Research Analysis of H.R.1540 National Defense Authorization Act under Paper

Analysis of H.R.1540 National Defense Authorization Act under the 111th Congress Specifically - Research Paper Example The Act according to NDAA renders the state to be a police state. In addition, the Act was signed with acknowledgment that some provisions that are in NDAA are objectionable. It was signed without disallowing the NDAA (H.R 1540) or even sending it back to the congress for the objections that were raised. Justification of the NDAA as a way of combating terrorism is not convincing. According to Trautman (2010, 16), the Act can also be viewed as a counter terrorism agenda. This is because any American who is opposed to the Act or policies of the state can in the provisions of the Act, be labeled as a suspected terrorist. Moreover, such a person can be arrested under the military detention. Although, during the signing, the president did emphasize that the government would not detain any citizen without trial, this can be unattainable. It was proposed by Yarling (2012, 24), that, this is so, as the provisions of the Act do provide for detention when one is a suspect of terrorism. The NDA A repealed the US Constitution and the passage has frActured the American democracy because the Act as created a military government and totalitarian State that is in civilian clothes. This Act was passed after the military agenda in Washington. The pursuit by military of worldwide hegemony required the â€Å"militarization of the Homeland† that led to the end of the American Republic. The Act has misled the citizens of America as it gives the president a democratic face. In addition, the Act unfolds the 911 Military police state tools. The values and traditions of the people of America that were in derogation have been repealed in the US Constitution from the day the Act was signed. The Act allows for the indefinite and arbitrary military detention. The Act is from the Senate Republicans and Democrats who want further sanctions to the Iran government (â€Å"A One-Two punch† 2012). This is due to the fear that the developing of the nuclear weapons will outweigh the con cerns raised. The oil prices will be driven up, and the Americans will feel the effects at the gas pumps. The Senate has weighed options in adding sanction measures to the defense bill to a massive $662 billion. Trautman said (2010, 45), â€Å"The lawmakers, on the other hand, voted to limit the debate on legislation†. This in effect, wrapped up the bill in a weeks time. The legislation is to authorize funds for weapons, military personnel, national security programs on Energy sector, and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. However, the bill is less than what the President had requested for in the budget. At the same time, it is less than what the Congress had also requested for in the financial year. The Congress has a wider support on sanctions against Iran, which is a concern for Israel and U.S national security. The government has announced new penalties that are to be taken against Iran that includes identifying Iran’s banking sector as a money laundering concern, among others. The U.S banks, therefore, needs to increase monitoring to ensure that they avoid trading with the Iranian financial institutions plus their foreign affiliates. The lawmakers wanted tougher penalties that the administration was avoiding. The defense bill got an amendment from a senator, which was to target the foreign financial instit

The Strategic Importance of Human Resources Management in an Research Paper

The Strategic Importance of Human Resources Management in an Organization - Research Paper Example A growing organization should focus more on updating their human resource management policies and strategies time to time in order to sustain the growth of the organization. This paper analyses the strategic importance of human resource management for a growing organization. The Strategic Importance of Human Resources Management in an Organization Even though machines, money and materials are some of the essential resources needed for establishing or sustaining the growth of business, human resources seem to be one place above all. All the organizational resources can be mobilized only with the help of the human element. ‘Human resources’ is the brain of an organization whereas other resources are only the parts of the organization. In other words, human resources control all the other elements in an organization in a particular way to ensure the success of the organization. In short, the success of an organization remains on how well the organization is able to manage i ts human resources. Human resource management (HRM) is gaining more prominence at present because of the entry of globalization and the development of cross cultural business. Earlier, HRM focused mainly on the internal or domestic matters; however, the increasing interdependence of global economy and trade activities forced HRM to look beyond the boundaries to ensure the safe functioning of the organization. ... General HRM functions and its importance to an organization Right people at the right place at the right time are always beneficial to an organization. It is not necessary that a manager who excelled in a particular position in the past may continue to do so in