THE HINDU EDITORIAL : FEBRUARY 14, 2019
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THE HINDU EDITORIAL : FEBRUARY 14, 2019
Dear Banking Aspirants,
THE HINDU EDITORIAL – February 14, 2018, is one of the must-read section for the competitive exams like NIACL AO Prelims Exam, IBPS SO Mains Exam. 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.
A) Bad call: on BJP’s impatience in Karnataka
The BJP’s impatience to return to power in Karnataka might send it down a slippery slope
Failure to win ought to hurt less than outright loss, but try telling that to B.S. Yeddyurappa. Unable to reconcile himself to the failure to wrest Karnataka from the grip of the Congress in last year’s Assembly election, the BJP strongman is adopting desperate measures to get another shot at becoming Chief Minister. The H.D. Kumaraswamy government has now announced the appointment of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to go into the veracity of an audio clip in which someone is heard offering money and ministership to win the support of a Janata Dal (Secular) MLA. Mr. Yeddyurappa has admitted it is his voice in the clip, but claims that it has been edited and doctored. Another BJP leader, Shivanagouda Nayak, was allegedly recorded as having said that the Speaker of the House, K.R. Ramesh Kumar, had been “booked” for ₹50 crore to rule favourably on dissident legislators of the ruling coalition. Unsurprisingly, the BJP is opposing the constitution of the SIT; instead it has called for a judicial inquiry or a probe by a House panel. But since the statements made in the audio recordings allude to transactions that are criminal in nature, law enforcement agencies are better-equipped to uncover the truth. In 2018, the BJP finished as the single largest party, but a post-poll coalition of the Congress and the JD(S) denied Mr. Yeddyurappa the chance to form the government. After being forced to step down in 2011 as Chief Minister in the wake of corruption charges, Mr. Yeddyurappa may have seen the 2018 Assembly election as his chance at political redemption. The prospect of sitting out another five years in the Opposition may have prompted the use of such underhand methods to return to power.
The release of the audio clips shines a light on the Congress and the BJP herding their MLAs into resorts some weeks ago. Accusations that the BJP was trying to buy up dissidents in the Congress have now gained credence. Seven Congress MLAs and one JD(S) MLA stayed away from the Assembly proceedings, raising the suspicion that the BJP was actively wooing dissidents in both the parties to bring down the government. But BJP leaders are now the victims of their own design, as points of contact have recorded conversations offering money and giving assurances for switching sides. The JD(S)-Congress government is by no means a cohesive unit, but the BJP’s covert attempts to engineer defections have certainly backfired. The wiser course for the BJP would have been to politically capitalise on the internal contradictions of the coalition government rather than resort to covert means to destabilise it. Desperate measures are aimed at immediate rewards, but these invariably result in long-term damage. The Congress outsmarted the BJP by cobbling together an opportunistic alliance with the JD(S). The BJP will be better served by time and patience, not money power and corruption.
B) Well oiled — on Saudi Crown Prince’s India visit
It is easy to see why the Saudi Crown Prince has chosen to include India in his Asia tour
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits India next week at a time when both countries are seeking to deepen bilateral cooperation. For MBS, as he is widely known, the visit to India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia and Indonesia is an opportunity to re-assert Saudi Arabia’s role as a major foreign policy player in Asia amid growing criticism over the Yemen war and the brutal assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. For the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the visit, with general elections approaching, is an opportunity to cap its pursuit of stronger ties with West Asian nations on a high note. High-level visits between India and Saudi Arabia have become the new normal since King Abdullah came to India in 2006, the first Saudi monarch to do so in five decades. Four years later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled to Riyadh. Mr. Modi visited Riyadh in 2016; last year, he met MBS in Argentina on the sidelines of the G-20 summit at a time when the Crown Prince had already come under sharp criticism in many Western countries. A number of factors have influenced the turnaround in ties between the two countries, which had been underwhelming during the Cold War. When India’s economy started growing at a faster clip post-liberalisation, its dependence on energy-rich nations grew. And Saudi Arabia was a stable, trusted supplier of oil. Post-9/11, the two have expanded the scope of their partnership to economic issues and fighting terrorism.
