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Annual Report 2011. Key Figures Daimler Group 2011 Amounts in millions of euros Revenue Western Europe thereof Germany NAFTA thereof United States Asia thereof China Other markets Employees (December 31) Investment in property, plant and equipment Research and development expenditure thereof capitalized Free cash flow of the industrial business EBIT Value added Net profit/loss Earnings/loss per share (in â‚ ¬) Total dividend Dividend per share (in â‚ ¬) 106,540 39,387 19,753 26,026 22,222 22,643 11,093 18,484 271,370 4,158 5,634 1,460 989 8,755 3,726 6,029 5. 2 2,346 2. 20 97,761 38,478 19,281 23,582 20,216 19,659 9,094 16,042 260,100 3,653 4,849 1,373 5,432 7,274 2,773 4,674 4. 28 1,971 1. 85 78,924 36,458 18,788 19,380 16,569 12,435 4,349 10,651 256,407 2,423 4,181 1,285 2,706 -1,513 -4,644 -2,644 -2. 63 0 0. 00 2010 2009 11/10 % change +91 +2 +2 +10 +10 +15 +22 +15 +4 +14 +16 +6 -82 +20 +34 +29 +24 +19 +19 1 Adjusted for the effects of currency translation, increase in reven ue of 10%. Divisions 011 Amounts in millions of euros Mercedes-Benz Cars EBIT Revenue Return on sales Investment in property, plant and equipment Research and development expenditure thereof capitalized Unit sales Employees (December 31) Daimler Trucks EBIT Revenue Return on sales Investment in property, plant and equipment Research and development expenditure thereof capitalized Unit sales Employees (December 31) Mercedes-Benz Vans EBIT Revenue Return on sales Investment in property, plant and equipment Research and development expenditure thereof capitalized Unit sales Employees (December 31) Daimler Buses EBIT Revenue Return on sales Investment in property, plant and equipment Research and development expenditure thereof capitalized Unit sales Employees (December 31) Daimler Financial Services EBIT Revenue New business Contract volume Investment in property, plant and equipment Employees (December 31) 1,312 12,080 33,521 71,730 21 7,065 162 4,418 3. 7% 103 225 32 39,741 17,495 83 5 9,179 9. 1% 109 358 126 264,193 14,889 1,876 28,751 6. 5% 1,201 1,321 251 425,756 77,295 5,192 57,410 9. 0% 2,724 3,733 1,051 1,381,416 99,091 2010 2009 11/10 % change 4,656 53,426 8. % 2,457 3,130 940 1,276,827 96,281 -500 41,318 -1. 2% 1,618 2,696 913 1,093,905 93,572 +12 +7 . +11 +19 +12 +8 +3 1,332 24,024 5. 5% 1,003 1,282 373 355,263 71,706 -1,001 18,360 -5. 5% 597 1,116 368 259,328 70,699 +41 +20 . +20 +3 -33 +20 +8 451 7,812 5. 8% 91 267 29 224,224 14,557 26 6,215 0. 4% 113 193 0 165,576 15,226 +85 +17 . +20 +34 +334 +18 +2 215 4,558 4. 7% 95 223 31 39,118 17,134 183 4,238 4. 3% 78 212 5 32,482 17,188 -25 -3 . +8 +1 +3 +2 +2 831 12,788 29,267 63,725 12 6,742 9 11,996 25,066 58,350 14 6,800 +58 -6 +15 +13 +75 +5 Daimler Marken Mercedes-Benz Cars Daimler Trucks Mercedes-Benz Vans Daimler Buses Daimler Financial ServicesInnovation and Growth We invented the automobile – and now we are passionately shaping its future. As automotive pioneers, we see it as both motivation and a duty to continue our tradition with groundbreaking technologies and superior products. We do our very best for customers who expect the best, and we live and breathe a culture of operational excellence based on shared values. Our corporate history features numerous innovations and pioneering achievements; they are the foundation and ongoing inspiration for our claim to leadership in the auto ­ motive industry. At the same time, our thoughts and actions are guided by the principle of sustainable mobility.With tailored products, we intend to enter new markets and attract additional groups of customers. Our goal is to lead our industry in terms of unit sales, revenue and profitability – and to do so in all the businesses in which we are active. By means of profitable growth, we want to create lasting added value – for our shareholders, customers and employees, and for society in general. Dieter Zetsche Wolfgang Bernhard Christine Hohmann ­Dennhardt Wilfried Port h Andreas Renschler Bodo Uebber Thomas Weber Contents This Annual Report focuses on the innovative products and services with which we intend to utilize the growth opportunities offered worldwide while making a contribution to the mobility of the future.More details are provided inside, especially on pages 28-69. General information on Daimler and on the year 2011 can be found in the first section of the report. The Group’s financial position, liquidity and capital resources, and profitability are described and analyzed in the Management Report. Other sections provide information on our divisions, the topic of sustainability, corporate governance and the consolidated financial statements. 2 Annual Report 2011 | Contents 1 | To Our Shareholders (pages 4-27) 4 10 14 16 22 24 Important Events in 2011 Chairman’s Letter The Board of Management Report of the Supervisory Board The Supervisory Board Daimler Shares | Sustainability (pages 144-155) 146 148 152 154 Sustainability at Daimler Innovation, Safety and the Environment Human Resources Social Responsibility 6 | Corporate Governance (pages 156-175) 2 | Innovation and Growth (pages 28-69) 30 36 40 46 52 58 62 66 Innovation on a Grand Scale The New Compact Cars The Fascination of Electric Mobility What Will Move Us Tomorrow? Global Success Made by Daimler Customer Care Worldwide The Future Is Our Element The Avant-garde of Future Mobility 158 161 167 169 175 Report of the Audit Committee Remuneration Report Integrity and Compliance Corporate Governance Report Declaration of Compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code | Consolidated Financial Statements (pages 176-251) 178 179 Consolidated Statement of Income Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income/Loss Consolidated Statement of Financial Position Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements Responsibility Statement Independent Auditors’ Report 3 | Management Report (pages 70-127) 72 86 98 105 108 111 112 113 121 Business and General Conditions Profitability Liquidity and Capital Resources Financial Position Daimler AG (Condensed version according to HGB) Overall Assessment of the Economic Situation Events after the End of the 2011 Financial Year Risk Report Outlook 180 181 182 183 250 251 | Additional Information (pages 252-256) 252 254 255 256 Ten Year Summary Glossary Index International Representative Offices Internet | Information | Addresses Daimler Worldwide Financial Calendar 2012 4 | The Divisions (pages 128-143) 130 134 138 140 142 Mercedes-Benz Cars Daimler Trucks Mercedes-Benz Vans Daimler Buses Daimler Financial Services 3 1 | To Our Shareholders | Important Events in 2011 Important Events Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz invented the automobile in 1886. The year 2011 was therefore marked by the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the auto mobile, which started on January 29 with the official celebrations at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. They were followed by various public events, including several organized during the Automobile Summer in Stuttgart.Our employees enthusiastically celebrated the anniversary at numerous parties in the production plants and sales-and-service centers. Following in the footsteps of Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, we will reinvent the automobile again and again, thus shaping the future of mobility. And in jubilee year 2011, we created the right conditions for sustainable and profitable growth with a burst of new models and some important strategic decisions. 2011 Q1. 11 25th anniversary of the automobile. On January 29, 1886, Carl Benz changed the world. He applied to the Berlin Patent Office to register his â€Å"vehicle with gas-engine propulsion† under patent number 37435.Daimler starts jubilee year 2011 with official celebrations under the heading â€Å"125! Years Inventor of the Automobile. † Daimler and Toray found a joint venture. Toray Indu stries, Inc. and Daimler plan to jointly produce and market automobile components made of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP). New C-Class coupe. The two-door has its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show in early March 2011. It deliberately targets new customers as well as existing ones, and allows a particularly sporty entry into the coupe world of MercedesBenz. The new generation of the C-Class sedan and wagon and the new SLK roadster are also presented in Geneva. Presentation of the Concept A-CLASS in Shanghai.At Auto Shanghai in April, Mercedes-Benz presents the Concept A-CLASS to give an impression of the upcoming new compact class. The proportions of the Concept A-CLASS communicate concentrated dynamism. The car’s expressive lines and surfaces are a key feature of the new Mercedes-Benz design. Supervisory Board appoints Dr. Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt to the Board of Management. Dr. Hohmann-Dennhardt takes charge of the newly created Board of Management area of à ¢â‚¬Å"Integrity and Legal Affairs. † She is responsible for the Legal Department, the Compliance Organization and Corporate Data Protection. New truck brand for the Indian market. In India, Daimler Trucks presents BharatBenz, its fifth truck brand.BharatBenz is the basis for the launch of a new local truck generation, which is to be produced at the new plant in Chennai. Excellent first quarter of 2011. Daimler AG achieved earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of â‚ ¬2. 0 billion in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2010: â‚ ¬1. 2 billion). This very positive earnings development reflects the ongoing upward trend in nearly all divisions. 6 1 | To Our Shareholders | Important Events in 2011 Dividend of â‚ ¬1. 85 per share. At the Annual Meeting in Berlin, the Daimler shareholders vote to pay a dividend for the year 2010 of â‚ ¬1. 85 per share. The total dividend distribution thus amounts to approximately â‚ ¬2 billion. Daimler starts worldwide campaign:  "fairplay. Live values. Create value. This campaign directs the attention of employees and executives to the issues of integrity and compliance. The goal is to develop a shared understanding among all Daimler employees of which behavior is right and which is wrong, as well as to promote a corporate culture of trusting cooperation. F-CELL World Drive reaches Stuttgart. After traveling more than 30,000 kilometers around the globe, three MercedesBenz B-Class F-CELL cars with locally emission-free drive systems cross the finishing line in front of the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart in due time. During the F-CELL World Drive, Mercedes-Benz impressively demonstrates the qualities of its fuel-cell vehicles with regard to performance and reliability.Presentation of new Actros. The heavy-duty Mercedes-Benz truck has been fundamentally redeveloped. The new Actros represents more than ten years of work, over 20 million test kilometers and more than â‚ ¬2 billion of investment in developm ent and production technology. Strategic framework agreement with Chinese partner. Daimler AG and Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) sign a strategic framework agreement. A total of approximately â‚ ¬2 billion is to be invested in the joint venture Beijing Benz Automotive Co. , Ltd. (BBAC). Record earnings in the second quarter. Daimler achieves one of its best ever quarterly results in the second quarter of 2011.Group EBIT amounts to â‚ ¬2. 6 billion. Q2. 11 7 Q3. 11 Joint venture between Daimler and Bosch. Daimler and Robert Bosch GmbH sign agreements on the establishment of a 50:50 joint venture for electric motors. The company will operate under the name of EM-motive GmbH and will develop and produce innovative electric motors for electric vehicles. Daimler Financial Services starts operations in India. The newly established subsidiary Daimler Financial Services India Pvt. Ltd. domiciled in Chennai offers customers and dealers a comprehensive range of financing and insurance products. Contract volume of more than US$500 million is targeted by the year 2016.Acquisition of Tognum successfully concluded. Daimler AG and Rolls-Royce Holdings plc secure approximately 99% of Tognum’s shares. The combination of the three companies’ strengths and market access will allow Tognum to become a first-class producer of engine systems. Numerous Mercedes-Benz world premieres at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The revolutionary F125! research car allows a glimpse of the emission-free luxury sedans of the not-too-distant future. There are also world premieres of the new B-Class, the Concept B-Class E-CELL PLUS and the SLS AMG roadster. In addition, Mercedes-Benz presents the new M-Class to the general public for the first time.Presentation of â€Å"Mercedes-Benz 2020† growth strategy. By the year 2020, we want to be the number one among the premium manufacturers – in terms of products, brand, profitability and unit sales. We will devel op the production capacities required for our growth so that they are close to our customers and our markets. First truck from Daimler and Kamaz. Daimler Trucks and Russian truck producer Kamaz present the prototype of a jointly developed truck with Daimler components. Daimler and Kamaz will intensify their collaboration in the future, especially on truck cabs. First new Citaro delivered. Trade experts see a great future for the completely revised best-selling Mercedes-Benz city bus.It sets benchmarks above all with its safety concept and its new design. Final approval for truck joint venture in China. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce grants final approval for Beijing Foton Daimler Automotive Co. , Ltd. (BFDA). Daimler will hold a 50% interest in the joint venture and can thus participate in the growth of the Chinese market for medium and heavy trucks. 8 1 | To Our Shareholders | Important Events in 2011 First Sprinter produced in China. In addition to the Vito and Viano models, whi ch have been successfully produced and sold in China since 2010, the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is now also rolling off the assembly lines at Fujian Daimler Automotive Co. Ltd. The Sprinter is the first premium product in the Chinese market for large vans. Closer cooperation between Daimler and BAIC. Daimler and BAIC (Beijing Automotive Group Co. , Ltd. ) agree to extend their wide-ranging strategic partnership. The letter of intent states that both companies will assess further possibilities for technological collaboration and for vehicles with alternative drive systems. Daimler plans sale of EADS shares. Daimler and the German government have agreed in principle that the KfW Bank Group will acquire 7. 5% of the shares in EADS from Daimler. The transaction is to take place in 2012. 50,000 customers at car2go. ar2go, the world’s first fully flexible car-rental service to operate on a per-minute basis, passes the milestone of one million rentals. At the same time, the 50,000th car 2go customer worldwide is registered at the Hamburg car2go shop. New Actros is â€Å"Truck of the Year 2012. † Truck journalists from 24 European countries elect the new Actros, the flagship of the Mercedes-Benz fleet of commercial vehicles, as the best truck of the year. With a total of eight titles, Mercedes-Benz is now the most successful brand in the competition for honors for technological progress. Presentation of heavy-duty Fuso truck with hybrid drive. Fuso presents its first heavy-duty truck with hybrid drive at the Tokyo Motor Show: the Super Great HEV.The first test carried out under real-life conditions show that fuel consumption has been improved by up to 10% compared with conventional trucks with diesel engines. Q4. 