lambwas a man who could never have cherished any bitter feeling in his heart. Hehad a comedy view of life—and he could see life and see it steadily and as awhole. It is there that we must look for the unique distinction of his humour.If he were interested and even immersed in the pageantry of life, he could in amoment loosen all his bond and be a liberated spirit, surveying the ills oflife with the pity of an angel.” His overflowing charity was materially helpedby his gift of constructing comedy out of the meanest stuff of human nature. Inthe beggar who cheated him he saw a comedian playing a part, and joyously paidhis money for his performance; he was peculiarly ready to believe in the artwhich plays with the elements of life—which creates a fantastic world of itsown—like humanity but detached from the condition of human beings. “Thus, thepageantry of life often dissolves away before his gaze, and he seems to be“moving about in worlds not realized.’ The precious gift of humour thus enableshim to dissociate himself from the realities, and construct a new world ofhumanity in which we catch a faint reflection of reality.

Mystification in the Essays

Lamb had a turn formystification. He delighted in weaving threads of fiction in the web of truth.In many of his essays, he has changed the names of persons and places. DreamChildren is a beautiful specimen of mystification. The whole essay is theproduct of fancy. Likewise, essays, such as, Christ’s Hospital, Blakesmoor in H-Shire,the South-sea House, The Superannuated Man, are full of enchanting examples ofmystification. In fact, Lamb has such a unique gift of mingling fact andfiction that his figures taken from life become insensible transformed into theimmortal creations of a fairy land. This mystification, this blending of factand fiction is unique in English literature.

Poetic Quality

Lamb’s essays are lyrics inprose. They are rich in poetic cadence and beauty. According to Sampson,“Lamb’s finest essays are nearest of all to poetry.” Likewise Legouis, alsoappreciates poetic element in these essays: “Though he did not write of them inverse, his exquisitely wrought prose with its rich literary tone, preserves thepoetic history of words and enriches them with echoes scarcely less than doesKeat’s poetry.” In fact, it is in prose that Lamb the poet is to be found. Thewhole of Dream Children and much of a Quaker’s Meeting are steeped in richpoetry. There is spontaneous ease and grace of poetry in the Essays of Elia.

Style

The style of the essays of Lambis equally charming. As Saintsbury observes, “The style of Lamb is asindefinable as it is inimitable and his manner and method defy selection andspecification as much as the fluttering of a butterfly.” It is easy to noticeconversational ease, epigrammatic depth, emotional fervour, sparkling wit,moving pathos, deep in sight into man and manners, shy satire, wild fun andmany other stylistic qualities. It is quite difficult to analyse Lamb’s style.It is as various as the mood of the essayist. But everywhere the mannerharmonises with the matter. He writes the pure chaste prose of 18^thcentury masters as in Bachelor’s Complaint and Modern Gallantry: affects themanner of Browne, Burton and Fullerwith their love of Latinism, archaism, witty obliquity, shy play of fancy,grotesque humour or pensive melancholy; or produces sentences as epigrammaticand nervous, as weighty and pregnant as those of Bacon and Hazlitt. About thedistinct character of Lamb’s style, Hugh Walker rightly remarks, “Neither thebrilliancy of Hazlitt, nor the harmony of De Quincey, nor the vigour ofMacaulay, nor the eloquence of Ruskin, nor the purity of Goldsmith could for amoment be thought capable of expressing the meaning of Lamb.”

Thus Lamb’s sovereignty in the realm of English essayis unquestioned. His essays are the greatest contribution to this genre ofliterature. Their unique charm lies in the bewitching personality of theircreator. As Deighton remarks, “no amount of study will stale their infinitevariety and that if they have been read a hundred times, they will be all thebetter loved the hundred and first time.” Lamb is rightly entitled to a placeas an essayist beside Montaigne, Sir Thomas Browne, Steele and Addison. Hisessays “are among the daintiest things in the whole range of Englishliterature. They were archaic when they were written, and yet their old worldair was as neutral and native to Lamb as if he had been a resurrectedElizabethan. For combined humour, taste, penetration and vivacity, they areunsurpassed, perhaps unequalled. Lamb’s theme is London, which he knew and loved so well; he is her greatprose-poet. In whatever he wrote, he is always the same Lamb, humour and pathosand love commingled, so that we cannot wonder that Wordsworth wrote about him:Oh he was good if e’er a good man lived!”

Gulliver’s Travels

2011-09-05T07:54:00.000-07:00

Question:

“Gulliver’s Travels is aimed notat human beings in particular but at human nature." How far do you agree withthis view?

Answer:

About the nature of man, David Ward explains in very clear termswhen he remarks:

“Gulliver, the son of Adam, as Ihave called him, is posed with a problem, and by the same token poses a problemfor the reader which can be stated in the traditional language of theology.Whether we use the language of theology or not, the problem remains the same:Gulliver gives another hint to it in the passage quoted, when he speaks of the “frequentdiscourses with my master concerning the nature of manhood.” The specialfaculty which distinguishes man from other animals, according to Locke andalmost every thinker of the time is reason. “That is the key factor in thenature of manhood. But we can hardly agrue that to a Houyhnhnms. Confrontedwith the similarities between the real world as we know it and the microcosmicsociety to the Yahoos, we might come to the conclusion that key to “the Natureof Manhood” is man’s helpless tendency to foulness and evil – and this is theconclusion both Gulliver and the Houyhnhnms come to. Man after all, is the mostdestructive animal which has ever populated the earth; air, the plants, theother animals; the way he fouls and destroys his surroundings with methodicalefficiency, exceeds anything that, the rat can do. We surely cannot resist thisconclusion any more than we could resist the Brobdingnag’s summary descriptionof the little-worlders as Odious Vermin.”

Here a clear distinction has beenmade by David Ward between the human beings and the animals. Reason is thebasic faculty which distinguishes the man from the animal. If a human beingdoes not possess reason in his nature, that particular human being is no morethan an animal. The “reason” is cultivated in the human nature. If the humannature is devoid of reason, then the human being as well as an animal is atpar, rather worse than an animal.

In Gulliver’s Travels, there arethree types of beings, who are portrayed in the fourth part of the book. Thereare the human beings themselves, represented by Gullivers countrymen. Gullivergives a detailed account of these countrymen to his enquire master. Then thereare Yahoos, who represent mankind in general who possess all types of evils,which have been immensely exaggerated and their good qualities completelyeliminated. The third types are that of Houyhnhnms or the horses, whichaccording to Gulliver represent perfection. This perfection is on account ofthe fact that they possess the great quality of reason. Though the entiremankind is immensely degraded when a contrast is made between the Houyhnhnmswith Yahoos who represent that part of mankind who by nature are corrupt andspend their money in drinking, whoring, and gambling and many commit such crimescoining false money, rape and sodomy. This picture of the human beings ispositively correct. But everyone will agree that we cannot blame the entiremankind. All human beings are not guilty of such crimes and that there are manygood men also in all human societies.

A letter that Swift wrote toAlexander Pope in connextion with Gulliver’s Travel offers considerable help tounderstand Swift’s attitude towards mankind. The relevant part of the letterreads as follows:

“But principally I hate anddetest the animal called man although I heartily love. John, Peter, Thomas, andso forth… I have got materials towards a treatise, proving the falsity of thatdefinition Animal Rationale and to show, it should be only Rational Capex. Uponthis great misanthropy, the whole building of my travel is created.”

In another letter Swift writes:

“Drown the world, I am notcontent with despising it but I would anger it, if I could with safety. I tellyou after all that I do not hate mankind; it is Vous Autres who late them,because you would have them reasonable animals, and are angry for beingdisappointed.”

The gist of all these statements is that his main aimis achieved when he says that “I want to vex the world rather than divert it:especially when he declares that he has “ever hated all nations, professionsand communities and all his love is towards individuals. It means that herealizes that we cannot blame the entire humanity but he hates and detests thatanimal called man. Swift does not believe that a man is a rational animalcalled man. Swift does not believe that man is a rational animal through hedoes believe that man is capable of becoming rational, if he makes thenecessary effort. That is why Swift adds that upon this great foundation ofmisanthropy, the whole building of Gulliver’s Travels has been erected. Hewanted to shake people out of their complacency and to make them aware of theirown faults and shortcomings. One thing which is quite evident that whenGulliver refuses to go back to

England

, we should not identify him with Swift, whocompletely parts company with Gulliver. It is Gulliver basically who becomesthe hater of mankind and even of the members of his own family. Swift does notshare his extreme misanthropy. In fact, we may even say that Swift is heremocking at the development that has changed Gulliver completely. We should alsonot forget that Swift had a number of friends with whom he had genuineattachment and he had lot of love and affection for them. Among the women,Stella was the lady with whom he had profound and deep affection. Under thisimpression, he had written to Pope that though “he hated communities andprofessions, he loved particular individuals.” So Gulliver’s Travels is aimednot at these particular individuals who are rational in their behaviour, but athuman nature of those who are professional whom he hated.

Islam in Saudi Arabia and the History of Islam in Arabia

2011-08-27T05:03:00.000-07:00

Question: Discuss the religion Islam in Saudi Arabia, describe the history of Islam in Arabia.

Answer:

Religion Islam in Arabia:

Islam is the country’s official religion. An estimated 89 percent of Saudis are Sunni Muslums, and about 5 percent are Shia Muslims (see Shia Islam). The government employs the Sharia (Islamic law) as a guiding principle of rule. Consequently, Islamic tenets not only govern spirituality and religious practice, but also guide practices of law, business, taxation, and government.

The form of Islam supported by the government is socially and theologically conservative. While Saudis and foreigners may behave as they wish behind closed doors, they must observe many strict religious requirements while in public. These include conservative dress for men and women, segregation of the sexes, mandatory daily prayers for Muslim men, and the closing of offices and business during the five daily prayer times. A government agency called the Committee to prevent Vice and Promote Virtue sends out official enforcers called mutawwa’ in to ensure observance of these rules. Punishments for transgressions can be summary and harsh, including public flogging.

Saudi Arabia’s conservative form of Islam is strongly influenced by a puritanical Islamic movement formed in the 18^th century. This movement is often referred to by Westerners and other non-Saudis as Wahhabism, after its founder, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (see Wahhabis). However, the movement’s adherents have never referred to themselves as Wahhabis, and within Saudi Arabia, Wahhabi is often used by non-Saudis or reform-minded Saudis in reproach to refer to conservative Muslims. In modern-day Saudi Arabia, strong adherents of the movement may call themselves muwahhidun (Unitarians, from al-muwahhid, Arabic for “those who proclaim the unity of God”) or ahl al-tawhid ) people of unity.) Less strident followers – a significant portion of the population, including some members of the royal family – may simply say they are part of the harakat al-salafiyya, roughly translated as “the movement following the ways of the Prophet.”

The country’s Shia Muslims are concentrated around the oases of Al Hasa and Al Qatỉf in eastern

Saudi Arabia

. Strict muwahhidun do not recognize the Shias as true Muslims. Therefore, historically, Saudi authorities have subjected them to discrimination and oppression, arousing resentment and opposition to the regime among the Shias. Other religions are represented among the expatriate population. However, the government does not allow public practice of non-Islamic religions and prohibits missionary activity.

Geographical Conditions of Arabia the Advent of Islam

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Question: What were the Geographical Conditions of Arabia at the advent of Islam?

Answer:

Introduction: Saudi Arabia monarchy in south western Asia, occupying most of the Arabian Peninsula. Saudi Arabia is a land of vast deserts and little rainfall. Huge deposits of oil and natural gas lie beneath the country’s surface. Saudi Arabia was a relatively poor nation before the discover and exploitation of oil, but since the 1950s income from oil has made the country wealthy. The religion of Islam developed in the 7^th by Abdul Aziz ibn Saud, and it has been ruled by his descendants ever since.

Saudi Arabia is bounded on the north by Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait; on the east by the Persian Gulf and Qatar; on the south east by the United Arab Emirates and Oman; on the border with the United Arab Emirates is not precisely defined. Saudi Arabia has an area of about 2,240,000 sq km (about 864,900 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Riyadh.

Geography: The Arabian Peninsula is essentially a huge, tilted block of rock, highest in the west and sloping gradually down to the east. Most of this slab of rock is covered with the sand of several large deserts. Saudi Arabia’s landscape also contains mountain ranges, flat coastal plains, and the rocky remains of hardened lava flows. The country’s climate is hot and dry, and there are no permanent rivers or lakes. Saudi Arabia can be divided into four natural regions. These are the mountainous western highlands; the rocky central plateau; the more fertile, eastern low-lying coastal plain; and the sandy desert areas of the north, east, and south. A string of mountain ranges stretches along the western edge of Saudi Arabia. The northern segment of these highlands, known as Al Hijaz (Hejaz), has a general elevation of 600 to 9000 m (2,000 to 3,000 ft), with some mountains exceeding 2,000 m (6,500 ft). Rainfall here is infrequent, but streams flowing down the west side of the highlands allow limited agriculture in valleys and on the narrow coastal plain. On the fields of dark-coloured, broken basaltic stone known as harras. South of Al Hijaz the highlands continue into the region known as ‘Asir. Here, the highlands are rugged and reach considerably higher elevations than in Al Hijaz: Much of ‘Asir lies between 1,500 and 2,000 m (5,000 and 7,000 ft). The highest point in Saudi Arabia, Jabal Sawda’ (3,207 m 10,522 ft), is located in this region, near the border with Yemen. ‘Asir receives more rainfall than Al Hijaz, allowing more widespread farming.

