Transcription Section of the Central Dogma

Transcription Section of the Central Dogma Fulya TÃÅ"RKER TRANSCRIPTION: ONE OF THE KEY POINTS OF THE CENTRAL DOGMA ALTERNATIVE SPLICING It is known that the central dogma is the most important principle for an organism to carry on its lifespan. In the central dogma, there are 3 major stages: DNA replication and repair, transcription and translation. DNA replication can be simply described as the duplication of DNA. Transcription is the process of conversion DNA to mRNA. Last step is the translation which means the production of polypeptides from the mRNA, it is simply called as protein synthesis. In this essay, transcription section of the central dogma will be explained with detail. Why transcription is essential for living organisms? Without transcription there is no way to express genes. In order to synthesise protein, at first the mRNA should be formed from a DNA template. Proteins are the functional units in the cells which determine the phenotype of the living organisms. Since the polypeptide chains are formed from the mRNA, there should be a mechanism to create mRNA since it is not found in the cells initially. The proteins that are used in the determination of the phenotype carries the information of the used template DNA strand. DNA sequence is converted to mRNA sequence which then calls the amino acids according to this information. The amino acids form peptide bond with each other and at the end create one, long polypeptide chain. In order to initiate the process, there should be opening of two DNA strands. Since DNA is found as the double helix in the cells, when they are tightly bound to each other, RNA polymerase (the enzyme that adds nucleotides in the 3’ end of the newly formed mRNA strands) can’t bind its template and so transcription can’t initiate. So, the cell must find a way to break the hydrogen bonds between the bases of the DNA strands. In the process of transcription, the essential element is an enzyme, RNA polymerase. What is the significance of this enzyme? AT first, it helps DNA strand to open up for a specific place. The strands are separated from each other and one of them will be selected by polymerase in order to bind and use the information. The newly formed RNA will be carrying the complementary base pairs of the strand that it binds and will have the same sequence with the other strand of the DNA. These are really important points. Of course the new strand will be RNA and eventually will carry uracil instead of thymine. Secondly, in order to elongate the RNA strand, there should be addition of ribonucleotides. During DNA replication, since we are creating new DNA strand, DNA polymerase is responsible for addition of deoxyribonucleotide. However, in transcription we are concerning about RNA strand production. That’s why our enzyme should use ribonuclrotides (adenine, guanine, cytosine, thymine). The hydrogen bonds that are formed between the RNA and DNA strands are very unstable. That’s why RNA polymerase only allows very small length of binding sequence. Also, another important question is that: how the energy for RNA polymerase to move is provided? Our ribonucleotides are carrying three phosphate molecules. That’s why, they are called adenosine triphosphate or guanine etc. When they are added to the newly formed strand, they will release two of the phosphate in their bases and provide the energy necessary for RNA polymerase. There are some significant differences between the RNA polymerase and DNA polymerase except that one is taking role in replication the other is the enzyme for transcription. As indicated before, DNA polymerase is taking place in the addition of deoxyribonucleotides in the replicated DNA, while RNA polymerase adds ribonucleotides in the newly transcribed RNA molecule. Also, DNA polymerase needs a primer in order to initiate the transcription, but for RNA polymerase it is not necessary. Lastly, in the replication, the repair mechanism is highly active since we are duplicating the DNA, the errors shouldn’t be tolerated that much, but during the transcription there might be some tolerance to mistakes since after the transcription the deformed or faulty mRNA will be recognized by a mechanism and be degraded. There are five major classes of RNAs. First one is the mRNA (messenger RNA). It is so much important since it is the template and carries the genetic information for the protein synthesis. In the cell, it can be found in really small amounts. The importance of the function and the amount of it is inversely proportional in this case. Second one is the rRNA (ribosomal RNA). This is the most abundant RNA type in the living organisms’ cells. As the name is indicating, this RNA type is responsible for the structural design of the ribosomes. Ribosome (which is the place where the translation occurs) is mostly composed of rRNAs and the ribosomal proteins. Ribosome formed in the nucleolus by the association of the rRNA and ribosomal proteins. Third one is also really important for the protein synthesis to occur, it is the most important adaptor in the living organisms’ cells. It is tRNA (transfer RNA); include anticodons which recognises the codons on the mRNA and then attach t o the corresponding protein and brings the amino acid to the ribosome structure and helps forming of the correctly ordered polypeptide chain. Fourth one is the snRNA that is responsible for the splicing of premature mRNA. The other types of RNAs are providing various benefits to the cell and take role in the cellular activities. It is known that the elongation of the new strand should be from 5’ to 3’. So this newly formed strand should use the template that is moving from 3’ to 5’. By pairing with the 3’ end, its initial point will be 5’ and it will elongate through 3’. According to the direction of the movement of RNA polymerase, the mechanism will decide which strand (bottom or top strand) will be used by looking for the 3’ end of the DNA template. Since there are different kinds of RNAs are formed, there should also be different type of RNA polymerase in eukaryotic cells. RNA polymeraseI is used in the transcription of specific rRNA molecules. RNA polymerase is used in order to produce genes that carries the information for protein synthesis (including mRNA) and also snRNA. Lastly RNA polymerase III transcribes the tRNA molecules, some rRNA and snRNA. The mechanism of the transcription is a little bit complicated. Because there are lots of additional proteins are involved in the process, without them transcription can’t occur in eucaryotes. There will be comparison between prokaryotic and eukaryotic transcription machinery in the following parts of this essay. Let’s start with the transcription of the eukaryotes since it is much more complicated when it is compared to the prokaryotic system. At first, for the initiation of transcription in the eukaryotic gene has a specific sequence which is called as promoter and composed of TATA sequence. This sequence has an essential role in the transcription Ã…Å ¸n order to initiate the process. This