THE HINDU EDITORIAL : DECEMBER 20, 2018

THE HINDU EDITORIAL : DECEMBER 20, 2018

Dear Banking Aspirants,

THE HINDU EDITORIAL – December 20, 2018, is one of the must-read section for the competitive exams like  IBPS Clerk 2018, Canara Bank PO – PGDBF 2018 and IBPS SO 2018. These topics are widely expected to be asked in the reading comprehension, Cloze Test or Error Detection in the forthcoming exams. So gear up your Exam preparation and learn new words daily.

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A) Rights, revised: on the Transgender Persons Bill, 2018

Lok Sabha has passed a new Bill to protect transgender persons, but concerns remain

The passage of a Bill in the Lok Sabha to secure the rights of transgender persons is a progressive step towards extending constitutional protection to this highly marginalised community. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2018, as passed, is an improved version of the legislation introduced two years ago. The earlier draft was widely perceived as falling short of the expectations of stakeholders and not adequately rights-based, as envisaged by the Supreme Court in its landmark decision on transgender rights in 2014. Experts, as well as the Standing Committee of Parliament on Social Justice and Empowerment, had criticised the original definition of ‘transgender persons’ for violating the right to self-determined identity. The revised definition omits the reference to a ‘neither male nor female’ formulation, and covers any person whose gender does not match the gender assigned at birth, as well as transmen, transwomen, those with intersex variations, the gender-queer, and those who designate themselves based on socio-cultural identities such as hijra, aravani, kinner and jogta. The requirement that a district screening committee must recommend the issue of a certificate to each transgender may be necessary to prevent misuse, but such a process goes against the principle of self-identification, a key right the Supreme Court had protected. The government has omitted the need to go through the same screening committee to get a revised certificate after a transgender has sex reassignment surgery, but the medical certification requirement remains. Transgender persons may question the need for such external gate-keeping.

There are other legitimate concerns in the revised Bill, which will now go to the Rajya Sabha. One refers to the bar on forcible separation of transgender persons from their families, except through court orders. It has been revised to cover transgender children. Earlier it covered adults as well, but the committee had noted that it was within the family that many transgender persons faced harassment and abuse, and often felt driven to flee their homes. Another concern is that the Bill criminalises begging by making it an offence for someone to compel or entice a transgender person into seeking alms. When begging itself is no more seen as an offence, it may harm the community if such a means of livelihood – in the absence of employment – is criminalised. The Bill, unfortunately, does not give effect to the far-reaching directive of the Supreme Court to grant backward class reservation to the transgender community. Nor have the Standing Committee’s concerns about recognising civil rights in marriage, divorce and adoption among them been addressed. There is much good intention behind the welfare provisions, but social legislation is much more than high-minded clauses. It needs to be followed up with zealous implementation and framing of deadlines to achieve specific objectives.

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B) Change in Mizoram

The MNF faces the task of upgrading infrastructure and diversifying the economy

In the din over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s losses to the Congress in three States in the Hindi heartland, the dismal defeat of the ruling Congress party to the Mizo National Front in Mizoram has gone insufficiently noticed. With this, the Congress has lost its last remaining State in the Northeast, a region in which it was traditionally dominant. The BJP managed to mark its first and only victory in the State by winning the Chakma refugee-dominated Tuichawng seat in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district. But the BJP will consider the MNF’s victory as a significant accretion to its set of fellow-travellers and alliance partners in the Northeast. The MNF is part of the North-East Democratic Alliance, an anti-Congress front formed by the BJP that includes all the other ruling parties in the region. While the MNF has come to power on its own, without an alliance with the BJP, its membership in the NEDA means it is an ally of the BJP for all practical purposes. Despite an improvement in social indices in the State over its decade-long tenure, the Congress was always expected to face an uphill task to retain power because of growing anti-incumbency sentiment following allegations of corruption in recent years. The MNF’s victory was also aided by its strong positions on total prohibition, a promise that carried a lot of weight with conservative and influential Christian civil society groups in the State, which had implicitly lent support to the party.