Considerably more than half the area of Saudi Arabia is desert. Some desert areas are covered with shifting sand dunes, while others are more stable flat or rippled expanses of sand. Shaped and moved by winds, sand dunes take the form of long ridges or tall hills. Sand, gravel, or bare rock basins lie between the dunes. Few plants grow in these arid deserts, except in scattered oases supported by springs or wells. Three large deserts lie on three sides of the country’s central plateau: An Nafud to the north, the Rub’ al Khali to the south, and the narrow Ad Dahna’ connecting these two on the east. The Rub’ al Khali, one of the largest deserts in the world, has an area of about 650,000 sq km (about 250,000 sq mi), nearly as large as the U.S. state of Texas.

An Nafud is characterized by parallel sand ridges, most 6 to 15 m (20 to 50 ft) high, but some sand hills rise as high as 30 m (100 ft). In some areas, wind has stripped the bedrock surface clean of loose material.

Vicious Circle of Poverty

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Question: What is vicious circle of poverty? How can it be tackled?

Question: Explain the vicious circle of poverty. How does it check the growth of capital in a poor country?

Question: “A country is poor because a country is poor” (Nurkse). Discuss.

Answer:

The poverty in this world of ours is a great curse is admitted on all hands. Poverty is not only distressing but it is also demoralising. A poor man is disgrace to society, but a cause of humiliation to the person himself. But the worst thing about poverty is that a poor man is ought in vicious circle. Being poor, he lacks the means to prosper and since he lacks means to prosper, he must remain poor. The vicious circle is complete. Poverty leads to inefficiency and incapacity to do well, and efficiency and incapacity must end in poverty. That is why we generally find that poverty is perpetuated from generation to generation. It is cumulative that is the curse of poverty and vicious circle.

What is true of the individual is true of community as a whole for an under developed economy to develop economically is needed an uphill task. The rate of savings and investment in an under developed economy is too low to make for rapid development and since the rate of savings and development is too small, it must remain under developed. Here is the vicious circle of poverty embracing the entire economy. As Nurkse says “It implies a circular constellation of forces tending to act and react upon one another in such a way as keep a poor country in a state of poverty. A country is poor because a country is poor”.

The crux of the problem is capital formation. The rate of capital formation is affected by both demand for and supply of capital. Let us take the demand side first. In a poor country, the level of productivity and so of incomes is very low which means a low purchasing power. Since the purchasing power of the people is low, the scope for business and industry is correspondingly limited. The inducement to invest is practically absent. The rate of investment being low productivity is low and the incomes are small, completing the vicious circle. On the side of supply, in a poor country having a low level of income, the rate of savings must be small. The resulting lack of capital leads to low productivity and low incomes, thus completing the vicious circle.

The two vicious circles relating to the demand side and supply side can be represented diagrammatically as under

The vicious circle must be broken at both ends. The supply of savings both from domestic and foreign sources must be increased and the state must provide incentives for investment by means of a suitable monetary and fiscal policy. The low level of real income reflecting low productivity is the crucial point both in the demand circle and the supply circle.

On these two the supply end is more difficult to break, than the demand end. It is obviously easy to create or increase demand for capital but it is not so easy to make up the deficiency of capital. The country may also suffer from lack of natural resources like water and mineral resources or the poverty of the soil. But in the matter of economic development the things of vital importance are the small capacity to save and small inducement invest. Other deficiencies can be made up and the handicap of the natural factor removed of the problem of capital formation is successfully tackled.

However one should not make too much of this concept of vicious circle. Indeed as Gunar Myrdd has pointed out, it is also possible to conceive of a vicious circle being created in the same context.

Basic Characteristics of Under Developed Countries

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Question: What are the basic characteristics of under developed economies?

Question: What are the main characteristics of less developed countries?

Question: What are the main characteristics of under-developed countries?

Answer:

The general nature of an under-developed economy may be gathered from common economic characteristics of such an economy. It may be too much to talk of the common economic characteristics of under-developed countries in view of the wide diversity of among under-developed countries as revealed by numerous case studies that have been made. While it would be very difficult to locate a representative under-developed country, it is much easier to bring out some fundamental characteristics common to under-developed countries. These main characteristics of under-developed countries are given below.

1. Low per Capita Income:

The per capita income in under-developed countries is extremely low. The average annual income in under-developed countries like India Pakistan and Srilanka is nearly $130 per head as compared with $6640 in the USA. Low per capita income is an out standing feature of an under developed economy and is a significant measure of a country’s development.

2. Deficiency of Capital Equipment:

The insufficient amount of physical capital in existence is also a characteristic feature of all under-developed economies. Hence they are often called simply “capital poor” economies. One indication of the capital deficiency is the low amount of capital per head of population. Not only is the capital stock extremely small but the current of capital formation is also very low. In most under-developed countries investment is only 5 percent to 8 percent of the national income, where as in the USA, Canada and Western Europe it is generally from 15 percent to 18 percent.

The low level of capital formation in the under-developed country is due both to the weakness of ducement to invest and to the low propensity and capacity to save. In under developed economy at the root of capital deficiency is the shortage of savings. The per capita income being quite low most of it is spent in satisfying the bare necessaries of life, leaving a very low margin of income for capital accumulation. Even with an increase in the level of individual incomes, there does not usually follow a higher rate of saving because of the tendency to emulate the higher levels of consumption prevailing in the advanced countries.

3. Excessive Dependence on Agriculture:

Most under developed countries are predominantly agricultural. A great majority of their population are engaged in agriculture and allied occupations. This excessive dependence on agriculture is due to the fact that non-agricultural occupation have not grown at a rate of commensurate with the increase in population for lack of sufficient investment outside agriculture. The labour-land ratio being high agricultural holidays have become sub-divided into small plots, which do not permit the use of modern mechanical methods of production.

4. Rapid Rate of Population Growth:

Although there is diversity among under-developed economies in respect of their population, there appears to be a common feature namely a rapid rate of population increase. This rate has been rising still more in recent years. Thanks to the advances in medical science which have greatly reduced the mortality due to epidemics and diseases. While the death rate has thus fallen phenomenally, birth rate does not yet show any significant decline so that the natural survival rate has become much larger. IN countries like India, Pakistan, Burma a veritable population explosion is faced.

5. Unemployment and Under-employment:

An important consequence of rapid rate of population growth without a corresponding increase in the level of economic development is that there is large scale unemployment in urban areas and disguised unemployment in rural areas. More and more people are thrown on land, since alternative occupations do not develop simultaneously to absorb surplus population. It means that there are more persons engaged in agriculture than are actually needed, so that the addition of such persons does not add to land’s productivity. Even if some of the persons are withdrawn from land no fall in production will follow from such withdrawal.

6. Under-utilization of Natural Resources:

The natural resources are an under-developed economy is either unutilized or under-utilized. Generally speaking under-developed countries are not deficient in land, water, mineral, forest or power resources, though they may be untapped. In other words they constitute only potential resources. The main problem in their case is that such resources have not been fully and properly utilized due to various difficulties such as the deficiency of capital equipment, the inaccessibility of natural resources, primitive techniques and the small extent of the market.

7. Foreign Trade-Orientation:

An under-developed economy is generally foreign trade-oriented. They export raw materials instead of utilising them at home and import manufactures instead of making them at home. Since in some cases like Srilanka Burma and Thailand, they export a significant proportion of their national output, they may be termed “export economies”. Excessive dependence on export makes these economies precarious and unstable and affects adversely their terms of trade. The marginal propensity to impart too is high in such countries.

8. Low Levels of Technology and Skills:

The under-developed countries employ primitive methods of production and inferior and less productive techniques. There is also a terrible death of skilled personnel. Poor techniques and lower skills result in inefficient and insufficient production, which cause general poverty.

9. Economic Backwardness:

The people of under-developed countries are economically backward. The economic backwardness manifests itself in lower efficiency, illiteracy, poverty, factor-immobility, lack of enter preneurship and ignorance in economic matters. Their value structure and social structure reduces incentives for economic change.

Satiric Methods Used by Swift in Gulliver’s Travels

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Question: Analyse and criticize the satiric methods used by Swift in Gulliver’s Travels.

Answer:

Swift, in Gulliver’s Travels, adopt different methods and devices of satire, which includes both comic satire as well as corrosive satire. The most distinguished and outstanding satirists were the Romans, Horace and Juvenal. They represent two different modes of satire. Horace used to write comic satires, while Juvenal distinguished himself by writing sever and lashing satire. The comic satire always creates laughter, while in the other one, laughter is at the minimum, or it may be completely absent. Swift employs the corrosive type of satire, and makes use of the comic ones in order to refresh his readers.

We find several examples of comic satire in Gulliver’s Travels. In the first part of the book, the passage dealing with High-Heel and the Low-Heels, while describing the political conflict between the two political parties of

England

and the Big-endians and the Small-endians problem between the two religious fations are the best examples of a comic satire. In the same part, we read about Gulliver, who has deserved the highest gratitude from the Lilliputians, commits capital offence, when he urinates in the precincts of the royal palace in order to extinguish a fire, which breaks out in the place. Similarly “for refusing to seize all the ships of Blefuscu and put to death all the Big-endian exiles” is another example of corrosive satire in the first part of the book. Though the entire event creates laughter, but the court’s debate on how to dispose of Gulliver, basically belongs to the category of corrosive satire. This episode is the longest passage which deals with the climax of the first voyage, the attack is very bitter. In this passage, Swift exposes the hypocrisy, ingratitude and cruelty of the Lilliputian court, who gave a cruel verdict to blind Gulliver and to let him starve to death. That is why, the satire is extraordinarily bitter and corrosive. We also enjoy the scandal between Gulliver and the Lilliputian lady who is hardly six inches high and in his long defence Gulliver never mentions the difference in his own size with that of the Lilliputian lady.

In the second part of the book which deals with the Brobdingnag, we find quite interesting and mirthful descriptions, which increase the comic episodes and the corrosive satire carries far more weight than in part-I of the book. Because in this part, the comic effect is achieved, where people were like giants about sixty feet height, which is Lilliput in reverse. Everything was humiliating for Gulliver in this land. He was put in charge of a nine year old girl who grew very found of him. The girl was very good-natured. Her height was forty feet and she was considered to be undersized for her age. Gulliver, who is no bigger than a mouse in this land becomes famous throughout the country. In this way Gulliver is made a comic butt in several other episodes. The corrosive effect is achieved when the king of Brobdingnag discusses the mankind with Gulliver. The King describes the bulk of mankind as “the most pernicious race of little odious vermin that Nature has ever suffered to crawl upon the surface of the earth.” This is, without any doubt is a corrosive criticism, which the king of Brobdingnag ahs made against the mankind. It is definitely not comic. Gulliver positively expresses his great surprise and embarrassment, when he listens all this against his beloved country so abdly described. Even listening to these disgraceful remarks, Gulliver still suggests that the king may be given great allowance because he lives a scheduled life from the rest of the world. This comment further worsens the status of mankind. Swift does not stop with this much taunt and lashes another attack when Gulliver divulges the secret of gunpowder to the king who is completely horrified with its fatal results. He forbids Gullivers not to mention it again. Gulliver passes his most astonishing remarks that the king possesses short views and narrow principles.

When we turn over the pages of the book to its third part we find Gulliver in another strange country called Laputa. This is the funniest part of the book, especially when we come across “flappers” or servant who carry a blown bladder in their hands fastened to a short stick. It is done basically to attract the attention of their master who are intensely busy in their inventions and mathematical calculations. They can neither speak nor listen to others unless they are aroused by these flappers. This is all very comic and amusing. On the dinner table, there are different dishes, in which the mutton is cut into an equilateral triangle, pudding in geometrical shapes. What to speak of these descriptions, we are amused when the beauty of a woman is describe in geometrical terms such as circles and parallegrams. We are further surprised when their women indulge in extra-marital activities with the strangers in the presence of their husbands because they are so busy that they do not find time to make love to their wives. It is a social hit and at the same time a more corrosive than comic satire. We are further amused when we read about various projects being experimented at the academy in Lagado where research work is carried out how to extract sunbeams out of cucumber and silk out of cobwebs. Similarly, how to build houses from the roof downwards. This is a satire on the kind of work which the Royal Society in

England

was engaged in extremely stupid as well as useless projects in those days. Another corrosive satire is made by Swift when he tells us how a visitor wanting to meet the king had to creep on the floor and lick it when approaching the King. All this, in short is a satire on the human desire for immorality. It is passively a bitter satire.

The fourth part of the book is replete with corrosive satire deep and merciless. In his part, Swift divides the human nature in two parts. He shows Houyhnhnms (the horses) possessing reason and benevolence and on its contrary the Yahoos (the deformed human beings) as extraordinarily brutes. The satire would have been much less effective it the Houyhnhnms had been shown as a superior human race. The reader would not have felt himself inferior to Houyhnhnms.

Swift is realist in his approach, because there is more of the Yahoos in mankind than there is of benevolence and reason. Thus his attack becomes more forceful, when he knows and describes that there is much to be hated in the animal called man, but he never forgets that here are many loveable individuals among human beings. Gulliver’s physical sense of proportion was upset by his voyage to Lilliput and Brobdingnag, in the lands of midgets and giants, so in the land of Houyhnhnms and Yahoos, his intellectual sense of proportion is miserable overbalanced “The limited, simplified Houyhnhnms point of view is obviously better to him than the Yahoo state; and he clings to it. Swift can keep clear the double physical scale of Gulliver and giant; not so Gulliver. Similarly, Swift himself is convinced that he is a Yahoo.”

“A satire of Swift’s is…..an exhibited situation, or series of such situations… With a recognition of the situation as such comes a perception of the functional character of Swift’s favourite devices, which serve both in the creation of the situation and in the generation of the kinetic energy by which it is sustained. There at least five devices that strike us forcibly; drama by way of created characters; parody or at any rate the imitation of a specific literary genre; allegory the “myth”, and “discoveries, projects and machines.”

