Immigration to Spain has increased rapidly over the last few years

Immigration to Spain has increased rapidly over the last few years, one of the most obvious reasons being its proximity to North-Africa. One indicator of this increase is the number of petitions entered for a residence permit. The total of these petitions in 1999 reached about 95,000, doubling that of 1998 By the end of 2000 this number will have doubled again, or even tripled. However, the proportion of foreign people living in Spain is barely 2%, not much at all compared with 6% in France and 9% in Germany. Immigration is not going away, and many people think it shouldn't. Apart from the evident fruits that multiculturalism and cultural exchange bear, apart from the just as obvious call for solidarity with people leaving their countries in search of a better life, and apart from the fact that immigration to Europe has become inevitable, there are some pragmatic reasons to welcome non-EU citizens within our borders. Europe's demographic situation is one of them. Our population is growing slowly and ageing rapidly. Several studies indicate that if this pattern does not change, within five years time we will have difficulty providing the elderly with their well-deserved (and just as keenly-anticipated) pensions. The active population working to pay for those pensions will be unable to keep up with the ever growing group of retired people unless immigration counters this demographic trend, it is argued. Spain, in fact, is an ideal example. This country's population is growing more slowly than ever, with birth rates at an all-time low: 1.07 children per fertile woman. UN statistics indicate that by the year 2050, if nothing is done about this evolution, Spain's population will have fallen from 40 to 30 million. As immigrants traditionally have a higher birth rate, their presence could counter Spain's present pressing demographic problems, with the added benefit of bringing other cultures and lifestyles which create new jobs and bring foreign expertise to areas such as tropical medicine, specific kinds of education and cultural services. Immigration is proving to be the answer to problems faced by the Spanish labour market. Certain sectors, mainly agriculture and the construction industry, are constantly in need of unskilled, cheap labour. Most immigrants to Spain fill jobs that few Spanish citizens are willing to take up, and do so on low wages. Farm owners in Andalusia faced a deficit of 35,000 workers this summer. The horticultural sector in Aragon has similar problems, as does the construction industry in the Canaries. We are dealing with a serious short-fall in work forces, and an equally serious number of people at the borders, trying to make it into Spain and fill those empty jobs. The central Government seems as reluctant as ever to let them in. Only about 30,000 people a year are legally allowed to immigrate, clearly an insufficient number compared to the enormous need for extra work forces. The logic of the market dictates that empty jobs will be filled, legally if possible, and definitely illegally if necessary, a situation which opens the door to further illegal labour, mafia racketeering and plain exploitation. Instead, we might start contemplating better integration programmes, we might make it easier for undocumented foreigners to get their situation regularised, we might try and provide them with any specific needs and protection required or desired.

High Cholesterol Essay

Everybody worries about their health right? Nowadays people really don’t care too much and only do the bare minimum to get through their life. Most people just eat what they want, and make a bunch of decisions that will only destroy your body slowly. There are many diseases out there and you can never be too safe, because your health is what keeps you going with your life. Many diseases out there people don’t even know about. Well this disease I am about to discuss can affect your health like you wouldn’t believe. This disease can be very dangerous for the human body if not properly taken care of. This disease is called â€Å"High Cholesterol†. First off, what is Cholesterol? Well â€Å"Cholesterol is a sticky, waxy, fatty substance found naturally throughout your body.†1 Cholesterol is a very important substance to maintain. Doing so will prevent a lot of diseases that can cause even more damage to your body. That’s why watching what you eat can play a huge factor in your life when it comes to health. Now I will explain to you why it is important to manage your cholesterol. Why is Important to manage your cholesterol? If the cholesterol reaches an excessive amount, it can stick to the hearts artery walls. So much so that it can block and narrow them, this is known as plaque buildup. Over a period of time if the plaque builds up at a high rate, it can lead to a much more dangerous thing called atherosclerosis which is determined to be a hardening of the arteries. People don’t realize how serious it is to watch your cholesterol. Having High Cholesterol, it can cause a serious risk for heart disease. High cholesterol is in your body, and the more it increase 9which comes with age) the more it can cause a serious disease. The thing about High Cholesterol is when you have it; you will not even know it. If you continue to consume a lot of fatty foods, or being overweight from eating too much food altogether, or even if you have a family history of such disease, you must make sure you watch your cholesterol level at all times. Did you know that if you have a bit too much cholesterol in your blood, it can cause cardiovascular disease? Well â€Å"Cardiovascular disease is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States. 2,200 Americans die of cardiovascular disease each day, an average of one death every 39 seconds.†2 After reading that statement, doesn’t it make you wonder how you can treat it? Because I am sure that scares you just like it scares me. There are many things that can cause your cholesterol level to skyrocket, so the best thing to do is learn how to prevent this from even happening. It is important to have a daily diet, watching what you eat can prevent your cholesterol level to rise. Eating healthy food such as vegetable, meats, etc†¦always make sure you stay away from fatty foods. When having a good diet, it helps you maintain your weight, which being overweight can also cause high cholesterol. Being physically fit is also another good way to maintain high cholesterol. Not only do you want to watch what you eat, you also need to make sure you exercise. Exercising is by far the healthiest to do for your body. There are many different exercises that are good for your health. Some of these exercises are running, stretching, walking, jump rope, anything to keep your blood flowing in your body so that your cholesterol level stays normal. Another major product which can affect your cholesterol is tobacco. Tobacco which not only causes high cholesterol problems, it causes death by other diseases. Staying away from tobacco is very important. Even inhaling second hand smoke is bad for you. Quitting cigarettes should be a must, especially if you’re trying to maintain good health, and lower your cholesterol level. Every 7 seconds, someone is dying from the use of tobacco products. Treating high cholesterol is basically maintaining good health. Always make sure you see your doctor at least once a month, if not twice a year. Have him check for any problems when it comes to high cholesterol. It’s really something knowing that everything we do in life can affect us as a person, especially our bodies which keeps us alive and living our lives. So always make sure you maintain good health, and watch your cholesterol level so we can stay alive and live life because life is to short. Works Cited 1. â€Å"What Is High Cholesterol?† EverydayHealth.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2012.

Quantitative Research Article Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Quantitative Research Article Critique - Essay Example These are; Annual Survey of Hospitals, views from regular nurses and coordinators from the respective hospitals. During the research, conflicting definition about nurse staffing developed different results. One view of nurse staffing was the duration that patients are under complete care of nurses. The other view is the Canadian view. This view looked at the literal numbers of nurses proving healthcare services to patients. The results achieved from the former view in relation to medication errors established that the two factors never related statistically. The latter view revealed a correlation between the number of nursing staff and the medical errors reported in a nursing unit. The Mplus program and the ALT model was used to analyze the data collected. The analysis resulted to the establishment of four coefficients. The first coefficient reveals the relationship between the predictors and medical errors. The second category of coefficient determines the relationship between medical errors and a particular predictor variable. It reveals the changes implicated on medication errors. The third category of coefficients focuses on monthly medication errors on the following errors. The last coefficient category focuses on the variables in medical error and nurse staffing variables. The divergent views in the definition of nurse staffing implicate difficulties in the establishment of the relationship between nurse staffing and the medical errors. Only two coefficients from the 16 were fruitful. Many limitations experienced during the research could not assist in deriving substantial relationship between nurse staffing and medical

How is toy selection associated with gender-roles and acceptance in Essay

How is toy selection associated with gender-roles and acceptance in the play ground with 5yr old children - Essay Example This paper intends to get preliminary research on the way at which children below the age of five years behave while at the play ground. It will analyze the findings of how they will react or interact with each other as a result of possessing a specific kind of toy. It will also from an analytical point of view look at the relationship between the choice of a toy by a target participant and their perceived roles while playing with each other in the play ground. The main aim of this study is to understand the relationship between children’s toy selection and gender-roles and also acceptance as observed in the play grounds. The findings are replicated to conform to what other researchers in the past have linked the three issues above. Specifically, I shall become a participant/observant in the whole process and take part in noting the behaviors of the children with reference to the toys they own. A co-nomination type of monitoring is applied while singling out every child in terms of the various types of toys owned by the children. By summarizing how many social interactions and the rate of acceptance of each child to their peers There is an already built up assumption that children tend to associate more with specific toys and may become afflicted with specific types of the toys. The roles of these children become more pronounced by the way they particularly take care of these toys. It is believed that children begin to adopt responsible behaviors right at the beginning of this tender age. In addition, there is an assumption that more children tend to acquire and strengthen their roles in the society by exercising them through their toys. This hypothesis is strong and can guide people including parents to build on that basis. Female and male children while at this stage are not sensitive of their roles within their peers but there is some sense of responsiveness to some kind of actions by the

Strategy Assignment-Hospital or Health System Case Study - 1

Strategy Assignment-Hospital or Health System - Case Study Example The organization enjoys as a world-class Medicare center status (Magnet Status) having recorded tremendous achievements in their strive to deliver better services guided by their pillar mission of meeting the demands of the patients by offering high quality services through heightened professionalism. In Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital has four centers that work to deliver quality professionals healthcare through its large pool of doctors, nurses, social workers among other health service providers who dedicate their lives to restoring the state of well-being amongst the society members. Additionally, it is a teaching institute that provides a practical framework within which medical competence can be enhanced. It as well as engages in research to curb health issues challenging the community (MGH, 2015). The hospital has the desire to continually provide high quality world-class health services. The institution’s structure is based on functionality and various units are classified according to the roles they play. Massachusetts General Physicians Organization (MGPO) is a union with own goals embedded in the overall organizational objectives (MGH, 2015). The hospital is headed by David Torchiana as its CEO who works closely with the head of units and departments to ensure coordination and efficiency in operations. In every unit and discipline there is a head such as the chief nurse and many other who head other areas of specialization. This functional structure works well as the units are headed by experts in the respective disciplines. If another structure such as divisional was used it would create confusion since a manager may head a discipline they do not understand (Buchbinder and Sharks, 2012). The institutions strive for excellence is enabled by the strict criteria used by the HR department in ensuring only highly qualified employees are hired. Training and personnel development are usually

