THE HINDU EDITORIAL : DECEMBER 1, 2018

Dear Banking Aspirants,

THE HINDU EDITORIAL – December 1, 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) The death debate: on Justice Joseph’s views on capital punishment

Justice Joseph’s views on abolishing capital punishment require serious consideration

In questioning the merits of retaining the death penalty, Justice Kurian Joseph has re-ignited a debate that is important and requires serious thought. What he said cannot be ignored, though the law laid down in Bachan Singh (1980), upholding the validity of the death penalty and laying down guidelines for awarding death in ‘the rarest of rare’ cases’, still holds the field. Even the other two judges on the Bench have disagreed with Justice Joseph’s view that the time has come to review the death penalty, its purpose and practice. But it is impossible to ignore the ethical and practical dimensions of the debate in a world that is increasingly questioning the wisdom of capital punishment. Justice Joseph has underscored the arbitrary manner in which it is awarded by different judges and the way public discourse influences such decisions. Concerns over judge-centric variations have been raised in the past. The Supreme Court itself spoke of the “extremely uneven application” of the norms laid down in Bachan Singh. The Law Commission, in its Report in 2015, said the constitutional regulation of capital punishment attempted in that case has failed to prevent death sentences from being “arbitrarily and freakishly imposed”. Justice Joseph seems to endorse the Commission’s assertion that “there exists no principled method to remove such arbitrariness from capital sentencing”.

In individual cases, much of the conversation about the maximum sentence that may be imposed usually revolves around the nature of the crime, its gravity and cruelty, and the number of fatalities. In recent times, public outrage, the need for deterrence, and the clamour for a befitting punishment to render substantial justice have dominated the discourse. Theories of punishment on whether it ought to be punitive, retributive, reformative or restorative are less relevant to the public imagination and the law enforcers when the crime is grave and heinous. There is a conflict between those who sense the danger of inconsistent application and those who believe in condign justice. This conflict can be resolved only if the debate is taken to a higher plane: a moral position that there shall be no death penalty in law, regardless of the nature, circumstances and consequences of an offence. The Supreme Court has covered considerable ground in limiting the scope, to the ‘rarest of rare cases’. Post-appeal reviews and curative petitions are routinely admitted. Review petitions are now heard in open court. The treatment of death row prisoners has been humanised, and there is scope for judicial review even against a sovereign decision denying clemency. If there still prevails a perception of arbitrariness in the way death sentences are awarded, the only lasting solution is their abolition. The views of the Law Commission and Justice Joseph should not be ignored.

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B) Wage drag: on ILO’s Global Wage Report

The ILO’s report underlines the need for wage expansion that is robust and also equitable

The International Labour Organisation’s Global Wage Report has put into sharp relief one of the biggest drags on global economic momentum: slowing wage growth. Global wage growth, adjusted for inflation, slowed to 1.8% in 2017, from 2.4% in 2016, it shows. Worryingly, this is the lowest rate since 2008. Excluding China (given its high population and rapid wage growth it tends to skew the mean), the average was even lower (1.1% in 2017 against 1.8% in 2016). Across a majority of geographies and economic groupings, wage expansions were noticeably tepid last year. In the advanced G20 countries the pace eased to 0.4%, with the U.S. posting an unchanged 0.7% growth and Europe (excluding Eastern Europe) stalling at about zero. The emerging and developing economies in the G20 were not spared a deceleration, with the growth in wages slowing to 4.3%, from 4.9% in 2016. In the Asia and Pacific nations, where workers had enjoyed the biggest real wage growth worldwide between 2006 and 2017, it slid to 3.5% from the previous year’s 4.8%. The obvious impact of this low pace has been on global economic growth with consumption demand hurt by restrained spending by wage-earners. Slow wage growth prompted U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to observe in June that “in a world where we’re hearing lots and lots about labour shortages — everywhere we go now, we hear about labour shortages — but where is the wage reaction? So it’s a bit of a puzzle.”

The ILO report observes that the acceleration of economic growth in high-income countries in 2017 was led mainly by higher investment spending rather than by private consumption. Extending the time horizon, it reveals that real wages almost tripled in the developing and emerging countries of the G20 between 1999 and 2017, while in the advanced economies the increase over the same period aggregated to a far lower 9%. And yet, in many low- and middle-income economies the average wage, in absolute terms, was so low it was still inadequate to cover the bare needs of workers. The intensification of competition in the wake of globalisation, accompanied by a worldwide decline in the bargaining power of workers has resulted in a decoupling between wages and labour productivity. The fallout has been the weakening share of labour compensation in GDP across many countries that the ILO notes “remain substantially below those of the early 1990s”. The Washington-based Economic Policy Institute uses the U.S. example to buttress the argument that widening inequality is slowing demand and growth by shifting larger shares of income “to rich households that save rather than spend”. For India’s policymakers, the message is clear: to reap the demographic dividend we need not only jobs, but wage expansion that is robust and equitable.