future also because of the changing business climate. It is the duty of the HRM to make changes at various levels of the organization time to time in order to ensure that the right people are always at the right place. Recruitment is the method adopted by HRM for identifying and appointing talents at various vacancies arising in the organization time to time. All the organizations may have a well defined Human Resource (HR) policy in the selection of the employees. The criteria for selection of employees could be different for different organizations. In other words, the experience and qualifications prescribed for a particular post in different organizations could be different. The trends in recruitment methods are changing b ecause of the changing needs of the organizations. For example, the recruiters assessed only the clerical skills while recruiting clerks earlier; however, at present they are assessing the communication and management abilities also along with the clerical skills. In other words, the demand for all-rounders is more at present than specialists. Ricky Franklin (2008) has pointed that criminal records checks, employment verification, drug screening, education verification, reference checks, verification of professional licenses and/or certifications, motor vehicle records checks, credit history, and integrity evaluations as the major selection tools adopted by big companies. He has also mentioned about a new selection tool called behavioral

The operations of Basil Essay Example for Free

The operations of Basil Essay 1.1 The operations of Basil II Basel II was developed to ensure that there is less risk on capital allocation, unraveling operational risk from credit risk and quantifying both, and attempting to align economic and regulatory capital more closely to reduce the possibility of regulatory arbitrage. 1.2 The pillars used in Basel II The Basel II International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards, the reviewed framework is based on three main pillars. 1.2.1 First Pillar – Minimum Capital Requirements The first principle of this revised framework comprises the minimum capital requirements necessary to cater for the three fundamental risks that a bank faces in business operations. These consist of Credit risk, Capital risk and Operational risk, which shall be further expounded below: A choice between two main methodologies is allowed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision for the determination of credit risk. These consist of the standardized approach and the internal rating based approach, which is further divided into the foundation and advanced internal rating based system.   Under the standardized scheme, a set of external credit ratings achieved from recognized agencies are utilized in the determination of capital risk.   A number of countries intend to authorize only this approach in credit risk measurement. The internal rating based model permits banks to develop their own experimental model to determine the probability of default for isolated clients or segmented customer groups.   Adoption of the regulator’s loss given default and other set parameter is necessary. As regards the Operational Risk, three approaches are suggested under the Basel II International Convergence of Capital Maintenance and Capital Standards revised framework, which consist of the Basic Indicator Approach, Standardized Method, and the Advanced Measurement Scheme. The standardized approach is similar to the same model applied for capital risk, explained in the previous bullet.   As regards the Advanced Measurement System, this entails the development of an empirical business model originating by the bank for the quantification of operation risk.   Section 664 of the original Basel demands that a minimum of a board of directors and senior management, a conceptually sound operational risk management structure and enough resources for the proper adoption of this scheme. Under the Basic Indicator Approach, banks are required to hold capital for operational risk corresponding to the average over a three year time frame of a fixed percentage of a positive annual gross income. For the Market risk there is on suggested approach, commonly known as the Value at Risk Method. The positioning of financial instruments should either be made with the objective of trading or hedging.   The three main parameters is this model are: The confidence level at which the forecast is made; The monetary currency unit that will be adopted to denominate the market risk; and The time horizon that will be examined. 1.2.2 Second Pillar – Supervisory Review Process The basic principles of this pillar of the Basel II International Convergence of Capital Maintenance and Capital Standards revised framework include the supervisory review and transparency, risk management direction and accountability of the adoption of the aforementioned revised concept. The supervisory review process is designed not only to ensure that targeted banks possess proper capital to sustain all the risks in their business, but also to induce banks to develop and maintain better risk management techniques in monitoring and assessing their respective risks.   