outsourcing

List of sex positions

2007-11-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

This list of sex positions includes descriptions of various forms of sexual intercourse and other sexual acts between people. Sexual acts are generally described by the positions the participants take in order to perform those acts. Since the number of positions that can be used for sex is essentially limitless,[1] this list is not exhaustive.
The missionary position
The missionary position
Contents
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* 1 Penetrative positions
o 1.1 Penetrating partner on top with front entry
o 1.2 Penetrating from behind
o 1.3 Receiving partner on top
o 1.4 Sitting and kneeling
o 1.5 Standing
o 1.6 Anal-specific positions
o 1.7 Less common positions
o 1.8 Using furniture or special apparatus
o 1.9 Positions to promote or prevent conception
o 1.10 Positions during pregnancy
* 2 Non-penetrative positions
* 3 Oral sex positions
o 3.1 Fellatio
o 3.2 Cunnilingus
o 3.3 Anilingus
o 3.4 69
* 4 Other positions
* 5 Group sex
o 5.1 With three participants
+ 5.1.1 Multiple penetration
o 5.2 With many participants
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 Further reading
o 8.1 Historical
o 8.2 Modern

Penetrative positions

These positions involve the insertion of a penis or other phallus (such as a strap-on dildo) into a vagina or anus.

Penetrating partner on top with front entry
Lovers in the missionary position, Gustav Klimt, 1914.
Lovers in the missionary position, Gustav Klimt, 1914.

These positions are primarily used vaginally, although some can also be used for anal sex. The basic position is called the missionary position. In it, the receiving partner lies on their back with their legs apart. The penetrating partner lies on top of the receiving partner, facing them. The following variations are possible:

* The penetrating partner stands in front of the receiving partner, whose legs dangle over the edge of a bed or some other platform like a table.[2]
* The receiving partner lies on their back. The penetrating partner stands and lifts the receiving partner's pelvis for penetration. A variant is for the receiving partner to rest their legs on the penetrating partner's shoulders.
* The receiving partner lies on their back, with their legs pulled up straight and their knees near their head. The penetrating partner holds the receiving partner's legs and penetrates from above.
* Similarly to the previous position, but the receiving partner's legs need not be straight and the penetrating partner wraps their arms around the receiving partner to push their legs as close as possible to their chest. Called the stopperage in Burton's translation of The Perfumed Garden.[3]
* Like the missionary position, but with the receiving partner's legs tightly closed and the penetrating partner's legs spread. In this position, the couple resembles a peace sign (minus the circle) and so this position is sometimes called by that name.[citation needed]
* The coital alignment technique, a position where a woman is penetrated vaginally: the penetrating partner enters vaginally in the missionary position and moves slightly forward so that the base of the phallus rubs the clitoris.
* The receiving partner crosses their feet behind their head (or at least puts their feet next to their ears), while lying on their back. The penetrating partner then holds the receiving partner tightly around each instep or ankle and lies on the receiving partner full-length. A variation is to have the receiving partner cross their ankles on their stomach, knees to shoulders, and then have the penetrating partner lie on the receiving partner's crossed ankles with their full weight. Called the Viennese oyster by The Joy of Sex.[4]

Penetrating from behind
A variant of the "doggy style" position
A variant of the "doggy style" position

Most of these positions can be used for either vaginal or anal penetration.

* The receiving partner is on all fours with their torso horizontal. The penetrating partner inserts from behind. This is called the doggy position.
* In a variant on the doggy position, the receiving partner's torso is angled downwards. The penetrating partner can raise their own hips above those of the receiving partner for maximum penetration.
* In another variant of the doggy position, the penetrating partner places their feet on each side of the receiving partner while keeping their knees bent and effectively raising up as high as possible while maintaining penetration. The penetrating partner's hands usually have to be placed on the receiving partner's back to keep from falling forward.[citation needed]
* In a variant on the doggy position, the receiving partner kneels upright. The penetrating partner may gently pull the receiving partner's arms backwards at the wrists towards them.
* In the spoons position both partners lie on their same side facing in the same direction.[5]
* The receiving partner lies on their side. The penetrating partner kneels and penetrates from behind. Alternatively, the penetrating partner can stand if the receiving partner is on a raised surface.
* The receiving partner lies facing down, possibly with their legs spread. The penetrating partner lies on top of them.[1] The placement of a pillow beneath the receiving partner's hips can help increase stimulation in this position.
* The receiving partner lies face down, knees together. The penetrating partner lies on top with spread legs.
* The receiving partner lies on their side with their uppermost leg forward. The penetrating partner kneels astride the receiver's lowermost leg.

Receiving partner on top
The reverse missionary position is frequently combined with kissing, caressing and embracing.
The reverse missionary position is frequently combined with kissing, caressing and embracing.
The cowgirl position
The cowgirl position

Most of these positions can be used for either vaginal or anal penetration.

* The penetrating partner lies on their back. The receiving partner kneels on top of the penetrator facing them. Sometimes called the cowboy or cowgirl position. See Receptive partner on top position.
* As above, but the receiving partner sits on top of the penetrator facing away from them. Sometimes called the reverse cowboy or reverse cowgirl position. See Reverse receptive partner on top position.
* As above, but the receiving partner arches their back with their hands on the ground.
* As above, but the receiving partner squats (instead of kneeling) on top of the penetrator facing toward them.
* The penetrating partner is on their back with the receiving partner lying down on top with their knees brought forward against the ground.
* The penetrating partner lies with their upper back on a low table, couch, chair or edge of bed, keeping their feet flat on the floor and back parallel to floor. The receiving partner straddles them, also keeping their feet on the floor. Receiving partner can assume any of various positions.
* The lateral coital position was recommended by Masters and Johnson, and was preferred by three quarters of their heterosexual study participants after having tried it. The position involves the man on his back, with the woman rolled slightly to the side so that her pelvis is atop his, but her weight is beside his.

Sitting and kneeling
Kneeling variant of the lotus position.
Kneeling variant of the lotus position.

Most of these positions can be used for either vaginal or anal penetration.

* The penetrating partner sits on an area surface, legs outstretched. The receiving partner sits on top and wraps their legs around the penetrating partner. Called pounding on the spot in the Burton translation of The Perfumed Garden.[3] If the penetrator crosses their legs instead, it is called the lotus position.[6]
* The penetrating partner sits in a chair. The receiving partner straddles penetrating partner and sits, facing the penetrating partner, feet on floor. This is sometimes known as the lap dance. Other receiver-on-top variants can be adapted in this way as well.
* The penetrating partner sits on a couch or in a chair that has armrests. The receiving partner sits in the penetrating partner's lap, perpendicular to penetrating partner, with their back against the armrest.
* The penetrating partner kneels while the receiving partner lies on their back, ankles on each side of penetrating partner's shoulders.[3]

Standing
One partner stands while holding up the other without a support.
One partner stands while holding up the other without a support.

Most of these positions can be used for either vaginal or anal penetration. In the basic standing position, both partners stand facing each other. The following variations are possible:

* In the basic standing position, both partners stand facing each other and engage in vaginal sex. In order to match heights, the shorter partner can, for instance, stand on a stair or wear high heels. It may be easier to maintain solid thrusts if the woman has her back to a wall. With such a support, the Kama Sutra calls this position the suspended congress.[7]
o Alternatively, the receiving partner can face away from the penetrating partner which allows for anal sex. This position is varied by having the receiving partner assume different semi-standing positions. For instance, they may bend at the waist, resting their hands or elbows on a table. Or they may put both hands and one foot on the floor and let the penetrating partner hold the remaining leg.[citation needed]

* In this position, the penetrating partner stands. The receiving partner wraps their arms around his neck, and their legs around his waist, thereby exposing either the vagina or anus to the man's penis. This position is made easier with the use of a solid object behind the receiver, as above. Use of a solid object also helps hold the receiving partner up. In this fashion, the position is called the suspended congress in the Kama Sutra.[7]

Anal-specific positions

Most penetrative sex positions (see above) can be adapted anally, especially those that involve entry from behind. Other sexual practices involving the vagina, such as fingering, can also be adapted anally. However, some positions are not directly adaptable because of the different angles required for anal and vaginal entry. Here are listed positions that work well for anal sex.

* Doggy style – see above. This position maximizes the depth of penetration, which may be desirable by either or both partners, but can pose the risk of pushing against the sigmoid colon. If the receiving partner is male, this increases the chances of stimulating the prostate. This position allows for vigorous thrusting. A variation is the leapfrog position, in which the receiving partner angles their torso downward. The receiving partner may also lie flat and face down, with the penetrating partner straddling their thighs.
* Missionary – see above. In order to achieve optimal alignment, the receiving partner's legs should be in the air with the knees drawn towards their chest. Some sort of support (such as a pillow) under the receiving partner's hips can also be useful. The penetrating partner positions themselves between the receiving partner's legs. This position is often cited as good for beginners, because it allows them to relax more fully than is usual in the "doggy" position.
* Spoons – see above. This allows the receiving partner to greatly control initial entry and the depth, speed and force of subsequent thrusting.
* Receiving partner on top – see above section. These are sometimes cited as a good beginning positions, as they allow the receptive partner more control over the depth, rhythm and speed of penetration. More specifically, the receptive partner can slowly push their anus down on the penetrator, allowing time for their muscles to relax.

Less common positions
The T-square position
The T-square position

These positions are more innovative, and perhaps not as widely known or practiced as the ones listed above.

* The receiving partner is on the bottom. The penetrating partner lies on top perpendicularly to them.
* The penetrating partner lies on their back, legs spread. The receiving partner is on their back on top of the penetrator, legs spread, facing the opposite direction.
* The penetrator and the receiver lie on their backs, heads pointed away from one another. Each places one leg on the other's shoulder (as a brace) and the other leg out somewhat to the side.
* The receiving partner lies on their back with knees up and legs apart. The penetrating partner lies on their side perpendicular to the receiver, with the penetrating partner's hips under the arch formed by receiver's legs. Sometimes called the T-square. [citation needed]
* Polish[citation needed], in which one partner lies face down and one face up, with heads pointed away from each other and very little body overlap. Somewhat similar to a reverse (partners facing in same direction instead of towards each other) piledriver done laying down. Extremely difficult. The name may be an ethnic slur.
* The receiving partner's legs are together turning to one side while looking up towards the penetrator, who has spread legs and is kneeing straight behind the other's hips. The penetrator's hands are on the other's hips. This position can be called the Modified T-square. [8]
* The receiving partner lies on their back with the penetrating partner lying perpendicular. The receiving partner bends the knee closest to the penetrating partner's head enough so that there is room for the penetrating partner's waist to fit beneath it, while the penetrating partner's legs straddle the receiving partner's other leg. The in-and-out thrusting action will move more along a side-to-side rather than top-to-bottom axis. This position allows for breast stimulation during sex, for partners to maintain eye contact if they wish, and for a good view of both partners as they reach orgasm.
* The penetrating partner sits on edge of a bed or chair with feet spread wide on floor. The receiving partner lays on their back on the floor and drapes their legs and thighs over the legs of the penetrating partner. The penetrating partner holds the knees of the receiving partner and controls thrusts.
* The Seventh Posture of Burton's translation of The Perfumed Garden is an unusual position not described in other classical sex manuals.[3] The receiving partner lies on their side. The penetrating partner faces the receiver, straddling the receiver's lower leg, and lifts the receiver's upper leg on either side of the body onto the crook of penetrating partner's elbow or onto the shoulder. While some references describe this position as being "for acrobats and not to be taken seriously,"[9] others have found it very comfortable, especially during pregnancy.
* The penetrator straddles one of the legs of the receiver, who is lying on their side.
* The piledriver is a difficult position sometimes seen in porn videos. It is described in many ways by different sources. In a heterosexual context, the woman lies on her back, then raises her hips as high as possible, so that her partner, standing, can enter her vaginally or anally. The position places considerable strain on the woman's neck, so firm cushions should be used to support her. A similar position can be used by two lesbians for cunnilingus, and it could presumably be used by two men for anal sex, but it is difficult to find a coherent explanation of the geometry of this position or its variants. A porn actor/actress who has mastered this position is considered an expert. (The piledriver position resembles a wrestling move in which one wrestler picks up his opponent and rams him head-first into the mat. In this case, one might assume an intent to do harm. People trying the sexual position may be assumed to have a different intention, but they must be careful, as injury is possible. Some experts would advise "Don't try this at home.")

Using furniture or special apparatus
Using a table to allow a variant of the missionary position
Using a table to allow a variant of the missionary position

Most sex acts are typically performed on a bed or other simple platform. As the range of supports available increases, so does the range of positions that are possible. Ordinary furniture can be used for this purpose. Also, various forms of erotic furniture and other apparatus such as fisting slings and trapezes have been used to facilitate even more exotic sexual positions.

Positions to promote or prevent conception

Pregnancy is a potential result of vaginal sex in any position between sexually mature fertile females and sexually mature fertile males. Those who follow the advice of old wives' tales believe certain sexual positions produce more favorable results than others. See Old wives' tale: Having sex standing up is a contraceptive.

Positions during pregnancy

The goal is to prevent excessive pressure on the belly and to restrict penetration as required by the particular partners. Some of the positions below are popular positions for sex during pregnancy.

* Missionary with caution
* Spoons
* Leapfrog
* Woman on top
* Intercrural sex

Non-penetrative positions
frottage
frottage

Main article: Non-penetrative sex

As part of foreplay or to avoid penetrative sex, people engage in a variety of non-penetrative sexual behaviour which may or may not lead to orgasm.

* Frottage – rubbing one's genitals on one's partner. This is commonly done against the buttocks or genitals. For females, this is known as tribadism.
o Dry humping – frottage while clothed. This act is common, although not essential, in the dance style known as "grinding".
* Humping – thrusting one's genitals against the surface of non-sexual objects, clothed or unclothed. This word is also used in the UK and Canada as slang for penetrative sex.
* Handjob – Manual stimulation of a partner's penis.
* Footjob – using the feet to stimulate the penis.
* Mammary intercourse, sometimes known as a Titjob – using the breasts together to stimulate the penis through the cleavage. (Should not be confused with a "boob job" meaning to have augmentive surgery done on the breasts. Also called "titty-fucking",a "tit-wank" or a "muscle fuck.")
* Intercrural intercourse or interfemoral sex – with the penis between the partner's thighs, perhaps rubbing the vulva, scrotum or perineum.
* Axillary intercourse – with the penis in the armpit.

Oral sex positions

Oral sex is the term given to genital stimulation by the mouth.

Fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio

Fellatio is oral sex involving a man's genitals. Possible positions include:

* The man lies on his back while his partner kneels between his legs.
* The man lies on his back while his partner lies off to the side of his legs.
* The man sits in a chair and partner kneels in front of him between his legs.
* The man stands while his partner either kneels in front of him or sits (in a chair or on the edge of a bed, etc.) and bends forward.
* Gargling – The partner fills their mouth with water and gargles it, and the male inserts his testicles into the water that’s being gargled.
* While the active partner lies on their back, the man assumes the missionary position but adjusted forward so as to insert his penis in his partner's mouth.
* The man stands or crouches at the edge of the bed, facing the bed. The active partner lies on the bed with their head hanging over the edge of the bed backward. The man inserts his penis into his partner's mouth, usually to achieve deep throat penetration, whereby the entire penis penetrates the mouth opening.
* The man fellates his own penis; see autofellatio

Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus
Cunnilingus

Cunnilingus is oral sex involving a woman's genitals. Possible positions include:

* The woman lies on her back as in the missionary position. The active partner lies on their front between her legs.
* The active partner sits. The woman stands facing away and bends at the hips.
* The active partner sits. The woman stands or squats facing towards partner and may arch her back, to create further stimulation.
* The active partner lies on their back while the woman kneels with her legs at their sides and her genitals on their mouth. Humorously popularised in the Monty Python song "Sit On My Face" (1980).
* The woman services her own genitals. Although rarer, some women still find this possible; see autofellatio
* The woman stands, possibly bracing herself against a wall. The active partner kneels in front of her.
* The woman sits on the bed with her legs open, the active partner kneels in front of her.
* The woman is upside-down (standing on hands, held by partner, or using support, such as bondage or furniture), with the active partner standing or kneeling (depending on elevation) in front or behind. Such a position may be difficult to achieve, or maintain for extended time periods, but the rush of blood to the brain can alter stimulation's effect.
* The woman stands on hands, resting each leg on either side of the active partner's head, with the active partner standing or kneeling facing them. Depending on which way up the woman is facing, different stimulation and levels of comfort may be available.

Anilingus

Positions for anilingus, also known as "butt licking," "rimming", "anal-oral sex", "rimjob", or "tossing the salad" are often variants on those for genital-oral sex. Rimming-specific positions include:

* The passive partner is on all fours as in the "doggy style" position. The active partner is behind them.
* The passive partner is in the missionary position with their legs up.
* The Rusty trombone, in which a male is standing while the active partner is both performing anilingus from behind, generally from a kneeling position, while also masturbating the standing partner, thus somewhat resembling someone playing the trombone.

69
Women in the 69 position
Women in the 69 position

Simultaneous oral sex between two people is called 69. It is called the congress of the crow in the Kama Sutra.[7] Each partner may be male or female. They can be lying side-by-side, lying one on top of the other, or standing with one partner holding the other upside down.

Other positions

* Fingering of the vagina or anus.
* Shocker – simultaneous fingering of the vagina and anus using one hand. The index and middle finger are inserted in the vagina, and the pinky in the anus. A number of variations are possible by using different combinations of fingers in each orifice. This act figures prominently in the Story of O: shortly after O's arrival at the Chateau, a man grabs her in this way. O is shocked, but she learns to accept this and ruder intrusions. Sometimes referred to as "Two in the pink, one in the stink."
* Female shocker – simultaneously fingering a man's anus with one's thumb while stimulating his scrotum with the other fingers. This is done by making a shape with the hands as though one were holding the bowl of a wine glass.
* Fisting – inserting the entire hand into the vagina or anus. This usually requires large amounts of lubricant and relaxation. The hand is usually not actually made into a fist, but instead the thumb is placed between the middle and ring fingers. Anal fisting can be extremely dangerous and even fatal if the the hand tears the lining of the intestine.[citation needed]

Group sex
Oral Threesome with one male and two females
Oral Threesome with one male and two females
Threesome
Threesome

Various assemblages of people may participate in group sex. While group sex does not imply that all participants must be in sexual contact with all others simultaneously, some positions are only possible with three or more people.

As with the positions listed above, more group sex positions become practical if erotic furniture is used.

With three participants

When three people have sex with each other, it is called a threesome. Possible ways of having all partners in sexual contact with each other include:

* One person performs oral sex on either of the other two partners while they engage in anal or vaginal intercourse.
* A man has vaginal or anal sex with one partner, while himself being anally penetrated by another (possibly with a strap-on dildo).
* Three partners lie or stand in parallel, with one between the other two. Sometimes called a sandwich. This term may specifically refer to the double penetration of a woman, with one penis in her anus, and the other in her vagina.
* A participant vaginally or anally penetrates one partner while performing oral sex upon a second. This is sometimes called Napoleon's Hat.[citation needed]
* A participant has vaginal or anal sex with one partner, and both give oral sex to a third.
* Three people perform oral sex in a triangular configuration, commonly called a "daisy chain".

Multiple penetration

Multiple penetration refers to one person being sexually penetrated several times simultaneously. It generally involves between three and five participants. Penetration may be accomplished by fingers, toes, sex toys, or penises. These positions are popular in pornography, but it is difficult to say whether they enjoy any significant popularity outside of it.
Double penetration
Double penetration

If one person is penetrated by two objects, it is generically called double penetration (sometimes abrreviated dp). Given the vagina, anus and mouth, there are six ways in which this can be done. These include:

* Simultaneous penetration of the anus by two penises or other objects. This is commonly called double anal or double stuffing.
* Simultaneous penetration of the vagina by two penises or other objects. This is commonly called double vaginal or double stuffing.
* Simultaneous penetration of the vagina and anus. If this is done using penises and/or strap-on dildos, this is sometimes called the sandwich or BigMac. The shocker (see above) accomplishes this using several fingers of one hand.

* Simultaneous penetration of the mouth and either the vagina or anus. If the penetrating objects are penises, this is sometimes called the "spit roast". The character Alyssa Jones in Chasing Amy acquired the nickname "finger cuffs" after participating in this act.

If one person is penetrated by three objects, it is generically called triple penetration. Possibilities include:

* Two penises penetrating the vagina and one in the anus or vice versa. While possible, this position is very difficult.[10]
* Three penises penetrating either the vagina or the anus simultaneously.[11]
* One penis in the anus, one in the vagina, and one in the mouth simultaneously

These variations of multiple penetration are commonly seen in pornography aimed at straight men. Some of these positions put two men in intimate contact with each other, either directly or indirectly.

Penetration by larger numbers of objects is rarer and generally not named, with two exceptions, both of which are likely physically impossible:

* Double vaginal, double anal penetration (DVDA) – simultaneous penetration of the vagina and anus of a single woman by two penises each. The term gained popularity after its inclusion in the movie Orgazmo by South Park co-creator Trey Parker, and is also the name of Parker's and Matt Stone's band.
* Triple-Double – Multiple penetration of a single woman by 6 penises. Two penises in the mouth, vagina, and anus simultaneously.

dna

2007-11-02T09:01:00.000-07:00

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information and DNA is often compared to a set of blueprints, since it contains the instructions needed to construct other components of cells, such as proteins and RNA molecules. The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in regulating the use of this genetic information.

Chemically, DNA is a long polymer of simple units called nucleotides, with a backbone made of sugars and phosphate groups joined by ester bonds. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of molecules called bases. It is the sequence of these four bases along the backbone that encodes information. This information is read using the genetic code, which specifies the sequence of the amino acids within proteins. The code is read by copying stretches of DNA into the related nucleic acid RNA, in a process called transcription. Most of these RNA molecules are used to synthesize proteins, but others are used directly in structures such as ribosomes and spliceosomes.

Within cells, DNA is organized into structures called chromosomes and the set of chromosomes within a cell make up a genome. These chromosomes are duplicated before cells divide, in a process called DNA replication. Eukaryotic organisms such as animals, plants, and fungi store their DNA inside the cell nucleus, while in prokaryotes such as bacteria it is found in the cell's cytoplasm. Within the chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA, which helps control its interactions with other proteins and thereby control which genes are transcribed.

Contents
[hide]

* 1 Physical and chemical properties
o 1.1 Major and minor grooves
o 1.2 Base pairing
o 1.3 Sense and antisense
o 1.4 Supercoiling
o 1.5 Alternative double-helical structures
o 1.6 Quadruplex structures
* 2 Chemical modifications
o 2.1 Base modifications
o 2.2 DNA damage
* 3 Overview of biological functions
o 3.1 Genome structure
o 3.2 Transcription and translation
o 3.3 Replication
* 4 Interactions with proteins
o 4.1 DNA-binding proteins
o 4.2 DNA-modifying enzymes
+ 4.2.1 Nucleases and ligases
+ 4.2.2 Topoisomerases and helicases
+ 4.2.3 Polymerases
* 5 Genetic recombination
* 6 Evolution of DNA metabolism
* 7 Uses in technology
o 7.1 Genetic engineering
o 7.2 Forensics
o 7.3 Bioinformatics
o 7.4 DNA and computation
o 7.5 History and anthropology
* 8 History
* 9 See also
* 10 References
* 11 Further reading
* 12 External links

Physical and chemical properties
The chemical structure of DNA.
The chemical structure of DNA.

DNA is a long polymer made from repeating units called nucleotides.[1][2] The DNA chain is 22 to 26 Ångströms wide (2.2 to 2.6 nanometres), and one nucleotide unit is 3.3 Ångstroms (0.33 nanometres) long.[3] Although each individual repeating unit is very small, DNA polymers can be enormous molecules containing millions of nucleotides. For instance, the largest human chromosome, chromosome number 1, is 220 million base pairs long.[4]

In living organisms, DNA does not usually exist as a single molecule, but instead as a tightly-associated pair of molecules.[5][6] These two long strands entwine like vines, in the shape of a double helix. The nucleotide repeats contain both the segment of the backbone of the molecule, which holds the chain together, and a base, which interacts with the other DNA strand in the helix. In general, a base linked to a sugar is called a nucleoside and a base linked to a sugar and one or more phosphate groups is called a nucleotide. If multiple nucleotides are linked together, as in DNA, this polymer is referred to as a polynucleotide.[7]

The backbone of the DNA strand is made from alternating phosphate and sugar residues.[8] The sugar in DNA is 2-deoxyribose, which is a pentose (five carbon) sugar. The sugars are joined together by phosphate groups that form phosphodiester bonds between the third and fifth carbon atoms of adjacent sugar rings. These asymmetric bonds mean a strand of DNA has a direction. In a double helix the direction of the nucleotides in one strand is opposite to their direction in the other strand. This arrangement of DNA strands is called antiparallel. The asymmetric ends of DNA strands are referred to as the 5′ (five prime) and 3′ (three prime) ends. One of the major differences between DNA and RNA is the sugar, with 2-deoxyribose being replaced by the alternative pentose sugar ribose in RNA.[6]

The DNA double helix is stabilized by hydrogen bonds between the bases attached to the two strands. The four bases found in DNA are adenine (abbreviated A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) and thymine (T). These four bases are shown below and are attached to the sugar/phosphate to form the complete nucleotide, as shown for adenosine monophosphate.