Bacon as a Writer of Essays

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Question: “They come home to men’s business and bosoms.” How far is this an apt description of the essays of Bacon? Illustrate your answer.

Question: Account for the great appeal of Bacon’s essays.

Question: Write a general note on Bacon as a writer of essays.

Answer: A glance at the titles of Bacon’s essays shows that, although quite a number of these essays were written for the benefit of kings, rulers courtiers, and statesmen, a fairly large number of them were written on subjects of popular interest. Essays Of Seditions and Troubles, Of Empire, Of the True Greatness of Kingdoms and Estatus, Of Suitors and Of Judicature belong to the former variety. But essays like Of Truth, Of Death, Of Revenge, Of Adversity, Of Parents and Children, Of Marriage and Single Life, Of Travel, and Of Friendship, deal with familiar subjects which make an immediate appeal to the average reader. Essays of this category certainly come home to men’s business and bosoms.

One important reason for the popular appeal of Bacon’s essays is that the ideas which he expresses are by no means deeply philosophical or abstruse. If the ideas were of an abstract or metaphysical nature, the average reader would not respond to them. But these are ideas which might be expressed by any man of ripe wisdom and vast experience of the world.

Secondly, Bacon illustrates and reinforces his ideas and arguments with appropriate similes, metaphors and quotations. These similes, metaphors and quotations naturally add to the popular appeal of the essays. Thirdly, Bacon frequently speaks in his essays as a moralist. Although people do not generally like too much of sermonising and preaching, yet judicious doses of morality are not only willingly accepted by readers but are positively welcome to them. Moral precepts and maxims embodying wisdom give the readers a feeling that they are becoming wise and morally nobler. They may not act upon the ethical principles which Bacon enunciates in his essays, but they derive a certain moral satisfaction by reading them and by appreciating their soundness.

Lastly, Bacon’s essays come home to men’s business and bosoms because of the condensed and pithy state in which he mostly writes. Again and again, the reader comes upon an aphoristic or epigrammatic sentence which startles and arrests him by its neatness and pregnancy. These are many gems of thought clothed in language that is effective because of its compactness and terseness.

Take the essay, Of Truth. It contains several ideas which immediately appeal to the reader because of their obvious truth to human nature. The reader quickly responds to such ideas because he at once recognises their validity. For instance, Bacon here tells us that human beings are generally attracted by lies. Lies told by poets in their poetry please the imagination; lies told by traders bring them financial gain; but why people should tell lies for the sake of lies is not clear. Bacon then goes on to say that truth gives greater pleasure when a lie has been added to it. If a man were to be deprived of his false opinions, false hopes, and false judgments, he would feel miserable.

Having expressed these views, Bacon speaks like a moralist and says that much harm is done by lies which sink into the mind and settle down there. Truth is the supreme good for human beings, he says. He quotes Lucretius who said that the greatest pleasure for a man was the realisation of truth. Continuing this moralising tone, Bacon says that truth is important not only in theological and philosophical fields, but also in the sphere of ordinary daily life. Falsehood, he says, brings nothing but disgrace. Now such ideas are bound to appeal even to a reader who, in his actual dealings, does not give a high place to truth.

Then there is the essay, Of Friendship. Who would not be interested in this subject? Bacon tells us some of the uses of friendship, illustrating his ideas with historical references to Sulla, Julius Caesar; Augustus Caesar, Tiberius Caesar, and Septimius Severus. He utters a psychological truth when he says that a man’s joy is greatly increased when he speaks about it to a friend and that his grief is greatly diminished when he imparts it to a friend. This essay also contains useful advice. For instance, Bacon asks us not to take counsel “by pieces” from all and sundry but to take it only from a friend who has been found to be sincere. An essay on the subject of friendship is bound to come home to men’s bosoms especially because the ideas expressed by Bacon confirm the reader’s own ideas on this subject.

The essay, Of Great Place, does not have the same popular appeal as the two essays mentioned above, Of Great Place appeals chiefly to men in high places. It is very useful for persons of this category. Bacon offers very sound advice to those occupying high positions, and warms them against the chief vices of authority. Here, too, Bacon lends weight to his argument with reference to two Roman emperors—Galba and Vespasian. Bacon gives advice that is practical when he says that a man may take side when he is still struggling to rise but that, having risen to a high position, he should become neutral. This essay, too, throws much light on human nature whereby it greatly adds to our knowledge. Here, again, Bacon appears as a moralist.

The essay, Of Studies, is extremely interesting. Here, again Bacon deals with a subject of popular interest. Bacon not only indicates the principal uses of studies but also tells us why and how we should read. Who can fail to appreciate Bacon’s remark that the wisdom gained from books is not enough but that it should be supplemented with practical experience of life?

Of Marriage and Single Life deals with the advantages and disadvantages of both the married and the single life. Here is an essay which cannot fail to interest either the married man or the single man. Bacon makes some interesting observations about the nature and behaviour of women in this essay. A chaste woman, he rightly says, feels proud of her chastity. A wife is faithful and obedient to her husband if she is impressed with his wisdom. No jealous husband can command his wife’s respect. It would be difficult for any reader to find fault with such observations. Indeed, the ideas expressed in this essay can be understood and appreciated even by the most ordinary reader. Bacon’s analysis of human nature here, as in his other essays, corresponds to well-known facts.

The essay, Of Suitors, pertains chiefly to conditions which prevailed in Bacon’s day. In spite of that, this essay has its value in our time also. It is full of worldly wisdom. It contains useful advice for those who undertake suits, for suitors, and for patrons. Bacon does not preach any ideal morality here. He is concerned only with how to achieve success in the undertaking of suits or in the promoting of suits. However, he does not show a complete disregard of morality. That is the kind of thing most readers want.

Much of the popularity of Bacon’s essays, as has already been indicated above, is due to his compact style. Many are the sentences in his essays that have the character of proverbs because such sentences express wisdom neatly in a pithy manner. A few examples of Bacon’s epigrammatic style will illustrate the great charm which his essays possess because of this particular quality of style.

1. “Certainly it is heaven upon earth to have a man’s mind move in charity, rest in providence, and turn upon the roles of truth.” (Of Truth)

Chaucer’s Realism

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Question: “Chaucer sees what is and paints it as he sees it. He effaces himself in order to look at it better.” (Legouis) Discuss.

Question: Write a note on Chaucer’s realism. Give suitable illustrations.

Answer:

Introduction:

Legouis in his History of English Literature (written by him in collaboration with Cazamian) pays a high, but just, tribute to Chaucer’s realism and his self-effacement in his observations and recording of the life of his age. That he has effectively captured for us the body and soul and the life of his age has been universally recognized. Once reason why his work is so authentic and impressive is that he has a tendency to efface himself. Were he more obtrusive and more self-centred, or more didactic and reform-minded, his work would have been proportionally less realistic, less interesting, and less convincing.

Chaucer’s Chosen Field:

The vivid and authentic portrayal of the life and manners of his age was Chaucer’s chosen field for which nature and experience had equipped him so exquisitely. But Chaucer came to this field after a long journey in the dim valleys of allegory and dream poetry based on his contemporary French and Italian models. It was only when he was about fifty that he realized that his real field lay elsewhere.

With The Canterbury Tales Chaucer’s aim and practice as a poet underwent a sea change. He descended from the ethereal regions of romance and allegory and the dream-world of conventional literature, and planted his feet firmly on the ground. Here, to quote an opinion, ‘the fantastic world of romance and allegory melts away; Troy and Thebes, palaces made of glass and temples of brass, allegorical gardens and marvellous fountains evaporate, and in their place we see the whole stream of English society in the fourteenth century.” In The Canterbury Tales Nature herself became Chaucer’s model. He saw what was, and painted that he saw.

No Complete Self-effacement:

Chaucer could have claimed like Fielding that he gave “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”. He was decidedly the first realist in English literature. Much of his realism is indebted to his tendency towards self-effacement which is necessary for a dramatist and very desirable for a novelist. The dramatist himself does not appear on the stage. He reveals his characters through what they say and do and does not offer to interpret for the reader or the spectator their words and deeds. The novelist does likewise, though he is much freer than the dramatist. Chaucer has well been called the first novelist even before the appearance of the novel, as also the first dramatist before the appearance of the drama in

England

Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that so far as The Canterbury Tales is concerned, Chaucer does not efface himself completely, though he does see what is and does paint it as he sees it. It is particularly true of the Prologue where he himself seems to be very much present like the guide in a picture gallery, nudging the spectator with his elbow and directing his attention to this or that feature f one portrait or the other. In the tales proper, however, the writer disappears completely and presents himself only as a reporter of the words and deeds of the pilgrims on the road, who go jostling and story-telling and raising a cloud of dust behind them. Thus, whereas in the Prologue Chaucer adopts the static mode of characterization, in the tales he adopts the dramatic mode. In the Prologue it is he who is supposed to be enlightening us about the dress, appearance, habits, and salient traits of the pilgrims; in the tales he lets them do it for themselves.

The Prologue:

Irrespective of the question whether Chaucer effaces himself or not in the Prologue, it is commonly conceded that the characters he draws are thoroughly realistic. All of them seem to have been drawn from life. His portraits show how penetratingly observant an eye he possessed. His record of the minutest details of the appearance, dress, and behaviour of the pilgrims makes their portraits disarmingly convincing. Consider, for instance, the description of the Miller:

His berd as any sowe or fox was rede,

And thereto brode, as though it wer a spade.

What makes these portraits all the more realistic is the seeming spontaneity with which Chaucer draws them. When Chaucer is telling us something about a pilgrim it seems that he or she is standing right before him and he is looking at what is and painting what he is looking at. Chaucer uses that greatest of arts which lies in concealing all semblance of art. “No small part of the realism of these portraits,” says W. H. Clawson, “is their informality, their lack of regular order.” The details about the pilgrims seem to be coming from him without any method or design, and that is exactly what induces in the reader a strong feeling of the actuality of the characters who are being so described.

Another relevant point to be kept in view is Chaucer’s broad-mindedness, his lack of prejudice, and his real sympathy with all classes and conditions of people. Irrespective of the fact whether he is dealing with a rascal or a saint, an angel or a devil, he shows no trace of either anger and bitterness or excessive reverence. He rejects nothing but likes all. He leaves the task of improving the world to his contemporaries such as Langland, Wyclif, and the “moral Gower.” As for himself he accepts the world as he finds it. He paints many rascals indeed (most of the pilgrims are in fact rascals), without pillorying or strongly indicting any one of them. He is too indulgent and tolerant for that. His all-embracing human sympathy prevents him from standing between the portrait and the spectator. Let the spectator himself judges and arraigns, if he likes, the characters whose portraits he has drawn; the painter’s work is over. We may also notice the happy absence of idealization from Chaucer’s character-portrayal. The characters of the Knight, the Plowman, and the poor Parson are the only exceptions.

On the whole, the characters are so lifelike that some critics have suggested that Chaucer might have painted from real life. J. M. Manly; for instance, opines that Chaucer had in mind some “definite persons” while portraying the pilgrims in the Prologue. It will be an ideal pastime to contest issues with this critic. We should not approach literature with the attitude of a detective to search into the raw material which a creative artist employs. It is enough for us to recognize the fact that Chaucer’s characters are very lifelike. His characters, in the words of Palgrave, are

Seen in his mind so vividly, that we

Know them, more clearly than the men we see.

What we should insist on is not the “actuality” of a writer’s work, but its verisimilitude. What a writer gives may not (and should not) be a literal transcription of reality, but only a semblance of it. Aristotle considers poetry more philosophical and more real than history, and he is quite right. To say that Chaucer copied real characters from life will be underrating his literary genius. His is not a mechanic art. Well does A. C. Ward remark: “It would of course be foolish to suppose that everything in the Prologue is ‘from the life.’ Chaucer was too good of artist and had too lively an imagination to be a mere copyist, even of life itself. Life was only his raw material, to which he could on occasion give a more convincing and satisfying shape than Nature’s own. So we can only guess at how far Chaucer drew upon imparted information and how far upon his own sense of probability.”

The Tales:

Unlike in the Prologue, in the tales proper Chaucer effaces himself completely like a perfect dramatist. He is there, of course, and he is one of the pilgrims, too; but he is there as a spectator and an authentic reporter. In the tales the portraits walk out of their frames, as it were, and reveal themselves through the tales they narrate, the comments which they make on each other’s tales, and their mutual exchanges and even skirmishes. It is in the tales that the author disappears completely. Right in the beginning of the Prologue Chaucer takes pains to emphasize his role as mere reporter. He feigns even to have reproduced the very words spoken by the pilgrims in the narration of their tales:

For this ye knowen also wel as I,

Who-so shall tell a tale aftere a man,

He moot reherce, as ny as evere he can,

Everich a word, if it be in his charge,

Al speke he never so rudelie and large;

Or elles moot tells his tale untrewe,

Or feyne things or fynde words newe.

So the author bows out of the scene and assumes the role of a spectator and reporter. Each story is intended to reveal its narrator. Legouis maintains: “It then behoves the author to conceal himself, to sacrifice his own literary talent and sense of proportion, and give place to another, who may be ignorant, garrulous, clumsy, foolish, or coarse, or moved by enthusiasms and prejudices unshared by his creator.” And what a sacrifice! Says the same critic: “In The Canterbury Tales the element of the poet’s personality has been subdued, superseded, by pleasure in observing and understanding. Hitherto this degree of peaceful, impartial spectatorship had never been reached by poets.”