11 9 25 years of the automobile and excellent financial results – 2011 stands for both at Daimler. And that pleases us all the more because we promised you a year ago that our jubilee year would be another successful year for your company. We kept our word with: – Group revenue of 106. 5 billion euros, – EBIT of 8. 8 billion euros, which is well above the prior year, – and net profit of 6. 0 billion euros. These aren’t just very respectable results; they are among the best in our history. Our return on net assets of 19. 9 percent was well above our target of eight percent. In short, we created value.And of course, our success will also benefit you: The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose an increase in the dividend to â‚ ¬2. 20 per share at the Annual Meeting. Now what were the key developments in our divisions? At Mercedes-Benz Cars, we set three records in 2011. Never before have we had better unit sales, revenue or EBIT. This was chiefly accomplished on the strength of our Mercedes-Benz brand and its ongoing invigoration through innovative products. Whether the M- or B-Class, the C coupe or the SLS AMG roadster, our new models are all very popular. At the same time , in 2011 we defined our long-term growth strategy: â€Å"Mercedes-Benz 2020. At its center is the extension of our ambition to lead: With the strongest brand and the best products, we aim to be number one in premium-segment unit sales as well – by the end of this decade at the latest. To that end, we need to achieve sustainable, profitable growth and expand our activities close to our growing customer base. 2011 was also a very good year for Daimler Trucks. Worldwide, we were able to increase unit sales and revenue by 20 percent, and EBIT by more than 40 percent. In June, we introduced the new Mercedes-Benz Actros, our most important heavy-duty truck of this decade. It was promptly voted â€Å"Truck of the Year. † In North America, we further strengthened our market leadership in the medium- and heavy-duty segment.And with Fuso in Asia, we increased our unit sales despite the natural disaster in Japan. 10 1 | To Our Shareholders | Chairman’s Letter â€Å" The jubilee year of the automobile was another successful year for Daimler. But we believe we can do even better. † 11 Mercedes-Benz Vans posted unit sales growth of about 18 percent – thanks primarily to the success of the new-generation Vito and Viano. Both models are now available in China, where we also started production of the Sprinter. At Daimler Buses, revenue and earnings decreased due to weaker market demand for complete buses. However, we clearly maintained the leading position in all our key markets.Exceptionally good news also comes from Daimler Financial Services, where three new records were set in 2011: for new business, contract volume and earnings. In addition, we expanded our range of services with the new â€Å"Mobility Services† business unit. Here we are offering innovative service packages with a focus on sustainable mobility. All of this contributed to an excellent performance in 2011. It is all the more remarkable given that general economic risks increased in the second half of the year due to the crisis in the euro zone. In 2012, we will continue to face headwinds in our European markets. However, from today’s perspective, we expect worldwide economic growth of around 2. 5 percent. And global automotive demand is likely to grow even faster in the years ahead.We intend to participate in this growth – and to an above-average extent. 2011 was a successful and important year. But we believe we can do significantly better in the medium and long term; that also applies to our share price. We strive to attain leadership in all our businesses. In doing so, we draw on the strengths of the Daimler Group: – as a full-line supplier of premium cars, trucks, vans, buses and services; – with Mercedes-Benz as our core brand in all divisions; – and as an innovation and technology leader. The combination of these Daimler strengths produces potential that we intend to fully utilize in the coming years . Specifically, we have efined four strategic growth areas: – strengthening our core business in traditional markets, – conquering new growth markets, – extending our leadership in environmentally friendly technologies and in the field of safety, – and developing and implementing new mobility concepts. 12 1 | To Our Shareholders | Chairman’s Letter In all of this, one thing remains clear: A company’s success stands or falls with the skills and commitment of its workforce. The employees of your company are doing a great job; for that they deserve the thanks of the Board of Management. We will continue to systematically promote excellence in the future. One specific target is the development of first-class female and international talent. Integrity is another issue that is gaining importance – and not just at Daimler. What does that mean in a corporate context?In brief, it means that â€Å"make a decent return† and â€Å"make re turns decent† are two sides of the same coin. Integrity is more than just formal compliance with laws and regulations. It is an ethical attitude, a sort of â€Å"internal compass† that keeps us on the right path even in complex business situations. Many events of the past twelve months have confirmed once again that one of the most important â€Å"currencies† is trust – whether it’s in business or politics, in public or private life. Ultimately, Daimler owes its sustained success to its trusted relationships with customers, business partners, employees and neighbors – and of course with you, our shareholders.We would like to sincerely thank you for your confidence in us. We will make every effort in 2012 to justify that confidence once again. Sincerely, Dieter Zetsche 13 The Board of Management Andreas Renschler | 53 Daimler Trucks Appointed until September 2013 Wolfgang Bernhard | 51 Manufacturing and Procurement Mercedes-Benz Cars & Mercede s-Benz Vans Appointed until February 2013 Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt | 61 Integrity and Legal Affairs Appointed until February 2014 Bodo Uebber | 52 Finance & Controlling, Daimler Financial Services Appointed until December 2014 Thomas Weber | 57 Group Research & Mercedes-Benz Cars Development Appointed until December 2013Wilfried Porth | 53 Human Resources & Labor Relations Director Appointed until April 2017 Dieter Zetsche | 58 Chairman of the Board of Management, Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars Appointed until December 2013 14 15 Report of the Supervisory Board Dear Shareholders, the Supervisory Board dealt in detail with the operational and strategic development of the Daimler Group in seven meetings during the 2011 financial year. In the year 2011, the Supervisory Board performed its tasks as laid down by applicable law, the Articles of Incorporation and its rules of procedure, and continually advised and supervised the Board of Management with the management of the company.Followi ng careful reviews and consultations, the Supervisory Board passed resolutions on numerous business matters for which its consent was required, such as investment and personnel planning, capital changes at companies of the Group, investments and divestments, expansion of production capacities in existing cooperations, and the conclusion of contracts of particular importance for the Group. In addition, the Supervisory Board examined for example whether the risk report, the financial reporting and the annual financial statements were in conformance with requirements. The Board of Management also informed the Supervisory Board about a large number of transactions not requiring the Supervisory Board’s consent and the two boards discussed those matters together, for example, the further development of strategic programs in the various divisions and the status of various cooperation projects.The Supervisory Board discussed the information and evaluations that were material for its decisions and suggestions together with the Board of Management. The Supervisory Board meetings were regularly prepared in separate discussions of the members representing the employees and the members representing the shareholders with the members of the Board of Management. In each meeting of the Supervisory Board, there was a so-called executive session, in which the members of the Supervisory Board were able to discuss topics in the absence of the members of the Board of Management. No member of the Supervisory Board attended less than half of the meetings in the past financial year.The Chairman of the Supervisory Board was regularly informed by the Chairman of the Board of Management about all significant operating developments as well as personnel changes and appointments. Daimler’s business activities continued to develop very successfully during the year 2011. Unit sales and revenues increased in almost all the automotive divisions, in some cases substantially. Earnin gs from ongoing operations were significantly higher than in 2010. The Mercedes-Benz Cars and Mercedes-Benz Vans divisions achieved their targeted rates of return already in the first half of 2011. The good business development generally continued in the second half of the year, although earnings were adversely affected by model changes, higher material costs and exchange-rates movements.Daimler is currently making substantial investments, with support from the Supervisory Board, in new technologies, new markets and new products, in order to strengthen the Group’s competitive position for the future. A question of relevance for the work of the Supervisory Board throughout the year 2011 related to the possibility to plan further developments and their stability. The general economic outlook, and in particular the situation in the financial markets, was marked by significant risks and uncertainties. An additional factor in the first half of the year was the hardto-assess impact of the natural disaster in Japan. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board also care-fully monitored the economic situation in China, one of the Group’s key markets.In the euro zone, the high levels of state and public-sector debt became increasingly important as factors causing uncertainty and restricting growth. In general, the Supervisory Board assessed the development during 2011 in absolute terms as positive, and in view of the risk described above, was in agreement with the risk-aware approach of the Board of Management. The Supervisory Board dealt in detail with the development of Daimler’s share price, and discussed at length with the Board of Management about its causes and proposals, as well as the expected impact on the share price of strategic projects. 16 1 | To Our Shareholders | Report of the Supervisory Board Dr. Manfred Bischoff, Chairman of the Supervisory Board.In addition to the usual key financial metrics, the Board of Management regularl y informed the Supervisory Board about important topics such as: – the Group’s profitability, especially in terms of return on equity, and its liquidity situation, – the internal control and risk management system including compliance, – the cost of risk in the financial services business, – the development of commodity prices, especially of raw materials, and – the general economic situation in the main sales markets, in particular in view of developments in the financial markets. The Supervisory Board also dealt with safeguarding the Group’s long-term profitability, fundamental questions of corporate planning including financial, investment, sales and human resources planning, developments in the companies of the Group, revenue developments and the situation of the Group, as well as the ongoing implementation of measures to secure pioneering and sustainable mobility for the future.The latter was dealt with also considering current a nd future requirements under the heading of â€Å"digital life,† with special reference to the Group’s products and services. The Supervisory Board was occupied with these topics going beyond the operating business in close communication with the Board of Management and especially intensively in a two-day strategy workshop, which this year focused in particular on conditions and development opportunities in China in order to properly reflect the special importance of the Chinese market. Cooperation between the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management. All the members of the Board of Management attended all the meetings of the Supervisory Board.In the meetings, there was an intensive and open exchange of opinions and information concerning the position of the Group, business and financial developments, fundamental issues of corporate policy and strategy, and development opportunities in important growth markets. Any deviations from the planning were explained in de tail to the Supervisory Board by the Board of Management. The members of the Supervisory Board regularly prepared for upcoming resolutions on transactions requiring Supervisory Board consent on the basis of documentation provided in advance by the Board of Management. They were supported by the relevant committees, and discussed the actions and transactions upon which decisions were to be taken with the Board of Management.Furthermore, the Board of Management informed the Supervisory Board with the use of monthly reports and quarterly risk reports about the most important performance figures and risks and submitted the interim reports to the Supervisory Board. The Supervisory Board was kept fully informed of specific matters also between its meetings. As required in individual cases, following consultation with the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, the members were requested to pass resolutions in writing. In addition, the Chairman of the Board of Management informed the Chairman o f the Supervisory Board in regular discussions about important developments and consulted with him on upcoming decisions. 