There are the following four key principles of the supervisory review: A process for evaluating the overall capital adequacy of banks with respect to their risk profile and strategy. Supervisors assigned ought to review the banks’ internal capital adequacy assessments/strategies, and monitor to make sure compliance with regulatory capital ratios. Monitoring that banks operate above the minimum regulatory capital ratios. Supervisors are expected to arbitrate at an early stage to avoid banks’ capital from falling below the minimum levels set. The Committee has also identified the following vital issues that banks and supervisors are required to focus on:   interest rate risk in the banking book, credit risk and operational risk.   It is also recognized that since supervision of banks is not an exact science, discretionary measures and procedures ought to be adopted.   The importance of transparency, accountability and proper cross-border communication and cooperation arise in this respect. 1.2.3 Third Pillar – Market Discipline Disclosure requirements are highly focused in this final pillar in order to induce the market to perceive a better picture of the general risk position of the banks and thus sustain counterparties of the bank to price and deal correctly.   This last pillar is also aimed to compliment the previous two important areas discussed. The Committee recognizes the factor that the supervisor is a key player in the achievement of disclosure requirements.   Such market discipline is a vital feature for a safe and sound banking environment.   This safe environment arises from additional information disclosed in periodic and annual financial reports.   The methods that can be adopted in order to induce these disclosure requirements may vary depending on the countries legislation and present practices.   Examples that come to mind are through penalties, advices and more. The Basel II International Convergence of Capital Maintenance and Capital Standards revised framework also notes that such necessary disclosure requirements ought to be practical and in line with accounting standards and other relevant regulations.   For instance, management is allowed to use his discretion in the determination of the location and medium of these disclosures.   Materiality, frequency and proprietary and confidential information are also considered in order to minimize such reporting costs and ensure that organizations are not put in any competitive disadvantage with the application of such information requirement. The disclosure requirements demanded encompass a number of factors, such as: General qualitative disclosure requirements on each risk area. Capital structure. Capital adequacy. Brief description of different entities in case of business combinations. Aggregate amounts of firm’s total interest in insurance entities. References: Bank for International Settlements (2004). Basel II International Convergence of Capital Maintenance and Capital Standards: a Revised Framework (on line). Available from: http://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs107.htm (Accessed 16th April 2007). Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (2004).   International Convergence on Capital Measurement and Capital Standards. Switzerland: Bank for International Settlements

Atomic Bomb :: essays research papers

Atomic bombs were the first nuclear weapons to be developed, tested, and used. In the late 1930s physicists in Europe and the United States realized that the fission of uranium could be used to create an extremely powerful explosive weapon. In August 1939, German American physicist Albert Einstein sent a letter to U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt that described this discovery and warned of its potential development by other nations. The U.S. government established the top secret Manhattan Project in 1942 to develop an atomic device. The leader of the Manhattan Project was U.S. Army Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves. His team, working in several locations but in large part at Los Alamos, New Mexico, under the direction of American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, designed and built the first atomic bombs. The first atomic explosion was conducted, as a test, at Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. The energy released from this explosion was equivalent to that released by the detonation of 20,000 tons of TNT. Near the end of World War II, on August 6, 1945, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. It followed with a second bomb against the city of Nagasaki on August 9. According to U.S. estimates, 60,000 to 70,000 people were killed by the Hiroshima bomb, called â€Å"Little Boy,† and about 40,000 by the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, called â€Å"Fat Man.† Japan agreed to Allied terms of surrender on August 14th. These are the only times that a nuclear weapon has been used in a conflict between nations. Fusion bombs, also called hydrogen or thermonuclear bombs, were developed and tested in the early 1950s, but these have never been used in warfare. A thermonuclear device depends on a fission reaction to produce extreme heat that causes hydrogen isotopes of deuterium and tritium to come together, or fuse, but the main energy source for thermonuclear devices comes from the fusion reaction, not the triggering fission reaction. For more information on this type of bomb, see Hydrogen Bomb.