These bases are classified into two types; adenine and guanine are fused five- and six-membered heterocyclic compounds called purines, while cytosine and thymine are six-membered rings called pyrimidines.[6] A fifth pyrimidine base, called uracil (U), usually takes the place of thymine in RNA and differs from thymine by lacking a methyl group on its ring. Uracil is not usually found in DNA, occurring only as a breakdown product of cytosine, but a very rare exception to this rule is a bacterial virus called PBS1 that contains uracil in its DNA.[9] In contrast, following synthesis of certain RNA molecules, a significant number of the uracils are converted to thymines by the enzymatic addition of the missing methyl group. This occurs mostly on structural and enzymatic RNAs like transfer RNAs and ribosomal RNA.[10]

Major and minor grooves
Animation of the structure of a section of DNA. The bases lie horizontally between the two spiraling strands. Large version
Animation of the structure of a section of DNA. The bases lie horizontally between the two spiraling strands. Large version[11]

The double helix is a right-handed spiral. As the DNA strands wind around each other, they leave gaps between each set of phosphate backbones, revealing the sides of the bases inside (see animation). There are two of these grooves twisting around the surface of the double helix: one groove, the major groove, is 22 Å wide and the other, the minor groove, is 12 Å wide.[12] The narrowness of the minor groove means that the edges of the bases are more accessible in the major groove. As a result, proteins like transcription factors that can bind to specific sequences in double-stranded DNA usually make contacts to the sides of the bases exposed in the major groove.[13]

Base pairing

Further information: Base pair

At top, a GC base pair with three hydrogen bonds. At the bottom, AT base pair with two hydrogen bonds. Hydrogen bonds are shown as dashed lines.

Each type of base on one strand forms a bond with just one type of base on the other strand. This is called complementary base pairing. Here, purines form hydrogen bonds to pyrimidines, with A bonding only to T, and C bonding only to G. This arrangement of two nucleotides binding together across the double helix is called a base pair. In a double helix, the two strands are also held together via forces generated by the hydrophobic effect and pi stacking, which are not influenced by the sequence of the DNA.[14] As hydrogen bonds are not covalent, they can be broken and rejoined relatively easily. The two strands of DNA in a double helix can therefore be pulled apart like a zipper, either by a mechanical force or high temperature.[15] As a result of this complementarity, all the information in the double-stranded sequence of a DNA helix is duplicated on each strand, which is vital in DNA replication. Indeed, this reversible and specific interaction between complementary base pairs is critical for all the functions of DNA in living organisms.[1]

The two types of base pairs form different numbers of hydrogen bonds, AT forming two hydrogen bonds, and GC forming three hydrogen bonds (see figures, left). The GC base pair is therefore stronger than the AT base pair. As a result, it is both the percentage of GC base pairs and the overall length of a DNA double helix that determine the strength of the association between the two strands of DNA. Long DNA helices with a high GC content have stronger-interacting strands, while short helices with high AT content have weaker-interacting strands.[16] Parts of the DNA double helix that need to separate easily, such as the TATAAT Pribnow box in bacterial promoters, tend to have sequences with a high AT content, making the strands easier to pull apart.[17] In the laboratory, the strength of this interaction can be measured by finding the temperature required to break the hydrogen bonds, their melting temperature (also called Tm value). When all the base pairs in a DNA double helix melt, the strands separate and exist in solution as two entirely independent molecules. These single-stranded DNA molecules have no single common shape, but some conformations are more stable than others.[18]

Sense and antisense

Further information: Sense (molecular biology)

A DNA sequence is called "sense" if its sequence is the same as that of a messenger RNA copy that is translated into protein. The sequence on the opposite strand is complementary to the sense sequence and is therefore called the "antisense" sequence. Since RNA polymerases work by making a complementary copy of their templates, it is this antisense strand that is the template for producing the sense messenger RNA. Both sense and antisense sequences can exist on different parts of the same strand of DNA (i.e. both strands contain both sense and antisense sequences). In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, antisense RNA sequences are produced, but the functions of these RNAs are not entirely clear.[19] One proposal is that antisense RNAs are involved in regulating gene expression through RNA-RNA base pairing.[20]

A few DNA sequences in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and more in plasmids and viruses, blur the distinction made above between sense and antisense strands by having overlapping genes.[21] In these cases, some DNA sequences do double duty, encoding one protein when read 5′ to 3′ along one strand, and a second protein when read in the opposite direction (still 5′ to 3′) along the other strand. In bacteria, this overlap may be involved in the regulation of gene transcription,[22] while in viruses, overlapping genes increase the amount of information that can be encoded within the small viral genome.[23] Another way of reducing genome size is seen in some viruses that contain linear or circular single-stranded DNA as their genetic material.[24][25]

Supercoiling

Further information: DNA supercoil

DNA can be twisted like a rope in a process called DNA supercoiling. With DNA in its "relaxed" state, a strand usually circles the axis of the double helix once every 10.4 base pairs, but if the DNA is twisted the strands become more tightly or more loosely wound.[26] If the DNA is twisted in the direction of the helix, this is positive supercoiling, and the bases are held more tightly together. If they are twisted in the opposite direction, this is negative supercoiling, and the bases come apart more easily. In nature, most DNA has slight negative supercoiling that is introduced by enzymes called topoisomerases.[27] These enzymes are also needed to relieve the twisting stresses introduced into DNA strands during processes such as transcription and DNA replication.[28]
From left to right, the structures of A, B and Z DNA
From left to right, the structures of A, B and Z DNA

Alternative double-helical structures

Further information: Mechanical properties of DNA

DNA exists in several possible conformations. The conformations so far identified are: A-DNA, B-DNA, C-DNA, D-DNA,[29] E-DNA,[30] H-DNA,[31] L-DNA,[29] P-DNA,[32] and Z-DNA.[8][33] However, only A-DNA, B-DNA, and Z-DNA have been observed in naturally occurring biological systems. Which conformation DNA adopts depends on the sequence of the DNA, the amount and direction of supercoiling, chemical modifications of the bases and also solution conditions, such as the concentration of metal ions and polyamines.[34] Of these three conformations, the "B" form described above is most common under the conditions found in cells.[35] The two alternative double-helical forms of DNA differ in their geometry and dimensions.

The A form is a wider right-handed spiral, with a shallow and wide minor groove and a narrower and deeper major groove. The A form occurs under non-physiological conditions in dehydrated samples of DNA, while in the cell it may be produced in hybrid pairings of DNA and RNA strands, as well as in enzyme-DNA complexes.[36][37] Segments of DNA where the bases have been chemically-modified by methylation may undergo a larger change in conformation and adopt the Z form. Here, the strands turn about the helical axis in a left-handed spiral, the opposite of the more common B form.[38] These unusual structures can be recognised by specific Z-DNA binding proteins and may be involved in the regulation of transcription.[39]
Structure of a DNA quadruplex formed by telomere repeats. The conformation of the DNA backbone diverges significantly from the typical helical structure
Structure of a DNA quadruplex formed by telomere repeats. The conformation of the DNA backbone diverges significantly from the typical helical structure[40]

Quadruplex structures

Further information: G-quadruplex

At the ends of the linear chromosomes are specialized regions of DNA called telomeres. The main function of these regions is to allow the cell to replicate chromosome ends using the enzyme telomerase, as the enzymes that normally replicate DNA cannot copy the extreme 3′ ends of chromosomes.[41] As a result, if a chromosome lacked telomeres it would become shorter each time it was replicated. These specialized chromosome caps also help protect the DNA ends from exonucleases and stop the DNA repair systems in the cell from treating them as damage to be corrected.[42] In human cells, telomeres are usually lengths of single-stranded DNA containing several thousand repeats of a simple TTAGGG sequence.[43]

These guanine-rich sequences may stabilize chromosome ends by forming very unusual structures of stacked sets of four-base units, rather than the usual base pairs found in other DNA molecules. Here, four guanine bases form a flat plate and these flat four-base units then stack on top of each other, to form a stable G-quadruplex structure.[44] These structures are stabilized by hydrogen bonding between the edges of the bases and chelation of a metal ion in the centre of each four-base unit. The structure shown to the left is a top view of the quadruplex formed by a DNA sequence found in human telomere repeats. The single DNA strand forms a loop, with the sets of four bases stacking in a central quadruplex three plates deep. In the space at the centre of the stacked bases are three chelated potassium ions.[45] Other structures can also be formed, with the central set of four bases coming from either a single strand folded around the bases, or several different parallel strands, each contributing one base to the central structure.

In addition to these stacked structures, telomeres also form large loop structures called telomere loops, or T-loops. Here, the single-stranded DNA curls around in a long circle stabilized by telomere-binding proteins.[46] At the very end of the T-loop, the single-stranded telomere DNA is held onto a region of double-stranded DNA by the telomere strand disrupting the double-helical DNA and base pairing to one of the two strands. This triple-stranded structure is called a displacement loop or D-loop.[44]

Chemical modifications

cytosine 5-methylcytosine thymine
Structure of cytosine with and without the 5-methyl group. After deamination the 5-methylcytosine has the same structure as thymine

Base modifications

Further information: DNA methylation

The expression of genes is influenced by the chromatin structure of a chromosome and regions of heterochromatin (low or no gene expression) correlate with the methylation of cytosine. For example, cytosine methylation, to produce 5-methylcytosine, is important for X-chromosome inactivation.[47] The average level of methylation varies between organisms, with Caenorhabditis elegans lacking cytosine methylation, while vertebrates show higher levels, with up to 1% of their DNA containing 5-methylcytosine.[48] Despite the biological role of 5-methylcytosine it is susceptible to spontaneous deamination to leave the thymine base, and methylated cytosines are therefore mutation hotspots.[49] Other base modifications include adenine methylation in bacteria and the glycosylation of uracil to produce the "J-base" in kinetoplastids.[50][51]

DNA damage

Further information: Mutation

Benzopyrene, the major mutagen in tobacco smoke, in an adduct to DNA.
Benzopyrene, the major mutagen in tobacco smoke, in an adduct to DNA.[52]

DNA can be damaged by many different sorts of mutagens. These include oxidizing agents, alkylating agents and also high-energy electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light and x-rays. The type of DNA damage produced depends on the type of mutagen. For example, UV light mostly damages DNA by producing thymine dimers, which are cross-links between adjacent pyrimidine bases in a DNA strand.[53] On the other hand, oxidants such as free radicals or hydrogen peroxide produce multiple forms of damage, including base modifications, particularly of guanosine, as well as double-strand breaks.[54] It has been estimated that in each human cell, about 500 bases suffer oxidative damage per day.[55][56] Of these oxidative lesions, the most dangerous are double-strand breaks, as these lesions are difficult to repair and can produce point mutations, insertions and deletions from the DNA sequence, as well as chromosomal translocations.[57]

Many mutagens intercalate into the space between two adjacent base pairs. Intercalators are mostly aromatic and planar molecules, and include ethidium, daunomycin, doxorubicin and thalidomide. In order for an intercalator to fit between base pairs, the bases must separate, distorting the DNA strands by unwinding of the double helix. These structural changes inhibit both transcription and DNA replication, causing toxicity and mutations. As a result, DNA intercalators are often carcinogens, with benzopyrene diol epoxide, acridines, aflatoxin and ethidium bromide being well-known examples.[58][59][60] Nevertheless, due to their properties of inhibiting DNA transcription and replication, they are also used in chemotherapy to inhibit rapidly-growing cancer cells.[61]

Overview of biological functions

DNA usually occurs as linear chromosomes in eukaryotes, and circular chromosomes in prokaryotes. The set of chromosomes in a cell makes up its genome; the human genome has approximately 3 billion base pairs of DNA arranged into 46 chromosomes.[62] The information carried by DNA is held in the sequence of pieces of DNA called genes. Transmission of genetic information in genes is achieved via complementary base pairing. For example, in transcription, when a cell uses the information in a gene, the DNA sequence is copied into a complementary RNA sequence through the attraction between the DNA and the correct RNA nucleotides. Usually, this RNA copy is then used to make a matching protein sequence in a process called translation which depends on the same interaction between RNA nucleotides. Alternatively, a cell may simply copy its genetic information in a process called DNA replication. The details of these functions are covered in other articles; here we focus on the interactions between DNA and other molecules that mediate the function of the genome.

Genome structure

Further information: Cell nucleus, Chromatin, Chromosome, Gene, Non-coding DNA

Genomic DNA is located in the cell nucleus of eukaryotes, as well as small amounts in mitochondria and chloroplasts. In prokaryotes, the DNA is held within an irregularly shaped body in the cytoplasm called the nucleoid.[63] The genetic information in a genome is held within genes. A gene is a unit of heredity and is a region of DNA that influences a particular characteristic in an organism. Genes contain an open reading frame that can be transcribed, as well as regulatory sequences such as promoters and enhancers, which control the expression of the open reading frame.

In many species, only a small fraction of the total sequence of the genome encodes protein. For example, only about 1.5% of the human genome consists of protein-coding exons, with over 50% of human DNA consisting of non-coding repetitive sequences.[64] The reasons for the presence of so much non-coding DNA in eukaryotic genomes and the extraordinary differences in genome size, or C-value, among species represent a long-standing puzzle known as the "C-value enigma."[65] However, DNA sequences that do not code protein may still encode functional non-coding RNA molecules, which are involved in the regulation of gene expression.[66]
T7 RNA polymerase (blue) producing a mRNA (green) from a DNA template (orange).
T7 RNA polymerase (blue) producing a mRNA (green) from a DNA template (orange). [67]

Some non-coding DNA sequences play structural roles in chromosomes. Telomeres and centromeres typically contain few genes, but are important for the function and stability of chromosomes.[42][68] An abundant form of non-coding DNA in humans are pseudogenes, which are copies of genes that have been disabled by mutation.[69] These sequences are usually just molecular fossils, although they can occasionally serve as raw genetic material for the creation of new genes through the process of gene duplication and divergence.[70]

Transcription and translation

Further information: Genetic code, Transcription (genetics), Protein biosynthesis

A gene is a sequence of DNA that contains genetic information and can influence the phenotype of an organism. Within a gene, the sequence of bases along a DNA strand defines a messenger RNA sequence, which then defines one or more protein sequences. The relationship between the nucleotide sequences of genes and the amino-acid sequences of proteins is determined by the rules of translation, known collectively as the genetic code. The genetic code consists of three-letter 'words' called codons formed from a sequence of three nucleotides (e.g. ACT, CAG, TTT).

In transcription, the codons of a gene are copied into messenger RNA by RNA polymerase. This RNA copy is then decoded by a ribosome that reads the RNA sequence by base-pairing the messenger RNA to transfer RNA, which carries amino acids. Since there are 4 bases in 3-letter combinations, there are 64 possible codons (43 combinations). These encode the twenty standard amino acids, giving most amino acids more than one possible codon. There are also three 'stop' or 'nonsense' codons signifying the end of the coding region; these are the TAA, TGA and TAG codons.
DNA replication. The double helix is unwound by a helicase and topoisomerase. Next, one DNA polymerase produces the leading strand copy. Another DNA polymerase binds to the lagging strand. This enzyme makes discontinuous segments (called Okazaki fragments) before DNA ligase joins them together.
DNA replication. The double helix is unwound by a helicase and topoisomerase. Next, one DNA polymerase produces the leading strand copy. Another DNA polymerase binds to the lagging strand. This enzyme makes discontinuous segments (called Okazaki fragments) before DNA ligase joins them together.

Replication

Further information: DNA replication

Cell division is essential for an organism to grow, but when a cell divides it must replicate the DNA in its genome so that the two daughter cells have the same genetic information as their parent. The double-stranded structure of DNA provides a simple mechanism for DNA replication. Here, the two strands are separated and then each strand's complementary DNA sequence is recreated by an enzyme called DNA polymerase. This enzyme makes the complementary strand by finding the correct base through complementary base pairing, and bonding it onto the original strand. As DNA polymerases can only extend a DNA strand in a 5′ to 3′ direction, different mechanisms are used to copy the antiparallel strands of the double helix.[71] In this way, the base on the old strand dictates which base appears on the new strand, and the cell ends up with a perfect copy of its DNA.

Interactions with proteins

All the functions of DNA depend on interactions with proteins. These protein interactions can be non-specific, or the protein can bind specifically to a single DNA sequence. Enzymes can also bind to DNA and of these, the polymerases that copy the DNA base sequence in transcription and DNA replication are particularly important.

DNA-binding proteins
Interaction of DNA with histones (shown in white, top). These proteins' basic amino acids (below left, blue) bind to the acidic phosphate groups on DNA (below right, red).

Structural proteins that bind DNA are well-understood examples of non-specific DNA-protein interactions. Within chromosomes, DNA is held in complexes with structural proteins. These proteins organize the DNA into a compact structure called chromatin. In eukaryotes this structure involves DNA binding to a complex of small basic proteins called histones, while in prokaryotes multiple types of proteins are involved.[72][73] The histones form a disk-shaped complex called a nucleosome, which contains two complete turns of double-stranded DNA wrapped around its surface. These non-specific interactions are formed through basic residues in the histones making ionic bonds to the acidic sugar-phosphate backbone of the DNA, and are therefore largely independent of the base sequence.[74] Chemical modifications of these basic amino acid residues include methylation, phosphorylation and acetylation.[75] These chemical changes alter the strength of the interaction between the DNA and the histones, making the DNA more or less accessible to transcription factors and changing the rate of transcription.[76] Other non-specific DNA-binding proteins found in chromatin include the high-mobility group proteins, which bind preferentially to bent or distorted DNA.[77] These proteins are important in bending arrays of nucleosomes and arranging them into more complex chromatin structures.[78]

A distinct group of DNA-binding proteins are the single-stranded-DNA-binding proteins that specifically bind single-stranded DNA. In humans, replication protein A is the best-characterised member of this family and is essential for most processes where the double helix is separated, including DNA replication, recombination and DNA repair.[79] These binding proteins seem to stabilize single-stranded DNA and protect it from forming stem loops or being degraded by nucleases.
The lambda repressor helix-turn-helix transcription factor bound to its DNA target
The lambda repressor helix-turn-helix transcription factor bound to its DNA target[80]

In contrast, other proteins have evolved to specifically bind particular DNA sequences. The most intensively studied of these are the various classes of transcription factors, which are proteins that regulate transcription. Each one of these proteins bind to one particular set of DNA sequences and thereby activates or inhibits the transcription of genes with these sequences close to their promoters. The transcription factors do this in two ways. Firstly, they can bind the RNA polymerase responsible for transcription, either directly or through other mediator proteins; this locates the polymerase at the promoter and allows it to begin transcription.[81] Alternatively, transcription factors can bind enzymes that modify the histones at the promoter; this will change the accessibility of the DNA template to the polymerase.[82]

As these DNA targets can occur throughout an organism's genome, changes in the activity of one type of transcription factor can affect thousands of genes.[83] Consequently, these proteins are often the targets of the signal transduction processes that mediate responses to environmental changes or cellular differentiation and development. The specificity of these transcription factors' interactions with DNA come from the proteins making multiple contacts to the edges of the DNA bases, allowing them to "read" the DNA sequence. Most of these base-interactions are made in the major groove, where the bases are most accessible.[84]
The restriction enzyme EcoRV (green) in a complex with its substrate DNA
The restriction enzyme EcoRV (green) in a complex with its substrate DNA[85]

DNA-modifying enzymes

Nucleases and ligases

Nucleases are enzymes that cut DNA strands by catalyzing the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bonds. Nucleases that hydrolyse nucleotides from the ends of DNA strands are called exonucleases, while endonucleases cut within strands. The most frequently-used nucleases in molecular biology are the restriction endonucleases, which cut DNA at specific sequences. For instance, the EcoRV enzyme shown to the left recognizes the 6-base sequence 5′-GAT|ATC-3′ and makes a cut at the vertical line. In nature, these enzymes protect bacteria against phage infection by digesting the phage DNA when it enters the bacterial cell, acting as part of the restriction modification system.[86] In technology, these sequence-specific nucleases are used in molecular cloning and DNA fingerprinting.

Enzymes called DNA ligases can rejoin cut or broken DNA strands, using the energy from either adenosine triphosphate or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide.[87] Ligases are particularly important in lagging strand DNA replication, as they join together the short segments of DNA produced at the replication fork into a complete copy of the DNA template. They are also used in DNA repair and genetic recombination.[87]

Topoisomerases and helicases

Topoisomerases are enzymes with both nuclease and ligase activity. These proteins change the amount of supercoiling in DNA. Some of these enzyme work by cutting the DNA helix and allowing one section to rotate, thereby reducing its level of supercoiling; the enzyme then seals the DNA break.[27] Other types of these enzymes are capable of cutting one DNA helix and then passing a second strand of DNA through this break, before rejoining the helix.[88] Topoisomerases are required for many processes involving DNA, such as DNA replication and transcription.[28]

Helicases are proteins that are a type of molecular motor. They use the chemical energy in nucleoside triphosphates, predominantly ATP, to break hydrogen bonds between bases and unwind the DNA double helix into single strands.[89] These enzymes are essential for most processes where enzymes need to access the DNA bases.

Polymerases

Polymerases are enzymes that synthesise polynucleotide chains from nucleoside triphosphates. They function by adding nucleotides onto the 3′ hydroxyl group of the previous nucleotide in the DNA strand. As a consequence, all polymerases work in a 5′ to 3′ direction.[90] In the active site of these enzymes, the nucleoside triphosphate substrate base-pairs to a single-stranded polynucleotide template: this allows polymerases to accurately synthesise the complementary strand of this template. Polymerases are classified according to the type of template that they use.

In DNA replication, a DNA-dependent DNA polymerase makes a DNA copy of a DNA sequence. Accuracy is vital in this process, so many of these polymerases have a proofreading activity. Here, the polymerase recognizes the occasional mistakes in the synthesis reaction by the lack of base pairing between the mismatched nucleotides. If a mismatch is detected, a 3′ to 5′ exonuclease activity is activated and the incorrect base removed.[91] In most organisms DNA polymerases function in a large complex called the replisome that contains multiple accessory subunits, such as the DNA clamp or helicases.[92]

RNA-dependent DNA polymerases are a specialised class of polymerases that copy the sequence of an RNA strand into DNA. They include reverse transcriptase, which is a viral enzyme involved in the infection of cells by retroviruses, and telomerase, which is required for the replication of telomeres.[93][41] Telomerase is an unusual polymerase because it contains its own RNA template as part of its structure.[42]

Transcription is carried out by a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase that copies the sequence of a DNA strand into RNA. To begin transcribing a gene, the RNA polymerase binds to a sequence of DNA called a promoter and separates the DNA strands. It then copies the gene sequence into a messenger RNA transcript until it reaches a region of DNA called the terminator, where it halts and detaches from the DNA. As with human DNA-dependent DNA polymerases, RNA polymerase II, the enzyme that transcribes most of the genes in the human genome, operates as part of a large protein complex with multiple regulatory and accessory subunits.[94]

Genetic recombination
Structure of the Holliday junction intermediate in genetic recombination. The four separate DNA strands are coloured red, blue, green and yellow.[95]

Further information: Genetic recombination

Recombination involves the breakage and rejoining of two chromosomes (M and F) to produce two re-arranged chromosomes (C1 and C2).
Recombination involves the breakage and rejoining of two chromosomes (M and F) to produce two re-arranged chromosomes (C1 and C2).

A DNA helix usually does not interact with other segments of DNA, and in human cells the different chromosomes even occupy separate areas in the nucleus called "chromosome territories".[96] This physical separation of different chromosomes is important for the ability of DNA to function as a stable repository for information, as one of the few times chromosomes interact is during chromosomal crossover when they recombine. Chromosomal crossover is when two DNA helices break, swap a section and then rejoin.