Why is the trafficking of naive lymphocytes important Outline the Essay

Why is the trafficking of naive lymphocytes important Outline the stages in the development of the specific immune respons - Essay Example Our bodies are both fragile and resilient at the same time; being so soft and easily broken, yet keeping us alive even during the worst of conditions, always adapting and always surviving. One of the important factors that keep us alive is our immune system and its ability to adapt to the environment and the pathogens it contains. According to Gene Mayer, PhD, there are two ways wherein the body can protect itself from infection: Innate or nonspecific immune system, and Adaptive or specific immune system. ‘The innate immune system is the first line of defense’ which provides immediate, but nonspecific responses to infection (e.g. skin, mucus, tears, sneezing, etc.). The adaptive immune system is slower and responds only to specific antigens with cells called lymphocytes. Once the adaptive immune system responds to a specific antigen, the body will remember it and will produce antibodies to combat the antigen more effectively every time it comes back.1 There are two main types of lymphocytes involved in adaptive immunity--B lymphocytes (B cells) and T lymphocytes (T cells). These cells are produced in the bone marrow. One of the differences between the two is that the T cells have to migrate to the thymus gland to mature. Stein and Nombela-Arrieta (2005, pp.1-12) state that these lymphocytes that have just matured and have yet to encounter an antigen, are called naive lymphocytes. From the bone marrow and the thymus, the lymphocytes are then trafficked through the bloodstream to the secondary lymphoid organs (SLO), which are the peripheral and mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen and gut-associated lymphoid tissues called the Peyer's patches. In the SLO, once the naive cells encounter antigens and become activated, they will undergo changes and will eventually leave to combat the infection.2 Kuby wrote that when a pathogen enters the body, it enters the bloodstream and is transported to the lymph nodes and lymphatic organs where antigen presenting cells ( APCs) break it down into antigen compounds to be bound to Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules. The naive helper T cells become activated once they encounter the antigen bound to the MHC molecules. It then becomes an effector cell (Th) that produces cytokines which activate B cells, T cells, macrophages and other cells included in the specific immune response. Once the Th cells are released into the bloodstream, when they find the antigen, they secrete their cytokines. T cytotoxic cells (Tc) become another effector cell called the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL). This kind of effector cell does not produce cytokines but is designed to destroy infected cells. Once the B cells encounter the antigen, they proliferate and differentiate into antibody-secreting plasma cells whose antibodies attach to the antigen, effectively neutralizing it. Other B cells turn into memory B cells that allow for a faster response to illness once the same pathogen enters the body again.3 Mayer and Nyland (2010) pointed out that ‘since there are relatively few T or B lymphocytes with a receptor for any particular antigen (1/10,000 – 1/100,000), the chances for a successful encounter between an antigen and the appropriate lymphocyte are slim.’4 The chances of encountering the right antigen with the right antibody are maximized with recirculation to the SLOs. The lymphocytes constantly circulate from the lymph organs to the blood via lymphatics if there is no antigen present. ‘It is estimated that 1-2% of lymphocytes recirculate every hour’ (Mayer & Nyland, 2010).5 If it does encounter an antigen, the cells differentiate into the effector cells (B, Th, or Tc) to combat the infection. After the infection, it can go back to the blood stream

Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 139

Summary - Essay Example These communities provide a dual relationship between the families of the deaf and the overall deaf community. This is because there is a congregation of like-minded individuals. It is also important to consider creation of congregation opportunities where the deaf would meet to socialize with fellow deaf individuals. These individuals would feel at home while within such congregations (Holcomb, 2012). In addition, participating in straight talks would provide a global solution to the misunderstandings that the deaf go through due to difficulties when communicating with non-signers. Moreover, adopting positivity or a can-do attitude would help the deaf in demonstrating their worth in the society. Furthermore, the deaf world would improve if they could teach other deaf people on the deaf language and their overall culture. However, there are some obstacles to these solutions that include lack of technology such as hearing aids, financial resource constraints and outsigning environment s (Holcomb, 2012). In overcoming the obstacles, the international organizations of the deaf world usually unite to promote their well-being. The solutions that are unique to the American deaf include civil right laws, availability of interceptors, educational opportunities, a high number of deaf academic leaders among others (Holcomb, 2012). The behaviors exhibited by the deaf individuals in the society are usually determined by the formation of identity that they have experienced in their lifetime. Mostly, the variation in upbringing affects the affinity degree that they exhibit as well as the procedure of identity formation. To realize a positive identity for the deaf individual takes a long and a difficult journey mostly due to the ignorance that is deeply embedded in those that they work with and that exhibited by their hearing parents. Due to such issues, the deaf individual grows up without appropriate experience as well as lack of opportunities that are geared

Commodity chain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Commodity chain - Essay Example Among the alternatives to the traditional plastic grocery bags, the study of Environmental Agency UK Draft Report showed that that cotton bags has the lowest potential for global warming. Compared to the traditional plastic grocery bags that is made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), cotton bags can only pose to be harmful to the environment after using it 131 times compared to HDPE bags usage of only 3 times (The Green Supply Chain Editorial Staff, 2011). Cotton, which is the basic material of reusable cotton bags are grown in 90 countries but the four main producing countries of cottons were China, India, USA and Pakistan accounting for three quarters of the world’s output of cotton (UNCTAD). Most cotton bags however came from India and China due to the ready availability of raw materials (cotton) and cheap labor. The process begins with the harvest of the soft fiber that grew around the seeds of the cotton in a cotton plantation in India (or China). The fiber is then spun into thread to make it into a yarn. It is then weave into a cotton cloth which can be later sewn into a cotton bag. The plantation, harvest, spinning, weaving and sewing is done India (and China) due to the cheap cost of growing the cotton (land) and also the cheaper cost of labor. Unlike other products where the several stages of production are separated, producing the cotton bag can be done in one country where a single or a few number of company can do the planting the raw materials to producing the final goods because it only use one raw materials (cotton) and the process of its production is uncomplicated. The process of producing it is however labor intensive which made it a competitive product of India and China because of its lower labor cost. When the final product is already manufactured, the reusable cotton bags then undergo a process

The Outsider (Of Mice and Men) Essay Example for Free

The Outsider (Of Mice and Men) Essay However, we then find out that she has a dream of her own, revealing the ambitious side of her. She indulges in a different fantasy, far less likely of fulfillment. As many young women do, she aspires to stardom in films. She claims to have met an actor when she was 15, and was being told that she was a natural in acting, but her mother forbade her to pursue her dream. This is shown when she says Well, a show come through, an I met one of the actors. He says I could go with that show. But my ol lady wouldn let me. She says because I was ony fifteen. But the guy says I coulda. If Id went, I wouldnt be livin like this, you bet. From this it shows how unsatisfied she is with her mothers decision and how she really wished she had been able to pursue her dream. She thinks her talent is merely waiting for an opportunity and that her mother has stolen the letter which represents her chance for fame. Steinbeck describes precisely the small grand gesture with which she demonstrates to Lennie her supposed talent. This shows how nai ve she is to believe that her mother has stolen her contract, which was obviously never written. When she received no letter from the actor, she married Curley. However, she has always wanted to make some accomplishments and loved attention. Throughout the novel she constantly wanders around the ranch, creating trouble. When she was killed by Lennie, her dreams ended. Lennie, Candy and Curleys wife were not capable of having their dreams come true but stayed hopeful. From the many incidents that the characters in the novel encounter, it is shown how big dreams often cause tragedies and are sometimes unrealistic. In the novel as a whole, she is represented as the marginalized and disempowered part of society. She uses her status and power to intimidate people in the ranch. Overall, Curleys wife is presented as a flirtatious, lonely young woman who is very discontented with life. Readers who read the book would evoke sympathy for her because of her sad situation and cruel husband, but also dislike her because of her flirtatious and mean attitude. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section. Download this essay Print Save Heres what a teacher thought of this essay 4 star(s)