Bharti Airtel Outsourcing

* Bharti Airtel aimed to be a low cost provider in the highly capital intensive telecom industry. They needed to keep pace with the rapid growth of their customer base, which was growing at almost 100 percent per year. Their strategy was to acquire new customers and achieve low cost per minute, but it required huge capital investments. * They outsourced everything and concentrated only on marketing, sales and distribution. They redefined the core activities in telecom industry and concentrated all their resources in acquiring and retaining customers. There were two parts to the Outsourcing deal between Bharti and telecom vendors. First was build up, maintenance, and servicing of the telecom network to equipment vendors Nokia, Siemens and Ericson. Then there was the deal with IBM to provide all in all IT solutions. 1) Advantages of Outsourcing their Network management to Ericsson, Nokia, & Siemens: * Keeping pace with network expansion due to faster installations. * Freed the manageme nt of time consuming budgeting, tendering, financing, purchasing and installing process.They could now focus on core competencies of the company. * Shift from short-term agreements with equipment vendors to long term commitments to get better bargains and service. * Bharti will pay for network capacity (erlangs) only when it up and running. No need to pay for unused capacity. This solved the problem of conflict of interest between Bharti and the network suppliers. * Increased flexibility, no need to make huge capital investments will enable transferring of the risk to the network supplier. No Production costs( no capital investments, no labor costs), reduced Transaction costs as no need for new tenders every six months( reduced search & contract costs, reduced enforcement costs because of implementation of relational governance, lower adaptation costs because of pay for use model) * They were able to achieve Predictable Cost Model, no unplanned expenditures. Use the savings in capit al expenditure in focusing on new customer acquisition, building new services etc. Disadvantages of deal with Ericsson, Nokia, & Siemens: The project might be difficult to manage and become increasingly complex because of the involvement of 3 vendors to provide the network management. * There might be resistance from the existing employees to get transferred to vendor companies because of the cultural barriers that may arise. * There is a chance of developing rivalries among the 3 vendors if the margins and competition starts getting stiff. * Wastage of installed capacity. * It will increase their dependence on vendors. After a period of time they may move on the back foot in negotiation meetings with vendors. No previous deals of such outsourcing has happened and hence risk is high Advantages of end to end IT management Outsourcing deal with IBM: * Airtel can now concentrate on their core business activities of marketing and sales. * Revenue sharing agreement thus there was big inc entive for IBM to make the outsourcing deal a success. Reduced opportunism by the vendor. * Solved the scalability issue. * Avoid major increases in capital expenditures in IT. * Gain access to IBM’s rich talent pool, IBM’s expertise in IT. They can work together to create new products and services. (Value added services). * No Production costs ( no capital investments, no labor costs), reduced Transaction costs (reduced search & contract costs, reduced enforcement costs because of implementation of relational governance, lower adaptation costs because of revenue sharing model). Disadvantages of deal with IBM: * Excessive dependence on IBM and if they are not able to provide many innovative solutions, then Airtel won’t be having any option to go with a new vendor. There was a concern that the applications not supported by IBM may become obsolete * Revenue sharing was a new model which Airtel and IBM were trying for payments. As both of them didn’t have an y experience in it, there was a considerable risk because of the unforeseen uncertainties. 2) How would you structure the agreements to address your concerns and capture any advantages you have identified? Structure of Agreement with IBM * There should be some provision of fixed and minimum costs for the revenue share in the agreement. IT applications not supported by IBM should be available to ensure they don’t get obsolete. * The terms and conditions in the contract should be flexible enough to cover the changing environment dynamics over the period of 10 years. * Furthermore not all the details of the partnership can be written in the agreement. So a joint governing body should be formed to manage the arrangement and resolve the issues. * Agreed metrics to measure the quality of IT services provided by IBM. Structure of Agreement with Ericsson, Nokia, & Siemens: Network and Operations Management should be transitioned to the vendors in a phased and planned manner under con stant observation. * To tackle the concern of cultural barriers while working for the vendors, the Airtel employees should be absorbed on the same TnCs as they were working in Airtel. * Further recruitment of new employees should be the responsibility of vendor. * The expectations and duties of all the 3 vendors should be properly outlined and explained to prevent development of unnecessary tensions and unhealthy competition among them. The vendors should be continuously monitoring the networks and provide rapid response once the issue has been identified by them. * To be fair with the vendors if the network capacity remain unused for a major period of time, some part of payment should be done to them or it can be redeployed at other sectors. What measurements, rewards and penalties, and other governance mechanisms would you design for these two different agreements? With IBM * Strategic Alignment Measurements Process Performance Metrics – % of orders not delivered within the promised date, % of inaccurate and incomplete orders, Percentage of escalated cases, Through output. * Metrics to measure innovation – No of innovative ideas provided over a period of time. Ericsson, Nokia and Siemens * Performance Measurement and Quality Metrics – Call drop rate in the peak hours, Call drop rate over a cellular circle, Average Issue Resolve time, amount of time (measured in milliseconds) taken by data to travel from one location to another across a network etc.Penalties on the vendor if the performance of a cellular circle is not good over a period of time due to high call drops. * Customer Experience and Satisfaction Measurements -Network Availability, Call Accessibility measure eg. how many customers fail to make a call in the first attempt , Call Retainability, voice quality etc. * Management of Resources – Utilization of resources, Amount of time taken to meet request or demand, Capacity of the resource etc. Reward and appreciation for the employees who are able to solve the issues in minimum time. * Risk assessment – Security over the network etc.