Recombination allows chromosomes to exchange genetic information and produces new combinations of genes, which increases the efficiency of natural selection and can be important in the rapid evolution of new proteins.[97] Genetic recombination can also be involved in DNA repair, particularly in the cell's response to double-strand breaks.[98]

The most common form of chromosomal crossover is homologous recombination, where the two chromosomes involved share very similar sequences. Non-homologous recombination can be damaging to cells, as it can produce chromosomal translocations and genetic abnormalities. The recombination reaction is catalyzed by enzymes known as recombinases, such as RAD51.[99] The first step in recombination is a double-stranded break either caused by an endonuclease or damage to the DNA.[100] A series of steps catalyzed in part by the recombinase then leads to joining of the two helices by at least one Holliday junction, in which a segment of a single strand in each helix is annealed to the complementary strand in the other helix. The Holliday junction is a tetrahedral junction structure that can be moved along the pair of chromosomes, swapping one strand for another. The recombination reaction is then halted by cleavage of the junction and re-ligation of the released DNA.[101]

Evolution of DNA metabolism

Further information: RNA world hypothesis

DNA contains the genetic information that allows all modern living things to function, grow and reproduce. However, it is unclear how long in the 4-billion-year history of life DNA has performed this function, as it has been proposed that the earliest forms of life may have used RNA as their genetic material.[90][102] RNA may have acted as the central part of early cell metabolism as it can both transmit genetic information and carry out catalysis as part of ribozymes.[103] This ancient RNA world where nucleic acid would have been used for both catalysis and genetics may have influenced the evolution of the current genetic code based on four nucleotide bases. This would occur since the number of unique bases in such an organism is a trade-off between a small number of bases increasing replication accuracy and a large number of bases increasing the catalytic efficiency of ribozymes.[104]

Unfortunately, there is no direct evidence of ancient genetic systems, as recovery of DNA from most fossils is impossible. This is because DNA will survive in the environment for less than one million years and slowly degrades into short fragments in solution.[105] Although claims for older DNA have been made, most notably a report of the isolation of a viable bacterium from a salt crystal 250-million years old,[106] these claims are controversial and have been disputed.[107][108]

Uses in technology

Genetic engineering

Further information: Molecular biology and genetic engineering

Modern biology and biochemistry make intensive use of recombinant DNA technology. Recombinant DNA is a man-made DNA sequence that has been assembled from other DNA sequences. They can be transformed into organisms in the form of plasmids or in the appropriate format, by using a viral vector.[109] The genetically modified organisms produced can be used to produce products such as recombinant proteins, used in medical research,[110] or be grown in agriculture.[111][112]

Forensics

Further information: Genetic fingerprinting

Forensic scientists can use DNA in blood, semen, skin, saliva or hair at a crime scene to identify a perpetrator. This process is called genetic fingerprinting, or more accurately, DNA profiling. In DNA profiling, the lengths of variable sections of repetitive DNA, such as short tandem repeats and minisatellites, are compared between people. This method is usually an extremely reliable technique for identifying a criminal.[113] However, identification can be complicated if the scene is contaminated with DNA from several people.[114] DNA profiling was developed in 1984 by British geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys,[115] and first used in forensic science to convict Colin Pitchfork in the 1988 Enderby murders case.[116] People convicted of certain types of crimes may be required to provide a sample of DNA for a database. This has helped investigators solve old cases where only a DNA sample was obtained from the scene. DNA profiling can also be used to identify victims of mass casualty incidents.[117]

Bioinformatics

Further information: Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics involves the manipulation, searching, and data mining of DNA sequence data. The development of techniques to store and search DNA sequences have led to widely-applied advances in computer science, especially string searching algorithms, machine learning and database theory.[118] String searching or matching algorithms, which find an occurrence of a sequence of letters inside a larger sequence of letters, were developed to search for specific sequences of nucleotides.[119] In other applications such as text editors, even simple algorithms for this problem usually suffice, but DNA sequences cause these algorithms to exhibit near-worst-case behaviour due to their small number of distinct characters. The related problem of sequence alignment aims to identify homologous sequences and locate the specific mutations that make them distinct. These techniques, especially multiple sequence alignment, are used in studying phylogenetic relationships and protein function.[120] Data sets representing entire genomes' worth of DNA sequences, such as those produced by the Human Genome Project, are difficult to use without annotations, which label the locations of genes and regulatory elements on each chromosome. Regions of DNA sequence that have the characteristic patterns associated with protein- or RNA-coding genes can be identified by gene finding algorithms, which allow researchers to predict the presence of particular gene products in an organism even before they have been isolated experimentally.[121]

DNA and computation

Further information: DNA computing

DNA was first used in computing to solve a small version of the directed Hamiltonian path problem, an NP-complete problem.[122] DNA computing is advantageous over electronic computers in power use, space use, and efficiency, due to its ability to compute in a highly parallel fashion (see parallel computing). A number of other problems, including simulation of various abstract machines, the boolean satisfiability problem, and the bounded version of the travelling salesman problem, have since been analysed using DNA computing.[123] Due to its compactness, DNA also has a theoretical role in cryptography, where in particular it allows unbreakable one-time pads to be efficiently constructed and used.[124]

History and anthropology

Further information: Phylogenetics and Genetic genealogy

Because DNA collects mutations over time, which are then inherited, it contains historical information and by comparing DNA sequences, geneticists can infer the evolutionary history of organisms, their phylogeny.[125] This field of phylogenetics is a powerful tool in evolutionary biology. If DNA sequences within a species are compared, population geneticists can learn the history of particular populations. This can be used in studies ranging from ecological genetics to anthropology; for example, DNA evidence is being used to try to identify the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.[126][127]

DNA has also been used to look at modern family relationships, such as establishing family relationships between the descendants of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson. This usage is closely related to the use of DNA in criminal investigations detailed above. Indeed, some criminal investigations have been solved when DNA from crime scenes has matched relatives of the guilty individual.[128]

History
Francis Crick
Francis Crick
James Watson
James Watson

Further information: History of molecular biology

DNA was first isolated by the Swiss physician Friedrich Miescher who, in 1869, discovered a microscopic substance in the pus of discarded surgical bandages. As it resided in the nuclei of cells, he called it "nuclein".[129] In 1919 this discovery was followed by Phoebus Levene's identification of the base, sugar and phosphate nucleotide unit.[130] Levene suggested that DNA consisted of a string of nucleotide units linked together through the phosphate groups. However, Levene thought the chain was short and the bases repeated in a fixed order. In 1937 William Astbury produced the first X-ray diffraction patterns that showed that DNA had a regular structure.[131]

In 1943, Oswald Theodore Avery discovered that traits of the "smooth" form of the Pneumococcus could be transferred to the "rough" form of the same bacteria by mixing killed "smooth" bacteria with the live "rough" form. Avery, along with coworkers Colin MacLeod and Maclyn McCarty, identified DNA as this transforming principle.[132] DNA's role in heredity was confirmed in 1953, when Alfred Hershey and Martha Chase in the Hershey-Chase experiment showed that DNA is the genetic material of the T2 phage.[133]

In 1953, based on X-ray diffraction images[134] taken by Rosalind Franklin and the information that the bases were paired, James D. Watson and Francis Crick suggested[134] what is now accepted as the first accurate model of DNA structure in the journal Nature.[5] Experimental evidence for Watson and Crick's model were published in a series of five articles in the same issue of Nature.[135] Of these, Franklin and Raymond Gosling's paper was the first publication of X-ray diffraction data that supported the Watson and Crick model,[136][137] this issue also contained an article on DNA structure by Maurice Wilkins and his colleagues.[138] In 1962, after Franklin's death, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins jointly received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[139] However, speculation continues on who should have received credit for the discovery, as it was based on Franklin's data.

In an influential presentation in 1957, Crick laid out the "Central Dogma" of molecular biology, which foretold the relationship between DNA, RNA, and proteins, and articulated the "adaptor hypothesis".[140] Final confirmation of the replication mechanism that was implied by the double-helical structure followed in 1958 through the Meselson-Stahl experiment.[141] Further work by Crick and coworkers showed that the genetic code was based on non-overlapping triplets of bases, called codons, allowing Har Gobind Khorana, Robert W. Holley and Marshall Warren Nirenberg to decipher the genetic code.[142] These findings represent the birth of molecular biology.

See also

* Genetic disorder
* Plasmid
* DNA sequencing
* Southern blot
* DNA microarray
* Polymerase chain reaction
* Phosphoramidite
* Junk DNA
* Triple-stranded DNA

References

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Further reading

* Clayton, Julie. (Ed.). 50 Years of DNA, Palgrave MacMillan Press, 2003. ISBN 978-1-40-391479-8
* Judson, Horace Freeland. The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1996. ISBN 978-0-87-969478-4
* Olby, Robert. The Path to The Double Helix: Discovery of DNA, first published in October 1974 by MacMillan, with foreword by Francis Crick; ISBN 978-0-48-668117-7; the definitive DNA textbook, revised in 1994, with a 9 page postscript.
* Ridley, Matt. Francis Crick: Discoverer of the Genetic Code (Eminent Lives) HarperCollins Publishers; 192 pp, ISBN 978-0-06-082333-7 2006
* Rose, Steven. The Chemistry of Life, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-14-027273-4.
* Watson, James D. and Francis H.C. Crick. A structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid (PDF). Nature 171, 737–738, 25 April 1953.
* Watson, James D. DNA: The Secret of Life ISBN 978-0-375-41546-3.
* Watson, James D. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA (Norton Critical Editions). ISBN 978-0-393-95075-5
* Watson, James D. "Avoid boring people and other lessons from a life in science" (2007) New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-375-41284-4
* Calladine, Chris R.; Drew, Horace R.; Luisi, Ben F. and Travers, Andrew A. Understanding DNA, Elsevier Academic Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-12155089-9

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DNA

* The Secret Life of DNA - DNA Music compositions
* [1] Crick's personal papers at Mandeville Special Collections Library, Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego
* DNA Interactive This site from the Dolan DNA Learning Center included dozens of animations as well as interviews with James Watson and others (requires Adobe Flash)
* DNA from the Beginning Another DNA Learning Center site on DNA, genes, and heredity from Mendel to the human genome project.
* Double Helix 1953–2003 National Centre for Biotechnology Education
* Double helix: 50 years of DNA, Nature
* Rosalind Franklin's contributions to the study of DNA
* U.S. National DNA Day — watch videos and participate in real-time chat with top scientists
* Genetic Education Modules for Teachers — DNA from the Beginning Study Guide
* Listen to Francis Crick and James Watson talking on the BBC in 1962, 1972, and 1974
* PDB Molecule of the Month pdb23_1
* DNA under electron microscope
* DNA at the Open Directory Project
* DNA Articles — articles and information collected from various sources
* DNA coiling to form chromosomes
* DISPLAR: DNA binding site prediction on protein
* Dolan DNA Learning Center
* Olby, R. (2003) "Quiet debut for the double helix" Nature 421 (January 23): 402–405.
* Basic animated guide to DNA cloning
* DNA the Double Helix Game From the official Nobel Prize web site
* [2] download DNA data of various species (such as homo sapiens DNA - 2.5GB)

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Major families of biochemicals
Peptides | Amino acids | Nucleic acids | Carbohydrates | Lipids | Terpenes | Carotenoids | Tetrapyrroles | Enzyme cofactors | Steroids | Flavonoids | Alkaloids | Polyketides | Glycosides
Analogues of nucleic acids: Types of Nucleic Acids Analogues of nucleic acids:
Nucleobases: Purine (Adenine, Guanine) | Pyrimidine (Uracil, Thymine, Cytosine)
Nucleosides: Adenosine/Deoxyadenosine | Guanosine/Deoxyguanosine | Uridine | Thymidine | Cytidine/Deoxycytidine
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Deoxynucleotides: monophosphates (dAMP, TMP, dGMP, dCMP) | diphosphates (dADP, TDP, dGDP, dCDP) | triphosphates (dATP, TTP, dGTP, dCTP)
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Analogues of nucleic acids: GNA | PNA | TNA | Morpholino | LNA

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Categories: Semi-protected against vandalism | Spoken articles | DNA | Genetics | Helices

2007-11-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

The following text of a talk given by Professor Williamson at a conference for history teachers presents historical background and detail on the striking rise of certain sectors of the Indian economy. He discusses, as well, the prospects for the near future: Is a six percent growth rate, once considered by economists to be remarkably good, too high in this still generally poor land? -- Ed.

The Rise of the Indian Economy

The rise of the Indian economy is one of the most important economic developments of our day. To put it in context, one needs to start by considering how India gained independence. The year was 1947, and it was the culmination of a long struggle between the British government and the Indian independence movement. That movement was led by Gandhi, but his most important lieutenant was Nehru. The two had very different views on a number of questions, and in particular on economic issues. Gandhi believed in a very simple life, while Nehru had absorbed the doctrines of British socialism. The British socialist movement at that time aimed to build up a modern economy as rapidly as possible.

THE POST-INDEPENDENCE YEARS
India in 1947 was characterized by very low per capita income. There were a lot of people, so there was always a big GDP, but per capita income was very low. In some ways India had a fully developed capitalist economy, and it had some of the oldest capitalist institutions in Asia, such as the Bombay Stock Exchange, founded in 1875. So there was a modern economy, but it was very thin. There was a manufacturing sector, but it didn't cover many industries. There was even a steel industry and a relatively strong textile industry, but these were limited. It was predominantly a subsistence economy. Most of the villages at the time didn't even have road connections. They were connected only by tracks to the outside world. They weren't part of the market economy.

During the independence struggle in the final days of the war, Nehru was put in jail, along with a number of his Congress colleagues. In a matter of weeks, they drew up a
consensus which has been called subsequently the Indian Congress Consensus. At that time the Indian Congress absolutely dominated India, so what the Indian Congress thought went. There was certainly a widespread agreement on the need to develop, to create an industrial revolution, to grow rapidly, and to build a modern economy. This would involve moving agricultural workers to the cities, which it was argued-this was a popular line of thought in the early days of development economics-wouldn't really cost anything, because the marginal products of those agricultural workers was negligible anyway. They really weren't contributing in the countryside. In any event, with a little agricultural modernization, it would be possible to increase output.

It was generally agreed that society should be based on collective action, not capitalist acquisitiveness. Basically, the view was that the state ought to seize control of the economy and ought not be run by the capitalist sector. Consequently, for the best part of forty years after independence, growth was slow. But the "License Raj" developed very quickly. Everything needed permission. If you owned a business that officially was in the private sector, in order to expand you needed a license. You couldn't get foreign exchange to import until you had the industrial license to expand. The government effectively controlled everything through a series of interlocking controls of that type.

sEven the banks were nationalized in due course. The banking system was one of the later things to be nationalized, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but even then this philosophy prevailed. The system was dominated as in many developing countries by the idea of import substitution, the idea that you would get expanding markets for industrial goods essentially by producing at home things that had formerly been imported. That was because you simply couldn't import most goods.

There was on the other hand continuous macroeconomic discipline. Unlike many developing countries in Latin America, or in Africa, or even in Southeast Asia (such as Indonesia), India never suffered from hyperinflation. India never went above about 20 percent a year. Instead, where the macroeconomic problems showed up was in balance-of-payment pressures. The fact that one required a license to import just about everything was strangling the economy.

DEVALUATION
Finally, in 1966, a year before the UK's famous devaluation, came India's. An attempt was made to undertake some liberalization of the economy at that time, and India sought U.S. aid. But since India wouldn't support the Vietnam War, President Johnson withheld aid. So the envisaged flow of aid that would help make it possible to liberalize the economy wasn't there, and India went back to slow growth for another 15-20 years.

Another feature of this period was that the educational system was very skewed. Illiteracy continued, and in particular female illiteracy, which is still quite common in India. But at the same time the elites have a very good educational system, typified by the Indian Institutes of Technology and Management, which were established in this period to cater to the elites. The education they received has been important in the subsequent development of the country's economy. But in the early years, the economy grew rather slowly, at what became known as the Hindu rate of growth, merely 3-4 percent per year. At the time, the Indian population was growing at 2.5 percent per year. If GDP is only going up 3.5 percent a year, that doesn't give much scope for an improvement in living standards and cutting poverty, the ultimate objectives of economic growth. In fact, there was actually an increase in poverty in India in the middle of that period. After reasonably respectable growth in the immediate post-independence years, by the early 1970s it had really slowed down to about 3 percent.

LIBERALIZATION
Then something changed. Initially we didn't realize that it had changed. Dani Rodrik, a well-known growth economist at Harvard, and Arvind Subramanian, an Indian economist at the IMF, continuing a line of work pioneered by American economist Brad Delong, have argued that the acceleration in Indian growth really came long before 1991, which is from when reformers had liked to date it. They claim there is evidence that growth speeded up in the mid-1980s. However, up until then, you can explain away the faster growth rate as a consequence simply of catching up, because there was a severe recession in 1979, due to the second oil shock. In any event, by the mid-1990s one has indisputable evidence that the Indian economy had moved to a faster growth rate, following the first, limited reforms.

One example of liberalization was known as "broad-banding." In the earlier period, if a private-sector entrepreneur was given permission to produce something, he produced exactly that and nothing else. Broad-banding meant that as long as he didn't use more raw materials, he was entitled to make something else. What you were entitled to produce was broad-banded, or extended. And that in itself led to an important liberalization of the economy.

Another example is that the trucking industry was deregulated in the mid-1980s, which meant that people who owned trucks, still in the private sector, were allowed to go out to bid in order to take loads from one part of the country to another, at prices they could choose. This was successful in that trucking performance improved and prices were lowered as a result of competition, instead of going up, as those who had opposed liberalization had predicted. Toward the end of the 1980s, even though exports were growing rapidly, balance-of-payment pressures were beginning to rise and the budget deficit was increasing. These two things together led to an important crisis in 1991, at the time of the general election. Despite the debate as to whether there had already been some liberalization, 1991 marks the big liberalization of the Indian economy.

Manmohan Singh happened to be the finance minister at the time. When he was a young man at Cambridge in the 1950s, he'd written an article that argued that it was a mistake to rely on import substitution, but despite that he'd gone back to India, entered the civil service, and been a loyal civil servant implementing these sorts of policies all those years. But when he became finance minister and was presented with the challenge of finding a way out of the crisis, he set about undertaking a major liberalization of the economy. The macroeconomic part of the package was quite orthodox. After all, if you have a balance-of-payment crisis, if you run out of reserves, you have to fix the balance of payments in a hurry. You really can't start revaluing the exchange rate or spending more, you have to do orthodox things like cutting expenditures, raising taxes, devaluing the exchange rate, and implementing monetary restriction.

The interesting part of the package was the microeconomic liberalization, which was adamantly against the Indian tradition. There'd been the very limited liberalization in the 1980s, but the main Indian ethos had remained very statist, hostile to the market economy, capitalism, and free enterprise. Singh swept away the controls of the license raj, the requirement that one obtain permission from the Capital Issues Committee to raise new money, and the ban on foreign direct investment. So investment was gradually liberalized, as was trade. The initial moves were to get rid of the quantitative trade restrictions. Tariffs were gradually reduced to the point of normal levels, though India's still a fairly protectionist country. Then there was an effort to modernize the tax system. In 1991 about one-quarter of all the tax revenue came out of trade taxes, which would be lost with trade liberalization. Tax rates between one product and another were equalized, again gradually, over the course of the 1990s.

There was the beginning of divesting the public sector of its ownership of enterprises. India was not adventurous in this respect. It certainly didn't do anything like the mass privatization in the former Soviet economies. It pursued disinvestment, which meant selling minority shares in enterprises on the stock market. You don't pay a lot of money if all you think you're going to buy is a minority share in a state-owned enterprise. This isn't a good way of raising money or changing management incentives. So India was slow in divesting, but the program was started, and it's gradually built up steam. There has been much more willingness to contemplate private enterprises competing against state-owned enterprises in recent years.

Finally, there was financial reform. Where India used to have one stock exchange, which still operated pretty much like in the nineteenth century, today it has a modern stock exchange running parallel to that one. The Capital Issues Committee was abolished, and companies were allowed to borrow freely. Where the banking system at one stage had to lend over 60 percent of its deposits to the government, and most of the others had to be lent as the government dictated, now it has a large degree of freedom to lend where commercial considerations dictate. Today India has a rather impressive financial system by developing-country standards.

CONSEQUENCES
Growth didn't in fact accelerate much from the 1980s average to the 1990s average. But the 1980s ended in a crisis because some factors were clearly unsustainable, and although some of us worry about some features of the present economy, there's no suggestion that the present growth rate is unsustainable. So it may have been only slightly faster, but it was sustainable. The growth translated into a fairly substantial fall in poverty over the course of the 1990s. The 1997 East Asian financial crisis really stopped growth in its tracks in many countries. Those countries, some of them more voluntarily than others, had all liberalized their capital accounts, allowing money to flow in and out fairly liberally. In contrast, in India, if you brought money in, you could take it out again, but domestic Indians weren't allowed to take their money out freely, and India in any event hadn't borrowed a great deal. So it wasn't vulnerable to the 1997 crisis.

In the second half of the 1990s one also began seeing the rise of the IT sector. Two explanations are given for why that sector became so successful. The first is that the bureaucrats didn't notice what was happening until it had already happened, so they couldn't really interfere and put up a web of regulations and restrictions. That's probably overly harsh. The other is that the government did some things right. Its founding of the Indian Institutes led to a flow of highly qualified manpower, many of whom found vocation in the IT sector. India at long last found its niche in the world economy, which wasn't in exporting manufactures, like the East Asian countries, but instead was in the services sector, and IT in particular.

One important consequence of the 1990s is the sharpening of regional differences within India. The fast-growing states were in the south and west: Maharashtra, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, etc. The large states of the Ganghetic plain-- Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa--became relatively poorer during the 1990s. Policy, which became more attuned to rewarding success over the 1990s, may have exacerbated these regional differences.

Since there were a whole succession of governments over the 1990s, the Congress lost its monopoly as the party of government. There was a period when the regional parties were dominant in the mid 1990s, then the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) entered the government and early in this decade there were even several years when there was a solely BJP government. In Indian politics, there's very little notion of economic ideology. The BJP tended to be a little more pro-market, a little less internationalist than the Congress, but the big difference is whether you're in or out of government. Government will introduce something--to privatize the insurance industry, for example; MPs will vote in favor of it when they're in government, and then three years later when the government has changed and they're in opposition, everyone who previously voted in favor now votes against, and vice versa. So there's no sort of socialist ideology in the way that there was in many European countries. All the governments of the 1990s were effectively reforming governments, even if not as strongly as some of us would have liked. They tried to push the reform agenda, and if they were slow, at least there were no big reversals as in Latin America and elsewhere.

INDIA TODAY
At the moment, the Congress-led government is in alliance with some of the regional parties. The BJP is out of government, having run an election campaign that was altogether too complacent last time around. Manmohan Singh is now prime minister, but Sonia Gandhi, who was born in Italy, leads the National Congress Party. To avoid the complications of having a foreigner be prime minister, she handed over running the government to Singh, who sits as a member of the upper house. The other key reformer is Palaniappan Chidambaram, the finance minister. He is a member of one of the smaller regional parties. While they haven't been able to move as fast as they may have liked, they've unquestionably been moving in a reforming direction since coming into power two years ago.

Externally, there's no hint of a balance-of-payments crisis. India has something like $130 billion of reserves. Indeed, there's been some debate as to whether it couldn't spend some of those reserves to advantage. There's a sense of great optimism in India at last. It's found its place in the world economy as the place to which the multinationals outsource jobs.

The debate is how much faster than 6 percent India should grow. When I was young we regarded 6 percent as a miracle. It's what Italy did in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when we talked about the Italian miracle. Today, developing countries tend to regard 6 percent as the minimum. In India the debate is how much faster it should be able to grow. But there are still some big challenges.

