One among so many online stores you can visit for veterinary supplies is Avtmri.Com where you will find not only high quality clinical products but also consumer products. Rainbow dog leash and solid black dog collar are some examples of clinical products while there are dog agility bar and dog agility ring for consumer ones. This online store offers veterinary supplies available in affordable price and it is a plus point that you can get.

When your pet suffers from something wrong and thereby need help for effective treatment, it seems you need to get diagnostic imaging. Availability of advanced technology enables the online store to give the best thing so that your pet can live as what it should.

India Village tours are a golden opportunity for the travelers who want to have an excellent time amidst serene ambiance and in lap of nature. Away from the metro humdrum, village tours in India are a perfect way to have thorough knowledge of Indian culture, heritage, customs and lifestyle. India rural tours are tailored for those who really want to have an amazing time at the rural Indian backdrop.

Village tour packages in India come with an advantage that travelers can get to see the rural life from close. How? Travelers can actually stay with the villagers in their own homes and experience their life. Travelers go for village tours in India for a set purpose in their minds. The basic idea behind village tours is to give a better understanding of life lived in Indian villages.

Till date Indian villages are typically community based and travelers can get to see many communities residing in the same village harmoniously.

There are tribes, there are rural people, there are upper caste people and lower caste people…but everyone has a predefined task that they do and enjoy life in village.

The local guide of your tour is proficient enough to explain you the village’s history, lifestyle, their customs, including their beliefs about monogamy, patriarchy etc. Travelers can get to learn about the fables and folklores, legends related to that particular region they are traveling in.

Village tours of India offer opportunity to traveler to directly interact with the villagers and know about their problems, their dreams, their aspirations. The fresh air in village, the lush farms, lucid water bodies, places of worship are all marked with quintessential rural taste and refinement.

As a part of activity on village tours, you can learn the local language or dialect of the region you are vacationing in. Enjoying the slow paced life amidst natural bounties is a must obviously. Walking the narrow lanes sans heavy motors and of course pollution is a real pleasure. At the top of it, you can live in mud baked houses and see how simple life do the villagers lead. The local cuisine is of the major attraction of such tours.

You can actively take part in daily chores of villagers. Plough the fields, make food on mud stove (chulha) milk the cows, wash clothes, learn carrying waters on head back to home from a river or a well – all this is very exciting. So these tours are not just about observing at distance but taking active participation also.

Spending a night or two in the houses of villagers will teach you what a perfect host can do for guests. Extremely friendly, these villagers treat the guests as Gods. An incredible aura of friendliness and happiness prevails in these rural areas. Some of the popular regions of village tours are villages of Rajasthan like Nimaj, Samode, Neemrana, Nugar, Khimsar, Nagaur, Mandawa, Kuchaman, Roopangarh and Shekhawati region. In other words Rajasthan village tours are most preferred by travelers. So embarking upon a journey of Indian village is a new vacation trip idea that abounds in sheer excitement.

Mail theft and identity theft can happne anywere, to anyone, at any time. Anywhere there is a mailbox, there is the potential for mail theft. Rural mailboxes are prime targets for mail theft. That is why it is important to obtain a locking rural mailbox. Protecting your letters from theft is very important in order to prevent mail and identity theft. These are serious problems, and their occurrence is only increasing. Never take the security of your mail or identity for granted. Never allow criminals to damage your reputation by stealing your identity. What are the consequences of identity theft? Well, the theft enables access to credit and other resources in your name.

It takes lots of time, money and effort to get back your stolen identity. It’s not only a major inconvenience, but it can cost real money! The primary preventative action you can take now is to buy a strong and well-built locking mailbox. You can choose different styles of rural mailboxes if you want. Here are some qualities you should look for in selecting a rural mailbox: vand-reisstant, waterproof, tough, made of durable materials, baseball bat proof, and with a strong lock and latch system. Before buying a locking rural mailbox, make sure that it qualifies based on the standards set forth from the Postmaster General for a rural mailbox. If you are making a homemade mailbox, you will need to get it approved by your local postmaster. When installing your locking mailbox, be sure it is accessible to your letter carrier.