The presence of the Zoram People’s Movement, a collective of seven parties formed just a few weeks before the Assembly elections, hit the Congress’s chances even more. The candidates of the ZPM contested as independents but garnered close to 23% of the vote, damaging the Congress in particular. The Congress’s vote share dipped to 30.2%, a 14 percentage point swing from its 44.6% share in 2013. The Congress’s total tally of five seats is its lowest-ever in the 40-member Mizoram Assembly. The MNF faces the task of diversifying the economy, given the disproportionately large section of the population dependent on agriculture and horticulture. The New Land Use Policy launched by the Congress did bring a significant pause to jhum cultivation (the practice of slash and burn), but fell short of encouraging sustainable agricultural practices as the scheme effectively provided patronage for commercial crop-growing by select beneficiaries. Mizoram has the potential to be a gateway in the Act East and BIMSTEC connectivity schemes to extend trade routes from the Northeast to Myanmar and onwards. But it requires better road connectivity and infrastructure. This should be an important priority for the new MNF government.

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VOCABULARY

1) progressive

Meaning : happening or developing gradually or in stages.(adj)

Tamil Meaning : முற்போக்கான

Synonyms : continuous

Antonyms : intermittent

Example : “a progressive decline in popularity”

2) perceived

Meaning : become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand.

Tamil Meaning : உணரப்பட்ட

Synonyms : anticipated

Antonyms : ignored

Example : “his mouth fell open as he perceived the truth”

3) envisaged

Meaning : contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event.

Synonyms : behold

Antonyms : real

Example : “the Rome Treaty envisaged free movement across frontiers”

4) revised

Meaning : reconsider and alter (something) in the light of further evidence(v).

Tamil Meaning : திருத்தப்பட்ட

Synonyms : adjusted

Antonyms : kept

Example : “he had cause to revise his opinion a moment after expressing it”

5) prevent

Meaning : keep (something) from happening(v).

Tamil Meaning : தடுக்க

Synonyms : avert

Antonyms : advance

Example : “action must be taken to prevent further accidents”

6) forcible

Meaning : vigorous and strong; forceful.

Tamil Meaning : வலுக்கட்டாயமாக

Synonyms : coercive

Antonyms : weak

Example : “they could only be deterred by forcible appeals”

7) flee

Meaning : run away from a place or situation of danger(v).

Tamil Meaning : தப்பியோட

Synonyms : depart

Antonyms : arrive

Example : “to escape the fighting, his family fled from their village”

8) concern

Meaning : relate to; be about.(v)

Tamil Meaning : அக்கறை

Synonyms : burden

Antonyms : pastime

Example : “the story concerns a friend of mine”

9) entice

Meaning : attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage.

Tamil Meaning : சேர்ப்பதற்கு

Synonyms : attract

Antonyms : repel

Example : “a show which should entice a new audience into the theatre”

10) offence

Meaning : a breach of a law or rule; an illegal act.

Tamil Meaning : குற்றம்

Synonyms : violation

Antonyms : defence

Example : “the new offence of obtaining property by deception”

11) recognising

Meaning : identify (someone or something) from having encountered them before; know again.

Tamil Meaning : அங்கீகரித்து

Synonyms : confessing

Antonyms : scrutiny

Example : “I recognized her when her wig fell off”

12) zealous

Meaning : having or showing zeal.

Tamil Meaning : வைராக்கியமான

Synonyms : dedicated

Antonyms : dispassionate

Example : “the council was extremely zealous in the application of the regulations”

13) dismal

Meaning : causing a mood of gloom or depression.

Tamil Meaning : மோசமான

Synonyms : depressing

Antonyms : cheerful

Example : “the dismal weather made the late afternoon seem like evening”

14) dominant

Meaning : having power and influence over others.

Tamil Meaning : மேலாதிக்க

Synonyms : assertive

Antonyms : auxiliary

Example : “they are now in an even more dominant position in the market”

15) accrete

Meaning : grow by accumulation or coalescence.(v)

Tamil Meaning : திரட்டி

Synonyms : grow

Antonyms : abate

Example : “ice that had accreted grotesquely into stalactites”

16) alliance

Meaning : a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations(n).

Tamil Meaning : கூட்டணி

Synonyms : affiliation

Antonyms : discord

Example : “a defensive alliance between Australia and New Zealand”

17) Despite

Meaning : contemptuous treatment or behaviour; outrage(n).

Tamil Meaning : இருந்தபோதிலும்

Synonyms : against

Antonyms : exalt

Example : “the despite done by him to the holy relics”

18) retain

Meaning : continue to have (something); keep possession of.(v)

Tamil Meaning : தக்கவைத்து

Synonyms : absorb

Antonyms : abandon

Example : “Labour retained the seat”

19) tenure

Meaning : give (someone) a permanent post, especially as a teacher or lecturer(v).

