Smoking should not be allowed at public places Essay

Smoking should not be allowed at public places - Essay Example According to the 2003 poll conducted by MORI in London, 40% of the interviewees concurred that smoking should not be allowed in a restaurant, a public place; 54% wanted separation of smoking and non-smoking zones. The most striking fact was that only 4% were indifferent to the location or exposure to smoking. In another separate research on Edinburgh residents, 58% were in favor of banning smoking in public places while only 28% opposed the move (City of Edinburgh Council, 1). Smoking pollutes the environment by releasing toxic components to the atmosphere. Even though it is the right of smoker to have cigarettes, a clean environment on the other hand is a necessity for humanity. A ban on public smoking- no matter how- may seem unfair to smokers, it will ensure that people live in a clean environment by reducing pollution, and nonsmokers’ rights are taken into consideration. Over the weekends and in vacations, most parents do prefer to spend their time with their children in public places. What happens in a case whereby people smoke in such recreational or public places? The answer is almost obvious; Children learn by imitation, and would actually try to act out what they see or observed happening in their surroundings. Therefore, the presence of smokers in such localities is bad influence to children and may introduce them to smoking at early ages. As precautious measure, the state government should ban smoking in public places. Most chain smokers spend most of their money and time in cigarettes. Therefore, banning smoking in public places would result in limiting the frequency at which such people smoke. This will not only result in saving money and time that can be invested elsewhere in a more profitable manner but also help the state to reduce the average health problems arising directly from smoking. It is very hard for non-smokers to entertain the disgustful scent that arises as a

BHP Billiton Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

BHP Billiton - Case Study Example Apart from some specific small scale mining especially in high value low volume minerals, extraction of mineral resources usually requires large scale, capital intensive investments, Most projects are technologically challenging and investments are characterized by high degree of uncertainty and long gestation periods. In most developing countries except China and India, extraction industry seems to be export focused with significant scope of revenue creation but limited scope of employment generation. Mineral extraction also involves considerable threat to an ecosystem, and could have adverse social implications. Finally, mineral resources are non-renewable and often of strategic, geo-political importance. As a result, governmental influence tends to be high, which can interfere with the business operations. Owing to the huge capital investments required for extraction, this market has seen emergence of state-owned enterprises, which can depend on the government for the huge capital investments that they incur. Not all developing and least developed countries can afford the high capital investment. Therefore, this market is also characterized by the presence of large multi national corporations (MNCs), which have the financial power to make huge financial commitments. Exploration activities for minerals can not only take up long gestation periods, but can als... Exploration activities for minerals can not only take up long gestation periods, but can also result in unsuccessful attempts. Even after successful exploration, the investor needs to face the technical risk (involved in extraction at sometimes difficult sites), and market risk (demand and supply risks), political risks (nationalization). Political risks can be higher if the host country has a weal constitutional framework. This is a risky business and the investor should have the expertise necessary to handle such risks. Once investment is committed, the cost of pullout is very high (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, 2007). Section-III About BHP Billiton The largest extractive company, BHP Billiton was chosen as the subject of this case study. Its mission, marketing strategies are explored in the subsequent sections. The mission statement of BHP Billiton is "to create long-term value through the discovery, development and conversion of natural resources, and the provision of innovative customer and market-focused solutions". BHP Billiton is a global resources company in the extractive sector headquartered in Australia. It is a dual listed company and consists of BHP Billiton Limited Group in Australia, and BHP Billiton Plc group in the UK. IN addition, American Depository Receipts (ADRs) of both companies are listed Ney York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It was created in 2001 by the merger of Australia's Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) and the UK's Billiton, which had a Dutch and South African background (Wikipedia, 2009). It is the world's largest diversified natural resources company, and has significant businesses in alumina and aluminum, copper, energy (thermal) coal, iron ore, nickel, manganese,