It is interesting to note how the tale of each pilgrim is in conformity with his or her character a glimpse of which is provided by the poet in the Prologue. In many a case the story gives finishing touches to the portrait of the narrator as initially set forth in the Prologue. Chaucer here seems to have followed the classical principle of decorum without being aware of it. And it is not only the content of each story but also its diction which reveals its narrator. The prioress, being an ecclesiastic, tells, appropriately enough the story of a Christian saint murdered by the “cursed Jews”. The knight comes out with a tale of chivalry. The merry, sporting Monk, on being exhorted by the Host to tell a “merry” tale, revengefully narrates a long melancholy tale of the fall of Lucifer, Adam, Samson, Hercules, and many more, but he is shut up mid way by the fervent words of the Host:

Sire Monk, no moore of this, so God yow blesse!

Your tale anoyeth al this compaignye.

He asks the Monk to narrate instead a story of hunting, but the latter does not oblige, and retires sullenly. The tipsy Miller offers to tell a bawdy story of the seduction of a carpenter’s wife by a clerk. The Reeve (who does the work of a carpenter also) protests at the Miller’s “lewed drunken harlotrye”:

It is a synne and eek a greet folye

To apeyren any man, or hym defame,

And eek to bryngen wyves in swich fame

Thou mayst ynogh of other thynges seyn.

But the Miller ignores his protest and tells his ribald story. The Reeve in retaliation narrates the story of the seduction of a miller’s wife and daughter by two Cambridge scholars. The Friar tells the story of a roguish summoner who is carried by the Devil to hell. The Summoner in reply comes out with the story of a greedy friar who is humbled on account of his greed. The Nun tells a story of miracles. Chaucer himself comes out with perhaps the dullest of tales. His boring narrative is cut short by the Host after he has proceeded to the extent of some thirty stanzas:

“Namoore of this, for Goddes dignitee,”

quod oure Hooste, “for thou makest me

So wery of thy verray lewednese

That, also wisly God my soule bless,

Myne eres aken of thy drasty speche.”

Chaucer’s choice of the dullest tale for himself is a refreshing example of self-directed irony. Only a great humorist can laugh at himself; and Chaucer is certainly among the greatest humorists. He is really delightful in his laughter at his own expense. How can we believe that he was the least skilled of all the narrators?

As a man, Chaucer depicts himself, in the words of the Host, as a shy, unobtrusive, self-effacing, and shoe-contemplating person. This is how the Host addresses him:

And sayde thus, “What man artow?” quod he:

“Thou lookest as thou woldest fynde an hare,

For ever upon the ground I se thee stare.”

On being asked to come out with a “tale of mirth” by the Host he pleads his ignorance very politely:

“Hoostee”, quod I, “ne beth nat yvele apayd,

For other tale certes kan I noone,

But of a rhym I lemed long agoone.”

Conclusion:

Whether or not Chaucer was an unobtrusive a man as he presents himself in The Canterbury Tales, it is true that as an artist he followed the principle of least interference with his material. The degree of his self-effacement is really surprising. He does not project the tint of his likes and dislikes, fads and fetishes, views and prejudices on what he paints. He is no moralist either. “Like Shakespeare”, says Compton-Rickett, “he makes it his business, in The Canterbury Tales, to paint life as he sees it, and leaves others to draw the moral.” Thus, to conclude, “Chaucer sees what is and paints it as he sees it.” And what is more, “he effaces himself in order to look at it better”.

Bacon’s Contribution to the Development of English Prose

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Question: Write a note on Bacon’s contribution to the development of English prose and indicate with suitable illustrations from some of his essays, the principal ingredients of his style.

Question: Write an essay on Bacon’s prose style, giving suitable illustrations.

Answer:

Bacon made a valuable contribution to the development of English prose. Bacon did really great things in this sphere. When alliteration, antithesis, similes from “unnatural natural history” were the order of the day in English prose, Bacon showed that English was as capable as the classical languages of serving the highest purposes. He proved that it was possible in English also to express the subtleties of thought in clear, straightforward, and uninvolved sentences and, when necessary, to condense the greatest amount of meaning into the fewest possible words.

Bacon shows himself in his essays to be an accomplished rhetorician. He made for himself a style which was unmatchable for pith and pregnancy in the conveyance of his thoughts. When the bulk of English prose was being written in loose sentences of great length, he supplied at once a short, crisp, and firmly-knit sentence of a type which was quite unfamiliar in the English language. He rejected the conceits and overcrowded imagery o the euphuists, but he knew how to illumine his thought with suitable figures of speech, and give to it an imaginative glow and charm upon occasion. For the students of expression, Bacon’s essays are of endless interest and profit: the more one reads them, the more remarkable seem their compactness and their nervous vitality. They shock the sluggish attention of a reader into wakefulness as if by an electric current: and though they may sometimes fail to nourish, they can never fail to stimulate.

Emerson is the one modern writer with whom Bacon may be fairly compared, for their method is much the same. In each case, we have a store of trenchant and apparently disconnected sayings, where the writer tries to reach the reader’s mind by a series of aphoristic attacks. The best and most striking example of this kind of style in the essay called Of Expense. By comparing Bacon with his predecessors like Sidney and Lyly, we can see how widely he departed from the prolix methods of the time. In rhetorical power, musical cadence, quaint turns of speech, he was equalled by many of his contemporaries and was excelled by a few; but for clear, terse writing he has no equal except Ben Jonson, and even today his essays are models of succinct, lucid prose.

Bacon took one of the longest steps ever taken in the evolution of English prose. English prose was already rich and sonorous. Hooker and Releigh, still rank as two of the greatest stylists in English prose. While these two writers have majesty and strength, they did not command a style suited to all the purposes which prose has to serve. Their style was admirable for great themes and for moments of elevation, but not well-adapted to the pedestrian passages which must link such moments one to another. The sentences were inconveniently long and, even in the hands of the most skilful writers, were frequently involved and obscure. Parentheses were extremely common. The same is true of Bacon himself in his larger and more sustained works. But, in the essays, Bacon did set the example and furnish the model of condensed and lucid prose. The sentences are short; the grammatical structure is rarely ambiguous though it is sometimes loose with shortness came also flexibility. The new style of Bacon fitted itself as easily to buildings and gardens, or to suitors and ceremonies, as to death, adversity, and envy. It could be brought down to the familiarity of comparing money to muck, not good unless it be spread; and it could be raised to a comparison between movements of the human mind and the movements of the heavenly bodies.

Terseness of expressions and epigrammatic brevity are the most striking qualities of Bacon’s style in the essays. Bacon possessed a marvellous power of compressing into a few words an idea which ordinary writers would express in several sentences. Many of his sentences have an aphoristic quality. They are like proverbs which can readily be quoted when the occasion demands. Only Bacon could have written the following sentences which are the remarkable for their condensation and brevity:

(1) “Groans and convulsions, and a discoloured face, and friends weeping, and blacks, and obsequies and the like, show death terrible.” (Of Death)

(2) “A man would die, though he were neither valiant nor miserable, only upon a weariness to do the same thing so oft over and over.” (Of Death)

(3) “Death has this also; that it openeth the gate to good fame, and extinguisheth envy.” (Of Death)

(4) “Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.” (Of Adversity)

(5) “Certainly virtue is like precious odours, most fragrant when they are incensed or crushed: for prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue.” (Of Adversity)

(6) “A man that hath no virtue in himself, ever envieth virtue in others.” (Of Envy)

(7) “They are as men fallen out with the time; and think other men’s harms a redemption of their own sufferings.” (Of Envy)

Bacon’s Essay on Unity in Religion

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Question: Attempt a critical examination of the ideas in Bacon’s essay, On Unity in Religion, and add a note on its style.

Question: What views about the unity of religion does Bacon express in his essay on the subject and how far do you agree with him? What characteristics of Bacon’s style does the essay illustrate?

Answer:

The validity of Bacon’s advice:

Bacon begins this essay by pointing out that religion is a binding force in society and that, for this reason, a particular religion should itself maintain its unity. The Christian Church, should accordingly preserve its unity, and should not permit quarrels and divisions. This is certainly a commendable piece of advice which Bacon offers to the followers of Christianity, but this advice is equally valid so far as other religions are concerned.

The harm done by schisms:

Bacon discusses the subject of unity in religion under three heads: the fruits of unity; the bounds or extent of unity, and the means of unity. Taking up the fruits of unity first, Bacon points out that heresies and schisms are the greatest scandals in the sphere of religion. Nothing keeps men out of the Church, and nothing drives men out of the Church, as much as a breach of unity does. There will be complete confusion in the minds of people if one man suggests that Christ should be sought in secret chambers. If a heathen hears Christians talking with several tongues, he will surely think them to be mad. If there are different sects in a religion and they all adopt different postures and attitudes, they will be enacting a kind of “Morris dance” mentioned by the French writer, Rabelais. The fruits of unity for those who believe in their Church are the blessings of peace leading to faith, charity, and piety.

Bacon’s wholesome plea for the avoidance of dissensions:

There is nothing in all this with which any one can quarrel. Unity in religion certainly has enormous advantages. Dissensions in religion are caused only by selfish persons who wish to come into prominence and who wish to grind their own axes Unfortunately there is no religion in the world without its sects. Not only Christianity but Hinduism, Islam and even Sikhism suffer from a multiplicity of sects. The result is that religion, instead of binding people together, has itself become a divisive force.

Fundamental points, and points merely of form and practice:

There are some fanatics, says Bacon, who are not at all interested in peace but who believe in partisanship and conflict. And then there are some lukewarm persons with no true religious meal, who believe in accommodating all points of view in religion and steering the middle course. According to Bacon, both these extremes are to be avoided. It is necessary that fundamental points of religion should be distinguished from points merely of form and practice. In matters of fundamental importance in religion, there should be no divergence of opinion. But differences of opinion in matters of detail or in matters which are trivial do not cause much harm to the cause of religion.

Bacon’s solution to religious strife:

According to Bacon, there is no room for controversy as to the first principles of theology. The basic doctrines of the Church should not be questioned by human reason. Human reason may be employed in deducing what is involved in the text of Scripture, but human reasoning is not to be given the same authority and importance as the positive declarations of Scripture. In other words, Bacon allows to the individuals a certain freedom of judgment, but this freedom must remain subservient to the express words of Bible. It is to be kept in mind that Bacon wrote this essay at a time when Europe was torn by religious division—first between Catholics and Protestants, and then between the various sects of Protestantism itself. Bacon’s solution to religious strife within the same religion is that a distinction should be made between basic issues and subsidiary issues. There should be unity in the basic tenets of religion, while differences may be permitted and tolerated in matters of ritual and Church organisation. Christians, says Bacon, must agree upon essential points. Luke warmness with regard to essential points is unpardonable. But a variety of opinion upon inessential points is permissible. Thus, different forms of Church government and different forms of worship are tolerable because no definite rule with regard to these has been laid down in the Bible. The solution offered by Bacon is not only sensible but practical and feasible. There is nothing quixotic about it.

The seamless coat of Christ:

Bacon illustrates this particular view with reference to Christ’s coat. Christ’s coat was entire; it was seamless and therefore indivisible. The same is the case with the doctrine of Scripture in itself. But the garment of the Queen, who represents the Church, was of various colours. This means that diversity as to matters of detail can be tolerated. The seamless coat of Christ symbolizes the unity of the Church as to essential points. The multicoloured garment of the Church symbolizes the legitimate variety of opinion and practice in minor matters. Bacon’s illustration is so vivid and convincing that no room for doubt is left in the minds of readers.

Artificial unity resulting from ignorance:

Bacon also points out the sad consequence. People may agree in a religious belief simply because the inconsistency of inadequacy of it is not apparent to themselves. a uniformity of this kind is of no value.

Travellers Through Time

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What was the vow? I asked Premanand, an elderly sage of the Karia tribe living in my town. Premanand had attended an ashram in his youth, at Badmer, run by a reverend Lohar woman called Mataji. Now all the Karias in this town were disciples of Mataji. Premanand had also recorded the legend of the Gadia Lohars in Hindi.

So what was the vow, and how did it come to be made? I repeated my question to the old man.

We, the Gadia Lohars (the name by which the Karias are known in India) originate from a notable high-caste Rajput clan of Mewar, began Premanand softly. Our tribe is broadly divided into groups called the Solanki, Parmars, Chohans, Borana and Bhagelas. When Allauddin Khilji attacked Chitorgarh to kidnap Rani Padmani, our people courageously defended the honour of the clan. It remained like that till 1567, when Maharana Partab Singh lost Chitor to Raja Man Singh, the commander of the Mughal forces.

Though Partab Singh was soundly defeated at the battle of Haldi_Ghat, he refused to give up, and took refuge in the jungle. All the chieftains of Mewar assembled before the Maharana, and made a vow that unless they were victorious in their efforts to take Chitor back from the Mughals, the tribe would not make houses, nor sleep on charpoys, nor eat in metal utensils; and neither would they wear gold or live in comfort. Since then our people have roamed in bullock carts from place to place, working as ironsmiths throughout north and west India for centuries and never breaking the vow, concluded Premanand.

how did you turn to ironsmithing, after being a fierce warrior clan? I asked him.

Well, some of our ancestors excelled in the art of weaponry. They made swords and shields for battle. Many in the clan knew the art. But after we left Chitor and began our new life as Tiyagis we didn’t want to beg, and so we adopted this new livelihood as a necessity for survival.

Premanand belongs to one of the many nomadic tribes which wander throughout the subcontinent. Known as Karias in Sind (which means black in Sindhi), they are called Gadia or Gadolia Lohars in the rest of the subcontinent. They originate from Mewar state of western Rajasthan, and still use a dialect of that area as their mother tongue. The legend of which Premanand spoke became the basis of a cult to which they have belonged for centuries, roaming in their bullock carts through Rajasthan, Gujrat, Sind, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and even further south and east. Earning their livelihood as ironsmiths (hence the name Lohar) they are highly conspicuous the men with their long moustaches and parted beards, and the women with their arms full of bangles, hammering the hot iron as they produce and repair sickles, axes, machos, ploughs and other agricultural equipment for the rural peasantry.