The resistance of a wire Essay Example for Free

The resistance of a wire Essay The results all proved to be so close together that it proves its not worth doing it for every measurement. Results 1 This table shows the results we took, with the length in centimetres running along the side, and the voltage along the top. The corresponding values in the table is the current, measured in Amps. I will now plot these results onto nine separate graphs and a final graph showing Length plotted against resistance. These results were taken in conjunction with Adam Cubbage. Each of us took part the taking of results. Final Results Length of Wire (cm) Resistance (? ) Analysing and drawing conclusions All these results and graphs show things about the relationship between Resistance and length of wire. The final graph shows an almost perfect straight line of results through the origin. This proves that resistance is directly proportional to the length of wire. If you look carefully on the graph you can see a slight change in pattern after the result for 50cm. This is due to the fact that results were taken over two lessons, the first 4 one day and the final 5 the next. The slight split could be due to a different set of equipment, slightly different components (different power supply etc. ) or even something as little as room temperature. If the results were taken over a single period of time I have no doubt there would be an absolutely straight line. The results also prove that doubling the length of wire, effectively doubles the resistance. For example if you look at the results for 20cm of wire (0. 8 and then the results for 40cm of wire (1. 6 you will see that the resistance for 40cm of wire is exactly double that of 20cm. All this evidence supports the prediction I made at the start, that the length of a piece of wire does indeed affect its resistance, and that there is a direct and proportional link between the two. Evaluation I think my results were fairly reliable and this was mostly thanks to the system of getting an average resistance from each length of wire, using a graph to average out the results. As I said before, there is a slight change in pattern after the result for 50cm. This is due to the fact that results were taken over two lessons, the first 4 one day and the final 5 the next. The slight split could be due to a different set of equipment, slightly different components (different power supply etc. ) or even something as little as room temperature. The equipment used over the two lessons may have differed slightly, e. g. the meters used to measure current and p. d. If the results were all taken in one go I have no doubt there would be an absolutely straight line. If you draw a line from the point of origin up to the fourth point you can see it is perfect, likewise if you draw a line from the fifth point on the graph to the ninth. I think this was a very suitable procedure and was certainly the most accurate way of performing this experiment. The only way I would improve it would be by taking all the results over a single period of time. This would avoid the split in the middle of the results. You could do another couple of different lengths but it wouldnt make much difference to the results. Just using the range that I have you can see all that you need to see to draw conclusions. I would like to try an identical experiment with a wire made of different material, just to see how different the results would be and then compare the two experiments. The real test for how accurate my results were is to calculate the Resistivity of my results and to compare it with the Resistivity that the wire should be. Resistivity is a property of a metal (whereas resistance is a property of a component). Resistivity does not depend on the dimensions of a component, only on the material from which it is made. We have done previous experiments to show that the resistance (R) of a conductor is directly proportional to its length (l) and is inversely proportional to its area (A). The diameter for the wire used was around 0. 8mm. To put this into a formula, where p is the Resistivity: R = pl A So: P (Resistivity) = AR l If we take the results for 80cm of wire we can work out the Resistivity of Constantan (the alloy wire we are using). In an A-level textbook I looked up the Resistivity of Constantan and discovered it should be 4. 9 x 10 -8 ? /m These two figures are fairly close and this indicates how accurate my experiments were.

Computer Crime in Sri Lanka

Computer Crime in Sri Lanka A research study of the Computer Crimes in Sri Lanka and the protective acts taken by the Sri Lankan government. Background Computer systems are everywhere and control a great deal of our day to day life. Computer systems make our life so much easier. All the people around the world are forced to use the computer systems even if they do not like. These computer systems can be used in a good way or in a bad way. The bad way is known as a computer crime. Motivation Presently, individuals and companies are struggling from computer crimes, thinking is it a crime or not? what are laws available for it, where to file a complaint? etc. To improve the understanding of computer crimes, this topic has been chosen, which allows studying about different kinds of computer crimes and the respective laws applies for those crimes. In this research, the computer crimes in Sri Lanka and the counteract applicable for those crimes and different country laws will be discussed. Computer crime, also known as cybercrime, is any illicit action that includes a computer or network associated gadget, for example, a cell phone. The Department of Justice partitions computer crime into 3 classifications: violations in which the computer gadget is the victim, for instance, getting access to the network; violations in which the computer is utilized as a weapon, for instance, to dispatch a Denial of Service (DoS) attack; and violations in which the computer is utilized as an accomplice to a wrongdoing, for instance, utilizing a computer to save wrongfully acquired information (Rouse, 2010). Examples of computer crime: Making Malware Making and spreading viruses, Trojans or other kinds of malware. DoS attack Impacting the server performance by sending large amount requests. Unauthorized access Accessing the computer system without any lawful authority. Intellectual property theft Thieving an organizations or individuals intellectual belongings. Child pornography Creating or selling youngster erotica. Cyberstalk or Cyberbullying Harassing others online. Cyber terrorism Threat to the national security or national economy or public safety. Fraud Altering data, for instance, altering bank account balance amount details. Espionage Infiltration (an organization or someone). Harvesting Gather account associated data from people. Identity theft Pretend to be someone else. Spoofing Cheating a system by pretending someone else. Spamming Annoying unwelcome large amount of emails trying to fill the inbox. Phishing Fool someone by pretending or acting to be a trustable individual in an e-mail or an organization and trying to get their personal information. (ComputerHope, 2017) To destroy a persons or organizations reputation. To make money or steal money from a person or an organization. Full-fill their desires (by blackmailing, threatening etc.). Show off their skills to their friends / for enjoyment. Lack of authorities or less severe punishments. The Computer Crimes reported, in Sri Lanka are financial frauds, abuse/hate/privacy violation, phishing, scams, malware, unauthorized access, intellectual property violation, DoS/DDoS attack, Social media related incidents. According to SLCERT (Sri Lankan Computer Emergency Readiness Team), Fake accounts crimes are major crimes committed in Sri Lanka. Computer crimes in Sri Lanka keep up increasing every year. According to SLCERT, the computer crime rate has increased up to 4733% from 2008 to 2014. Particularly fake account crimes have increased from nearly 0 to 2300. Figure 2 Computer Crimes Reported from 2008 to 2014 From Colombo to the countryside, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and other social media web applications have spread and it has begun to create an impact on the society and culture particularly among the younger generation. Facebook crimes are the majority of the social media related crime in Sri Lanka. There are many Facebook crimes which ended up with suicides, rapes, or even murders not only among teenagers but also among adults too. (SLCERT, n.d.) Mr. Jayantha Fernando, Program Director, Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) stated that there is a necessity for Internet privacy acts when the standards of information protection are violated since Sri Lanka has no specific acts on Internet privacy. Jayantha mentioned that the Sri Lankan administration has started strategy level deliberations at the initiative of ICTA on data protection and internet privacy acts, and the process of developing the draft is ongoing. In 2015, the Computer Crimes Division of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) arrangement below the Computer Crimes Act 2007 managing an expanding amount of complaints on privacy violations and email scooping. The department has explored more than hundred on internet associated misconducts, including twenty-one protests associated with obscene publications, fifty protests of cyber defamation and twenty associated to e-mail hijacking. Additional two thousand protests relating Twitter and Facebook (FB) were informed to the SLCERT in the first 7 months of 2015. The majority of the events had happened on Facebook, and mainly the involvement of fake profiles, Senior Information Security Engineer of SLCERT, Mr. Roshan Chandragupta stated. Mr. Roshan stated that people were hurt in various ways over the internet. Few were threatened with data associated with the target, few were blackmailed for cash, few were harassed sexually and few were even harassed to the point of deceased. A lot of people were hurt by impersonators via social media. Most of them do not know where to file a complaint, hence, the protest related to fake profiles were not filed, he said. An inquiry officer of the Computer Crimes Division of CID expressed Present acts make it very hard for us to bring in the culprits. The officer also said that most of the events that were informed, in which an angry person dispenses the contact information of another person. Generally, this target would be an ex-lover of the offender who eagerly wants to punish her. Since there was no defamation, it does not come under defamation law, therefore it becomes very hard for the police to put the offender behind bars. CID Director SSP.R Nagahamulla said that the Computer Crimes Division does not have enough officers to do the work, and also do not have an adequate amount of standard electronic equipment support investigation. The department has no divisions. Nevertheless, the course of training extra officers and the process of purchasing the devices were begun by the CID. (Nafeel, 2015). Mr. Roshan said that lack of knowledge about computer security on cyber platforms is the main reason for many of the computer crimes. The absence of computer proficiency, correspondence, and breakage in family connections were the genuine foundations for the present surge in social media-related incidents, said by Manoj Jinadasa, senior lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Kelaniya. In Western countries, media literacy is built into the school curriculum. This should be done here too, he said. (Dissanayake, 2014) The senior CID officer said that every day, the CID gets a minimum of ten to twelve cybercrime grievances, which adds up to more than 400 cases for each month. Since the team at CID is little, resolving these cases will be deferred (Wickramasekera, 2015). Here is an example social media crime incident: The headmaster of John Kothalawala School in Kurunegala has been captured by the Police Unit of the National Child Protection Authority. The headmaster was criticized for disgracing a young lady over a Facebook photograph, prompting her suicide. He has been captured as a component of the examination (NewsFirst, 2014). The Computer Crime Act, No.24 of 2007 This act describes the ways of identifying computer crimes and if such crimes occur the procedure for the investigation and the prevention mechanism for the crimes. The provisions of this Act will applicable where: The lawbreaker in or outside Sri Lanka. Computer storage or information affected in or outside Sri Lanka. Facility or service used to commit the crime in or outside Sri Lanka. Loss or damages caused to state or person in or outside Sri Lanka. The offenses and punishments stated in this act are simplified into a table format below: And / Or Table 1 Offences and the penalties mentioned in Computer Crime Act 2007 (SLCERT, 2007) Who will be involved in the investigation? Police officers Computer experts The panel will appoint computer experts to support police department to help with the case. If the police department has sufficient experts, then there is no necessary for more computer experts. Convention on Cybercrime The Convention on Cybercrime is also called as Budapest Convention or Budapest Convention on Cybercrime or European Cybercrime Convention. The Budapest Convention tries to address Internet and computer violations by agreeing to national acts, enhancing analytical strategies and expanding collaboration among countries. The European Cybercrime Convention dealing criminal activities carried out through the computer and the Internet, especially with copyright infringements, child pornography, infringement of system security, hate crimes, and computer associated frauds. In 2015, Sri Lanka was welcomed to participate in the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime. The Foreign Affairs Ministry working with the ICTA has optimized Sri Lankas entrance into the Council of Europe (CoE) Cybercrime Convention. Sri Lanka went beyond South Africa, Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, Philippines and a few different nations in the procedure towards participating the Convention on Cybercrime. Sri Lanka turns into the 1st Nation in South Asia to participate the Convention on Cybercrime, which is the main universal arrangement on cybercrimes all inclusive. The advantage of this convention is that all will be constrained to obey to the privacy guard and information security. Privacy acts are the most critical one where the stockholders from Europe or different nations will consider before investing in Sri Lanka, how their data are protected. (Nafeel, 2015) Comparing Sri Lankan laws with different country laws is a good way of evaluating strengths and weakness of the laws in Sri Lanka. Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 (India) Sri Lanka and India have very much in common, both are Asian countries (closest countries), both are democratic countries. Sri Lanka and India are the members of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Sri Lankan culture and Indian culture are pretty much similar. Therefore, the Indian law has been used for the comparison. India has an act called Information Technology Act, 2008 to prevent computer crimes happening and provide guidelines to follow if such incident occurs. This act is an amendment of Information Technology Act, 2000. The offences and punishments mentioned in the act are listed in a simple table format below: And / Or Table 2 Offences and Penalties in the Information Technology Act, 2008 (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, n.d.) Sri Lanka Crime India Fine (LKR) Imprisonment Fine (à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¹) Imprisonment à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 200,000 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 5 years Hacking with intention of committing crime à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 500,000 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 3 years à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ 5 years Offenses committed against national security / cyberterrorism à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¤ Life time Table 3 Comparison common laws between Sri Lanka and India Let us compare 2 similar cases from both countries and compare the punishments given each by the government. For the comparison hacking case have been taken from both countries. Sri Lanka A 17-year-old schoolboy from Kadugannawa and a twenty-seven-year old man from Moratuwa were arrested on 29 Aug 2016, for building the hack on President Maithripala Sirisenas site. President Sirisenas legitimate site http://www.president.gov.lk went under assault on 26 Aug 2016, when the site was brought down and a letter posted in Sinhalese, stating the disappointment of a group of hackers calling themselves The Sri Lanka Youth, at the Sri Lankan administration having planned the Advanced Level examination for April, amid the conventional Sinhala and Tamil New Year. The letter was evacuated in a few minutes and a note informing clients that the site would down for scheduled maintenance, set up. The Presidents site was back online a couple of hours after the fact. The website was hacked one more time, the following day (27 Aug 2016), with the resulting note posted in English: (DailyNews, 2016) The Crimes Investigation Department (CID) performed the arrest. According to Daily News (2016) statement, the man was accused of 300,000 LKR and up to three years in prison and since the kid is minor, he ended up in probation. This is the 1st time in the Sri Lankan history a young person has been arrested under 2007 Computer Crimes Act. India Mumbai police have captured twenty-three-years-old hacker for trespassing into an economic site. Despite the fact that the hacker could not get into the primary server of the economic website, which was all around secured by the organization. The hacker made some option to the landing page of the economic site and has added a string of content to the news section of the landing page of the site. Police could break the case by taking after the follow left by the offender on the web server of the economic website. The organization has kept up a different server for money related online exchanges, for which most extreme security has been taken by the organization. The site was facilitated on an alternate server, which relatively had lesser security. The intruder was a tenth pass youth. He has completed IT courses like MCSE, CCNA and so on. He had an addiction to computers. He sits in front the PC for very nearly sixteen to twenty times every day. He was using the ready-made hacking devices, to hack into any site. He goes to a specific site on the web, which encourages him to see the whole catalog structure of that site. At that point utilizing different strategies, for example, getting a passcode record, he gets into the directors shoes and hacks the site. A case was enrolled against the intruder under area 67 of Information Technology Act 2000 and under different areas of Indian Penal Code. (CyberCrimeInvestigationCell, 2005) Result The Sri Lankan government has charged the victim with 300,000 LKR and up to 3 years in prison. The Indian government has charged the victim with 1,000,000 Indian Rupee and up to 5 years in prison. Compare to the severity, Indian hacker just hacked the economic site, but the Sri Lankan hacker hacked the Sri Lankan Presents website which is highly punishable. The punishment that the government gives will be a lesson and the threat for those who try to commit crimes. In that case, Sri Lanka has failed to give a higher penalty. When the group of people, including a 17-year-old boy hacked, president Mr. Sirisenas website (Page 13), in everyones mind a question will raise. Is the preventive move made by Sri Lankan Government to battle against computer crime is adequate? I would say NO. As per the SLCERTs report (Figure 2) and the officers statements (Page 5, Page 6) the computer crime rates keep increasing every year, So, the preventive action taken by the government is not sufficient enough. Suggestions Severe punishments will discourage the offenders committing a crime. Compared to the Indian laws, Sri Lanka laws provide less severe punishments (Table 1, Table 2, Table 3) for the offender. So, increasing the fine amount and impressment period given to each crime is a better way of reducing or stopping crimes happening.   Ã‚   Mr. Jayantha stated that currently, Sri Lanka does not have any specific acts on Internet privacy (Page 5) and an inquiry officer of the Computer Crimes Division expressed that with current Sri Lankan laws it is hard to take an action on the offender. So, introducing more laws, more specific acts on Internet privacy will help to combat against these computer crimes, Especially, sections like 66E, 67, 67A, 67B introduced Information Technology Act, 2008 India (Table 2), since the rapid growth of fake accounts and social media crimes in Sri Lanka. Mr. Roshan said that the reasons for these crimes are not enough awareness about computer crimes in the society. People are not aware of where to file a complaint (Page 5). This is the main reason; the culprits are out there committing more and more crimes. Spreading the awareness about computer crimes through television, radio and social media will reach a lot of people and help reduce crimes. Provide enough equipment, facilities, human resource and training for the Police department and the Computer Crimes Division of CID to do their work without any interruptions. According to Mr. Manojs research, the majority of the victims of computer crime are teenagers. I suggest the education department introduce Computer Crimes as a subject in schools. This prevents the younger generation from falling into trouble or pushing someone into. Todays generation, tomorrows future.  