First of all, there's the fiscal deficit, which is around 8 percent of GNP and has been up toward 10 percent. Now India is growing faster than the U.S., so it can afford a deficit larger than the 3-4 percent U.S. deficit without debt's getting out of control relative to GDP, but it still has one of the highest debt ratios in the world outside of Japan. It's still a 90-100 percent debt to GDP ratio. Sixty percent is supposed to be the limit in Europe, by the Maastricht Treaty; the Latin Americans have decided that they really shouldn't go that high, that 30-40 percent is the maximum prudent rate. And here's India with 90+ percent and still rising. They haven't had a crisis yet and seem confident that they're not about to. They do have a high private- sector savings rate, which means that the debt is almost all held at home rather than abroad, which makes life simpler. But at some stage they're going to have to get the deficit down. Otherwise, they'll be spending their tax money on nothing but servicing the debt. There are some signs that they're beginning to get a grip on this, but it's still a major problem. As a Brookings Institution economist put it in the 1980s, "The fiscal deficit is not a case of the wolf at the door, it's termites in the woodwork." It diverts resources away from investment in productive activities into excessive spending by the government.

A second difficulty is one that it's hard for people in most developed countries to believe is a real problem. But a large part of that deficit goes to financing the losses of the electric companies. Two and a half percent of GNP goes into power subsidies; only half the electricity that's generated actually gets paid for. Some of the other half goes in unfortunate (we economists think) programs to give free power to the farmers. Unfortunately, the farmers who qualify for free power are the ones who are rich enough to be able to afford power in the first place. But having gotten free power, they let their neighbors tap into it. That's another portion of the power goes that way. Then there are those who tap the lines. It's dangerous, but people know how to do it. So half the power doesn't get paid for even while there's a big increase in the fiscal deficit, while one has very expensive power for those who do pay, which includes large industry. What do you do if you're an industrialist with power that costs more to buy than you can generate it for? You buy a generator, which is socially wasteful. A lot of the investment in India is wasted by companies' generating their own power so as to bypass the power system. So while there have been some attempts at privatizing the power sector and at imposing a regulatory system, there are still big problems at the moment.

Third, there is the social situation. Education is still a
problem in just the same way as it used to be. There's excellent education for a small minority in the elite, and poor or no education at all for some people at the base of the pyramid, particularly women. India's in the region where there are a hundred million missing women, as Amartya Sen wrote. Even if they get born, they don't get educated properly. Malnutrition is another problem. About half of India's pupils are malnourished. The problem is worse than even Subsaharan Africa. In all the other dimensions, India has now passed Subsaharan Africa easily, but in this one it's still worse.

Finally, India is still a poor country. The average person still earns less than $2 a day. The figure is controversial, but the World Bank reckons that a quarter of the population are poor by its measure of $1/day in 1985 prices--that's a destitution level, rather than a poverty level.

INDIA VS. CHINA
Which country is going to win this race? Most economists actually think it's good when one country grows fast, that it helps another country grow faster. Nevertheless, there's a big discussion as to which of these two will grow faster in the long term.

China starts off with a higher standard of living. It has more manufacturing, a bigger economy, much better infrastructure, and a dense network of superhighways, as against India, which is just finishing its first superhighway grid linking the four big cities, the ones with more than 10 million people. China also starts off with a faster growth rate. It's been growing at 9-10 percent a year, it has a high rate--over 40 percent of GDP--of investment, it has practically universal literacy, and it has an open economy, measuring openness in terms of trade and FDI.

India has four major advantages. First, it is into the right things, the modern, skill-intensive service sectors like IT and outsourcing. Second, it has an entrepreneurial culture. Most Indians never fully subscribed to the non-acquisitiveness of the Congress consensus. Now that acquisitiveness has been given free rein, it's producing a big advantage. Third is the fact that they have a much younger population, which means that their saving rate is going to increase in the future. A young population with a lot of people who are in the high savings phase of their life cycle is going to save more than an older population as it moves into the retirement phase and may stop active saving. Finally, in many ways India has better institutions. It has a tradition of setting up thoughtful committees before it makes a reform. It has a democratic system, which is a really major advantage. As countries modernize, one of the things people want is a greater say in running their own life. India already has that democracy, China doesn't, and almost every country that's made the transition has gone through a pretty traumatic process. Maybe China will be lucky, but India already has democratized and doesn't face that risk. So for that reason the outlook is fairly good for India.

I see little reason so far to think that the Indian growth rate is currently above 6-7 percent on a trend basis, but that's a lot higher than most countries have achieved for long periods of time. It's high enough to take India into the first world in the course of some of our lifetimes. I don't see this as a threat to the United States in any event. For all the jobs that are being outsourced to India, there's some outsourcing in the opposite direction, opportunities that are only going to increase as India grows richer. So the outlook is basically optimistic.

This talk was given as the keynote of "Teaching About India," a two-day History Institute for Teachers seminar held March 11-12, 2006, sponsored by FPRI and co-sponsored by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the University of Pennsylvania.
Published by permission of the Foreign Policy Research Inst., Philadelphia, PA. See www.fpri.org. For further information, contact FPRI@fpri.org.

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May 11, 2006

American Diplomacy
Copyright © 2006 American Diplomacy Publishers Chapel Hill NC
www.americandiplomacy.org

John Williamson of the Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., has been a consultant to IMF and to the UK Treasury, has taught at Princeton, MIT, University of
Warwick, and University of York, and was the chief World Bank economist for South Asia.

Economy of India

2007-11-02T08:28:00.000-07:00

Economy of India
Currency 1 Indian Rupee (INR) (₨) = 100 Paise
Fiscal year April 1–March 31
Trade organisations WTO, SAFTA
Statistics
GDP (PPP) $4.726 trillion (PPP) (2007 est.)
$1,089.94 billion (nominal) (2007) (12th(nominal) ; 3rd (PPP) [2])
GDP growth 9.7% (2005/06)
GDP per capita $964(nominal); $4,182(PPP) [3]
GDP by sector agriculture: 19.9%, industry: 19.3%, services: 60.7% (2006 est.)
Inflation (CPI) 5.3% (2006 est.)
Population
below poverty line 25% (2002 est.) [4]
Labour force 509.3 million (2006 est.)
Labour force
by occupation agriculture: 60%, industry: 12%, services: 28% (2003)
Unemployment 7.8% (2006 est.)
Main industries textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software
Trade
Exports $125 billion (Financial Year 2006-2007)
Export goods textile goods, gems and jewelry, engineering goods, chemicals, leather manufactures
Main export partners US 18%, China 8.9%, UAE 8.4%, UK 4.7%, Hong Kong 4.2% (2005)
Imports $187.9 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
Import goods crude oil, machinery, gems, fertilizer, chemicals
Main import partners China 7.2%, US 6.4%, Belgium 5.1%, Singapore 4.7%, Australia 4.2%, Germany 4.2%, UK 4.1% (2005)
Public finances
Public debt $132.1 billion (2006 est.)
Revenues $109.4 billion (2006 est.)
Expenses $143.8 billion; including capital expenditures of $15 billion (2006 est.)
Economic aid recipient: $2.9 billion (FY98/99)
Main source
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars

Economy of India is expected to be the third largest in the world as estimated by purchasing power parity (2007). When measured in USD exchange-rate terms, it is the twelfth largest in the world, with a GDP of US $1.09 trillion (2007).[1] India is the second fastest growing major economy in the world, with a GDP growth rate of 9.4% for the fiscal year 2006–2007.[2] However, India's huge population results in a per capita income of $4,182 at PPP and $964 at nominal (2007 estimate).[3] [4] The World Bank classifies India as a low-income economy.[5][6]

India's economy is diverse and encompasses agriculture, handicrafts, textile, manufacturing, and a multitude of services. Although two-thirds of the Indian workforce still earn their livelihood directly or indirectly through agriculture, services are a growing sector and are playing an increasingly important role of India's economy. The advent of the digital age, and the large number of young and educated populace fluent in English, is gradually transforming India as an important 'back office' destination for global companies for the outsourcing of their customer services and technical support. India is a major exporter of highly-skilled workers in software and financial services, and software engineering. Other sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, nanotechnology, telecommunication, shipbuilding, aviation and tourism are showing strong potentials with higher growth rates.

India followed a socialist-inspired approach for most of its independent history, with strict government control over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. However, since the early 1990s, India has gradually opened up its markets through economic reforms by reducing government controls on foreign trade and investment. The privatisation of publicly owned industries and the opening up of certain sectors to private and foreign interests has proceeded slowly amid political debate.

India faces a burgeoning population and the challenge of reducing economic and social inequality. Poverty remains a serious problem, although it has declined significantly since independence. Official surveys estimated that in the year 2004-2005, 27% of Indians were poor.

Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
o 1.1 Pre-colonial
o 1.2 Colonial
o 1.3 Independence to 1991
o 1.4 After 1991
* 2 Government intervention
o 2.1 State planning and the mixed economy
o 2.2 Public expenditure
o 2.3 Public receipts
o 2.4 General budget
* 3 Currency system
o 3.1 Rupee
o 3.2 Exchange rates
* 4 Labour
* 5 Natural resources
* 6 Physical infrastructure
* 7 Financial institutions
* 8 Sectors
o 8.1 Agriculture
o 8.2 Industry
o 8.3 Services
o 8.4 Banking and finance
* 9 Socio-economic characteristics
o 9.1 Poverty
o 9.2 Corruption
o 9.3 Occupations and unemployment
o 9.4 Regional imbalance
* 10 External trade and investment
o 10.1 Global trade relations
o 10.2 Balance of payments
o 10.3 Foreign direct investment in India
* 11 See also
* 12 Notes
* 13 References
* 14 External links

[edit] History

Main articles: Economic history of India and Timeline of the economy of India

India's economic history can be broadly divided into three eras, beginning with the pre-colonial period lasting up to the 17th century. The advent of British colonisation started the colonial period in the 17th century, which ended with the independence in 1947. The third period stretches from independence in 1947 until the present.

[edit] Pre-colonial

The citizens of the Indus Valley civilisation, a permanent and predominantly urban settlement that flourished between 2800 BC and 1800 BC, practised agriculture, domesticated animals, used uniform weights and measures, made tools and weapons, and traded with other cities. Evidence of well planned streets, a drainage system and water supply reveals their knowledge of urban planning, which included the world's first urban sanitation systems and the existence of a form of municipal government.[7]
Silver coin minted during the reign of the Gupta king Kumara Gupta I (414–55 AD)
Silver coin minted during the reign of the Gupta king Kumara Gupta I (414–55 AD)

The 1872 census revealed that 99.3% of the population of the region constituting present-day India resided in villages,[8] whose economies were largely isolated and self-sustaining, with agriculture the predominant occupation. This satisfied the food requirements of the village and provided raw materials for hand-based industries, such as textiles, food processing and crafts. Although many kingdoms and rulers issued coins, barter was prevalent. Villages paid a portion of their agricultural produce as revenue to the rulers, while its craftsmen received a part of the crops at harvest time for their services.[9]

Religion, especially Hinduism, and the caste and the joint family systems, played an influential role in shaping economic activities.[10] The caste system functioned much like medieval European guilds, ensuring the division of labour, providing for the training of apprentices and, in some cases, allowing manufacturers to achieve narrow specialization. For instance, in certain regions, producing each variety of cloth was the speciality of a particular sub-caste.
Estimates of the per capita income of India (1857–1900) as per 1948–49 prices.
Estimates of the per capita income of India (1857–1900) as per 1948–49 prices.[11]

Since foreign travel and the ensuing ritual pollution resulted in loss of caste to Hindus a large part of India's foreign trade was conducted by foreigners and Muslims.[12] Textiles such as muslin, Calicos, shawls, and agricultural products such as pepper, cinnamon, opium and indigo were exported to Europe, the Middle East and South East Asia in return for gold and silver.[13]

Assessment of India's pre-colonial economy is mostly qualitative, owing to the lack of quantitative information. One estimate puts the revenue of Akbar's Mughal Empire in 1600 at £17.5 million, in contrast with the total revenue of Great Britain in 1800, which totalled £16 million.[14] India, by the time of the arrival of the British, was a largely traditional agrarian economy with a dominant subsistence sector dependent on primitive technology. It existed alongside a competitively developed network of commerce, manufacturing and credit. After the fall of the Mughals, India was administered by Maratha Empire. The maratha empire's budget in 1740s, at its peak, was Rs. 100 million. After the loss at Panipan, the maratha empire disintegrated into confederate states of Gwalior, Baroda, Indore, Jhansi, Nagpur, Pune and Kolhapur. Gwalior state has a budget of Rs. 30M. However, at this time, British East India company entered the Indian political theatre. Until, 1857, when India was firmly under the British crown, the country remained in a state of political instability due to internecine wars and conflicts.[15]

[edit] Colonial

Colonial rule brought a major change in the taxation environment from revenue taxes to property taxes resulting in mass impoverishment and destitution of the great majority of farmers. It also created an institutional environment that, on paper, guaranteed property rights among the colonizers, encouraged free trade, and created a single currency with fixed exchange rates, standardized weights and measures, capital markets, a well developed system of railways and telegraphs, a civil service that aimed to be free from political interference, and a common-law, adversarial legal system.[16] India's colonisation by the British coincided with major changes in the world economy—industrialisation, and significant growth in production and trade. However, at the end of colonial rule, India inherited an economy that was one of the poorest in the developing world,[17] with industrial development stalled, agriculture unable to feed a rapidly growing population, one of the world's lowest life expectancies, and low rates of literacy.

An estimate by Cambridge University historian Angus Maddison reveals that India's share of the world income fell from 22.6% in 1700, comparable to Europe's share of 23.3%, to a low of 3.8% in 1952.[18] While Indian leaders during the Independence struggle, and left-nationalist economic historians have blamed colonial rule for the dismal state of India's economy in its aftermath, a broader macroeconomic view of India during this period reveals that there were sectors of growth and decline, resulting from changes brought about by colonialism and a world that was moving towards industrialisation and economic integration.[19][20]

[edit] Independence to 1991
Growth rate of India's real GDP per capita (Constant Prices: Chain series) (1950–2006). Data Source: Penn World tables.
Growth rate of India's real GDP per capita (Constant Prices: Chain series) (1950–2006). Data Source: Penn World tables.

Indian economic policy after independence was influenced by the colonial experience (which was seen by Indian leaders as exploitative in nature) and by those leaders' exposure to Fabian socialism. Policy tended towards protectionism, with a strong emphasis on import substitution, industrialisation, state intervention in labour and financial markets, a large public sector, business regulation, and central planning.[21] Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister, along with the statistician Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, carried on by Indira Gandhi formulated and oversaw economic policy. They expected favourable outcomes from this strategy, because it involved both public and private sectors and was based on direct and indirect state intervention, rather than the more extreme Soviet-style central command system.[22] The policy of concentrating simultaneously on capital- and technology-intensive heavy industry and subsidising manual, low-skill cottage industries was criticized by economist Milton Friedman, who thought it would waste capital and labour, and retard the development of small manufacturers.[23]
Per capita GDP (at PPP) of South Asian economies versus those of South Korea, as a percentage of the US
Per capita GDP (at PPP) of South Asian economies versus those of South Korea, as a percentage of the US[21][24]

India's low average growth rate from 1947–80 was derisively referred to as the Hindu rate of growth, because of the unfavourable comparison with growth rates in other Asian countries, especially the "East Asian Tigers".[16]

[edit] After 1991
Rise of indian economy featured on the cover of TIME.
Rise of indian economy featured on the cover of TIME.

In the late 80s, the government led by Rajiv Gandhi eased restrictions on capacity expansion for incumbents, removed price controls and reduced corporate taxes. While this increased the rate of growth, it also led to high fiscal deficits and a worsening current account. The collapse of the Soviet Union, which was India's major trading partner, and the first Gulf War, which caused a spike in oil prices, caused a major balance-of-payments crisis for India, which found itself facing the prospect of defaulting on its loans.[25] In response, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao along with his finance minister Manmohan Singh initiated the economic liberalisation of 1991. The reforms did away with the Licence Raj (investment, industrial and import licensing) and ended many public monopolies, allowing automatic approval of foreign direct investment in many sectors.[26] Since then, the overall direction of liberalisation has remained the same, irrespective of the ruling party, although no party has yet tried to take on powerful lobbies such as the trade unions and farmers, or contentious issues such as reforming labour laws and reducing agricultural subsidies.[27]

Since 1990 India has emerged as one of the wealthiest economies in the developing world; during this period, the economy has grown constantly, but with a few major setbacks. This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy, literacy rates and food security.

While the credit rating of India was hit by its nuclear tests in 1998, it has been raised to investment level in 2007 by S&P and Moody's.[28][29] In 2003, Goldman Sachs predicted that India's GDP in current prices will overtake France and Italy by 2020, Germany, UK and Russia by 2025 and Japan by 2035. By 2035, it was projected to be the third largest economy of the world, behind US and China.[30][31]
Goldman Sachs has predicted that India will become 3rd largest economy of the world by 2035 based on predicted growth rate of 5.3 to 6.1%. Currently It is cruising at 9.4% growth rate.
Goldman Sachs has predicted that India will become 3rd largest economy of the world by 2035 based on predicted growth rate of 5.3 to 6.1%. Currently It is cruising at 9.4% growth rate.

[edit] Government intervention

[edit] State planning and the mixed economy

Main article: Five-Year Plans of India

After independence, India opted for a centrally planned economy to try to achieve an effective and equitable allocation of national resources and balanced economic development. The process of formulation and direction of the Five-Year Plans is carried out by the Planning Commission, headed by the Prime Minister of India as its chairperson.[32]
The number of people employed in non-agricultural occupations in the public and private sectors. Totals are rounded. Private sector data relates to non-agriculture establishments with 10 or more employees.
The number of people employed in non-agricultural occupations in the public and private sectors. Totals are rounded. Private sector data relates to non-agriculture establishments with 10 or more employees.[33]

India's mixed economy combines features of both capitalist market economy and the socialist command economy, but has shifted more towards the former over the past decade. The public sector generally covers areas which are deemed too important or not profitable enough to leave to the market, including such services as the railways and postal system.

Since independence, there have been phases of nationalizing such areas as banking and, more recently, of privatization.[33]

[edit] Public expenditure

India's public expenditure is classified as development expenditure, comprising central plan expenditure and central assistance and non-development expenditures; these categories can each be divided into capital expenditure and revenue expenditure. Central plan expenditure is allocated to development schemes outlined in the plans of the central government and public sector undertakings; central assistance refers to financial assistance and developmental loans given for plans of the state governments and union territories. Non-development capital expenditure comprises capital defense expenditure, loans to public enterprises, states and union territories and foreign governments, while non-development revenue expenditure comprises revenue defence expenditure, administrative expenditure, subsidies, debt relief to farmers, postal deficit, pensions, social and economic services (education, health, agriculture, science and technology), grants to states and union territories and foreign governments.[34][35][33]
Headquarters of India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, in Mumbai.
Headquarters of India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, in Mumbai.

India's non-development revenue expenditure has increased nearly fivefold in 2003–04 since 1990–91 and more than tenfold since 1985–1986. Interest payments are the single largest item of expenditure and accounted for more than 40% of the total non development expenditure in the 2003–04 budget. Defence expenditure increased fourfold during the same period and has been increasing due to growing tensions in the region, the expensive dispute with Pakistan over Jammu and Kashmir and an effort to modernise the military. Administrative expenses are compounded by a large salary and pension bill, which rises periodically due to revisions in wages, dearness allowance etc. subsidies on food, fertilizers, education and petroleum and other merit and non-merit subsidies account are not only continuously rising, especially because of rising crude oil and food prices, but are also harder to rein in, because of political compulsions.[36][33]

[edit] Public receipts

India has a three-tier tax structure, wherein the constitution empowers the union government to levy Income tax, tax on capital transactions (wealth tax, inheritance tax), sales tax, service tax, customs and excise duties and the state governments to levy sales tax on intra-state sale of goods, tax on entertainment and professions, excise duties on manufacture of alcohol, stamp duties on transfer of property and collect land revenue (levy on land owned). The local governments are empowered by the state government to levy property tax, Octroi and charge users for public utilities like water supply, sewage etc.[37][38] More than half of the revenues of the union and state governments come from taxes, of which half come from Indirect taxes. More than a quarter of the union government's tax revenues is shared with the state governments.[39]

The tax reforms, initiated in 1991, have sought to rationalise the tax structure and increase compliance by taking steps in the following directions:

* Reducing the rates of individual and corporate income taxes, excises, customs and making it more progressive
* Reducing exemptions and concessions
* Simplification of laws and procedures
* Introduction of Permanent account number to track monetary transactions
* 21 of the 29 states introduced Value added tax (VAT) on April 1, 2005 to replace the complex and multiple sales tax system[38][40]

The non-tax revenues of the central government come from fiscal services, interest receipts, public sector dividends, etc., while the non-tax revenues of the States are grants from the central government, interest receipts, dividends and income from general, economic and social services.[36]

Inter-State share in the federal tax pool is decided by the recommendations of the Finance Commission to the President.

[edit] General budget

The Finance minister of India presents the annual union budget in the Parliament on the last working day of February. The budget has to be passed by the Lok Sabha before it can come into effect on April 1, the start of India's fiscal year. The Union budget is preceded by an economic survey which outlines the broad direction of the budget and the economic performance of the country for the outgoing financial year. This economic survey involves all the various NGOs, women organizations, business people, old people associations etc.

India's union budget for 2005–06, had an estimated outlay of Rs.5,14,344 crores ($118 billion). Earnings from taxes amount to Rs. 2,73,466 crore ($63b). India's fiscal deficit amounts to 4.5% or 1,39,231 crore ($32b).[41] The fiscal deficit is expected to be 3.8% of GDP, by March 2007.[42]

See also: Government of India

[edit] Currency system

[edit] Rupee

Main article: Indian Rupee

Indian bank notes depicting M. K. Gandhi, The 1000 rupee note is the highest denomination printed.
Indian bank notes depicting M. K. Gandhi, The 1000 rupee note is the highest denomination printed.

The Rupee is the only legal tender accepted in India. The exchange rate as of October 13, 2007 is about 39.18 to a US dollar,[43] 55.56 to a Euro, and 79.82 to a UK pound. The Indian rupee is accepted as legal tender in the neighboring Nepal and Bhutan, both of which peg their currency to that of the Indian rupee. The rupee is divided into 100 paise. The highest-denomination banknote is the 1,000 rupee note; the lowest-denomination coin in circulation is the 25 paise coin.[44]

[edit] Exchange rates

Under the fixed exchange rate system, the value of the rupee was linked to the British pound sterling until 1946, and after independence, 30% of India's foreign trade was determined in pound sterling. In 1975, as per the floating exchange rate system, the value of the rupee was pegged to a basket of currencies and was tightly controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. Since 2005, its value has been appreciating against the US dollar, Euro and British Pound Sterling. Since liberalisation reforms in early 1990s, the rupee is fully convertible on trade and current account.

[edit] Labour

The large population puts further pressure on infrastructure and social services. A positive factor has been the large working-age population, which forms 45.33%[45] of the population and is expected to increase substantially, because of the decreasing dependency ratio. The national labour market has been tightly regulated by successive governments ever since the Workmen's Compensation Act was passed in 1923.

[edit] Natural resources

India's total cultivable area is 1,269,219 km² (56.78% of total land area), which is decreasing due to constant pressure from an ever growing population and increased urbanisation.

India has a total water surface area of 314,400 km² and receives an average annual rainfall of 1,100 mm. Irrigation accounts for 92% of the water utilisation, and comprised 380 km² in 1974, and is expected to rise to 1,050 km² by 2025, with the balance accounted for by industrial and domestic consumers. India's inland water resources comprising rivers, canals, ponds and lakes and marine resources comprising the east and west coasts of the Indian ocean and other gulfs and bays provide employment to nearly 6 million people in the fisheries sector. India is the sixth largest producer of fish in the world and second largest in inland fish production.[citation needed]

India's major mineral resources include Coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), Iron ore, Manganese, Mica, Bauxite, Titanium ore, Chromite, Natural gas, Diamonds, Petroleum, Limestone and Thorium (world's largest along Kerala's shores). India's oil reserves, found in Bombay High off the coast of Maharashtra, Gujarat, and in eastern Assam meet 25% of the country's demand.[46][4]

Rising energy demand concomitant with economic growth has created a perpetual state of energy crunch in India. India is poor in oil resources and is currently heavily dependent on dirty coal and foreign oil imports for its energy needs. Though India is rich in Thorium, but not in Uranium, which it might get access to if a nuclear deal with US comes to fruitition. India is rich in certain energy resources which promise significant future potential - clean / renewable energy resources like solar, wind, biofuels (jatropha, sugarcane).

