Editorials With Hindi Vocab 25/12/2015

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The Times of India: Parallel Universe 

Parliamentarians may have wrestled  कुश्ती each other down. BJP and AAP may appear locked in(अन्दर बन्द कर देना) mortal मरने वाला combat  लड़ाई . But when it comes to securing a Christmas gift for themselves, it's an issue on which all differences dissolve खत्म होना and the spirit of charity prevails प्रचलित होना. The only problem is that the charity comes at the expense of the taxpayer.

Government is considering a proposal to double the pay of parliamentarians to a whopping  बहुत बड़ा Rs 2.8 lakh a month. This sum is in addition to a number of other perks including hiked pensions and subsidised housing in New Delhi's best localities. When perks अनुलाभ are accounted for the “cost to country“ (on the lines of “cost to company“) may come to as much as half a crore, or Rs 50,00,000, for each MP.This, for a country whose per capita income is a pitiful  दयालू Rs 90,000 annually yielding a ratio of approximately 1:55. If the pay hikes do come through, Thomas Piketty may well want to take up permanent residence in India.

Parliamentarians are not alone in wanting a sharp increase in remuneration मेहनताना . Here BJP seems to have taken a page out of AAP's book, conflicts between them notwithstanding  तब भी,  ऐसा होते हुए भी. A few weeks ago, “aam admi“ representatives in the Delhi assembly voted themselves a 400% increase in pay to “serve“ the people. It is not just legislators who will receive more money . The executive's demands have been served by 7th Pay Commission's recommendations which will result in an incremental salary package of Rs 1.02 trillion.

It is nobody's case that legislature and executive should be underpaid. However, what is unacceptable is that the link between pay and performance has been snapped काटना. The Rajya Sabha, for example, lost over 47 working hours in the winter session on account of disruptions हंगामा . Moreover, the trend in pay to legislature and executive is unrelated to the state of the economy and problems it has to deal with. For instance, railway minister Suresh Prabhu articulated व्यक्त the challenge confronting the organisation he runs on account of a sharp increase in salary bill. The only one whose interests are ignored is the taxpayer whose disposable  प्रयोग के लिये उपलब्ध income is under constant लगातार attack from stealth taxes such as inflation and open ones in the form of additional cesses. There is a strong case for linking raises in netas' and babus' pay to overall GDP increases as well as to productivity criteria for individuals and collective bodies like Parliament.

 The Economic Times: No Place for the Grinch in India

Three countries have banned  प्रतिषिद्ध Christmas celebrations: Somalia, Tajikistan and Brunei -in the name of Islam, although Tajikistan is nominally a secular country .There have been attempts in India, as well, to downgrade इज्जत उतारना Christmas from a holiday for all to a religious holiday for Christians, on which non-Christians should turn up for workstudy . Christmas does not deserve  लायक होना such treatment आचरण  .It is not so much a religious occasion  सुअवसर  as a day on which people are reminded स्मरण कराना of their common सामान्य humanity  मनुष्यता. Christmas, in its present form, marks celebration across the world; and what it celebrates, besides commerce, is life itself, urging  उकसाना peace on earth and goodwill सद्भावना  to all.

Bans on Christmas have a history in Christianity itself. The Puritans अतिधर्मनिष्ठ banned it in England, under Cromwell, finding Christmas to be theologically धर्मशास्त्र की दृष्टि से unsound आर्थिक रूप से डाँवाडोल and morally  नैतिक रूप से degrading  अपमानजनक  in conduct बर्ताव . The Bible does not ask the followers of Christ to celebrate the Nativity जन्मकाल. And the 25th of December was chosen, to incorporate  मिलाना the extended, pag an Roman festival of Saturnalia, which focused on merrymaking and had a carnival-like spirit, which the Puritans found distinctly lacking in virtue  नैतिक गुण.

The Colony of Massachusetts also banned Christmas for some time, on similar grounds. Ultimately , the human urge तीव्र इच्छा to celebrate prevailed प्रचलन over puritanical religious diktat अलोकप्रिय और कड़ा आदेश and Christmas grew into an occasion of joyous celebration.

There is no particular reason to alter परिवर्तन करना this or view Christmas as a particularly Christian festival -in England, cinemas have refused to run a Christian ad meant for the holiday season, on the ground that it is too religious. India's brush  संस्पर्श करना with colonialism has given it many things good and bad. There are many people in India who still feel oppressed  दबा हुआ by what two centuries of colonial rule wrought  बनाया हुआ and seek to restore what was obtained प्राप्त before. It makes far greater sense to celebrate the good that British rule left behind, including the rule of law and modern education, than to smart from historical bruises  चोट पहुँचाना या लगाना. Just add Christmas to the desirable इच्छा करने योग्य part of our colonial legacy  वसीयत and join the world in celebrating life.

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