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VOCABULARY

1) retaining

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

Tamil Meaning : தக்கவைத்து

Synonyms : absorb

Antonyms : abandon

Example : “Labour retained the seat”

2) wisdom

Meaning : the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise.(n)

Tamil Meaning : ஞானம்

Synonyms : acumen

Antonyms : ineptness

Example : “listen to his words of wisdom”

3) arbitrary

Meaning : based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system.

Tamil Meaning : தன்னிச்சையான

Synonyms : capricious

Antonyms : consistent

Example : “an arbitrary decision”

4) influences

Meaning : the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself.

Tamil Meaning : தாக்கங்கள்

Synonyms : impact

Antonyms : source

Example : “the influence of television violence”

5) laid

Meaning : put (something) down gently or carefully.(v)

Tamil Meaning : புனையப்பட்ட

Synonyms : establish

Antonyms : confuse

Example : “she laid the baby in his cot”

6) regulation

Meaning : the action or process of regulating or being regulated.(n)

Tamil Meaning : கட்டுப்பாட்டு

Synonyms : supervision

Antonyms : deregulation

Example : “the regulation of financial markets”

7) freak

Meaning : a very unusual and unexpected event or situation.

Tamil Meaning : அசாதாரண

Synonyms : anomaly

Antonyms : conformity

Example : “the teacher says the accident was a total freak”

8) imposed

Meaning : force (an unwelcome decision or ruling) on someone(v).

Tamil Meaning : திணிக்க

Synonyms : appoint

Antonyms : disorder

Example : “the decision was theirs and was not imposed on them by others”

9) endorse

Meaning : declare one’s public approval or support of(v).

Tamil Meaning : ஆதரவளிக்காது

Synonyms : affirm

Antonyms : attack

Example : “the report was endorsed by the college”

10) assertion

Meaning : a confident and forceful statement of fact or belief.

Tamil Meaning : வலியுறுத்தல்

Synonyms : allegation

Antonyms : desertion

Example : “his assertion that his father had deserted the family”

11) outrage

Meaning : an extremely strong reaction of anger, shock, or indignation.(n)

Tamil Meaning : கோபத்தை

Synonyms : violence

Antonyms : glee

Example : “her voice trembled with outrage”

12) deterrence

Meaning : the action of discouraging an action or event through instilling doubt or fear of the consequences.

Synonyms : determent

Example : “nuclear missiles remain the main deterrence against possible aggression”

13) clamour

Meaning : a loud and confused noise, especially that of people shouting(n).

Tamil Meaning : ஆரவார

Synonyms : uproar

Example : “the questions rose to a clamour”

14) render

Meaning : provide or give (a service, help, etc.).

Tamil Meaning : வழங்க

Synonyms : distribute

Antonyms : hold

Example : “money serves as a reward for services rendered“

15) substantial

Meaning : of considerable importance, size, or worth(adj).

Tamil Meaning : கணிசமான

Synonyms : generous

Antonyms : broken

Example : “a substantial amount of cash”

16) ought

Meaning : used to indicate duty or correctness, typically when criticizing someone’s actions.

Tamil Meaning : வேண்டும்

Synonyms : prerequisite

Antonyms : lacked

Example : “they ought to respect the law”

17) punitive

Meaning : inflicting or intended as punishment.

Tamil Meaning : தண்டனை

Synonyms : retaliatory

Antonyms : beneficial

Example : “he called for punitive measures against the Eastern bloc”

18) retributive

Meaning : punishment inflicted on someone as vengeance for a wrong or criminal act.

Tamil Meaning : பழிவாங்கும்

Synonyms : reprisal

Antonyms : forgiveness

Example : “employees asked not to be named, saying they feared retribution”

19) reformative

Meaning : the action or process of reforming an institution or practice.

Tamil Meaning : சீர்த்திருத்தத்து

Synonyms : realignment

Antonyms : worsening

Example : “the reformation of the Senate”

20) grave

Meaning : a hole dug in the ground to receive a coffin or dead body, typically marked by a stone or mound.(n)

Tamil Meaning : கல்லறை

Synonyms : dignified

Antonyms : agitated

Example : “the coffin was lowered into the grave”

21) heinous

Meaning : (of a person or wrongful act, especially a crime) utterly odious or wicked.

Tamil Meaning : கொடிய

Synonyms : abhorrent

Antonyms : pleasant

Example : “a battery of heinous crimes”

22) condign

Meaning : (of punishment or retribution) appropriate to the crime or wrongdoing; fitting and deserved.

