Bollywood Museum-Architectural Thesis

BOLLYWOOD MUSEUM, MUMBAI The museum for Indian cinema referred to as BOLLYWOOD MUSEUM, is an initiative by Ministry of film and broadcasting, Govt. of India to celebrate 100 years of Indian Cinema. The aim of project is to enlighten the people and future generations about the glory of our cinema industry and enlighten them about the people who made our country the largest cinema industry of world. As per the brief from the ministry, the major exhibits in the museum would be: Artefacts, equipments like Cameras, Editing, & Recording Machines, Projectors etc. Costumes, Photographs and other material are proposed to be kept in the Museum. The properties, dresses, sets, tapes, vintage equipment, posters, copies of important films, prints, promotional leaflets, developing equipment books, biographies, sound tracks, trailers, transparencies, Cinema magazines, statistics covering film distribution etc. to be displayed in a systematic arrangement depicting the history in a chronological manne r, will be procured through donations and also by purchase.There will also be a Museum shop which will sell the copies/photographs etc. of the vintage items, books and booklets on the work of noted film makers and mementoes. The site chosen for the project is in the premises of the Film division office on Pedder road in south Mumbai. The site consists of existing office buildings, a library building in dilapidated condition which would be replaced by a new building in the design and a century old construction known as Gulshan Mahal. The rejuvenation of this building forms the major architectural concern for the project.This building awarded with Urban Heritage award in 2001 was formly used as a shooting set and now would form the main component of the complex design. The building would be rejuvenated with an active plaza in front of it. The design of the museum was evolved from the basic unit of film industry†¦ the reel. The form of the building was inspired from the spooling f ilm over the reels. The circulation of the museum aims at giving the visitor a complete route of the Indian cinema industry from production to people, evolution to screening. The route of circulation defines the shape of building.The dynamic form of the building makes it ‘filmy’. The design process started with identification of the programmes to be introduced in the building. The programme was divided into three major categories based on function named as museum, commercial and library. The museum building would house the administrative areas and the exhibits of the museum. The new library building is planned to replace the existing library building which was in dilapidated condition. The commercial area was planned to house a souvenier shop, cafeteria and a restaurant.All the three areas were made approachable through the same plaza from the drop off point. The drop off point amidst the three building complexes was intended to give the visitor a feeling of apparently entering the building from the car. The design of the complex was made to frame the Gulshan Mahal in the new building, as viewed from the drop off point. The visitor is given a grand welcome in the museum building with a grand atrium with a skylight on top which introduces light inside and hence visually adds to the volume of the space. The museum galleries were designed as per the given requirement of the exhibit by the ministry.The exhibits were divided as per their use in industry and its impact. Apart from the given requirements, some new galleries were introduced. The circulation of the building starts with the introduction gallery and with each changing exhibit area, the level rises upto 1m and hence viewing the different stages of production of a movie, the visitor reaches the higher level of building exhibiting the costumes and props used in the industry. from where it moves to the other part of the building through a connecting bridge exhibiting the life and works pf Dadasa heb Phulke known as the father of the Indian Cinema.The similar concept of rising levels with the exhibits apply for the subsequent exhibition of the changing trends in the movies. Reaching the higher level, the visitor passes through the gallery exhibiting the life and works of film makers which connects the library building to the commercial building. Repeating the concept of rising levels, with music and dance galleries, the visitor reaches back to the museum complex through the gallery of life of actors/actresses. The highest level houses the screening area which intend to screen the rare and special movies or may be used while film festivals. he route of the museum acts like the film spooling over the three reels of musum, library and commercial building and thus defines the overall shape of the museum. The rising levels, connecting bridges give it its dynamic shape. The central plaza in front of the Gulshan Mahal is intended to add activity in the complex making it more lively and thus gives a welcoming approach to the Urban Heritage building which has lost its importance over time. This building shall be retained as a live shooting set which would act as a museum for the equipments used during shooting.An informal seating space in the plaza is planned to address the groups educating them about the place and the industry. The concept behind the planning of Bollywood museum is to create a sculpture that relates to the industry it is exhibiting with interesting twists and turns which adhere to our masala Indian Movies. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Source: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF INDIAN CINEMA Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Government of India Films Division Complex 24-Dr. G. Deshmukh Marg, Mumbai-400 026. Email : [email  protected] org / website : www. filmsdivision. org