The Dramatization of Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeares Romeo and J

The Dramatization of Act 3 Scene 1 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet is a very famous play about two lovers in two different families who are rivals. Romeo and Juliet has love, passion, fighting, sadness, madness, lust and jealousy packed into one. It was written by William Shakespeare around 1595 over 400 years ago. Romeo and Juliet is a great play for all ages and genders this is one of the things that makes it so special. This is why it is still performed around the world today. Before Fight This is how William Shakespeare makes the story dramatic before the fight. In the play Shakespeare uses dramatic and emotive language for example "for now those hot days, is the mad blood stirring". Before the fight starts there is a light hearted mood. It is nice sunny day where Benvolio and Mercutio are playfully fooling around, talking about various subjects in their life. After a while they sit down to rest, just chatting. Quite quickly Mercutio and Benvolio get bored and restless. At this time the Capulets turn up and the mood suddenly changes to a tense atmosphere They slowly walk over to Benvolio and Mercutio and Tybalt was not in a good mood after the previous night . Benvolio was first to see them "by my head here come the Capulets" Mercutio reply's with a smile "by my heel I care not" this shows that he's in a strange mood most probably bored and restless and is trying to cause trouble. Straight away Mercutio is up on his feet and face to face with Tybalt drawing attention to themselves. He gradually provokes Tybalt e.g. "could you not take some occasion without giving" but then Tybalt infuriates Mer... ...ust in case what they paid for was not that good. In the days when Romeo and Juliet was 1st performed, theatre companies could not afford props and scenery so it had to be explained in the story. So in today's performances it would be a bit more effective and more pleasant to watch. Over 400 years people's emotions and feelings have not changed that much to this present day so I think people would still react the same to the loving parts of the play and tragic scenes. But the humour has definitely changed so I think today's audiences would not find the jokes as funny or just might not understand them. But today's audience would be much more polite and patient if the play got a bit slow or boring, as in Shakespeare's time people would have thrown rotten fruit and their excrement at the actors, who would have carried on.

Game Consoles Comparison :: Video Gaming Games Game Paperes

Game Consoles Comparison Playing games is one of the most popular ways for people to release their stress from work, school, or from other family issues. However, there are a lot of varieties of games: Console games, PC games, Board games, and many more. One of the most famous types of games, though, is console game. Among all consoles, PS2 is the best one. This might be a little direct, but I have my reason for saying this. We will have a discussion regarding this later. But first, what is PS2? Why console games are so popular until now? Here is a little bit of history of why console games have been so popular since the first existing console, Nintendo Entertainment system (NES), by Japanese gaming company in 1985. Nintendo did a good job in marketing the first console game in the past in selling thirty million dollars worth of merchandise in the United States and ninety million dollars worldwide. This successful console game business changed the industry of gaming so that soon, Sony, another big Japanese electronic company, launched its first console called Sony Playstation in 1995. This console dominated the market so that Sony succeeded in selling more than ninety million dollars by 2002. As the battle of console games continued, there was one important fact that was inevitable called â€Å"period of excitement.† After a while, people will get bored with the same kind of machine with the same kind of capability. This is why Nintendo initiated the practice of releasing a new console every 5 to 6 years. It released the latest upgraded Nintendo console called GameCube (2000) following the release of Playstation two (PS2) by Sony in the same year. The popularity of these console games excited Bill Gates, the CEO of the huge Microsoft Company, to participate in the competition of console gaming by releasing the Xbox in the same year. These three consoles have battled each other for 4 years now, and people a lot of times are confused about which console is the best. This is why I am interested in comparing all three consoles based on these three categories: Game Play (the variety of available games, user friendliness, and user’s age orientation), specifications, and price. I put game play as the first priority because no matter how advanced the console is, if it is not playable, then there is no reason for it to exist.

