THE HINDU EDITORIAL : FEBRUARY 21, 2018
THE HINDU EDITORIAL : FEBRUARY 21, 2018
a) A deeper malady: on PNB fraud case
Barely days after news of the Rs.11,500 crore fraud at Punjab National Bank broke, another but very different scam of a Rs.3,695 crore wilful loan default has surfaced. The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case against three directors of a Kanpur-based company, and others including unknown bank officials, on allegations of cheating a consortium of banks by siphoning off loans disbursed to the company. If the two cases must be compared, the similarities lie in the breakdown in internal control mechanisms and in the supervisory failure at the banks. In the case of Kanpur-based Rotomac Global, it had availed credit limits from a consortium of seven public sector banks. Given that the facility was made available from 2008 (in the case of Bank of Baroda, which filed the complaint with the CBI), and was used for a range of seemingly unrelated transactions including the import of gems and jewellery and the export of wheat, it is especially surprising that it took such a long time for this diversion of funds to surface as a criminal complaint. It is one thing for individual bank officials to have been complicit in the commission of frauds as has been claimed in the PNB case but quite another for supervisory cadre and risk detection and management systems to have delayed taking remedial action as they did in the Rotomac case. It took too long for the criminal complaints to be filed against the defaulters. On Bank of Baroda’s website Rotomac was listed as its top defaulter almost a year ago; the account had been classified as an NPA in 2015. In the case of the Punjab National Bank fraud, letters of undertaking were issued bypassing the bank’s reporting system; the three-tier audit failed to detect the malfeasance. In contrast, BoB was not oblivious of the Rotomac default and took unconscionably long to act. It is important to determine why the Reserve Bank of India, which is vested with keeping an eye on bank books, was unable to take prompt corrective action in this case. Rather than routinely reiterate the importance of strengthening corporate governance in public sector banks and promising to infuse greater professionalism, transparency and accountability, it is time the Centre, the major shareholder in these institutions, takes serious steps to translate this intent into action. Any improvement in the functioning of the PSBs cannot be undertaken without empowering bank managements and securing their independence from political interference while enforcing strict accountability for lapses. To restore the depositor’s faith in the banking system, the government, the RBI and the judiciary must ensure that prompt and salutary action is taken. The economic cost of doing otherwise is too painful to imagine.
b) The value of life: on U.S. gun ownership regulation
After decades of campaigning to bring about common-sense gun control in the U.S., it appears that a group of children may succeed where even Presidents have failed. Following Friday’s deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people including 14 students were killed, survivors took to the streets in a relatively rare show of anger directed at President Donald Trump and Congress for not doing more to promote gun control. Their courage is to be doubly applauded, for they appear undaunted by the depressing history of America’s 227-year-old lethal love affair with guns, built on the constitutional right to bear arms, overlaid with a myriad state-level laws that make gun ownership easy. After the devastating school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, a tearful Barack Obama, then President, mooted legislation to tighten the regulation of gun ownership. That was speedily seen off by conservative lawmakers. With the failure of all 17 of his attempts to bring common-sense gun control to the floor of Congress, his parting gift to the incoming Trump administration was to close loopholes in gun laws through executive actions that would expand background checks for gun ownership and boost funding for federal enforcement agencies. Mr. Trump nullified those actions in February 2017, as he had promised to do during his election campaign. The fact that school shootings do not lead to gun control reform shows how powerful the gun lobby is. The National Rifle Association contributes over $4 million each year to lawmakers in Washington to ensure their agenda is prioritised, and sizeable dark flows of pro-gun money likely reach Congress under cover of the Citizens United campaign finance law of 2010. But that is a drop in the ocean for most Congressmen and Senators, whose individual coffers can exceed $10 million. The immense pressure for gun rights thus goes beyond funding. It stems in greater measure from the pro-gun lobbies’ ability to mobilise large numbers of voters, who feel strongly about the Second Amendment, whether for personal security, to defend themselves from the “tyranny of government” or to hunt wildlife. This ingrained “gun culture” is exacerbated by the light-touch regulation of gun ownership, which leads to more mass shootings. While the U.S. has 270 million guns — more than 112 per 100 people — and has had 90 mass shooters during 1966-2012, no other country has more than 46 million guns or 18 mass shooters. A 2015 study found that across countries, after controlling for mental health, racial diversity, video game playing and baseline levels of societal violence, it was the extent of gun ownership that determined the odds of mass shootings. At its heart, the U.S. debate on gun laws will only turn on the fundamental value attributed to human life. At the present juncture, it is clear what that value is.
