...Concrete, Concrite Walls, Grallio, Craig Concrete, and D&D Concrete (hereafter referred to as “the Rocla matter”). On the same day as the Commission referred these charges to the Competition Tribunal, the Commission settled certain particulars of the complaint with Aveng, including an administrative penalty of R46 million. Rocla, a subsidiary of Murray & Roberts, was granted conditional leniency by the Commission after coming forward in December 2007. Rocla complied with the Commission’s Corporate Leniency Policy (CLP) in providing information which implicated itself and its competitors in price fixing and fixing of trading conditions, market allocation and collusive tendering in the market for pre-cast concrete products such as pipes, manholes and culverts. This information revealed a textbook example of a classic cartel, complete with well written modus operandi, sanctions for non-compliance, payments to keep competition out of the market, intent and ability to raise prices and effective monitoring mechanisms. It all began in 1973 when enforcement of competition laws was not as rigorous as it is has now become under the democratic dispensation. Rocla embarked on a strategy to cooperate with its competitors rather than compete with them, buy out any firm that posed a serious threat to its market share, and split up regions within which each firm could operate (produce and sell precast concrete products), whilst at the same time reserving certain regions for itself. Over a period...
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...Microsoft Entertainment and Devices division. KEY STRATEGIC ISSUES There are three key strategic issues facing Microsoft at the moment, these are: - the need for increased customer responsiveness - factors influencing continued growth, and - anti-trust lawsuits CUSTOMER RESPONSIVENESS Customer responsiveness has always been a major issue in fast changing technology industries. Another bit of jargon, FYIFV or FYIV ("Fuck You, I'm [Fully] Vested"), is used by an employee to indicate they are financially independent and can avoid work anytime they wish.[80] The company is also known for its hiring process, mimicked in other organizations and dubbed the "Microsoft interview", which is notorious for off-the-wall questions such as "Why is a manhole cover round? Many times Microsoft has been described as having a developer-centric business culture. Microsoft spends a lot of time and money each year on recruiting young university-trained software developers and on keeping them in the company. Microsoft goes out of its way to make these young developers feel special by way of special office space and interesting perks. Microsoft has also been accused of being a corporate cult. Employees end practically living at the software giant’s campus in Washington. People have been known to work 24 hours a day at Microsoft. The campus is set up in such a way that you never have to go home. The belief system of Microsoft makes it difficult for its employees to imagine they have a life away from...
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...41 Manhole Flotation Introduction The proper functioning of a sewer system is dependent to a large degree on the performance of its appurtenances, and especially its manholes. As with many buried structures, the proper design of manholes should take into account the effect of the water table and its specific effect on installation and operating conditions. Figure 1 Manhole Installations Cross Section of Extended Base Manhole Installation The Buoyancy Concept From a fluid dynamics standpoint, the buoyant force acting on a submerged object is equal to the weight of fluid which that object displaces. In the case of a buried structure or manhole, this concept is applicable when a high ground water table or other subaqueous condition exists. As with the design of buried pipe, flotation should be checked when conditions such as the use of flooding to consolidate backfill, flood planes or future man-made drainage changes are anticipated. Extended Base Cross Section of Smoothwall Manhole Installation Manhole Buoyancy Analysis Vertical manhole structures of two types (Figure 1) are generally constructed, and each type should be considered when analyzing the flotation potential. The first case to be considered is a structure in which the base does not extend past the walls of the manhole. This structure will be called a smooth-wall manhole installation. Smooth-wall manholes utilize the weight of the structure itself and the downward frictional resistance of the soil surrounding...
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...When they do, try to clean them up right away. There are many easy ways to clean up spills. Sometimes, all you need to do to prevent a spill from setting is to wash the area with a little soap and water as soon as you see the stain. You can also put kitty litter on any oil or grease stains in your parking lot; the litter will absorb the oil right up. #3 Clean Around Your Manholes & Storm Drains Take the time to clean debris away from manholes and storm drains in your parking lot. You need both of these things to be clear so that water can properly drain away from your parking lot. When water builds up and sits on your parking lot, it can do damage to it. Prevent this from happening by being proactive. If water does ever build up in your parking lot, and you know that your manhole and storm drains are clear, you have a different drainage issues. Call a paving company and have them come out and inspect your parking lot and identify the drainage issue for you. #4 Address Potholes & Bucking Right...