Pressure – Creative Writing

This was going to be the biggest game of my life. It was the final game to clinch our undefeated season but it was against our archrivals, Nudgee. This game was the decider, as Nudgee was also looking to seal their season undefeated. After preparing mentally in the chapel with some strong words of wisdom from Father Gadd it was then off into the dressing rooms. We started out usual warm up. I tried to make it as if it was just another game, but in the back of my mind it wasn't just a normal game. It was the final game that most of the team would ever play for their school and also it was the first time that any of us had the chance to go through the whole season undefeated. After the warm up it was time to get mentally prepared and psyched up. We had time for the final few minutes that the team had together before stepping onto the battlefield in front of the thousands of chanting supporters who timidly sat and waited. â€Å"TOKIO!† That was the last school war cry leading up to a game that most of us would ever do. We started the long walk to the battlefield where we could see our rival opponents standing sternly linked arm in arm. As intimidating as it looked, I'm sure that we sent shivers down their spines as we walked out to confront them for the toss. Each player firmly grasped their opposite's hand in subtle fury, trying to act like good sports but when it came to the crunch there were no mates in a rugby game. We were both playing to win, to win for ourselves, our team and finally our school. After losing the toss this set us on the back foot with having to start the game off not running our favoured way that we had successfully done in all the previous games. But this was just a minor set back that we just had to deal with. My heart was pumping with adrenalin, like something was inside us just trying to burst out as the last moments went by, before the highly rated side Nudgee kicked off. The crowd was cheering accompanied by drunken old boys behind us when we ran the first ball up into Nudgee's front line racing towards us. All you could hear was the slapping of skins and the crunching noises when vital tackles were made along with team members screaming to organise what was happening. We were on the back foot metres from our try line as the powerful favourites Nudgee pulverized into our burly defensive line. But our already battered and bruised side could only hold them out for so long and gave away a penalty in close range for Nudgee's kicker to put three points on the board. Another set back with us being down three points halfway through the first half. We had to start performing or our dreams would shatter, so with all heads up we took it straight back to Nudgee sacrificing what ever it took to get over that line. We ran and ran and ran but there was nothing we could do to get past that intimidating back line with various over grown Islanders staring deep into our eyes. We bruised the favourites with two penalty conversions which left the score at six to three at the half time point. Sitting as a group listening to our furious coach Rob who accepted nothing but perfection yelling at the top of his lungs, I knew that he expected more from us and at times I thought he would rather be out there playing than coaching. We all had a drink, thinking about the game and no doubt putting together individual scenarios to what was going to happen. Mine was that we would find a weakness in Nudgee's back line and break through it in the dying minutes of the game but the unexpected was about to happen. Both teams started the second half fresh as if it was the start of the game all over again. It was starting to get exceptionally personal. Bodies of desperate players were pounding into each other sacrificing what ever it took to obtain everyone's end of year goal that was a perfect season. Finally after taking desperate measures for our game success, we were awarded a penalty in kicking distance. This was the kick that would put us into a six-point lead and give us some breathing ground. Thankfully, I was successful in doing so. But then inner rage possessed our five eight which resulted in him being in the sinbin for ten minutes. I was moved from half back to five eight to replace him. A member of the 3rd XV was subbed on to play half back. I hadn't played much of this position that year but I knew what I was doing from previous experience. I was lucky I knew every move back to front and could do it from any position but playing here put me under a lot of pressure, as it was a key position in the back line. I put all negatives beside me and carried on with the game. I was doing fine and missed putting my outside centre through a gap by the skin of his teeth. But then something happened that would haunt me. Right on the half way line I was thrown a slow pass from the freshly subbed halfback. As I was watching the ball, all I could hear was the loud furious breathing of the Nudgee back line running at me with my life flashing before my eyes so I took my eye off the ball and looked at them which caused me to drop the ball and a Nudgee inside centre had a free run from half way score a try under the posts. My head dropped. I felt like I had failed the team because of a stupid mistake. Standing under the post for an unmissable conversion in front, all I could see was a heart broken team. Some of us tried to stay positive but for the majority it was almost over. The score was 10-9 to Nudgee with about three minutes to go. We had three minutes to get a point that would satisfy our whole schoolboy rugby career. It was possible. After battling with the victory thirsty team, it was hard but we wanted it more. I could see it in everyone's eyes. We were awarded a penalty on the half way line and had no choice but to have a shot or it was the end of the game. I took my usual steps and struck the ball as hard as I could. The kick was right on target and I cried out in victory, but the ball fell short into the hands of the opposition who failed to kick the ball out. Desperately trying to break through with no time left in the game, the Nudgee defence was too keen and was caught offside about 35metres out. It felt like God gave me a lifeline. As I placed the ball on the tee, my hands were shaking. The result of the game rested in my hands. I took a deep breath and pretended it was a kick that I had done thousands of times. After I struck the sweet spot of the ball I didn't look up from the ground, but from the gigantic roar I heard from the crowd I knew what had happened.