Synonyms : equitable

Antonyms : imprecise

Example : “condign punishment was rare when the criminal was a man of high social standing”

23) curative

Meaning : able to cure disease.

Synonyms : corrective

Antonyms : damaging

Example : “the curative properties of herbs”

24) humanised

Meaning : make (something) more humane or civilized.

Tamil Meaning : மனிதத்தன்மையோடு

Synonyms : temper

Example : “his purpose was to humanize prison conditions”

25) clemency

Meaning : mercy; lenience.

Tamil Meaning : கருணை

Synonyms : compassion

Antonyms : cruelty

Example : “an appeal for clemency”

26) prevails

Meaning : prove more powerful or superior.

Tamil Meaning : நிலவும்

Synonyms : abound

Antonyms : forfeit

Example : “it is hard for logic to prevail over emotion”

27) perception

Meaning : the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

Tamil Meaning : கருத்து

Synonyms : approach

Antonyms : ignorance

Example : “the normal limits to human perception”

28) abolition

Meaning : the action of abolishing a system, practice, or institution.

Tamil Meaning : ஒழித்தல்

Synonyms : abrogation

Antonyms : approval

Example : “the abolition of the death penalty”

29) tends

Meaning : regularly or frequently behave in a particular way or have a certain characteristic(v).

Tamil Meaning : முனைகிறது

Synonyms : contribute

Antonyms : dislike

Example : “written language tends to be formal”

30) skew

Meaning : neither parallel nor at right angles to a specified or implied line; askew; crooked.(adj)

Tamil Meaning : சாய்க்க

Synonyms : slant

Antonyms : maintain

Example : “his hat looked slightly skew”

31) tepid

Meaning : (especially of a liquid) only slightly warm; lukewarm(adj).

Tamil Meaning : இளஞ்சூடான

Synonyms : warm

Antonyms : enthusiastic

Example : “she soaked a flannel in the tepid water”

32) stalling

Meaning : (of a motor vehicle or its engine) stop running, typically because of an overload on the engine(v).

Tamil Meaning : தாமதப்படுத்தும்

Synonyms : hamper

Antonyms : advance

Example : “her car stalled at the crossroads”

33) restrained

Meaning : characterized by reserve or moderation; unemotional or dispassionate(adj).

Tamil Meaning : கட்டுப்படுத்தும்

Synonyms : discreet

Antonyms : extroverted

Example : “his restrained, gentlemanly voice”

34) reveals

Meaning : make (previously unknown or secret information) known to others.

Tamil Meaning : வெளிப்படுத்துகிறது

Synonyms : acknowledge

Antonyms : conceal

Example : “Brenda was forced to reveal Robbie’s whereabouts”

35) aggregated

Meaning : form or group into a class or cluster.

Tamil Meaning : தொகுக்கப்பட்ட

Synonyms : accumulate

Antonyms : detach

Example : “socio-occupational groups aggregate men sharing similar kinds of occupation”

36) buttress

Meaning : a structure of stone or brick built against a wall to strengthen or support it.(n)

Synonyms : abutment

Example : “the cathedral’s massive buttresses”

37) intensification

Meaning : the action of making or becoming more intense.(n)

Tamil Meaning : தீவிரப்படுத்துதல்

Synonyms : merger

Antonyms : decline

Example : “the intensification of the conflict”

38) slid

Meaning : move smoothly along a surface while maintaining continuous contact with it.

Tamil Meaning : சறுக்கி விடப்பட்டு

Synonyms : accelerate

Antonyms : ascend

Example : “she slid down the bank into the water”

39) robust

Meaning : strong and healthy; vigorous(adj).

Tamil Meaning : வலுவான

Synonyms : hearty

Antonyms : fragile

Example : “the Caplan family are a robust lot”

40) equitable

Meaning : fair and impartial.

Tamil Meaning : நியாயமான

Synonyms : decent

Antonyms : intolerable

Example : “the equitable distribution of resources”

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Aspirants can check the Whole planner of IBPS CLERK Prelims Exam 2018 from the below given link. 

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IBPS CLERK prelims Exam 2018 – Planner 

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THE HINDU EDITORIAL : NOVEMBER 30, 2018

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Aspirants can find the other important THE HINDU EDITORIAL topics from the link that is mentioned below, to score more in the English section, THE HINDU EDITORIAL is vital and considered as the best source to learn more. Learning THE HINDU EDITORIAL provides you with an added advantage for the aspirants as this assist in their bank exam preparations.

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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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Other Important Notification: Released In October 2018

TNPSC Group II Prelims 2018 – Expected Cutoff Marks

ESIC SSO Prelims Score Card 2018 Released

TNSPSC Group II 2018 Answer Key – General English & General Tamil

Canara Bank PO PGDBF Manipal Recruitment 2018 – 800 Vacancies

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