The Social Of Social Networking Sites - 1459 Words

Social Signals On June 2014, Matt Cutts announced Facebook, Twitter Social Signals not part of Google Search Ranking Algorithms. Social networking sites can still help you to easily connect prospect and direct traffic to your website. Use it correctly, your social profile page can show up on search result as it s matched with the searcher s intent. 23. Spend time on social networking sites While creating a business page on social media sites, you must promote and share web content relentlessly. †¢ Facebook †¢ Tumblr †¢ Twitters †¢ Google+ †¢ Pinterest Pins †¢ Google+ †¢ Yelp †¢ Linkedin When someone types a brand name on Google, you will notice a page one ranking. How you accomplish this goal you ask? Say you actively share and promote content on Yelp. With solid effort, Yelp treats your social profile pages as incredible relevant to their audience. In addition, your Yelp profile page receives tons of link juice. In other word, you can experience multiple benefits: An increase in rankings in search engine results: †¢ The chance to be distinguished as an authority in your industry †¢ More targeted traffic coming to your site †¢ The potential for more customers to reach you †¢ The chance to develop new partnerships and better relationships 24. Write quality reviews Google is paying attention to the feelings, emotions and good/bad opinions of the web content from your customers. Source: Sentiment Search Signals SEO 25. Start sharing other people s content This encourages theShow MoreRelatedSocial Networking Sites1296 Words   |  6 PagesSocial Networking Site A social networking site is an online service, platform, or a site that focuses on facilitating the building of social networks or social relations among people who, for example, share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections. It allows users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. Web-based social networking sites make it possible to connect with people who share interests and activities across political andRead MoreSocial Networking Sites1614 Words   |  7 PagesSocial networking sites Online social networking site is a very common tool for communicating and socializing with each other. Nowadays, most of the adolescent like to use Facebook. There is a rapid growth of the number of user of social networking sites. According the recent research, Kreutz (2009) stated that â€Å"starting from 1997 to 2010 there are some 1.5 billion users of social networking websites† (p.222). This shows that how popular the social networking site is. Although many parents thinkRead MoreSocial Networking Sites1062 Words   |  5 Pages Social networking sites (SNSs) are defined as â€Å"tools young people use to get in touch with peers sharing the same interests while facilitating opinion exchange and information sharing† [1]. Attributed to the convenience these SNSs brought to us, they play significant roles in our daily lives. They become the major channels for people to have contact with each other [2]. Gone were the days when people made connections with others m ostly through phone calls or letters. Generally, users communicateRead MoreThe And Social Networking Sites1630 Words   |  7 PagesNext time when you are hiring, do not look at the resume, just â€Å"stalk† the candidate’s Facebook profile page. Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Instagram, etc. are definitely corrosive especially to communities that want to socialize by meeting peers in person, but are societally forced to gain access to such social networking sites. What is the true meaning of social networking? How has it changed in this fast paced society? I am sure our grandparents will be able to give us a spot-onRead MoreSocial Networking Site14603 Words   |  59 PagessCHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction- Social Networking Sites Few years back, usage of social networking sites became popular around the world. Social networking sites are also known as social networking website. Social networking sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers’ fascinated by their affordances and reach. Social networking sites are web-base service that building an online community of people that share same interest, or activitiesRead Moresocial networking sites4491 Words   |  18 Pagesrelatives. The emergence of social networking sites (SNSs) simplify the whole process as majority of them are free