The wandering tribes of the subcontinent can be divided into two main categories gypsies and nomads. Their origins date back to the dawn of human history, before the development of agricultural civilisations, when man lived by hunting animals and gathering together food from the wild plants of the forest and plain.

It was probably in the river valleys that the first human settlements were made, where the women developed a primitive mode of agriculture along the water channels, while the men continued to hunt. But many continued with their nomadic ways and some still maintain the tradition till today.

The category of wanderers whom we call gypsies are those who never found their environment conducive to a settled life. They are the oldest people of this land, descendants of the pre-Aryan age the Dooms, the Meers, the Naths, the puppeteers, the Darawars, the Jogis, the Shikaris, the Shamis, the Sanyasis, the Kucharas, the Gurgalas, the Jindawaras, the Changars, the Kanjars. Their dark pigmentation and short stature support the conjecture that they belong to a Dravidian or pre-Dravidian race.

They have no sense of property or ownership, and live from day to day, the most peaceable of people, earning their living by some form of art or craft. So-called civilised society has never sought to accommodate them, and they for their part have never found the business-minded, greedy and self-destructive urban society worthy of notice or communication.

These tribes have no sense of property or ownership, and live from day to day, the most peaceful of people. Killing, rape and murder are unheard-of among them. They earn their living by some form of art or craft toy-making, reed crafts, puppet shows, snake-charming, acrobatic performances, fortune or story-telling, singing, dancing, begging for alms and in rare cases, cheating. So-called civilised society has never sought to accommodate them, and they, for their part, have never found the business-minded, greedy and self-destructive urban society worthy of notice or communication. The two have remained untouchable for each other for thousands of years.

Interestingly, most linguists and sociologists now believe that the European gypsies, scattered from Spain to Latin America, are of Indian origin. They are said to have migrated to the West around the 10th century. Their language, grammar, culture and skin colour speak for their Indian antecedents, and they continue to live by the same means arts and crafts and to worship a deity, often known as the Black Madonna, who may be a version of the Hindu goddess Mata.

When the Mughals conquered the fort of Chitor, our tribe made a vow that until we were victorious in our efforts to take it back, we would not make houses, nor sleep on charpoys, nor eat in metal utensils; and neither would we wear gold or live in comfort. Since then we have roamed in our bullock carts, working as ironsmiths for centuries, and never breaking the vow.

The other category of wanderers the nomadic or semi-nomadic people has perhaps arisen through force of circumstances. For instance, once the prosperous agrarian civilisations developed in the river valleys, they attracted the poorer hill people and steppe tribes from the north-west, the Aryans, who poured in like locusts and pushed out the old, simpler folk. Having been pushed out of their natural home, these people roamed the wilderness, trying to regroup in order to recover their lands.

But the continuing invasions from the north-west did not allow them time for this. There was always a fresh Ghauri hard at the heels of a weary Ghazni. So, forced to flee and roam, they show signs of the bitterness of their wandering. Quick to anger, and often hostile, they are usually branded as criminal tribes. They have seen settled life in their past, and some of them were ruling tribes. They maintain a strong sense of historical identity, through their traditions, folklore and legends. They neither forget their past, nor do they forget the racial discrimination they have faced through centuries of caste oppression. These people, unlike true gypsies, have a strong sense of property, and are not always peaceable.

The Ahirs, Minas, Odes, Bhils, Kohlis, Ganwarias, Banjaras, Bagris, Rahbaris and the Gadia Lohars belong to this category. They, too are dark in pigmentation, and do not seem to differ much from the gypsies in culture. Most of the Minas and Ahirs, renowned for their prowess in cattle and grain-lifting, remained in India. The Ganwaria women, however, are often seen in Pakistan, as roadside hawkers. They carry their shops on their heads, and speak a Marwari dialect. The Kohlis, Bheels, and Meghwars now work as agricultural labourers, and are keen to settle down. The Meghwars, who also do leatherwork, are already settled in towns. Honest, strong and hard-working, they are now in popular demand as peasants in Sind.

Many Muslim Odes migrated to Pakistan during Partition. Their main skill was shepherding, in contrast to the Sindhi Odes, who build mud walls and houses. The Indian Odes wanted to settle down, and chose the fringes of the Cholistan desert in Bahawalpur state as their new homeland. They claimed and occupied 12 acres of land per family. But the bureaucratic feudal government of the early 50s, following the British colonial administrations guidelines as if they were sacred scriptures, maintained their old status as a criminal tribe, and ejected them from their land. The Odes turned to manual labour, working on building sites, in order to survive. Their hard-working, colourfully-dressed and robust women, with huge golden loongs and balis in their noses and ears, can often bee seen climbing a ladder with half a maund of bricks loaded on their heads. If that is the fate of a Muslim nomadic people, what happened to the majority of these tribes, who belong to the pre-Islamic, pre-Brahmanic tradition, is anyone’s guess.

The Karias, the tribe to which Premanand belongs, are no longer nomadic. Soon after Partition, the Gadia Lohars started settling down, breaking their ancient vow. Why? I asked Premanand. Has the vow been fulfilled?

He smiled gently, and his old eyes glinted. Yes, the vow has been fulfilled, he said. It happened in the early 50s. Nehruji, then Prime Minister of India, called a big sammelan of all the Gadia Lohars of India, and told them that the Mughal rule over Chitor finished a long time ago, and thus the vow has officially been fulfilled. Pandit Nehru paid a great tribute to the sacrifices made by the Gadia Lohars for the cause of liberation of their homeland by offering them free land and house-building loans for their settlements. But the Gadia Lohars insisted that unless they entered the fort of Chitor as conquerors they would not break the vow. And so a mock battle took place. A huge procession of Gadia Lohars, arrayed in battle dress, mounted on thousands of bullock carts, waving swords, and shields, charged and entered the fort like victors. And that was the end of nearly 40years of wandering.

We who happened to be on this side of the border, hearing the call of our chieftains, also started settling down at one of our favourite deserted camping sites, on the outskirts of towns. As the towns gradually spread we became part of them.

Are your people happy now with this settled life? I asked the others who had gathered around us. Old habits die hard, said Bhaggu, a Lohar who had been to Chitor some years ago. The general pattern of life remains unchanged, except that were not on the run any more. We still live in shanty huts, and even those who had the fortune to acquire a pucca house abandon it at night to sleep out in the open.

Meanwhile, Kewal, Krishan, Narayan and Prem, a group of dark, handsome youths, had entered the house very respectfully. Some of them were school and college-going students. Prem wanted to become an engineer. Most of them were interested in the history of Mewar, and I promised to bring them the Annals of Mewar from Todds Rajasthan. I left them sitting on charpoys, eating from copper utensils, golden rings dangling from their ears.

Essential Conditions for Research

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Conditions for Research

1. Personal Qualities of Researcher:

A researcher has to meet people from various walks of life and has to discuss a variety of topics. Accordingly, he must be a good conversationalist, possess ready wit and ability to get across his ideas to others. He must possess the ability to progressively refine his data and techniques. He must know his subject thoroughly, and be able to take quick decisions. A course of training in research techniques is very useful in this connection.

2. Social Qualities of Researcher:

The skill to deal effectively with others requires social qualities like pleasant manners, good-humouredness, ability to establish rapport with others etc. An ability for improvisation, inspiring confidence in others and reactive thinking help social researcher to mix easily with others. While a social researcher must be alert and able to vary his techniques, he must be scrupulously honest and have the intellectual integrity. Therefore, it is very important that a research worker be tactful and resourceful enough to make improvisations, he must not do so at the expense of his basic convictions. Above all he must have the quality of patience. He must pursue his work relentlessly and should not let minor irritations and annoyances discourage him. As W. E. Spahar and R. J. Swenson have observed, “……in research, patience is not only a cardinal virtue but an absolute necessity.

3. Mastery of Subject:

The world famous American journalist, John Ganther, who has written many books about the social and political conditions of various countries of the world, entitled Inside Asia, Inside U.S. Inside Russia etc. has remarked that before undertaking the study of a country he reads all the literature available about it. The same is the case with a researcher. Before investigating any social phenomenon he has to master all the present and past facts about it. Only if he has familiarized himself about each and every aspect of problem, can he hope to face his problem confidently and maturely. Before interviewing his objects he must acquaint himself about their social background.

4. Time and Place Considerations:

Before approaching his subject, a researcher must ensure that the time and place of interview is both proper and mutually suitable.

5. Other Considerations:

Research employs many tools, like questionnaire, schedule and interview. The researcher must be fully acquainted about nature, the purpose and the limitations of these tools. He should also avoid all types of biases and preoccupations and must be motivated by an urge to gain scientific knowledge and make discoveries. His efforts must not be swayed by personal considerations of pleasure or pain. He must not get personality involved with the person he interviews. He must be sufficiently trained to resist temptations and seductions which may present themselves in his work. For this, practical experience and emotional maturity is needed.

Scientific Method of Research and its Problems

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Scientific Method

Like the typical man or woman on the street, the sociologist is interested in the central questions for out time. Are we lagging behind in our ability to feed the population of the world? Is the family falling apart? Why is there so much crime in

Pakistan

? Such issues concern most people whether or not they have academic training. However, unlike the typical citizen, the sociologist has a commitment on the use of the scientific method—a systematic, organized series of steps that ensures maximum objectivity and consistency in researching a problem—in studying society.

Many of us will never actually conduct scientific research. Nonetheless, it is important that we understand the scientific method, for it plays a major role in the workings of our society. As this chapter will indicate, the scientific method is stringent and demands that researchers adhere as strictly as possible to its basic principles.

The scientific method requires precise preparations in developing useful research. It investigators are not careful, research data that they collect may prove to be unacceptable for purposes of sociological study. There are five basic steps in the scientific method that sociologists and other researchers follow.

These are discussed one by one

Defining Problem

The first step in any sociological research project is to state as clearly as possible what you hope to investigate. Early in their research, sociologists face the task of developing an operational definition—an explanation of an abstract concept that is specific enough to allow a researcher to measure the concept of—each concept being studied. For example, a sociologist interested in status might use membership in exclusive social clubs or professional organizations as an operational definition of high status. A sociologist who intended to examine prejudice might rely on responses to a series of questions concerning willingness to hire or work alongside members of racial and ethnic minority groups.

Whenever researchers wish to study an abstract concept—such as intelligence, sexuality, prejudice, love, or liberalism—they must develop workable and valid definitions. Even when studying a particular group of people, it is necessary to decide how the groups will be distinguished.

By conducting a review of the literature—the relevant scholarly studies and information—researchers refine the problem under study, clarify possible techniques to be used in collecting data, and eliminate or reduce the number of avoidable mistakes they make.

After reviewing earlier research concerning a particular area or field of interest, and drawing upon the contributions of sociological theorists, the researcher may develop an intuitive guess about the relationship between the factors involved in the research. Such a speculative statement about the relationship between two or more factors is called a hypothesis.

A hypothesis essentially tells us what we are looking for in our research. In order to be meaningful, a hypothesis must be testable; that is, it must be capable of being evaluated. The statement “God exists” clearly cannot be scientifically confirmed. A research hypothesis must also be reasonable specific. “Young people have more fun” and “Florida is nicer than California” are statements that lack the kind of precision that sociologists need in order to collect suitable data.

A hypothesis usually states how one aspect of human behaviour influences or affects another. These aspects or factors are called variables—a measurable trait or characteristic that is subject to change under different conditions. Income, religion, occupation, and gender can all be variables in a study.

In developing hypothesis, sociologists attempt to explain or account for the relationship between two or more variables. If one variable is hypothesized to cause or influence another one, social scientists call the first variable the independent variable. The second is termed as the dependent variable, because it is believed to be influenced by the independent variable. Causal logic involves the relationship between a condition or a variable and a particular consequence, with one event leading to the other. Under casual logic, the degree of integration into society may be directly related to or produce a greater likelihood of suicide (refer back to Durkheim’s study of suicide in chapter 2). Similarly, the time students spend reviewing material for a quiz may be directly related to or produce a greater likelihood of getting a high score on the quiz.

A correlation exists when a change in one variable coincides with a change in the other. Correlation is an indication that causality may be present; they do not necessarily indicate causation. For example, data indicate that working mothers are more likely to have delinquent children than are mothers who do no work outside the home. This correlation is actually caused by a third variable: family income. Lower-class house-holds are more likely to have a full-time working mother; at the same time, reported rates of delinquency are higher in this class.

Social Research, Characteristics and Introduction of Research Methods and its Various Types

2011-06-28T11:12:00.000-07:00

Sociological research offers the challenge of going as a “stranger” into the familiar world, often to find one’s assumptions shattered by the facts that one discovers. Research in sociology is really a form of detective work—it poses the same early puzzles and suspicions, the same moments of routine sifting through the evidence and inspired guessing, the same disappointments over false leads and facts that do not fit, and, perhaps, the same triumph when he pieces finally fall into place and an answer emerges. Research in sociology is where the real action takes place. It is in the field, far more than in the lecture room that the sociologist comes to grips with the subject.

There are two sides to the sociological enterprise: theory and research. Both are essential, and each thrives on the other. Facts without theory are utterly meaningless, for they lack a framework in which they can be understood. Theories without facts are unproved speculations of little practical use, because there is no way to cell whether they are correct. Theory and research are thus parts of a constant cycle. A theory inspires research that can be used to verify or disprove it, and the finings of research are used to confirm, reject, or modify the theory, or even to provide the basis of new theories. The process recurs endlessly, and the accumulation of sociological knowledge is the result.