TATA sequence is around 25 base pairs upstream from the initiator site and RNA polymerase II recognizes this site and can binds there with the help of protein complex which is called as transcription factors .The first general factor that is used in the process is TFIID and cont ains a specific part that is called TBP (TATA binding protein). TBP will fit the TATA box and activates the addition of other general transcription factor binding. When they are added to the complex RNA polymerase (contains other transcription factor on it) will be able to bind to the start site. Another important factor in the transcription initiation is the activator proteins. Those areTFIIH has a key role in this process since its ability to give the signals for the unwinding of the DNA strands by hydrolysis of the ATP. This ATP usage by TFIIH causes some modification to occur on the RNA polymerase (mostly phosphorylation). This process changes the RNA polymerase’s shape and allows the detachment of the transcription factors from the complex so from now on the initiation of the transcription ends and elongation process is ready to start. For the transcription initiation to carry on, there are some specific sequence on the genome that are called â€Å"enhancers†. Enhancers have a specific property, they are the site for activator protein binding. Enhancers may be thousands of base pair away from the RNA polymerase binding site however it has a specific ability to bend over and find the RNA polymerase so eventually let the activator proteins to interact with the other transcriptional factors on the start site or on the RNA polymerase. In addition to that in order to create a chance for the protein complex to bind to DNA, DNA must be loosely packed. Since, in normal conditions, DNA is found in a very strictly packaged conformation, this must change. Proteins need some sequence to be bound, however if the DNA is packaged strictly in the nucleosome, the transcription factor binding is impossible. So, there are some complex processes that are responsible for the change the packed conformation of the DNA and increase the approachability of the DNA by the transcriptional factor and RNA polymerase. There are mainly two ways to accomplish this aim: chromatin remodelling complex and histone modification. Remodelling complex separates the histones from the DNA strands slightly and the DNA will have a loose conformation. Histone modification is the second way for the increasing of the deforming the packed DNA. Histone acetylation is the best known technique. Histone acetylation causes the histone proteins on the nucleosome t o release the DNA slightly and make protein binding to DNA possible. Second step of the transcription is called the elongation process. There are some elongation factors which provide the attachment of RNA polymerase to DNA throughout the transcription process. Also, they carry out the RNA polymerase and increase its tolerance to the different sequences that should be transcribed. In the elongation stage, the ribonucleotides will be added to the newly formed RNA strand and at the end there will be a termination signal which causes RNA polymerase-DNA interaction breakage and lead to the product which is called precurser mature mRNA (pre-mRNA). Eukaryotic pre-mRNA needs to be exposed to some modification and of course alternative splicing. Since our genome, most of the eukaryotic organisms’ genome is composed of coding (exon) and non-coding (intron) regions, in order to translation process to occur, the pre-mRNA must cleaved from the intron sequences. In addition to that, pre-mRNA needs to be modified and the 2 ends of the pre-mRNA must have some additional feature. This is important because the translational process can’t occur without the cap modifications. Those modifications marks the mRNA as a healthy and usable product and also help the mRNA to be transported to the cytoplasm (protein synthesis occurs in the cytoplasm) from the nucleus. Firstly, let’s indicate the cap modifications. In the pre-mRNA, there are 2 caps: 5’ cap and 3’ cap. 5’ cap should be modified by the addition of 7-methylguanosine. This procedure is activated by phosphates enzyme, guanyl transferase (GTP to GMP+PP) and methyl transferase. By addition of methylguanosine, the mRNA product is separated from the other RNA molecules and also mRNA, now, will be able to transported to the cytoplasm. 3’ cap is also exposed to additional modification: Poly Adenine tail. At the end of the mRNA product, there will be addition of adenine ribonucleotides and this sequence will prevent the degradation of the mRNA. However, the most exciting and different process that the eukaryotic pre-mRNA is faced with is the splicing. At the beginning and end of each intron, there are a specific sequences that indicates that the machinery is dealing with an intron. The 5’ end of the intron mostly contains GU and 3’ end of it contains AG. Also we have specific base in the middle of the intron, Adenine, which is also called as a branch point and gives the signal for 5’ end binding and the formation of the lariat with the help of the snRNPs. What are the snRNPs and what is their role? At first, as it is claimed in the earliest pages of this essay, there is a specific RNA type which is known as snRNA (small nuclear RNA) which are the important factors in the RNA splicing. In the splicing theory, the 5 of them play an active role: U1, U2, U4, U5, U6. Those particles recognise the exon and intron end and start points and can distinguish them so help the splicing process a lot. Each of them co ntain at least seven proteins and form snRNPs (small nuclear ribonucleoprotein) which afterwards creates a structure that is called a â€Å"spliceosome†. Now, in the following section each snRNP that is actively join the splicing process will be explained. At first, there is a BBP protein which binds to the branch point (mostly Adenine). U2 snRNP recognizes BBP binding and replaces this protein with itself and form interaction with the branch point. U2 pushes A to the outside of the sequence and allows the attack of the 5’ site to this specific base. U1 initially recognises the 5’ end of the intron. U4-U5-U6 joins the process as a triplet. U4 and U6 is dissociated from each other and U6 removes the U1 snRNP and sits onto the 5’ end. U6 and branch point interacts and come closer (the process is called first phosphoryl transfer-reaction). At the end of this process lariat formation occurs. Lastly, U5 causes exon-exon interactions and second phosphoryl-transfer reaction takes place. At the end of this process the RNA is spliced and the mature mRNA is formed. In mature mRNA, there is 5’ cap, 3’ poly a tail and no introns. From now on, this mRNA is ready to synthesise the protein (the process of translatio n). Also, there is a theory of alternative splicing which should be mentioned in the discussion about the RNA splicing subject. After the removal of the introns, some exon can leave the sequence and cause alternative sequences. In this process, no shuffling of exons is allowed, but some of them leave the