to use, they are easier to use and navigate, because it does not require advanced knowledge and experience of the internet and are made up of a wide array of different formats and topics; this means that just about anyone can connect. Currently, there are hundreds of SNSs that can draw millions of people, with diverse technological affordances. Nearly all sites enable persons to a vail pre-existingRead MoreSocial Networking : A Social Network Site?765 Words   |  4 PagesQuestion 1 (a) Social Networking What is a Social Network Site? Since the advent of networking, users have been communicating in ever increasing ways. For a majority of users their first computer-mediated communication (CMC) may have been simple text message emails, while at work. Emails now have the ability to include HTML formatting and to include attachments. Messages are sent one-to-one or one-to-many, but this is not what we normally refer to as Social Networking. Social Networking as defined byRead MoreSocial Media And Social Networking Sites1074 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Social networking sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Pinterest, and MySpace are being used among adolescent and college age individuals for several hours per day. The overwhelming use of SNS within this younger generation has been studied in numerous journals. Cyber bulling has become a serious concern that directly relates to Facebook users that make up this younger generation. Although SNS are intended to be a portal that encourages positive connections and behavior, thereRead MoreSocial Media And Social Networking Sites3053 Words   |  13 PagesINTRODUCTION The social sites these days are gaining a lot of popularity with almost all of the educated youth using one or more of the social networking sites. These have played a crucial in bridging boundaries and crossing the seas and enabling them to communicate on a common platform( Dinh ,2011).The increased use of social networking sites has become an international phenomenon in the past several years. Through these websites everyone connect with their peers , share information ,reinventRead Moreimpact of social networking sites1577 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKING AMONG STUDENTS A STUDY OF NTHMC KRISHNA MAN SHRESTHA Symbol no. 12030706 P.U registration no: 2011-2-03-2065 Nepal Tourism and Hotel Management College (N.T.H.M.C) Business Management Center (B.M.C) Submitted for the degree of: Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A) Pokhara, Kaski, Nepal 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER- I INTRODUCTION

The Historic Fight over the Mountain of Light

Its only a hard lump of carbon, after all, yet the Koh-i-Noor diamond exerts a magnetic pull on those who behold it. Once the largest diamond in the world, it has passed from one famous ruling family to another as the tides of war and fortune have turned one way and another over the past 800 or more years. Today, it is held by the British, a spoil of their colonial wars, but the descendant states of all its previous owners claim this controversial stone as their own. Origins of the Koh i Noor Indian legend holds that the Koh-i-Noors history stretches back an incredible 5,000 years, and that the gem has been part of royal hoards since around the year 3,000 BCE.   It seems more likely, however, that these legends conflate various royal gems from different millennia, and that the Koh-i-Noor itself was probably discovered in the 1200s CE. Most scholars believe that the Koh-i-Noor was discovered during the reign of the Kakatiya Dynasty in the Deccan Plateau of southern India (1163 - 1323).   A precursor to the Vijayanagara Empire, Kakatiya ruled over much of present-day Andhra Pradesh, site of the Kollur Mine.   It was from this mine that the Koh-i-Noor, or Mountain of Light, likely came.    In 1310, the Khilji Dynasty of the Delhi Sultanate invaded the Kakatiya kingdom, and demanded various items as tribute payments.   Kakatiyas doomed ruler Prataparudra was forced to send tribute north, including 100 elephants, 20,000 horses - and the Koh-i-Noor diamond.   Thus, the Kakatiya lost their most stunning jewel after less than 100 years of ownership, in all likelihood, and their entire kingdom would fall just 13 years later. The Khilji family did not enjoy this particular spoil of war for long, however.   