Guesswork, intuition, and common sense all have an important part to play in sociological research, but on their own they cannot produce reliable evidence: that requires a reliable research methodology. A methodology is a system of rules, principles, and procedures that guides scientific investigation. The sociologist is interested in discovering what happens in the social world and why. Research methodology provides guidelines for collecting evidence about what takes place, for explaining why it takes place, and for doing so in such a way that other researchers can check the findings. It is vital that the sociologist use appropriate methodology, for an invalid method can produce only flawed results.

The methods of sociology can be applied only to questions that can be answered by reference to observable, verifiable facts. The sociologist cannot tell us what if God exists, because there is no scientific way to test the theories on the subject. But the sociologist can tell us what percentage of a population claims, to believe in God, because these facts can be established by using appropriate methods.

To explain any aspect of society or social behaviour, the sociologist must understand the relationships of cause and effect. One basic assumption of science is that all events have causes—whether the event is a ball rolling down hill, a nuclear bomb exploding, an economy improving, a political party losing support, or a student passing an examination. A second basic assumption is that under the identical circumstances, the same cause will produce the same effect. If we did not make these assumptions, the world would be utterly unpredictable and therefore unintelligible to us. The problem facing the sociologist is to sort out cause from the effect in the complexities of social life, and to determine which of several possible causes, or which combination of causes, is producing a particular effect.

Role of Sociologists to Analysis and Solving Problems

2011-06-23T00:51:00.000-07:00

What is the proper task of the sociologist? Is it merely to observe human action with the calm, detached curiosity of the ecologist who counts the lemmings as they dive into the ea? Or should the sociologist rush into social action? Should the professor of sociology encourage students to develop a detached understanding of social phenomena or inspire them to man the barricades for social reform? What is the proper role for the sociologist in a changing society?

The Sociologist as Research Scientist

Like all scientists, sociologists are concerned with both collecting and using knowledge. They share in these tasks in various ways.

Conducting Scientific Research: As a scientist, the sociologist’s foremost task is to discover and organize knowledge about social life. A number of full-time research sociologists are employed by universities, government agencies, foundations, or corporations, and many sociologists divide their time between teaching and research. Many university sociologists are engaged in “funded” research, with all or part of their salaries and their research expenses paid from research grants made by government agencies, foundations, or corporations. These grants are made to sociologists who submit an acceptable proposal for research on a particular topic. Since little research can be conducted without research funds, this gives the funding agencies great power to influence the direction of sociological research.

Radical critics of sociology (including some sociologists) claim that, behind a façade of ethical neutrality and objective, sociologists have prostituted their research talents to the support of the interests of the funding agencies, and have thus supported militarism, racism, and other forms of oppression [Gouldner, 1962, 1970; Frederichs, 1970 pp. 823 – 85; any issue of The Insurgent Sociologist].

Whether sociological research has been widely corrupted in this manner may be debated [Horton and Bouma, 1971]. What is indisputable is that problems of bias and partisanship are present in all research, and that research findings are often helpful to the interests of some people and damaging to the interests of other people [Becker, 1967]. Even the definition of a research problem may carry an implicit bias. For example if we state a research problem as, “What characteristics of poor people contribute to their poverty?” we imply that the responsibility rests mainly on the poor people themselves; but if we define the problem as, “What social arrangements produce poverty?” then the responsibility is placed upon “society”.

Throughout most of the history of sociology, sociologists were often accused of being radical subversives whose research and teaching were a threat to established institutions and vested interests. Many older sociologists today, still bearing the scars of the anticommunist witch hunts of the 1950s, are puzzled and hurt when students and younger sociologists accuse them of having been lackeys of capitalistic oppression all their lives! But the question to society is as old as science itself, and will not soon be settled.

Correcting Popular Nonsense: Another task of the sociologist as a scientist is to clear away the intellectual rubbish of misinformation and superstition which clutters so much of our social thinking. Sociologists have helped to bury a great deal of nonsense about heredity, race, class, sex differences, deviation, and nearly every other aspect of behaviour. It is due partly to the findings of sociology that today we rarely hear an educated person argue that the white race is innately superior, that women are intellectually inferior to men, that behaviour traits are inherited, or that rural people are less “immoral” than urbanities – ideas which nearly every educated person accepted a half century ago. By helping replace superstition and misinformation with accurate knowledge about human behaviour, sociologists are perhaps performing their most important function.

Making Sociological Predictions: Although the track record of sociologists in making social predictions is not impressive, someone must make social predictions. Every policy decision is based upon certain assumptions about the present and future state of the society. A legislator who says “We need more severe penalties to curb drug pushing” is predicting that more severe penalties actually will curb the narcotics business without creating even greater problems. Another legislator who says “Legalize marijuana” is making a set of predictions about the consequences of this action. Thus every policy recommendation inevitably implies a set of assumptions and predictions. What sort of predictions do sociologists offer? Here are a few samples, offered without explanation or documentation at this point, as examples of the kind of predictions sociologists can make:

The trend toward employment of women will continue until most women are working for most of their married lives.

Birth rates will fall to approach death rates, or death rates will rise to approach birth rates.

Despite some experimentation with alternatives, the monogamous nuclear family will continue to be the basic family type in the

United States

The present popularity of jeans and casual clothing among young people will be followed by a return to high-style clothing.

The recent trend onward early retirement will soon be replaced by efforts to lengthen the work career.

Most social science prediction consists not of predicting specific developments, as the astronomer predicts an eclipse, but of forecasting the general pattern of trends and changes which seem most probable [e.g., Bell, The Coming of Post-Industrial Society: A Venture in Social Forecasting, 1973]. All such predictions or forecasts should be offered with certain humility, for no certainty attends them. Instead, social scientists offer them as the best, most informed guesses available upon which to base our policy decisions and expectations for the future.

The Sociologist as Policy Consultant

Sociological prediction can also help to estimate the probable effects of a social policy. Every social policy decision is a prediction. A policy (e.g. federal grants for Head Start) is begun in the hope that it will produce a desired effect (e.g. narrow he educational gap between poorer and more prosperous children). Policies have often failed because they embodied unsound assumptions and predictions. Sociologists can help to predict the effects of a policy, and thus contribute to the selection of policies which achieve the intended purposes. For example:

What effect does dropping out of high school have upon a youth’s future earnings? (Little or none, when other factors are equal).

What would be the effect of intensified law enforcement upon campus marijuana use? (Little or no reduction, with aggravation of other student-police problems).

Would low birth rates and a small-family norm increase marital happiness? (Yes; there is research evidence that smaller families are better off in every way).

Would publishing the names of juvenile delinquents help to reduce delinquency? (No; it would more likely increase it).

Would the suppression of obscene literature help to reduce sex crimes and sex immorality? (Our limited evidence suggests that it would not).

Would legal barriers to abortion strengthen family life? (No; most sociologists believe this would increase illegitimate births, unwanted children, child abuse, and family discord).

These are a few of the many social policy questions which sociologists could help to settle. One of the greatest services any scholarly group can offer is to show the society what policies are most likely to work in achieving its objectives. This is a service which sociologists are qualified to perform.

The Sociologist as Technician

Some sociologists are engaged in planning and conducting community action programs; advising on public relations, employee relations, problems of morale or of “inter-group relations” within the organization; working on human relations problems of many sorts. Often these sociologists have specialized in social psychology, industrial sociology, urban or rural sociology, or the sociology of complex organizations.

Recently the term clinical sociologist has appeared to describe the work of the sociologist as technician [Gardner, 1978]. To some extent, this is a new name for what sociologists have been doing for a long time, but it also includes a considerable broadening of the range of sociologists’ efforts to be useful in society.

In such positions the sociologist is working as an applied scientist. He or she has been engaged to use scientific knowledge in pursuing certain values – a harmonious and efficient working force, an attractive public image of the industry, or an effective community action program. This role raises a question of ethics. When a sociologist accepts employment as a technician, pursuing values chosen by an employer, has scientific integrity been compromised? To make an extreme example, there is evidence [Monroe, 1962] that gambling operators engaged social scientists to find out why people do or do not gamble, so that the operators could learn how to attract more customers. (We do not know whether any sociologists were included). Would this be a form of scientific prostitution?

The radical critics of “establishment sociology” charge that sociologists have “sold out” whenever they serve as technicians or research scholars in any kind of effort to maintain or improve the efficiency of government, military, capitalistic, or welfare establishments. Thus, not only are sociologists (if any) working in war-related activities condemned, but even sociologists working in programs to improve the health of poor children in Mississippi, to increase agricultural output in Peru, or to teach birth control in village India are sometimes accused of supporting “oppression”. This is the classic view of the revolutionist – any attempt to make the present system work better, or to help people find better lives within the system is “oppressive” because it helps to perpetuate the system.

There is no simple answer to the question of what clinical appointments it is proper for the sociologist to accept. Each sociologist’s answer will be found partly in the prevailing views of the academic world at that moment and partly in his or her own conscience.

The Sociologist as Teacher

Teaching is the major career of many sociologists. In addition to the concerns and problems of teaching in any field, the problem of value neutrality versus value commitment is a particularly acute question. For example, in a course on “poverty”, should the sociologist supervise an objective study of facts, theories, and policies – possibly sympathetic but as objective as possible? Or should the course be designed to produce dedicated advocates of a particular action program? Should the sociologist seek to convert students to conservatism, liberal reformism, or revolutionary activism? For some decades the ethics of university teaching have demanded that the teacher refrain from all conscious “indoctrination,” but this question is now under spirited debate.

The Sociologist and Social Action

Scientists seek to discover knowledge. Should scientists also tell the society how this knowledge should be used? For example, the geneticists already know something about human heredity, and before very long it may be possible to control the genetic makeup of babies, and “order” babies according to a specifications list. Who should dedicate what sort of baby should go to whom? The scientists? The parents? The Government?

The basic question is whether science – specifically sociology – should be value-free. For example, sociologists know some things about population growth, race relations, urban development, and many other matters involving questions of public policy. Should sociologists become public advocates of birth control programs, legalized abortion, women’s liberation, legalized marijuana, racial integration, and many other programs which they may consider socially desirable?

Early sociologists gave an emphatic “yes” to this question. Without an adequate foundation of scientific knowledge, they rushed to support all sorts of public policies they believed wise. Between 1920 and 1940, many sociologists shifted to the view that sociology should be a more nearly “pure” science, discovering knowledge but not attempting to decree how it should be used. They sought to build sociology on the model of physics or chemistry, as a value-free science. As such, it should be committed to no values except those of free scientific inquiry. Sociologists generally avoided involvement in controversial issues and sought the status of “pure” social scientists.

More recently, this view has been challenged in both physical and social science. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists carries many articles by scientists urging their fellows to claim a larger role in deciding the uses of nuclear science discoveries. Many sociologists today believe that sociologists should claim a major role in making decision about public policy and should involve themselves in the major issues of our society [Lindesmith, 1960; Horowitz, 1964; Stein and Vidich, 1964; A. Lee, 1966, 1973, 1978; Becker 1967]. They charge that sociologists have buried themselves in “safe” research topics, leaving the really important questions to non-sociologists – questions such as “How can poverty be reduced?” “How can schools be integrated?” “How can communities be organized for more civilized social living?” “Should the goals and values of American society be altered to promote human welfare?” They feel that not only do sociologists have a duty to say what society might do about problems of race conflict, population growth, birth control, drug addiction, divorce, sex deviation, medical care, etc. but that sociologists have a duty to say what our society should do about such problems. Books like Shostak’s Putting Sociology to Work [1947] provide concrete examples of how sociologists are involving themselves in social issues and constructive social action and show what they have learned from these experiences.

Sociology today, in common with all the other social sciences, has some members who insist that, both individually and as an academic discipline, sociologists should openly and publicly support the “radical reconstruction of society” [Szymanski, 1970; Colfax and Roach, 1971; D. Horowitz, 1971; Sternberg, 1977]. This question is receiving much attention in sociological literature [Douglas, 1970; Lee, 1978; Harris, 1980]. Whether sociology should be value-free is an unsettled question, but sociologists are agreed upon the following propositions.

The Study of Sociology

Students are sometimes delighted to find in sociology (or another social science) evidence that some of their parents fondest beliefs are outmoded superstitions. But when they find evidence that their own beliefs are scientifically unfounded, their reaction to this correction may not differ greatly from that of their parents. To separate sense from nonsense is one of the objectives of sociology. Only those who are willing and able to subject their beliefs, assumptions, and practices to objective scientific scrutiny will gain much from the study of any of the social sciences.

Characteristics, Classification and Causes of Social Problems

2011-06-23T00:47:00.000-07:00

Characteristics of Social Problems

Salient feature of social problem is that it charges the situation in such a way that a problem is created to the extent that existing social order have to be changed. It also means that it is difficult to solve the problem but to feel that such a solution is inevitable or undesirable is not proper. But one of the significant characteristics of social problem is that it becomes problem only when the people begin to feel and take that in that sense. As long as the people are not aware of the problem, even though that exists there is no social disharmony, but maladjustments come to the front only when the masses become conscious of it.

Classification of Social Problems

So far no universally accepted classification has been produced about social problems. Our sociologists have tried to give different classification. Harold A Phelps has classified social problems as biological, e.g. physical defects, bio-psychological e.g. feeble mindedness, cultural e.g. juvenile delinquency and economic e.g. poverty and unemployment. Another classification is based on heritage e.g. physical heritage, biological heritage, and social heritage. But so far no universally accepted classification has been produced. Primary season for this is that in society no problem is absolute. Every problem is relative and is also linked with one or more aspects of our social life.