WORDS/VOCABULARY
1) Wilful
Meaning: (of a bad or harmful act) intentional; deliberate.
Example: “wilful acts of damage”
Synonyms: Deliberate, Intentional
Antonyms: Accidental, Unintentional
2) Surfaced
Meaning: Come to people’s attention; become apparent.
Example: “the row first surfaced two years ago”
Synonyms: Emerge, Arise
3) Consortium
Meaning: An organization of several businesses or banks joining together as a group for a shared purpose.
Example: A consortium of textile manufacturers.
Synonyms: Enterprise
4) Siphoning off
Meaning: To dishonestly take money from an organization or other supply, and use it for a purpose for which it was not intended.
Example: He lost his job when it was discovered that he had been siphoning off money from the company for his own use.
Synonyms: Fraud, Corruption
5) Availed
Meaning: Use or take advantage of (an opportunity or available resource).
Example: “my daughter did not avail herself of my advice”
Synonyms: Use, Utilize
6) Seemingly
Meaning: So as to give the impression of having a certain quality; apparently.
Example: “a seemingly competent and well-organized person”
Synonyms: Apparently, Avowedly
Antonyms: Genuinely
7) Complicit
Meaning: Involved with others in an activity that is unlawful or morally wrong.
Example: “the careers of those complicit in the cover-up were blighted”
8) Defaulters
Meaning: A person who fails to fulfil a duty, obligation, or undertaking.
Example: “a mortgage defaulter”
Synonyms: Non-payer, Tax dodger
9) Bypassing
Meaning: Avoid or circumvent (an obstacle or problem).
Example: “a manager might bypass formal channels of communication”
Synonyms: Avoid, Evade
10) Malfeasance
Meaning: An example of dishonest and illegal behaviour, especially by a person in authority.
Example: Several cases of malpractice and malfeasance in the financial world are currently being investigated.
Synonyms: Dishonest
11) Oblivious
Meaning: Not aware of or concerned about what is happening around one.
Example: “she became absorbed, oblivious to the passage of time”
Synonyms: Unaware, Unconscious
12) Unconscionably
Meaning: Morally unacceptable
Example: This unconscionable policy will cause great suffering.
Synonyms: Unnecessary
13) Vested
Meaning: Give (someone) the legal right to power, property, etc.
Example: “the local planning authorities are vested with powers to regulate land use and development”
14) Keeping an eye on
Meaning: To watch someone or something or stay informed about the person’s behavior, esp. to keep someone out of trouble.
Example: Keep an eye on your brother while I’m out, please.
15) Reiterate
Meaning: Say something again or a number of times, typically for emphasis or clarity.
Example: “she reiterated that the government would remain steadfast in its support”
Synonyms: Repeat, Restate
16) Intent
Meaning: Determined to do (something).
Example: “the government was intent on achieving greater efficiency”
Synonyms: Bent, Determined
Antonyms: Half-hearted, Reluctant
17) Enforcing
Meaning: Compel observance of or compliance with (a law, rule, or obligation).
Example: “the role of the police is to enforce the law”
Synonyms: Impose, Apply
18) Lapses
Meaning: A brief or temporary failure of concentration, memory, or judgement.
Example: “a lapse of concentration in the second set cost her the match”
Synonyms: Failure, Failing
19) Prompt
Meaning: Done without delay; immediate.