Analyzing Indian Transfer Pricing Regulations: a Case Study

International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 40 (2010)  © EuroJournals Publishing, Inc. 2010 http://www. eurojournals. com/finance. htm Analyzing Indian Transfer Pricing Regulations: A Case Study Monica Singhania Associate Professor, Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi, India E-mail: [email  protected] du Abstract The Indian Transfer Pricing regulations have been enacted with a view to provide a statutory framework which can lead to computation of reasonable, fair and equitable profit and tax in India so that the profits chargeable to tax in India do not get diverted elsewhere by altering the prices charged and paid in intra-group transactions leading to erosion of Indian tax revenue. Any income arising from an international transaction shall be computed having regard to the arm’s length price (ALP). The ALP shall be determined by any of the prescribed methods, being the most appropriate method. The present paper illustrates the practical aspects of the law regarding transfer pricing as it exists presently in India with the help of a case study. The relevant rules envisage determination of ALP by applying margins of each comparable company to the appropriate base of the enterprise. The regulations further provide that, where more than one price is determined by the most appropriate method, the ALP shall be taken to be the arithmetical mean of such prices. An alternative practical approach to arrive at such ALP is to compute the arithmetic mean of margins of comparable companies and apply the same to the appropriate base of the tested party to determine the ALP. The analysis shows that the mean GP/Sales of comparable companies is 33. 71% while that of the PQR India (i. e. , the tested party) is 44. 20% during the year ended March 31, 2009 indicating that the prices of international transaction of PQR India conform to the arm’s length standard prescribed under the Indian regulations. Further, under Category B, costs recharged by PQR Group to PQR India are included. All these costs represent actual amounts paid by PQR Group to independent third parties and are recovered from PQR India, on a cost-to-cost basis. Applying the comparable uncontrolled price method, these recharges conform to the arm’s length standard prescribed under the Indian regulations. However, there are some practical problems arising out of the applications of transfer pricing egulations, which need to be addressed by the tax administrators as early as possible. These issues include absence of advance pricing agreements (APA) mechanism in India, data limitations, extremely wide definition of associated enterprises in India, stringent penalties, difficulties encountered while conducting economic analysis/benchmarking and many more. Keywords: Transfer Pricing, Tax laws, International transactions, Arms length price 1. Introduction The Indian Transfer Pricing regulations have been enacted with a view to provide a regulatory framework which is capable of computing reasonable, fair and equitable profit and tax in India so that the profits chargeable to tax in India do not get diverted elsewhere by altering the prices charged and 204 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) paid in intra-group transactions leading to erosion of Indian tax revenue. Any income arising from an international transaction shall be computed having regard to the arm’s length price (ALP). The regulations on transfer pricing in India were clearly inevitable and long overdue. The regulations in their present form are a product of the findings of the Expert Group set up by the Government of India in November 1999 to study global transfer pricing practices and examine the need for such legislation in India. The Indian transfer pricing regulations applicable with effect from April 1, 2001 are largely based on the OECD guidelines. By manipulating a few book entries in the accounts books, multinational corporations are able to transfer huge profits with practically no actual change in the business process. For instance, X Ltd. manufactures ipods for $ 500 in China, but its US based subsidiary buys it for $ 599, and then sells it for $ 600. By doing this, the company’s taxable profit in the US is substantially decreased. At a 30 percent tax rate, the company’s tax liability in the US is only 30 cents (i. e. , 30% of $ 1) as compared to $30 (i. . , 30% of $ 100 which should have been the case). The large scale tax avoidance practices used by multinational corporations came into public notice when the drug giant MNE, GlaxoSmithKline, agreed to pay the US government $3. 4 billion to settle a long-running transfer pricing dispute over its tax dealings between the UK parent company and its American subsidiary. This was the largest settlement of a tax dispute in the US. Multinational corporations derive several benefits from transfer pricing. Since each country has different tax rates, they can increase their profits with the help of transfer pricing. By lowering prices in countries where tax rates are high and raising them in countries with a lower tax rate, such organizations can reduce their overall tax burden, thereby boosting their overall profits. Indeed one often finds that corporations located in high tax countries in fact pay very little corporate taxes. Transfer pricing features highly on the agenda of Indian tax authorities. The transfer pricing assessments relating to the first two years since the introduction of the Transfer Pricing regulations have seen incremental tax collections arising from transfer pricing adjustments in excess of US$ 800 million. The first round of transfer pricing audits in India of roughly 800 taxpayers resulted in 25% facing adjustments. The cumulative value of those adjustments aggregated US$ 300 million. In the following year, according to estimates, tax demands in excess of US$ 500 million were imposed as a result of upward adjustments. In this connection, the Indian tax authorities had initially set a very conservative threshold for audit INR 50 million (around USD 1 million) for the first four years. This threshold has been enhanced thrice with effect from the financial year 2005-06. The Indian tax authorities have also set up a specialized group for undertaking transfer pricing audits and have begun using confidential comparable data for audit purposes. Scrutiny of overall profitability as well as transactional level pricing during the course of transfer pricing audits is also frequently done. 2. Theoretical Framework The role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in world trade has increased dramatically over the last 20 years. This reflects the increased integration of national economies and technological progress. Intercompany transactions across borders are growing rapidly and are becoming much more complex. Compliance with the different requirements of multiple overlapping tax jurisdictions is a complicated and time-consuming task. At the same time, tax authorities from each jurisdiction impose stricter penalties, new documentation requirements, increased information exchange and increased audit or inspection activity. With a view to provide a detailed statutory framework which can lead to computation of reasonable, fair and equitable profits and tax in India, in the case of such multinational enterprises, the Finance Act, 2001 substituted the then existing section 92 with sections 92A to 92F in the Income-tax Act, 1961, relating to computation of income from an international transaction having regard to the arm's length price, meaning of associated enterprise, meaning of information and documents by persons entering into international transactions and definitions of certain expressions occurring in the said section (see Appendix I for summary of Indian Transfer Pricing Regulations). The essential International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) 205 documentation which needs to be maintained for complying with these provisions as also the penalties for default in compliance are given in Appendix I. As per the Indian Regulations, the comparable data to be used in anal yzing the comparability of an uncontrolled transaction with an international transaction should be the data relating to the financial year in which the international transaction has been entered into. However, data relating to a period not being more than two years prior to such financial year may also be considered if such data reveals facts, which could have an influence on the determination of the transfer price in relation to the transactions being compared. The Arm's length principle (ALP) aims at determining whether the parties to a transaction are independent and are on an equal footing. The OECD framework as per Article 9 of the OECD Model Tax Convention ensures that the transfer prices between companies of multinational enterprises are established on a market value basis, avoiding profits being systematically deviated to lowest tax countries. It provides the legal framework for governments to have their fair share of taxes, and for enterprises to avoid double taxation on their profits. The primary onus of proving the arm’s length character of a transaction lies with the taxpayer. If during assessment proceedings, the tax authorities, on the basis of material or information or documents in their possession, are of the opinion that the arm’s length price was not applied, or adequate and correct documents/ information/ data were not maintained/ produced, the total income may be recomputed accordingly after giving the taxpayer an opportunity of being heard. 3. Literature Review There are numerous studies relating to transfer pricing in transactions taking place in developed countries1. This is primarily due to, the detailed statistical information relating to intra-firm trade made available in most of the developed countries, stringent laws requiring greater transparency, etc. In comparison, the availability of intra-firm trade data in developing countries is highly inadequate2. In addition, there is no systematic attempt in developing countries, to collect and analyze relevant data in one information repository database leading to multiple uses of such or ganized information. This is the case even though such information may in many cases exist with different government organizations, legal and administrative authorities and private business organizations engaged in creation of such databases for commercial reasons. This disjointed effort to data collection leads to multiple problems in undertaking quality research studies. It also highlights complete lack of coordination between policies, procedures and their practical application. Also the lack of any government sponsored studies, like those in Colombo, Greece and Sri Lanka, may be the reason why not many transfer pricing studies are undertaken in such countries. In United Kingdom, the transfer pricing rules were formulated as early as in 1915 [(Payan and Wilkie (19933)]. However, there was little pressure on such rules until mid 1960s when the revival of international trade and investment following World War II began. As far as United States is concerned, even before the non-traditional methods of transfer pricing were added to section 482, Schindler and Henderson (1985)4 pointed out, â€Å"Inter-corporate transfer pricing under the scope of code section 482 is one of the most complex areas of international taxation. † The non-traditional methods further added to complexity. The OECD’s Transfer Pricing Guidelines (1995)5, based on guidelines first issued in 1979, 1. Lall S. 1973), â€Å"Transfer Pricing by Multinational Manufacturing Firms†, Oxford Bulletin of Economics & Statistics, Vol. 35(3), pp. 173-95. 2 Bhagwati J. N. (1974), â€Å"On the Under Invoicing of Imports, Fiscal Polices of the Faking of Foreign Trade De clarations of the Balance of Payments†, in Bhagwati (ed. ), Illegal Transactions in International Trade, North Holland Publishing Co. 3 Pagan, Jill C. and J. Scott Wilkie, (1993) â€Å"Transfer Pricing Strategy in a Global Economy†, Amsterdam: IBFD Publications. 4 Schindler, Geunter and David Henderson (1985),â€Å" Intercorporate Transfer Pricing: 1985 Survey of Section 482 Audits,† Tax Notes, Vol. 29, pp. 1171-77. 5 OECD (1995, as updated). Transfer Pricing Guidelines (Paris: OECD). 206 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) largely influence international practice with regard to transfer pricing. The Indian transfer pricing regulations, introduced in 2001, are to an extent modeled on the OECD guidelines. Li (2003)6 describes the methods of transfer pricing by way of an international comparison involving six countries namely, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada, United States and Singapore. Ring (2000)7 explains the methodology of undertaking Advance Pricing mechanisms whereby both the tax payers as well as tax administrators agree in advance on the methodology to be used to determine transfer prices in order to avoid unnecessary litigation. Lall (1979)8 highlights the need of a laid back attitude towards transfer pricing in developing countries so as to remain an attractive investment destination in the form of foreign direct investment. R. Murray [1981]9 studied the mechanism by which international tax avoidance is achieved. These mechanisms include general manipulations as well as specific manipulations to items in the profit and loss account and balance sheet. Baistrocchi (2004)10 explains the administrative inexperience of developing countries in implementing transfer pricing rules. Mo (2003)11 gives instances of manipulation of transfer prices and steps taken to combat it in China, India, Brazil and Mexico. UN Survey (1999)12 reveals that in developing countries about 61 per cent respondents felt that the domestic multinational enterprises were engaged in income shifting and 84 per cent believed that foreign enterprises were doing so. In addition, 70 per cent and 87 per cent, respectively, of these countries thought the problem to be significant. Newlon (2000)13 notes the tendency of MNCs to over report income in jurisdictions that impose heavy penalties. Mitchell (2004)14 treats worldwide taxation as a form of tax harmonization. According to his view, tax harmonization is categorically undesirable because â€Å"taxpayers are unable to benefit from better tax policy in other nations and governments are insulated from market discipline†. 