...Colombia and the largest gas and oil company is South America: TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. COLOMBIA ………………………………………………………….………………………3 HISTORY……………………………………………………..…………………………..3 POLITICS…………………………………………………..……………………………..3 FOREIGN RELATIONS…………………………………………………….……………5 FOREIGN RELATIONS WITH THE U.S………………………………………..………6 FOREIGN POLICY DECISION MAKING………………………………………………7 DEMOGRAPHICS……………………………………………………………..…………8 RELIGION…………………………………………………….…………………………..9 HEALTH………………………………………..………………………………………..10 INFRASTRUCTURE……………………………………………………………………10 ECONOMY……………………………………….………………………….……… …11 2. ECOPETROL S.A. COMPANY OVERVIEW…………………………….…………… …12 BACKGROUND………………………………………………………………… ……..12 ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE……………………………………..…… ………12 MERGERS AND AQUITITIONS………………………………………………………14 COMPETITORS……………………………………………………….……… ………..14 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS…………………………………………………….. ………..15 RIVALRY COMPARISON…………………………………………………… ……….16 FUTURE GOALS…………………………………………………………..… ………..17 3. CAPITAL MARKET OVERVIEW…………………………………………………………18 INFLATION …………………………………………..………………….……………..18 CURRENT RISK……………………………………………………….………………..18 FINANCIAL CRISIS……………………………………………………..……………..19 INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATION………………………………..………………19 4. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………….…….…………………..20 5. BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………..………………………………..21 COLOMBIA HISTORY During the pre-Colombian period, the area now known as Colombia was inhabited by indigenous...
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...rP os t 9 -7 1 2 -0 3 8 REV: MARCH 12, 2014 LAKSHMI IYER RICHARD H. K. VIETOR India 2014: The Challenges of Governance op yo Introduction In January 2014, India’s government faced significant economic and social challenges. Economic growth rates had slowed from 10.5% in 2010 to only 4.9% in 2013. Inflation remained stubbornly high at 10.1%, despite sustained interest rates of around 10%, and the rupee/dollar exchange rate depreciated from 45 rupees in March 2011 to 62 rupees in December 2013. tC The ruling Congress Party faced worsening political obstacles as well. After the 2009 elections, the government had found it very difficult to enact substantive new legislation, owing to gridlock caused by opposition political parties and the Congress Party’s own coalition partners. A decision to allow foreign investment in retail megastores had been put on hold following objections by the Trinamool Congress, a key political ally.1 In September 2012, legislation was passed to allow foreign investment in multi-brand retail stores in states which agreed to implement the decision. 2 After making more than 100 amendments to satisfy diverse stakeholders, a new Land Act was passed in August 2013 to enable the state to acquire land for industrial growth more efficiently, with increased compensation for landowners.3 No Over the past few years, a series of high-profile corruption scandals had resulted in the resignation of several cabinet ministers and state chief ministers. These scandals...
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...64 Management Insight INDIAN FUTURES MARKET : AN ANALYSIS Agha Nuruzzaman* ABSTRACT The Indian government’s efforts are directed towards the establishment of a free, fair, transparent and fully informed market with help of the Futures market, so that futures prices are truly determined by the forces of demand and supply. In the long term, the continuing rapid growth of economy in India creates a huge potential for Futures market. This study is an effort to understand the factors under PEST Analysis. For this purpose, data from different sources were collected and later analyzed by using statistical techniques. With an improving agriculture, widening scope of education, a balanced economy, friendlier infrastructure, vividly sketched out laws unstained by any kind of corruption will create the right climate for swift growth of the futures market. The PEST analysis shows that most of the factors considered are indeed going in favour of India’s futures market. INTRODUCTION A futures contract is a legally binding agreement to buy or sell a commodity or financial instrument sometime in the future at a price agreed upon at the time of the trade. While actual physical delivery of the underlying assets seldom takes place, futures contracts are nonetheless standardized according to delivery specifications, including the quality, quantity, and time and location. The only variable is price, which is discovered through the trading process. In this study we ...