Causes of Social Problems

Social problems are not a welcome in any society. These create disharmony and maladjustment but still the problems exist. What are the main causes of social problems is a question, which has been posed by our sociologists. So far the problem has fond no solution and every attempt made in this regard has failed. The main reason for this is that the sociologists cannot pinpoint a single cause responsible for creating a social problem. The cause, which may be responsible in one society, may not be responsible in the other society. Similarly what may be responsible under certain circumstances may not be under certain other circumstances and so on. In fact in actual practice it has been found difficult to find out any single cause responsible for creating social problems. Some of the many causes include feeble mindedness of the individual and his physical disability. Industrialization, immobility and weak social institutions may be other causes responsible for creating social problems.

Social Problems, its Definition and its Effects

2011-06-23T00:45:00.000-07:00

What do you know about social problems?

In each complex and complicated society there are bound to be social problems. Some problems are of serious magnitude and result in dislocation. These also require our immediate attention otherwise these will in turn create problems. Some problems are not very serious if ignored can result in further seriousness.

Social Problem Defined

According to Lundberg, “A social problem is any deviant behaviour in a disapproved direction of such a degree that it exceeds the tolerance limit of the community”. It may also be defined as a condition, which effects large number of people in an adverse manner. It can also be said as a difficulty of mis-behaviour which vast majority wants to correct. Social problem also arises when there is deviation from accepted social norms. These are usually threats to establish social ways and therefore, it is necessary to eliminate them as quickly as possible.

Effects of Social Problems

Social problems very adversely affect our society. One of the major effects is that our harmony is distributed and in its stead in the society there is hostility and suspicion. These also result in large-scale social dissatisfaction and create suffering and misery. On the whole social problems do not all help in solving any problem but create problems of serious magnitude, which is disadvantageous to the whole society. But in this connection it may be pointed out that ‘problem’ is not an absolute term. It is only a relative term because what is problem for one society may not be problem for the other. Similarly ‘problem’ is not permanent and universal. What may appear problem today may not remain so tomorrow. We find that in

Pakistan

child marriage was problem till yesterday but today it has received universal condemnation and as such is no problem at all.

A body is pulled rightward with a four of 25 N. To keep the body in equilibrium how much force will be applied leftward on the body?

2011-06-14T00:56:00.002-07:00

A body is pulled rightward with a four of 25 N. To keep the body in equilibrium how much force will be applied leftward on the body?

ANS:

A force of 50 N acts on a body. If moment arm is 0.5 m, find the value of torque.

2011-06-14T00:56:00.000-07:00

A force of 50 N acts on a body. If moment arm is 0.5 m, find the value of torque.

ANS:

A force is applied perpendicularly on a gate, 2 metres wide which requires a torque of 100 Nm to open it. What will be the minimum force required?

2011-06-14T00:54:00.001-07:00

A force is applied perpendicularly on a gate, 2 metres wide which requires a torque of 100 Nm to open it. What will be the minimum force required?

ANS:

A force of 20N is applied at the edge of wheel of radius 10 cm. Find the torque acting on the wheel.

2011-06-05T07:34:00.000-07:00

A force of 20N is applied at the edge of wheel of radius 10 cm. Find the torque acting on the wheel.

The Miller of the Dee by Charles Mackay (Summary)

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(Charles Mackay)

There was a miller. He had a windmill. He ground the corn of the people on his wind mill and made his living. When he was at his work he sang songs to amuse him self. He sang that he was not jealous of any body and no body was jealous of him. He loved his wife and four children.

One day the King met him and asked him the cause of his happiness. The Miller frankly told him that neither he was jealous of any body nor any body was jealous of him. Again he loves his wife and children. He was neither in debt. The King was much pleased with him and remarked that the dirty cap of miller was better than his crown and his wind mill was better than his Kingdom. The King called him the pride of

England

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost (Summary)

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(Robert Frost)

Once a poet riding on a horse passes through the forest, where the snow was gently falling and covering it. He stops to enjoy natural beauty of the forest. The poet says that he knows forest’s owner who lives in a village. He could not see him stopping there. His horse would think it strange to stop by woods because there was no farm house between forest and lake. It was considered darkest evening of the year. The sound which he could hear was of the blowing winds and falling flakes of snow. The horse moved the bells of harness in order to confirm whether his master has made any mistake. The scene of forest was very charming but poet remembered his promise which he has to fulfil. He has yet to travel a long distance before he may go to bed.

Children by Henry Long Fellow (Summary)

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(Henry Wadsworth Long Fellow)

The poet is very fond of children. The Children are source of joy and happiness to the poet. He wants to get pleasure and company of children in order to forget his worries. For him the children are source of light and life. He compares them with singing birds, running streamlets and blowing breeze. He says that as sun light air and food are necessary for the growth of a plant, so the existence of children is must for keeping world alive. Poet compares the sweet thought and feelings of the children with the busy life of grown ups. The grown ups are burdened with problems of life where as children are free of all such things. The poet thinks that without children the world would be useless, dark and freshening. He says that children are better than all the poems that have ever been composed.

The Daffodils (Summary)

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One day poet was walking near a lake suddenly he saw a large number of daffodils. They were moving their heads gently in the cool breeze. The waves of the lake were also dancing. But the dance of flowers surpassed the shining waves. The poet was over joyed and kept on looking at them but could not guess how rich he had grown a their sight. Since then his lonely hours are filled with joy at the mere recollection of these flowers.

The Neem Tree (Summary)

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In this poem the poetess admires the Neem tree for it’s usefulness. She says that the Neem Tree is best example of self sacrifice. Because it bears the burning rays of the sun for whole day without caring for the rain fall which may refresh it. She bears midday heat on its bare head but gives cool and comforting shade to us. When a traveller takes rest under it’s shade he forgets his worries.

Poetess calls the Neem Tree fearless and wishes that a man could be like Neem Tree and extend the helping hand to needy, poor and helpless person in order to save them from agony, sorrows poverty and crime.

According to poetess the highest aim of life is to face every hardship and danger to relieve others from miseries and sorrows.

Last Sermon of Holy Prophet (Summary)

2011-03-12T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) was born in 571 A.D at Holy cit of Makkah. He belonged to noble family of Quraish.Quraish were worshipers of idols. God chose Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) as last of his prophet. He asked Quraish not to worship their false gods. He told them to worship only one and true God and accept the religion of Islam. But they opposed new faith. Due to there fierce opposition Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) asked the believers to migrate to Madina. In 622 migration took place and is known in history as “Hijra”.

In Madina Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) established Islamic society based on universal brotherhood. In the 10^th year of Hijra Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) along with his followers performed last Hajj. There he addressed a very large gathering. This address is known as Last Sermon of Holy Prophet.

In last address, the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) told that all men and women were equal in the eyes of God. No Arab was better than non-Arab. A white man was not in any way better than a black man. Only qualities of a person made him better than others. He further said all men and women are children of Adam. The Adam was created from dust.

In the end Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) said that he was leaving to them the Holy Book of God the Quran. If believers acted upon it’s teaching, they will ever remain great and successful.

Metabolism of Fats and Proteins and Control of Metabolism and Metabolic Pool

2011-02-18T04:36:00.000-08:00

Catabolism of glucose is most common metabolic pathway in cells. Animals are consumed fats and protein which may be used to harvest energy.

Metabolism of Fats:

Fats are built from long chain fatty acids and glycerols are triglycerides. Initial catabolism of fat begins with the digestion of triglycerides by way of an enzyme called lipase to glycerol and three fatty acid molecules.

Glycerol is phosphorylated and can enter glycolytic pathway at the level of glycerol dehydes 3 – phosphate free fatty acids move into mitochondrion where their carbons are removed, two at a time to form acetyl coenzyme A plus additional NADH and FADH₂. Acetyl coenzyme A is then oxidized by Krebs’ cycle and NADH and FADH₂ that are produced are oxidized via electron transport chain. One gram of fat provides about 2.5 times more ATP energy than does either 1g of carbohydrate of protein because the number of hydrogen atoms per unit weight of fat is greater than in carbohydrates of protein. This is why many animals store energy in the form of fat in adipose tissue.

Metabolism of Proteins:

Animals initially digest proteins to yield individual amino acids. Some of these are distributed throughout the body and used to synthesize new proteins. Other amino acids are transported in the blood or extra cellular fluid and comprise the amino acid pool. If needed for fuel these amino acids can be further degraded by removal of amino group to yield ammonia. This process is called deamination reaction.

R – OH – COOH + H₂O -------> R – C – COOH + NH₂ + H₂

|
NH₂

In deamination, an oxygen atom replaces an amino group to form keto acid. Keto acid can then enter into kreb’s cycle. Finally the carbon skeleton of amino acid is dismantled and oxidized to CO₂. Ammonia produced from complete catabolism of amino acid is highly toxic and must be excreted. On the average one gram of protein yields about same amount of energy that is 4 K. Cal as does 1g of glucose.

Control of Metabolism:

Cells are efficient and do not waste energy by making surplus substances they do not need or require in lesser amount. If certain amino acid is over abundant in amino acid pool, the anaerobic pathway that synthesizes that amino acid from an intermediate in kreb’s cycle is turned off. Most common mechanism for this control uses and product (feed back) inhibition. In end product inhibition, the end product of anaerobic pathway inhibits the enzyme that catalyzes key step in the pathway.

Controlling the catabolic activities ca control the activities of cell and the organism. Supposing if a muscle cell is working very hard and its ATP concentration begins to decrease, aerobic respiration increases. When ATP is sufficient to meet demand, aerobic respiration slows, sparing valuable organic molecules for other necessary functions. As with anabolism, control is based on regulating enzyme activity at strategic points in the catabolic pathway. As a result cells are thrifty, expedient and responsive in their metabolism.

Control of Glycolysis through Phosphofructokinase:

During glycolysis, fructose – 6 – phosphate is converted to fructose diphosphate by enzyme phosphofructokinase. It is sensitive to energy needs of cell and the ratio of ATP to ADP or AMP. It has receptor sites for specific inhibitors and activators.

Metabolic Pool:

Catabolic chemical reaction of glycolysis and Krebs cycle not only provide ATP but also make available metabolic pool of material that can be consumed for the synthesis or anabolism reactions of many important cellular components. The balance between catabolism and anabolism maintains homeostasis in the cell as well as the whole animal. The chemical reaction that takes place in the body may be divided into two categories on the basis components can gain lateral entry or not in main system.

(1) Open system: The system of metabolic reaction in which a number of reactants from different sources can enter and participate in the system can be further processed is known as open system. Open system has two way flow of material into and out of it. Various compounds enter the pathways at different points so that carbohydrates, fats and proteins can all be oxidized. At the same time some of the intermediates of these pathways can be withdrawn from the energy harvesting machinery and used in synthesis reactions. Glycolysis and Krebs cycle are examples of open system and the products of glycolysis and Krebs cycle are all part of metabolic pool whereby material is added withdrawn.

(2) Closed system: In some of the systems the chemical reactions take place completely in the closed environment and no reactant or substance can enter into the system till the final metabolic product is obtained, such a system is known as closed system.

Kreb’s Cycle (OR) Citric Acid Cycle (OR) Tri-Carboxylic Acid Cycle (TCA)

2011-02-18T04:21:00.000-08:00

During metabolism the synthesis and breakdown of different organic compounds takes place through various pathways like the breakdown and synthesis of proteins, carbohydrates, fats and nucleic acids. These different pathways and intermediates are also responsible for the production of energy.

Kreb’s cycle, named after Hans Krebs who began working out its details in 1930s, is a series of reactions in which the pyruvate from glycolysis is oxidized to Co₂ under aerobic conditions. Kreb cycle is also known as citric acid cycle or Tri-carboxylic acid cycle (TCA).

Steps involved in the process of Kreb cycle are:

(1) Fate of pyruvic acid:

Pyruvic acid can form different compounds by different pathways i.e. it can be converted into lactic acid. It can be converted into acetyl coenzyme A us a result of oxidation.

(2) Fate of Acetyl CoA:

It can either undergo condensation with itself or its derivatives to form fatty acids having 14 – 20 carbons. Acetyl CoA can also go through a series of reactions in Krebs cycle.

(3) Formation of citrate:

Acetyl CoA enzyme condenses with oxaloacetate by an enzyme citrate synthatase to form citrate with the release of acetyl CoA. If the amount of oxaloacetate is very small then small number of acetyl CoA would be reacting with oxaloacetate leaving surplus acetyl CoA to go through another pathway for the formation of long chain fatty acids.

(4) Formation of C is – acotinate and iso-citrate:

Citrate is changed first into C is – acotinate and then to iso-citrate under the enzyme acotinase. Equilibrium is established between citrate, C is aconitate and iso-citrate. It has been observed that most of the time this equilibrium is shifted towards the iso-citrate. If the concentration of iso-citrate in increased the formation of citrate will result which also indicates that the equilibrium also shift in the reserve direction.

(5) Formation of oxalosucinate:

Iso-citrate is acted upon by an enzyme iso-citrate dehydrogenase using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) as coenzyme. As a result iso-citrate is converted into oxalosucciate and NAD is reduced to NADH₂. Similar reaction is carried out by same enzyme using nicotindmide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) as coenzyme which is reduced to NDAPH₂.

(6) Formation of α-Ketoglutarate:

Oxalosucciante is changed into α-ketoglutrate by iso-citrate dehydrogenase with the help of coenzyme NAD or NADP. In this reaction carbon dioxide and NADH₂ or NADPH₂ are also released.

(7) Formation of succinyl CoA:

α-ketoglutarate combines with acetyl CoA in the presence of coenzyme NAD and enzyme α-keoglutarate dehyrogenase to form succinyl coenzyme a carbon dioxide and NADH₂.