track. The first exon, which carries the start codon AUG, can’t change. It must be always found in the first position of the mature mRNA. The last exon of the spliced RNA must also contain one of the stop codons (UAA,UAG, UGA). But, other exon sequences are allowed to change without shuffling. Exon orders must be preserved. The below diagram indicates the process of the alternative splicing: Lastly, it is important to mention about the differences between the eukaryotic and prokaryotic transcription. In prokaryotes, we have a special term for the DNA which is called an operon. Operon carries the information for more than one gene and transcribed by the single promoter, eventually create a single mRNA which contain more than one gene. This single mRNA will be translated and eventually produce more than one protein, this characteristic of the prokaryotic DNA is called as â€Å"polycistronic† gene. However, in eucaryotes, there is only one gene that is transcribed at once. That’s why eukaryotic organisms are called as â€Å"monocistronic†. Prokaryotic transcription is only dependent to one factor in order to hold the RNA polymerase on the DNA while the eukaryotic transcription needs so many transcription factor, additional proteins and mediators. Also, since the prokaryotic DNA is found in a loose conformation in its original form, there is no need to use additional modification to destroy the packed structure as in the eukaryotes. So prokaryotic transcription machinery doesn’t use any chromatin remodelling complex or histone modifications. Prokaryotes don’t have intron in their pre-mRNA so there is no splicing in their mRNA after it is synthesised. They are free from introns, their mRNA is composed of more than one gene. Lastly, prokaryotes don’t need additional cap modification after the transcription of the mRNA. the mRNA can be easily transcribed as soon as they are synthesised. References: Belfort, M. (1989). RNA: Catalysis, splicing, evolution. Amsterdam: Elsevier . Belotserkovskaya, R., Saunders, A., Lis, J., Reinberg, D. (n.d.). Transcription through chromatin: Understanding a complex FACT. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Gene Structure and Expression, 87-99. Dahlberg, J. (1989). RNA processing. San Diego: Academic Press. Darnell, J., Lodish, H. (1990). Molecular cell biology (2nd ed.). New York: Scientific American Books :. Elliott, D., Ladomery, M. (2011). Molecular biology of RNA. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Goodrich, J. A.; Tjian, R. (1994). Transcription factors IIE and IIH and ATP hydrolysis direct promoter clearance by RNA polymerase II. Cell. Latchman, D. (2004). Eukaryotic transcription factors (4th ed.). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press. Locker, J. (2001). Transcription factors. Oxford: BIOS ;. Ohyama, T. (2005). DNA conformation and transcription. Georgetown, Tex.: Landes Bioscience/Eurekah.com ;. Raven, Peter H. (2011). Biology (9th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Stamm, S. (2012). Alternative pre-mRNA splicing theory and protocols. Weinheim: Wiley-Blackwell. Wagner, R. (2000). Transcription regulation in prokaryotes. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The Effects of Slavery on African-Americans

Slavery obviously had no small affect on the lives of millions of African-Americans in America. Both the North and South had strict rules on how the race was placed in society, rules that placed them far beneath any social class in America. It could be said that even free slaves, could never actually be â€Å"free† due to a complete lack of social equality granted by the American Government. Blacks were treated as something less than a human being, something like a product; this product was sold and traded around the country, and was the basis of the entire country's economy.Working in the fields from dusk to dawn not only hindered African-American's physically, but also exhausted them in the social and mental aspects of life. Slavery affected the lives of African-Americans in the South and the North by hindering them socially, mentally, and physically. Socially, African-American's were at the complete bottom of the list. Even the backwoods, workless â€Å"hillbillies† who lived nearly as harsh of lives as the African-Americans did were well above the slaves in social aspects.African-Americans in the South were completely deprived of any sort of education, including the simple knowledge of reading and writing. Black schools in the North were much despised, in one case, a school dedicated to the teaching of African-Americans was drug into a pond by a group of local whites. Blacks, horribly mistreated had virtually no legal rights, and could not even testify against a white person in court. This meant that no matter how brutally a slave was beaten, he could not do a thing about it.The â€Å"free† blacks had little freedom also, and were treated as a kind of â€Å"third race† in society. These people were essentially slaves still, only without a master. Secondly, African-Americans were hindered very much in the mental aspect. Blacks had no hope of social mobility in their country and recognized this. This, to many blacks became a degrad ing truth. They also felt deprived of their dignity and responsibility in the world. Knowing all of these depressing truths, many blacks esentially gave up and stopped putting so much effort into their role in society.Thus began the stereotype of the â€Å"lazy† African-American, who did just enough to get by, or purposely destroyed machinery in hopes of dodging work. Treatment of blacks within the family varied, some blacks in the upper South were treated as family while blacks in the deep South were whipped and branded on a regular basis. Lastly, the most apparent type of abuse that the African-Americans had to deal with was the physical abuse. Blacks toiled in the fields of cotton from dusk to dawn during their long work days.Masters were allowed to punish their slaves as they pleased, allowing them to whip their slaves if they weren't pleased with their effort. The Government offered no real type of protection to slaves due to the law that forbidded any African-American t o testify against a white in court. Even African-Americans that were finally free had to fear that they may be recaptured at any moment, and they could do nothnig about it. In the North, blacks were definitely a rare race. The blacks that were seen were discriminated against significantly, some blacks weren't even allowed entrance to certain states!In conclusion, African-Americans were placed at the pit of society throughout the 19th century. They had virtually no rights, and were worked tirelessly for a lifetime. African-Americans were not only exhausted by physical work, but they were also beaten in the mental and social aspects. Blacks almost always kept hope, and used the idea of being a free black as motivation, though this third race didn't have such a well-off life either. Slavery affected the lives of African-Americans in the South and the North by hindering them socially, mentally, and physically.