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...The Debate Over Gun Control Gun Control, a term that refers to the management of firearms in an effort to reduce the criminal use of these weapons. (MICROSOFT (R) ENCARTA 1995) In the year 2004 there were more than 210 million privately owned guns in the United States, which makes it plain to see why there are arguments for and against even the smallest amount of gun control. The Second Admendment to the Constitution of the United States, guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” In the 1930s a law passed by the federal government that required people wishing to own or possess a fully automatic or sawed-off barrel firearm to pay a $200 registration fee. This law was amended in 1986 to ban the manufacture of fully automatic firearms. (MICROSOFT (R) ENCARTA 1995) Some of the U.S. cities, such as Washington D.C., Chicago, and New York City, place restrictions on handgun ownership. A few cities across the U.S. have banned handguns entirely. A federal law restricts handgun amuntion capable of piercing body armor, and also requires that guns with plastic parts to contain enough enough metal in the gun to be detectable amount of metal. Law enforcement groups are among the most influential supports for a stricter gun control laws. Efforts to pass national gun control laws have met fierce opposition from gun lobbiest. However in 1993, after a seven year battle, the congress of the United States passed the Brady bill, which...
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...THE DEBATE OVER GUN CONTROL By: Brad Hales ITT-TECH Bessemer, Al. EN 1320 J. Henderson March 9, 2013 Gun Control, a term that refers to the management of firearms in an effort to reduce the criminal use of these weapons. (MICROSOFT (R) ENCARTA 1995) In the year 2004 there were more than 210 million privately owned guns in the United States, which makes it plain to see why there are arguments for and against even the smallest amount of gun control. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” In the 1930s a law passed by the federal government that required people wishing to own or possess a fully automatic or sawed-off barrel firearm to pay a $200 registration fee. This law was amended in 1986 to ban the manufacture of fully automatic firearms. (MICROSOFT (R) ENCARTA 1995) Some of the U.S. cities, such as Washington D.C., Chicago, and New York City, place restrictions on handgun ownership. A few cities across the U.S. Have handguns banned entirely. A federal law restricts handgun ammunition capable of piercing body armor, and also requires that guns with plastic parts to contain enough metal in the gun to be detectable amount of metal. Law enforcement groups are among the most influential supports for a stricter gun control laws. Efforts to pass national gun control laws have met fierce opposition from gun lobbyist. However in 1993, after a seven...
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...International Journal of Manpower 17,4/5 76 Sources of diversity and the challenge before human resource management in India C.S. Venkata Ratnam and V. Chandra International Management Institute, New Delhi, India Introduction The common refrain about India is that “it is such a diverse country whatever you say of it, the opposite is equally true”. “In India”, Stern (1993) observes, you will find “a society that has, like Europe’s, the diversities of a continent and the unities of a civilization”. Such is the measure of the magnitude of the nature of diversity in Indian society whose features Indian industry had inherited. Societal diversity is not an unmixed blessing for corporations and their management. It is argued that in India, generally speaking, the weaknesses of societal diversity such as caste, for instance, are superimposed on its business and industrial organizations and exacerbated. The marketplace and workforce in India are becoming more diverse every day. In fact, workplace diversity is considered a major challenge and opportunity for human resource management. It makes integration both difficult and easy depending on how diversity is viewed and used. The sources of diversity and its uses make a difference to what it means and how it impinges on organizational purpose and human behaviour at the workplace and beyond. Workplace diversity in India may have been partly inherited from centuries of customs and practices, partly imposed from colonial heritage and...