17Topics discussed at the Supervisory Board meetings in the year 2011. In January 2011, the Supervisory Board dealt with equity-capital changes at subsidiaries of Daimler North America Corporation. In a meeting in February 2011, the Supervisory Board appointed Dr. Christine HohmannDennhardt, an ex-judge at Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, as a member of the Board of Management for the position of Integrity and Legal Affairs, which had been newly created by a resolution of September 2010. As of December 16, 2011, Bodo Uebber was reappointed as a member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Finance & Controlling and Daimler Financial Services.In the presence of the external auditors, the preliminary key figures of the annual company and consolidated financial statements for 2010 and the dividend proposal to be made at the 2011 Annual Shar eholders’ Meeting were discussed in the same meeting. The preliminary key figures for the year 2010 were announced at the Annual Press Conference on February 16, 2011. In another meeting held in February 2011, the Supervisory Board dealt with the annual company financial statements, the annual consolidated financial statements and the combined management report for Daimler AG and the Daimler Group, each of which had been issued with an unqualified audit opinion by the external auditors, as well as the reports of the Audit Committee and the Supervisory Board, the corporate governance report and the remuneration report and the proposal on the distribution of distributable profit.In preparation, the members of the Supervisory Board were provided with comprehensive documentation, some of it in draft form, including the Annual Report with the consolidated financial statements according to IFRS, the combined management report for Daimler AG and the Daimler Group, the corporate gove rnance report and the remuneration report, the annual company financial statements of Daimler AG, the audit report of KPMG for the annual company financial statements of Daimler AG, for the consolidated financial statements and for the combined management report, the proposal of the Board of Management on the distribution of distributable profit, and the drafts of the reports of the Supervisory Board and of the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee and the Supervisory Board dealt with those documents in detail and discussed them intensively in the presence of the external auditors, who reported on the results of their audit and were available to answer supplementary questions and to provide additional information.Following the final results of the review by the Audit Committee and its own review, the Supervisory Board declared its agreement with the results of the audit by the external auditors, determined that no objections were to be raised, and approved the financial statements an d the combined management report as presented by the Board of Management. The company financial statements of Daimler AG for the year 2010 were thereby adopted. The Supervisory Board also consented to the proposal made by the Board of Management on the distribution of distributable profit and approved the report of the Supervisory Board, the corporate governance report and the remuneration report in the current drafts.Furthermore, the Supervisory Board approved its proposed decisions on the items of the agenda for the 2011 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. In addition, the Supervisory Board received information on the status of antitrust investigations of European manufacturers of commercial vehicles by the EU Commission and approved an investment framework for the submission of a voluntary takeover bid for Tognum AG together with Rolls-Royce. Finally, the Supervisory Board dealt with topics of Board of Management remuneration and approved the external board positions and sidelin e business activities of the members of the Board of Management as presented in the meeting.Two Supervisory Board meetings were held in April. In the first of those two meetings, which was held straight after the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, the Supervisory Board elected Dr. Manfred Bischoff as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board – as previously announced in the election proposal made at the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Pursuant to the rules of procedure of the Supervisory Board, its Chairman also chairs the Mediation, Nomination and Presidential Committees. To replace the departing Dr. Manfred Schneider, Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht was elected to the Mediation Committee and to the Presidential Committee. In the place of Dr. Manfred Schneider and Lynton R.Wilson, Dr. Paul Achleitner and Sari Baldauf were elected to the Nomination Committee. In addition, due to the resolution by the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting amending the Articles of Incorporation with rega rd to Supervisory Board remuneration, the Supervisory Board decided to amend the wording of the declaration of compliance accordingly, subject to the amended Articles of Incorporation being entered in the Commercial Register. In the declaration of compliance, the explanation of the lack of a performancerelated component of remuneration includes an explanation of the remuneration paid to the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG. With the amendment o the Articles of Incorporation, the existing apportioning model was replaced with an additive model, in order to better reflect the generally increased requirements in particular with consideration of additional activities of Supervisory Board members in committees. In the second meeting in April 2011, the Supervisory Board dealt with the course of business and results of the first quarter, as well as with a status report on the situation in Japan, which had been updated since previously being dealt with in March 2011, in particular the situati on of the Japanese companies of the Group and the local employees after the earthquake, tsunami and reactor accident. In addition, the Supervisory Board granted its consent to the closure of Treasury units in Belgium and to a capital increase for the car joint venture in China, Beijing Benz Automotive Co. , Ltd.In May, the Supervisory Board was informed about the stage of the Tognum transaction and the increase in the price offered. 18 1 | To Our Shareholders | Report of the Supervisory Board In addition to discussing the business development and results of the second quarter, in its meeting in July, the Supervisory Board granted its consent for capital contributions to the German pension plan, for the execution of equity-capital changes at the subsidiary Daimler Trucks North America, and for the expansion of production capacity for the truck joint venture with Foton, a Chinese truck producer. In the same meeting, the Supervisory Board also dealt with the new pension plan and the to pics for the upcoming strategy workshop.Furthermore, it reappointed Wilfried Porth as a member of the Board of Management with responsibility for Human Resources and as Labor Relations Director effective as of May 1, 2012. During the two-day strategy workshop in September, as every year, the Supervisory Board first of all received information on the stage of implementation of the strategic goals set in previous years by the Board of Management for Daimler AG and the divisions. Against the backdrop of the current economic situation, the Supervisory Board discussed the stage of implementation of projects initiated by the individual divisions, the positioning of the Group and its divisions with regard to the competition, and the brand and product strategies.Other key areas of the strategy workshops were: – growth opportunities in the various markets with a focus on China, – analyses of competitors, – status reports on the various cooperations, – the latest t rends in customer behavior, also with regard to the future development of urban mobility and the use of modern media and social networks, – the overall technology and market strategy for safeguarding sustainable mobility, – the technological development of internal-combustion engines, – electric, hybrid and hydrogen drive systems, – specific requirements placed on such drive systems in important markets, in China for example, – management capacities and other human resources issues, especially in specific growth markets, and – other strategic topics. In December, the Supervisory Board dealt in detail on the basis of comprehensive documentation with the operational planning for the years 2012 and 2013. This included discussion of existing opportunities and risks and the Group’s risk management. The Supervisory Board also decided on the financing limits for the year 2012 and dealt with a progress report on EADS and the planned sale of 7 . 5% of the shares in EADS to the KfW banking group.Other matters discussed in the December meeting included corporate governance and Board of Management remuneration. Corporate governance. Although the German Corporate Governance Code was not amended in the period under review, the Supervisory Board was continually occupied with the standards of good corporate governance, including the green paper of the European Commission on that subject. An important precondition for effective cooperation in the Supervisory Board in the sense of good corporate governance, in addition to the members’ prioritized specialist expertise, is their diversity to adequately reflect the Group’s size and internationality in terms of nationality, gender, ethnic origin and experience.In connection with future proposals on candidates for election to the Supervisory Board, the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG pays attention to internationality and balance, especially with regard to gender, and see s this as a contribution to strengthening Daimler’s claim to leadership in the automotive industry. With the election of Petraea Heynike, the Supervisory Board has achieved a proportion of 20% female members representing the shareholders, which is at least to be maintained and if possible increased in the coming years. The members of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG are obliged to disclose potential conflicts of interest to the entire Supervisory Board and not to participate in discussing or voting on topics which could lead to a conflict of interest. There were no indications of any such potential conflicts of interest in 2011.In its meeting in April, the Supervisory Board decided on an amendment to its rules of procedure. The Code’s suggestion that the maximum possible appointment period of five years should not be the rule with first-time appointments to the Board of Management will be complied with in the future: First-time appointments – and only those à ¢â‚¬â€œ will generally be made for three years only. In its December meeting, the Supervisory Board updated and amended the wording of the rules of procedure of the Supervisory Board and its committees, and approved the declaration of compliance with the German Corporate Governance Code pursuant to Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG).With the two exceptions explained in the declaration, all the recommendations of the Code have been complied with and continue to be complied with. 19 The Supervisory Board last arranged for an externally moderated efficiency review to be carried out during the year 2010, thus fulfilling the requirement to carry out a regular review of its efficiency in accordance with its own rules of procedure and the German Corporate Governance Code. The results of the efficiency review indicate very good cooperation within the Supervisory Board and with the Board of Management. There was no indication of any need for fundamental action or changes. However, some suggestions were made, which will be put into practice.Corporate governance at Daimler is described in detail in the Corporate Governance Report on pages 169 ff and in the Remuneration Report on pages 161 ff of this Annual Report. Personnel changes in the Supervisory Board. After the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting held on April 13, 2011, a member representing the shareholders, Dr. Manfred Schneider, stepped down from the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG. As proposed by the Supervisory Board, Petraea Heynike was newly elected as a member of the Supervisory Board repre ­ senting the shareholders with effect as of the end of that Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Dr. Manfred Bischoff and Lynton R. Wilson, whose periods of office also ended at the end of the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting, were reelected.The election proposal of the Supervisory Board to the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting was based on a recommendation made by the Nomination Co mmittee and a corresponding resolution by the members of the Supervisory Board representing the shareholders. Personnel changes in the Board of Management. In a meeting in February 2011, as mentioned above, the Super ­ visory Board appointed Dr. Christine Hohmann ­Dennhardt, an ex ­judge at the German Federal Constitutional Court, as a member of the Board of Management for the position of Integrity and Legal Affairs, which was newly created by resolution of September 2010, for a period of three years as of February 16, 2011. Bodo Uebber was reappointed as a member of the Board of Management responsible for Finance & Controlling and Daimler Financial Services for a further three years as of December 16, 2011.In the Supervisory Board meeting in July 2011, in line with the new regulation on periods of service for reappointments, Wilfried Porth was reappointed for another five years as a member of the Board of Management responsible for Human Resources and as Labor Relations Direc tor as of May 1, 2012. Audit of the 2011 financial statements. The financial state ­ ments of Daimler AG and the combined management report for the Company and the Group for 2011 were duly audited by KPMG AG, Wirtschaftsprufungsgesellschaft, Berlin, and were given an unqualified audit opinion. The same applies to the consolidated financial statements for 2011 prepared accord ­ ing to IFRS, which were supplemented with additional notes.In the presence of the auditors in a meeting in early February 2012, the Supervisory Board discussed the preliminary key figures of the annual company and consolidated financial statements for 2011 and the dividend proposal to be made at the 2012 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. The preliminary key figures for the year 2011 were announced at the Annual Press Conference on February 9, 2012. In another meeting in late February 2012, the Supervisory Board dealt with the annual company financial statements, the annual consolidated financial stateme nts and the combined management report for Daimler AG and the Daimler Group, each of which had been issued with an unqualified audit opinion by the external auditors, as well as the reports of the Audit Committee and the Supervisory Board, the corporate Report on the work of the committees The Presidential Committee convened four times in 2011.It dealt primarily with corporate governance topics and ques ­ tions of remuneration, as well as personnel matters of the Board of Management. As in previous years, compliance targets constituted part of the individual target agreements of the members of the Board of Management. The Audit Committee met seven times in 2011. Details of those meetings are provided in a separate report of this committee (see page 158 ff). The Nomination Committee convened twice in 2011. Among other matters, it prepared a recommendation for the Supervisory Board’s proposal on a candidate for election to the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG representing the share ­ holders.The proposal gave due consideration to stipulations regarding the structure, orientation and qualification profile of the members of the Supervisory Board representing the shareholders and to corporate governance requirements. As in previous years, the Mediation Committee, a body required by the provisions of the German Codetermination Act (MitbestG), had no occasion to take any action in 2011. The chairmen of the committees informed the members of the Supervisory Board about the activities of the committees and their decisions, in each case in the Supervisory Board meeting following such decisions. 