Your mailbox is usually mounted on the on the side of the road or next to the curb. It must meet the standard quality, size, and strength set forth by the U.S. Postal Service. It is also requried to have a flag to notify the mail carrier of outgoing mail. The mailbox should be built with the right specifications. In setting up your mailbox, secure it with a strong steel or wood post buried in cement.

Make sure and put the address on the mailbox so it is easy for your mail carrier to find. If you have a locking rural mailbox, it is often a good idea to put some type of relfective sticker on it so it is not hit by cars and trucks driving by in the night.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

In today’s tight mortgage market there is no many loan products were you can buy a home with no down payment. The good old days were anyone with a pulse could get a mortgage with no money down. But there is still one great program left that has 100% financing and that program is for by United State Agriculture Department.

Although this type of home mortgage loan has been around for years but most people are aware of it. Mainly because it was though to be for farmers only, it was known as a “farmer loan”. The USDA home loan program guidelines permits people to purchase a home with 100% financing at competitive interest rates, 30-year fixed rate mortgage, and mortgage insurance (MI). Does this sound too good to you to be true?

Yes, this great program does exist but it is not for everyone. There are some restrictions and guidelines both on household income and property eligibility. You household income can not exceed certain income limitations and the property has to be located in certain areas (mostly rural areas). These rural home loans are guaranteed by USDA and are not available in high population areas like big cites and towns. If you like in New York City then you are out of luck. But if you live in a city or town with population of less than 25,000 people then you may be able to find a home that is in an eligible area.

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There are not a lot of “no down payment” programs that are left today.  The requires 3.5% down payment.  There is also a that only has a 0 down payment, but you have to buy a HUD home foreclosed property in order to take advantgage of the .

There are a lot of benefits to the USDA Rural Home Loans program besides the no money down feature. One is the closing costs can be rolled into the loan or you can ask the seller to may all of the closing costs including prepaid items such as property taxes and homeowner’s insurance. This means it is truly no money out of your pocket type of mortgage loan.

In comparison with a conventional mortgage if you do not pay at least 20% down then you will have to pay mortgage insurance thus increasing your monthly mortgage payment. The rural home loans of USDA do not have this private mortgage insurance requirement. This is one of the best financing methods available if you are eligible.

The USDA Home Loans Program is even better than FHA mortgage loans. FHA home loan requires a 3.5% down payment and they have an upfront private mortgage insurance cost plus a monthly mortgage insurance (MI) charge. If you want to buy a home in an area that is eligible for this program and you are also within the income guidelines, this would at least made sense to check into this program.

So what do you do now? This article only provides a brief description of the You need to get more information to see if you qualified and if you live or the area you want to buy a home is in a property eligible area. This is a great way and may also be the only way you can buy your dream home!

Source: ArticlesBase.com

Rural communities are drowning.  Children are leaving never to return.  Their historical town squares are falling in and burning only to be replaced with gravel parking lots.  A majority of those with great ability and opportunity chase opportunity, opportunity they don’t see in their rural hometown community.

Centerville, Iowa was no different.  What happened?  Due to the marketing efforts made on behalf of our multiple businesses I’ve received more attention in regard to our community’s turn around than I deserve.  Let me share the real reason Centerville, Iowa and Appanoose County are turning around.

First there was a lot of groundwork by multiple small groups of people at different times.  The foundation was set by a truly entrepreneurial group a half century ago.  They did what it took to capture a federal project now known as Rathbun Lake.  When the lake went in the torch was handed off and for 30 years a small group worked on the establishment of a resort on Rathbun Lake.  Honey Creek Resort on Rathbun opened in 2009.

There was also a group who pioneered the town square restoration project on what is Iowa’s and possibly the country’s largest county seat town square.  There are many other groups who played their part.  It is interesting to me to notice how most things of true value were organized by small gorilla like ad hoc groups who, with an entrepreneurial spirit, saw a need and went after it.

All these things happened in Centerville and Appanoose County to create a foundation for something unprecedented and unheard of.  This is where the attention needs to be directed. 

In 1996 a local boy who was born in Appanoose County 64 years earlier took an interest in his home community.  Those great leaders who truly impact the world for decades, if not centuries, all do things the same way.  But the way they do things is often exactly opposite of how the rest of the world, including rural communities like ours, do things.  What is it that they do?  They inspire.  They first know the heart of why, then they work on the how of their dream and then the what of the details. 