In 1320, they were overthrown by the Tughluq clan, the third of five families that would rule the Delhi Sultanate. Each of the succeeding Delhi Sultanate clans would possess the Koh-i-Noor, but none of them held power for long. This account of the stones origins and early history is the most widely accepted today, but there are other theories as well. The Mughal emperor Babur, for one, states in his memoir, the  Baburnama,  that during the 13th century the stone was the property of the Raja of Gwalior, who ruled a district of Madhya Pradesh in central India.   To this day, we are not entirely certain if the stone came from Andhra Pradesh, from Madhya Pradesh, or from Andhra Pradesh via Madhya Pradesh. The Diamond of Babur A prince from a Turco-Mongol family in what is now Uzbekistan, Babur defeated the Delhi Sultanate and conquered northern India in 1526.   He founded the great Mughal Dynasty, which ruled northern India until 1857.   Along with the Delhi Sultanates lands, the magnificent diamond passed to him, and he modestly named it the Diamond of Babur.   His family would keep the gem for just over two hundred rather tumultuous years. The fifth Mughal emperor was Shah Jahan, justly famous for ordering the construction of the Taj Mahal.   Shah Jahan also had an elaborate jeweled gold throne built, called the Peacock Throne. Crusted with countless diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls, the throne contained a significant portion of the Mughal Empires fabulous wealth.   Two golden peacocks adorned the throne; one peacocks eye was the Koh-i-Noor or Diamond of Babur; the other was the Akbar Shah Diamond. Shah Jahans son and successor, Aurangzeb (reigned 1661-1707), was persuaded during his reign to allow a Venetian carver called Hortenso Borgia to cut the Diamond of Babur.   Borgia made a complete hash of the job, reducing what had been the worlds largest diamond from 793 carats to 186 carats. The finished product was quite irregular in shape and did not shine to anything like its full potential.   Furious, Aurangzeb fined the Venetian 10,000 rupees for spoiling the stone. Aurangzeb was the last of the Great Mughals; his successors were lesser men, and Mughal power began its slow fade. One weak emperor after another sit on the Peacock Throne for a month or a year before being assassinated or deposed. Mughal India and all of its wealth were vulnerable, including the Diamond of Babur, a tempting target for neighboring nations. Persia Takes the Diamond In 1739, the Shah of Persia, Nader Shah, invaded India and won a great victory over Mughal forces at the Battle of Karnal. He and his army then sacked Delhi, raiding the treasury and stealing the Peacock Throne.   Its not entirely clear where the Diamond of Babur was at the time, but it may have been in the Badshahi Mosque, where Aurangzeb had deposited it after Borgia cut it. When the Shah saw the Diamond of Babur, he is supposed to have cried out, Koh-i-Noor! or Mountain of Light!, giving the stone its current name.   In all, the Persians seized plunder estimated at the equivalent of 18.4 billions dollars US in todays money from India.   Of all the loot, Nader Shah seems to have loved the Koh-i-Noor the most. Afghanistan Gets the Diamond Like others before him, though, the Shah did not get to enjoy his diamond for long.   He was assassinated in 1747, and the Koh-i-Noor passed to one of his generals, Ahmad Shah Durrani.   The general would go on to conquer Afghanistan later that same year, founding the Durrani Dynasty and ruling as its first emir. Zaman Shah Durrani, the third Durrani king, was overthrown and imprisoned in 1801 by his younger brother, Shah Shuja.   Shah Shuja was infuriated when he inspected his brothers treasury, and realized that the Durranis most prized possession, the Koh-i-Noor, was missing.   Zaman had taken the stone to prison with him, and hollowed out a hiding place for it in the wall of his cell.   Shah Shuja offered him his freedom in return for the stone, and Zaman Shah took the deal. This magnificent stone first came to British attention in 1808, when Mountstuart Elphinstone visited the court of Shah Shujah Durrani in Peshawar.   The British were in Afghanistan to negotiate an alliance against Russia, as part of the Great Game.   Shah Shujah wore the Koh-i-Noor embedded in a bracelet during the negotiations, and Sir Herbert Edwardes noted that, It seemed as if the Koh-i-noor carried with it the sovereignty of Hindostan, because whichever family that possessed it so often prevailed in battle. I would argue that in fact, causation flowed in the opposite direction - whoever was winning the most battles usually nabbed the diamond.   