Dengue in Brazil, Situation, transmission and control Research Paper

Dengue in Brazil, Situation, transmission and control - Research Paper Example The first reported incidences of dengue in Brazil were in 1923 in Sà £o Paulo and Niteroi in which 11000 people were infected. DENV-1 and DENV-4 were the strains reported, both of which came from the Caribbean and South America over the Venezuelan border (Teixeira, 2008). The Ae aegypti virus was new in Brazil hence was quickly eliminated. DENV1 reappeared in 1986 in Nova Iguaà §u and spread rapidly, with 35000 and 60000 reported incidences in 1986 and 19887 respectively (Marzochi, 1994). DENV-2 came about in Rio de Janeiro and Nova Iguaà §u, where 462 cases and eight deaths took place. Aedes aegypti extended the spread of DENV1 and DENV-2 all over Brazil. DENV-3 serotype was responsible for the 2001 outbreak of dengue in Brazil, with 800000 cases reported. In 2008, 700000 infections and 45000 hospitalizations were reported. Since 1990 to 2008, lethality of 7.4% has occurred due to dengue. Children are the most affected by dengue in Brazil as of 2008 (Teixeira & Barreto, 2008). Preventing and controlling the spread of dengue is a nightmare because of lack of a reliable vaccine and the high competence of the dengue viruses. Ae. aegypti especially is adapted to breeding in highly populated areas and is, therefore, hard to eliminate. Wet tropical conditions also aid these mosquitoes to breed. The control of dengue also involves means that are harmful to the environment since the insecticides used are poisonous, and there are insufficient funds to carry this task (Marzochi, 1994). America stressed on controlling the spread of dengue rather than its elimination since the latter was proving impossible. However, dengue has still been a problem because its strains can spread even in places with fewer vectors. Two projects have been carried out to control it spread but both proved futile due to financial and political limitations. To control its spread, Brazilians have been educated about it through corporate events (Dione &

Special Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Special Education - Essay Example The parents of these children have conflicting needs, because one group of parents offers the view that their children are not being included in the mainstream and are thus being treated as pariahs, while the other half feels that the disabilities of their children are not being given an adequate amount of attention. The following ten questions are posed, which are addressed in the context of the literature review that follows. These questions are answered below under the following section titled â€Å"Literature Review.† The major source of this information is an assessment through a literature review or an examination of the views of experts, which is then assessed in the context of the researcher’s observations at the school, based upon conversations and interviews with parents, students and teachers. â€Å"†¦..everyone belongs and is accepted and is supported by his or her peers and other members of the school community in the course of having his or her educational needs met.† Inclusive education is therefore based on the premise that each individual is unique and valued and does belong within the general community, whether disabled or not. Bateman and Bateman (2002) have pointed out that inclusion as such, means that all students will be taught within the general education classroom and will be pulled out of that classroom to be taught in an outside classroom only in the event that all other available methods have been tried with the students and have failed to meet their needs. Moreover, such outside classrooms are viewed as a strictly temporary measure and the focus of educator efforts is to get the child back into the general education classroom as soon as possible. In reference to the state of Florida, Manten (2003) reports that the majority of schools have participated in the All Students All Schools (ASAS) five year program that is targeted to achieve higher degrees of inclusion of disabled students in mainstream schools, with

Performance Audit of China

Performance Audit of China Performance Audit China EMPIRICAL REVIEW OF PERFORMANCE AUDIT IN CHINA AND DEVELOPED WESTERN COUNTRIES AND MEASURES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF PERFOMORNACE AUDITING WORK IN CHINA INTRODUCTION OF THE DISSERTATION The performance audit is a recent expansion in audit scope within these 30 years. Now it is one of the most important and flourishing areas for government audit work in China. The aim of this dissertation is to give a holistic and comparative review on the rising and development of performance audit in Western Countries and China, study the challenges faced by audit institutions in China, and give recommendations and suggestions to audit institutions in the development of performance audit from a scientific and development point of view. This dissertation has five parts: The first chapter will begin with the rising of performance audit in Western Countries and the definition coined by International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (hereinafter referred as INTOSAI). A comparison with performance evaluation or performance monitor will be made, and the relationship between performance audit and other forms of audit, such as financial audit, environmental audit and management audit will also be reviewed. In the second part, it will give a holistic view of the performance audit in China National Audit Office (hereinafter referred as CNAO) and audit institutions at all other levels, from the rising of performance audit in China, to legal mandate, to the audit objects and areas which covered, to the audit focus of performance audit. In the third chapter, the current status of performance audit in UK, USA, Canada and Sweden will be scanned. The legal mandate given, the audit areas covered, audit methods employed, the resource allocation will be reviewed and compared. The advanced experience in the performance audit area will be concluded. Chapter 4 of this essay is an investigation of the challenges faced by government audit in China in performance auditing. The risks in political system and macroeconomic environment will be discussed. The interior flaws such as the lack of competences of auditors, the shortage of standard or guidelines will also be talked about. In the last chapter, suggestions and recommendations in how to improve performance audit in the context of current China will be given from both the macro and micro aspects. The Desk study based on a review of the literature is deployed. A large number of books and articles about performance audit manuals, annual reports and handbooks produced by SAIs of some developed countries and China will be categorized and analyzed. INTRODUCTION OF PERFORMANCE AUDIT The Rising of Performance Audit in Western Countries As one of the oldest and venerable state functions, audit has a history of thousand years. However, the performance audit has risen and become a large scale and self-consciously distinct practice within the latest thirty years. It is a modern, challenging and fascinating form of audit, and is treated as a separate and professional activity that requires specialized skills and standards. Over almost exactly the same period as performance audit has emerged as a distinct variant of audit, the government of developed countries, such as Western Europe, United States of American, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom, have embarked upon series of public management reforms, which is so called ‘New Public Management’. ‘Most of the public management reform initiatives emphasized a shift from control of imputes and processes to the new form s of control based on the measurement of outputs and outcomes.’ (Christopher Pollitt et al, Performance or Compliance, P195). Previously, the administrative system emphasized on the correct allocation of public finances to appropriate budget lines, the compliance of the use of resources, and conformity of actions with prescribed procedures. The new approaches aimed at modernizing and streamlining the public management process, and giving more flexibility in respect of inputs. Although the details of the reform programs differed from one country to another, most of them highlights on: firstly, increasing the productivity of public services, i.e., raising efficiency; secondly, the convenience and preferences of its users; thirdly, the transparency of public services, which is assumed as a feature of democratic governance. Both singly and collectively, these new attributes considerably changed the ways in which public management system has been run in the past. To adapt to the new system, the major priority of monitoring and control was shifted from the values of economy towards the value of efficiency and effectiveness and emphasized more on the monitoring and evaluation of outputs and outcomes. The auditors should not only stress on the ‘three Es’ (economy, efficiency, and effectiveness), but also using creative methodology to access to responsiveness and user satisfaction by directly consulting them. They should also devote to the safeguarding of public accountability and assurance. Due to the diversity in mandate and scope of the audit, in the United States, this new form of audit is called ‘performance audit’, while in the United Kingdom, it is labeled as ‘value for money audit’ (VFM audit). ‘Comprehensive audit’ is what is called in Canada. Definition of Performance Audit This definition can be provided in many ways. It can be given by clarifying the distinction between performance audit and other related forms of audit, or by mandates and organizational framework which define the performance audit work done, or simply by describing what different SAIs do when they say they are conducting performance audit. The most widely accepted definition is the one coined by INTOSAI: ‘The full scope of government auditing includes regularity and performance audit’, and ‘Performance auditing is concerned with the audit of economy, efficiency and effectiveness and embraces: (a) Audit of the economy of administrative activities in accordance with sound administrative principles and practices, and management policies; (b) Audit of the efficiency of utilization of human, financial and other resources, including examination of information systems, performance measures and monitoring arrangements, and procedures followed by audited entities for remedying identified deficiencies; and (c) Audit of the effectiveness of performance in relation to achievement of the objectiveness of the audited entity, and audit of the actual impact of activities compared with the intended impact’. (INTOSAI’s Auditing Standards, 1.0.38 and 1.0.40) Within this definition, not only ‘three Es’, but also ‘sound administrative principles’, ‘good management’ are referred as criteria for judgment. In the definition given by the Australian National Audit Office, ‘legislative and policy compliance’ is also been taken as one of the consideration for performance audit. In the Auditing standard of The Government Accountability Office, which was revised in 2007, performance audit objectives may vary widely and include assessments of program effectiveness, economy, and efficiency; internal control; compliance; and prospective analyses. As described in the Performance audit manual of Office of Audit General of Canada, the scope includes not only the examination of three Es, but also environmental effects of government activities, procedures to measure effectiveness, accountability relationships, protection of public assets and compliance with authorities. The Relationship between Performance Audit and Regularity Audit In accordance with the INTOSAI auditing standards, ‘the full scope of the government audit includes regularity and performance audit’. The regularity audit emphasizes on attestation of financial accountability and probity and propriety of administrative decisions. Its core activity is to verify information, whereas the major task of the performance audit is inspection and evaluation of the government programs and organizations. For some countries, performance audit differed from the traditional audit in the way they are managed: the traditional audit is usually carried out in a standardized way as a repeated annual cycle of ‘checking the books ’, performance audit, on the contrary, is organized as serial of individually tailored projects varied in their scope, length and focus. The Performance audit is an independent examination made on a non-recurring basis. Specialized skills, separate standards, special planning, and special reports are required. Another difference between the two types of audit is the extent of standardization. The Performance audit, in comparison to financial audit, has a lower level of standardization in terms of both auditing methods and contents. Within its legal mandate, performance audit must be free to examine all government activities from different perspectives. Thus, the performance audit is more flexible in the choice of subjects, audit objects, audit methodology and making recommendations. Moreover, in financial audits, auditors will tend to judge the transactions being ‘correct ‘or ‘incorrect’, ‘legal’ or ‘illegal’, so the criteria the auditors used is relatively clear and fixed. However, for performance audits, the criteria is chosen is normally open and sometimes, formulated by auditors. In spite of above mentioned differences, in audit practices, the line between these two types of audit is not always clear. For instance, the audit of a financial management system can be both a process in traditional audit and performance audit. Practical examples from some SAIs also show the same result. Comparing Performance Audit with Performance Evaluation Both performance evaluation and performance audit are viewed closely related as external forms of analysis and assessment of the programs or organizations. Performance evaluation is a systematic study of how well a program or policy is working and what can be done to improve its results. It is typically commissioned for the purposes defined by the commissioners to provide in a program management cycle. In recent years, the program or policy evaluation is deemed as an important work for a SAI under a general heading of the performance audit, according to the study result of a working group on program evaluation, ‘it seeks to analyze the relationship between the objectives, resources, and results of a policy or program.’ GAO of the US defined four common types of program evaluations in performance audit, which are process evaluation, outcome evaluation, impact evaluation and cost –benefit cost- effectiveness evaluations. PERFORMANCE AUDIT IN CHINA History of Government Audit in China The auditing supervision system in China can be traced to the beginning days of the dynasties. As early as Western Zhou Dynasty, about 3,000 years from now, an official position named as Zaifu was established with the function of performing audit duties and regarded as a rudimentary form of auditing in China. In modern China, after the 59 years after the founding of People’s Republic of China, the audit work in China went through two different stages. First stage was from 1949 to 1982. No formal and independent audit institutions were established in the first 30 years. The supervision of state financial revenues and expenditures was mainly conducted by internal supervisory bodies of Departments of Public Finance. During that period, the central government and some local governments set up audit institutions within the financial departments and assigned audit personnel to carry out the audit work. However, it was not long that the financial inspection institutions. The second stage started with the provision of formal audit supervision since 1983. The full scale implementation of reform and open-up policy called for efforts to strengthen the supervision on financial administration, establish and improve economic supervision mechanisms. In December 1982, the 5th Plenary Session of the 5th National People’s Congress adopted the resolution to introduce an auditing system in China. The new Constitution made a general provision for the role, mandate, basic principle and administrative system for the audit work. In September 1983, the National Audit Office of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the CNAO) was established. Local governments at all levels above county level also set up their local audit institutions in succession. The Audit Law of the People’s Republic of China was formally promulgated in August 1994, which was an important milestone in the audit legal system building. An audit supervision system with Chinese characteristics was built up. Since the establishment of the audit institutions, audit supervision made great contribution to the rigorous enforcement of financial and economic disciplines and has played an irreplaceable role in facilitating healthy development of the national economy, promoting the building of a clean government. As the supreme audit institution of China, the CNAO is a department of the government and directly under the leadership of the Premier. ‘Its main duty is to formulate the audit strategy, organize and administer audit work nationwide and reports its work to the State Council. Local audit institutions, under the dual leadership of the administrative heads of their corresponding level governments and the audit institutions at their next higher levels, organize and manage the audit work within their jurisdiction. Their audit work is mainly under the direction of audit institutions at the next higher levels, and they are legally required to report to their corresponding level governments as well as the next higher level audit institutions in keeping with the principle that independence is an indispensable feature of a successful audit.’ Audit directly conducted by the CNAO covers the following areas: (Audit Law, Article 18 to 25) ‘ Under the leadership of the Premier of the State Council, exercise supervision through auditing over the implementation of the budget of the Central Government as well as other revenues and expenditures, and submit audit reports thereof to the Premier; Revenues and expenditures of the Central Bank, assets, liabilities, profits and losses of central monetary institutions; Carrying out audit supervision over the financial revenues and expenditures of public institutions of the State and other public organizations using fiscal capital Revenues and expenditures of central government owned enterprises and enterprises where state assets dominate or predominate; Revenues and expenditures related to funds managed by relevant departments of the State Council; Revenues and expenditures of projects with loans and assistance from international organizations and foreign governments. ’ During the past 25 years, audit work in China has made great strides forward and scored remarkable achievements. Audit supervision has become an important and indispensable part of the national supervision system. The social impact of audit is becoming steadily stronger. The Rising of Performance Audit in China Vigorously launching performance audit is an important task set by both the Strategic Plan of the Development of Audit Work for 2003 to 2007 and the one for 2006 to 2010. It is a major move for audit institutions to implement the scientific outlook on development, to comprehensively perform their duties in accordance with law, and to vigorously push forward the building of resource-saving- type society, as a response to the summon of the central government. In the history of the CNAO, finding problems of violation of laws and regulations and of embezzlement and corruption is always considered the most important role. However, with the development of social economy and democracy, there is another problem worthy of notice. That is low value for the use of funds and losses and wastes, due to faulty decisions and maladministration .This kind of problem does not often attract too much of the people’s attention. But, in fact, it would bring about much more serious harm than embezzlement and corruption. Take ‘Image Project’ for example, the construction of project would take up a large amount of Funds of public finance, and yet, it is unable able to bring about benefit to the lives of the ordinary people and it also in no way plays a role in accelerating the economic constructions across the whole nation. Actually, it is just a kind of waste of resource According to the statistics of IMF (World Economic Outlook Database, International Monetary Fund, April 2008), until the end of 2007, GDP per capita of China has reached US$2,360. Moreover, in the most vigorous economy developments area, east provinces in China, GDP per capita has reached US$6000, which means this area had crossed the threshold of initial stage of modernization. From the historical perspective of the development of international government audit, US$3,000 GDP per capita represents the stage of rapid development of performance audit practices in the advanced west countries, such as Sweden, United Kingdom, during the 60 to 70s of the 20th century. Such a period is also a time prone to social contradictions and problems and in particular, a crucial time characterized by quick changes in the form of economic growth in the economic system and speedy social reconstruction. The Chinese government is making great efforts in self-improvement and strength public administration. Accountability and performance are the key elements and areas of the concern in the concept of modern public administration. It has been aware that the work and accomplishments of the government still fall somewhat short of what circumstances require and the people expect. The functions of government have not been completely transformed and public administration and public services are still weak. Some government departments have been overlapping responsibilities, their powers and responsibilities are not well matched, some try to shirk their responsibilities, and their performance is poor. The problems of formalism and bureaucratic behavior are fairly common, and fraud, extravagance and waste are quite serious. Oversight mechanisms and checks on government authority are not strongly expected. Performance audit is also the inevitable necessary outcome in the promotion of democracy and the rule of law. The citizens are more and more concerning the public administration issues, and paying more attention on the transparent and efficiency on the use of public fund. As an independent oversight institution, the CNAO was attached with great importance on the supervision of the shifting of government functions to a more energetic public management and social services, and the gradual transformation of the government from the traditional mode characterized by managing everything by itself, to a government with limited functions, which is more transparent and accountable and service-oriented. Current Status of Performance Audit in China The Article 1 of Audit Law, which came into effect on 1 June 2006,gave the legal authority of audit institutions for the implementing of performance audit. It says ‘Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution, with a view to strengthening State supervision through auditing, maintaining the fiscal and economic order of the country, improving the efficiency in the use of government funds, promoting the building of a clean government and ensuring the sound development of the national economy and society.’ (Audit Law, Article 1) However, even before the promulgation of the new amended audit law, the performance audit practices have existed in China since the beginning of 90s of twentieth century: The first stage is from the beginning of 90s to the middle of it. During that time of period, the performance audit was mainly carried out for the performance outcomes of state- owned enterprises. According to statistics, in 1984, the very next year the audit insinuations at all levels were formed, during the process of traditional financial audits for 1263 enterprise, economy and efficiency of these enterprises draw attention of the auditors. Among the financial impact of the auditing findings of 3 billion RMB Yuan, nearly 1 billion was caused by the less economic and efficient use of funds. It was stated in the Annual National Audit Work meeting in 1991 that ‘audit institutions at all levels should identify some large- or medium- sized stated-owned enterprises as regular auditees. The audit scopes not only include the truth and fairness of financial revenues and expenditures, but also extend to the test of internal control and performance outcomes. Proper audit evaluation should be made to improve the economic efficiency’ (The Memo of Annual National Audit Work Meeting, 1991). Statistics show that during the ten years after the formation of CNAO, the total financial impact of the performance audit to these state- owned enterprises totaled to 21.1 billion RMB Yuan. From the middle of 90s, the performance audit in China turned to a brand new stage. At this stage, the audit scope shifted from the state-owned enterprises to the major investment projects funded by the government. The emphasis of the audits is put on the economic benefits to the efficiency and effectiveness of these projects. During this time, the performance audit practices were conducted during the audit of major investment projects such as the project of Conversion of Farmland to Forest, the Fund Use of Migration in Three Gorges Reservoir Area, and the Construction of Airports. With the implementation of performance audit methodology, it was not only the problems but also the root causes of these problems were revealed, which had a profound impact in the society. The criteria on the selection of audit topics are: The projects which are heavily invested by the government and great attention were paid by the national congress and the taxpayers. The availability of the resources in terms of the competences of auditors and budget; The timeliness which are closely relevant to the current public administration reform. As well, audit institutions, in accordance with the relevant regulations of the State, carry out supervision through auditing the principal leading persons of government departments and of other units as to compliance about the financial revenues, expenditures and the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of relevant economic activities of their districts during their terms of office. This is a type of comprehensive audit which integrates the compliance and performance audit. From January to November of 2007, the total input in terms of human resources in audit institutions at all levels had amounted to one quarter of the total, which is ten percent higher than the same period of last year. Among the 30 audit projects launched by the CNAO, half of them were performance audit projects, which covered the major infrastructure investments at a national level such as South-to-north Water Transfer Projects, special funds on Disaster Rescue, and projects financed by foreign governments and international agencies. Besides, Performance evaluation is also integrated in the traditional audit areas, such as budget implementation audit. Hereby, the volume of performance audit work amounted to two thirds of the total of the CNAO, also showed a ten percent rise in comparison to 2006. (The Memo of Annual National Audit Work Meeting, 2008) The focuses of these performance audit projects are not only to disclose the improper policy decisions, the waste in public expenditures and infrastructure projects, but also to reveal the details in information security, the quality of constructions, environmental and ecological protections. Only within the 11 months from January to November in 2007, the financial impact on waste amounted to 27.1 billion RMB Yuan, and accordingly the investment on construction was reduced by 29.1 billion RMB Yuan. CURRENT SITUATION OF PERFORMANCE AUDIT IN UK, USA, CANADA AND SWEDEN With the intent of giving a picture of the performance audit framework of the above four countries and making a comparison with Chinese National Audit Office, the performance audit mandates, the audit scope, the resources employed and the audit criteria deployed of and by these SAIs will be investigated in this part. Performance Audit in UK The National Audit Office (NAO) of United Kingdom has existed in its present form since 1983, but the public audit function in United Kingdom central government has a much longer history and used to be taken by the former Exchequer and Audit Department. NAO is independent from the government and works on behalf of the Parliament and the taxpayers to hold government to account for the utilization of public funds, provide independent analysis and assurance to Parliament and to help to improve public services performance. In UK, a value for money examination is defined as ‘the assessment of performance, identifies good practice and recommends improvements to economy (keeping costs down), efficiency (getting more output for what is spent) and effectiveness (delivering the desired results)’( Annual Report of NAO, 2008, P10), that is ‘3 E’ audit. Performance audit practice has a long history under the instruction of the Parliament, especially, the Committee of Public Accounts, however, until 1983, no statutory authority was given to this new type of audit. In 1983, performance audit has been established as a distinct form of audit through National Audit Law, which gave a new foundation for the new National Audit Office’s value for money audits. The major value for money reports produced by NAO focuses on how specific government projects, programmes and activities have been implemented. They examine the way policies have been put into effect and assess whether that represents value for money for the taxpayer. Just like Office of Audit General of Canada, no comment should be made on the policy itself. The topics under examination are identified by monitoring and analysing risks to value for money across the sheer range of government expenditure. NAO also try to keep our performance study topics