Most the rest of us start with what then how and finally why. That is another story altogether.

In Appanoose County our world changed in 1996.  We just didn’t know it was changing yet.  It was that year when that local boy took an interest and slowly started to unleash his attention on an unsuspecting and tired rural town.  Now it is 15 years later.  Our world has certainly changed.  This is a short story about how entrepreneurship, volunteerism and philanthropy combined to start a fire of success in the deepest of rural areas in our United States.

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It was the last graduating class in a dying coal mining town in Exline, Iowa.  The 16 year old valedictorian of the class came from a famously poor family.  Picture a child in nothing but shorts, bareback on a pony, carrying a cane pole headed to the pond to fish and you have an accurate picture of this young man.  This same boy, in the bitter cold of a pre-dawn winter morning, while milking the family cow thought to himself, “I’ve got to do something to get out of this.  I don’t want this life.”  Did he ever.

Now it is 1996 and this barefoot, pole fishing, cow milking kid had become one of America’s elite.  Most don’t know his name but people around the world know his work.  Zig Ziglar is famous for saying you will get what you want if you help enough other people get what they want.  So it was in this story.  Think about the people that know about and want such things as Ben Gay, Unisom and Lipitor. This rough shod country boy went on to found what is now arguably the world’s largest pharmaceutical advertising agency.  Now he was sharing not only his wealth but his knowledge with his rural community.  That is where I came in. 

The character we’re discussing is Morgan Cline and now it is 1997 and he is ready to open his first business venture in Centerville.  Originally built in 1866 and rebuilt after a fire in 1892 The Continental had been restored to its original grandeur.  The opening was approaching and the business was in need of a manager.  I was that manager and by accepting that position I unwittingly climbed into the most thrilling roller coaster of a ride.  And much like a roller coaster a great deal of attention gets paid to the person riding it but people lose track of those that invented, invested, and operated the ride in the first place.

Ultimately the mission was to save two towns – Centerville and Exline – and in turn, help the entire county wide community.  We’ll talk more about this in other places but for now it is important that everyone recognize the true horsepower behind Centerville’s, Exline’s, and Appanoose County’s turn around…Morgan Cline.

As you would expect there are those who don’t understand and could even be described as resenting the effort.  They are a common statistic.  There is also the large group who fit somewhere in an area that we might call “bewildered but appreciative”.  Finally there is another small group likely the same size as the resentful backward group.  This last group would be made up of those with the vision and wisdom to recognize and partner in Mr. Cline’s dream and with the willingness to help it happen.

Almost every one of the nearly 30 projects Mr. Cline is responsible for had a local leader or leadership group attached to it.  Cline provided vision and the money.  The locals provided the additional ingredients that made it happen.  Cline was the Chef with the base ingredients, the rest of us happily play the role of seasoning.  He has been the flour and chocolate chips we’ve been the baking soda and vanilla.

While there are many stories to be had from this, the mission here is to revisit the real reason for a community’s rebirth.  Yes committees, organizations and individuals over decades of time have had immeasurable impact on the community but no single person has had the impact of Morgan Cline.  I may get a great deal of attention but it is his work, his interest and his giving that is at the heart of it all.  I’m lucky.  Morgan Cline is generous, interested and committed.

How does this relate to you?  It could be you.  To most, what has happened to my home community seems like luck, magic or a combination of the two.  The secrets that make what you see seem like magic are only camouflaged. They are there.  I can guarantee that every community has what it takes.  What I can’t guarantee is if your community has the heart or the level of “want to”.

Appanoose County is seeing the tide turn.  More college graduates are returning home.  More alumni are returning home to spend retirement with friends.  More people who have never been here before are retiring here from other parts of the country.  This is just the beginning for us.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

Infrastructure of  Indian banks is rapidly expanding and the visible benefits of ICT ( Information, communication and technology) in day-to-day banking are well known. Common man is becoming quite used to ATMs and internet banking etc, are gradually finding its acceptance. RBI ( Reserve Bank of India) has been placing a lot of emphasis on financial inclusion covering no-frill accounts, rural bank branches, BC/BF models etc. Further, many pilot projects have been initiated in various States using smart cards for opening & operating bank accounts with biometric identification at people’s doorsteps.