20 1 | To Our Shareholders | Report of the Supervisory Board governance report and the remuneration report, and the proposal on the distribution of distributable profit.In preparation, the members of the Supervisory Board were provided with comprehensive documentation, some of it in draft form, including the Annual Report with the consolidated financial statements accor ding to IFRS, the combined management report for Daimler AG and the Daimler Group, the corporate governance report and the remuneration report, the annual company financial statements of Daimler AG, the audit report of KPMG for the annual company financial statements of Daimler AG, for the consolidated financial statements and for the combined management report, the proposal of the Board of Management on the distribution of distributable profit, and the drafts of the reports of the Supervisory Board and of the Audit Committee. The Audit Committee and the Supervisory Board dealt with those documents in detail and discussed them intensively in the presence of the external auditors, who reported on the results of their audit and were available to answer supplementary questions and to provide additional information.Following the final results of the review by the Audit Committee and its own review, the Supervisory Board declared its agreement with the results of the audit by the externa l auditors, determined that no objections were to be raised, and approved the financial statements and the combined management report as presented by the Board of Management. The company financial statements of Daimler AG for the year 2011 were thereby adopted. The Supervisory Board also consented to the proposal made by the Board of Management on the distribution of distributable profit and approved the report of the Supervisory Board, the corporate governance report and the remuneration report in their current drafts.Furthermore, the Supervisory Board approved its proposed decisions on the items of the agenda for the 2012 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. Appreciation. The Supervisory Board thanks all of the employees and the management of the Daimler Group for their personal contributions to the successful year 2011. Special thanks are due to a longstanding member of the Supervisory Board, Dr. Manfred Schneider, who stepped down in April after many years of close involvement a nd exceptional personal commitment to the Group. Stuttgart, February 2012 The Supervisory Board Dr. Manfred Bischoff Chairman 21 The Supervisory Board Dr. Manfred Bischoff Munich Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Fraport AG Royal KPN N. V.SMS GmbH – Chairman UniCredit S. p. A. Voith GmbH – Chairman Erich Klemm* Sindelfingen Chairman of the General Works Council, Daimler Group and Daimler AG; Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Daimler AG Dr. Paul Achleitner Munich Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Bayer AG RWE AG Allianz Investment Management SE – Chairman Allianz Global Investors AG Sari Baldauf Helsinki Former Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Networks Business Group of Nokia Corporation Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Hewlett-Packard Company F-Secure Corporation Fortum OYj – Chair woman Dr.Clemens Borsig Frankfurt am Main Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank AG Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Linde AG Bayer AG Emerson Electric Co. Prof. Dr. Heinrich Flegel* Stuttgart Director Research Materials, Lightweight Design and Manufacturing, Daimler AG; Chairman of the Management Representative Committee, Daimler Group Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht Ludwigshafen Former Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Deutsche Lufthansa AG Fuchs Petrolub AG – Chairman Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG Petraea Heynike Vevey Former Executive Vice President of the Executive Board of Nestle S. A. since April 13, 2011) Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Schulich School of Business Jorg Hofmann* Stuttgart German Metalworkers’ Union (IG Metall), District Manager, Baden-Wurttemberg Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Robert Bosch GmbH Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Dr. Thomas Klebe* Frankfurt am Main General Counsel of the German Metalworkers’ Union (IG Metall) Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Daimler Luft- und Raumfahrt Holding AG ThyssenKrupp Materials International GmbH Gerard Kleisterlee Amsterdam Former President and CEO of Royal Philips Electronics N. V. Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Vodafone Group Plc. – Chairman De Nederlandsche Bank N. V. Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Dell Inc.Jurgen Langer* Frankfurt am Main Chairman of the Works Council of the Frankfurt/Offenbach Dealership, Daimler AG 22 1 | To Our Shareholders | The Supervisory Board Ansgar Osseforth* Sindelfingen Manager Mercedes-Benz Research and Development; Member of the Works Council, Sindelfingen Plant, Daimler AG until November 30, 2011 Valter Sanches* Sao Paulo Secretary of International Relations of Confederacao Nacional dos Metalurgicos/CUT Stefan Schwaab* Gaggenau Vice Chairman of the General Works Council, Daimler Group and Daimler AG; Vice Chairman of the Works Council, Gaggenau Plant, Daimler AG Jorg Spies* Stuttgart Chairman of the Works Council, Headquarters, Daimler AG Lloyd G.Trotter Plainville Former Vice Chairman General Electric; President & CEO of the General Electric Group’s Industrial Division; Managing Partner, Founder, GenNx360 Capital Partners Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: PepsiCo Inc. Textron Inc. syncreon Holdings Ltd. syncreon. US Holdings Inc. syncreon. US Inc. Dr. h. c. Bernhard Walter Frankfurt am Main Former Spokesman of the Board of Management of Dresdner Bank AG Other supervisory board memberships/directorships: Bilfinger Berger SE – Chairman Deutsche Telekom AG Henkel AG & Co. KGaA Uwe Werner* Bremen Chairman of the Works Council, Bremen Plant, Daimler AG Lynton R. Wilson Toronto Chairman of the Board of CAE Inc. ; Chancellor of McMaster University Retired from the Supervisory Board: Dr. Manfred Schneider Leverkusen Chairman of the Supervisor y Board of Bayer AG (retired on April 13, 2011)Committees of the Supervisory Board: Committee pursuant to Section 27 Subsection 3 of the German Codetermination Act (MitbestG) Dr. Manfred Bischoff – Chairman Erich Klemm* Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht Dr. Thomas Klebe* Presidential Committee Dr. Manfred Bischoff – Chairman Erich Klemm* Dr. Jurgen Hambrecht Dr. Thomas Klebe* Audit Committee Dr. h. c. Bernhard Walter – Chairman Erich Klemm* Dr. Clemens Borsig Stefan Schwaab* Nomination Committee Dr. Manfred Bischoff – Chairman Dr. Paul Achleitner Sari Baldauf * Representative of the employees 23 Daimler Shares The spread of the sovereign-debt crisis and growing uncertainty about ongoing economic developments caused high volatility in the capital markets. Daimler’s share price fell significantly during the year 2011.In view of a repeated increase in net profit, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board propose a higher dividend of â‚ ¬2. 20 per share (prior year: â‚ ¬1. 85). 1. 01 Development of Daimler’s share price and major indices End of 2011 End of 2010 11/10 % change -33 -15 -17 +6 -17 -24 Daimler’s share price (in euros) DAX 30 Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 Dow Jones Industrial Average Nikkei Dow Jones STOXX Auto Index 33. 92 5,898 2,317 12,218 8,455 259 50. 73 6,914 2,793 11,578 10,229 341 Turbulent year on global stock markets. Stock markets continued their very volatile and disparate development in 2011. Against the backdrop of positive economic developments and encouraging company results, the upward trend of the previous year at first continued at the beginning of 2011.A number of negative factors such as the worsening debt crisis in the euro zone, the violent conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East, the natural disaster in Japan and growing fears of inflation then led to sharp falls in share prices in March. However, following good quarterly results of companies in Europe and the United States, stoc k markets recovered quickly and reached their peaks for the year in May. After moving sideways for several months, share prices generally declined at the beginning of August due to the weaker economic outlook. The exacerbating financial crisis in Europe and the downgrading of the United States’ creditworthiness raised market fears of a renewed recession during the autumn.As a result, the markets remained very volatile. The index of the most important stocks in the euro zone, the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50, fell significantly, especially in the second half of 2011, and lost 17% over the full year. Germany’s main index, the DAX, lost 15%. In the United States, the Dow Jones climbed by 6% over the year. The Nikkei index in Japan closed 2011 down 17% compared with a year earlier. Volatile development of Daimler’s share price in 2011. Automotive stocks made a positive start to the year 2011. Our share profited at the beginning of the year from good unit sales in Decembe r and the encouraging data from the US truck market.Daimler’s share price peaked for the year at â‚ ¬58. 46 on January 18. This was followed by a phase of consolidation. Growing uncertainty had a disproportionately strong impact on the price of cyclical stocks such as Daimler’s. Nonetheless, our share price remained at the level it had reached at the end of 2010 until the end of July, despite negative factors such as the debt crisis in Europe, the natural disaster in Japan and the conflicts in North Africa and the Middle East. Share prices then fell significantly in August. This phase saw strong selling but only a weak propensity to buy. In that trading environment, economically sensitive automotive stocks suffered sharp losses.Although good unit sales were reported during the summer break, investors – especially in the United States – remained very risk averse and reduced the proportion of what they regarded as risky 1. 02 In euros Net profit Key figu res per share 2011 2010 11/10 % change +24 +24 +19 +9 -33 +7 -4 5. 32 5. 31 2. 20 38. 77 33. 92 58. 46 29. 16 4. 28 4. 28 1. 85 35. 62 50. 73 54. 87 30. 35 Net profit (diluted) Dividend Equity (December 31) Xetra share price at year end 1 Highest 1 Lowest 1 1 Closing prices 24 1 | To Our Shareholders | Daimler Shares European stocks in their portfolios. But, benefiting from the positive development of the German stock market and the publication of good third-quarter results in line with market expectations, Daimler’s share price climbed again significantly in October within a very volatile environment.The repeated increase in uncertainty about a resolution of the euro crisis caused the stock markets and automotive stocks to fall again temporarily in November. During this phase, the price of Daimler’s shares reached its low for the year of â‚ ¬29. 16 on November 23. After a brief recovery, our share price remained flat in December and closed the year at a price of â ‚ ¬33. 92 on December 30. ? 1. 01 Our share thus fell by 33% over the full year, which is a weaker performance than the Dow Jones STOXX Auto Index (-24%) and the DAX (-15%). Daimler’s market capitalization at the end of 2011 was â‚ ¬36. 2 billion. In the first several weeks of the year 2012, Daimler’s share price climbed significantly. Dividend of â‚ ¬2. 20. ? 1. 2 The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board will propose to the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting to be held on April 4, 2012 that in view of the good business development the dividend should be increased from â‚ ¬1. 85 to â‚ ¬2. 20 per share. The total dividend payout will thus amount to â‚ ¬2,346 million (prior year: â‚ ¬1,971 million). Broad shareholder structure. ? 1. 07 Daimler continues to have a broad shareholder base of approximately 1. 0 million shareholders. The number of shareholders remained stable compared with 2010, so there was no continuation of the trend of fallin g shareholder numbers that occurred in previous years. There was a steadily growing demand for our shares from private investors during the second half of 2011, mainly in Germany. Kuwait Investment Authority holds 6. 9% of Daimler’s shares and the Renault-Nissan Alliance holds 3. 1%.Aabar Investments PJS, Abu Dhabi (Aabar), notified us in October 2011 that its Daimler voting rights had fallen below the notification threshold of 5% and amounted to 4. 99998% at that time. This was caused by a slight increase in Daimler’s share capital due to the exercise of stock options. In February 2012, Aabar notified us that the number of Daimler shares it physically owned had decreased to approximately 32. 7 million, equivalent to a shareholding of 3. 07%. In connection with the respective shareholding notifications, Aabar also informed us that it has the right to redelivery of the difference between the approximately 32. 7 million shares it physically owns and the 96. 4 million sha res it originally acquired. In connection with its shareholding, Aabar entered into a series of financing transactions.As of 1 February 2012, the new rules pursuant to the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG) require separate incremental disclosures of certain elements of these transactions, which lead to double-counting with respect to parts of Aabar’s total shareholding. Together with shares lent to third parties in connection with financing transactions for which Aabar has a right of redelivery, Aabar still holds 9. 04%. BlackRock Inc. , New York, informed us in August 2011 that it had exceeded the 5% notification threshold as defined by Germany’s Securities Trading Act (WpHG) and that its Daimler voting rights amounted to 5. 7% as of August 11, 2011. Capital Research and Management Company of Los Angeles, which notified us in May 2010 that it held 3. 1% of our shares, is still above the 3% notification threshold stipulated by the WpHG.The treasury shares held by Da imler at the end of 2010 (approximately 0. 2 million shares worth about â‚ ¬7 million) were used during the year under review to satisfy the claims of former AEG shareholders from arbitration proceedings. In total, institutional investors hold 67% of our share capital and private investors hold 20%. Approximately 69% of our equity are in the hands of European investors and approximately 19% are held by US investors. ? 1. 08 1. 03 In euros 65 60 55 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 Daimler share price (high/low), 2011 1/11 2/11 3/11 4/11 5/11 6/11 7/11 8/11 9/11 10/11 11/11 12/11 1. 04 140 130 120 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 Share price index 2/31/10 2/28/11 4/29/11 6/30/11 8/31/11 10/31/11 12/31/11 Daimler AG Dow Jones STOXX Auto Index DAX 25 1. 05 Key figures End of 2011 End of 2010 11/10 % change Share capital (in millions of euros) Number of shares (in millions) thereof treasury shares Market capitalization (in billions) )of euros) Number of shareholders (in millions) Weighting in share index D AX 30 Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50 Long-term credit ratings Standard & Poor’s Moody’s Fitch DBRS 3,060 1,066. 3 0 36. 2 1. 0 3,058 1,065. 6 0. 2 54. 0 1. 0 +0 +0 -100 -33 0 The weighting of Daimler shares in major indices decreased during 2011 due to the negative development of our share price.In the German DAX 30 index, our stock was ranked in seventh position with a weighting of 5. 93% at the end of the year (end of 2010: 7. 51%). ? 1. 05 In the Dow Jones Euro STOXX 50, Daimler shares were represented with a weighting of 2. 26% (end of 2010: 2. 88%). Daimler shares are listed in Frankfurt and Stuttgart. Stock-exchange trading in Germany in the year 2011 amounted to 1,728 million shares (2010: 1,492 million). In addition, Daimler shares are increasingly traded on multilateral trading platforms and in the over-thecounter market. Substantially increased participation in employee share program. In March 2011, eligible members of the workforce were once again able to acquire e mployee shares.A price incentive that was granted for the first time and bonus shares helped to increase the number of participants to 32,200 employees, who acquired a total of 610,300 shares (2010: 19,400 employees acquired 350,700 shares). Annual Shareholders’ Meeting approves management’s proposals with large majorities. Our Annual Shareholders’ Meeting held on April 13, 2011 at the Berlin International Congress Center (ICC) was attended by approximately 5,100 shareholders (2010: 4,700). With 43. 3% of the share capital represented at the Annual Meeting, shareholder representation (attendance plus absentee votes) was higher than in the prior year (40. 3%). In the voting on the items of the agenda, the shareholders adopted the recommendations of the management with large majorities.The shareholders