[edit] Physical infrastructure
Affordable and environment friendly public transport is seen as a necessity for India's metros. Pictured here, is Mumbai Airport
Affordable and environment friendly public transport is seen as a necessity for India's metros. Pictured here, is Mumbai Airport

Since independence, India has allocated nearly half of the total outlay of the five-year plans for infrastructural development.[citation needed] Development of infrastructure was completely in the hands of the public sector and was plagued by corruption, bureaucratic inefficiencies, urban-bias and an inability to scale investment.[47]

India's low spending on power, construction, transportation, telecommunications and real estate, at $31 billion or 6% of GDP in 2002 had prevented India from sustaining higher growth rates. This had prompted the government to partially open up infrastructure to the private sector allowing foreign investment[48][49][33] which has helped in a sustained growth rate of close to 9% for the past six quarters.[50] India holds second position in the world in roadways' construction, more than twice that of China.[51]

As of 15 January 2007, there were 2.10 million broadband lines in India.[5] Low tele-density is the major hurdle for slow pickup in broadband services. Over 76% of the broadband lines were via DSL and the rest via cable modems.

See also: States of India by installed power capacity
See also: Water supply and sanitation in India

[edit] Financial institutions
India has set up Special Economic Zones and software parks that offer tax benefits and better infrastructure to set up business. Pictured here is the InfosysHQ in Bangalore, one of the largest software company in India.
India has set up Special Economic Zones and software parks that offer tax benefits and better infrastructure to set up business. Pictured here is the InfosysHQ in Bangalore, one of the largest software company in India.

India inherited several institutions, such as the civil services, central bank, railways, etc., from her British rulers. Mumbai serves as the nation's commercial capital, with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) located here. The headquarters of many financial institutions are also located within the city.

The RBI, the country's central bank was established on 1 April 1935. It serves as the nation's monetary authority, regulator and supervisor of the financial system, manager of exchange control and as an issuer of currency. The RBI is governed by a central board, headed by a governor who is appointed by the Central government of India.

The BSE Sensex or the BSE Sensitive Index is a value-weighted index composed of 30 companies with April 1979 as the base year (100). These companies have the largest and most actively traded stocks and are representative of various sectors, on the Exchange. They account for around one-fifth of the market capitalisation of the BSE. The Sensex is generally regarded as the most popular and precise barometer of the Indian stock markets. Incorporated in 1992, the National Stock Exchange is one of the largest and most advanced stock markets in India. The NSE is the world's third largest stock exchange in terms of transactions. There are a total of 23 stock exchanges in India, but the BSE and NSE comprise 83% of the volumes.[52] The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), established in 1992, regulates the stock markets and other securities markets of the country.

[edit] Sectors

[edit] Agriculture

Main article: Agriculture in India

Composition of India's total production (million tonnes) of foodgrains and commercial crops, in 2003–04.
Composition of India's total production (million tonnes) of foodgrains and commercial crops, in 2003–04.

India ranks second worldwide in farm output. Agriculture and allied sectors like forestry, logging and fishing accounted for 18.6% of the GDP in 2005, employed 60% of the total workforce[4] and despite a steady decline of its share in the GDP, is still the largest economic sector and plays a significant role in the overall socio-economic development of India. Yields per unit area of all crops have grown since 1950, due to the special emphasis placed on agriculture in the five-year plans and steady improvements in irrigation, technology, application of modern agricultural practices and provision of agricultural credit and subsidies since the green revolution. However, international comparisons reveal that the average yield in India is generally 30% to 50% of the highest average yield in the world.[53]

The low productivity in India is a result of the following factors:

* Illiteracy, general socio-economic backwardness, slow progress in implementing land reforms and inadequate or inefficient finance and marketing services for farm produce.
* The average size of land holdings is very small (less than 20,000 m²) and is subject to fragmentation, due to land ceiling acts and in some cases, family disputes. Such small holdings are often over-manned, resulting in disguised unemployment and low productivity of labour.
* Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate, hampered by ignorance of such practices, high costs and impracticality in the case of small land holdings.
* Irrigation facilities are inadequate, as revealed by the fact that only 53.6% of the land was irrigated in 2000–01,[54] which result in farmers still being dependent on rainfall, specifically the Monsoon season. A good monsoon results in a robust growth for the economy as a whole, while a poor monsoon leads to a sluggish growth.[55] Farm credit is regulated by NABARD, which is the statutory apex agent for rural development in the subcontinent.

[edit] Industry

India is fourteenth in the world in factory output. They together account for 27.6% of the GDP and employ 17% of the total workforce.[4] Economic reforms brought foreign competition, led to privatisation of certain public sector industries, opened up sectors hitherto reserved for the public sector and led to an expansion in the production of fast-moving consumer goods.[56]

Post-liberalisation, the Indian private sector, which was usually run by oligopolies of old family firms and required political connections to prosper was faced with foreign competition, including the threat of cheaper Chinese imports. It has since handled the change by squeezing costs, revamping management, focusing on designing new products and relying on low labour costs and technology.[57]

34 Indian companies have been listed in the Forbes Global 2000 ranking for 2007.[58] The 10 leading companies are:
World Rank ↓ Company ↓ Logo ↓ Industry ↓ Revenue
(billion $) ↓ Profits
(billion $) ↓ Assets
(billion $) ↓ Market Value
(billion $) ↓
239 Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Oil & Gas Operations 15.64 3.46 26.98 38.19
258 Reliance Industries Oil & Gas Operations 18.05 2.11 21.75 42.62
326 State Bank of India Banking 13.66 1.24 156.37 12.35
399 Indian Oil Corporation Oil & Gas Operations 34.22 1.11 22.68 10.92
494 NTPC Utilities 6.06 1.31 17.25 26.06
536 ICICI Bank Banking 5.79 0.54 62.13 16.72
800 Steel Authority of India Limited Materials 6.30 0.91 7.06 10.16
1047 Tata Consultancy Svcs Software & Services 2.98 0.67 1.93 26.27
1128 Tata Steel Materials 4.54 0.84 4.61 5.80
1130 Infosys Technologies Software & Services 2.14 0.55 2.09 26.19

[edit] Services

India is fifteenth in services output. It provides employment to 23% of work force, and it is growing fast, growth rate 7.5% in 1991–2000 up from 4.5% in 1951–80. It has the largest share in the GDP, accounting for 53.8% in 2005 up from 15% in 1950.[4] Business services (information technology, information technology enabled services, business process outsourcing) are among the fastest growing sectors contributing to one third of the total output of services in 2000. The growth in the IT sector is attributed to increased specialisation, availability of a large pool of low cost, but highly skilled, educated and fluent English-speaking workers (a legacy of British Colonialism) on the supply side and on the demand side, increased demand from foreign consumers interested in India's service exports or those looking to outsource their operations. India's IT industry, despite contributing significantly to its balance of payments, accounted for only about 1% of the total GDP or 1/50th of the total services.[59]

[edit] Banking and finance

Main article: Banking in India

Structure of the organised banking sector in India. Number of banks are in brackets.
Structure of the organised banking sector in India. Number of banks are in brackets.[60]

The Indian money market is classified into: the organised sector (comprising private, public and foreign owned commercial banks and cooperative banks, together known as scheduled banks); and the unorganised sector (comprising individual or family owned indigenous bankers or money lenders and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs)). The unorganised sector and microcredit are still preferred over traditional banks in rural and sub-urban areas, especially for non-productive purposes, like ceremonies and short duration loans.[61]

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi nationalised 14 banks in 1969, followed by six others in 1980, and made it mandatory for banks to provide 40% (since reduced to 10%) of their net credit to priority sectors like agriculture, small-scale industry, retail trade, small businesses, etc. to ensure that the banks fulfill their social and developmental goals. Since then, the number of bank branches has increased from 10,120 in 1969 to 98,910 in 2003 and the population covered by a branch decreased from 63,800 to 15,000 during the same period. The total deposits increased 32.6 times between 1971 to 1991 compared to 7 times between 1951 to 1971. Despite an increase of rural branches, from 1,860 or 22% of the total number of branches in 1969 to 32,270 or 48%, only 32,270 out of 5 lakh (500,000) villages are covered by a scheduled bank.[62][63]

Since liberalisation, the government has approved significant banking reforms. While some of these relate to nationalised banks (like encouraging mergers, reducing government interference and increasing profitability and competitiveness), other reforms have opened up the banking and insurance sectors to private and foreign players.[64][4]

[edit] Socio-economic characteristics

[edit] Poverty

Main article: Poverty in India

Despite the economic gains, vast numbers of India's people live in abject poverty. Wealth distribution in India is fairly uneven, with the top 10% of income groups earning 33% of the income.[65] While poverty in India has reduced significantly, official figures estimate that 27.5% [66] of Indians still lived below the national poverty line in 2004-2005.[67] A 2007 report by the state-run National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) found that 70% of Indians, or 800 million people, lived on less than 20 rupees per day[68] with most working in "informal labour sector with no job or social security, living in abject poverty."[69]

Since the early 1950s, successive governments have implemented various schemes, under planning, to alleviate poverty, that have met with partial success. All these programmes have relied upon the strategies of the Food for work programme and National Rural Employment Programme of the 1980s, which attempted to use the unemployed to generate productive assets and build rural infrastructure.[33] In August 2005, the Indian parliament passed the Rural Employment Guarantee Bill, the largest programme of this type in terms of cost and coverage, which promises 100 days of minimum wage employment to every rural household in 200 of India's 600 districts. The question of whether economic reforms have reduced poverty or not has fuelled debates without generating any clear cut answers and has also put political pressure on further economic reforms, especially those involving the downsizing of labour and cutting agricultural subsidies.[70][71]

[edit] Corruption
Extent of corruption in Indian states, as measured in a 2005 study by Transparency International India. (Darker regions are more corrupt)
Extent of corruption in Indian states, as measured in a 2005 study by Transparency International India. (Darker regions are more corrupt)[72]

Corruption has been one of the pervasive problems affecting India. It takes the form of bribes, evasion of tax and exchange controls, embezzlement, etc. The economic reforms of 1991 reduced the red tape, bureaucracy and the Licence Raj that had strangled private enterprise and was blamed for the corruption and inefficiencies.[73] Yet, a 2005 study by Transparency International (TI) India found that more than half of those surveyed had firsthand experience of paying bribe or peddling influence to get a job done in a public office.[72]

The chief economic consequences of corruption are the loss to the exchequer, an unhealthy climate for investment and an increase in the cost of government-subsidised services. The TI India study estimates the monetary value of petty corruption in 11 basic services provided by the government, like education, healthcare, judiciary, police, etc., to be around Rs.21,068 crores.[72] India still ranks in the bottom quartile of developing nations in terms of the ease of doing business, and compared to China, the average time taken to secure the clearances for a startup or to invoke bankruptcy is much greater.[33]

The Right to Information Act (2005) and equivalent acts in the states, that require government officials to furnish information requested by citizens or face punitive action, computerisation of services and various central and state government acts that established vigilance commissions have considerably reduced corruption or at least have opened up avenues to redress grievances.[72][74] The 2006 report by Transparency International puts India at 70th place and states that significant improvements were made by India in reducing corruption.[75] [76]

[edit] Occupations and unemployment

Agricultural and allied sectors accounted for about 57% of the total workforce in 1999–2000, down from 60% in 1993–94. While agriculture has faced stagnation in growth, services have seen a steady growth. Of the total workforce, 8% is in the organised sector, two-thirds of which are in the public sector. The NSSO survey estimated that in 1999–2000, 106 million, nearly 10% of the population were unemployed and the overall unemployment rate was 7.32%, with rural areas doing marginally better (7.21%) than urban areas (7.65%).

Unemployment in India is characterised by chronic underemployment or disguised unemployment. Government schemes that target eradication of both poverty and unemployment, (Which in recent decades has sent millions of poor and unskilled people into urban areas in search of livelihoods.) attempt to solve the problem, by providing financial assistance for setting up businesses, skill honing, setting up public sector enterprises, reservations in governments, etc. The decreased role of the public sector after liberalisation has further underlined the need for focusing on better education and has also put political pressure on further reforms.[77][33]

[edit] Regional imbalance

Main article: List of regions of India

One of the critical problems facing India's economy is the sharp and growing regional variations among India's different states and territories in terms of per capita income, poverty, availability of infrastructure and socio-economic development.[78]

The five-year plans have attempted to reduce regional disparities by encouraging industrial development in the interior regions, but industries still tend to concentrate around urban areas and port cities[79] After liberalization, the more advanced states are better placed to benefit from them, with infrastructure like well developed ports, urbanisation and an educated and skilled workforce which attract manufacturing and service sectors. The union and state governments of backward regions are trying to reduce the disparities by offering tax holidays, cheap land, etc., and focusing more on sectors like tourism, which although being geographically and historically determined, can become a source of growth and is faster to develop than other sectors.[80][81]

See also: States of India by size of economy
See also: Standard of living in India#Regional imbalance

[edit] External trade and investment

[edit] Global trade relations
Share of top five investing countries in FDI inflows. (1991–2004)[82] Rank Country Inflows
(Million USD) Inflows (%)
1 Flag of Mauritius Mauritius 8,898 34.49%[83]
2 Flag of the United States United States 4,389 17.08%
3 Flag of Japan Japan 1,891 7.33%
4 Flag of the Netherlands Netherlands 1,847 7.16%
5 Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 1,692 6.56%

Until the liberalisation of 1991, India was largely and intentionally isolated from the world markets, to protect its fledging economy and to achieve self-reliance. Foreign trade was subject to import tariffs, export taxes and quantitative restrictions, while foreign direct investment was restricted by upper-limit equity participation, restrictions on technology transfer, export obligations and government approvals; these approvals were needed for nearly 60% of new FDI in the industrial sector. The restrictions ensured that FDI averaged only around $200M annually between 1985 and 1991; a large percentage of the capital flows consisted of foreign aid, commercial borrowing and deposits of non-resident Indians.[84]

India's exports were stagnant for the first 15 years after independence, due to the predominance of tea, jute and cotton manufactures, demand for which was generally inelastic. Imports in the same period consisted predominantly of machinery, equipment and raw materials, due to nascent industrialisation. Since liberalisation, the value of India's international trade has become more broad-based and has risen to Rs. 63,080,109 crores in 2003–04 from Rs.1,250 crores in 1950–51.[citation needed] India's major trading partners are China, the US, the UAE, the UK, Japan and the EU.[85] The exports during August 2006 were $10.3 billion up by 41.14% and import were $13.87 billion with an increase of 32.16% over the previous year [6].

India is a founding-member of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since 1947 and its successor, the World Trade Organization. While participating actively in its general council meetings, India has been crucial in voicing the concerns of the developing world. For instance, India has continued its opposition to the inclusion of such matters as labour and environment issues and other non-tariff barriers into the WTO policies.[86]

[edit] Balance of payments

Since independence, India's balance of payments on its current account has been negative. Since liberalisation in the 1990s (precipitated by a balance of payment crisis), India's exports have been consistently rising, covering 80.3% of its imports in 2002–03, up from 66.2% in 1990–91. Although India is still a net importer, since 1996–97, its overall balance of payments (i.e., including the capital account balance), has been positive, largely on account of increased foreign direct investment and deposits from non-resident Indians; until this time, the overall balance was only occasionally positive on account of external assistance and commercial borrowings. As a result, India's foreign currency reserves stood at $141bn in 2005–06.[87][88] Now however the reserves have been sitting at $200 billion which could be used in infrastructural development of the country if used effectively.
India is a net importer: in 2005, imports were $89.33bn and exports $69.18bn.
India is a net importer: in 2005, imports were $89.33bn and exports $69.18bn.

India's reliance on external assistance and commercial borrowings has decreased since 1991–92, and since 2002–03, it has gradually been repaying these debts. Declining interest rates and reduced borrowings decreased India's debt service ratio to 14.1% in 2001–02, from 35.3% in 1990–91.[89]

[edit] Foreign direct investment in India

As the third-largest economy in the world, India is undoubtedly one of the most preferred destinations for foreign direct investments (FDI); India has strength in information technology and other significant areas such as auto components, chemicals, apparels, pharmaceuticals and jewellery. India has always held promise for global investors, but its rigid FDI policies were a significant hindrance in this regard. However, as a result of a series of ambitious and positive economic reforms aimed at deregulating the economy and stimulating foreign investment, India has positioned itself as one of the front-runners of the rapidly growing Asia Pacific Region. India has a large pool of skilled managerial and technical expertise. The size of the middle-class population at 300 million exceeds the population of both the US and the EU, and represents a powerful consumer market.[90]

India's recently liberalised FDI policy (2005) allows up to a 100% FDI stake in ventures. Industrial policy reforms have substantially reduced industrial licensing requirements, removed restrictions on expansion and facilitated easy access to foreign technology and foreign direct investment FDI. The upward moving growth curve of the real-estate sector owes some credit to a booming economy and liberalized FDI regime. In March 2005, the government amended the rules to allow 100 per cent FDI in the construction business.[91] This automatic route has been permitted in townships, housing, built-up infrastructure and construction development projects including housing, commercial premises, hotels, resorts, hospitals, educational institutions, recreational facilities, and city- and regional-level infrastructure.

[edit] See also
List of topics related to the Economy of India edit
Institutions: BSE, DSE, ISB, SCIT,NITIE,IIT,IIIT,IIM, ISM, NSE, RBI, SEBI, IIFT, NIT, AIT,Bharathidasan Institute of Management BIM
Lists: Glossary, Banks, Companies, RBI governors, Economic development related government initiatives
Energy: Nuclear, Solar, Wind
Categories: Airlines, Banks, Companies, Finance Ministers

* International investment position
* Bilateral Investment Treaty
* Energy policy
* List of Cooperative Banks in India

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Economic Times India
2. ^ "India's GDP expanded at fastest pace in 18 years", MarketWatch, May 31, 2007.
3. ^ IMF - World Economic Outlook Database. CIA (2007-10-15). Retrieved on 2007-10-24.
4. ^ a b c d e f CIA - The World Factbook - India. CIA (2007-09-20). Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
5. ^ India climbs up the income ladder
6. ^ World Bank Country Classification Groups, (July 2006 data)
7. ^ Nehru, Jawaharlal (1946). Discovery of India. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-303103-1.
8. ^ Kumar, Dharma (Ed.) (1982). The Cambridge Economic History of India (Volume 2) c. 1757 - c. 1970. Penguin Books, 519.
9. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M. (2005). "2", Indian Economy. S.Chand, 15–16. ISBN 81-219-0298-3.
10. ^ Sankaran, S (1994). "3", Indian Economy: Problems, Policies and Development. Margham Publications, 50. ISBN.
11. ^ Kumar, Dharma (Ed.). "4", The Cambridge Economic History of India (Volume 2), 422.
12. ^ Kumar, Dharma (Ed.). "1", The Cambridge Economic History of India (Volume 2), 24–26.
13. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "2", Indian Economy, 16.
14. ^ "Economy of Mughal Empire", Bombay Times, Times of India, 2004-08-17.
15. ^ Kumar, Dharma (Ed.). "1", The Cambridge Economic History of India (Volume 2), 32–35.
16. ^ a b Williamson, John and Zagha, Roberto (2002). "From the Hindu Rate of Growth to the Hindu Rate of Reform". Working Paper No. 144. Center for research on economic development and policy reform.
17. ^ Roy, Tirthankar (2000). "1", The Economic History of India. Oxford University Press, 1. ISBN 0-19-565154-5.
18. ^ "Of Oxford, economics, empire, and freedom", The Hindu, October 2, 2005.
19. ^ Roy, Tirthankar (2000). "10", The Economic History of India. Oxford University Press, 304. ISBN 0-19-565154-5.
20. ^ Roy, Tirthankar (2000). "preface", The Economic History of India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-565154-5.
21. ^ a b Kelegama, Saman and Parikh, Kirit (2000). "Political Economy of Growth and Reforms in South Asia". Second Draft.
22. ^ Cameron, John and Ndhlovu, P Tidings (2001). "Cultural Influences on Economic Thought in India: Resistance to diffusion of neo-classical economics and the principles of Hinduism".
23. ^ Milton Friedman on the Nehru/Mahalanobis Plan. Retrieved on July 16, 2005.
24. ^ Data for Bangladesh is not available for 1950.
25. ^ Ghosh, Arunabha (2004-06-01). "India's pathway trough economic crisis". Global Economic Governance Programme GEG Working Paper 2004/06. Retrieved on 2007-10-02.
26. ^ Panagariya, Arvind (2004). "India in the 1980s and 1990s: A Triumph of Reforms".
27. ^ "That old Gandhi magic", The Economist, November 27, 1997.
28. ^ "S&P raises India's credit rating.
29. ^ "India's sovereign credit upgraded".
30. ^ Wilson, Dominic; Purushothaman, Roopa (2003-10-01). DreamingWith BRICs: The Path to 2050. Global economics paper No. 99. Goldman Sachs. Retrieved on 2007-10-04.
31. ^ Grammaticas, Damian. "Indian economy 'to overtake UK'". BBC News. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
32. ^ History of the Planning Commission. Retrieved on July 22, 2005.
33. ^ a b c d e f g h Economic Survey 2004–2005. Retrieved on July 15, 2006.
34. ^ Public expenditure was classified as plan and non-plan expenditure in the 1987–1988 union budget. It is now referred to as development and non-development expenditure, but the definition remains the same. Development expenditure is a capital expenditure.
35. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "55", Indian Economy, 943.
36. ^ a b Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "55", Indian Economy, 943–945.
37. ^ Service tax and expenditure tax are not levied in Jammu and Kashmir; Intra-state sale happens when goods or the title of goods move from one state to another.
38. ^ a b Bernardi, Luigi and Fraschini, Angela (2005). "Tax System And Tax Reforms In India". Working paper n. 51.
39. ^ Tax revenue was 88% of total union government revenue in 1950–51 and has come down to 73% in 2003–04, as a result of increase in non-tax revenue. Tax revenues were 70% of total state government revenues in 2002 to 2003. Indirect taxes were 84% of the union governments total tax revenue and have come down to 62% in 2003–04, mostly due to cuts in import duties and rationalisation. The states share in union government's tax revenue is 28.0% for the period 2000 to 2005 as per the recommendations of the eleventh finance commission. In addition, states that do not levy sales tax on sugar, textiles and tobacco, are entitled to 1.5% of the proceeds.Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M. (2005). Indian Economy. S.Chand, 938, 942, 946. ISBN 81-219-0298-3.
40. ^ "Indif_real_GDP_per_capitaa says 21 of 29 states to launch new tax", Daily Times, March 25, 2005.
41. ^ Union Budget & Economic Survey. Retrieved on July 29, 2006.
42. ^ Revenue surge boosts fiscal health.
43. ^ Historical Rupees-USD rates.
44. ^ RBI
45. ^ Labor force=496.4 million(2005) according to CIA World factbook
46. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "7", Indian Economy, 90,97,98,100.
47. ^ Sankaran, S (1994). Indian Economy: Problems, Policies and Development. Margham Publications. ISBN.
48. ^ Infrastructure the missing link. Retrieved on August 14, 2005.
49. ^ Infrastructure in India: Requirements and favorable climate for foreign investment. Retrieved on August 14, 2005.
50. ^ India's Economic Growth Unexpectedly Quickens to 9.2%
51. ^ Infrastructure Rankings.
52. ^ Regional stock exchanges—Bulldozed by the Big Two. Retrieved on August 10, 2005.
53. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "28", Indian Economy, 485–491.
54. ^ Multiple authors (2004). "Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2004".
55. ^ Sankaran, S. "28", Indian Economy: Problems, Policies and Development, 492–493.
56. ^ "Economic structure", The Economist, October 6, 2003.
57. ^ "Indian manufacturers learn to compete", The Economist, 12 February 2004.
58. ^ Forbes Global 2000 (Ger-Ind). Retrieved on October 3, 2007.
59. ^ Gordon, Jim and Gupta, Poonam (2003). "Understanding India's Services Revolution". November 12, 2003.
60. ^ Old private banks are private banks existing prior to opening up of the banking sector.
61. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "50", Indian Economy, 847–850.
62. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "50", Indian Economy, 850–851.
63. ^ Ghosh, Jayati. Bank Nationalisation: The Record. Macroscan. Retrieved on August 5, 2005.
64. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "50", Indian Economy, 865–867.
65. ^ "In Pictures – Middle Class, or Upper Class? ". India Together. Civil Society Information Exchange. August 2003
66. ^ This figure is extremely sensitive to the surveying methodology used. The Uniform Recall Period (URP) gives 27.5%. The Mixed Recall Period (MRP) gives a figure of 21.8%
67. ^ Planning commision of India. Poverty estimates for 2004-2005 [1]
68. ^ This figure has been variously reported as either "2 dollars per day" or "0.5 dollars per day". The former figure comes from the the PPP conversion rate, while the latter comes from the official exchange rate. Also note that this figure does not contradict the NSS dervied figure, which uses calorie consumption as the basis for its poverty line. It just uses a more inclusive poverty line
69. ^ "Nearly 80 Percent of India Lives On Half Dollar A Day", Reuters, August 10, 2007.
70. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "22", Indian Economy, 367,369,370.
71. ^ Jawahar gram samriddhi yojana. Retrieved on July 9, 2005.
72. ^ a b c d Centre for Media Studies (2005). "India Corruption Study 2005: To Improve Governance Volume – I: Key Highlights". Transparency International India.
73. ^ DeLong, J. Bradford (2001). "India Since Independence: An Analytic Growth Narrative".
74. ^ Example of a central government department's implementation of the Right to Information Act.
75. ^ Transparency International Press release
76. ^ Transparency International Press release
77. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "24", Indian Economy, 403–405.
78. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "27", Indian Economy, 471–472.
79. ^ Bharadwaj, Krishna (1991). "Regional differentiation in India", in Sathyamurthy, T.V. (ed.): Industry & agriculture in India since independence. Oxford University Press, pp. 189–199. ISBN 0-19-564394-1.
80. ^ Sachs, D. Jeffrey; Bajpai, Nirupam and Ramiah, Ananthi (2002). "Understanding Regional Economic Growth in India". Working paper 88.
81. ^ Kurian, N.J.. Regional disparities in india. Retrieved on August 6, 2005.
82. ^ FDI in India Statistics. Retrieved on October 24, 2007.
83. ^ Much of India's FDI is routed through Mauritius, because both countries have an agreement to avoid double taxation. India to sign free trade agreement with Mauritius. Retrieved on August 15, 2005.
84. ^ Srinivasan, T.N. (2002). "Economic Reforms and Global Integration". 17 January 2002.
85. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "46", Indian Economy, 767,772–76.
86. ^ India & the World Trade Organization. Retrieved on July 9, 2005.
87. ^ Forex reserves up by $88mn. Retrieved on August 10, 2005.
88. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "47", Indian Economy, 789.
89. ^ Datt, Ruddar & Sundharam, K.P.M.. "47", Indian Economy, 786,790.
90. ^ Middle class in India has arrived
91. ^ The Hinduonline

[edit] References

Prose contains specific citations in source text which may be viewed in edit mode.