Tripura, a North East Indian state, is at the forefront of such advances with programs like UID ( Unique ID) and BC ( Business Correspondent) models being deployed on a statewide basis. Tripura State Co-operative Bank, in furtherance of fulfilling its social responsibility of ensuring faster inclusive growth of weaker and poor sections of the society, has extended banking services to the identified beneficiaries of the MGNREGA through the Business Correspondent like M/s Indepay Networks Pvt. Ltd, by opening of no-frill accounts and by issuance of a biometric enabled smart card in the name of the beneficiaries through which the benefits of MGENREGA are to be passed to them.

The State of Tripura, with an annual NREGA allotment of over INR 500 crores ( USD 120 Million), has close to a million MGNREGA beneficiaries who receive employment through the program. In addition to MGNREGA beneficiaries the state has a further quarter of a million beneficiaries of National Old Age Pension (NOAP), Social Security Pension (SSP) and other similar programs. Indepay with its biometric enabled, UID compliant MicroATM infrastructure is addressing these opportunities by leveraging its nationwide rural payments infrastructure.

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Indepay, a leading global payment processor, is delivering last mile connect through  biometric enabled, UID ( unique ID) compliant MicroATM infrastructure. Indepay have deployed manpower to familiarise rural masses who are NREGA beneficiaries with the technology so that the unlettered masses can encash their money as per their requirement.

This last mile infrastructure also enables the bank to extend financial assistance such as small credit to fulfill other credit needs of the beneficiaries and other banking services, micro insurance, financial products and non-financial services as may be required by the beneficiaries / card holders through its wide network of branches / offices in the State through the Bank’s duly appointed Banking Correspondent(s) as per the guidelines of the RBI.

Krishan Sujan, Director, Indepay Networks, said, “Indepay has carried out extensive evaluation of Rural Banking systems and plans to address the problems associated with last mile infrastructure, connectivity in rural locations and the issues related to citizens being non-literate and non-numerate through its innovative infrastructure offering.”

Indepay’s Biometric smart card and infrastructure solution can now enable and operate, an extended Rural banking Branch in each village and panchayat in the state where banking services will be extended to each citizen of the state within a few kilometres of their residence as per RBI guidelines for the BC model.

This infrastructure will also help to act as points for sourcing Rural Credit and Micro Housing Finance for the citizens of the state in addition to including the unbanked into the Banking system.

The Tripura model will replicated by Indepay which plans to deploy real time, online, UID enabled infrastructure throughout the state and make Tripura a model state for the rest of India to follow. The Indepay ecosystem of BCs will enable non-financial services such as Rail/Air Ticketing, Utilities Bill Payments including Electricity, Telephone and Municipal Taxes in addition to mobile airtime recharge making the BC model viable and scalable.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

Eighty percent of rural housing in Africa is still being constructed with 100% local content. In Nigeria today, even though there is still a high percentage of modern housing construction and development, we still find over 60% of rural housing being entirely constructed with locally sourced building materials such as; soil, burnt bricks unprocessed wood, raffia, ropes, leaves ad some other forms of traditional building materials.

The landscape of rural Nigeria especially in the hinterlands, rural villages and settlements are strewn with locally constructed houses accommodating a large percentage of the rural poor. Traveling across Nigeria we would still find these houses and they invoke in us either a lovely or breathtaking view or that of curiosity or mystery. Never-the-less, it is an interesting spectacle to reflect upon.

Construction materials are entirely local. Clayey dug out soil, unprocessed wood from trees as well as from bamboo and palm trees, ropes from inter-whining creeping plants and raffia, leaves from palm trees or raffia palm, and so on, are very commonly used.

A typical villager who intends to build a house approaches his immediate family, kinsmen, neighbours or other members of his community on his intention to build a house. Their support is necessary as constructions like these are usually carried out
communally and are not really paid for in monetary terms. They are “the building team”. The owner usually provides food and refreshments for the duration of the construction.

On the set day of commencement of the proposed building, every member of the building team gather at the site with hoes, cutlasses axes and other forms of implements. The site is cleared of debris and obstructions like trees, scrubs, grasses or cultivated crops.