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...ASSESSMENT O DEVELO F PMENT RESULTS E V A L UA T I ON OF UNDP CONTRI BUTI ON ZAMbIA HUMAN DEVELO PMENTeffectiveness CO RDINAT O efficiency CO RDINATIO ANDPARTNERSHIP sus O N NATIO O NAL WNERSHIP relevance MANAGINGFO sustainability MANAGINGFO RESULTS responsiven R AN DEVELO PMENTresponsiveness NATIO O NAL WN NATIO O NAL WNERSHIP effectiveness CO RDINAT O efficiency CO RDINATIO ANDPARTNERSHIP sus O N NATIO O NAL WNERSHIP relevance MANAGINGFO sustainability MANAGINGFO RESULTS responsiven R HUMAN DEVELO PMENTeffectiveness CO RDINAT O ASSESSMENT O DEVELO F PMENT RESULTS EVAL UATI ON OF UNDP CONTRI BUTI ON ZAMBIA Evaluation Office, February 2010 United Nations Development Programme REPORtS PUBliSHED UNDER tHE aDR SERiES Afghanistan Argentina Bangladesh Barbados Benin Bhutan Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Bulgaria Burkina Faso Cambodia Chile China Colombia Republic of the Congo Ecuador Egypt Ethiopia Georgia Guatemala Guyana Honduras India Jamaica Jordan Lao PDR Libya Maldives Montenegro Mozambique Nicaragua Nigeria Peru Philippines Rwanda Serbia Seychelles Sudan Syrian Arab Republic Tajikistan Turkey Uganda Ukraine Uzbekistan Viet Nam Yemen EvalUatiON tEam team leader team members EO task manager EO Research assistant Erik Lyby Honorine Muyoyeta Jorry Mwenechanya Urs Nagel Zembaba Ayalew aSSESSmENt OF DEvElOPmENt RESUltS: malDivES Copyright © UNDP 2010, all rights reserved. Manufactured in the United States of America. The analysis and recommendations of this...
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...Harvard Business School 9-795-191 Rev. February 14, 1997 The Ready-to-Eat Breakfast Cereal Industry in 1994 (A) All is not well in the land of Tony the Tiger.1 In early 1994, the ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereal industry had reached a critical turning point in its evolution. In an industry historically characterized by stability and above average profitability, slowing demand growth and a surge in private label sales threatened to undermine the dominant positions of the Big Three: Kellogg, General Mills, and Philip Morris. The 1993 year-end statistics showed that industry sales growth had slowed to under 2%, while private labels had topped 5% market share by sales and 9% by volume for the first time. Price increases by the Big Three had widened the gap between branded and private label products. The competitors had traditionally avoided destructive head-to-head competition, but this mutual restraint appeared to be crumbling. Each of the firms faced major decisions going forward about whether to break with the industry’s lock-step moves and how to deal with the threat of private labels. History of the RTE Breakfast Cereal Industry2 The ready-to-eat breakfast cereal industry got its start in 1894, when Dr. John Kellogg and his brother W.K. Kellogg invented wheat cereal flakes in an attempt to make whole grains appealing to the vegetarian clients of the Seventh-Day Adventist sanitarium Dr. Kellogg ran in Battle Creek, Michigan. 3 W.K. went on to invent the corn flake...
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...HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2004 Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World Accommodating people’s growing demands for their inclusion in society, for respect of their ethnicity, religion, and language, takes more than democracy and equitable growth. Also needed are multicultural policies that recognize differences, champion diversity and promote cultural freedoms, so that all people can choose to speak their language, practice their religion, and participate in shaping their culture— so that all people can choose to be who they are. 65 108 166 55 34 82 3 14 91 51 40 138 29 62 6 99 161 134 114 66 128 72 33 56 175 173 130 141 4 105 169 167 43 94 73 136 144 168 45 163 48 52 30 32 Albania Algeria Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Congo Congo, Dem. Rep. of the Costa Rica Côte d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic 17 154 95 98 100 120 103 109 156 36 170 81 13 16 122 155 97 19 131 24 93 121 160 172 104 153 115 23 38 7 127 111 101 10 22 21 79 9 90 78 148 28 44 110 135 50 80 Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea...