flexible to accommodate emerging issues. Besides, proposals from Members of Parliament and in particular from members of the Committee of Public Accounts are also been taken careful account. Each year, around 50 values for money reports are delivered and investigated to the Parliament and the Committee of Public Accounts. ‘In 2007, NAO produced 60 value for money report, and the verified financial impacts of these reports amounted to  £656 million, an increase of  £74million over last year, which also representing a return of over  £9 for every  £1 expenditure of running the National Audit Office. ‘(Annual Report of NAO, 2008, P4) Ultimately, it is for the Comptroller and Auditor General to decide which studies should be undertaken. In terms of fund resources, about a quarter of the NAO budget, which amounted to  £25.2 million, was spent on value for money audit, delivering the main programmes of assurance to the House of Commons. In terms of human resources, 238 of staffs, out of the total 845, are employed for the value for money audit purpose. Sustainability was also a feature of other reports during the year. The report on the Thames Gateway disclosed that the Government’s vision for high quality, low carbon footprint, and sustainable developments in the region had not yet been translated into clear objectives, local strategies or developed plans. Performance Audit in USA The Government Accounting Office of United Stated was established in 1921. GAO is an independent, nonpartisan, professional services agency in the legislative branch working for the Congress, and commonly known as the ‘audit and investigative arm of the Congress’ or the ‘congressional watchdog’. GAO examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and advise lawmakers and agency heads on ways to make government work better. After World War II GAO began to perform more comprehensive audits that examined on only the financial compliance but also the economy and efficiency of government operations. By the 1960s, GAO had begun to perform the new type of audit, performance audit, which aimed to examine whether government programs meets their objectives. In 1970, the Bureau of the Budget and GAO agreed to establish government auditing standards. In 1972, the Comptroller General issued the first edition of the Standards for Audit of Governmental Organizations, Programs, and Activities Functions, which was known as the Yellow Book. In this yellow book, GAO decided to extend its audit scope to performance audit, and defined its audit goals as: check the financial activities and their compliances with current laws and regulations; the economy and effectiveness of administration works; Furthermore, their effectiveness in reality. During the last 20 years, GAO has sought to improve accountability by alerting policymakers and the public to emerging problems throughout government. Effective July 7, 2004, the GAOs legal name changed to the Government Accountability Office. The change better reflects that GAO has become the modern professional services organization. The mission of GAO is ‘to support the Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government for the benefit of the American people’. Not like SAI in other countries, GAO is a legislative branch agency, so it is exempt from many laws that apply to the executive branch agencies. However, it generally obeys the spirit of many of the laws, including Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act, the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, and the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996. The Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act emphases ongoing evaluations and annual reports to assure the adequacy of the internal accounting and administrative control of each agency. For the seeking of improving public confidence in federal agency performance, the Government Performance and Results Act 1993 requires that ‘federally funded agencies should develop and implement accountability systems based on performance measurement, including setting goals and objectives and measuring progress toward achieving them’. The Federal Financial Management Improvement Act 1996 stresses on ‘improving federal financial management by requiring that federal agencies implement and maintain financial management systems that comply with the requirements of federal financial management systems, applicable federal accounting standards, and the U.S. Government Standard General Ledger.’ In later years, GAO gave the ‘yellow book’ a more concise title, Government Auditing Standards, and updated periodically. In the latest revision of the auditing standards in December 2007, it emphases on ‘enhancing performance audit standards that elaborate on the overall framework for high-quality performance auditing, including reasonable assurance and its relationship to audit risk, and the levels of evidence used to support audit findings and conclusion. GAO performs a series of oversight-, insight-, and foresight-related engagements, a vast majority of which are conducted in response to congressional mandates or requests. GAO’s audit scope includes financial and management audits, evaluations of federal programs and performance, policy analyses, legal o

Specialists Create Market Efficiency :: essays papers

Specialists Create Market Efficiency The NYSE should not abolish specialists. Both the NYSE and NASDAQ, however, need to realize that their relative trading volumes will continue to deteriorate as ECN's become more and more popular. The need for secondary and third markets will be diminished, however they still offer liquidity, so in some shape or form they will always be fashionable to certain types of investors. The current system established within NYSE is very old and outdated. For any single trade, a number of players must be involved. First, an investor places a buy or sell order to a broker. The brokerage firm then contacts its commission broker, who is actually on the floor, to consummate the order. In this rigid and time consuming system, the specialist plays a major part in any trade. Any buying or selling in a particular stock takes place at the specialists post. A computer monitor shows all bid and ask prices for a stock in addition to the number of shares they are willing to buy or sell at the given bid ask price. Basically, Specialists execute the trades of other brokers, but they can also buy or sell shares for their own portfolios. When no other broker can be found to take the other end of a trade, the specialist must take the end of the trade where no one else can be found to do so. This is done to create liquidity, and is one of the biggest benefits to this system. Also, t his type of trading creates an auction market, where buyers and sellers are together in one location, and the best buy or sell orders win trades. They also act as a dealer when they have to execute a trade when there isn't a buyer or seller available using their own inventory. Again, this is meant to facilitate liquidity. NYSE stocks, until recently, couldn't trade certain NYSE stocks outside of a formal stock exchange, however the NYSE has since abolished this rule. This has created a small trading volume of NYSE stocks over ECN's. The current system on NASDAQ and most other OTC's incorporates dealers, who offer bid and ask prices to brokers who execute trades based on a listing of the current quotes from dealers. Although this is a very liquid market, dealers typically take a spread from the bid/ask price in exchange for the risk that they incur for holding the security.