4. PQR India: Case Study Design and Analysis Global Tax Consultants Pvt. Ltd. ave been engaged by PQR India to review the transfer pricing arrangements for international transactions with its associated enterprises during the year ended March 31, 2009 on the terms set out in the engagement letter. The objective of this paper is to establish whether the international transactions between PQR India and its associated enterprises adhere to the arm’s length principle, embodied in the Indian Transfer Pricing Regulations of the Indian Income-Tax Act, 1961(see Appendix I) and in addition look to the Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for further guidance in applying the arm’s length standard. 6 Li, Jinyan (2003), â€Å" International Taxation in the Age of Electronic Commerce†: A Comparative Study (Toronto: Canadian tax Foundation). 7 Ring, Diane M. (2000). â€Å"On the Frontier of Procedural Innovation: Advance Pricing Agreements and the Struggle to Allocate Income for Cross Border Taxation,† Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 21 (winter) pp. 143-234. 8 Lall, Sanjaya. (1979). â€Å"Transfer Pricing and Developing Countries: Some Problems of Investigation,† World Development, Vol. 7 Issue 1 (January), pp. 59-71. 9 Murray R. Editor (1981), â€Å"Multinationals Beyond the Market: Intra-firm Trade and the Control of Transfer Pricing†, London: Harvester Press Brighton, pp. 119-32. 10 Baistrocchi, Eduardo. (2004). The Arm's Length Standard in the 21st Century: A Proposal for both Developed and Developing Countries. † Tax Notes International, Vol. 36 No. 3 (October 18), pp. 241-255. 11 Mo, Phyllis Lai Lan. (2003); â€Å"Tax Avoidance an d Anti-avoidance Measures in Major Developing Economies† (Westport, Conn. : Praeger), pp. 207. 12 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (1999), Transfer Pricing. (New York). 13 Newlon, T. Scott. (2000). â€Å"Transfer Pricing and Income Shifting in Integrating Economies,† in Sijbren Cnossen, editor, Taxing Capital Income in the European Union: Issues and Options for Reform (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 214-42. 14 Mitchell, Daniel J. (2004). â€Å"The Economics of Tax Competition: Harmonization vs. Liberalization,† in 2004 Index of Economic Freedom, Marc Miles, et al. , editors, (Washington: Heritage Foundation), Chapter 2. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) 4. 1. Company Profile 207 PQR Group, USA deals in design, manufacture and marketing of the state of the art photocopier machines. In addition, it also offers document management solutions, one-to-one marketing expertise and efficiency management services for various organizations in the United States and internationally. PQR India is a wholly-owned subsidiary of PQR Group, USA. PQR India commences business of import and resale of photocopier machines imported from PQR Group during the financial year 200809. The development of the arm's length price in this analysis recognizes that PQR India is a distributor of photocopier machines in India and is exposed to ordinary risk profile associated with such class of businesses. PQR India, leverages on all the valuable intellectual property rights (knowhow, copyrights etc. ) and other commercial or marketing related intangibles (brand names, trademarks etc. ) owned by PQR Group. Based on the functional analysis, PQR India has relatively less complicated operations and as such bears relatively lesser share of risks and is accordingly selected as the tested party for the purpose of carrying out the economic analysis as part of determination of transfer price on the basis of arms length principle. 4. 2. Industry Overview As per the Indian Regulations (see Appendix 1), every person who has entered into an international transaction shall keep and maintain interalia, the information and documents giving a broad description of the industry in which the assessee operates. The Indian Regulations also prescribe that the comparability of an international transaction with an uncontrolled transaction shall be judged with reference to the conditions prevailing in the markets in which the respective parties to the transactions operate. Hence, for the purposes of the transfer pricing analysis a comprehensive overview of the industry is essential. Industry overview essentially consists of industry background, evolution of industry, characteristics of marketing, emerging industry trends, key drivers, key inhibitors and future outlook for the industry. 4. 3. Functional Analysis As per the Indian Regulations, every person who has entered into an international transaction shall keep and maintain inter alia, a description of the functions performed, risks assumed and assets employed or to be employed by the assessee and by the associated enterprises involved in the international transaction. A functional analysis enables mapping of the economically relevant facts and characteristics of transactions between associated enterprises with regard to their functions, assets and risks. Hence a functional analysis facilitates characterization of the associated enterprises and assists in establishing a degree of comparability with similar transactions in uncontrolled conditions. 4. 3. 1. Functions performed by PQR Group PQR Group, USA deals in design, manufacture and marketing of the state of the art photocopier machines. In addition, it also offers document management solutions, one-to-one marketing expertise and efficiency management services for various organizations in the United States and internationally. In addition, it has a massive research and development center. 4. 3. 2. Functions performed by PQR India PQR India is engaged in the business of import and resale of photocopier machines imported from PQR Group. To understand the functions performed by PQR India, it is important to have an overview of the transactions taking place, which are depicted below: Transactions classified as Category A: Import of finished goods by PQR India and thereafter wholesale distribution by PQR India 208 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) Transactions classified as Category B: Cos recharges are PQR Group from PQR India Functions performed by PQR India under Category A: PQR India, as a wholesale distributor performs a variety of functions including sales, marketing, after sales support, etc. Category B – Cost recharges: Under Category B transactions, cost-to-cost recharges on account of certain expenses incurred by PQR Group on behalf of PQR India are included. Assets employed: Any business requires assets (tangible or intangible) without which it cannot carry out its activities. Intangibles play a significant role in the functioning of a business and are accordingly more important. An understanding of the assets employed and owned by PQR India provides an insight into the resources deployed by PQR India and their contribution to the business processes/economic activities of PQR India. Tangibles owned by PQR India: It includes electrical installations, furniture and fixture, office equipments and computer hardware. Intangibles: PQR India being a relatively new company does not own any significant intangibles and does not undertake any significant research and development on its own account that leads to the development of non-routine intangibles. PQR India uses the trademarks, process, know-how, technical data, software, operating/quality standards etc. developed/owned by PQR Group. All companies of the group leverage from these intangibles for continued growth in revenues and profits. . 4. Overview of Inter-Company Transactions PQR India engages in the following inter-company transactions with its associated enterprises: Import of finished goods, import of spar e parts and consumables and cost recharges. The above transactions have been grouped together in two classes namely Category A and Category B which have been separately analyzed from a transfer pricing perspective. 4. 5. Selection of Tested Party The tested party is the participant in the controlled transaction whose profit attributable to the controlled transaction can be verified using the most reliable data and requiring the fewest and most reliable adjustments. In ost cases, the tested party is the least complex of the controlled taxpayers, that is, the taxpayer with the least amount of risk associated with its operations and without valuable intangibles or unique assets that may distinguish it from potential uncontrolled comparable companies. Based on the above, PQR India is clearly the tested party for purposes of this analysis. It does not own an interest in any of the valuable know-how, patents, brand names and trademarks owned by the PQR Group. PQR Group, on the other hand, may own valuable intellectual property rights including commercial and marketing intangibles. Therefore, the comparability adjustments that would be required if independent organizations were to be selected as tested parties, would be both substantial and unreliable. 4. 6. The Most Appropriate Method The ‘most appropriate method’ is that method which, under the facts and circumstances of the transaction under review, provides the most reliable measure of an arm’s length result. In determining the reliability of a method, the two most important factors that need to be taken into consideration are: (i) the degree of comparability between the controlled and uncontrolled transactions and (ii) the coverage and reliability of the available data. Because the selection of the â€Å"most appropriate method† involves a test of relative merit, a method that may not be perfect is not rejected unless some other method can be shown to be more reliable or clearly indicating to provide a better estimate of an arm's length result. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) 209 Selection of the Most Appropriate Method Comparable Uncontrolled Price Method (CUP): In practice, there are two types of comparable uncontrolled transactions. The first, known as an â€Å"internal comparable,† is a transaction between one of the parties to the controlled transaction and an unrelated third party. The second, known as an â€Å"external comparable,† is a transaction between two unrelated third parties. There are no internal CUPs available for all products imported by PQR India to benchmark its transactions under Category A. PQR India is engaged in import of finished goods and spares consumables for resale in India under Category A (all related to photocopier machines). However, PQR India does not purchase same/similar products from entities other than associated enterprises. Further, during the year, until the commencement of commercial operations by PQR India, overseas gr oup entities sold some similar products to a third party in India. The third party was a Tier-II distributor of PQR Group whereas PQR India acts as a Tier-I distributor. In this way due to unavailability of adequate data to make suitable adjustments to account for the aforesaid differences, it was considered inappropriate to use the third party as an internal comparable in the present case. Therefore, CUP method was not considered for the purpose of ascertaining an arm’s length price for the international transactions of PQR India under Category A. As for external comparables, it may be highlighted that the arm's length price as far as uncontrolled enterprises are concerned, is substantially dependent upon factors such as volume, contractual terms, location differences, etc. It may not be possible to estimate with reasonable reliability and accuracy, the combined effect of such factors on per unit prices in case of external comparables. Further, abstract factors such as use of intangibles make the use of CUP method difficult for benchmarking purposes. In view of the above, there are no external comparables available, which may be considered sufficiently appropriate to warrant the use of the CUP method for Category A transactions of PQR India. However, in case of transactions in the nature of costs recharges by PQR Group to PQR India, included under Category B, the third party cost reimbursed is a CUP for the reimbursement. Keeping in view the nature of transaction and the degree of comparability, CUP was considered as the most appropriate method for this class of transactions. Consequently other methods were not considered. Cost Plus Method (CPM) PQR India is a distributor. It imports the finished products, spares and consumables from the Group companies (all related to photocopier machines) and resells them in the domestic market. In this way, in this case PQR India carries out the function of a pure reseller. Since RPM is most appropriate in cases involving the purchase and resale of tangible goods, this method was considered as the most appropriate method for deriving the arm’s length price of PQR India under Category A. The application of CPM is ordinarily appropriate in two situations, the provision of services to a related party and the manufacture of tangible goods that are sold to a related party. PQR India on the other hand, operates as a distributor under Category A. Accordingly, CPM was not considered as the most appropriate method for deriving the arm’s length price for Category A transactions of PQR India. Profit Split Method (PSM): PSM is typically applied where each party to the transaction under evaluation has significant intangible assets and/or the operations of the parties to the transaction are highly integrated and cannot be evaluated on a separate basis. Also, in general, the PSM relies primarily on the internal data and assumptions pertaining to each party to the controlled transaction instead of relying on comparable uncontrolled transactions as market benchmarks, thus making the use of the PSM ordinarily less reliable than the other methods. PQR India does not own any non-routine intangibles and further the operations of PQR India can be independently evaluated. Therefore, PSM was not considered as the most appropriate method for deriving the arm’s length price of PQR India’s international transactions under Category A. Transactional Net Margin Method (TNMM) Net profits may however, be influenced by some factors that either do not have an effect or have less substantial or direct effect on gross margins. Such factors in the case of PQR India include several 210 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) extraneous factors which have been in the later write up. The losses made by the Company at the operating level, in the current financial year, is a result of these factors. The reasons for loss at operating level under Category A were: a) First year of operations and b) Acquisition of mailing business. These additional expenses incurred by the company during the year adversely impacted its profitability at the operating level. However, these expenses were necessary business expenses which had to be incurred in the first year of operations. Given the aforementioned state of affairs, in order to ensure fair comparison of the operating profitability of the company with comparable companies in the industry, one would need to make suitable economic adjustments to appropriately take into account the impact of the aforesaid acquisition of new business by the company. Conclusions of the Most Appropriate Method After reviewing all of the transfer pricing methods, we recommend given the fact and circumstances, the RPM provides the most reliable measure of an arm’s length result for Category A transactions of PQR India. CUP has been selected as the most appropriate method for the international transactions undertaken by PQR India under Category B. 4. 