MBS is expected to announce Saudi investments in both India and Pakistan. Saudi Arabia, which has traditionally exercised great influence over Pakistan, had recently offered a $6 billion loan to Islamabad to stabilise the economy. In India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have acquired a 50% stake in a refinery complex in Maharashtra. The project remains stalled amid protests against land acquisition, but it shows Saudi Arabia’s interest to make long-term investments in India’s energy sector. Another subject that that will come up in bilateral talks is Iran. MBS has made containment of Iran his top foreign policy priority, and has U.S. support in this pursuit. India is certain to come under U.S. pressure to cut oil imports from Iran: it has so far walked the tightrope between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Even as its ties with the Kingdom improved over the past decade, India deepened its engagement with Iran, be it on oil trade or the Chabahar port. This is driven by the conviction that while Saudi Arabia is vital for India’s energy security, Iran is a gateway to Central Asia. New Delhi is sure to continue this balancing act even as it seeks to strengthen the Saudi pillar of India’s West Asia policy.
VOCABULARY
1) reconcile
Meaning : restore friendly relations between(v).
Synonyms : appease
Antonyms : agitate
Example : “the king and the archbishop were publicly reconciled”
2) adopting
Meaning : legally take (another’s child) and bring it up as one’s own(v).
Synonyms : accept
Antonyms : deny
Example :”there are many people eager to adopt a baby”
3) desperate
Meaning : feeling or showing a hopeless sense that a situation is so bad as to be impossible to deal with(adj).
Synonyms : dangerous
Antonyms : afraid
Example : “a desperate sadness enveloped Ruth”
4) veracity
Meaning :conformity to facts; accuracy(n).
Tamil Meaning : உண்மைத்தன்மை
Synonyms : accuracy
Antonyms : deceit
Example : “officials expressed doubts concerning the veracity of the story”
5) claims
Meaning : state or assert that something is the case, typically without providing evidence or proof(v).
Tamil Meaning : கூற்று
Synonyms : allegation
Antonyms : answer
Example : “the Prime Minister claimed that he was concerned about Third World debt”
6) dissident
Meaning : a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state(n).
Synonyms : discordant
Antonyms : agreeing
Example : “a dissident who had been jailed by a military regime”
7) allude
Meaning : suggest or call attention to indirectly; hint at(v).
Synonyms : advert
Antonyms : advertise
Example : “she had a way of alluding to Jean but never saying her name”
8) denied
Meaning : state that one refuses to admit the truth or existence of(v).
Tamil Meaning : மறுத்தார்
Synonyms : oppose
Antonyms : accept
Example : “both firms deny any responsibility for the tragedy”
9) redemption
Meaning : the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil(n).
Tamil Meaning : மீட்பு
Synonyms : atonement
Antonyms : incarceration
Example : “God’s plans for the redemption of his world”
10) prompted
Meaning : (of an event or fact) cause or bring about (an action or feeling)(v).
Tamil Meaning : தூண்டி
Synonyms : cause
Antonyms : depress
Example : “the violence prompted a wave of refugees to flee the country”
11) herding
Meaning : (with reference to a group of people or animals) move in a group(v).
Synonyms : corral
Antonyms : disperse
Example : “they were herded into a bus”
12) resorts
Meaning : a place that is frequented for holidays or recreation or for a particular purpose.
Tamil Meaning : ஓய்வு
Synonyms : hideaway
Example : “a seaside resort”
13) credence
Meaning : belief in or acceptance of something as true(n).
Synonyms : assurance
Antonyms : disbelief
Example : “psychoanalysis finds little credence among laymen”
14) dissidents
Meaning : a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state(n).
Tamil Meaning : ஏற்காதவர்களை
Synonyms : discordant
Antonyms : agreeing
Example : “a dissident who had been jailed by a military regime”
15) wooing
Meaning : seek the favour, support, or custom of(v).