My Culture and Background

I was born and raised in Southeast Asia, Philippines. It consists of 7,107 islands and each one of them has each own dialect and tribes that lives in rural part of the area. My mom is a Spanish Filipino and my dad is a Chinese. I embraced two cultures with no problems. Both cultures molded me strongly with values, ethics, religion and economics. It plays a vital role of who I am now. Let me begin by telling you that in my country, the Spanish colony conquered the Philippines in 1621. Magellan named the archipelago in the honor of King Phillip of Portugal at that time. My great –great grandfathers were baptized as a Catholics and was given Spanish names by them. Until now, this still exist. We adapted their dialect and even have Spanish alphabets too. I and my siblings grew up in a very strict Catholic way and Dad would approved of it even though he is not a Catholic but a Buddist. Very conflicting, right? At early age, we were trained through various tasks. I learned how to slaughter a chicken at the age of 9. Then, I and my siblings lived in dormitory where our school has one at that time. From preschool until my high school yrs, that’s where I considered my second home. I studied in Chinese school and all of us were taught in a communist way. Example is we are not allowed to wear jewelries and the only thing that was allowed at that time is a watch. Then the hair shouldn’t be longer than the collar of the white blouse uniform. The allowance was given by the matron . Then our time was being scheduled every day. It was hard because we were trained like soldiers. It was a very rigid training for us. I was trained not to be late on any appointment. I was used to it until now. I and my siblings studied in a Chinese school. From Pre-K to high school. It is to educate us about Chinese language so that when we go to visit our Chinese relatives, we know how to communicate and understand. (If you don’t know the Chinese dialect, you will feel outcast from the family). For the most part, Chinese and Filipino customs are similar to each other. Regarding the family values, it is a very strict custom that we should always take care of our elders. Also, we are not allowed to talk back to them and if you say something when they are talking to you or reprimanding you, this is showing to them that you are disrespecting them. Also, we don’t have divorce in our country. Marriage is sacred there. We still have a courtship, engagement and a dowry. This goes for a bride’s price. I am a cultural diversity. It came a big surprise for me too when I came here in United States. I thought there is only one or two cultures mixed together but I was wrong. The culture here is totally very much different or opposite rather than what I grew up with. It was a culture shock for me. People here don’t hold or guard their tongue when they talk to you, rude by any means or praising you. They don’t care about how you feel. They also have racial discrimination. This is totally a big conflict to what I am. For me, I was taught not to say any bad or disrespectful or even words that will hurt somebody’s feeling. Then, how people handle their relationship here, it’s like nobody cares to save the marriage anymore. Couples fight in terms of money, child custody and infidelity. We worked hard to keep our marriage intact for the sake of our family and kids. The vows for us is sacred. Our families don’t like broken marriage, it is shameful to the family if there is one. And the most important of all, kids or younger generation don’t know how to respect the elders anymore. They would call you with your first name even if you are related to them. It’s like both of you are of the same age. These are all very disturbing for me. But somehow, I adjusted and respect it somehow. Accepting the way things or circumstances and blending with other culture and learning from it is a good way to learn more. But I won’t depart from what I was taught and I am happy and contented the way I am.

Criminal: Snatch Theft Essay

Snatch theft is becoming a serious issue nowadays. During the months of June and July 2004, the local media, especially the press, have been replete with reports of crime and violence in Malaysia. There have been many reports of snatch thefts which has given a great impact to the society. Police statistics on these crimes indicate that they are on the rise. Therefore, there is a sense of anxiety, even panic and fear in the air. see more:snatch theft essay The seriousness of this crime can be proven when on January 29th, 2005, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi himself has addressed throughout the country his curious concern on the rise of the crime and the need to implement more severe punishments. There are lots of articles in the newspapers and on the internet to show the seriousness of the offence of snatch theft. On January 30th 2005, our nation’s leading newspapers, namely Berita Minggu and The Star had reported snatch theft crimes, which had happened near Ipoh, Perak. The suspect had snatched the bag from a sixty year old woman at a shopping mall at Jalan Kampar, as the woman was walking to her car. The twenty year old thief, who had tried to escape in his car, also knocked down a man, who suffered minor injuries. The suspect ran through the traffic lights and collided with two cars. This has caused him to lose control of his vehicle, which then hit the road sign. The suspect then was detained. The second example of this snatch theft crime happened on January 9th 2005. Berita Minggu had reported another snatch theft incident, where two female students were injured after their motorcycle crashed into a concrete drain while escaping from a snatch criminal. The suspect had followed the girls with a motorcycle on their way after attending tuition class. In another case, on June 10th 2004, Ros Saliza Burhan, a factory worker on her way waiting for the bus was followed by two men on a motorcycle. Failed to snatch the victim’s bag, the criminal had used force against her by stabbing her three times so that she will release her bag. The victim fainted because of the injury. Those were just among a few cases occur in our country. There are other cases, which cause a more terrifying result such as death, grievous hurt, shocked and so forth. The seriousness of this offence can be seen when Chin Wai Fong died in Brickfields in May when she fought back against a snatch thief. Then Chong Fee Cheng fell, went into a coma and died while resisting a snatch thief in Johor Baru in mid-June. This was followed by the killing of Rosli Mohamed Saad who had gone to the aid of an Indonesian woman whose bag was snatched in Ampang in June 29. The newspapers also carried statistics on the number of snatch thefts. Relying on police statistics, Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon revealed that there had been a total of 515 cases of snatch thefts in Penang between January and May 2004. Meanwhile the Perak Chief Police Officer reported a total of 374 cases of snatch thefts in his state during January to May 2004. With all the examples and discussions given, the issue of whether or not the