Books

* Nehru, Jawaharlal (1946). Discovery of India. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-303103-1.
* Kumar, Dharma (Ed.) (1982). The Cambridge Economic History of India (Volume 2) c. 1757 - c. 1970. Penguin Books.
* Sankaran, S (1994). Indian Economy: Problems, Policies and Development. Margham Publications. ISBN.
* Roy, Tirthankar (2000). The Economic History of India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-565154-5.
* Bharadwaj, Krishna (1991). "Regional differentiation in India", in Sathyamurthy, T.V. (ed.): Industry & agriculture in India since independence. Oxford University Press, pp. 189–199. ISBN 0-19-564394-1.

Papers

* John Williamson: The Rise of the Indian Economy, March 2006
* Williamson, John and Zagha, Roberto (2002). "From the Hindu Rate of Growth to the Hindu Rate of Reform". Working Paper No. 144. Center for research on economic development and policy reform.
* DeLong, J. Bradford (2001). "India Since Independence: An Analytic Growth Narrative".
* Centre for Media Studies (2005). "India Corruption Study 2005: To Improve Governance Volume – I: Key Highlights". Transparency International India.
* Kelegama, Saman and Parikh, Kirit (2000). "Political Economy of Growth and Reforms in South Asia". Second Draft.
* Cameron, John and Ndhlovu, P Tidings (2001). "Cultural Influences on Economic Thought in India: Resistance to diffusion of neo-classical economics and the principles of Hinduism".
* Panagariya, Arvind (2004). "India in the 1980s and 1990s: A Triumph of Reforms".
* Rodrik, Dani and Subramanian, Arvind (2004). "From “Hindu Growth” To Productivity Surge: The Mystery Of The Indian Growth Transition".
* Bernardi, Luigi and Fraschini, Angela (2005). "Tax System And Tax Reforms In India". Working paper n. 51.
* Gordon, Jim and Gupta, Poonam (2003). "Understanding India's Services Revolution". November 12, 2003.
* Ghosh, Jayati. Bank Nationalisation: The Record. Macroscan. Retrieved on August 5, 2005.
* Srinivasan, T.N. (2002). "Economic Reforms and Global Integration". 17 January 2002.
* Sachs, D. Jeffrey; Bajpai, Nirupam and Ramiah, Ananthi (2002). "Understanding Regional Economic Growth in India". Working paper 88.

Government publications

* Jawahar gram samriddhi yojana. Retrieved on July 9, 2005.
* India & the World Trade Organization. Retrieved on July 9, 2005.
* Economic Survey 2004–2005. Retrieved on July 15, 2005.
* History of the Planning Commission. Retrieved on July 22, 2005.
* Multiple authors (2004). "Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2004".
* Kurian, N.J.. Regional disparities in india. Retrieved on August 6, 2005.

News

* "That old Gandhi magic", The Economist, November 27, 1997.
* "Indif_real_GDP_per_capitaa says 21 of 29 states to launch new tax", Daily Times, March 25, 2005.
* "Economic structure", The Economist, October 6, 2003.
* "Indian manufacturers learn to compete", The Economist, 12 February 2004.
* "India’s next 50 years", The Economist, August 14, 1997.
* "The plot thickens", The Economist, May 31, 2001.
* "The voters' big surprise", The Economist, May 13, 2004.
* Regional stock exchanges -- Bulldozed by the Big Two. Retrieved on August 10, 2005.
* Infrastructure the missing link. Retrieved on August 14, 2005.
* "Rural Employment Guarantee Bill passed by voice vote", Yahoo, August 23, 2005.
* "Of Oxford, economics, empire, and freedom", The Hindu, October 2, 2005.
* "Indian GDP expected to be 902 billion dollars", People's Daily Online, January 12, 2007.
* "India, now a $1-trillion economy!", Rediff, April 26, 2007.

Articles

* Economic Development of India. Retrieved on MAy 17, 2007.
* Milton Friedman on the Nehru/Mahalanobis Plan. Retrieved on July 16, 2005.
* Forex reserves up by $88mn. Retrieved on August 10, 2005.
* CIA - The World Factbook. Retrieved on August 2, 2005.
* Infrastructure in India: Requirements and favorable climate for foreign investment. Retrieved on August 14, 2005.
* PPP GDP 2004. Retrieved on August 14, 2005.
* Total GDP 2004. Retrieved on August 14, 2005.
* Forbes Global 2000 (Ger-Ind). Retrieved on October 15, 2005.
* Forbes Global 2000 (Ind-Jap). Retrieved on October 15, 2005.

[edit] External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Economy of India
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Economy of India

* India and the Knowledge Economy - a World Bank Institute report.
* Finance Ministry of India
* Economy of India
* India in Business- Official website for Investment and Trade in India
* Taxation
* Reserve Bank of India's database on the Indian economy
* India Brand Equity Foundation
* Ernst & Young 2006 report on doing Business in India
* Department of Public Enterprises
* Chindia: The next Decade Senior Business Week writer Pete Engardio, credited for having made the Chindia neologism famous, compares the rise of both China and India in this online video conference. (video)
* India Economy Watch - search engine
* CIA - The World Factbook -- India
* Cheers! India is now a trillion dollar economy by Venkatesan Vembu, Daily News & Analysis
* Gross Domestic Product Growth - India
* Annual Inflation Rate - India
* Software on Indian Taxes Taxation software for all Indian Tax Needs
* Indian Economy News Live

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HAM BURGER

2007-11-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

A hamburger (or simply burger) is a sandwich that consists of a cooked patty of ground meat that is fried, steamed, grilled, or broiled, and is generally served with various condiments and toppings inside a sliced bun, often baked specially for this purpose.

Hamburger also refers to the cooked patty of ground meat (usually beef) by itself.[1] The patty alone is also known as a beefburger, or burger. Hamburger is actually a distinct product from ground round and other types of ground meat. However, ground beef of any form is often commonly referred to as "hamburger." A recipe calling for 'hamburger' (the non-countable noun) would require ground beef or beef substitute- not a whole sandwich. The word hamburger comes from a place called Hamburg (either in the United States or Germany: see below), and does not refer to ham.

History
A grilled patty of ground meat
A grilled patty of ground meat

The word "Hamburger" comes from Hamburg, Germany; the inhabitants of this city are also known as "Pork Eaters" in German. In Germany, local traditional snacks are often named after the place of origin, like the Frankfurter (also known as a hotdog), the Berliner (a jam doughnut) or Thüringer (Bratwurst). In Hamburg it was common to put a piece of roast pork into a roll, called Rundstück warm, although this is missing the "essence" of the modern hamburger, which is ground meat. However, another theory states that in Hamburg, meatscraps similar to modern ground beef were served on a Brötchen,[2] a round bun-shaped piece of bread. It is said that German immigrants then took the Hamburger to the United States.[2]

* Charlie Nagreen 1885, Seymour, Wisconsin. According to one claim of the first hamburger, Charlie Nagreen served the world's first hamburger at the Seymour Fair of 1885. "Hamburger" Charlie decided to flatten a meatball and place it between slices of bread to increase portability.

* Menches Brothers 1885, Hamburg, New York. Western New York history recorded that Frank and Charles Menches ran out of pork for their sausage patty sandwiches at the 1885 Erie County Fair. Their supplier, reluctant to butcher more hogs in the summer heat, suggested they use beef instead. The brothers fried some up, but found it bland. They added coffee, brown sugar, and other ingredients to create a taste which stands distinct without condiments. They christened their creation the "Hamburg Sandwich" after Hamburg, New York where the fair has been held since 1868; the name was probably later condensed by common use to the shorter contraction "hamburger" (and so explaining why a beef sandwich--which never contained any pork--bears this name). A little known fact is that the Original Hamburger indeed had its own recipe spiced with coffee and brown sugar - much different from what most Americans have tasted over the last one hundred years. The original recipe is featured at Menches Brothers Restaurants in Akron, Ohio.

* Fletcher Davis late 1880s, Athens, Texas. In 1974, The New York Times ran a story about Louis' Lunch being a challenger to the title of inventing the hamburger. According to the McDonald's hamburger chain the inventor was an unknown food vendor at the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904. Newspaper columnist, Texas historian, and restaurateur Frank X. Tolbert said that this food vendor was Fletcher Davis. Davis operated a café at 115 Tyler Street on the north side of the courthouse square in Athens, Texas, in the late 1880s. Local lore holds that Davis was selling an unnamed sandwich of ground beef at his lunch counter at that time. In 1904, Davis and his wife Ciddy, with backing from local business, took their sandwich to the 1904 World's Fair. Fletcher and Ciddy Davis launched their invention from "Old Dave's Hamburger Stand", located on the midway at the fair. A reference to a New York Tribune article written at the time about the fair called a hamburger the innovation of a food vendor on the pike. Tolbert said that Old Dave was Fletcher Davis from Athens. During the 1980s Dairy Queen ran a commercial filmed in Athens, calling the town the birthplace of the hamburger. In November 2006, The Texas State Legislature introduced Bill HCR-15, designating Athens as the "Original Home of the Hamburger".

* Louis Lassen 1895, New Haven, Connecticut. Some believe the first hamburgers were served at Louis' Lunch, a sandwich shop established in 1895 in New Haven. The small lunch counter is credited by some with having invented this quick businessman's meal when Louis' sandwiched a hamburger between two pieces of white toast for a busy office worker in 1900. Louis' Lunch flame broils the hamburgers in the original 1898 Bridge & Beach vertical cast iron gas stoves using locally patented steel wire broilers to hold the hamburgers in place while they cook. In 2000, the United States Library of Congress credited Louis' Lunch with making America's first hamburger [1].

* White Castle, 1921, Wichita, Kansas. Due to widely prevalent anti-German sentiment in the USA during the World War I, an alternative name for hamburgers was salisbury steak. Even after the war, hamburgers' popularity was severely depressed until the White Castle chain of restaurants created a business model featuring sales of large numbers of small hamburgers. White Castle holds a U.S trademark on "slyders".

* Homemade hamburgers. Although restaurants may have had an important role in popularizing hamburgers in the United States, hamburgers have been prepared by hand in the home from fresh ground meat and cooked, either fried on the stove or grilled over charcoal in a barbecue for many years.

[edit] Hamburgers today
Hamburger and fries served in an American diner.
Hamburger and fries served in an American diner.

In 1906, Upton Sinclair published his book: "The Jungle" which exposed the lack of sanitation in the meat packing industry. As a result, many Americans developed a fear of eating processed beef. In the 1920s, Billy Ingram, (one of the founders of White Castle), began a public relations campaign to remake the image of the hamburgers sold in restaurants and to help make the burger a favorite food. In his book: "Selling them by the Sack: White Castle and the Creation of the American Food", David Gerald Hogan credits Billy Ingram and White Castle for making the hamburger the very popular food it is today, and leading the way for McDonald's and other franchises to follow.

The "cheese hamburger," now simply the cheeseburger, is said to have first appeared in 1924, and credited to grill chef Lionel Sternberger of The Rite Spot restaurant in Pasadena, California. This kind of burger is basically the same as a regular hamburger but with a slice of cheese (cheddar, American, Swiss, et cetera) inside.

The term "burger" has now become generic, and may refer to sandwiches that have ground meat, chicken, fish (or even vegetarian) fillings other than a beef patty, but share the characteristic round bun. By the mid 20th century both terms were commonly shortened to "hamburger" or simply "burger." However, these "burgers" are usually referred to as "chicken burgers", "fish burgers", etc. A "hamburger" today can also be made with finely chopped beef as well as ground beef.

Hamburgers are usually a feature of fast food restaurants. However, the hamburgers prepared in fast food establishments are mass-produced in factories and frozen for delivery to the site. These hamburgers are thin and of uniform thickness, differing dramatically from the traditional American hamburger prepared in homes and conventional restaurants, which is thicker and prepared by hand from fresh ground beef. Traditional American hamburgers are round, but some fast-food chains, such as Wendy's sell square-cut hamburgers. A traditional American hamburger is conventionally served in a non-fast food restaurant with iceburg lettuce and a slice of tomato, unless requested otherwise. Hamburgers in fast food restaurants are usually fried, but some firms, such as Burger King use a grilling process. At conventional American restaurants, hamburgers may be ordered "rare", but normally are served well-done for food safety reasons (see below). Fast food restaurants do not offer this option.

The McDonald's fast-food chain sells a sandwich called the Big Mac that is one of the world's top selling hamburgers. Other major fast-food chains – including Burger King (known as Hungry Jacks in Australia), A&W, Whataburger, Carl's Jr./Hardee's chain, Wendy's (known for their square patties), Jack in the Box, Cook Out, Harvey's, In-N-Out Burger, Five Guys, Fatburger, Burgerville, Back Yard Burgers, and Sonic – also rely heavily on hamburger sales. Fuddruckers and Red Robin are popular hamburger chains that specialize in mid-tier "restaurant-style" variety of hamburgers. The "slider" style of mini hamburger is still popular regionally in the White Castle and Krystal chains.

Some American establishments offer a unique take on the hamburger beyond what is offered in the fast food restaurants. Notable is Father's Office in Santa Monica, California. The patty is composed of dry-aged sirloin mixed with New York Strip ends topped with applewood-smoked bacon compote. It is topped with maytag blue and Gruyère cheeses, caramelized onions, and arugula on a French roll. In lieu of ketchup, Father's Office serves a blue cheese aioli in a ramekin. Dyer's Burgers in Memphis Tennessee is famous for a deep-fried burger. The proprietors claim that they recycle and re-use the same grease used when the restaurant opened in 1912. The casual dining chain Ruby Tuesday claims to have many different varieties of hamburgers on its menu of various shapes, meat compositions, or grades of beef.

Often, hamburgers are served as a common picnic and party food, cooked outdoors on barbecue grills. Hamburgers are also very good for backyard grilling and for home use. Hamburger patties are raw when first bought and may contain harmful bacteria that can produce food-borne illness such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, so caution is needed when handling them. Hamburgers patties can be cooked rare, medium rare, medium, medium well, or well done. These terms refer to how thoroughly the meat is cooked, ranging from having a little bit of pink coloring to being dark brown, cooked almost to a crisp. However because of the potential for food-borne illness, it is recommended that hamburgers should be cooked to an internal tempature of 170°F. If cooked to this temperature, they will be well done.

[edit] Ingredients and dietary aspects

Despite the "ham" implication of the name, a commercial hamburger usually contains no ham or other pork product. It is made primarily of ground beef, although it may also contain spices and other ingredients (In the 1930s ground liver was sometimes added to the mixture). This is also known as a beef hamburger or a "beefburger." A beef hamburger that contains no other ingredients besides the beef itself is often referred to as an "all beef hamburger" or "all beef patties." Some prepare their patties with egg, bread crumbs, onions or onion soup mix, Worcestershire sauce, parsley or other ingredients. Hamburgers with thousand island sauce have become popular too. McDonald's Big Mac burger and In-N-Out's burgers are known for having their version of thousand island sauce.

Recent years have seen the increasing popularity of new types of "burgers" in which alternatives to ground beef are used as the primary ingredient. For example, a turkey burger uses ground turkey meat, a chicken burger uses either ground chicken meat or chicken filets. A buffalo burger uses ground meat from a bison and some mix cow and buffalo meat, thus creating a "Beefalo burger" and an ostrich burger is made from ground seasoned ostrich meat. A Bambi burger uses ground venison from deer. [3]

The composition of a hamburger made in a fast food is more complex than the original recipe of meat itself. For example, the partial composition of a McDonald's hamburger is organized as follows:

* Beef meat in form of medallion
* Water, salt, soy
* Sugars: saccharose, dextrose
* Emulsifiers: E472e, E471, E481, E300, E516, E262, E210, E327

[edit] Veggie Burgers

A veggie burger, garden burger, or tofu burger uses a meat analogue, a meat substitute such as tofu, TVP, seitan (wheat gluten), quorn or an assortment of vegetables, ground up and mashed into patties. In the last several years Chili's and several frozen food distributors have created a burger made up of black beans that is supposed to taste like smokey beef. Throughout the years veggie burgers have become more popular among fastfood restaurants, appealing to vegetarians.

These burgers are usually lower in saturated fat or calories than traditional hamburgers. Many contain phytoestrogen (soy)[citation needed].

[edit] Cheeseburger
A Burger King Quad Stacker
A Burger King Quad Stacker

Main article: Cheeseburger

A cheeseburger is a hamburger with cheese in addition to the meat. In 1924, Lionel Sternberger grilled the first cheeseburger in Pasadena, California. When Sternberger died in 1964, Time magazine noted in its February 7 issue that:

"...at the hungry age of 16, [Sternberger] experimentally dropped a slab of American cheese on a sizzling hamburger while helping out at his father's sandwich shop in Pasadena, thereby inventing the cheeseburger..."

[edit] Serving style

Methods of serving hamburgers vary considerably in different countries. Many countries use a bun. Thickness in meat patties range depending on the restaurant. Some places serve hamburger patties that can weigh two pounds, and sometimes much more.

[edit] North America
North American Burger
North American Burger

In North America burgers can be divided into two main types: fast food hamburgers and individually-prepared ones made in homes and sit down restaurants. The latter are traditionally prepared "with everything" (or "all the way," "deluxe," "the works," "through the garden," or in some regions "dressed"), which includes lettuce, tomato, onion, and often sliced pickles (or pickle relish). Cheese (usually processed cheese slices but often cheddar, Swiss, or blue, either melted on the meat patty or crumbled on top), is generally an option. Condiments are usually added to the hamburger, but they may be offered separately ("on the side"), with the two most common condiments being mustard and tomato ketchup. However, mayonnaise, other salad dressings, and barbecue sauce are also popular. Traditional "Texas" hamburgers and cheeseburgers usually eschew other liquid condiments besides mustard. Other popular toppings include bacon, avocado or guacamole, sliced mushrooms or mushroom sauce, chili (with or without beans), salsa and other kinds of chile peppers. Heinz 57 sauce is popular among burger enthusiasts. Less popular ingredients include fried egg, scrambled egg, feta cheese, anchovies, slices of ham, tartar sauce, peanut butter and potato chips.

Standard toppings on hamburgers can vary by geographical region, particularly at restaurants that are not national or regional franchises. In the Upper Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, burgers are often made with a buttered bun, butter as one of the ingredients of the patty or with a pat of butter on top of the burger patty. This is called a "Butter Burger." In portions of the Carolinas, for instance, a Carolina-style hamburger "with everything" may be served with cheese, chili, onions, mustard, and cole slaw (usually a vinegar-heavy slaw with little or no mayonnaise), and national chain Wendy's sells a "Carolina Classic" burger with these toppings in these areas. In Hawaii hamburgers are often topped with teriyaki sauce, derived from the Japanese-American culture, and locally grown pineapple. Waffle House claims on its menus and website to offer 70,778,880 different ways of serving a hamburger. In portions of the Midwest and east coast, a hamburger served with lettuce, tomato, and onion is referred to as a "California burger." This usage is sufficiently widespread to appear on the menus of fast-food restaurants, most notably in locations of the Dairy Queen franchise.

A hamburger with two patties is a "double decker" or simply a "double," of which the Big Boy claims to be the first commercially sold, while a hamburger with three patties is a "triple," with the Wendy's restaurant chain being among the first to offer this as a regular product. Doubles and triples are often combined with cheese and occasionally with bacon as well, yielding a "double cheeseburger" or a "triple bacon cheeseburger," or alternatively, a "bacon double/triple cheeseburger." A hamburger with one patty, bacon, and cheese is a "bacon cheeseburger" or a "Banquet Burger"; hamburgers with bacon but no cheese are often called "bacon-burger"s. The Hardee's restaurant chain gained extensive publicity within the United States following its introduction of the Monster Thickburger, with two meat patties, three slices of cheese, six strips of bacon, 1,420 calories and 107 grams of fat. Other restaurants, such as In-N-Out, offer multiple patties and cheese on a burger (for example, 4 X 4 which is 4 meat patties and 4 slices of cheese). One could order as many meat patties as desired. The largest ordered was a 100X100 at the cost of about $400 for a special occasion.

A patty melt is a sandwich consisting of a hamburger patty, sautéed onions and cheese between two slices of rye bread. The sandwich is then grilled so that the cheese melts thoroughly.

To decrease cooking and serving time, fast food hamburgers have thinner patties than their fancier counterparts. The Carl's Jr. restaurant chain acknowledged this with the introduction of the "Six Dollar Burger," featuring a patty the same size as those served by sit-down restaurants for a lower price. Hamburgers also tend to be described by their combined uncooked weight, with a single uncooked burger a nominal four ounces (a "quarter pounder" [113.5 grams]); so, instead of a "double hamburger" one might encounter a "half pounder" (i.e. eight ounces [227 grams]; burger weights are always specified in pounds).

Fast-food hamburgers are usually dressed with a variety of condiments, and in order to get a fast-food hamburger without one of these standard condiments a special order may be required.

White Castle also serves small hamburgers known as "sliders."

Krystal, like White Castle, serves small hamburgers.

In Alberta, a kubie burger is a hamburger made with a pressed Ukrainian sausage (kubasa).[4]

[edit] United Kingdom

Hamburgers in the UK are very similar to their U.S. cousins, and the high-street is dominated by the same big two chains as in the U.S.—McDonald's and Burger King. The menus offered to both countries are virtually identical, although portion sizes tend to be smaller in the UK.

An original and indigenous rival to the big two U.S. giants was the quintessentially British fast-food chain Wimpy, originally known as Wimpy Bar, which served its burgers or cheeseburgers with British-style chips, served on a plate accompanied by flatware and delivered to the customer's table. Wimpy began to die out in the late 1980s, disappearing from the UK high-street. However, it persists in some motorway service stations, resembling much more the U.S. style system of counter-service.

Hamburgers are also available from mobile kiosks, particularly at outdoor events such as football matches. Burgers from this type of outlet are usually served without any form of salad - only fried onions and a choice of sauce (mayo, ketchup, brown sauce, et cetera)

Chip shops, particularly in the North-East, West Midlands and Scotland, serve battered hamburgers (along with battered sausages). This is where the burger patty, by itself, is deep-fat-fried in batter and served with chips, but no bun.