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...Spigot & Socket Pipes Product Range 1. All S&S Pipes designed and meet the requirements of BS 5911pt.100 Irish Standard IS 6.1974. 2. All dimensions in mm. 3. All weights in Kgs based on density of concrete at 2450 kg/m3 4. Indicates pipe reinforced E H C A=DN B Arrow indicates flow direction D G = Overall Length F = Effective Length Spigot End also known as male end Socket End also known as bell end or female end Flexible Jointed Spigot and Socket Pipe A DN:Inside diam of pipe Minimum B Wall Thickness Light = Medium = Heavy = L M M 225 52 52 52 329 445 58 2000 2100 870 230 90 180 300 55 55 55 410 530 60 2500 2600 1115 400 52 130 375 62 62 62 499 645 73 450 65 65 65 580 715 68 525 70 70 70 665 800 68 600 82 82 82 764 910 73 675 87 87 87 849 1005 78 750 95 95 95 940 80 900 1050 1200 1350 1500 1800 2100 100 100 100 115 115 115 140 140 140 150 150 150 165 165 165 190 190 190 2188 2270 46 245 245 245 2598 2598 0 C Overall pipe diam D Overall socket diam E Projection of socket F Effective length G Overall pipe length H Circumference on centre line I Approx weight/pipe in kgs 1100 1280 90 50 1490 1658 1838 1640 1800 1980 80 80 80 2500 2640 5230 5200 4 10 2500 2500 2640 2640 4210 4710 3660 4300 6 15 5 12.5 1100 1280 1380 2500 2500 2500 2620 2620 2620 2655 3142 3660 1640 2100 2650 13 32.5 10 25 8 20 2500 2500 2500 2500 2500 2600 2600 2600 2600 2620 1373 1618 1869 2158 2394 550 38 95 680 30 75 850 25 62.5 1150 1425 18 45 15 37.5 2500 2500 2645 2645 6250 7360 7400...
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...of the contract work in accord with the plans, specifications and proposal prepared by the Watcher. Every decision was applied under Contract Act 1950. The acts that relevant to the case were section 26, section 28, and section 9. Body Under section 26, an agreement without consideration is void unless it is in writing and registered, or in a promise to compensate for something done, or is a promise to pay a debt barred by limitation law. So, Olander Contracting Co is right, developer Gail Wachter should pay for the pipe. In their water and sewer construction contract, it state that “among other things, connecting a IO-inch sewer line from Wachter’s housing development to the city’s existing 36-inch concrete sewer main and installing a manhole at the connection, to be paid for by Wachter”, Wachter is promise to paid Olander. Under section 26 (b),”an agreement made without consideration is void unless is a promise to compensate for something done. In that section, it said that “it is a promise to compensate, wholly or in a part, a person who has already voluntarily done something for promisor, or something which the promisor was legally compellable to do so” the contact is not void, so Wachter should paid Olander as he promise. A case that support this was Co-operative Central Bank Ltd (in receivership) v Feyen Development Sdn Bhd [1997] 2 MLJ 829. The case state that section 133 of company Act 1965 does not state the guarantee entered into or any security given in contravention...
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...Facts: On 13 February 2009, the Commission referred a complaint to the Competition Tribunal of South Africa (Tribunal) for contravention of s 4(1)(b) of the Competition Act. The Commission had initiated an investigation after receiving an application from Rocla for leniency in terms of the Commission’s corporate leniency policy on 7 December 2007 in which Rocla alleged that the above-mentioned firms were members of a cartel. On 18 March 2008, the Commission initiated an investigation and found that the cartel operated from 1973 until 2007 in Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and in the Western Cape. Shortly after the complaint was filed, 4 of the firms obtained consent orders, D&D and Craig Concrete no longer existed, SPC and Concrite admitted their involvement but disputed the quantum of the penalty imposed and Galio denied involvement. The national cartel commenced in 1973 and was founded by Rocla and grew over the years and regional cartels were also formed. Members met regularly, every second Tuesday of the month after Concrete Manufactures Association meetings. Secret informal meetings were also held at different locations. In allocating contracts, the respondents would identify and compile a list of all available tenders, agree among themselves who would be allocated what work and on prices to be quoted for tenders. These allocations occurred in monthly meetings in which a cartel member known as the ‘banker’ presented a list of all available contracts. The banker...