German Holidays Customs and Celebrations

German Holidays Customs and Celebrations The German holiday calendar has several in common with other parts of Europe and the United States, including Christmas and New Years. But there are several notable holidays that are uniquely German throughout the year.   Here is a month-by-month look at some of the major holidays celebrated in Germany.   Januar (January)  Neujahr (New Years Day)   Germans mark the New Year with celebrations and fireworks and feasts. Feuerzangenbowle is a popular traditional German New Years drink. Its  main ingredients are red wine, rum, oranges, lemons, cinnamon, and cloves. Germans traditionally send New Years cards  to tell family and friends about events in their lives during the past year. Februar (February)  Mari Lichtmess  (Groundhog Day) The American tradition of Groundhog Day has its roots in the German religious holiday  Mari Lichtmess, also known as  Candlemas. Beginning in  the 1840s, German immigrants to Pennsylvania had observed  the tradition of a hedgehog predicting the end of winter. They adapted the groundhog as replacement meteorologist since there were no hedgehogs in the part of Pennsylvania where they settled. Fastnacht/Karneval (Carnival/Mardi Gras) The date varies, but the German version of Mardi Gras, the last opportunity to celebrate before the Lenten season, goes by many names: Fastnacht, Fasching, Fasnacht, Fasnet, or  Karneval.   A highlight of the main highlight, the Rosenmontag, is the so-called Weiberfastnacht or  Fat Thursday, celebrated on the Thursday before Karneval.   The Rosenmontag is the main celebration day of Karneval, which features parades, and ceremonies to drive out any evil spirits.   April:  Ostern  (Easter) The Germanic celebration of Ostern features the same fertility and spring-related icons- eggs, rabbits, flowers- and many of the same Easter customs as other Western versions. The three major German-speaking countries (Austria, Germany, and Switzerland) are predominantly Christian. The art of decorating hollowed-out eggs is an Austrian and German tradition. A little bit to the east, in Poland, Easter is a way more relevant holiday than in Germany May: May Day The first day in May is a national holiday in Germany, Austria, and most of Europe. International Workers Day is observed in many countries on May 1. Other German customs in May celebrate the arrival of spring. Walpurgis Night (Walpurgisnacht), the night before May Day, is similar to Halloween in that it has to do with supernatural spirits, and has pagan roots. Its marked with bonfires to drive away the last of winter and welcome the planting season.   Juni (June):  Vatertag (Fathers Day)   Fathers Day in Germany began in the Middle Ages as a religious procession honoring God the father, on Ascension Day, which is after Easter. In modern-day Germany,  Vatertag is closer to a boys day out, with a pub tour than the more family-friendly American version of the holiday.   Oktober (October): Oktoberfest Even though it starts in September, the most German of holidays is called Oktoberfest. This holiday started in 1810 with the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese von  Sachsen-Hildburghausen. They held a big party near Munich, and it was so popular that it became an annual event, with beer, food, and entertainment.   Erntedankfest In German-speaking countries, Erntedankfest, or Thanksgiving, is celebrated on the first Sunday in October, which is usually also the first Sunday following Michaelistag or Michaelmas. Its primarily a religious holiday, but with dancing, food, music, and parades. The American Thanksgiving tradition of eating turkey has usurped the traditional meal of goose in recent years.   November: Martinmas (Martinstag) The Feast of Saint Martin, the Germanic Martinstag celebration, is sort of like a combination of  Halloween and Thanksgiving. The legend of Saint Martin tells the story of the dividing of the cloak, when Martin, then a soldier in the Roman army, tore his cloak in two to share it with a freezing beggar at Amiens. In the past, Martinstag was celebrated as the end of the harvest season, and in modern times has become  the unofficial start of the Christmas shopping season in German-speaking countries in Europe. December (Dezsember):  Weihnachten (Christmas) Germany provided the roots of many of the American celebrations of Christmas, including Kris Kringle, which is a corruption of the German phrase for the Christ child: Christkindl. Eventually, the name became synonymous with Santa Claus.   The Christmas tree is another German tradition that has become part of many Western celebrations, as is the idea of celebrating St. Nicholas (whos also become synonymous with Santa Claus and Father Christmas).