Synonyms : cultivate
Antonyms : ignore
Example : “pop stars are being wooed by film companies eager to sign them up”
16) assurances
Meaning : a positive declaration intended to give confidence; a promise(n).
Tamil Meaning : உத்தரவாதங்களை
Synonyms : affirmation
Antonyms : break
Example : “he gave an assurance that work would begin on Monday”
17) cohesive
Meaning : characterized by or causing cohesion(adj).
Synonyms : adhesive
Antonyms : divided
Example : “each parish was formerly a cohesive unit”
18) covert
Meaning : not openly acknowledged or displayed(adj).
Synonyms : surreptitious
Antonyms : open
Example : “covert operations against the dictatorship”
19) wiser
Meaning : having or showing experience, knowledge, and good judgement(adj).
Synonyms : astute
Antonyms : incautious
Example : “she seems kind and wise”
20) contradictions
Meaning : a combination of statements, ideas, or features which are opposed to one another(n).
Tamil Meaning : முரண்பாடு
Synonyms : difference
Antonyms : accord
Example : “the proposed new system suffers from a set of internal contradictions”
21) destabilise
Meaning : upset the stability of (a region or system); cause unrest or instability in(v).
Tamil Meaning : சீர்குலைக்கும்
Synonyms : unhinge
Antonyms : stabilize
Example : “the accused were charged with conspiracy to destabilize the country”
22) cobbling
Meaning : roughly assemble or produce something from available parts or elements.
Tamil Meaning : இணைக்கும்
Synonyms : construct
Antonyms : destroy
Example : “the film was imperfectly cobbled together from two separate stories”
23) invariably
Meaning : in every case or on every occasion; always(adv).
Tamil Meaning :
Synonyms : constantly
Antonyms : never
Example : “ranch meals are invariably big and hearty”
24) assert
Meaning : state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully(v).
Synonyms : allege
Antonyms : conceal
Example : “the company asserts that the cuts will not affect development”
25) criticism
Meaning : the expression of disapproval of someone or something on the basis of perceived faults or mistakes(n).
Tamil Meaning : திறனாய்வு
Synonyms : judgment
Antonyms : neglect
Example : “he received a lot of criticism”
26) brutal
Meaning : direct and without attempting to disguise unpleasantness.
Tamil Meaning :
Synonyms : barbarous
Antonyms : civilized
Example : “the brutal honesty of his observations”
27) pursuit
Meaning : the action of pursuing someone or something(n).
Tamil Meaning : நோக்கத்தில்
Synonyms : hunt
Antonyms : retreat
Example : “the cat crouched in the grass in pursuit of a bird”
28) underwhelm
Meaning : fail to impress or make a positive impact on (someone); disappoint(v).
Synonyms : dismay
Antonyms : overwhelm
Example : “American voters seem underwhelmed by the choices for president”
29) liberalisation
Meaning : the removal or loosening of restrictions on something, typically an economic or political system(n).
Synonyms : deregulate
Example : “the government’s policy of economic liberalization”
30) refinery
Meaning : an industrial installation where a substance is refined(n).
Tamil Meaning : சுத்திகரிப்பு
Synonyms : refiner
Example : “an oil refinery”
31) acquisition
Meaning : an asset or object bought or obtained, typically by a library or museum(n).
Synonyms : procurement
Antonyms : loss
Example : “the legacy will be used for new acquisitions”
32) tightrope
Meaning : a rope or wire stretched tightly high above the ground, on which acrobats perform feats of balancing(n).
Synonyms : halyard
Example : “a tightrope walker”
33) conviction
Meaning : a formal declaration by the verdict of a jury or the decision of a judge in a court of law that someone is guilty of a criminal offence(n).
Synonyms : confidence
Antonyms : distrust
Example : “she had a previous conviction for a similar offence”
34) bilateral
Meaning : having or relating to two sides; affecting both sides(adj).
Synonyms : reciprocal
Antonyms : multilateral
Example : “bilateral hearing is essential for sound location”
35) containment
Meaning : the action of keeping something harmful under control or within limits(n).
Synonyms : constraint
Antonyms : allowance
Example : “the containment of the epidemic”