crime of â€Å"snatch theft† should be separated from the offence of â€Å"theft† and â€Å"robbery† will impose a lot of legal discussion in order to ensure public safety. The main and crucial issue to be discussed here is that whether the offence of â€Å"theft† and â€Å"robbery† sufficiently address the offence of â€Å"snatch theft†. In other words, whether or not the elements of the two offences, which are already in the Penal Code are sufficient to be raised for a person who commits snatch theft. In order to tackle this issue, the elements of â€Å"theft†, which is under section 378 of the Penal Code and the elements of â€Å"robbery† which is under section 390 of the Penal Code have to be analyzed one by one. First and foremost, we would like to discuss the elements of â€Å"theft† which is under section 378 of the Penal Code. The said pr ovision defines theft as â€Å"Whoever, intending to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of any person without that person’s consent, moves that property in order to such taking, is said to commit theft†. Basically, from the definition, there are five elements of â€Å"theft†. The first element is dishonesty. It is defined under section 24 of the Penal Code as â€Å"Whoever does anything with the intention of causing wrongful gain to one person or wrongful loss to another person, irrespective of whether the act causes actual wrongful loss or gain, is said to do that thing â€Å"dishonestly†.† This shows that the important thing is to determine whether or not there is an intention to cause wrongful gain or wrongful loss to the other person. What is â€Å"wrongful gain† and â€Å"wrongful loss† then? It is further defined in section 23 of the Penal Code, whereby a person is said to gain wrongfully when such person retains wrongfully, as well as when such person acquires wrongfully. A person is said to lose wrongfully when such person is wrongfully kept out of any property, as well as when such person is wrongfully deprived of the property. Since dishonesty requires the intention to wrongfully gain or lose, the intention must exist at the time of moving of the property. This is because, it is not theft if there is no intention at the time of taking of the property . The authority for the first element can be seen in the case of Raja Mohamed v. R whereby the principle is that there must be an intention to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of another person without that person’s consent in order to constitute theft. Meaning to say, it is sufficient that the person, who has such dishonest intention moves the property in order to such taking. In addition, it is not necessary to move such property in order to move out of the possession of the other person. Next, the second element is that the person must take without consent. It means that there must be an intention to take another’s property without consent. The important point here is how the accused conceives of the situation whether or not the person whose property is taken would consent to it. In other words, this element depends on the mind of the owner of the property. In the situation when a person consents, then the actus reus of theft is not fulfilled and therefore there is no theft. The third element is to take out of possession. It means that the property must be taken or moved out of the possession. If the accused has a dishonest intention and moves the property, then he is said to move the property out of possession. It is to be noted here that theft is an offence against possession and not of ownership. Therefore, the offence is against the person who is in possession. A possession for the purpose of theft relates to movable property and movable property, which is lost or abandoned may not be in any possession of any person. However, when it is neither lost nor abandoned, even if it is then placed in the possession of someone else, the possession may still remain with the true owner. Subsequently, the fourth element is movable property. What is â€Å"movable property† is defined under section 22 of the Penal Code, which states that the words â€Å"movable property† are intended to include corporeal property of every description. Except land and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the earth. It means that as long as the thing is attached to the earth, therefore it is not movable. Furthermore, a thing attached to the earth is not movable and cannot be a subject of theft until it has been severed from the earth. Land within the meaning of section 22 of the Penal Code does not include soil from the land. However, when it is dug out of the land, it is then known as movable property. In the case of Lim Soon Gong & Ors., the respondents were charged with committing theft of sand from the foreshore. The principle of this case regarding the fourth element is that sand, which has been dug out from the foreshore is a movable property. Eventually, the final element of theft is there must be a moving of the property. It means that the property must be moved out of possession. This can be seen in the authority of Raja Mohamed v. R, the accused had removed boxes containing two dozens of glasses from the company’s ground floor storeroom. He was charged of convicting theft. The principle of this case is that it is sufficient if the person had formed a dishonest intent ion and moves the property in order to such taking. Moreover, it is not necessary to move the property fully out of possession in order to commit theft. Having fulfilled all the five elements under section 378 of the Penal Code, the accused then can be held liable for committing theft. Section 379 of the Penal Code further provides the punishment for theft, whereby one can be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years or with fine or both. It further adds that for a second or subsequent offence, one shall be punished with imprisonment and also be liable to fine or whipping. The question to be asked is whether the offence of â€Å"snatch theft† can fall under the offence of â€Å"theft† under section 378 of the Penal Code. It seems like it is insufficient as when snatch theft is committed, there will be the element of force on the person who is being snatched, whereas the elements of theft are more mild in the sense that there is nothing in the provision states that there is a use of force or further may result to a more critical situation such as death. Thus, this will make the punishment for theft does not suit the offence of snatch theft. Snatch theft as being said earlier can cause injury to the other person and it can even come to the extent of causing death to the other person. Besides that, there also should be an element of force. These elements seem do not present in the elements of theft. Thus, we submit that the offence of â€Å"theft† does not sufficiently address the offence snatch theft as snatch theft is more serious and causes more severe injury as compared to theft. Having discussed the elements of â€Å"theft†, we will go into details the offence of â€Å"robbery† in order to come to the conclusion of whether or not it is sufficiently address the offence of snatch theft. Section 390 of the Penal Code