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...friends rather unsure of themselves. “You heard the man,” said Jacob, “let's split up.” Jacob ran the opposite way of Tom before Emma and Parker chose their directions. Ten minutes later Parker began to lose hope. “I can’t believe this.” thought Parker. “We’re in a giant city, there’s literally thousands of doors, how can he expect us to find the right one, and in 20 minutes at that.” Parker decided he should probably start walking back when he turned around and tripped on his shoelace. He fell onto the street, hitting his head against a manhole cover. “Ouch!” he shouted. He stood up and kicked it in disgust, before realizing what he had just found. Parker quickly ran back to the meeting spot where the others had waited for him. “I found it!” he shouted, “I actually found it! Come on!” The rest of the group caught up with him before they all ran back to the mysterious manhole cover. “I thought you said to look for some great golden door, not a manhole cover.” said Emma. It had a golden lion engraved into it. “Sometimes it isn’t where you would expect.” said Tom. He kneeled down, closed his eyes and gently placed his hand against the symbol. A rush of energy shot through him as he opened his eyes. He and his friends found themselves back on the side of the railroad tracks that crossed the ocean. Once again Tom’s friends began to awaken. Tom gave them a brief explanation and told them what they had to do as they hopped in the cart and began to move. However, this time they went the...
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...Nepal Biogas Plant -- Construction Manual Construction Manual for GGC 2047 Model Biogas Plant Biogas Support Programme (BSP) P.O. Box No.: 1966, Kathmandu, Nepal September, 1994 Sundar Bajgain Programme Manager Biogas Support Programme Tel. 5521742, 5534035 Email snvbsp@wlink.com.np Scanned by Biofuel Mailing List member Olivier Morf (with thanks) Introduction The success or failure of any biogas plant mainly depends upon the quality of construction works. To come to a successfully constructed biogas plant, the mason should not only respect the dimensions as indicated on the drawing but also follow the correct construction method. Hereunder, in a step-by-step fashion, the right construction method of the 2047 design GGC model biogas plant is given. 1. Different Sizes of Plant To become eligible to receive the investment subsidy provided by His Majesty's Government of Nepal under the Biogas Support Programme (BSP), only the 2047 design GGC model plants of 4, 6, 8, 10, 15 and 20 cubic meters capacity should be constructed. If the design and size of the plant other than mentioned above is chosen, the subsidy is not allowed. The table below gives some relevant data about these six different sizes of biogas plants. Table 1 S.N. Size of Plant Daily Fresh Dung (Kg) Daily Water Liters Approx. No. Cattle Required 1. 4 24 24 2 - 3 2. 6 36 36 3 – 4 3. 8 48 48 4 – 6 4. 10 60 60 6 – 9 5. 15 90 90 9 – 14 6. 20 120 120 14 and more * Plant size is the sum of digester...
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...Invisible Man Essay In the early 1950's, Ralph Ellison debuted his highly acclaimed novel, Invisible Man. During the time when the civil rights movement was first spreading, Invisible Man not only touched the hearts of many but also addressed the social and intellectual challenges that African Americans felt during that time period. The novel's main character, who is never named, lets us into his life and shares his deepest fears. Readers quickly realize who the narrator perceives himself to be and how everyone else perceives him are two completely different things. The narrator slowly begins to doubt himself and question his own blindness and invisibility. In the beginning and in the middle of the novel, the narrator of Invisible Man thinks of himself as nothing but an intelligent young man. He was valedictorian of his high school and was invited to speak at a boxing match. Little did he know that he would be put in the ring as well, but nonetheless he got the chance to present his speech among men of the community. The men at the match even award the narrator a full-ride to a college in the south. The narrator embarks on his journey and feels at home at the college. He does well in school and is known among people on the campus. The narrator is asked to show an esteemed trustee of the college, Mr. Norton, around campus which he believes is a great honor due only to his superb skills and worthy character. After the incident at the Golden Day, the narrator is expelled from...
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...the ladder of the Brotherhood. In short, the narrator is told to lay off. However, the narrator believes that this letter is from an enemy of the Brotherhood trying to cause disruption. Therefore, the narrator continues exactly what he has been doing. Eventually, the narrator goes into the manhole, and begins to burn his important documents. In these documents is the letter, and something else written by Jack. While lighting these on fire he notices that the handwriting is the same. This disillusioned him further by making him realize how long ago Jack was undermining him. The last disillusionment involving Jack and the Brotherhood shows the narrator how they have been planning the destruction of the African American community. The narrator is told to basically abandon his fellow African Americans for a while. He is promised that this is for some great plan that will eventually lead to something great for his people. However, it leads to massive riots in the streets. These riots ruin everything that the African Americans have gained so far. The narrator is finally enlightened to the true nature of the Brotherhood in this moment in the riots and then Jack’s true nature in the manhole a few pages later. In conclusion, Invisible Man walks through the narrator’s life showing the invisibility of the African American during this time. He shows how the narrator started as a disillusioned little boy, who did not know he was being mocked, then goes through the narrator’s college...