Biomedical Technology In Ethics and Religion

here are many misconceptions in biomedical genealogy, mostly caused by the many viewpoints and opinions concerning it. When formulating opinions and viewpoints, it Is crucial to be properly educated about that particular topic. The lack of knowledge and moral dispute may hinder clientele research. Although critics argue that it is unethical to manipulate DNA, with genetic manipulation, certain diseases can be eliminated, and cloning holds the ability to produce human organs viable for transplant.Critics argue that it Is unethical to manipulate DNA Some say it Is dangerous because there Is not much knowledge about it. However, genetic manipulation is not a new concept. Some may say that Hitler had this idea before most scientists. An Aryan race is what Hitler striver for. If only he knew that his idea of deciding what genes people receive would carry on even to this day. Scientists are discovering new ways to control what traits are passed through heredity. In the future parents may g et to decide what traits their children receive.This breakthrough in technology is very controversial. â€Å"Some critics continue to argue that it's unethical to manipulate the genetic makeup of human eggs even if here Specter of Human Cloning†). Many religious and moral leaders believe that manipulating DNA crosses a boundary that only God has the right to cross. Many also believe that scientists should not use human embryo in testing because it is wasting human life. Scientists are developing new tests that can determine whether or not a child has a birth defect or disability very early on In pregnancy.In this, parents can decide if they would like to keep their child or not. Religious and ethical people are outraged at such tests because they believe that human life should not be a choice. The problem is that researchers aren't allowed to use human embryo in such tests, Knish said, so Instead, they use animal embryo†(Peeler 6). The conflict with using animal embryo, Is that scientists do not get the same results as they would if they were to use human embryo. People expect exact results and breakthrough discoveries but they are not willing to pay the price.Genetic manipulation holds the chance that certain diseases can be eliminated. This Is one of the many benefits that come with genetic manipulation. Some say that scientists are finding new ways to control what traits get passed through heredity. If that is so, scientists can make the traits that carry heritable diseases vanish. If scientists can manipulate DNA to relinquish the formation of certain diseases, they will know what causes that disease. This advancement will not only prevent people from obtaining disease but will also eliminate It In people who already have It. We will see disease eliminated in the future, or we will witness the creation of new and 1 OFF unleashed†(Decolletage 75). Some believe that once technology goes so far it will be an unstoppable, dangerous force. Ma ny think that scientists manipulating DNA is imply too far. â€Å"Can we, however, ignore opportunities to improve human health†(Decolletage 51). What if no one in the world had cancer, down syndrome, or other disabilities and diseases? People would not oppose research so much if they knew what the outcome would be. People are afraid to take risks; they do not want to put their fate in someone else's hands.What if those hands cured illness and disease? In addition, new biomedical technology such as cloning holds the possibility of cloning human organs that are viable for transplant. Thousands of people each year die because of organ shortages. Cloning human organs can eliminate this epidemic. If organs can be specially made for each individual who needs one, organ transplant waiting lists can be eliminated. â€Å"†¦ An average of 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can't take place because of the shortage of donated organs†(â€Å"The Need Is Real: Data†).These deaths can be prevented by cloning. However, many people believe that cloning is very unethical and goes against religion. This hinders the formation of cloning and holds back scientists from imperative research. The lack of support given by the people for cloning research impedes government and local ending and aid. The delay in funding and aid creates a rift in research. Many people support biomedical technology and cloning, but only to a certain extent. Most religious people are concerned about cloning because they believe that only God has the right to give and take life in any form.In reality, fear and the lack of knowledge inhibit many religious and ethical people from supporting the idea of cloning. â€Å"If we hope to direct the course of this powerful technology, we should strive to learn as much as we can about these molecular tools and then let scientists and corporations know our wishes. Only then can we truly expect to avoid the risks and enjoy the progress and the promises of our genetic future†(Decolletage 112). Advocates and antagonists both need to strive for further knowledge about this subject in order to tell scientists exactly what they want.How can scientists know how far to take their new technology, if no one has the correct knowledge to tell them where is too far? In conclusion, there are many opinions and viewpoints on the topic of biomedical technology. These can help but they can also hinder scientific research in many ways. One of which is the opinion of religious and ethical people. These people can bring up valid points and bring forth new thoughts and useful ideas about biomedical technology, but they can also let their personal views get in the way.Often times the opinions of religious and ethical people are blurred or disrupted by their personal views. This can lead to extremist views that believe all biomedical technology goes against religion and is unethical. Many people will align themselves with one ideal or theology without educating themselves and considering other viewpoints. In order for both sides of this debate to reach a compromise there must be an open forum of to only communication but also education between both parties.

Critical Book Review of “Fast Food Nation” Essay

In this essay, an attempt is made to critically review the book, â€Å"Fast Food Nation† which deals with the process of emergence of fast food culture in America leading to significant social changes. Analysis The meticulously researched book â€Å"Fast Food Nation† is written by the journalist Eric Schlosser. The author devotes much attention to unhealthy fast food, labor violations, and many cases of food poisoning. The author gives information regarding the process of emergence of fast food culture in America; the health issues related to fast food culture, and the government regulations regarding the fast food. In this book, the author demonstrates the ugly side of American food culture. According to the author of this book Americans spend more on fast food than on books, movies, etc. In 2001, Americans have spent $110 billion on fast food. There are 43000 meatpacking workers. Fast food industry spends $3 billion to attract the young people to the fast food centers. The author states that every American consumes three hamburgers and four orders of French fries every week. He says that the social price of fast food has neglected the traditional American values. The attempt of the author is to argue against the consumption of fast food by the Americans. He obtained information through fieldwork and by interviewing different categories of workers involved in fast food production. The author argues that the main reason for opening so many fast food centers was to attract large number of people to the fast food culture. This is a part of the capitalist agenda since the fast food centers have increased the capital of the owners of these centers. Due to this, few corporations have dominated the fast food business in America. The author does not hide his distrust regarding the fundamental principles of the capitalist system. He has given information regarding the economic strategies of the capitalists in popularizing the consumption of fast food among the American youth and other sections of American society. The book also gives information regarding the problems faced by the teen-aged workers who were paid low wages. The author mentions that one out of every eight worker in America is employed in McDonald. McDonald’s hire nearly million people a year. However, they work under dangerous working conditions. It is mentioned that three companies master 80 percent of US demand for frozen fries. The author visited the slaughterhouses and comprehended the potential health hazards both to the workers and the consumers. He mentions that each year one in three workers go to doctor due to problem with their stomach. The author gives the information that two thirds of fast food workers are under 20 and most of them work 12 hours shift. To demonstrate his argument the author has used the examples, logos from the companies such as MacDonald’s. The fast food culture has few negative impacts on the health and society of America. For instance, this has increased the problem of obesity. These restaurants use items such as potatoes and cattle to produce the popular food. The use of items such as oil and method of production of meat has increased the problem of obesity in America. Obesity in the recent years has emerged as the one of the most severe social and health problems among the American youth. Thus, fast food culture can be considered as one factor leading to this problem of obesity in America. However, the author has neglected the role of consumer while discussing the growth of fast food culture. The author points out the need for government regulations to curb the freedom of multi national companies in imposing their capitalist agenda on the people. The fast food mostly produced and consumed by the younger generation are not healthy. Regarding the health hazard, the author refers to E. coli and salmonella infection. The author blames the politicians for taking money from agri business capitalists, which has increased the number of fast food restaurants throughout America. The author has urged the readers that they should run away from the fast food in order to maintain their health. The fact that fast food culture is becoming popular indicates the emergence of significant changes in the American society. The fast food centers have on the one hand created health problems, and, on the other, they have led to changes in the social values among the American youth. The author says that everyday one-quarter of adult population in America visit fast food centers. Although people are aware of the bad effects of the fast food, still fast foods have not lost their popularity. Thus, the author does not give clear explanation regarding the reasons for the popularity of these fast food centers. However, the author, by the use of statistics, symbols, and examples has succeeded in arguing against the monopoly of few companies in fast food business. He has demonstrated the negative impact of fast food on health and society of America. Those who read this book would not send their children to the fast food centers. Conclusion The book â€Å"Fast Food Nation† has convincingly proved that fast food culture has led to problem of obesity and affected the workers and health of consumers of fast food. This also demonstrates that the nature of changes that would emerge in the future American society.

The Beatle Side of Rock Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Beatle Side of Rock - Research Paper Example Scott, and Andy Schwartz) The Beatles’ music and lyrics as compared to that of the Rolling Stones, has a certain amount of difference along with being linked to each other as well. By 1965, British pop music had reached its peak with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones on top of the charts, adorning the hits and making people aware of them. Both these groups helped to define music during that era and set the bar for other bands and singers and musical groups that were coming up. However, with time the Beatles grew apart and broke up within ten years of being together and making music with one another whereas the Stones remained tight and still worked together as a band creating music for people all around the world. (Lewisohn, M) The Stones were all about non conformity and thus did not give in to the sounds that bands around them were into producing. This is what set them apart from the Beatles and helped them to stay with each other unlike the Beatles that broke apart because of their differences with each other. However, during their stay as a band together, Lennon and McCartney produced some of the most amazing music the world has ever heard; intense lyrics with words that flowed like rhyme and rhythm along with in depth thinking gone into the making and stringing of each and every word together. The lyrics were mature and a product of the unconscious and daring mind of John Lennon mostly as he put together his artistic sense of profoundness and gave the world something new to utter on their lips. Paul McCartney has been termed to be a natural melodist who is able to create tunes with the most perfect harmonies ever heard by people. He has been constantly developing himself as he has gone ahead in his career, both with the band and otherwise, and has been able to... The Beatle Side of Rock The various members of the band, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison have become recognised as icons of music and peace by people as well. However, during the time the Beatles were active, so were a number of other bands and singers, trying to shoot to fame as well, with the help of their music and lyrics. Bands like Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, as well as singer Bob Dylan were the contemporaries of the Beatles at the time. The Beatles rose to fame for a period of a decade between which they were able to produce a number of hit singles and top the charts almost all the time. They have been regarded as icons of rock that have changed the world as well as the face of music. â€Å"In their initial incarnation as cheerful, wisecracking moptops, the Fab Four revolutionized the sound, style, and attitude of popular music and opened rock and roll's doors to a tidal wave of British rock acts. Their initial impact would have been enough to establish the Beatles as one of their era's most influential cultural forces, but they didn't stop there. The Beatles have been able to establish themselves all over the world in the name of rock music and peace. They have been portrayed a number of times in films, art work as well as music composed by other singers and bands and have been greatly perceived by most of the world. There are several differences that lie between them and bands like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin as discussed within the purview of this paper.

Fiscal Tools of Central Banks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fiscal Tools of Central Banks - Essay Example Since a low stable inflation is mandatory for an optimal economic growth, one of the main roles of the central bank is to control the growth of money by controlling inflation which is attained by using monetary policy tools. According to early classical theories of inflation pertaining mostly to the growth of money, an increase in the supply of money by government forces is primarily responsible for increased inflation levels. However, the growth of money is a necessary prerequisite for the growth of money but it is not adequate on its own (Mankiw & Reis, 2002). Other factors that should be considered include the velocity of money because, in the absence of money expenditure, no inflation can occur. A good example of the importance of the velocity of money impact on inflation is when people possess money but instead of spending it, they hide the money in their homes. In such scenarios, there will be no effect on the present inflation levels.   Inflation is recorded when suppliers of goods and services increase the prices of their products by responding to the effects of aggregate demand in the economy. â€Å"The increase in aggregate demand has the effect of increasing aggregate supply† (total supply of all the services and products in the economy) (Dullien, 2004). Therefore, an increase in inflation levels is as a result of an increase in the demand which is relative to supply. A cycle is created as a result because when people acquire money they proceed to spend the money on a service or product and the money is transferred to the supplier of the good/service and the supplier, in turn, spends it turn on some else and an endless cycle continues. In this case, the government creates money which is cycled throughout the population endlessly.   