After this, most of the building materials are sourced and brought to site. 2 or 3 days later, the building team gathers and commences construction.

Though there are no architectural drawings or plans to work with, the house owner and some of the more experienced builders who have been involved in buildings over the years, discuss the intended design, plans, and number of rooms, size, position and use of the building and come up with instructions to every member of the team. They then set-out, points are marked and wooden poles are driven into position into the ground.

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The partitioning is marked and poles are also marked and driven into the ground forming walls of vertical wooden poles. These are secured in place by binding them together with strong ropes and connected together with horizontal bamboo bars to form the framework
of the house and also as a support for the roof. Openings for windows and doors are also created. The roofing joist and rafters are also of bamboo, which are all tied securely forming horizontal square or rectangular shapes. Then splinters of bamboo strips are horizontally affixed with rope in lattice and net fashion.

The next step involves plastering the external and internal walls on both sides with freshly dug clay soil worked with water and mixed in the right proportion. This is plastered onto the wooden formwork which acts as reinforcement. This is done with the hands working from the floor to the roof. We find various people working on different sections of the walls. Thereafter, this application is smoothen with the hands.

The roofing is the next to be done after the wall rendering. The roof is usually of inverted ‘V’ shape. The roofing materials are panes of intricately crafted raffia leaves which has been reinforced with palm tree shaft and thin strips of splintered bamboo stem. This makes it impermeable and waterproof. The roofing is done by the more experienced members of the team. Roofing which is not properly done exposes the house to leakages which eventually leads to an earlier collapse of the house and hence a shorter life-span.

After this, fixtures like wooden doors and windows are affixed to the door and window openings. Perhaps, this is the only time that a modern material is used. The doors and windows are hinged in place on the frames with iron nails and door handles, and keys are attached to them.

The flooring is usually rendered with fine clayey soil mixed with water and ash, after the entire house has been leveled and compacted with earth. At this stage, the house is ready for occupation. Some home owners, depending on preference may decide to fix a ceiling. Interior ceiling materials are usually made from well designed raffia mats and secured in place with stalks and bamboo splints on the interior roofing joists.

These types of houses are very cool to be in. They consist of front and back verandas, living rooms, bedrooms of between 2 and 5 rooms depending on the size of the family. They also come with a store cum kitchen for food stuffs. Toilets and bathrooms are constructed way out of the main building. The main kitchen where fire may be lit are usually positioned behind the house that is, at the back veranda or in a separately constructed structure a little away from the house. However they may be, these houses protect the occupiers from the harsh vagaries of the weather, that is; rain, sun, wind and other elements.

The entire construction time is between 10-20 days depending on the speed, convenience and availability of building materials. However, it is a very modest and cheap mode of accommodation.

That notwithstanding, the major disadvantage of this type of housing is the effect of insect on the roofing materials since they are not treated with chemicals. These insects, their larvae eat up the leaves and bore holes, which eventually causes leaking when it rains. It is not very durable and the occupier needs to be very vigilant and hence keep replacing sections with holes. He may have to replace the entire roof under the space of 2 years. The walls last a longer. They may last up till 10-15 years if they are well maintained say, rendering it with freshly mixed clay soil every 2 or 3 years. Same goes for the flooring which should be at least every 6 months.

Economic advancement and poor durability has helped to reduce the number of people still interested in constructing these types for rural dwelling.

Perhaps better but cheap alternatives could be developed to aid these categories of poor dwellers that have no choice and economic empowerment than to resort to living in these types of housing.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

Some basic aspects of corporate social responsibility

In this age of global competition, corporates are beginning to realize the stake that they have, as a part of the society. There is a growing realization that they should contribute to social activities globally with a desire to improve the immediate environment where they work and many companies are taking keen interest in such activities . Companies that pay genuine attention to the principles of social responsibility  are also favoured by the public who prefer to consume their goods and services. This has given rise to the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)    By social responsibility, we mean a doctrine that claims that an entity whether it is state, government, corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to society. According to Infosys founder, Narayan Murthy, ‘social responsibility is to create maximum shareholders value working under the circumstances, where it is fair to all its stakeholders, workers, consumers, the community, government and the environment’. Commission of the European Communities (2001) stated that being socially responsible means not only fulfilling legal expectations, but also going beyond compliance and investing ‘more’ into human capital, the environment and the relation with stakeholders.