Example: “she would have died but for the prompt action of two ambulancemen”
Synonyms: Quick, Swift
Antonyms: Slow, Late
20) Salutary
Meaning: (especially with reference to something unwelcome or unpleasant) producing good effects; beneficial.
Example: “it failed to draw salutary lessons from Britain’s loss of its colonies”
Synonyms: Beneficial, Profitable
Antonyms: Unwelcome, Irrelevant
21) Undaunted
Meaning: Not intimidated or discouraged by difficulty, danger, or disappointment.
Example: “they were undaunted by the huge amount of work needed”
Synonyms: Unafraid, Unalarmed
Antonyms: Afraid, Fearful
22) Depressing
Meaning: Causing or resulting in a feeling of miserable dejection.
Example: “that thought is too depressing for words”
Synonyms: Distressing, Painful
23) Overlaid
Meaning: Something that is overlaid with something has a particular quality added to it that influences its character.
Example: Her new novel is overlaid with political concerns.
Synonyms: Covering
24) Myriad
Meaning: Countless or extremely great in number.
Example: “he gazed at the myriad lights of the city”
Synonyms: Innumerable, Countless
25) Devastating
Meaning: Causing severe shock, distress, or grief.
Example: “the news came as a devastating blow”
Synonyms: Shattering, Shocking
26) Mooted
Meaning: Raise (a question or topic) for discussion; suggest (an idea or possibility).
Example: “the scheme was first mooted last October”
Synonyms: Raise, Broach
27) Seen off
Meaning: To go to the place that someone is leaving from in order to say goodbye to them.
Example: My parents saw me off at the airport.
28) Parting
Meaning: The action of leaving or being separated from someone.
Example: “they exchanged a few words on parting”
Synonyms: Farewell, Goodbye
29) Loopholes
Meaning: An ambiguity or inadequacy in the law or a set of rules.
Example: “they exploited tax loopholes”
30) Enforcement
Meaning: The act of compelling observance of or compliance with a law, rule, or obligation.
Example: “the strict enforcement of environmental regulations”
Synonyms: Imposition, Fulfillment
31) Nullified
Meaning: Make legally null and void; invalidate.
Example: “judges were unwilling to nullify government decisions”
Synonyms: Annul, Void
Antonyms: Ratify, Validate
32) Contributes
Meaning: Give (something, especially money) in order to help achieve or provide something.
Example: “taxpayers had contributed £141.8 million towards the cost of local services”
Synonyms: Give, Donate
33) Sizeable
Meaning: Fairly large.
Example: “a sizeable proportion of the population”
Synonyms: Substantial, Respectable
Antonyms: Small, Tiny
34) Coffers
Meaning: The funds or financial reserves of an organization.
Example: “there is not enough money in the coffers to finance the reforms”
Synonyms: Fund, Money
35) Stems
Meaning: Originate in or be caused by.
Example: “many of the universities’ problems stem from rapid expansion”
Synonyms: Emanate from
Antonyms: Cause
36) Ingrained
Meaning: (of a habit, belief, or attitude) firmly fixed or established; difficult to change.
Example: “his deeply ingrained Catholic convictions”
Synonyms: Entrenched, Established
Antonyms: Transient
37) Exacerbated
Meaning: Make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse.
Example: “the exorbitant cost of land in urban areas only exacerbated the problem”
Synonyms: Aggravate, Worsen
Antonyms: Calm, Reduce
38) Light-touch
Meaning: A situation in which only a few people are in charge of something or something is not controlled very strictly.
Example: I think we have five account managers covering the whole United States, so it’s a light touch.
39) Racial
Meaning: Relating to race.
Example: “a racial minority”
Synonyms: Ethnic, Cultural
40) Juncture
Meaning: A particular point in events or time.
Example: “it is difficult to say at this juncture whether this upturn can be sustained”
Synonyms: Point, Time
Check the previous edition of THE HINDU Editorial to learn more words and to ace the English section in the forthcoming exams.
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