Technical Abstrract-Article Summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Technical Abstrract-Article Summary - Assignment Example It is the slight curve of the Nexus display that makes people think that it has a flexible display. The manufacture of flexible smartphones is not without hurdles. For one, the durability of a bendable phone and its components remain questionable. Yet again, the cost of manufacturing the phone is higher than that for standard phones While OLED displays are better than LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screens in that they can easily bend or fold without being destroyed, they may need to an additional glass layer to be more durable. A flexible display is beneficial compared to the rigid display in that it is more durable especially even when they fall. They also tend to be thinner and lighter than the standard screens since they are made of plastic. While plastic gives greater flexibility to displays, they are disadvantageous in that they are semi-permeable to air and water which can destroy the display. In conclusion, flexible OLED displays are more durable compared to their LCD counterparts given that they are more flexible. However, it remains to be seen how practical flexible displays are in the

Role of Compromise in Delaying the Civil War Essay

Role of Compromise in Delaying the Civil War - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the period before the American civil war of 1861-1865 was one of the politically dramatic periods in American history. This essay discusses that compromise played a big role in delaying the civil war until 1861. The compromise of 1850 consisted of five bills processed by Clay and advocated by Douglas. This paper illustrates that the bill made it possible for Texas to withdraw its war claim to New Mexico. States such as Washington D.C agreed to ban of slave trade whereas others such as national capital retained slave trade. Additionally, other states allowed California to be a free state. The author has rightly presented that the ideas of popular sovereignty sought to manifest sovereign powers to the people by allowing them to have free will in determining their political and societal discourse. The paper tells that this was most evident in Kansas-Nebraska act. Douglas advocated for democracy and free will among the people. Different st ates were able to make their own independent decisions regarding an important issue such as the constitution. This helped delay the civil war appreciably. This essay discusses that Missouri compromise aimed at finding a consensus between pro and anti-slavery factions. House of Representatives eased their stand on the issue. According to the research findings, Missouri was allowed to make their own constitution in which they sought to forbid slave trade.

Public Finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Public Finance - Assignment Example This deals with the cause that is behind the problem and assists the market in its efficient working; rather than substituting the market having complex propaganda involving too technical information, in other words unique service, a case for intervention in production and allocation of the service is highly possible. Synchronization problems may be prevented through the incorporation of public firms and thus market breakdown can be avoided. Co-ordination hazards are mainly prominent in the presence of huge and non-uniform groups of capable beneficiaries, anonymous shared concerns, high initial expense of synchronization, or, no inducement or mechanisms placed to defeat the problem of free rider.   Intervention for social fairness or equity causations are dependent on subjective verdicts and judgments made by democratically legally obligated politicians, still a market breakdown framework should be utilized by informing decisions and ensuring the desired effect is acquired in the b est effective way.    In the replica of a segment of flats, beneficial co-operation are held within a  parametrically small group having the same benefit, i.e., the advantages are non offensive. It is a Representation of an admixed public good. Persons and firms possibly accede to defeat market crashes where:   †¢ the capable beneficiaries are somewhat a not so large group and so the effort conceding and adjusting is low.   †¢ The probable beneficiaries are unvarying group5 and that is why the advantages are esteemed equally.   †¢ Although some assignees will have a ‘free ride’ on others investments   the confidential advantages of the considerate activities are supposed to be larger than the confidential expenses of consignment / adjustment.   †¢ There are lures or mechanisms for overcoming free riding. Top of Form Bottom of Form For other consequences, such as huge and non-uniform groups of expected beneficiaries, there is possibly an affair for civil interruption to encourage, authorize or speed the co-operation. Public interruption might include:   †¢ relieving few risks to the private abettors of initial expense of adjustment.   †¢ Mechanisms for administering collective verdicts to defeat the problem of free rider.   †¢ Mechanisms for persons with shared concernment to search for one another. As an example, promoting tourism possibly requires public sector consignment because the capable successors are a big and heterogeneous assemblage with some bargains likely to be beneficial more than all the other – it is attainable that both hotel keepers and business owners would benefit as a result of increase in tourist to London although the benefits of the hoteliers possibly is greater.   Civil sector consignment may also become a necessity to react to the massive events which impact many people, like a natural disaster which can also cause temporary distresses to market. In cases lik e this, only the civil sector usually has the capacity of organizing and mobilizing a tactical reaction.  (Musgrave, 2004; Brown and Jackson, 1990). Why should the public sector intervene in the economy? Some goods as well as some services maintain few specific trends, which definitely tell us that in an open competitive market

Serology International Employee Training Case Study

Serology International Employee Training - Case Study Example The human resource director, Dr. Tom Turblin has been assigned the role of selecting the most qualified employee to lead the new division that is going to be charged with the production of the kit. Dr. Tom will also be in charge of training him for the role. Dr. Tom decides that he will first begin with a re-evaluation of the academic qualification of all the employees that are employed by the firm. The exercise is going to be undertaken by an outsourced firm that deals with analysis and auditing. The exercise is going to cost Serology International around 60,000 US dollars. In addition, the outsourced auditing firm has notified Dr. Tom that the exercise will take three weeks. However, Dr. Tom wanted it completed as soon as possible, but he has already agreed to the deal. The firm identifies Scott Dickson as the most qualified employee. Thus, Dr. Tom decides to go through his file and record. He notes Scott has been the head of the Pipette production unit for the firm for a long time. His records show that in his tenure, there has been a considerable rate of return and innovation; hence paints him as an innovative individual. What about his leadership skills? After inquiring from the workers under his jurisdiction. They indicate that he is a leader who is always willing to listen and take part in the production stages. Moreover, he seeks to understand each employee on a personal level and gives credit where it is due. However, Scott has some shortcomings. One is that Scott has no prior experience in the production of DNA assessment kits. An aspect that worries Dr. Tom a lot. He has since decided to help him and work as his guide. His hope is that doing so will give Scott the confidence that is required to run the new division successfully. Scott is also be said to be high-tempered. He is emotional and has losses control easily.  

Debate on Military Draft Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Debate on Military Draft - Research Paper Example Debate on Military Draft The draft which was initially referred to as conscription was first instituted in the civil battle in an attempt to increase an adequate amount of troops to battle in the coming war in 1860. For the period of World War I, the draft was used to get more than four million young men into the service for the Allied cause. In 1940, again the draft was used to increase the number of service men by one and a half million. The Vietnam and Korean War saw the increase of compulsory service before being phased out, was not seen again until 1940, when the army's numbers jumped to nearly one and a half million soldiers. Presently, young men are must to sign up with Selective Service. Military service is a classic debate between duty to society and individual liberty. Arguments for the military draft From a political point of view, a military draft guarantees that there are adequate soldiers to actually battle in whichever wars that are being fought. Where several countries are at war automatically means that more soldiers are injured or die and they need to be replaced. The United States of America has been involved in the Afghan and Iraqi wars for several years now; most of the tax payers’ money has been spent. Americans have seen greater than before rates of limb loss, distressing brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide. If there was no draft it would mean that the government will have to spend more money to recruit more soldiers and pay them just like the professional soldiers (Bades et al. 817). The military is a dignified profession and a large number of people choose to serve at the country for varied reasons. Some people join the forces at it is a family tradition while others do so as have fewer options when it comes to socioeconomic explanations in life (Ruschmann 772). Exclusive of a draft, Americans are left in a immense and risky luxury as they are able to able to dispatch war fighting to a largely secluded force of courageous volunteers. Consequently, most of Americans have little express relationship with the military. A draft for young people who attain a definite age achieves a number of things. First, it clearly provides the nation with a secure supply of skilled soldiers in case they are urgently required to protect their country against their enemies. The military draft will gives the youth a high level of obedience which, optimistically, will translate finally into self-discipline (Carper 495). If these young people are correctly assessed and trained, this phase of compulsory service can assist them to make a decision on what they want to accomplish in their lives by giving them a hands-on experience in a range of fields of know-how. On top of that, universal drafts will convene young people together from differe nt backgrounds. This passage of educational, social, financial obstacle is increasingly becoming more intricate and extraordinary in American culture. However, since not all every young person is suited to military service, it is imperative that an alternative of supplementary kinds of public service be open to those who need it. Some can argue out that compulsory service

In this play, suicide is an act forbidden by religion Essay Example for Free

In this play, suicide is an act forbidden by religion Essay To be, or not to be cries a torn Hamlet in Shakespeares tragedy, Hamlet. This is not the first time that Hamlet reflects upon his existence and thinks about committing suicide. In this play, suicide is an act forbidden by religion and society that one may take into consideration only after stricken with unbearable grief. In Hamlets case, he is stuck between living a horrible life that may not seem worth living, and taking his own life to end the cruelty of it, which he claims he would if God had not made it forbidden. Subsequently, Hamlet fuels his fire to live and not follow the path of suicide by remembering his duty as a person, which for him is to avenge his murdered father before it is too late. Before we can understand Hamlets popular predicament to be or not to be as a whole, we must make sure that we define the concepts that are key in his situation to place ourselves in Hamlets depressing shoes. For one, suicide is a broad, varying act that has different meanings to different people in different times. For the people of Hamlets setting, it was an atrocious, intentional act that only the horrid sinners would commit against the almighty Biblical God. Even after death, the people still looked down upon the dead that did not pass naturally into the afterlife by holding a funeral that only genocidal dictator would be worthy of; one that involved throwing rubble into the pit of the dead instead of pious flowers and ornaments. Also, though, what must be considered is the situation a person might be in. For example, if you live a life that involves lying in a dreadful hospital bed with very little consciousness and no sense of elation, one might argue, from a Christian viewpoint, that it is not immoral to kill yourself. Whether or not someone believes in a supreme being, one generally has morals. Morals are a set of rules or schemas that people follow and live by which they create, edit, and alter throughout their lives. In Hamlet, we see that almost everyone holds a heavy, negative view against suicide. The play leads us to think that suicide is something that is unnatural and undeniably immoral. When Ophelia dies, many people believed it was suicide, while others assumed it was an accidental death (Act IV, scene vii). Depending upon which side they took, their culminating feelings towards Ophelia was created based on their initial assumptions. The gravediggers or clowns that spoke during Ophelias funeral procession question whether she will receive a proper, Christian burial, or if she will be treated like a bag of bones and skin, essentially, and be buried in an unfavorable fashion. Though the situation pointed towards suicide, Ophelia received a funeral that was Christianesque mainly because of her royal blood (Act V, scene i). This specific example from the play shows us how immoral suicide, to the people of the play, really was. Where do the roots of morals lie? The answer exists in religion. The characters of Hamlet all consider religion and the laws of it to be of utmost importance. In Hamlet, Christianity is the only religion mentioned and is followed by practically everyone. Considering most people were very religious, we can infer that they followed the rules very closely and criticized those that did not, even if it was they. In one of Hamlets soliloquies, we learn that one of the few things preventing Hamlet from ending his miserable life is the commandment of God. Or that the Everlasting had not fixd His canon gainst self-slaughter! If it were not against the will of God, Hamlet would have considered suicide even more and maybe even committed the treacherous act. Christianity condemns suicide (Act I, scene ii). The people of the play follow Christianity rigorously. Therefore, the people of the play look down upon suicide mainly because of their religious views.