(8) Formation of Succinate:

Later on coenzyme a is removed from succinyl coenzyme A in the presence of guanosine diphosphate (GDP) and inorganic phosphate to form succinate and guanosine triphosphate (GTP). This reaction is carried out by an enzyme called succinyl CoA synthatase.

(9) Formation of Funarate:

An enzyme succinic dehydrogenase removes hydrogen from succinate to form funarate.

(10) Formation of Malate:

Fumarate reacts with water in the presence of enzyme fumarase to form malate.

(11) Regenration of oxaloacetate:

Malate is oxidized by malic dehydrogenase and NAD forming oxaloacetate and NADH₂. Thus oxalo acetate is again available to start another cycle.

Importance of CTA Cycle:

(1) Source of energy: In addition to routine organic compounds described above, by products like nicotinanide adenine dinucleotide (NADH₂) and guanosine triphosphate (GTP) are the source of biological energy. NADH₂ after oxidation produce energy whereas GTP is itself high energy phosphate compound.

(2) Oxidation of organic compounds taken as food: Oxidation of fats, carbohydrates and proteins take place through it or in other words it can be said that oxidation of all compounds having carbon atoms can take place through TCA cycle. Some of amino acids like alanine, glutamic acid and aspartic acid at one stage or the other enters into TCA cycle e.g. glutamic acid enters cycle after its transformation into α-ketoglutarate. Similarly alanine enters the cycle after its conversion into pyruvate.

(3) Intermediate compounds: TCA cycle is also involved in synthesis of intermediate compounds leading to the formation of larger molecules.

Verification of Krebs Cycle:

It was done by radioactive traces like C₁₄ as radioactive carbon dioxide of different levels and reactions. After addition of radioactive carbon dioxide different chemical compounds produced like glucose, fats, amino acids were isolated and looked for radioactive carbon. In this way whole of metabolic reaction were verified including individual reactions, alternative metabolic pathways, intermediates of fats, carbohydrates and amino acids etc in the body cells as well as in test tubes.

Fermentation and Aerobic Respiration

2011-02-06T03:09:00.000-08:00

Fermentation is either an evolutionary bypass that some organisms use to keep glycolysis functioning under anaerobic conditions or is a biological remnant that involved very easily in the history of life, when the earth’s atmosphere contained little or no oxygen. As with glycolysis, the presence of fermentation is strong evidence for common descent of organisms from primitive cells in which glycolysis and fermentation first appeared and still persists.

In fermentation hydrogen atoms that glycolysis generates are donated to organic molecules and then reduced compound can be an organic acid like lactic acid, acetic acid, propionic acid or an alcohol in the form of ethanol, butanol. Fermentation regenerates NAD, which is needed to drive glycolysis to ultimately obtain ATP. During fermentation glucose is not completely degraded, so considerable unusable energy still remains in the products. Beyond two ATP molecules formed during glycolysis, no more ATP is produced. Fermentation serves only to regenerate NAD (oxidized from of NADH).

Types of Fermentation:

There are two types of fermentation depending upon the end product obtained. The fermentation in which the end product is an alcohol is known as alcoholic fermentation where as the fermentation in which some acid specially lactic acid is formed is known as Lactic acid fermentation.

Alcoholic fermentation: The pathway from private to ethanol is called alcoholic fermentation and is catalysed by specific microbial enzymes.

Lactic acid fermentation: The pathway in which lactate or lactic acid is produced as end product from private is known as lactic acid fermentation.

There are certain animals cells that are deprived of oxygen, temporarily carry out lactic acid fermentation.

Types of Fermenting Organisms:

Two types of organisms can carry out fermentation, obligative or obligate anaerobic and Facultative anaerobic.

Obligative anaerobic organism:

The organisms that survive only in complete absence of molecular oxygen are termed as obligative or obligate anaerobic organisms. These include certain types of bacteria.

Facultative anaerobic organisms: The organisms that survive only in the absence of molecular oxygen are termed as facultative anaerobic organisms. They are certain bacteria, yeasts, animal muscle cells which can ferment nutrients when oxygen is absent to generate some ATP by providing NAD for glycolysis. Such organisms and tissues carry out more efficient energy harvesting when oxygen is present.

Aerobic respiration: The major source of ATP:

Anaerobic generation of ATP through glycolysis and fermentation is inefficient. The end product of glycolysis (pyruvate) still contains great deal of potential bond energy that can be harvested by further oxidation. Evolution of aerobic respiration in micro-organisms and in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells became possible only after free oxygen had accumulated in the earth’s atmosphere as a result of photosynthesis. Addition of oxygen requiring stage to energy harvesting mechanisms provided cells with more powerful and efficient way f extracting energy from nutrient molecules. Indeed without mitochondria’s large scale ATP production life would have to be at a “snail’s space” and most animals present on earth today would never have evolved.

In aerobic respiration pyruvate that glycolysis produces is shunted into a metabolic pathway called Kreb’s cycle or citric acid cycle; NADH goes to electron transport chain. During this aerobic metabolism free oxygen accepts electrons and reduces to water together with production of 34 molecules of ATP from each molecule of pyruvate consumed.

Aerobic respiration is organized into Kreb’s cycle and electron transport chain. Two electron carriers’ mitotinamide adenine di-nucleotide (NAD) and falvin adenine di-nucleotide (FAD) act as hydrogen acceptors and reduce to NADH and FADH₂.

Most of the remaining energy is in the form of NADH and FADH₂. These two molecules are shuttled into electron transport chain. In this chain reduced NADH and FADH₂ are oxidized and their electrons are passed along a series of oxidation reduction reaction to the final acceptor oxygen. During this phase of the cycle, three molecules of Co₂ are generated from each pyruvate molecule and some energy is harvested in the form of ATP.

Process of Glycolysis, the Process of Metabolism and its Evolutionary Perspectives

2011-02-06T02:52:00.000-08:00

It is the initial sequence of catabolic chemical reactions in which six carbon glucose molecules is broken down into two molecules of three carbon compound called pyruvate of pyruvic acid with net production of two molecules of ATP when glucose is completely burned in a test tube it will give about 690,000 calories of energy per mole in the form of heat. In the cell some of this energy is not lost as heat but is retained in the form of ATP.

Steps involved in the process of glycolysis:

(1) Glucose is converted to glucose – 6 – phosphate with the help of an enzyme hexokinase in the presence of ATP.

(2) Glucose – 6 – phosphate is rearranged to form its isomes fructose – 6 – phosphate with the help of an enzyme phosphogluco isomerase.

(3) Fructose – 6 – phosphate reacts with another molecule of ATP to form fructose – 1, 6 – diphosphate or hexose diphosphate with the help of an enzyme phosphor fructokinase.

(4) Fructose – 1, 6 diphosphate is then either converted into 3 – phosphoglyceral dehyde by dihydroxy acetone phosphate under the enzyme aldolase. There is established equilibrium between these compound by inter converting into one another through an enzyme isomerase – 3 – phosphoglyceral dehyde is utilized at a faster rate and when there is deficiency of this compound, then dihydroxy acetone phosphate is converted into 3 – phosphoglyceral dehyde which is processed further by glycolysis.

(5) 3 – phosphoglyceral dehyde is initially oxidized by NAD and then the inorganic phosphate present in the cytoplasm combines to form 1, 3 – phosphoglyceric acid in the presence of enzyme triose phosphate dehydrogenase.

(6) 1, 3 – phosphoglyceric acid is then converted to 3 – phosphoglyceric acid or 3 – phosphoglycerate along with the release two ATP molecules by the enzyme phosphoglycerokinase.

(7) 3 – phosphoglyceric acid or 3 – phosphoglycerate is then converted into 2 – phosphoglyceric acid or 2 – phosphoglycerate in the presence of phosphoglyceromutase.

(8) 2 – phosphoglyceric acid or 2 – phosphoglyceratase is converted into phosphoenol pyruvic acid or phosphoenopyruvate in the presence of enolase.

(9) Finally phosphoenol pyruvic acid or phosphoenylpyruvate is converted into pyruvic acid or pyruvate along with the production of two more ATP molecules by the enzyme pyruvate kinase.

Energy yielding steps are:

(1) During process of glycosis two ATP molecules were used as starter energy to convert Glycosets fructose 1 – 6 biphosphate.

(2) Two ATP molecules are formed during the conversion of 1, 3 – diphosphoglycerate to 3 – phosphoglycerate.

(3) Two additional ATP molecules are released when phosphenolpurate is converted into pyrute the end – product of glycolysis.

(4) In addition to four ATP molecules produced during glycolysis, energy rich compounds NADH₂ is also produced which is used to make the ATP by oxidative phosphorylation.

End result of Glycolysis: All the reactions of glycolysis are performed by soluble enzymes that are present in the cytosol and are not found in mitochondrion. Two moles of ATP are needed to start of glycolysis of glucose and during the oxidative reaction of glycolysis these two moles of ATP are regained. The NADH₂ formed in above reactions is oxidized via the electron transport chain to form three more ATP molecules. The end result of glycolysis is the formation of two moles of pyruvic acid from each mole of glucose together with two moles of ATP. Although glycolysis does not efficiently harvest all the available energy from glucose, it was the only way most organisms could harvest energy and generate ATP molecules for hundreds of millions of years during the anaerobic stages of early life on earth.

Evolutionary Perspectives on Glycolysis:

All forms of animal life including man carry on glycolysis within their cells, a metabolic memory of animals’ evolutionary past – if glycolysis is such an inefficient method of harvesting energy, why has it persisted?

One reason might be that evolution is slow, incremental process involving change based on past events when glycolysis first evolved the cells possessing it had competitive advantage over these that did not.

Importance of Glycolysis as observed through biochemistry:

Biochemistry of contemporary organisms indicates that only those organisms capable of glycolysis survived the early competition of life on earth. Later on the evolutionary changes in catabolism build on this success. During this building process, glycolysis was not discarded but used as a stepping stone for the evolution of another process for complete breakdown of glucose.

How cells convert Energy? (OR) How ATP is obtained? (OR) Describe Phosphorylation and Chemiosmossis

2011-02-06T02:35:00.000-08:00

Within their cells, animals make ATP to carry out normal activities of the body. The process of formation of ATP is known as phosphorylation. There are number of processes through which ATP can be obtained. Two of these processes are common namely substrate level phosphorylation and chemiosmossis.

(1) Substrate level phosphorylation:

The generation of ATP by coupling strongly exergonic reaction with ATP synthesis from ADP and phosphate is called substrate level phosphorylation. It appeared very early in the history of organisms because organisms initial use of carbohydrates as an energy source is accomplished by substrate level phosphorylation. The mechanism for substrate level phosphorylation is present in most living animal cells. Substrate level phosphorylation is one of the most fundamental of all ATP generating reactions. ATP formation from ADP and phosphate requires the input of energy of 7.3 K. Cal:

(2) Chemiosmosis:

There is still other method of generating ATP that is more efficient and effective and is called chemiosmosis and it takes place in the mitochondrion. In the mitochondrion trans membrane channels are present in the mitochondrial membranes that can pump protons. These proton pumps use flow of electrons to induce a shape change in the protein, which in turn, causes protons to move out of the inner compartment of a mitochondrion. As the proton (H+) concentration in the outer compartment of mitochondrion becomes greater than that of the inside compartment, other protons are driven across the membrane by electrical – chemical proton gradient. As protons move down this gradient between outer and inner mitochondrial compartments, they induce the formation of ATP from ADP, phosphate, and the enzyme ATP synthetase.

The electrons that derive the electron transport system involved in chemiosmosis are obtained form chemical bonds of food molecules in all organisms and from photosynthesis in plants. This electron stripping process is called cellular respiration or aerobic respiration because free oxygen is needed. Basically aerobic respiration is the oxidation of food molecules to obtain energy.

ATP

2010-12-13T02:29:00.000-08:00

ATP: (Adenosine Tri-phosphate):

The cell’s Energy Currency: Major energy currency of all cells is nucleotide called Adenosine Tri-phosphate (ATP). As ATP plays central role as the energy currency in all organisms, it must have appeared early in the history of life.

The ability of ATP to store and release energy is because of the structure of ATP molecule. Each ATP molecule has three subunits.

(1) Adenine an organic molecule composed of two carbon nitrogen rings.

(2) Ribose, fine carbon sugar.

(3) Three phosphate groups in a linear chain.

The covalent bond connecting these phosphates is indicated by “tilde” symbol (–) and is high energy bond. The energy is not localized in the bond itself, it is property of entire molecule and is simply released as phosphate bond breaks. These bonds have low activation energy and breaks easily. The breaking of one bond releases about 7.3 K. Cal: (7300 calories) per mole of ATP.

The energy from ATP is sufficient to derive most of the cells endergonic reactions in a typical energy reaction only the outermost of the two high energy bonds, break. When this happens, ATP becomes ADP (Adenosine di-phosphate). In some cases ADP is further hydrolyzed to AMP (Adenosine mono-phosphate) as follows:

ATP ------------- > ADP + Pi + 7.7 K. Cal:

ADP ------------ > AMP + Pi + 7.3 K. Cal:

Cells contain reservoir of ADP and phosphate (Pi). As long as a cell is living, ATP is constantly being converted into ADP plus phosphate to drive the cells many energy requiring processes enabling the animal to perform biological work. ATP can not be stored for long, as ATP lasts only few seconds before it is used to perform biological work. Thus cells constantly recycle ADP, with the energy derived from food stuffs, stored fats and starches. ADP and phosphate recombine to form ATP, with 7.3 K. Cal: of energy per mole contributed to each newly formed high energy phosphate bond.