How to Set Up an Amazon Author Central Page in 3 Simple Steps

How to Set Up an Amazon Author Central Page in 3 Simple Steps How to Set Up Your Amazon Author Central Page Indie authors know the pressure of having to set up profiles on every new platform that pops up, promising to help you market and sell your books: Goodreads, Facebook, BookBub, oh my! It definitely adds up. But there’s one major tool that - if you haven’t already signed up for - you absolutely shouldn’t overlook: Amazon Author Central.What is Amazon Author Central?Amazon Author Central is a free tool that authors who have published a book through Amazon can sign up for   - whether they’ve published in print or ebook through Kindle Direct Publishing, or an audiobook through ACX. You can think of an Author Central account as your own private headquarters at today’s largest book retailer.Two of the significant updates that have been announced so far include:The ability for authors to manage their books and profile on all the different Amazon marketplaces from their one account - so they won’t need to log in and out to all of the internatio nal sites.It will also give users access to Amazon Author Insights: a hub of articles with tips on writing, publishing, and marketing.Have you tested out the beta program? Have you already used Author Central to optimize your Author Page? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!

Art Movement of Suprematism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Art Movement of Suprematism - Assignment Example Malevich was a Russian painter and theoretician in the art as well, and he is the recognized founder of the Suprematist art movement. One of his most popular works is the White on a White painting which is Oil on Canvas square piece measuring 79.4 centimeters. It dates back to the year 1935 and remains an outstanding piece that pioneered this art movement. In the description, the piece is a simple square frame that has a smaller inner square tilted slightly clockwise so that it seems to be standing on its bottom-right edge. The inner white square, placed off-center in that it leans to the right more than it does to the left rests on a bigger outer square that seems warmer. Both squares have rich texture on their surfaces. The resulting effect is the creation of an illusion of volume and depth by the use of a single color. Born Lazar Markovich Lissitzky, this man was born in Smolensk, Russia in eighteen-ninety and died in Moscow in nineteen-forty one. He is famous as an influential twentieth-century typographer, designer, and painter. According to Sarabianov (n.p.), he met Malevich at Vitebsk in 1919 at the Revolutionary People’s Art School where he was teaching graphics and architecture.

The role of mediation towards conflict resolution (with examples) Essay

The role of mediation towards conflict resolution (with examples) - Essay Example The paper tells that in the todays fast pace world of utter competition, in order to accomplish the goals and objectives, team working has become a necessity. The team or the group of people works towards a common goal where all the members are proficient enough to make decisions, solve problems, and share responsibilities. However, when one or more than one person works on a particular task or activity, discrepancies, inconsistent views or conflict is likely to occur generally. This is because every individual not only belongs to different backgrounds but also have lived diverse and dissimilar experiences in their lives, and thus, it leads to have diverse and dissimilar perceptions even when working on a common goal. In some situations, the conflict is nominal and may cause lesser amount of stress, however, in other cases; it might prove to have worse effects. Therefore, the understanding of the temperament and nature of the conflict is of great importance, which can lead to the con structive solutions as to how the conflict can come under resolution in a beneficial manner in order to improve the relationships that come under its affection. Studies reveal the fact that numerous causes can add to conflicts. In fact, when a person or a group of people comes under employment to perform a particular task that is contrasting to their needs or interest, conflicts is likely to occur. In addition, when the group of people has exclusive and independent behavioral preferences with respect to their mutual actions can also give rise to conflicts. A number of people do not have the ability or proficiency to communicate effectively and efficiently. Therefore, poor communication skills between people are also one of the prime reasons that can cause conflict. It has also come under observation that inadequate skills and knowledge are also one of the imperative contributors for creating a conflict amongst the people (Pahl,  Richter &  Rohrschneider, pp. 3-10, 2009). This is due to the reason that if a person in a group of people lack special skills or knowledge, the goals is unlikely to come under execution, which escalates the probability of conflict. The mentioned were few of the instances that can lead to conflicts amongst people, however, conflict resolution provides various solutions that can eliminate the differences between the people and improve or enhance their bond or correlation (Pahl,  Richter &  Rohrschneider, pp. 3-10, 2009). It has come to notice that culture plays a dominant, leading, and sensitive role in conflict resolution whether it is on a professional practice or in academic field. This can come under well understanding with the notion that in Western civilization, people in general opt for and promote open communication among disputants, solves their issues and outline agreements on a mutual basis that meet the principal and basic needs of both the parties. This means that the conflict resolvers make both the parties agree t o have a win-win situation where all the people under conflict get an equal satisfactory circumstance. A win-win situation is essential in the non-Western culture as well, but the way of resolving the conflict is somewhat different in nature (Avruch, pp. 24-27, 1998). However, while looking at the other end of the spectrum