which is regarding the offence of â€Å"robbery† will be analyzed. Clause (1) of the said provision states that in all robbery there is either theft or extortion. In other words, for the offence of robbery to arise, either the two main elements, which are theft or extortion has to exist. Section 390(2) states that theft is â€Å"robbery† if, in order to commit theft, or in committing the theft, or in carrying away or attempting to carry away property obtained by the theft, the offender, for that end, voluntarily causes or attempts to cause to any person death, or hurt, or wrongful restraint, or fear of instant death, or of instant hurt, or of instant wrongful restraint. Section 390(3) defines extortion as robbery, if the offender, at the time of committing the extortion, is in the presence of the person put in fear and commits the extortion by putting that person in fear of instant death, of instant hurt, or of instant wrongful restraint to that person or to some other person, and, by so putting in fear, induces the person so put in fear then and there to deliver up the thing extorted. In other words, robbery is theft or extortion in an aggravated form. Hence, the elements of theft or extortion must be present in addition to the aggravated circumstances set out in robbery. Section 390 provides for the circumstances when theft constitutes robbery. The words â€Å"for that end† in section 390 must relate to the commission of theft. Hence where an assault has no relation to the theft, robbery is not committed. If, for example, the accused first assaulted the complainant and then subsequently formed an intention to take his watch, he cannot be liable for robbery but only for theft. The crucial point under the offence of robbery is to determine the meaning of the word â€Å"for that end†. The force or threat of force must be for the purpose of committing theft and carrying away the property. In Karuppa Gounden, it was held that â€Å"the word ‘for that end’ in section 390, Penal Code, cannot be read as meaning in those circumstances†. It was held by the Lahore Court in Karmun that, â€Å"†¦before a person can be convicted of robbery the prosecution must prove that hurt was caused in order to the committing of the theft or in committing the theft or in carrying away or attempting to carry away the property obtained by the theft. The hurt contemplated must be a conscious and voluntary act on the part of the thief for the purpose of overpowering resistance on the part of the victim, quite separate and distinct from the act of theft itself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  In the other case of Bishambhar Nath v. Emperor AIR, the principle is that in order to commit theft of the cash or in committing the theft of cash for carrying away or attempting to carry away property obtained by the theft, the accused for the theft voluntarily caused or attempted to cause hurt. The word â€Å"for that end† clearly means that the hurt caused by the offender must be with the express object of facilitating the commission of theft or hurt must be caused while the offender was committing theft or in carrying away or in attempting to carry away the property obtained by the theft. It does not mean that the assault or hurt must be caused in the same transaction or in the same circumstances. In Nga Po Thet, the essence of robbery is that the offender must cause death, hurt or wrongful restraint or fear of death, hurt or wrongful restraint in the commission of theft or in carrying away the property obtained by theft. The punishment for robbery is stated in section 392 of the Penal Code, whereby it shall be punished for a term which may extend to ten years and shall be liable to fine. In addition, if the robbery is committed between sunset and sunrise, the imprisonment may be extended to fourteen years and shall also be liable to fine or whipping. From the discussion of robbery as in section 390 of the Penal Code, the offence of robbery seems to satisfy some elements of snatch theft. As what has been said earlier, the offence of snatch theft involves the elements of force and the consequences of the act will lead to a severe injury to the victim and sometimes it may lead to death of the victim. In fact, section 390 is being used for the time being as to replace the offence of snatch theft which is not in the Penal Code yet. This shows that snatch theft is very dangerous to the public at large as the offence is nearly similar to the elements of the offence of robbery under section 390. The punishment for snatch theft is as the same as the punishment for robbery under section 392. This again proves that snatch theft is a serious crime. However, we strongly think that there must be an element of force in snatch theft. This is because when a person snatches another person’s handbag, there is an existence of force used against the other person. This is because, when a person wants to grab the other person’s bag, it will happen fast. When this happens, the other person will be hurt and injured as there is force used against him or her. In other words, force and hurt will tend to exist simultaneously when a person commits the offence of snatch theft. In the current situation, the Deputy Internal Security Affairs Minister Datuk Noh Omar has clarified in Parliament that the Police, since early 2004, had resorted to using the Emergency Ordinance (Crime Prevention & Public Safety) 1969 against snatch thieves â€Å"if the Police is convinced that the suspects had committed the offence†. Under the Ordinance, those suspected may be held for sixty days after which the Internal Security Minister could decide to detain them for up to two years without trial. The Deputy Internal Security Affairs Minister further clarified that the Police would also charge snatch thieves under sections 392, 394 and 397 of the Penal Code, which allows for caning, jail terms (up to twenty years if armed, under section 394), apart from imposing fines. This last step is in line with the suggestions of another politician, Karpal Singh, who called for amendments to sections 392 and 394 of the Penal Code to impose mandatory whipping of not less than six stro kes. It was also the suggestion of Wong Sulong in his Editorial in The Star on June 15th, 2004. Since there is still no laws imposed on snatch theft, it is to be tabled in the year 2005. The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said a Bill dealing specifically with snatch theft offences would be tabled in Parliament in July, 2005. He added that, under the new law, the offenders could be imprisoned between seven and twenty years and whipping could be included as part of the punishment. Currently in the Penal Code, there is no special provision for snatch theft besides the separate charges for theft and robbery, which carry a maximum jail sentence of seven and twenty years respectively. He further added that the law would be effective by the end of the year 2005 if everything goes smoothly. The need of having a special law for snatch theft is due to the many reported cases of victims being killed or seriously injured. This shows that the offence of snatch theft is indeed a serious crime.