Cultural Interaction Analysis Essay

Mining is a process that is composed of three major logical, organized and sequential phases; exploration, development and production with unique risks, economic considerations and constraints characterizing each stage. Before deciding to develop a mine the mining company first considers the social, socioeconomic and environmental consequences of the decision. This paper discusses the problems that the foreign mining companies face while undertaking their mining processes in a community with different culture than theirs. The major hitches they faced mostly included; power differential, permeability and psychosocial factors like suspicion and fear between the company staff and the local community members. A Canadian gold mining company in Ghana faced these challenges during their stay in this West African country. The crises originated from language barrier and past experiences the local communities encountered with other mining firms. Although the official language in Ghana is English the larger percentage of local residents were illiterate and were only conversant with their local dialects. This made conversation a problem as the miners could not learn those languages easily. Even with the assistance of interpreters there was distortion of facts resulting into power differences. Similarly, sections of the community were so indifferent with the mining company since the previous mining companies had negative effects to their environment and families. Their children whom they taught were to earn their living from these mining companies were instead exploited. However, the major factors that affected the company-community relations and which also had an immense impact on how exploration activities were viewed by this community included: First, the cultural diversity between modern business practices of developed countries as represented by exploration activities and traditional communities. Second, was the extreme power differential that existed in any contact between the two interacting groups. The locals perceived the exploration activities in seclusion and with minimal knowledge of the larger picture within the mining industry and therefore they were not only uncertain but also fearful concerning the exploration activities. The local community rarely understood the risks that were associated with mineral exploration as well as the period of time required to prove the economic viability of the mineral deposits. They further assumed that a mining company would only invest huge amounts of money with a fixed time frame for advanced exploration. The mining companies were unable to bridge these power differentials that resulted into justifiable expectations as well as fears from the locals. But the expectations were antagonistic to the reality on the ground about the mine to be developed. These communities were unable to distinguish between a major company and a junior company whereby to them these companies appeared to be equally rich, powerful and potentially threatening. Additionally, the local community feared being marginalized due to language barrier and power impermeability and wished to be given a continuous update of day-to-day events of the company. They further expected to receive immediate answers to their worries from the company officials. Since these fears were not addressed in time by this Canadian company there immerged ill-founded rumors and misinformed messages which gained credibility within and among the community members resulting into increased fear and disquiet from the community (Ian Thomson and Susan A. Joyce 2000). This situations surrounded by fear and distrust between the community and the company severed the communication and understanding between the two giving way to outside interest groups and thus impairing further efforts for deliberations. The experiences and the extent to which the community felt uncertain about the future impacts of mining activities mining industry led into increased suspicions. The Communities viewed the mining industries differently depending on the previous exposure to mining explorations. Members of those communities without a history of mining were naive and inactive towards exploration activities which were taking place around them since they believed that good things like job opportunities and development of the area were to be associated with these explorations as well as mining activities. On the other hand, the responses of those communities which had an history of mining were diverse since some were willing to welcome exploration while others unwilling and instead turned hostile to the presence of foreign interest or as well as opposed a return to environmental and social destructiveness experienced in previous mining activities. Areas with small scale artisan mining were so much opposed to these mining activities since they feared being displaced, their traditional livelihoods being destroyed and alteration of their way of life within their community. The mining company did not take time to make the local community understood well the nature of their work as well as address the hopes, fears, traditions and social norms that may result into conflict and negative consequences to all parties. However, the mining company could prevent all these from occurring by forming a community relations team whose major role would be to mitigate the impacts as well as to build a harmonious relationship based on proper handling of expectations, prevention and resolution of conflicts. The community relations team should also be involved in incorporating the results of stake holders, mapping process, identification of Impact area and summarizing quantifiable objectives and targets based on management indicators that are measurable (Chuck F and Fernando R. 2007). Equally, the community relations programs and policies should cover local purchasing, local manpower, hiring training, land purchase and resettlement grievance resolution. The community should be consulted in every endeavor that the industry engages in as well as collaborating with the local communities to fully understand the social cultural values and aspirations and reach a consensus on the best priorities identified by the community. 2nd Analysis It has been established that Canadian mining companies have the largest stake in the mining industry in most third world countries. Official records indicate that this stake is at 30% of all mining prospects in Africa. South Africa too plays a huge role, it is home to many giants mining companies in Africa and consequently the largest mining company is the world DeBeers is based and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, it has mining interests expanding throughout the world. These two companies have dominated the mining industry mostly in the third world and have over the past years been on the focus over various issues but mostly centering on their relationships with the surrounding environment and the communities As afore maintained, mining companies have strained relations with the locals. This relation is centrally compounded by the difference in cultural dispositions and the overbearing ulterior motivates of mining companies. Profit remains the basic drive in business and the mining companies pursue it at whatever cost, many times with no consideration of the locals’ needs and priorities. An analysis of cultural interaction between the miners and the local communities must take this in to account. A look too in Latin America also produces this grim picture. Latin Americans have been up in arms over what they claim are exploitative tendencies from the mining companies. This is the basis of analysis of the culture between the miners and the neighboring communities. The relationship between employees and the neighboring community is also equally strained and both have a rough time interacting with each other. A look at the mining culture over time indicates that it tends to disregard the community interests and the relations between the two are usually digress to a point of hostility Jacobdeen Higgins is an engineer with one of Canadian companies based in Latin America. This is his fifth month in Ecuador, having been transferred to Quito after leaving an equally lucrative job in his homeland Canada. His relocation to Ecuador was after a promise of a hefty allowance as well as other fringe benefits. In his middle age, this is his first time to travel out of Canada and consequently his interaction with people from the developing countries. He has been born and raised in a country and a neighborhood that has not amply prepared him to interact with people of diverse backgrounds and mostly those that live with an income of below a dollar per day. This factor is further exacerbated by the nature of his occupation. He is a miner and the perception the locals in Ecuador have of miners is one of fear and hatred. They see them as