Religious reform in the Age of Enlightenment Essay

Religious reform in the Age of Enlightenment - Essay Example the religious reform in the Age of Enlightenment then becomes an interesting topic, considering the fact that religion is fundamentally based on faith and traditions, yet the Age of Enlightenment was introducing reason, thus creating a fundamental conflict that would see religion change. Thus, despite the fact that religion does not auger well with reason and rationality; with rationality conflicting the provisions of the religious doctrine most of the time, then it will be interesting to see how reason and faith played to transform religion during this period. Therefore, the conflict between faith in religion and reason becomes the major reason why this topic has been selected. Concepts that will be used in your analysis of the text Secularism: This concept will be used to represent the non-religious culture of faithless action that is not based on any doctrines of religion or any sacred scripture, but solely dependent on the human reason, desire, and freedoms (Shapin, 47). Alternative Religion: This concept will feature in the analysis of the text, to represent other different options that emerged during the age of enlightenment, to replace the tradition of blind faith with reason as well as the freedom to act against the traditional religion and sacred traditions and doctrines (Ingram, 36). Religious reform: This is a concept that will be applied to represent the actual process of transitioning from the traditional religious ways and customs to the new culture of secularism and rationality in faith doctrines.

The Purpose of Internal Controls

The Purpose of Internal Controls Internal controls are a relevant part of any business. In order for an organization to meet its obligations and be a success it is imperative that it implements controls in an attempt to safeguard its assets, its employee and its continual existence. This paper explains the reasons why internal controls needs to be implemented, present a framework which describes its components and identify entities which foresees that procedures are followed and maintained. Controlling What Happens Robins defend territories as pairs during the breeding season and as individuals during the winter. When dogs find bones, they bury it in a safe place and constantly make sure they are safe at all times. What these animal have in common is their desire to protect their assets and possessions. One of the most important acts a manager can do is to safeguard assets. The main purpose of internal controls is to help the organization to achieve its objectives and to make sure that the business operates as efficiently and as professionally as possible. In order to understand internal controls, it is imperative that one knows what they are, the definition of internal controls, the categories, the components of internal controls as well as the entities that foresee that internal control procedures are followed and maintained. According to â€Å"SEC Proposes Rules on Internal Controls, Ethics Codes and Financial Experts on Audit Committees,† the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants defines internal controls as â€Å"controls that pertain to the preparation of financial statements for external purposes that are fairly presented in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles as addressed by the Codification of Auditing Standards Section 319 or any superseding definition or other literature that is issued or adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board† ( Haynes and Boone, LLP, 2002). They play a vital role and cannot be omitted from a business. This is because they ensure that employees as well as employers are providing reasonable assertions. In other words, they check the employees and employers actions and thoughts in a way which are meant to promote and better the business by preventing them from doing things their own way, or from robbing the business . They are established by management and they must make sure it is effective. According to R. L. Hurt, the significance of controls cannot be stressed enough, â€Å"In the importance of internal controls managers, stockholders, employees, and other organizational stakeholders want a company to operate as effectively and efficiently as possible, to have financial statements that are reliable, and to make sure their assets are safe† (Hurt, 2008, p.53). They are basically a plan of organization within a business which co-ordinates with all the methods used in the business to safeguard its assets. It further promotes productivity and aids management to hold on to rules and policies of the organization. Internal controls can be classified into two; preventive and detective. The main purpose of preventive controls is to detect errors within or dampen the chances of fraud. According to â€Å"Internal Control Concept and Framework,† preventive control activities â€Å"aim to deter the instance of errors or fraud† (University