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...THE EC-PHILIPPINES STRATEGY PAPER 2007-2013 i TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................... iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY............................................................................................... 7 1. COUNTRY ANALYSIS ............................................................................................ 9 1.1. Analysis of the political situation...................................................................... 9 1.2. Analysis of the economic situation.................................................................. 11 1.3. Trade structure ................................................................................................ 13 1.4. Analysis of social developments...................................................................... 14 1.5. Analysis of the environmental situation......................................................... 16 2. THE PHILIPPINES’ POLICY AGENDA ............................................................ 17 2.1. The Medium Term Philippine Development Plan ........................................ 17 2.2. Assessing the reform process .......................................................................... 17 2.3. Cross-cutting issues: human rights, gender, governance ............................. 19 3. OVERVIEW OF PAST AND ONGOING EC COOPERATION, COORDINATION AND COHERENCE ........................................
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...Volume 10, Issue 3 Fall 2010 No Double Dip On July 5th, 6th, and very early on the 7th of this year, I engaged in 70 minutes of rigorous stationary biking, a full cycle of weightlifting, and my daily stretching regimen. Oh sure, I had some hip pain and a sore knee, but at age 59, I was rocking and rolling. In this regard, I was not unlike the U.S. economy in 2005-April 2007, which was doing great in spite of some fundamental problems. Then in the course of a few hours on July 7th, I was unable to walk more than a few steps after having a hip replaced. Just like the U.S. economy in late 2008, my infirmity had taken me down a few notches! My subsequent recovery was remarkably similar to that facing the U.S. economy: a satisfactory recovery to unremarkable mediocrity. As I describe my recovery, bear in mind that the U.S. economy shed 8.4 million jobs and 4.1% of GDP in roughly 18 months. This is a lot of economic damage. On July 8th, I was able to walk twice a day for 20 minutes, bearing weight on crutches, lifting light hand weights, and doing simple leg therapy. By July 19th, I did not need any pills or a cane, and was able to walk an hour twice a day at a 23-minute-mile pace. By August 19th, I biked at full resistance for 50 minutes, walked 15-minute-miles for an hour, actively lifted leg weights, Thru Latest Available as of Sept 20, 2010 3.0 $420.5 20.5 1.9 960.1 $418 15.8 6.3 1,458.0 723.0 -50.0 261.0 681.0 15.8 4.5 20.0 93.9 -2.3 2.4 -190.2 $305.1 -$351.9 On the...
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...Draft chapter from An introduction to game theory by Martin J. Osborne. Version: 2002/7/23. Martin.Osborne@utoronto.ca http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/osborne Copyright © 1995–2002 by Martin J. Osborne. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from Oxford University Press, except that one copy of up to six chapters may be made by any individual for private study. 2 Nash Equilibrium: Theory 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 Strategic games 11 Example: the Prisoner’s Dilemma 12 Example: Bach or Stravinsky? 16 Example: Matching Pennies 17 Example: the Stag Hunt 18 Nash equilibrium 19 Examples of Nash equilibrium 24 Best response functions 33 Dominated actions 43 Equilibrium in a single population: symmetric games and symmetric equilibria 49 Prerequisite: Chapter 1. 2.1 Strategic games is a model of interacting decision-makers. In recognition of the interaction, we refer to the decision-makers as players. Each player has a set of possible actions. The model captures interaction between the players by allowing each player to be affected by the actions of all players, not only her own action. Specifically, each player has preferences about the action profile—the list of all the players’ actions. (See Section 17.4, in the mathematical appendix, for a discussion of profiles.) More precisely, a strategic game...