exploitative and only seeking to deflower the vast virginal and resourceful land in Ecuador. The first issue Higgins has come to grapple with is the difference in the orientation of the local communities cultures and way of life with that of Canadian miners. There exist such fundamental variations in the two cultures such that the interests between them are always at a crossroad. The first barrier and major difference that Higgins has had to cope with is the language. This however is not unique to Canadian miners in Latin America but is a problem faced by most miners in foreign lands and aggravates an already sour situation. This is one predicament that miners tend to overlook. They do not take time to learn a few lessons on the cultural disposition of the local communities. Higgins is only fluent in English, it is his only language and beside that he can only catch a few French words. On the other hand Ecuador is a Spanish speaking country and in deed it is the official language. Besides that, there are other local dialects that would take years to learn. His company has based its operations in Napo province. It is a territory that is laden with mineral resources, but the company has centrally for the time being focused on gold. The communities residing in Napo province are yet to come in to contact with large mining companies with such huge machines and large workforce mainly composing of foreigners. Very few too understand or speak English. The majority of the leading personnel on these mining companies do not understand Spanish or worse still the local dialects Higgins has been at pains trying to interact with local community and mostly has to employ the use of interpreters who charge exorbitant prices. His position in the company requires him to source for laborers from the neighboring villages and small towns, in so doing the potential laborers have to undergo strenuous interviews to establish their skills and competencies. This is a nightmare he has to contend with in his daily activities. First comes the issue of hostility from the locals and then the tricky situation of the local language (www. mineralresourcesforum). Small-scale mining has been entrenched in the local community’s economic system. Artisan miners roam all over and wield so much influence in the community due to the lucrative nature of their venture. To them, and equally to the rest of the community, Higgins and his work colleagues are foreigners and should be accorded the treatment befitting intruders. This however is understandable as the large companies pose a threat to their livelihood. To the rest of the community the miners are a threat to their lands and open hostility is only way to pass this message. Others in the same community view Higgins with a mixture of dread and awe. He drives a big four-wheel state of the art vehicle, a luxury machine and a reserve of the top government executives and rich businessmen. He clearly does not understand the lives of the locals and does not understand why the locals are reluctant to leave their lands when there is a goldmine lying underneath. In his first days in Napo province, Higgins had been enthusiastic of this first chance to interact with the locals, however his friendly grins were usually met with cold stares and mostly harsh insults form the locals as he later came to learn from a political representative who nowadays acts as his guide just because he understands a few English words. Communication has been difficult to a point of frustration, attempts to reward with kind words or reprimand his employees are met with again cold stares; they just cant communicate with each other. This has resulted to a situation characterized by hostility from both the company and the local community. They rarely communicate with each other beyond a point of need. Higgins is now filled with disparage for the locals. He has been unable to understand their needs and neither their hostility, to him and to the rest of the miners. The minimal interaction he has had with the locals has not helped patch this ill feeling towards them. But for the cheap source of labor, Higgins would not wish to interact in any way. This is the notion and the perception held by both parties and emanates from the inherent cultural differences existing between the miners and the communities. Whereas miners such as Higgins are driven by personal economic motives, the locals on the other hand are wary of the miners and fail to see the long term economic benefits that may arise, they abhor the environmental degradations and social afflicts the mining will have on the surroundings and especially on their lands. 3rd Analysis This Canadian mining company has also to contend with the challenge of safety, more so, convincing the community of the appropriateness of the measures put in place to ensure the safety of the workers and the environment. The issue of communication not withstanding, safety concerns continue to bug the mining companies. It is not a secret the extent of devastation meted out against the locality of the mining operations. They leave huge dents on the surface of the earth and damage the natural habitat permanently. The surrounding communities are aware of this and they usually fight tooth and nail to have the companies relocate their activities or demand huge compensations, which in most cases pass unyielded to. Higgins is in the same position; he stands between a rock and a hard place. The company wants to mine, explore and exit within the allocated time but the neighboring communities are unrelenting in their adamant resolve not to give way. Miners culture has over time not demonstrated any considerations for the welfare of the environment, driven by surreptitious intentions, environmental needs take a back seat being overridden by profit maximization needs. Rarely does it have any room for plough backs directed towards environmental conservation. Being in an influential position as he is, Higgins is at the forefront in building a favorable relationship between the community and the company. He is also aware of the implications of the company’s mining operations but he is not in a position to call the shots within the management. He has a rough time trying to make his guide understand this. He also thinks that the devastations caused by the miners are exaggerated compared to the benefits that are reaped through mining. As the guide tells him, the local community’s hostility emanates from this fear. They fear the environmental impact of the mining project, the hazards that lie in wait resulting from the industrial wastes and air pollution from clouds of dusts emanating from the earth’s bowels. A look at the vast lands in Napo province reveals an expansive land untainted by the vulgarities of modernity. Most of the land is still in its virginal state and is characterized by uninhabited territories that remain revered and cherished by the locals. The mood on the ground is set against the mining companies operations. The vast natural habitat is a source of spiritual inspiration to the surrounding communities and has come to wither a lot of human onslaughts. To Higgins and the mining company in general, those perceived considerations do not hold any water. They are in business and will pursue their interests to the end. It is an economic venture that eventually stands to benefit the locals through employment opportunities. Producing more benefits than the natural habitat in its current state stands to do. Mining culture is impervious to environmental hazards consideration; its eyes are on the prize and not on the sideshows. It is not in line with the local communities worries on safety in the environment. Miners are hungry for profit and the only way to maximize it is through intensifying their explorations. Higgins’ guide cannot understand this selfish drive and likewise the local community’s does not. They value social interactions and solidarity more than economic ventures. The community is close knit and not highly commercialized to a point of neglecting social ties. The attachment with the environment is to a point of divinity. The environment is clean and the mining operations are a threat to this, they fear that it will bring pollution that in the end might result to diseases and other health complications. The safety of the environment remains the central factor. To most local communities where mining takes place, the environment is not the only safety consideration; safety within the mine is also taken into account. Higgins has had a rough time trying to explain the safety measures put in place to ensure that his (and that of other employees) safety in the mines, but the few incidences in the mines world over that have resulted to fatalities are a prove that the unexpected sometimes happen. His guide as well as the rest of the community are convinced otherwise. The prevalent perception and notion held by the majority of the