Of Washington, 2009). This is the most effective control because it checks against fraud, scams and errors before they occur. It is important to note that before it can become effective, it will be necessary to have a strong risk detection system within the organization. Detective controls identify errors or fraudulent activities after they take place. In other words, â€Å"Detective control activities identify undesirable occurrences after the fact† (University Of Washington, 2009). This method can cause problems if the after effect was significant, such as Enron and WorldCom. In such occasions, the most common detective control is reconciliat ion. In an attempt to help businesses and organization improve their internal control systems, the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commissions, otherwise known as COSO was formed. COSO is a voluntary private-sector organization and was established in 1985 and consists of a select committee which includes the American Accounting Association, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Financial Executives International, Institute of Management Accountants and The Institute of Internal Auditors (The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commissions). The main purpose of COSO is to identify actions or activities which influence fraudulent practices in businesses and to identify way of minimizing their occurrences. According to the American Accounting Association, â€Å"COSOs Mission is to provide thought leadership on enterprise risk management, internal control and fraud deterrence designed to improve organizational performance and governance and to reduce the extent of fraud in organizations†(American Accounting Association, 2008, p. 3). In 1992, COSO established an internal control framework which consists of five components and are meant to be integrated within the management process to ensure success. These components consist of control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information and communication and finally monitoring. Control Environment deals with the controllers and leaders of the business or company. In other words, this component talks mainly with management. The whole purpose is to make managers aware that internal controls begin in top management and thus cannot be effective without them playing an integral role in it. According to Lightle, Castellano and Cutting in their article, â€Å"Assessing the Control Environment,† they state that, â€Å"Of the five, the control environment may be the most critical, as well as the most difficult to manage and evaluate effectively† (Lightle, Castellano, Cutting, 2007, p. 52). They further state that â€Å"An effective control environment supports and strengthens the other control elements whereas a weak control environment undermines the other elements, rendering them useless† (p. 51). This environment emphasizes that if controls are not taken seriously by management, employees will also not take it serious. This is the reason why control environment is the backbone of the rest of the controls and without it, implementing ethical values and integrity in employees will be difficult. Risk assessment deals with the processes used to identifying organizational risks and threats within an organization and finding cost effective controls to deal with them. According to AICPA, risk assessment is â€Å"the identification and analysis of relevant risks to achieve the objectives that form the basis to determine how risks should be managed† (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 2005). An effective way to make this work is to consider both internal and external aspect of the business before it can be successful to its highest capacity. According to Sarbanes-Oxley, an â€Å"effective risk assessment requires; definition of the objectives, determination of the compatibility of the objectives, identification of risks to achieving the objectives, determination of risks associated with change, judgment as to which risks are critical and determination of actions to mitigate risks starting with the critical ones† (Walz, 2008). The third internal control framework of COSO is control activities. This component deals with the actions or actual controls executed in response to the information acquired from an effective risk assessment. They are the actual policies and procedures such as authorizations and approvals which aid management in making sure that organizational objectives are achievable. Information and communication is another important part of business which cannot be overlooked. This is because the process and what information is passed on can cause a lot of problems within the organization. It is imperative that the information flows is as accurate in the organization as possible in a way that ensures the right message is sent to the right person with the right encoding and the receiver has no problem in deciphering it. Effective information and communication helps in minimizing control risks and is