Hamburgers and veggie burgers, usually of a better quality, served with chips and salad, are now standard pub grub menu items. Indeed, many pubs specialize in "gourmet" burgers. These are usually high quality minced steak patties, topped with items such as blue cheese, brie, avocado et cetera. Another variant is the curry burger, which seasons the meat with curry to provide a spicier alternative.

Many British pubs are also notable for their extreme fondness for burger patties made from more exotic meats - common examples include venison burgers (sometimes nicknamed Bambi Burgers), Bison burgers and in some Australian themed pubs even Kangaroo burgers can be purchased. All of these hamburgers are served in a similar way to the traditional hamburger but may come with a different condiment - ie: Redcurrant sauce, mint sauce, plum sauce et cetera.

In the early 21st century "premium" hamburger chain and independent restaurants have arisen, selling burgers produced from meat stated to be of high quality and often organic, usually served to eat on the premises rather than to take away. [2] Chains include Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Ultimate Burger, and Hamburger Union.

In recent years Rustlers has sold pre-cooked hamburgers reheatable in a microwave oven in the United Kingdom.

[edit] Australia & New Zealand

Fast food franchises sell American style fast food hamburgers in both Australia and New Zealand. The traditional Australasian hamburger almost always includes tomato, lettuce, cheese, grilled onion, beetroot (canned slices), and meat as minimum, and can optionally include a fried egg (usually with a hard yolk), bacon, and a grilled pineapple ring. The only condiments regularly used are tomato sauce, which is similar to ketchup but has less vinegar and more sugar, or BBQ sauce. Hamburgers in Australia and New Zealand tend to be less oily and fatty than their US counterparts, and are more likely to include a full salad if available. The McDonalds "McOz" Burger is partway between American and Australian style burgers, having beetroot and tomato in an otherwise typical American burger. Likewise McDonalds in New Zealand created a Kiwiburger which is similar to a Quarter Pounder, but features salad, beetroot and a fried egg. The Hungry Jacks "Aussie Burger" has tomato, lettuce, onion, cheese, bacon, beetroot, egg, ketchup and a meat patty. As with many issues between the two countries there is much debate over whether this burger (with beetroot being the defining factor) is, in fact, an Australian or a New Zealand creation, but the answer remains unclear.

Hamburger meat is almost always ground beef. Outside of fast food restaurants, "home made" style burgers, generally known in Australia as a 'Hamburger with the Lot' (if they have "the lot" on them) are usually bought from fish and chip shops.

[edit] China

In China, restaurants such as McDonald's and KFC have been proliferating all across the country. In many parts of China, small hamburger chains have opened up to capitalize on the popularity of hamburgers with children. Restaurants such as Peter Burger attempt to copy McDonald's.

In supermarkets and corner stores, customers can buy "hamburgers" (hanbao) off the bread shelf. These unrefrigerated so-called "hamburgers" are nothing more than ultra-sweet buns cut open with a thin slice of pork or ham placed inside without any condiments or vegetables. These hanbao are a half-westernised form of the traditional Cantonese "hamburgers" called "Char Siu Bao" (BBQ Pork Bun), see Chinese cuisine. The Chinese word for hamburger (hanbao) often refers to all sandwiches containing cooked meat, regardless of the meat's origin. This includes chicken burgers, as KFC is very popular in China.

[edit] Japan
Hamburg steak
Hamburg steak

In Japan, hamburgers can be served in a bun, called hanbāgā (ハンバーガー), or just the patties served without a bun, known as hanbāgu (ハンバーグ) or "hamburg", short for "hamburg steak".

Hamburg steaks (served without buns) are similar to what is known as Salisbury steaks in the USA. They are made from minced beef, pork or a blend of the two, mixed with minced onions, egg, breadcrumbs and spices. They are served with brown sauce (or demi-glace in restaurants) with vegetable or salad sides, or occasionally in Japanese curries. It is a popular item at home, and in casual, western style suburban restaurant chains known in Japan as "family restaurants". It became popular in the 1960s.

Hamburgers in buns, on the other hand, are predominantly the domain of fast food chains. As well as American chains such as McDonald's (nicknamed Makku) and Wendy's, Japan has a few home grown hamburger chain restaurants such as MOS Burger which serve what many consider to be excellent hamburgers. Local varieties of burgers served in Japan include teriyaki burgers, katsu burgers (containing tonkatsu) and burgers containing shrimp korokke. Some of the more unusual examples include the "Rice Burger", where the bun is made of rice, and the luxury 1000-yen (US $10) "Takumi Burger" (meaning "artisan taste"), featuring avocados, freshly-grated wasabi, and other rare seasonal ingredients. McDonald's Japan also recently launched a McPork burger, made on U.S. pork. McDonald's has been gradually losing market share in Japan to these local hamburger chains, due in part to the preference of Japanese diners for fresh ingredients and more refined, "upscale" hamburger offerings. Burger King once retreated from Japan, but re-entered the market in Summer 2007 in a cooperation with the Japanese/Korean fast-food chain Lotteria.

[edit] Other countries
Chicken burger with rice bun (sold by McDonald's in Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, the Philippines, and Singapore)
Chicken burger with rice bun (sold by McDonald's in Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, the Philippines, and Singapore)

Rice burgers, mentioned above, are also available in several East Asian countries such as Taiwan and South Korea. Lotteria is a big hamburger franchise in Japan owned by the South Korean Lotte group, with outlets also in China, South Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan. In addition to selling beef hamburgers, they also have hamburgers made from squid, pork, tofu, and shrimp. Variations available in Korea include bulgogi burgers and kimchi burgers.

Not surprisingly, the Philippines, with American influences going back to US domination of the islands at the beginning of the 20th Century, retains a strong bond with American trends. A wide range of major US fast-food franchises are well represented, together with local imitators, often amended to the local palate. The famous chain McDonalds (locally nicknamed "McDo"), which is immensely popular with Filipinos, have a range of burger and chicken dishes often accompanied by plain steamed rice and/or french fries. Most popular of all with locals, the Philippines boasts its own burger-chain called Jollibee - which offers credible burger meals and chicken, including a signature burger called "The Big Champ". It is perhaps ironic, but very encouraging, that Jollibee now has a number of outlets in the United States. Jollibee, as well as other rewith ground chicken and/or pork patties, and are served with coleslaw and generous amounts of a sauce made by mixing ketchup, mayonnaise and sour cream. In addition to tasting nothing like most Western burgers, the large amount of sauce makes it a very messy food to eat, and these hamburgers are generally served in special paper or plastic pouches to avoid spilling the sauce on oneself.

In India, burgers are usually made using a chicken or a vegetable patty, due to cultural taboos against eating beef and pork. These taboos stem from the religious practices of Hindus and Muslims, respectively. Because of this, the majority of fast food chains and restaurants in India do not serve beef or pork. Likewise, McDonalds restaurants in India do not serve beef or pork, therefore the 'Big Mac' is replaced with the 'Maharaja Mac' which substitutes the beef patties with chicken.

Another version of the Indian vegetarian burger is the "Wada Pav" consisting deep-fried potato patty dipped in gramflour batter. It is usually served with mint chutney and fried green chili.

In Pakistan there are no Pork Burgers. Apart from American Fast food chains, burgers can be found on stalls near shopping areas. The most famous and inexpensive being 'Shami Burger' made from 'Shami Kebab'. It is a Kebab made by mixing lentil and Minced lamb meat. Onions, scrambled egg and ketchup are the most common toppings.

In Malaysia, an predominantly Muslim country, pork burgers are not sold. Even so, the country has 300 Mc Donalds and 800 KFC restaurants. The menu in Malaysia also includes eggs and fried chicken on top of the regular burgers. Burgers are also easily found at nearby mobile kiosks especially Ramly Burger.

In South Africa a mixture of hot mustard and mayonnaise is standard fare for a burger. Usually the mixture will be out, already mixed for partakers.

[edit] Cultural associations

In the 1930s (and TV re-runs through the 1970s), the best-known association to the hamburger was Wimpy, a moocher in the cartoon Popeye who would "gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." The character was the inspiration behind the name of the Wimpy hamburger chain.

In the movie Pulp Fiction, the two assassins played by John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson discuss with amusement the titles given to their beloved burgers in Europe. For instance they marvel that a quarter pounder is known as a "Royale with cheese". Samuel L Jackson's character gives a highly amusing speech to his soon-to-be victims (tucking into burgers before they are blown away) about the burger being a "cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast".

Another character associated with the hamburger is Jughead of Archie Comics. He would often beg his best friend Archie Andrews to buy him a hamburger and was constantly seen hanging out at Pop Tate's restaurant. At one point in the series, Jughead even entered a hamburger eating contest. After defeating his opponent, his only thoughts were to eat more hamburgers.

In 1984, Wendy's aired a series of TV advertisements for its hamburgers in which an elderly woman (played by Clara Peller) commented, "Where's the beef?" when examining competitors' burgers. The quip became a national catchphrase in the United States.

In the mid-1990s, some American fast food restaurants such as Hardee's and Burger King began intensely marketing eating "large hamburgers" (of one half pounds [681 grams] of beef or more) as a sign of masculinity. Using scantily clad women and images of construction workers eating hamburgers, they introduced the notion that eating large hamburgers is a sign of manliness.

Oprah Winfrey was sued for saying she would stop eating hamburgers when there was a mad cow disease scare, on the grounds that it was unsafe.[5][6][7]

The Video Game and anime character Viewtiful Joe loves to eat cheeseburgers, which are his favorite food. Everytime he sees a Hamburger Stand or Restaurant he says "Cheeseburger, please!" Another game, the 1982 arcade game Burgertime features a chef trying to make hamburgers while being chased by typical hamburger toppings.

Pop performer Jimmy Buffett wrote the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" in 1978. He was inspired to write it after discovering, to his surprise, a restaurant in the British Virgin Islands serving American cheeseburgers.

Floridian band The Monsters In The Morning made a song about a hamburger and the contents called "Mr. Hamburger".

[edit] Urban legends

Main article: McDonald's urban legends

There has been a great proliferation of urban legends related to hamburgers, particularly relating to the McDonald's fast food chain.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "hamburger." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com
2. ^ a b Cooper, Jeanne (4 June 2006). "Did you know?", San Francisc Chronicle.
3. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1318965,00.html
4. ^ The Canadian Oxford Dictionary has headwords for the Canadianisms kubasa, kubie (as a hot dog), and kubie burger, the latter two being specific to Alberta.
5. ^ http://www.mad-cow.org/~tom/oprah.html "Cattlemen Condemn False and Misleading Oprah Show"
6. ^ http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/television/oprah_transcript.html "Oprah's report on Mad Cow Disease"
7. ^ http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Oprah_Winfrey_and_mad_cows "Oprah Winfrey and mad cows"

[edit] References

* Barber, Katherine, editor (2004). The Canadian Oxford Dictionary, second edition. Toronto, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-541816-6.
* Edge, John T. (2005). Hamburgers & Fries : an American Story. G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-15274-1. - History and origins of the hamburger
* Trage, (1997). The Food Chronology: A Food Lover's Compendium of Events and Anecdotes, From Prehistory to the Present. Owl Books. ISBN 0-805-05247-x.
* Allen, Beth (2004). Great American classics Cookbook. Hearst Books. ISBN 1-588-16280-X.
* Elliott, Richard Smith (1883). Notes Taken In Sixty Years. R. P. Studley & Co..
* Riccio, Anthony V. (2006). The Italian Experience In New Haven : Images And Oral Histories. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-791-46773-2.
* Romaine, Lawrence B. (1990). A Guide To American Trade Catalogs 1744-1900. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-26475-0.

[edit] See also

* Bun Kabab - Pakistan's burger
* Pljeskavica - traditional Serbian meal
* Vada pav, a popular Indian burger
* Veggie burger
* Burgerless burger *
* Mechanically separated meat
* Advanced meat recovery
* Nutritional facts of some popular hamburgers
* Salisbury steak
* Meat grinder
* Super Size Me
* Back-formation (linguistics, etymology)
* Denny's Beer Barrel, a pub famous for its enormous burgers
* Luther Burger

[edit] External links
Wikibooks
Wikibooks Cookbook has an article on
Hamburger
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Hamburgers

* The Hamburger: How it came about
* Nutritional facts: Big Mac
* Nutritional facts: Whopper
* White Castle
* Krystal

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger"

Categories: Articles that may contain original research since June 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since October 2007 | Hamburgers (food) | American sandwiches | German loanwords

CULTURE OF THE U.S.

2007-11-02T08:21:00.000-07:00

Culture of the United States
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This article serves as an overview of the customs and culture of the United States. For the popular culture of the United States, see arts and entertainment in the United States.

American cultural icons, apple pie, baseball, and the American flag.
American cultural icons, apple pie, baseball, and the American flag.

The Culture of the United States is a Western culture, and has been developing since long before the United States became a country. Today the United States is a diverse and multi-cultural nation.[1]

Its chief early influence was British culture, due to colonial ties with the British that spread the English language, legal system and other cultural inheritances. Other important influences came from other parts of Europe, especially countries from which large numbers immigrated such as Ireland, Germany, Poland, and Italy; the Native American peoples; Africa, especially the western part, from which came the ancestors of most African Americans; and young groups of immigrants. American culture also has shared influence on the cultures of its neighbors in the New World.

The United States has traditionally been known as a melting pot, but recent left leaning academics tend towards cultural diversity, pluralism and the image of a salad bowl rather than a melting pot.[2][3] Due to the extent of American culture there are many integrated but unique subcultures within the United States. The cultural affiliations an individual in the United States may have commonly depend on social class, political orientation and a multitude of demographic characteristics such as ancestral traditions, sex and sexual orientation.[1] The strongest influences on American culture came from northern European cultures, most prominently from Germany, Ireland and Britain.[3] There are great regional and subcultural differences, making American culture mostly heterogeneous.[1]

AMAZING FACTORS ABOUT PYRAMIDS

2007-11-02T08:08:00.000-07:00

A pyramid is any three-dimensional structure where the upper surfaces are triangular and converge on one point (apex). The base of pyramids are usually quadrilateral or trilateral (but generally may be of any polygon shape), meaning that a pyramid usually has four or three sides. The measurements of these triangles uniformly classify the shape as isosceles and sometimes equilateral.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Ancient monuments
o 1.1 China
o 1.2 Egyptian pyramids
o 1.3 France
o 1.4 Greece
o 1.5 India
o 1.6 Mesoamerican pyramids
o 1.7 Mesopotamian pyramids
o 1.8 North American pyramids
o 1.9 Nubian pyramids
o 1.10 Rome
* 2 Medieval Europe
* 3 Modern pyramids
o 3.1 Gallery
* 4 References
* 5 External links

Ancient monuments

See also: List of ancient pyramids by country

Pyramid-shaped structures were built by many ancient civilizations.

China

Main article: Chinese pyramids

There are many flat-topped pyramids in China. The First Emperor of Qin (circa 221 B.C.) was buried under a large pyramid outside modern day Xi'an. In the following centuries about a dozen more Han Dynasty royals were also buried under flat-topped pyramidal earth works.

Egyptian pyramids
The ancient pyramids of Egypt
The ancient pyramids of Egypt

The most famous pyramids are the Egyptian pyramids — huge structures built of brick or stone, some of which are among the largest man-made constructions. In Ancient Egypt, a pyramid was referred to as mer, literally "place of ascendance." The Great Pyramid of Giza is the largest in Egypt and one of the largest in the world. Until Lincoln Cathedral was built in 1300 A.D., it was the tallest building in the world. The base is over 13 acres in area.

It is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one of the seven to survive into modern times. The Ancient Egyptians capped the peaks of their pyramids with gold and covered their faces with polished white limestone, though many of the stones used for the purpose have fallen or been removed for other structures.

France

There is a Roman era pyramid built in Falicon, France. There were many more pyramids made in France in this period.

Greece

There are several structures in Greece that archaeologists have called pyramids. Dotted throughout the landscape are remains of buildings that were described by ancient travelers as pyramids, they were first excavated by Americans and Germans in the early 1930s and the 1990s.

Pausanias, a Greek traveler in the second century A.D. described several of the structures as pyramids. One of these pyramids was located in Helleniko, Ελληνικό in Greek,a village near Argos near the ancient ruins of Tiryns.[1] The story surrounding the monument was that it was built as a polyandria, a common grave, for those soldiers who had fallen in the struggle for the throne of Argos back in the 14th Century B.C. He described the structure as something that resembled a pyramid with the decorations of Argolic shields, showing the military connection to it. Another pyramid that Pausanias saw on his journeys was at Kenchreai, another polyandria dedicated to the Argives and Spartans who lost their lives at the Battle of Hysiai in 669 B.C. Unfortunately neither of these structures remain fully intact today to test how closely they resembled the pyramids of Egypt nor is there any proof that they even resembled an Egyptian pyramid at all.

There are two surviving pyramid-like structures still available to study, one at Helleniko and the other at Ligourio, a village near the ancient theatre Epidaurus. With these two pyramid’s base stones remaining, it is possible to determine that Grecian pyramids existed, but were not used as the Egyptians used them. These buildings were not constructed in the same manner as the pyramids in Egypt. The buildings at Helleniko and Ligourio were no more than 100 feet tall and were surrounded by walls, with the base of the Helleniko pyramid being nine meters by 7 meters. The stone used to build the pyramids was limestone quarried locally and was cut to fit, not into freestanding blocks like the Great Pyramid of Giza. The base of the structures also differed from the Egyptian pyramids as they were rectangular, not square. This simple construction shape made it very difficult to make the top of the building come together in a point. As such, it makes more sense that these structures could have been peaked by a roof or platform.

There are no remains or graves in or near the structures. Instead, the rooms that the walls housed were made to be locked from the inside. This coupled with the platform roof, means that one of the functions these structures could have served was as watchtowers. Another possibility for the buildings is that they are shrines to heroes and soldiers of ancient times, but the lock on the inside makes no sense for such a purpose.

The dating of these ‘pyramids’ has been made from the pot shards excavated from the floor and on the grounds. The latest dates available from scientific dating have been estimated around the 5th and 4th centuries. There are many researchers who have given dates to the structures that pre-date the pyramids at Giza, but the method to obtain these dates was thermoluminescence of the stone. Normally this technique is used for dating pottery, but here researchers have used it to try and date stone flakes from the walls of the structures. This has created some debate about whether or not these ‘pyramids’ are actually older than Egypt, which is part of the Black Athena controversy. The basis for their use of thermoluminescence in order to date these structures is a new method of collecting samples for testing. Scientists from laboratories hired out by the recent excavators of the site, The Academy of Athens, say that they can use the electrons trapped on the inner surface of the stones to positively identify the date that the stones were quarried and put together.

The issue with this method is that they date the pyramids with a margin of error of up to over 700 years. This method dated the Helleniko pyramid to 2730 B.C. with an error factor of plus or minus 720 years. It also dated the Ligourio pyramid to 2260 B.C. with an error of plus or minus 710 years. Though these initial dates are indicative of these structures being built before the pyramid complex at Giza, it also means that they could have been built well after Khufu’s Great Pyramid was erected. Some archaeologists, however, have indicated that these samples may have been very select in their choice of which stones to sample. Further excavations of the site at Helleniko reveal that it was constructed on a previously existing structure, giving a possibility that the new methods of dating may be a misinterpretation.

Along with these two structures there are 14 more pyramid-like buildings, or their remains, scattered throughout the rest of the country side of Greece. These sites do not get as much attention as the two at Helleniko and Ligourio as they are the only ones mentioned in surviving accounts of ancient travelers.

India
Detail of the main gopura (tower) of the Thanjavur Temple pyramid in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
Detail of the main gopura (tower) of the Thanjavur Temple pyramid in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu

Many giant granite temple pyramids were made in South India during the Chola Empire, many of which are still in religious use today. Examples of such pyramid temples include Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. However the largest temple pyramid in the area is Sri Rangam in Srirangam, Tamil Nadu. The Brihadisvara Temple was declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987; the Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram were added as extensions to the site in 2004.[1]

Mesoamerican pyramids
Pyramid in the Mayan city of Chichen-Itza, Mexico
Pyramid in the Mayan city of Chichen-Itza, Mexico
Pyramid of the Sun on the city of Teotihuacán, Mexico
Pyramid of the Sun on the city of Teotihuacán, Mexico

A number of Mesoamerican cultures also built pyramid-shaped structures. Mesoamerican pyramids were usually stepped, with temples on top, more similar to the Mesopotamian ziggurat than the Egyptian pyramid. The largest pyramid by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, in the Mexican state of Puebla. This pyramid is considered the largest monument ever constructed anywhere in the world, and is still being excavated. There is an unusual pyramid with a circular plan at the site of Cuicuilco, now inside Mexico City and mostly covered with lava from an ancient eruption of Xictli. Pyramids in Mexico were often used as places of human sacrifice.

Mesopotamian pyramids

The Mesopotamians also built pyramids, called ziggurats. In ancient times these were brightly painted. Since they were constructed of mud-brick, little remains of them. The Biblical Tower of Babel is believed to have been a Babylonian ziggurat.

North American pyramids

Many mound-building societies of ancient North America built large pyramidal earth structures known as platform mounds. Among the largest and best-known of these structures is Monk's Mound at the site of Cahokia, which has a base larger than that of the Great Pyramid at Giza. While the North American mounds' precise function is not known, they are believed to have played a central role in the mound-building people's religious life.

Nubian pyramids

Nubian pyramids were constructed (roughly 220 of them) at three sites in Nubia to serve as tombs for the kings and queens of Napata and Meroë.

The Nubians built more pyramids than the Egyptians, but they are smaller. The Nubian pyramids were constructed at a steeper angle than Egyptian ones and were monuments to dead kings[citation needed].

Pyramids were still being built in Nubia up to AD 300.

Rome
Pyramid of Cestius.
Pyramid of Cestius.

The 27-meter-high Pyramid of Cestius was built by the end of the first century BC and still exists today, close to the Porta San Paolo. Another one, named Meta Romuli, standing in the Ager Vaticanus (today's Borgo), was destroyed at the end of the 15th century.

These Roman imitations of Egyptian monuments are important as contemporary "portraits" of the Egyptian ones, providing some sense of their original color and smoothness.

Medieval Europe

Pyramids have occasionally been used in Christian architecture of the feudal era, e.g. as the tower of Oviedo's Gothic Cathedral of San Salvador. In some cases this leads to speculations on masonic or other symbolical intentions.

Modern pyramids
The Louvre Pyramid, a modern pyramid built as an entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris
The Louvre Pyramid, a modern pyramid built as an entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris

Examples of modern pyramids are:

* The Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France, in the court of the Louvre Museum, is a 20.6 meter (about 70 foot) glass structure which acts as an entrance to the museum. It was designed by the American architect I. M. Pei and completed in 1989.
* The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, California, designed by William Pereira.
* The 32-story Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee (built in 1991) was the home court for the University of Memphis men's basketball program, and the National Basketball Association's Memphis Grizzlies until 2004.
* The Slovak radio building in Bratislava, Slovakia. This building is shaped like an inverted pyramid.
* The Walter Pyramid, home of the basketball and volleyball teams of the California State University, Long Beach, campus in California, United States, is an 18-story-tall blue pyramid.
* The Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, United States, is a 30-story pyramid with light beaming from the top.
* The Summum Pyramid, a 3 story pyramid in Salt Lake City, Utah, used for instruction in the Summum philosophy and conducting rites associated with Modern Mummification.
* The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation in Astana, Kazakhstan.
* The three pyramids of Moody Gardens in Galveston, Texas.
* The Co-Op Bank Pyramid or Stockport Pyramid in Stockport, England is a large pyramid-shaped office block in Stockport in England. (The surrounding part of the valley of the upper Mersey has sometimes been called the "Kings Valley" after the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.)
* The GoJa Music Hall in Prague.
* The Muttart Conservatory greenhouses in Edmonton, Alberta.
* The unfinished Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang.
* Small pyramids similar to those of the Louvre can be found outside the lobby of the Citicorp Building in Long Island City, Queens NY.