local people is that the mines are not a safe place to work in, the sight of the complicated machines and the large pits confirms this, the miners recognize these machines and the large pits as a source of livelihood. Higgins is an engineer and understands the internal dynamics of these machines. He has operated these machines and been in the bottom of the pits for years and is convinced that they are safe. The necessary measures have been put in place to ensure this. This is the same headache facing Higgins as he tries to recruit more and more workers. The local community is adamant on the safety hazard of the mine. They claim that it can collapse any moment as a result of the spirits vexation towards humanity for destroying its habitat. Few people are volunteering for the underground mining due to the perceived hazards. The local community is also set against this. Families, even in the rampant poverty, are willing to see their family members involved in the mining activities. Pressure is being put by the families of the young men who are in search of quick bucks in the mines, they don’t want to see them volunteering for the underground operations. The local community, according to Higgins’ guide, knows that the dust from the mine can lead to health complications that can turn fatal in the long run. A look at the local communities cultural beliefs, practices and perceptions reveals that they are different from the mining culture. Miners are more concerned with the output and the benefits in the mines more than with the safety environmental consideration. Miners are trained scientists and rarely take a course on social relations. They do not understand the complexities of the local community and the diverse nature of their culture (Lia Bryant and Delrdre Tedmanson 2002). To them, mining is just but a renewed opportunity to make a killing. It is important that the mining culture undergoes a major transformation to ensure that miners are more responsive to the local communities’ needs and aspirations. They should enact mechanisms through which the mining companies should plough back a portion of their profit back into the community to ensure a trickle down effect to the people on the ground. The hostility that arises between the mining companies and the locals usually is fostered by the reluctance of the miners to take time and understand the local community. People are of diverse cultural backgrounds and have some ununderstandable attachment to their ancestral lands. This is not expected to change over night. Understanding the underlying cultural factors and language should be a prerequisite to mining activities. References Ian Thomson and Susan A. Joyce (2000-08-17). Minerals exploration and the challenge Of community relations: PDAC accessed online on 23/10/07 http://www. pdac. ca. pda/members/community/relate. pdf Chuck foster and Fernando Rivera (2007): Mining in Ecuador Hard assets investor. com Accessed online on 23/10/2007 http://hardassetsinvestor. com/index. php Lia Bryant and Delrdre Tedmanson (2002): Diversity in the mining industry: the International journal of knowledge, culture and change management. Accessed Online on 23/10/2007 http://ijm. cgpublisher. com/product/pub. 28/prod. 241 Doctor Mthethwa, Matthews Hlabane, and Ibinini Mara: Breaking communication Barriers between communities affected by mining and the mining industry in South Africa accessed online on 2007 October 23rd. http://www. mineralresourcesforum. org/docs/pdfs/communication. pdf

Information Act - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 12 Words: 3610 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/09/25 Category Advertising Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Act Essay Corruption Essay Information Essay Did you like this example? Executive Summary The Indian Government, to promote transparency and accountability in the administration processes, brought into force the Right to Information Act on October 12th, 2005. As per the Parliament of India, the purpose of the RTI Act is ‘to provide for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens’[i]. The Act applies to all the states and union territories of India, except Jammu and Kashmir. The Act is applicable to all constitutional authorities – any institution or body constituted by an act of Parliament or state legislature – including the executive, judiciary and the legislature. This act empowered the citizens of India to seek information from public authorities. In particular, the RTI act was expected to have a huge impact on the quality of the life of the poor and other backward sections of the community. Over the last five years, several incidents have highlighted that the RTI act has enough ‘t eeth’ in it to bring radical increase in transparency and reduction in corruption. At the same time, it has to be accepted that the act has not reached the envisioned level. However, the institutional mechanism for the implementation of act are in place and some stakeholders like media and civil right activists have been making extensive usage of the act to bring transparency and objectivity in the functioning of various public offices. However, the reach of civil society organizations and social activists is limited owing to the geographical size and population. The success stories of the RTI act range from identifying lost postal orders to highlighting scams worth crores of rupees. Though, corruption and other inefficiencies in the Government were known earlier, citizens could not take any recourse measure. However, with the advent of the RTI act, this situation has changed. Public has found a powerful tool to bring measurability and accountability at all levels of go vernance. During the study for this report, it was found that the major issues in the implementation of the RTI Act are – lack of awareness in the public, inconvenience in requesting information, lack of support for concerned uthorities, lack of accountability and clarity in role, lack of infrastructure and training, inefficiencies at Information Commissions and the passive nature of Government in implementing the act. Another challenge before the Government is to aggressively encourage ‘voluntary disclosure of information’ among its various authorities. Government needs to take proactive measure for the RTI act to live up to its expected potential. It needs to take steps to improve awareness among citizens, assist the applicants, set up independent and third-party audit committees to review the functioning of Information Commissions, generate efficient models for processing RTI files etc. Detailed Summary The Indian Constitution was written with an implicit r ight to knowledge. But then, over the years, as the Government mechanisms became more and more bureaucratic and political, many Government employees started looking at increasing their influence in the organisation – and that started off with with-holding information. Farmers and others who were kept in the dark regarding many Govt policies protested and the basis for RTI was born. The Right to Information Act was passed in mid 2005 and was effective from October 2005[ii]. It superseded all the other special laws that had until then guarded official information in India, like the Official Secrets acti. Salient features and Social Impact: The six chapters and thirty one sections[iii] of the Right to Information act (2005) empower every citizen of India to ask any question and seek any information from the Government. By information, we mean records, memos, circulars, documents, e-mails, opinions, samples, models, advices, press releases, reports, papers, orders, logbooks , contracts and electronically stored information[iv]. RTI, however, is not absolute, as in, sections 8 and 9 tell us about the categories of information that are exempt from disclosure[v]. Categories under section 8, if demanded to serve a larger public interest, can be disclosedi. A common citizen cannot be denied any information that cannot be denied to state / legislative assemblies or a parliamentary housev. Information can be demanded from any central or state government departments, including panchayats, and from any other organization (including Non-governmental organisations) that is owned, controlled, established or substantially financed in any way by any section of the government, be it central or state[vi]. We should note that the act does not apply to the state of Jammu and Kashmir[vii]. Every Government department that comes under the purview of the RTI designated a Public Information Officer (PIO) and several Assistant PIOs within 100 days of the enactment of the law[viii]. Some documents, as per Section 4, were also required to be made available to the public suo moto by the Government authoritiesvii i. e. on their own, without anyone demanding to know. The PIO can take up to 30 days (plus a few days for postal delays etc) to get back to the applicantviii. He