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...was the time of the sunset and it was beautiful. I thought it was cool we were riding our bikes this time considering we only about 11 years old. We just kept riding up and down the street of Maddys house. We saw a little silver Subaru gettin ready to turn onto the street, so we just pulled over into the shadowed grass letting the car drive by. We were basically already on the sidewalk, so we just rode down the hill. When we would go down the hill we wouldn't hit the brakes. We could hear the wind whistle. The feeling of the rush and the wind blowing in our faces was great. The first time we rode down the hill we went fast, not minding our safety. At the end of the hill there was a manhole (sewer) and the flattened part of the sidewalk. I rode down the flattened part while Maddy rode of the manhole. She lost control and her bike popped up and caused her to do a...
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...Once upon a time . . . a widow had an only son whose name was Aladdin. They were very poor and lived from hand to mouth, though Aladdin did what he could to earn some pennies, by picking bananas in faraway places. One day, as he was looking for wild figs in a grove some way from the town, Aladdin met a mysterious stranger. This smartly dressed dark-eyed man with a trim black beard and a splendid sapphire in his turban, asked Aladdin an unusual question: "Come here, boy," he ordered. "How would you like to earn a silver penny?" "A silver penny!" exclaimed Aladdin. "Sir, I'd do anything for that kind of payment." "I'm not going to ask you to do much. Just go down that manhole. I'm much too big to squeeze through myself. If you do as I ask, you'll have your reward." The stranger helped Aladdin lift the manhole cover, for it was very heavy. Slim and agile as he was, the boy easily went down. His feet touched stone and he carefully made his way down some steps . . . and found himself in a large chamber. It seemed to sparkle, though dimly lit by the flickering light of an old oil lamp. When Aladdin's eyes became used to the gloom, he saw a wonderful sight: trees dripping with glittering jewels, pots of gold and caskets full of priceless gems. Thousands of precious objects lay scattered about. It was a treasure trove! Unable to believe his eyes, Aladdin was standing dazed when he heard a shout behind him. "The lamp! Put out the flame and bring me the lamp!" Surprised and suspicious...
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...Approximately, 4690 gallons of fluid were gasoline. The gasoline discharged in Lewis Street made its way to storm drain and emptied into Possum creek. City had to recruit several vacuum trucks to decontaminate the creek. The gasoline discharged onto manhole flowed its way to the city sewage treatment center. To restore a safe a condition, essential personnel, firefighters and hazardous crews had to be recruited. Two schools around the area also evacuated. Mr. Ahmed was charged against three violations of Clean Water Act: knowingly discharging a pollutant into navigable water of the United States (plaintiff) without a permit, knowingly operating a source in violation of pretreatment requirements and knowingly placing others in imminent danger through a pollutant. Ahmad did not dispute the conduct although he mentioned, he did not meet the requirement of “knowingly”. Jury found Mr. Ahmad guilty on two of the charges he...
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...BRAINTEASERS AND GUESSTIMATES Vault Guide to Finance Interviews Brainteasers and Guesstimates Stress Tests Perhaps even more so than tough finance questions, brainteasers and guesstimates can unnerve the most icy-veined, well-prepared finance candidate. Even if you know the relationships between inflation, bond prices and interest rates like the back of a dollar bill, all your studying may not help you when your interviewer asks you how many ping pong balls fit in a 747. That is partly their purpose. Investment bankers and other finance professionals need to be able to work well under pressure, so many interviewers believe that throwing a brainteaser or guesstimate at a candidate is a good way to test an applicant’s battle-worthiness. But these questions serve another purpose, too – interviewers want you to showcase your ability to analyze a situation, and to form conclusions about this situation. It is not necessarily important that you come up with a correct answer, just that you display strong analytical ability Acing Guesstimates We’ll start by discussing guesstimates, for which candidates are asked to come up with a figure, usually the size of a market or the number of objects in an area. Although guesstimates are more commonly given in interviews for consulting positions, they do pop up in finance interviews as well. Practicing guesstimates is a good way to begin preparing for stress questions in finance interviews, as they force candidates to think aloud – precisely...
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