Gap Year After Graduation Essay Example for Free

Gap Year After Graduation Essay Nowadays, students leaving high school regularly travel, do voluntary work or a job in a gap year before going on to higher education. Undoubtedly, students occupy various benefits from experiments in gap year. It is apparent that after rigorous terms, a gap year which students possibly travel, volunteer society or do temporary work before deciding to join in higher education stimulates positively their practical and adaptive capability. Initially, those dynamic activities possibly enhance empirical ability of youngsters who passively acquire knowledge during high school. In evidence, learners feasibly comprehend miracles of foreign languages when they practice experimentally via travelling or voluntary work in abroad. More significantly, not only can a gap year improves practical ability but also enhances communication skill through youngster’s real factual experiences. Only by adapting to a changeable and flexible environment can students expend their personal skill and learn how to communicate effectively. Accordingly, a period time which students perform them after high school period effects advantageously to their practical and soft skill. That the young experience in gap year is not only a principal platforms which help them choose higher education form but also a chance to become more mature. A gap year with profound considerations cumulated by real experiments justifies what kind of higher education they are advisedly appropriate for. The young who are able to apply into universities and passionate studying advanced knowledge identify accurately their choice. Nevertheless, others who are appropriate for practicing in actual life also ascertain that their selection is vocation. Additionally, facing to challenge of real life leads them to be awareness profoundly of the changing world. Hardly can the young be mature when they always are protected carefully by parents and are not responsible for themselves. Briefly, a gap year is precious chances which support the young identify what they real want. Therefore, challenge in real life which students pass in a gap year is also valuable experiments for developing in the future.

Automatic Encoding Detection And Unicode Conversion Engine Computer Science Essay