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...Regional Morning Pack DBS Group Research . Equity 01 October 2009 Spotlight On (SP) Hiap Seng: Undervalued oil and gas play (Initiate Coverage) BUY; S$0.69; HSE SP; Price Target: 12-Month S$0.90 • • • • Huge 40-60% discount to peers is unwarranted. Expect high dividends of 4.0-4.5 Scents per share. Margins improvement to support earnings growth. Initiate coverage with a BUY rating. 30% upside to our target price of S$0.90. Ideas & Updates REGIONAL US Fed: Two collision courses SINGAPORE Banking: Positive uptick in loans Hiap Seng (Initiate Coverage) – See Spotlight MALAYSIA Tanjong PLC: Attractive yield play BUY; RM15.00; TJN MK; Price Target: 12-month RM19.25 HONG KONG PUBLIC HOLIDAY THAILAND Charoen Pokphand Foods – See Spotlight (TB) Charoen Pokphand Foods: Earnings surge, costs remain low BUY; Bt7.95; CPF TB; Price Target: 12-Month Bt9.60 (Prev Bt7.50) • • • 3Q09F will beat record high 2Q09 earnings Promising outlook with firm product prices, low raw material costs, and improving margins Raised earnings, and TP to Bt9.60. Undemanding valuation, 21% upside, maintain BUY. Singapore Research Team – 6533 9688 research@dbsvickers.com www.dbsvickers.com “In Singapore, this research report or research analyses may only be distributed to Institutional Investors, Expert Investors or Accredited Investors as defined in the Securities and Futures Act, Chapter 289 of Singapore.” “Recipients of this report, received from DBS Vickers Research (Singapore) Pte Ltd (“DBSVR”)...
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...FIGURE 1.1 FIGURE 1.2 FIGURE 1.3 FIGURE B1.1.1 FIGURE 1.4 FIGURE 1.5 FIGURE 1.6 FIGURE 1.7 FIGURE B1.3.1 FIGURE B1.3.2 FIGURE 1.8 FIGURE 1.9 FIGURE 1.10 FIGURE 1.11 FIGURE 1.12 FIGURE 1.13 FIGURE B1.4.1 FIGURE B1.4.2 FIGURE B1.8.1 FIGURE B1.8.2 FIGURE 1.14 FIGURE 1.15 FIGURE 1.16 FIGURE 1.17 FIGURE 1.18 FIGURE 1.19 FIGURE 1.20 FIGURE 1.21 FIGURE 1.22 FIGURE 1.23 FIGURE 1.24 FIGURE 1.25 FIGURE B1.9.1 Despite some Q1 weakening, business sentiment in Europe and the US signals further expansion Economic activity is strengthening from very weak levels in Europe Inflation and unemployment trends are on divergent paths across major economies Net capital flows and net financial exposures (width of arrows proportional to amounts in billions of U.S. dollars) Developing country activity is strengthening but at a modest pace Manufacturing surveys are pointing to continued expansion in East Asia and South Asia Output gaps remain small in most developing regions Capital flows have recovered strongly after a steep fall in February Currency depreciations were more modest during the winter turmoil among countries that reduced external imbalances Distribution of changes in developing country bilateral exchange rates with the US$ Most developing country equity markets have fully recouped losses since mid-2013 Borrowing costs have fallen since the start of the year for developing countries Metal prices have extended their falls while food prices have turned up Commodity exporters have suffered...
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...Chapter 18 - Superannuation 1 18 SUPERANNUATION Superannuation: An overview.........................................................................................18.000 Thresholds.................................................................................................... ................... 18.002 Superannuation: A quick guide........................................................................................ 18.004 Contribution acceptance and deductibility table................................................................ 18.008 Contributions.................................................................................................... ................18.010 Acceptance of contributions............................................................................................. 18.015 Concessional (before-tax) contributions............................................................................ 18.020 Non-concessional (after-tax) contributions........................................................................ 18.030 Contribution caps.................................................................................................... ......... 18.040 Excess contributions tax................................................................................................... 18.050 Tax file numbers and superannuation............................................................................... 18.060 Reportable superannuation contributions...
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