directed mainly to employees to be responsible and careful in how they deal with sending and receiving information. In summary, the information and communication component aims in improving or maintaining quality and efficiency in communication within the organization. Unfortunately, some businesses are too big to accommodate any significant control process. According to â€Å"Effective Internal Control Systems Are Key to Ensuring Compliance†, â€Å"Informatio n and communication are the identification, capture, and exchange of information in a form and time frame that enable people to carry out their responsibilities† (Gundling, 2003). Monitoring is the final component of the COSO framework. It deals mainly with the evaluation and assessment of the organizations system of controls. It basically looks as the operations of an organization over a period of time to evaluate whether their objectives are being accomplished. So in effect, it is imperative that management assesses their internal control system to make sure that they are acquiescent to the organizations standard of controlling risks. According to â€Å"COSO Document Covers Internal Control Monitoring†, â€Å"COSO Document Covers Internal Control Monitoring,† he states that effective monitoring occurs by â€Å"establishing a foundation for monitoring, designing and executing monitoring procedures that are prioritized based on risk and reporting the results of monitoring to the appropriate level† (McCollum, 2008). A good way to ensure monitoring is used in its most effective way is to ensure that there are people who are qualified or have gone through training in that field and can ensure that the process it taken the tight way. This is because if management does not fully comprehend its importance the whole process could fall apart. One important aspect of monitoring is that the process should be taken serious and that risks discovered during that period should be directed to the relevant staff for corrective measures. Because of the extreme impact of the scandals that Enron and WoldCom brought into the business field, there have been entities which have been placed into the business field to prevent these fraudulent activities from occurring, one of these is the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. According to† Making compliance effective,† the act â€Å"was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush in large part because of the spectacular failures of Enron, WorldCom and other public companies† (Engle, 2009). Understanding the importance of internal controls can be difficult to comprehend. However the consequences of not adhering them are tougher to deal with. This can be seen by the utter chaos Enron and WorldCom have caused. Without controls goals and assets will be lost and operations will be terminated prematurely. Without internal controls, soon there will be no business. References Haynes and Boone, LLP, (2002). SEC Proposes Rules on Internal Controls, Ethics Codes and Financial Experts on Audit Committees. World Services Group, Retrieved from http://www.hg.org/articles/article_201.html Hurt, R. L. (2008). Accounting Information Systems: Basic Concepts Current Issues. New York: McGraw-Hill. University Of Washington, (2009, July 16). Internal Control Concept and Framework. Retrieved from http://www.washington.edu/admin/finacct/office/internalcontrol/frame.html The Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commissions, Initials. (n.d.). About Us. Retrieved from http://www.coso.org/aboutus.htm American Accounting Association, (2008, April, 1). Mission and operating policies. Committee of Sponsoring Organizations, Retrieved 09/07/2009, from http://aaahq.org/newsarc/COSOChairPosition.pdf Lightle, S., Castellano, J., Cutting, B. (2007, December). Assessing the control environment. Internal Auditor, 64(6), 51-56. Retrieved 09/07/2009, from Business Source Complete database. http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bthAN=28323854site=ehost-livescope=site American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (2005). Internal control: a tool for the audit committee. Retrieved 09/07/2009, from American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Web site: http://www.aicpa.org/audcommctr/toolkitsnpo/Internal_Control.htm Walz, John (2008, April 11). Retrieved 09/07/2009, from Table Comparing COSO and ISO 9001 Web site: http://www4.asq.org/blogs/sarbanes-oxley/2008/04/table_comparing_coso_and_iso_9.html Gundling, Richard L. (2003, October). Effective internal control systems are key to ensuring compliance. Journal of Health Care Compliance, 2, Retrieved 09/07/2009, from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=bthAN=11291132site=bsi-live McCollum, T (2008, August). COSO Document Covers Internal Control Monitoring. Internal Auditor, [65(4)], [13-14, 2]. Engle, Paul. (2009). Making compliance effective. Industrial Engineer: IE, 41(8), Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=truedb=a9hAN=43346883site=ehost-livescope=site