It would not be long before yet another ruler would take the Koh-i-Noor for his own. The Sikhs Grab the Diamond In 1809, Shah Shujah Durrani got overthrown in turn by another brother, Mahmud Shah Durrani.   Shah Shujah had to flee into exile in India, but he managed to escape with the Koh-i-Noor.   He ended up a prisoner of the Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh, known as the Lion of the Punjab.   Singh ruled from the city of Lahore, in what is now Pakistan. Ranjit Singh soon learned that his royal prisoner had the diamond. Shah Shujah was stubborn, and did not want to relinquish his treasure.   However, by 1814, he felt that the time was ripe for him to escape from the Sikh kingdom, raise an army, and try to retake the Afghan throne.   He agreed to give Ranjit Singh the Koh-i-Noor in return for his freedom. Britain Seizes the Mountain of Light After Ranjit Singhs death in 1839, the Koh-i-Noor was passed from one person to another in his family for about a decade. It ended up as the property of the child king Maharaja Dulip Singh.   In 1849, the British East India Company prevailed in the Second Angol-Sikh War and seized control of the Punjab from the young king, handing all political power to the British Resident.    In the Last Treaty of Lahore (1849), it specifies that the Koh-i-Noor Diamond is to be presented to Queen Victoria, not as a gift from the East India Company, but as a spoil of war.   The British also took 13-year-old Dulip Singh to Britain, where he was raised as a ward of Queen Victoria.   He reportedly once asked to have the diamond returned, but received no answer from the Queen. The Koh-i-Noor was a star attraction of Londons Great Exhibition in 1851.   Despite the fact that its display case prevented any light from striking its facets, so it essentially looked like a lump of dull glass, thousands of people waited patiently for a chance to gaze at the diamond each day.   The stone received such poor reviews that Prince Albert, Queen Victorias husband, decided to have it recut in 1852.    The British government appointed Dutch master diamond-cutter, Levie Benjamin Voorzanger, to recut the famous stone.   Once again, the cutter drastically reduced the size of the stone, this time from 186 carats to 105.6 carats.   Voorzanger had not planned to cut away so much of the diamond, but discovered flaws that needed to be excised in order to achieve maximum sparkle.    Prior to Victorias death, the diamond was her personal property; after her lifetime, it became part of the Crown Jewels.   Victoria wore it in a brooch, but later queens wore it as the front piece of their crowns.   The British superstitiously believed that the Koh-i-Noor brought bad fortune to any male who possessed it (given its history), so only female royals have worn it.   It was set into the coronation crown of Queen Alexandra in 1902, then was moved into Queen Marys crown in 1911.   In 1937, it was added to the coronation crown of Elizabeth, the mother of the current monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.   It remains in the Queen Mothers crown to this day, and was on display during her funeral in 2002. Modern-Day Ownership Dispute Today, the Koh-i-Noor diamond is still a spoil of Britains colonial wars.   It rests in the Tower of London along with the other Crown Jewels.    As soon as India gained its independence in 1947, the new government made its first request for the return of the Koh-i-Noor. It renewed its request in 1953, when Queen Elizabeth II was crowned. Indias parliament once again asked for the gem in 2000. Britain has refused to consider Indias claims. In 1976, Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto asked that Britain return the diamond to Pakistan, since it had been taken from the Maharaja of Lahore.   This prompted Iran to assert its own claim.   In 2000, Afghanistans Taliban regime noted that the gem had come from Afghanistan to British India, and asked to have it returned to them instead of Iran, India, or Pakistan. Britain responds that because so many other nations have claimed the Koh-i-Noor, none of them have a better claim to it than Britains.   However, it seems pretty clear to me that the stone originated in India, spent most of its history in India, and really should belong to that nation.