Tamil Meaning : பதவி

Synonyms : occupation

Antonyms : misconception

Example : “I had recently been tenured and then promoted to full professor”

20) implicitly

Meaning : in a way that is not directly expressed; tacitly.(adv)

Tamil Meaning : மறைமுகமாக

Synonyms : regime

Antonyms : release

Example : “she implicitly suggested that he was responsible for the error”

21) lent

Meaning : contribute or add (a quality) to.

Tamil Meaning : கொடுத்தார்

Synonyms : borrowed

Example : “the smile lent his face a boyish charm”

22) contested

Meaning : engage in competition to attain (a position of power)(v).

Tamil Meaning : போட்டி

Synonyms : disputed

Antonyms : opted

Example : “she declared her intention to contest the presidency”

23) garnered

Meaning : gather or collect (something, especially information or approval).

Tamil Meaning : பெற்றது

Synonyms : reap

Antonyms : spend

Example : “the police struggled to garner sufficient evidence”

24) swing

Meaning : move by grasping a support from below and leaping.

Synonyms : stroke

Antonyms : stillness

Example : “we swung across like two trapeze artists”

25) influential

Meaning : having great influence on someone or something(adj).

Tamil Meaning : செல்வாக்கு

Synonyms : dominant

Antonyms : inferior

Example : “her work is influential in feminist psychology”

26) conservative

Meaning : averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values.

Tamil Meaning : பழமைவாத

Synonyms : timid

Antonyms : inconstant

Example : “they were very conservative in their outlook”

27) dipped

Meaning : put a hand or implement into (a bag or container) in order to take something out.

Synonyms : dive

Antonyms : ascent

Example : “Ian dipped into his briefcase and pulled out a photograph”

28) prohibition

Meaning : the action of forbidding something, especially by law.

Tamil Meaning : தடை

Synonyms : constraint

Antonyms : allowance

Example : “they argue that prohibition of drugs will always fail”

29) diversifying

Meaning : make or become more diverse or varied(v).

Tamil Meaning : பரவலாக

Synonyms : transform

Antonyms : continue

Example : “the trilobites diversified into a great number of species”

30) incumbency

Meaning : the holding of an office or the period during which one is held.(n)

Synonyms : clamp

Antonyms : misconception

Example : “during his incumbency he established an epidemic warning system”

31) widely

Meaning : far apart; with a wide space or interval between.(adv)

Tamil Meaning : பரவலாக

Synonyms : extensively

Antonyms : narrowly

Example :”a tall man with widely spaced eyes”

32) adequately

Meaning : to a satisfactory or acceptable extent.(adv)

Tamil Meaning : போதுமான

Synonyms : appropriately

Antonyms : inadequately

Example : “the resources required to prepare adequately will be extensive”

33) assigned

Meaning : designate or set (something) aside for a specific purpose.

Tamil Meaning : ஒதுக்கப்படும்

Synonyms : accredit

Antonyms : deny

Example : “managers happily assign large sums of money to travel budgets”

34) designate

Meaning : appoint (someone) to a specified office or post(v).

Tamil Meaning : நியமிக்கவும்

Synonyms : nominate

Example : “he was designated as prime minister”

35) determined

Meaning : having made a firm decision and being resolved not to change it.(adj)

Tamil Meaning : தீர்மானிக்க

Synonyms : decisive

Antonyms : unfixed

Example : “Alina was determined to be heard”

36) diversifying

Meaning : make or become more diverse or varied.

Tamil Meaning : பரவலாக

Synonyms : expand

Antonyms : continue

Example : “the trilobites diversified into a great number of species”

37) disproportionate

Meaning : too large or too small in comparison with something else(adj).

Tamil Meaning : சமமற்ற

Synonyms : excessive

Antonyms : moderate

Example : “people on lower incomes spend a disproportionate amount of their income on fuel”

38) significant

Meaning : sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy.(adj)

Tamil Meaning : குறிப்பிடத்தக்க

Synonyms : important

Antonyms : insignificant

Example : “a significant increase in sales”

39) sustainable

Meaning : able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.(adj)

Tamil Meaning : நிலையான

Synonyms : continual

Antonyms : untenable

Example : “sustainable economic growth”

40) patronage

Meaning : the support given by a patron(n).

Tamil Meaning : ஆதரவு

Synonyms : auspices

Antonyms : blockage

Example : “the arts could no longer depend on private patronage”

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THE HINDU EDITORIAL : DECEMBER 19, 2018

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Check the other important THE HINDU EDITORIAL from the previous months that are available in our Bankersdaily website through the links that are mentioned below.

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THE HINDU EDITORIAL –  JUNE

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THE HINDU EDITORIAL – JULY 

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