Gallery

The Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California

The Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee

Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada

Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans

The Summum Pyramid in Salt Lake City, Utah

Transamerica Pyramid

Zafer Plaza shopping center in Bursa, Turkey

Stockport Pyramid in Stockport, United Kingdom

References

1. ^ Helleniko Pyramid http://www.grecoreport.com/pyramids_in_ancient_greece.htm

* Patricia Blackwell Gary and Richard Talcott, "Stargazing in Ancient Egypt," Astronomy, June 2006, pp. 62-67.
* Fagan, Garrett. "Archaeological Fantasies." RoutledgeFalmer. 2006

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Pyramids

* pyramids Surface Area MATHguide
* pyramids Volume MATHguide
* Paper models of pyramids Cheops pyramid and others

OUTSOURCING

2007-11-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

Outsourcing became part of the business lexicon during the 1980s and refers to the delegation of non-core operations from internal production to an external entity specializing in the management of that operation. Outsourcing is utilizing experts from outside the entity to perform specific tasks that the entity once performed itself.

The process of outsourcing formalizes the description of the non-core operation into a contractual relationship between the client and the supplier. Under the new contractual agreement the supplier acquires the means of production which may include people, processes, technology, intellectual property and assets. The structure of the client organization changes as the client agrees to procure the services of the outsourcer for the term of the contractual agreement.

The decision to outsource is often made in the interest of lowering firm costs, redirecting or conserving energy directed at the competencies of a particular business, or to make more efficient use of labor, capital, technology and resources.

[hide]

Overview

Outsourcing involves the transfer of the management and/or day-to-day execution of an entire business function to an external service provider.^[1] The client organization and the supplier enter into a contractual agreement that defines the transferred services. Under the agreement the supplier acquires the means of production in the form of a transfer of people, assets and other resources from the client. The client agrees to procure the services from the supplier for the term of the contract. Business segments typically outsourced include information technology, human resources, facilities and real estate management, and accounting. Many companies also outsource customer support and call center functions like Tele Marketing, Customer Services, Market Research & manufacturing and engineering.

Outsourcing and offshoring are used interchangeably in public discourse despite important technical differences. Outsourcing involves contracting with a supplier, this may or may not involve some degree of offshoring. Offshoring is the transfer of an organizational function to another country, regardless of whether the work is outsourced or stays within the same corporation^[2]^[3] . With the globalization of outsourcing companies the distinction between outsourcing and offshoring will become less clear over-time. This is evident in the increasing presence of Indian outsourcing companies in the U.S. and UK. The globalization of outsourcing operating models has resulted in new terms such as nearshoring and rightshoring that reflect the changing mix of locations. This is seen in the opening of offices and operations centers by Indian companies in the U.S. and UK.^[4].^[5]

Multisourcing refers to large (predominantly IT) outsourcing agreements. ^[6] Multisourcing is a framework to enable different parts of the client business to be sourced from different suppliers. This requires a governance model that communicates strategy, clearly defines responsibility and has end-to-end integration.^[7]

Outsourcing suppliers include; Alihdaya Indonesia, BT, Capgemini, Capita, CSC, EDS, Fujitsu, HP, Infosys, LogicaCMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers, IBM, Microsoft, Siemens IT Solutions and Services, Unisys and Wipro.

[edit] Process of outsourcing

[edit] Deciding to outsource

The decision to outsource is taken at a strategic level and normally requires board approval. Outsourcing is the divestiture of a business function involving the transfer of people and the sale of assets to the Supplier. The process begins with the Client identifying what is to be outsourced and building a business case to justify the decision. Only once a high level business case has been established for the scope of services will a search begin to choose an outsourcing partner.

[edit] Supplier shortlist

A short list of potential suppliers is drawn-up from companies that are capable of providing the services and match the screening criteria. Screening can be enhanced by issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to a wider audience.

[edit] Supplier proposals

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is issued to the shortlist suppliers requesting a proposal and a price.

[edit] Supplier competition

A competition is held where the Client marks and scores the supplier proposals. This may involve a number of face-to-face meetings to clarify the client requirements and the supplier response. The suppliers will be qualified out until only a few remain. This is known as down select in the industry. It is normal to go into the due diligence stage with two suppliers to maintain the competition. Following due diligence the suppliers submit a Best and Final Offer (BAFO) for the client to make the final down select decision to one supplier. It is not unusual for two suppliers to go into competitive negotiations.

[edit] Negotiations

The negotiations take the original RFP, the supplier proposals, BAFO submissions and convert these into the contractual agreement between the Client and the Supplier. This stage finalizes the documentation and the final pricing structure.

[edit] Contract finalization

At the heart of every outsourcing deal is a contractual agreement that defines how the Client and the Supplier will work together. This is a legally binding document and is core to the governance of the relationship. There are three significant dates that each party signs up to the contract signature date, the effective date when the contract terms become active and a service commencement date when the supplier will take over the services.

[edit] Transition

The transition will begin from the effective date and normally run until four months after service commencement date. This is the process for the staff transfer and the take-on of services.

[edit] Transformation

[edit] Ongoing service delivery

This is the execution of the agreement and lasts for the term of the contract.

[edit] Termination or renewal

Near the end of the contract term a decision will be made to terminate or renew the contract. Termination may involve taking back services insourcing or the transfer of services to another supplier.

[edit] Reasons For Outsourcing

Organizations that outsource are seeking to realize benefits or address the following issues: ^[8]^[9]^[10]

Cost Savings. The lowering of the overall cost of the service to the business. This will involve reducing the scope, defining quality levels, re-pricing, re-negotiation, cost re-structuring. Access to lower cost economies through offshoring called "labor arbitrage" generated by the wage gap between industrialized and developing nations.^[11]
Cost Restructuring. Operating leverage is a measure that compares fixed costs to variable costs outsourcing changes the balance of this ratio by offering a move from variable to fixed cost and also by making variable costs more predictable.
Improve Quality. Achieve a step change in quality through contracting out the service with a new Service Level Agreement.
Knowledge. Access to intellectual property and wider experience and knowledge.^[12]
Contract. Services will be provided to a legally binding contract with financial penalties and legal redress. This is not the case with internal services.^[13]
Operational Expertise. Access to operational best practice that would be to difficult or time consuming to develop in-house.
Staffing Issues. Access to a larger talent pool and a sustainable source of skills.
Capacity Management. An improved method of capacity management of services and technology where the risk in providing the excess capacity is borne by the supplier.
Catalyst For Change. An organization can use an outsourcing agreement as a catalyst for major step change that can not be achieved alone. The outsourcer becomes a Change Agent in the process.
Reduce Time to Market. The acceleration of the development or production of a product through the additional capability brought by the supplier.
Commodification. The trend of standardizing business processes, IT Services and application services enabling businesses to intelligently buy at the right price. Allows a wide range of businesses access to services previously only available to large corporations.
Risk Management. An approach to risk management for some types of risks is to partner with an outsourcer who is better able to provide the mitigation.^[14]
Time Zone. A sequential task can be done during normal day shift in different time zones - to make it seamlessly available 24x7. Same/similar can be done on a longer term between earth's hemispheres of summer/winter.

[edit] Criticisms of outsourcing

[edit] Public opinion

There is strong public opinion regarding outsourcing, often when combined with off-shoring, that it damages the local labor market. Outsourcing is the transfer of a function and that affects jobs and individuals. It can not be argued that outsourcing has a detrimental effect on particular individuals who face job disruption and insecurity; however, outsourcing should bring down prices which provides greater economic benefit to all (whether prices are really dropping is debatable). There are legal protections such as the European Union regulations called the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) that protect individual rights. The labor laws in the United States are not as protective as those in the European Union. Studies have shown that public controversies about outsourcing in the U.S. has much more to do with class and ethnic tensions within the U.S. itself, than with actual impacts of outsourcing. ^[15]

[edit] Against shareholder views

For a publicly listed company it is the responsibility of the board to run the business for the shareholders. This means taking into consideration the views of the shareholders. Shareholders may be interested in return or investment and/or social responsibility. The board may decide that outsourcing is an appropriate strategy for the business. Shareholders have a responsibility to make their views known to the board of directors if they are against outsourcing.

[edit] Failure to realize business value

The main business criticism of outsourcing is that it fails to realize the business value that the outsourcer promised the client.

In the area of call centers end-user-experience is deemed to be of lower quality when a service is outsourced. This is exacerbated when outsourcing is combined with off-shoring to regions where the first language and culture are different. The questionable quality is particularly evident when call centers that service the public are outsourced and offshored.

There are a number of the public who find the linguistics features such as accents, word use and phraseology different which may make call center agents difficult to understand. The visual clues that are present in face-to-face encounters are missing from the call center interactions and this also may lead to misunderstandings and difficulties.^[16]

[edit] Social responsibility

Some argue that the outsourcing of jobs (particularly off-shore) exploits the lower paid workers. A contrary view is that more people are employed and benefit from paid work.

[edit] Quality of service

Quality of service is measured through a service level agreement (SLA) in the outsourcing contract. In poorly defined contracts there is no measure of quality or SLA defined. Even when an SLA exists it may not be to the same level as previously enjoyed. This may be due to the process of implementing proper objective measurement and reporting which is being done for the first time. It may also be lower quality through design to match the lower price.

There are a number of stakeholders who are affected and there is no single view of quality. The CEO may view the lower quality acceptable to meet the business needs at the right price. The retained management team may view quality as slipping compared to what they previously achieved. The end consumer of the service may also receive a change in service that is within agreed SLAs but is still perceived as inadequate. The supplier may view quality in purely meeting the defined SLAs regardless of perception or ability to do better.

Quality in terms of end-user-experience is best measured through customer satisfaction questionnaires which are professionally designed to capture an unbiased view of quality. Surveys can be one of research^[17]. This allows quality to be tracked over time and also for corrective action to be identified and taken.

[edit] Staff turnover

The staff turnover of employee who originally transferred to the outsourcer is a concern for many companies. Turnover is higher under an outsourcer and key company skills may be lost with retention outside of the control of the company.

In outsourcing offshore there is an issue of staff turnover in the outsourcer companies call centers. It is quite normal for such companies to replace its entire workforce each year in a call center.^[18] This inhibits the build-up of customer knowledge and keeps quality at a low level.

[edit] Company knowledge

Outsourcing could lead to communication problems with transferred employees. For example before transfer staff have access to broadcast company e-mail informing them of new products, procedures etc. Once in the outsourcing organization the same access may not be available. Also to reduce costs, some outsource employees may not have access to e-mail, but any information which is new is delivered in team meetings.

[edit] Qualifications of outsourcers

The outsourcer may replace staff with less qualified people or with people with different non-equivalent qualifications.^[19]

In the engineering discipline there has been a debate about the number of engineers being produced by the major economies of the United States, India and China. The argument centers around the definition of an engineering graduate and also disputed numbers. The closest comparable numbers of annual gradates of four-year degrees are United States (137,437) India (112,000) and China (351,537). ^[20]^[21]

[edit] Work, labor, and economy

[edit] Net labor movements

[edit] Productivity

Offshore outsourcing for the purpose of saving cost can often have a negative influence on the real productivity of a company. Rather, than investing in technology to improve productivity, companies gain non-real productivity by hiring less people locally and outsourcing work to less productive facilities offshore that appear to be more productive simply because the workers are paid less. Sometimes, this can lead to strange contradictions where workers in a third world country using hand tools can appear to be more productive than a U.S. worker using advanced computer controlled machine tools, simply because their salary appears to be less in terms of U.S. dollars.

In contrast, increases in real productivity are the result of more productive tools or methods of operating that make it possible for a worker to do more work. Non-real productivity gains are the result of shifting work to lower paid workers, often without regards to real productivity. The net result of choosing non-real over real productivity gain is that the company falls behind and obsoletes itself overtime rather than making real investments in productivity.

[edit] Standpoint of labor

From the standpoint of labor within countries on the negative end of outsourcing this may represent a new threat, contributing to rampant worker insecurity, and reflective of the general process of globalization (see Krugman, Paul (2006). "Feeling No Pain." New York Times, March 6, 2006). While the "outsourcing" process may provide benefits to less developed countries or global society as a whole, in some form and to some degree - include rising wages or increasing standards of living - these benefits are not secure. Further, the term outsourcing is also used to describe a process by which an internal department, equipment as well as personnel, is sold to a service provider, who may retain the workforce on worse conditions or discharge them in the short term. The affected workers thus often feel they are being "sold down the river."

[edit] The U.S.

Outsourcing became a popular political issue in the United States during the 2004 U.S. presidential election. The political debate centered on Outsourcing's consequences for the domestic U.S. workforce. Democratic U.S. presidential candidate John Kerry criticized U.S. firms that outsource jobs abroad or that incorporate overseas in tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of U.S. taxes during his 2004 campaign, calling such firms "Benedict Arnold corporations". Criticism of outsourcing, from the perspective of U.S. citizens, by-and-large, revolves around the costs associated with transferring control of the labor process to an external entity in another country. A Zogby International poll conducted in August 2004 found that 71% of American voters believed that “outsourcing jobs overseas” hurt the economy while another 62% believed that the U.S. government should impose some legislative action against companies that transfer domestic jobs overseas, possibly in the form of increased taxes on companies that outsource.^[22] One given rationale is the extremely high corporate income tax rate in the U.S. relative to other OECD nations ^[23]^[24]^[25], and the peculiar practice of taxing revenues earned outside of U.S. jurisdiction, a very uncommon practice. It is argued that lowering the corporate income tax and ending the double-taxation of foreign-derived revenue (taxed once in the nation where the revenue was raised, and once from the U.S.) will alleviate corporate outsourcing and make the U.S. more attractive to foreign companies. Sarbanes-Oxley has also been cited as a factor for corporate flight from U.S. jurisdiction.

Policy solutions to outsourcing are also criticized.

[edit] Security

Before outsourcing an organization is responsible for the actions of all their staff and liable for their actions. When these same people are transferred to an outsourcer they may not change desk but their legal status has changed. They no-longer are directly employed or responsible to the organization. This causes legal, security and compliance issues that need to be addressed through the contract between the client and the supplier. This is one of the most complex areas of outsourcing and requires a specialist third party adviser.

[edit] Fraud

Fraud is a specific security issue that is criminal activity whether it is by employees or the supplier staff. It can be argued that fraud is more likely when outsourcers are involved. In April 2005, a high-profile case involving the theft of $350,000 from four Citibank customers occurred when call center workers, acquired the passwords to customer accounts and transferred the money to their own accounts opened under fictitious names. Citibank did not find out about the problem until the American customers noticed discrepancies with their accounts and notified the bank.^[26].

[edit] Responses to criticism

[edit] Insourcing

Outsourcing, as the term is typically used in economics, is not necessarily a job destroyer but rather a process of job relocation and may not impact the net number of jobs in a nation or in the global economy. Contrary to the critics, rampant unemployment is not occurring in the United States. Logically, "outsourcing" cannot occur without a recipient that "insources" and, according to economists, "outsourcing" means an export in services which renders "insourcing" an import. Hence, economists insist on viewing the outsourcing/insourcing debate as a debate on trade, adequately analyzed with trade theory and recorded through official national data. For example, Mary Amiti and Shang-Jin Wei claim more jobs are insourced, or imported, than outsourced, or exported, in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as other industrialized nations. They report that the U.S. and the UK have the largest net trade surpluses in business services. However, some other countries, such as Indonesia, Germany and Ireland have a net deficit in business services.^[27]^[28] Similar reports state that "while [the U.S. is] exporting some jobs to other countries, the greatest beneficiary of outsourcing is the U.S. itself."^[29].

[edit] Work, labor and economy

International outsourcing is a form of trade^{[attribution needed]}. As such, mainstream economists argue that the basic principles of comparative advantage and the gains from trade apply. ^{[citation needed]} The 'threat' to overall employment or the economy is thus no more valid than the so-called 'threats' from imports or migration. ^{[citation needed]}

Economist Thomas Sowell from the Hoover Institution said “anything that increases economic efficiency--whether by outsourcing or a hundred other things--is likely to cost somebody's job. The automobile cost the jobs of people who took care of horses or made saddles, carriages, and horseshoes.”^[30] Walter Williams, another economist, said “we could probably think of hundreds of jobs that either don't exist or exist in far fewer numbers than in the past--jobs such as lift operator, TV repairman, and coal deliveryman. ‘Creative destruction’ is a discovery process where we find ways to produce goods and services more cheaply. That in turn makes us all richer.”^[31] Nationally, 70,000 computer programmers lost their jobs between 1999 and 2003, but more than 115,000 computer software engineers found higher-paying jobs during that same period.^[32]

Most economists do not view outsourcing as a threat to the economy of any country. Food malls (and even malls in general), for example, may cease to exist were it not for outsourcing. Capitalist trading often involves interactions among different people, which means often tasks and services are delegated to others. Lack of outsourcing may see deficiencies in specialization and division of labor, important elements in the law of comparative advantage, which is seen by some as the basis for why capitalist free-markets are successful in generating economic growth.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Overby, S (2007) ABC: An Introduction to Outsourcing. CIO.com.
^ Norwood et al (2006) Off-Shoring: An Elusive Phenomenon. National Academy of Public Administration
^ Babu, M. (2005) Myth: All Outsourcing Is Offshoring www.computerworld.com
^ McCue, A. (2006) Indian outsourcers to launch European invasion www.silicon.com.
^ Gibson (2006) India 2.0 Aims to Sustain Its Global IT Influence eWeek
^ (Q4 2006)Mandatory Multisourcing Discipline Business Trends Quarterly
^ (2006) Mandatory Multisourcing Discipline
^ Gareiss, R (2002, 18 Nov) Analyzing The Outsourcers. Information Week.
^ Drezner, D.W. (2004) The Outsourcing Bogeyman www.foreignaffairs.org
^ Engardio, P. (2006) Outsourcing: Job Killer or Innovation Boost? Business Week
^ Engardio, P. & Arndt, M. & Foust, D. (2006) The Future Of Outsourcing Business Week
^ Engardio, P. & Kripalani, M. (2006) The Rise Of India Business Week
^ Rothman, J. (2003) 11 Steps to Successful Outsourcing: A Contrarian's View www.computerworld.com
^ Roehrig, P (2006) Bet On Governance To Manage Outsourcing Risk. Business Trends Quarterly
^ Ganesh, S. (2007). Outsourcing as Symptomatic. Class visibility and ethnic scapegoating in the US IT sector.. Journal of Communication Management, 11.1: 71-83.
^ Alster, N (2005) Customer Disservice. www.CFO.com.
^ Maddock, B. & Warren, C. & Worsley A. (2005) Survey of canteens and food services in Victorian schools
^ Kobayashi-Hillary, M. (2007) India faces battle for outsourcing news.bbc.co.uk
^ Stein, R (2005) Hospital Services Performed Overseas. www.washingtonpost.com
^ Wadhwa, V (2005) About That Engineering Gap. www.businessweek.com
^ Gereffi, G. & Wadhwa, V. Framing the Engineering Outsourcing Debate: Placing the United States on a Level Playing Field with China and India. Duke University.
^ Zogby International survey results online at zogby.com
^ http://www.nationalreview.com/nrof_comment/comment-rugy041802.asp
^ http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1466.html
^ http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODZjNjI4ZTNjZmNiOGMxYjAwOTg1ZGI0NmFiOWFjZjI=
^ Ribeiro, J (2005) Indian call center workers charged with Citibank fraud. www.infoworld.com
^ Amiti, M. & Wei, S. (2004) Fear of Service Outsourcing: Is it Justified?, WP/04/186, International Monetary Fund
^ Amiti, M. & Wei, S. (2004) Demystifying Outsourcing. Finance and Development.
^ Wriston, W. (2004, March 24). Ever Heard of Insourcing? Wall Street Journal.
^ “Outsourcing” and “Saving Jobs” by Thomas Sowell
^ Should we “Save Jobs”? by Walter Williams
^ Drezner, D.W. (2004) The Outsourcing Bogeyman. www.foreignaffairs.org.

[edit] Further reading

Ganesh, S. 2007. "Outsourcing as Symptomatic: Class visibility and ethnic scapegoating in the US IT Sector." Journal of Communication Management. 11.1: 71-83.
Tim R. Holcomb, Michael A. Hitt. 2007. "Toward a model of strategic outsourcing". Journal of Operations Management, volume 25, issue 2: pp. 464-481
Thomas Kern, Leslie P. Willcocks: „The Relationship Advantage“ Oxford University Press 2002, ISBN 0199241929
Thomas Kern, Leslie P. Willcocks, Mary C. Lacity: „Netsourcing “ Prentice Hall PTR 2002, ISBN 0130923559
Peter Bendor-Samuel (author), Turning Lead Into Gold: The Demystification of Outsourcing (2000), ISBN 1-890009-87-3
A.D. Bardhan and C. Kroll, The New Wave of Outsourcing (2003).
Peter Brudenall (editor), Technology and Offshore Outsourcing Strategies (2005), ISBN 1-4039-4619-1
Lou Dobbs, Exporting America Why Corporate Greed is Shipping American Jobs Overseas, 2004 ISBN 0-446-57744-8
Christopher M. England, Outsourcing the American Dream, October 2001, Writer's Club Press, ISBN 0-595-20148-2
Georg Erber, Aida Sayed-Ahmed, Offshore Outsourcing - A Global Shift in the Present IT Industry , in: Intereconomics, Volume 40, Number 2, March 2005, S. 100 - 112, [1]
Gary Gereffi and Vivek Wadhwa, Framing the Engineering Outsourcing Debate: Placing the United States on a Level Playing Field with India and China (2006).
Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century 2005 ISBN 0-374-29288-4
Ron Hira and Anirl Hira, with forward by Lou Dobbs Outsourcing America, What's Behind our national crisis and how we can reclaim American Jobs 2005 ISBN 0-8144-0868-0
Mark Kobayashi-Hillary. 2004. (2nd ed 2005) Outsourcing to India. ISBN 3-540-23943-X.
Mark Kobayashi-Hillary, 'Building a Future with BRICs: The Next Decade for Offshoring' (Nov 2007). ISBN 978-3-540-46453-2.
Mark Kobayashi-Hillary & Dr Richard Sykes, 'Global Services: Moving to a Level Playing Field' (May 2007). ISBN 978-1-902505-83-1.
William Lazonick, Globalization of the ICT Labor Force, in: The Oxford Handbook on ICTs, eds. Claudio Ciborra, Robin Mansell, Danny Quah, Roger Solverstone, Oxford University Press, (forthcoming)
Baziotopoulos A. Leonidas (2006), "Logistics Innovation and Transportation", Work-in-Progress Conference paper, EuroCHRIE Thessaloniki, 2006.
Catherine Mann, Accelerating the Globalization of America: The Role for Information Technology, Institute for International Economics, Washington D.C., June 2006, [2], ISBN paper 0-88132-390-X
Stephen Haag, Maeve Cummings, Donald J. McCubbrey, Alain Pinsonneault, Richard Donovan "Management Information Systems For The Information Age", 2006, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, ISBN 0-07-095569-7
National Academy of Public Administration. (2006). "Off-Shoring: An Elusive Phenomenon". Report for the U.S. Congress and the Bureau of Economic Analysis: Washington.
McDonald, SM and Jacobs, TJ (2005) Brand Name ‘India’: The Rise of Outsourcing, Int. J. Management Practice, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.152-174.
Toledo, Mario, Outsourcing and Offshoring: Companies immerged in a complex environment,, Institute of Technology and Innovation Management Project Work,
Hamburg University of Technology.
Peter Wiggers, Maritha de Boer-de Wit, and Henk Kok, "IT Performance Management", 2003, ISBN 0750659262

External links

Industry Bodies

The National Outsourcing Association The outsourcing trade association advocating best practice in the industry.
Shared Services & Outsourcing Network

Journals & Publications

Articles

Nearshore outsourcing is more cost efficient than offshore outsourcing - by H.J.M. Boersen, W.G. van Gils and M. Zantinge
Free Trade Bulletin no. 10. Why We Have Nothing to Fear from Foreign Outsourcing
Reasons Leading to the Ineffectiveness of Information Systems Outsourcing in Minimising Costs - by Petros Michaelides (2006)
Chindia Sweeps the Sourcing Space - by Partha Iyengar and James Popkin (Q2 2007)
At Mysore We are Running a US Law Firm by Shelley Singh (Economic Times)
Fortune 500 firms driving LPO industry by Praveen Bose (Business Standard)
U.S. corporates outsource legal work to India by Anjali Prayag (The Hindu Business Line)
New York Firm Takes On India... "Very Nice!" by Heather Greenwood Davis (The Globe and Mail -- Lexpert Magazine)
LPOs add more punch to India action by Sushmita Mohapatra & P P Thimmaya (The Economic Times)
Now, for some LPO action by Sachin Malhan (The Hindu)
Making a Decision to Outsource: Driving Factors - by Denis Syropushchinsky, Marketing Manager in Qulix Systems

Videos