7. Search for Uncontrolled Comparables Databases: The two most popular and widely recognized corporate databases (i. e. , Powers & Capitaline) to identify potential uncontrolled comparables for PQR India transactions under Category A. The primarily focus was on Prowess and additional companies were considered Capitaline Plus, i. e. , companies for which data was not available in the Prowess database. Selection of time period: As per the Indian Regulations, the data to be used in analyzing the comparability of an uncontrolled transaction with an international transaction shall be the data relating to the financial year in which the international transaction has been entered into. However, data relating to a period not being more than two years prior to such financial year may also be considered if such data reveals facts which could have an influence on the determination of the transfer price in relation to the transactions being compared. The present analysis involves data analysis of companies from both databases only if they had relevant financial data for at least two out of the three financial years ending during the period April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2009. This has been done in order to eliminate, to the maximum extent possible, any variance in results caused by short-term differences in business cycles, product life cycles or business strategies of individual companies. Search Process Our comparable search strategy identified Indian independent distributors whose functions, assets and risks were broadly comparable to those of PQR India under Category A. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) Search from Prowess Criteria for selection Total number of companies whose information is available on Prowess as on March 31, 2009 Number of companies having positive sales and ratio of sales trading to sales of more than 40% over the relevant time period under consideration were selected so as to capture all possible traders available in Prowess Number of companies herein sales trading as a percentage of sales was higher than 75% were short listed, in order to eliminate companies that were primarily not engaged in trading activity Selection of only those companies with a positive net worth Qualitative Analysis, to eliminate companies operating in industries other than electronics, electrical machinery and miscellaneous distributors and to eliminate controlled/controlling companies 211 No. of Companies achieving the criterion 12,994 1,050 565 496 5 Search from Capitaline Plus Criteria for selection Total number of companies whose information is available on Capitaline Plus as on March 31, 2009 Identified additional companies with positive sales over the time period under consideration were selected i. e. companies for which information was primarily not available in Prowess database Selected companies classified in the ‘Electronics’, ‘Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles’, ‘Electrical machinery other than electronics’ and ‘Non-electrical machinery’ industries Selection of only those companies with a positive net worth Qualitative An alysis, to eliminate companies not engaged in trading activities in the same/ similar industry segment and to eliminate controlled/controlling companies. No. of companies achieving the criterion 8,160 1,650 228 86 2 Finally, at the end of the above described search process from both the databases, we were left with 7 comparable companies for benchmarking Category A transactions of PQR India. 4. 8. Choice of a Profit Level Indicator (PLI) The application of RPM requires the selection of an appropriate Profit Level Indicator (PLI). The PLI measures the relationship between (i) profits and (ii) either costs incurred, revenues earned, or assets employed. A variety of PLIs can be used. Factors relevant to the selection of the appropriate profit level indicator include the reliability of the available data and the extent to which the profit level indictor takes into account costs that would be considered by independent parties. Gross Profit Margin is the ratio of Gross Profit to Sales (GP/Sales) and was selected to reliably measure the income of PQR India that it would have earned had it dealt with uncontrolled parties at arm’s length under Category A. 4. 9. Determination of Arm’s Length Results The Indian Regulations require that the Arm’s Length Price (ALP) in relation to an international transaction shall be determined by any of the prescribed methods (CUP, RPM, CPM, TNMM and PSM), being the most appropriate method. All methods other than CUP are methods that enable determination of ALP on the basis of respective margins earned by comparable uncontrolled companies. The relevant rules envisage determination of ALP by applying margins of each comparable company to the appropriate base of the enterprise. The regulations further provide that, where more than one price is determined by the most 212 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) ppropriate method, the ALP shall be taken to be the arithmetical mean of such prices. An alternative practical approach to arrive at such ALP could be to compute the arithmetic mean of margins of comparable companies and apply the same to the appropria te base of PQR India to determine the ALP. Arm’s Length Results S. No. 1 2 3 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Name of the Company X1 India Ltd. X2 India Ltd. X3 India Ltd. X4 India Ltd. X5 India Ltd. X6 India Ltd. X7 India Ltd. Mean Median Upper Quartile Lower Quartile Data Source Prowess Prowess Prowess Prowess Prowess Capitaline Plus Capitaline Plus GP/Sales (%) 30. 00 40. 00 35. 00 28. 00 22. 00 45. 0 36. 00 33. 71 35 38. 00 29. 00 The above analysis shows that the mean GP/Sales of comparable companies under Category A is 33. 71%. Hence, prices of international transactions of PQR India under Category A, that achieve GP/Sales of 33. 71% or more would conform to the arm’s length standard prescribed under the Indian regulations. The financial results of PQR India indicate that the company has GP/Sales of 44. 20% during the year ended March 31, 2009. For Category A transactions, GP/Sales of PQR India are higher than the mean GP/Sales of comparable companies. Further, under Ca tegory B, costs recharged by PQR Group to PQR India are included. All these costs represent actual amounts paid by PQR Group to independent third parties and are recovered from PQR India, on a cost-to-cost basis. Applying the CUP method, these recharges conform to the arm’s length standard prescribed under the Indian regulations. The above analysis provides evidence that both the pricing basis itself of international transactions of PQR India during the financial year 2008-09 and the outcome of the pricing i. e. , the profitability were in accordance with the ‘Arm’s Length’ standard prescribed under the Indian Transfer Pricing Regulations. 5. Summary and Recommendations The regulations on transfer pricing in India were indeed inevitable and long overdue. The case study of PQR India clearly demonstrates the computation procedure required to be followed for scientifically determining the arm’s length price as per the provisions of transfer pricing in India. The analysis shows that the mean GP/Sales of comparable companies is 33. 71% while that of the PQR India (i. e. , the tested party) is 44. 20% during the year ended March 31, 2009 indicating that the prices of international transaction of PQR India conform to the arm’s length standard prescribed under the Indian regulations. Further, under Category B, costs recharged by PQR Group to PQR India are included. All these costs represent actual amounts paid by PQR Group to independent third parties and are recovered from PQR India, on a cost-to-cost basis. Applying the comparable uncontrolled price method, these recharges conform to the arm’s length standard prescribed under the Indian regulations. However, there are some practical problems arising out of the applications of transfer pricing regulations, which need to be addressed by the tax administrators as early as possible. These issues include absence of advance pricing agreements (APA) mechanism in India, data limitations, extremely wide definition of associated enterprises in India, stringent penalties, difficulties encountered while conducting economic analysis/benchmarking and many more. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) 213 References [1] Baistrocchi, Eduardo. (2004). The Arm's Length Standard in the 21st Century: A Proposal for both Developed and Developing Countries. † Tax Notes International, Vol. 36 No. 3 (October 18), pp. 241-255. Bhagwati J. N. (1974), â€Å"On the Under Invoicing of Imports, Fiscal Polices of the Faking of Foreign Trade Declarations of the Balance of Payments†, in Bhagwati (ed. ), Illegal Transactions in International Trade, North Holland Publishing Co. Lall S. (1973), â€Å"Transfer Pricing by Multinational Manufacturing Firms†, Oxford Bulletin of Economics & Statistics, Vol. 35(3) pp. 173-95. Lall, Sanjaya. (1979). â€Å"Transfer Pricing and Developing Countries: Some Problems of Investigation,† World Development, Vol. Issue 1 (January), pp. 59-71. Li, Jinyan (2003), â€Å"International Taxation in the Age of Electronic Commerce†: A Comparative Study, Toronto: Canadian tax Foundation. Mo, Phyllis Lai Lan. (2003), â€Å"Tax Avoidance and Anti-avoidance Measures in Major Developing Economies†, Westport, Conn. : Praeger, pp. 207. Mitchell, Daniel J. (2004), â€Å"The Economics of Tax Competition: Harmonization vs. Liberalization,† in 2004 Index of Economic Freedom, Marc Miles, et al. , editors, Washington: Heritage Foundation, Cha pter 2. Murray R. Editor (1981), â€Å"Multinationals Beyond the Market: Intra-firm Trade and the Control of Transfer Pricing†, London: Harvester Press Brighton, pp. 119-32. Newlon, T. Scott. (2000), â€Å"Transfer Pricing and Income Shifting in Integrating Economies,† in Sijbren Cnossen, editor, Taxing Capital Income in the European Union: Issues and Options for Reform (Oxford: Oxford University Press), pp. 214-42. OECD (1995, as updated). Transfer Pricing Guidelines (Paris: OECD). Pagan, Jill C. and J. Scott Wilkie (1993), â€Å"Transfer Pricing Strategy in a Global Economy†, Amsterdam: IBFD Publications. Ring, Diane M. (2000). â€Å"On the Frontier of Procedural Innovation: Advance Pricing Agreements and the struggle to allocate Income for Cross Border Taxation†, Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 21 (winter), pp. 143-234. Schindler, Geunter and David Henderson (1985), â€Å"Inter corporate Transfer Pricing: 1985 Survey of Section 482 Audits,† Tax Notes, Vol. 29, pp. 1171-77. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (1999). Transfer Pricing (New York). [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] 214 International Research Journal of Finance and Economics – Issue 40 (2010) Appendix I Indian Transfer Pricing Regulations Legal Position: The Finance Act 2001 introduced with effect from assessment year 2002-2003, detailed Transfer Pricing regulations vide section 92 to 92F of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has come out with Transfer Pricing Rules – Rule 10A to Rule 10E. Applicability: Transfer pricing provisions are applicable based on fulfillment of two conditions: Firstly, there must be an international transaction. Secondly, such an international transaction must be between two or more associated enterprises, either or both of whom are non-residents. Pricing Method permitted: Arm's Length Price is to be determined by adopting any one of the following methods, being the most appropriate method: Comparable Uncontrolled Price method, Resale Price Method, Cost Plus Method, Profit Split Method, Transaction Net Margin Method, or any other method prescribed by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Documentation/Return: 13 different types of documents are required to be maintained. These include – 1) Enterprise-wise documents:-Description of the enterprise, relationship with other associated enterprises, nature of business carried out. 2) Transaction-specific documents:-Information regarding each transaction, description of the functions performed, assets employed and risks assumed by each party to the transaction, Economic & Market Analysis etc. 3) Computation related documents:-Describe in details the method considered, actual working assumptions, policies etc. , adjustment made to transfer price, any other relevant information, data, documents relied for determination of arm's Length price etc. A report from a Chartered Accountant in the prescribed form giving details of transactions is required to be submitted within a specific time limit. Penalty: Penalty for concealment of income or furnishing inaccurate particulars thereof100% to 300% of the tax sought to be evaded. Penalty for failure to keep and maintain information and documents in respect of International transaction2% of the value of each international transaction Penalty for failure to furnish report under section 92E- Rs. 1,00,000. OECD Guideline: No reference to OECD guidelines under Indian Transfer Pricing regulations No provisions regarding Advance Pricing Agreements Advance Pricing Agreement: under Indian law as of now Government web-link: www. incometaxindia. gov. in Source: OECD Transfer Pricing Country Profilehttp://www. oecd. org/dataoecd/9/4/42236399. pdf