can also take an additional 5 days if the application is sent to the wrong department and needs to be transferred to another dept and another 15 days if there are unavoidable delays (after notifying the applicant in writing). ix] If the applicant doesn’t receive any information from the PIO past the specified date or if the received reply is not satisfactory, the issue can be escalated to the first appellate authority within another 30 days[x]. If the first appellate authority cannot give a satisfactory reply either within the stipulated 30 day time limit, the issue can be taken to the notice of the second appellate authority within 90 days of receiving the first appeal order svii. There is no time limit for the CIC (Central Information Commission) to reply to the second appealvii. The fee for application varies from department to department and is dependent on whether the applicant seeks information from the state or the central governments – but then, it is very much affordable for the massesi. The Central Government, for example, has a fee of INR 10 for application and a further INR 2 for every page that was created and copied[xi]. In the first few years, even though the suo moto disclosures have not really lived up to expectations, several people and organisations have benefited by the act; from 70 year old Kaniram, who got his entitlement of PDS food grains that was denied to him for a whole year, to nine year old Pranav who forced Delhi Police to register a complaint regarding the bicycle that he lost[xii]. Students got the UPSC to disclose the cut-off marks and Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti in Assam used the Right to Information act to expose illegal diversion of food grains that were allotted to the poor from the PDS centres[xiii]. These are just samples taken from a bigger list of victories for the RTI act and the common manix. The RTI act does have its issues about which we will discuss in a while. Several non-governmental organisations like Parivartan[xiv] (led by Arvind Khejriwal) and Kabir[xv] exist primarily to help people with the Right to Information act and create as much awareness as possible, given that not everyone knows just how potent the act is. We believe that continuous usage of this act and timely follow up from the Officers would lead to a culture of openness in the society. The application filed by Pranav, even if it sounds like an elementary issue, speaks a lot about what the young generation is growing up to. Origination of the Idea Though Indian is a liberal democracy, people are mostly denied access to basic information in the public domain. The Constitution of India does not grant a right to information explicitly. However, the Supreme Court of India has held in several cases that the right to information is implicit in the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and expression (Article 19 (1)(a) and right to life and liberty (Article 21). xvi] The Right to Information campaign in India began with the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a small but a powerful union of agricultural labour in a remote village Dengungri, Rajasthan. The village accounts had entries of nonexistent people and shadow developmental expenses[xvii] and the illiterate villagers were denied their wages[xviii]. The anger and determination of the villagers to hold the government accountable and bring in transparency in village accounts initiated the Right to Information movement. MKSS demanded that copies of all documents related to public work are made available to people, for a public audit[xix]. The significance of the struggle by MKSS was its fundamental premise that ordinary people must not be condemned to remain dependent on chance or someone else to free them from the oppressions of corruption. Instead, they must be empowered to control and fight the corruption on their own. The success of the MKSS movement led to the genesis of a broader disclosure on RTI in India. In 1993, the Consumer Education and Research Council, Ahmedabad (CERC) proposed a draft RTI law[xx]. During 1996-97, the Press Council of India submitted two draft model laws on the RTI but these were not considered seriously by the Government. In 1996, MKSSs advocacy gave rise to the National Campaign on Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI), an organization which aimed to support for the right to information and to lobby the government for enactment and effective access to information legislation[xxi]. The members of the NCPRI included ex government workers, well connected leaders many of whom had been a part of the local campaigns or jan sangathans. xxii] In 1997, the Shourie committe e, under the chairmanship of Mr H. D. Shourie came up with draft legislation on the freedom of information which was criticised for not adopting a high enough standard. The draft was reworked into the Freedom of Information Bill 2000 which also was eventually rejected. The National advisory commission (NAC) was set up to oversee the implementation on the Common minimum program and since then it has been working closely on the RTI. In May 2005, the RTI amendment bill was tabled and passed in Lok Sabha. Soon after the Rajya Sabha passed the bill, the then President APJ Abdul Kalam gave his assent to the Act. On 12th October, 2005, The Right to Information Act formally came into force. Key Issues in implementation of RTI Act 1. Low public awareness: The first and foremost issue in the implementation of the act is the lack of public awareness. Former Chief Information Commissioner Mr. Wajahat Habibullah recently expressed concerns that public awareness about Right to Information (RTI ) Act is not as high as it should have been[xxiii]. A survey conducted by Price Water Coopers has revealed that only 15% of the respondents were aware of the act[xxiv]. This lack of awareness is acute among women, rural population and people from backward castes (Refer the charts in exhibits). This defeats the basic purpose of act i. e providing information to the common man. Another important problem in this regard is the quality of awareness. Most of the people who claim to be aware of the RTI act are poor in terms of quality of awareness i. e how much information can be asked, what type of information can be asked for and from whom the information can be asked for. This problem was tried to overcome by encouraging ‘proactive disclosure of the information’ by institutions. However, this being optional as against mandatory in some other countries, has not resulted in any effective dissemination of information. 2. Constraints while filling the application: Lack of proper user guidelines is resulting in significant efforts on the part of the information seeker to gather knowledge about the process for RTI request submission. This lack of procedural guidelines is putting off many citizens from requesting information. Very few states have provided standard application forms for filing an RTI request[xxv]. Also, though the law allows a citizen to make a request through electronic means, in reality, the efforts made to receive requests through such media are grossly inadequate. Another related problem is the lack of assistance and non-friendly attitude of PIOs (public information officers) towards the applicants. The users do not know whom to turn to for assistance while filing an application. 3. Issues faced during information dissemination: These are the issues faced on the ‘supply’ side of the act. The biggest problem is providing information within the stipulated 30 days time. Currently, there are inadequate processes and m easures in place to monitor the adherence of PIOs to the deadlines in providing the requested information. The PIOs are challenged to provide the information within the stipulated time due to inadequate record management procedures. This challenge is further severed by non-availability of proper infrastructure. The obsolete record management procedures and limited use of IT is preventing the PIOs from timely dissemination of information. Another important issue is the inadequate training of PIOs in terms of both behaviour and in-depth understanding of RTI act. In addition, there is a lack of motivation for PIOs as there are no incentives to take up a PIO job while the penalties for non-compliance exist. There is a clause in the RTI act allowing for dissemination information on suo moto basis. The PIOs should make use of this clause and proactively give out information and eliminate the hassle of large number of RTI applications. However, most of the PIOs are not aware of this pro vision. Even in cases when suo moto information is being provided, the quality of information is quite low and is not regularly updated there by serving no purpose. 