 India lives in its villages. Literally and from the social, economic and political perspectives the statement is valid even today. Around 65% of the State’s population is living in rural areas. People in rural areas should have the same quality of life as is enjoyed by people living in sub urban and urban areas. Further there are cascading effects of poverty, unemployment, poor and inadequate infrastructure in rural areas on urban centres causing slums and consequential social and economic tensions manifesting in economic deprivation and urban poverty. Hence Rural Development which is concerned with economic growth and social justice, improvement in the living standard of the rural people by providing adequate and quality social services andminimum basic needs become essential.   India is primarily an agriculture-based country. Agriculture contributes nearly one-fifth of the gross domestic product in India. In order to increase the growth of agriculture, the Government has planned several programs pertaining to Rural Development in India.Corporate Social Responsibility is  thus considered very important as far as rural areas are concerned.

Indian companies are now expected to discharge their stakeholder responsibilities and societal obligations, along with their shareholder-wealth maximization goal. In India as in the rest of the world there is a growing realization that business cannot succeed in a society which fails. An ideal CSR has both ethical and philosophical dimensions, particularly in India where there exists a wide gap between sections of people in terms of income and standards as well as socio-economic status However, the concept of CSR is not new in India. The idea of social responsibility in the Indian society, bounded by notion of caste and fate, dates back to the time of British Rule when Indian reformers launched reform movements which slowly became more socially responsible. During the independence struggle Indian companies, which began to proliferate and proper from the mid 19th century, throw in their lot with and the resulting concern for the nations caused many of them to be involved in providing education, health service and even clean waterAs part of the survey, over 100 companies—ranging from large to mid-sized corporations—responded to questionnaires sent to around 1,000 companies during September-October 2002. Besides, a group of researchers conducted an in-depth study of CSR programmes in top business houses. The respondents unanimously acknowledged that social responsibility was no longer an exclusive domain of the government and CSR is much more than “passive philanthropyBeyond the private sector, corporate players in India’s public sector too have been actively involved in corporate social responsibility initiatives.Most public sector units in the heavy engineering industry have not only set up a township around the plant, but also established a school, a hospital and several other civic facilities for its employees and those that live in that area.Private sector companies have been encouraged to undertake rural development programmes down the years through fiscal incentives by the government. For instance, special benefits are offered in the industrial policy to companies that set up industries in backward areas and tax incentives are also offered to companies that set up water purification projects.

In India, it has also been noticed that when it comes to individual CSR activities, the ‘anonymous’ donor mentality prevails. Of course, with the intense spotlight on the subject, the interest in corporate social responsibility is spreading in India as well. The Corporate Social Responsibility Survey 2002–India, jointly conducted by the United Nations Development Programme,covering 19 industry sectors reveals that this interest is growing as more and more companies in India are keen to project themselves as good corporate citizens. This was the most important factor driving CSR in India, according to the survey. Good corporate citizenship and CSR initiatives are inextricably linked with improved brand reputation, which is one of the most important drivers of CSR identified by the respondent companies. The other key drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility in India were diverse ranging from stated philosophy of founding fathers to improving relationship with local communities to enhanced shareholder value.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

The concept of sustainable tourism industry has been discussed over the past decades as one of the most important and most contentious debates of tourism development and as a framework for understanding the socio economic development procedures along with natural resource management and tourism worldwide. This concept has been identified as a delicate balance in the triangular relationship between the host community and the land on the one hand with the guest community on the other hand and with the tourism industry at different local, national and world levels. Complexity and problematic nature of this concept and its implementation method along with methodology to measure progress toward sustainability in tourism has made it challenging for many scientists and researchers; so applying indicators and indices capable of estimating tourism sustainability and enabling sustained tourism development seems to be necessary.