Automatic Encoding Detection And Unicode Conversion Engine Computer Science Essay In computers, characters are represented using numbers. Initially the encoding schemes were designed to support the English alphabet, which has a limited number of symbols. Later the requirement for a worldwide character encoding scheme to support multi lingual computing was identified. The solution was to come up with a 16 encoding scheme to represent a character so that it can support up to large character set. The current Unicode version contains 107,000 characters covering 90 scripts. In the current context operating systems such as Windows 7, UNIX based operating systems applications such as word processors and data exchange technologies do support this standard enabling internationalization in the IT industry. Even though this standard has been the de facto standard, still there can be seen certain applications using proprietary encoding schemes to represent the data. As an example, famous Sinhala news sites still do not adapt Unicode standard based fonts to represent the conte nt. This causes issues such as the requirement of downloading proprietary fonts, browser dependencies making the efforts of Unicode standard in vain. In addition to the web site content itself there are collections of information included in documents such as PDFs in non Unicode fonts making it difficult to search through search engines unless the search term is entered in that particular font encoding. This has given the requirement of automatically detecting the encoding and transforming into the Unicode encoding in the corresponding language, so that it avoids the problems mentioned. In case of web sites, a browser plug-in implementation to support the automatic non-Unicode to Unicode conversion would eliminate the requirement of downloading legacy fonts, which uses proprietary character encodings. Although some web sites provide the source font information, there are certain web applications, which do not give this information, making the auto detection process more difficult. Hence it is required to detect the encoding first, before it has been fed to the transformation process. This has given the rise to a research area of auto detecting the language encoding for a given text based on language characteristics. This problem will be addressed based on a statistical language encoding detection mechanism. The technique would be demonstrated with the support for all the Sinhala Non Unicode encodings. The implementation for the demonstration will make sure that it is an extendible solution for other languages making it support for any given language based on a future requirement. Since the beginning of the computer age, many encoding schemes have been created to represent various writing scripts/characters for computerized data. With the advent of globalization and the development of the Internet, information exchanges crossing both language and regional boundaries are becoming ever more important. However, the existence of multiple coding schemes presents a significant barrier. The Unicode has provided a universal coding scheme, but it has not so far replaced existing regional coding schemes for a variety of reasons. Thus, todays global software applications are required to handle multiple encodings in addition to supporting Unicode. In computers, characters are encoded as numbers. A typeface is the scheme of letterforms and the font is the computer file or program which physically embodies the typeface. Legacy fonts use different encoding systems for assigning the numbers for characters. This leads to the fact that two legacy font encodings defining different numbers for the same character. This may lead to conflicts with how the characters are encoded in different systems and will require maintaining multiple encoding fonts. The requirement of having a standard to unique character identification was satisfied with the introduction of Unicode. Unicode enables a single software product or a single website to be targeted across multiple platforms, languages and countries without re-engineering. Unicode Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the worlds writing systems. The latest Unicode has more than 107,000 characters covering 90 scripts, which consists of a set of code charts. The Unicode Consortium co-ordinates Unicodes development and the goal is to eventually replace existing character encoding schemes with Unicode and its standard Unicode Transformation Format (UTF) schemes. This standard is being supported in many recent technologies including Programming Languages and modern operating systems. All W3C recommendations have used Unicode as their document character set since HTML 4.0. Web browsers have supported Unicode, especially UTF-8, for many years [4], [5]. Sinhala Legacy Font Conversion Requirement for Web Content Sinhala language usage in computer technology has been present since 1980s but the lack of standards in character representation system resulted in proprietary fonts. Sinhala was added to Unicode in 1998 with the intention of overcoming the limitations in proprietary character encodings. Dinamina, DinaminaUniWeb, Iskoola Pota, KandyUnicode, KaputaUnicode, Malithi Web, Potha are some Sinhala Unicode fonts which were developed so that the numbers assigned with the characters are the same. Still some major news sites which display Sinhala character contents have not adapted the Unicode standards. The Legacy Fonts encoding schemes are used instead causing the conflicts in content representation. In order to minimize the problems, font families were created where the shape of characters only differs but the encoding remains the same. FM Font Family, DL Font Family are some examples where a font family concept is used as a grouping of Sinhala fonts with similar encodings [1], [2]. Adaptation of non Unicode encodings causes a lot of compatibility issues when viewed in different browsers and operating systems. Operating systems such as Windows Vista, Windows7 come with Sinhala Unicode support and do not require external fonts to be installed to read Sinhalese script. Variations of GNU/Linux distributions such as Dabian or Ubuntu also provide Sinhala Unicode support. Enabling non Unicode applications especially web contents with the support for Unicode fonts will allow the users to view contents without installing the legacy fonts. Non Unicode PDF Documents In addition to the contents in the web, there exists a whole lot of government documents which are in PDF format but their contents are encoded with legacy fonts. Those documents would not be searchable through search engines by entering the search terms in Unicode. In order to overcome the problem it is important to convert such documents in to a Unicode font so that they are searchable and its data can be used by other applications consistently, irrespective of the font. As another part of the project this problem would be addressed through a converter tool, which creates the Unicode version of existing PDF document which are currently in legacy font. The Problem Sections 1.3, 1.4 describe two domains in which the Non Unicode to Unicode conversion is required. The conversion involves identification of non-Unicode contents and replacing it with the corresponding Unicode contents. The content replacement requires a Mapping engine, which would do the proper segmentation of the input text and map it with the corresponding Unicode code. The mapping engine can perform the mapping task only if it knows what is the source text encoding. In general, the encoding is specified along with the content so that the mapping engine could feed it directly. However, in certain cases the encoding is not specified along with the content. Hence detecting the encoding through an encoding the detection engine provides a research area, especially with the non-Unicode content. In addition to that, incorporating the detection engine along with a conversion engine would be another part of the problem, to solve the application areas in 1.3, 1.4. Project Scope The system will be initially targeted for Sinhala fonts used by local sites. Later the same mechanism will be extended to support other languages and scripts (Tamil, Devanagaree). Deliverables and outcomes Web Service/Plug-in to Local Language web site Font Conversion which automatically converts website contents from legacy fonts to Unicode. PDF document conversion tool to convert legacy fonts to Unicode In both implementations, the language encoding detection would use the proposed encoding detection mechanism. It can be considered as the core for the implementations in addition to the translation engine which performs the Non Unicode to Unicode mapping. Literature Review Character Encodings Character Encoding Schemes Encoding refers to the process of representing information in some form. Human language is an encoding system by which information is represented in terms of sequences of lexical units, and those in terms of sound or gesture sequences. Written language is a derivative system of encoding by which those sequences of lexical units, sounds or gestures are represented in terms of the graphical symbols that make up some writing system. A character encoding is an algorithm for presenting characters in digital form as sequences of octets. There are hundreds of encodings, and many of them have different names. There is a standardized procedure for registering an encoding. A primary name is assigned to an encoding, and possibly some alias names. For example, ASCII, US-ASCII, ANSI_X3.4-1986, and ISO646-US are different names for an encoding. There are also many unregistered encodings and names that are used widely. The character encoding names are not case sensitive and hence ASCII and Ascii are equivalent [25]. Figure 2.1 Character encoding Example Single Octet Encodings When character repertoire that contains at most 256 characters, assigning a number in the range 0255 to each character and use an octet with that value to represent that character is the most simplest and obvious way. Such encodings, called single-octet or 8-bit encodings, are widely used and will remain important [22]. Multi-Octet Encodings In multi octet encodings more than one octet is used to represent a single character. A simple two-octet encoding is sufficient for a character repertoire that contains at most 65,536 characters. Two octet schemes are uneconomical if the text mostly consists of characters that could be presented in a single-octet encoding. On the other hand, the objective of supporting Universal character set is not achievable with just 65,536 unique codes. Thus, encodings that use a variable number of octets per character are more common. The most widely used among such encodings is UTF-8 (UTF stands for Unicode Transformation Format), which uses one to four octets per character. Principles of Unicode Standard Unicode has used as the universal encoding standard to encode characters in all living languages. To the end, is follows a set of fundamental principles. The Unicode standard is simple and consistent. It does not depend on states or modes for encoding special characters. The Unicode standard incorporates the character sets of many existing standards: For example, it includes Latin-I, character set as its first 256 characters. It includes repertoire of characters from numerous other corporate, national and international standards as well. In modern businesses needs handle characters from a wide variety of languages at the same time. With Unicode, a single internationalization process can produce code that handles the requirements of all the world markets at the same time. The data corruption problems do not occur since Unicode has a single definition for each character. Since it handles the characters for all the world markets in a uniform way, it avoids the complexities of different character code architectures. All of the modern operating systems, from PCs to mainframes, support Unicode now, or are actively developing support for it. The same is true of databases, as well.There are 10 design principles associated with Unicode. Universility The Unicode is designed to be Universal. The repertoire must be large enough to encompass all characters that are likely to be used in general text interchange. Unicode needs to encompass a variety of essentially different collections of characters and writing systems. For example, it cannot postulate that all text is written left to right, or that all letters have uppercase and lowercase forms, or that text can be divided into words separated by spaces or other whitespace. Efficient Software does not have to maintain state or look for special escape sequences, and character synchronization from any point in a character stream is quick and unambiguous. A fixed character code allows for efficient sorting, searching, display, and editing of text. But with Unicode efficiency there exist certain tradeoffs made specially with the storage requirements needing four octets for each character. Certain representation forms such as UTF-8 format requiring linear processing of the data stream in order to identify characters. Unicode contains a large amount of characters and features that have been included only for compatibility with other standards. This may require preprocessing that deals with compatibility characters and with different Unicode representations of the same character (e.g., letter à © as a single character or as two characters). Characters, not glyphs Unicode assigns code points to characters as abstractions, not to visual appearances. A character in Unicode represents an abstract concept rather than the manifestation as a particular form or glyph. As shown in Figure 2.2, the glyphs of many fonts that render the Latin character A all correspond to the same abstract character a. Figure 2.2: Abstract Latin Letter a and Style Variants Another example is the Arabic presentation form. An Arabic character may be written in up to four different shapes. Figure 2.3 shows an Arabic character written in its isolated form, and at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of a word. According to the design principle of encoding abstract characters, these presentation variants are all represented by one Unicode character. Figure 2.3: Arabic character with four representations The relationship between characters and glyphs is rather simple for languages like English: mostly each character is presented by one glyph, taken from a font that has been chosen. For other languages, the relationship can be much more complex routinely combining several characters into one glyph. Semantics Characters have well-defined meanings. When the Unicode standard refers to semantics, it often means the properties of characters, such spacing, combinability, and directionality, rather than what the character really means. Plain text Unicode deals with plain texti.e., strings of characters without formatting or structuring information (except for things like line breaks). Logical order The default representation of Unicode data uses logical order of data, as opposed to approaches that handle writing direction by changing the order of characters. Unification The principle of uniqueness was also applied to decide that certain characters should not be encoded separately. Unicode encodes duplicates of a character as a single code point, if they belong to the same script but different languages. For example, the letter à ¼ denoting a particular vowel in German is treated as the same as the letter à ¼ in Spanish. The Unicode standard uses Han unification to consolidate Chinese, Korean, and Japanese ideographs. Han unification is the process of assigning the same code point to characters historically perceived as being the same character but represented as unique in more than one East Asian ideographic character standard. These results in a group of ideographs shared by several cultures and significantly reduces the number of code points needed to encode them. The Unicode Consortium chose to represent shared ideographs only once because the goal of the Unicode standard was to encode characters independent of the languages that use them. Unicode makes no distinctions based on pronunciation or meaning; higher-level operating systems and applications must take that responsibility. Through Han unification, Unicode assigned about 21,000 code points to ideographic characters instead of the 120,000 that would be required if the Asian languages were treated separately. It is true that the same charact er might look slightly different in Chinese than in Japanese, but that difference in appearance is a font issue, not a uniqueness issue. Figure 2.4: Han Unification example The Unicode standard allows for character composition in creating marked characters. It encodes each character and diacritic or vowel mark separately, and allows the characters to be combined to create a marked character. It provides single codes for marked characters when necessary to comply with preexisting character standard. Dynamic composition Characters with diacritic marks can be composed dynamically, using characters designated as combining marks. Equivalent sequences Unicode has a large number of characters that are precomposed forms, such as à ©. They have decompositions that are declared as equivalent to the precomposed form. An application may still treat the precomposed form and the decomposition differently, since as strings of encoded characters, they are distinct. Convertibility Character data can be accurately converted between Unicode and other character standards and specifications. South Asian Scripts The scripts of South Asia share so many common features that a side-by-side comparison of a few will often reveal structural similarities even in the modern letterforms. With minor historical exceptions, they are written from left to right. They are all abugidas in which most symbols stand for a consonant plus an inherent vowel (usually the sound /a/). Word-initial vowels in many of these scripts have distinct symbols, and word-internal vowels are usually written by juxtaposing a vowel sign in the vicinity of the affected consonant. Absence of the inherent vowel, when that occurs, is frequently marked with a special sign [17]. Another designation is preferred in some languages. As an example in Hindi, the word hal refers to the character itself, and halant refers to the consonant that has its inherent vowel suppressed. The virama sign nominally serves to suppress the inherent vowel of the consonant to which it is applied; it is a combining character, with its shape varying from script to script. Most of the scripts of South Asia, from north of the Himalayas to Sri Lanka in the south, from Pakistan in the west to the easternmost islands of Indonesia, are derived from the ancient Brahmi script. The oldest lengthy inscriptions of India, the edicts of Ashoka from the third century BCE, were written in two scripts, Kharoshthi and Brahmi. These are both ultimately of Semitic origin, probably deriving from Aramaic, which was an important administrative language of the Middle East at that time. Kharoshthi, written from right to left, was supplanted by Brahmi and its derivatives. The descendants of Brahmi spread with myriad changes throughout the subcontinent and outlying islands. There are said to be some 200 different scripts deriving from it. By the eleventh century, the modern script known as Devanagari was in ascendancy in India proper as the major script of Sanskrit literature. The North Indian branch of scripts was, like Brahmi itself, chiefly used to write Indo-European languages such as Pali and Sanskrit, and eventually the Hindi, Bengali, and Gujarati languages, though it was also the source for scripts for non-Indo-European languages such as Tibetan, Mongolian, and Lepcha. The South Indian scripts are also derived from Brahmi and, therefore, share many structural characteristics. These scripts were first used to write Pali and Sanskrit but were later adapted for use in writing non-Indo-European languages including Dravidian family of southern India and Sri Lanka. Sinhala Language Characteristics of Sinhala The Sinhala script, also known as Sinhalese, is used to write the Sinhala language, by the majority language of Sri Lanka. It is also used to write the Pali and Sanskrit languages. The script is a descendant of Brahmi and resembles the scripts of South India in form and structure. Sinhala differs from other languages of the region in that it has a series of prenasalized stops that are distinguished from the combination of a nasal followed by a stop. In other words, both forms occur and are written differently [23]. Figure 2.5: Example for prenasalized stop in Sinhala In addition, Sinhala has separate distinct signs for both a short and a long low front vowel sounding similar to the initial vowel of the English word apple, usually represented in IPA as U+00E6 à ¦ latin small letter ae (ash). The independent forms of these vowels are encoded at U+0D87 and U+0D88. Because of these extra letters, the encoding for Sinhala does not precisely follow the pattern established for the other Indic scripts (for example, Devanagari). It does use the same general structure, making use of phonetic order, matra reordering, and use of the virama (U+0DCA sinhala sign al-lakuna) to indicate conjunct consonant clusters. Sinhala does not use half-forms in the Devanagari manner, but does use many ligatures. Sinhala Writing System The Sinhala writing system can be called an abugida, as each consonant has an inherent vowel (/a/), which can be changed with the different vowel signs. Thus, for example, the basic form of the letter k is à  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡ ka. For ki, a small arch is placed over the à  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡: à  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. This replaces the inherent /a/ by /i/. It is also possible to have no vowel following a consonant. In order to produce such a pure consonant, a special marker, the hal kirÄ «ma has to be added: à  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…   . This marker suppresses the inherent vowel. Figure 2.6: Character associative Symbols in Sinhala Historical Symbols. Neither U+0DF4 sinhala punctuation kunddaliya nor the Sinhala numerals are in general use today, having been replaced by Western-style punctuation and Western digits. The kunddaliya was formerly used as a full stop or period. It is included for scholarly use. The Sinhala numerals are not presently encoded. Sinhala and Unicode In 1997, Sri Lanka submitted a proposal for the Sinhala character code at the Unicode working group meeting in Crete, Greece. This proposal competed with proposals from UK, Ireland and the USA. The Sri Lankan draft was finally accepted with slight modifications. This was ratified at the 1998 meeting of the working group held at Seattle, USA and the Sinhala Code Chart was included in Unicode Version 3.0 [2]. It has been suggested by the Unicode consortium that ZWJ and ZWNJ should be introduced in Orthographic languages like Sinhala to achieve the following: 1. ZWJ joins two or more consonants to form a single unit (conjunct consonants). 2. ZWJ can also alter shape of preceding consonants (cursiveness of the consonant). 3. ZWNJ can be used to disjoin a single ligature into two or more units. Encoding auto Detection Browser and auto-detection In designing auto detection algorithms to auto detect encodings in web pages it needs to depend on the following assumptions on input data [24]. Input text is composed of words/sentences readable to readers of a particular language. Input text is from typical web pages on the Internet which is not an ancient dead language. The input text may contain extraneous noises which have no relation to its encoding, e.g. HTML tags, non-native words (e.g. English words in Chinese documents), space and other format/control characters. Methods of auto detection The paper[24] discusses about 3 different methods for detecting the encoding of text data. Coding Scheme Method In any of the multi-byte encoding coding schemes, not all possible code points are used. If an illegal byte or byte sequence (i.e. unused code point) is encountered when verifying a certain encoding, it is possible to immediately conclude that this is not the right guess. Efficient algorithm to detecting character set using coding scheme through a parallel state machine is discussed in the paper [24]. For each coding scheme, a state machine is implemented to verify a byte sequence for this particular encoding. For each byte the detector receives, it will feed that byte to every active state machine available, one byte at a time. The state machine changes its state based on its previous state and the byte it receives. In a typical example, one state machine will eventually provide a positive answer and all others will provide a negative answer. Character Distribution Method In any given language, some characters are used more often than other characters. This fact can be used to devise a data model for each language script. This is particularly useful for languages with a large number of characters such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The tests were carried out with the data for simplified Chinese encoded in GB2312, traditional Chinese encoded in Big, Japanese and Korean. It was observed that a rather small set of coding points covers a significant percentage of characters used. Parameter called Distribution Ration was defined and used for the purpose separating the two encodings. Distribution Ratio = the Number of occurrences of the 512 most frequently used characters divided by the Number of occurrences of the rest of the characters. . Two-Char Sequence Distribution Method In languages that only use a small number of characters, we need to go further than counting the occurrences of each single character. Combination of characters reveals more language-characteristic information. 2-Char Sequence as 2 characters appearing immediately one after another in input text, and the order is significant in this case. Just as not all characters are used equally frequently in a language, 2-Char Sequence distribution also turns out to be extremely language/encoding dependent. Current Approaches to Solve Encoding Problems Siyabas Script The SiyabasScript is as an attempt to develop a browser plugin, which solves the problem using legacy font in Sinhala news sites [6]. It is an extension to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome web browsers. This solution was specifically designed for a limited number of target web sites, which were having the specific fonts. The solution had the limitation of having to reengineer the plug-in, if a new version of the browser is released. The solution was not global since that id did not have the ability to support a new site which is using a Sinhala legacy font. In order to overcome that, the proposed solution will identify the font and encodings based on the content but not on site. There is a chance that the solution might not work if the site decided to adapt another legacy font, as it cannot detect the encoding scheme changes. There is a significant delay in the conversion process. The user would notice the display of the content with characters which are in legacy font before they g et converted to the Unicode. This performance delay can be also identified as an area to improve in the solution. The conversion process does not provide the exact conversion specially when the characters need to be combined in Unicode. à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ´Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ = à  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ ºÃƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ º à  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  .à  Ã‚ ¶Ã¢â‚¬â„¢.à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ´Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬Å". à  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ » à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ­Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ , à  Ã‚ ¶Ã…“à  Ã‚ ·Ã‹Å"à  Ã‚ ·Ã‹Å"à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ´Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…   à  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ´Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ­Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…   à  Ã‚ ¶Ã¢â‚¬ ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ©Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‹Å"à  Ã‚ ·Ã‹Å" à  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€ž ¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã†â€™Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ »Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ º, à  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡ à  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ »Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…   , à  Ã‚ ¶Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã†â€™Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ »Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ½Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ºÃƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬  , à  Ã‚ ¶Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ +à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ »Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ºÃƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…   à  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ± à  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬Å"à  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ » ,à  Ã‚ ¶Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬Å"à  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ »Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ©Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã‚ Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã…“à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ «Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ºÃƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã… ¡Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬Å" ,à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¯`à  Ã‚ ¶Ã…“ à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ´Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ¯Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â‚¬  à  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ºÃƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…  Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ¶Ã‚ ±Ãƒ  Ã‚ ·Ã…   can be mentioned as the examples of words of such conversion issues. The plug-in supports the Sinhala Unicode conversion for the sites www.lankadeepa.lk, www.lankaenews.com and www.lankascreen.com. But the other websites mentioned in the paper does not get properly converted to Sinhala with Firefox version 3.5.17. Aksharamukha Asian Script Converter Aksharamukha is a South: South-East-Asian script convertor tool. It supports transliteration between Brahmi derived Asian scripts. It also has the functionality to transliterate web pages from Indic Scripts to other scripts. The Convertor scrapes the HTML page, then transliterates the Indic Scripts and displays the HTML. There are certain issues in the tool when it comes to alignment with the original web page. Misalignments and missing images, unconverted hyperlinks are some of them. Figure 2.7: Aksharamukha Asian Script Converter Corpus-based Sinhala Lexicon The Lexicon of a language is its vocabulary including higher order constructs such as words and expressions. In order to detect the encoding of a given text this can be used as a supporting tool. Corpus based Sinhala lexicon has nearly 35000 entries based on a corpus consisting of 10 million words from diverse genres such as technical writing, creative writing and news reportage [7], [9]. The text distribution across genres is given in table 1. Table 2.1: Distribution of Words across Genres [7] Genre Number of words Percentage of words Creative Writing 2340999 23% Technical Writing 4357680 43% News Reportage 3433772 34% N-gram-based language, script, and encoding scheme-detection N-Gram refers to N character sequences and is used as a well-established technique used in classifying language of text documents. The method detects language, script, and encoding schemes using a target text document encoded by computer by checking how many byte sequences of the target match the byte sequences that can appear in the texts belonging to a language, script, and encoding scheme. N-grams are extracted from a string, or a document, by a sliding window that shifts one character at a time. Sinhala Enabled Mobile Browser for J2ME Phones Mobile phone usage is rapidly increasing throughout the world as well as in Sri Lanka. It has become the most ubiquitous communication device. Accessing internet through the mobile phone has become a common activity of people especially for messaging and news items. In J2ME enabled phones Sinhala Unicode support yet to be developed. They do not allow installation of fonts outside. Hence those devices will not be able to display Unicode contents, especially on the web, until Unicode is supported by the platform. Integrating the Unicode viewing support will provide a good opportunity to carry the technology to remote areas if it can be presented in the native language. If this is facilitated, in addition to the urban crowd, people from rural areas will be able to subscribe to a daily newspaper with their mobile. One major advantage of such an application is that it will provide a phone model independent solution which supports any Java enabled phone. Cillion is a Mini browser software which shows Unicode contents in J2ME phones. This software is an application developed with the fonts integrated wh