4. Passive role of the Government: There are no adequate mechanisms within the government authorities to implement the provisions of the act. Neither the Government not the Information commissions have ensured this basic minimum requirement for implementation of RTI act. During a survey by Price Water Coopers, it was found that most of the states do no maintain a centralized data base of RTI applicants[xxvi]. This leads to delay in providing data and puts the authorities in a situation where they cannot publish the accurate numbers of applications filed and applications processed. In addition, the pendency of RTI requests at the Information Commissions is huge. This leads to delay in processing of a RTI request. One of the important roles of Information Commission is to monitor the public authority and take steps t o ensure they comply with the act. However, this has been one of the weakest links of the RTI act so far. This is resulting in a large number of appeals there by wasting resources. There is an ambiguity about the roles and responsibilities of the State Governments and the Information commissions which is leading to wastage of time and resources and delay in addressing information requests. Government should take steps like creation of a knowledge resource centre, capacity building for training of PIOs, improving the motivation for PIOs and earmarking budget for implementing the recommendations. Effectiveness of the RTI Act The objective of the RTI Act (as enshrined in its preamble) is to establish a practical regime for citizens to access information held by Public Authorities. This in turn will lead to increased transparency and accountability at the Public Authorities. I. Establish a practical regime for citizens to access information: Civil society organizations, media and activists have contributed a lot in spreading the awareness of the Act amongst masses and also they have played a key role in training of PIOs AAs, making them aware of their roles and responsibilities. xxvii] However, in spite of tremendous government and social bodies’ effort in spreading awareness of RTI and educating government officials about RTI, it was found in a survey that only 10% of PIOs scored above average on parameters associated with awareness about the Act[xxviii]. In a survey of applicants who received response to their information request, two thirds got some information and only half got full information[xxix]. About three fourths of the respondents told that PIOs were not cooperative in the process. One interesting fact came out that one third of 426 PIOs contacted didn’t know that they are PIOs! [xxx] II. Increased transparency and accountability at the Public Authorities RTI has become a powerful tool in the hands of citizen to fight against c orruption and have their rights. Study suggests that more and more information is sought from government bodies about their functioning, testing their fairness efficiency and highlighting any irregularities[xxxi]. Since, the Act came into effect it revolutionized the whole system and people are delighted to be equipped with the real power of freedom of information. Though there is substantial implementation of the Act, it still needs more ammunition so that the citizens can use it to the fullest. There is a need for enhanced accountability and clarity of roles in government bodies. There is a need for mass awareness, conducive environment emphasis on capacity building at central, state as well as district level. Government should improve efficiency of Information Commission and institutionalize third party audit, so as to maintain transparency and evaluate the success of RTI act in periodic manner[xxxii]. Interestingly there are sections of the  RTI  Act which act as mai n hurdles. These sections impede obtaining information related to process of investigation, personal information and information diverting the resources of public authority. Lessons Learnt †¢ There should not be any variance in role/ownership among different departments of government after the fact that their roles are clearly defined in the Act. †¢ There should be adequate planning at Public Authority level for identifying and addressing the constraints to ensure the citizens make full use of the new social innovation. There should not be any inadequate processes, infrastructure or resources for the organization to measure the extent of implementation of any social innovation. †¢ Necessary government support should be provided to the authorities with detailed roles and responsibilities that are in alignment with the provisions of the Act. †¢ Governments should organize educational programs in order to bring awareness of the new social innovation among its citize ns as only â€Å"media† played a key role in bringing awareness in case of Right To Information Act to[xxxiii] o Only 12% of the women and 26% of the men Only 27% of the General category and 14% of the OBC/SC/ST categories o Only 13% of the rural population and 33% in urban population †¢ Increase the number of channels through which a citizen can have access to the new social innovation. In the case of RTI, during payment of fee to receive information the citizen has to be presented physically even though the Act has no such restriction. †¢ Adequate training should be given to all the employees who work towards the service of any new social innovation as the report from PWC on RTI shows that only 45% of Public PIOs have mentioned that they have not been trained on RTI[xxxiv]. Proper motivation should be cultivated among all the employees serving for the new social innovations †¢ Information Technology should be effectively used in capturing the performance anal ysis of any new social Innovation. †¢ Strictly adhere to the service levels that are stipulated in the Act i. e. , in the case of RTI the applicant should be provided the required information within 30 days of the petition. Appendix [pic] [pic][pic] [pic] References [i] https://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Right_to_Information_Act Article in Wikipedia on RTI Act [ii] https://www. ummies. com/how-to/content/putting-indias-right-to-information-act-to-good-us. html [iii] https://righttoinformation. gov. in/ [iv] https://www. rtiindia. org/guide/fundamental-facts-about-rti-2/what-is-right-to-information-6/ [v] www. rtiindia. org [vi] https://www. kabir. org. in/content/salientfeaturesofindia1. htm [vii] https://righttoinformation. gov. in/rti-act. pdf [viii] Salient features of RTI by Associate Prof R. K. Chowbisa of HCM Rajasthan State Institute of Public Administration, Jaipur at www. upacademy. org/presentationpdf/rti/RTI_SALIENT_FEATURES. ppt [ix] https://www. tiindia. org/guide/f undamental-facts-about-rti-2/time-limits-specified-in-the-rti-act-18/ [x] https://www. rtiindia. org/guide/fundamental-facts-about-rti-2/time-limits-specified-in-the-rti-act-18/ [xi] https://www. kabir. org. in/content/salientfeaturesofindia1. htm [xii] https://www. rti. org. in/Documents/Complete%20Article%20as%20one%20PDF. pdf [xiii] Samudra Gupta Kashyap in the Indian Express at https://www. indianexpress. com/story/254593. html [xiv] https://www. indiatogether. org/campaigns/parivartan/ [xv] https://www. kabir. org. in/indexx. htm [xvi] https://www. hesouthasian. org/archives/2006/post. html Article on the History of Right to Information [xvii] https://www. nyayabhoomi. org/treatise/history/history1. htm Article on the rising RTI in India [xviii] https://www. worldpress. org/asia/1014. cfm Interview with Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey. Transparency and Poverty in India. [xix]https://www. humanrightsinitiative. org/programs/ai/rti/india/articles/The%20Movement%20for%20RTI%20in%20Ind ia. pdf Article: The Movement for Right to Information in India. People’s power for the Control of Corruption – Harsh Mander and Abha Joshi. xx] https://www. thesouthasian. org/archives/2006/post. html Article on the history of RTI [xxi] https://www. thesouthasian. org/archives/2006/post. html Article on the history of RTI [xxii] https://www. drc-citizenship. org/publications/InFocus/Rs_India_final1. pdf Winning the Right to Information campaign in India : Amita Baviskar [xxiii] https://www. rtiindia. org/forum/51999-more-awareness-needed-right-information-act. html Forum regarding issues in RTI implementation [xxiv] https://rti. gov. in/rticorner/studybypwc/key_issues. df Study of PWC on RTI act in India [xxv] https://rti. gov. in/rticorner/studybypwc/key_issues. pdf Study of PWC on RTI act in India [xxvi] https://rti. gov. in/rticorner/studybypwc/key_issues. pdf Article of PWC on issues in implementation of RTI act in India [xxvii] https://rti. gov. in/rticor ner/studybypwc/key_issues. pdf, Study of RTI by PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2009 [xxviii] https://cic. gov. in/CIC-Articles/TimesOfIndia-28092008. htm, The Times Of India Article, 28 Sep 2008, 0656 hrs IST,TNN [xxix] https://www. rtiindia. org/directory/uploads-2/interim-findings-of-the-peoples-r Don’t waste time! 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