Actually The basis of sustainable tourism development (STD) is the concept of reconciliation, non-defiance, combining requirements of ecology, economics and society. This concept is very topical with regard to tourism and in particular relating to rural and agricultural tourism. However, Sustainability as a notion comprising economic, ecological and social and cultural factors requires when studying sustainability of rural tourism to include the determination of a whole system of parameters. When reviewing the sustainable future development of rural tourism in Iran  we have to take into account the interests of all figures on that market, because a prerequisite for sustainable development of rural tourism is the simultaneous consideration on one hand, the interests of local people in a long-term period (improvement of infrastructure, development of agriculture and promotion of the standard of living as a whole) and on the other hand, the interests of tourists (providing traditional rural atmosphere, which involves a number of components).The purpose of this paper is to develop a practical model of Measuring progress towards sustainable rural tourism development (SRTD) in terms of system quality along a time scale, rather  than absolute levels of sustainability. It is argued that the assessment of the progress can help determine if the industry does indeed contribute to sustainable development. In measuring progress towards SRTD, the perceptions of stakeholders regarding various aspects are to be examined to identify the extent to which tourism meets the three core elements of meeting the interests of local residents, satisfying the requirements of tourists, and preserving the value of the natural environment. The proposed measurement model presents measures of sustainability of individual tourism indicators, and addresses complex and various aspects such as the political, economic, sociocultural, and environmental impacts of the industry, and the quality of tourist experiences.

Source: ArticlesBase.com

Louisville, KY — Thousands of households in rural America have yet to transition into the age of high-speed Internet access for a very good reason: no availability of DSL or cable. Because the economics of adding DSL or laying cable in sparsely populated areas doesn’t provide a sufficient return on investment, it could be years before many rural Americans have access to the information superhighway. Increasingly, many stuck on slow dial-up are turning to high speed satellite Internet (similar to satellite TV) as a solution.

Available today from several providers, satellite Internet requires a separate dish antenna mounted at the customer’s home, along with cable running to a satellite modem that connects to a personal computer. Previously this required an upfront investment of hundreds of dollars for home equipment, which also required professional installation. Other drawbacks included reliability issues due to weather related problems, and difficulty in scheduling rapid service calls.

To overcome these challenges, brothers Dwayne & Michael Hay founded SkyWay USA in rural Jackson, Kentucky. For less than 0, the SkyWay USA system can be ordered online, shipped directly to your home, and self-installed in a matter of hours. Coupled with an entry-level service fee of .95/month, SkyWay USA touts itself as rural America’s low-cost satellite Internet provider.

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“We’ve even had a 69 year old grandmother install the system”, reports SkyWay USA CEO George Dick.

Since the test launch this summer, hundreds of customers in rural areas across America have signed up for SkyWay USA. Dick, a successful entrepreneur working from SkyWay USA’s new Louisville, Kentucky headquarters believes that is just the beginning. Industry estimates are that 10 million American homes do not have access to DSL or cable. SkyWay USA plans on growing to 10,000 customers by this summer, and over 100,000 customers by 2009.

Shipments of the newest version of the external satellite modem (nicknamed “The Jackrabbit”) are ramping up. Designed and made in Sweden, SkyWay USA owns the exclusive marketing rights in North America. Keeping jobs in small town America is important to SkyWay USA, so it was a “no-brainer” when they chose Winegard Corp. in Burlington, Iowa to mass produce the special 28” dish antenna.

Installation has been greatly simplified with the help of a proprietary device called the “SkyBeeper”, which emits a high-pitched tone as the homeowner points the dish antenna at the satellite. There’s no software to load, and SkyWay USA works equally well with Windows, Mac, and even Vista. Most importantly, because SkyWay USA utilizes a special hybrid technology, the annoying rain-fade suffered by satellite TV and other satellite Internet systems has been virtually eliminated.

SkyWay USA continues to operate their tech support and customer service at the Jackson, KY location. “Bringing high-tech jobs to rural America is one of our proudest achievements”, proudly states founder Dwayne Hay, born and raised in nearby Hazard, KY. “We believe rural Americans should be helping rural Americans. We wouldn’t dream of outsourcing something as important as customer service to a call center in Asia.”

You can contact SkyWay USA for service at www.skywayusa.com or by calling (866) 697-5992. SkyWay USA, LLC is headquartered at 1302 Clear Springs Trace, Louisville, KY 40223.

Source: ArticlesBase.com