#EVERYDAYQUIZ #THE HINDU #INDIAN EXPRESS #BUSINESS STANDARD #NEWYORK TIMES #THE DAWN
GUYS READ THESE ARTICLES DAILY , IF YOU REALLY WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH, IT WILL BE DIFFICULT BUT IT WILL HELP YOU TO FETCH BETTER MARKS IN ENGLISH SECTION.
THE HINDU: Marshalling resources to stay
on track
The Railway Budget is notable both for the absence of
big-ticket schemes and for its quiet emphasis on process changes that hold the
promise of ushering in long-term improvements
in the viability of the Indian
Railways. Given the backdrop of a shortfall in traffic receipts — exacerbated
by low freight
demand from the core sector —
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s projection of savings of Rs.8,720 crore
compared with budget estimates for the current fiscal year reflects a finance
professional’s approach in adopting austerity measures to contain costs.
Building on those gains, the budget has projected that notwithstanding the
substantial jump in salary and pension costs consequent upon the implementation
of the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations, the impact would be minimised
to an 11.6 per cent increase in working expenses next year. This will lead to a
two percentage point rise in the operating ratio. To address the resultant
paucity of funds for capital expenditure, the Minister plans to step up efforts
to monetise various assets, including land, and boost non-fare revenue, use the
private-public-partnership model more extensively, and work jointly with State
governments to both formulate and fund region- or city- specific projects.
Citing the international average of 10 to 20 per cent of railway network
revenues accruing from non-tariff sources, the budget sets a goal of bringing
that share on a par over the next five years from the prevailing sub-5 per cent.
Mr. Prabhu has rightly realised that a major challenge is to recover lost
ground in freight haulage, where a persistent decline has had a negative impact
not only on the Railways’ finances but on the economy as well. The approach
enunciated to address this spans three key tacks — expanding the freight basket
by moving away from dependence on bulk commodities, rationalising tariffs to
stay competitive and building terminal capacity. From containerisation to
roll-on/roll-off, time-tabled freight trains, and long-term tariff contracts,
the budget has posited several steps to regain the market share of the Railways
in goods transportation.
Given
the political constraints on resource mobilisation the Railways faces in a year
of a major round of Assembly elections, Mr. Prabhu has taken a therapeutic
approach to ensure a long-term solution. Aware that the success of any plans
would hinge on their execution, he has spelt out initiatives to restructure
operational management and processes. The Railway Board is to be reorganised
along business lines with cross-functional teams focussed on areas such as
non-fare revenues, speed enhancement and information technology. Seven missions
to set horizon-based agendas have been proposed. While the objectives appear
achievable, Mr. Prabhu’s challenge will be to bring them to fruition,
especially because many potential partners, including cash-strapped State
governments, may be hard-pressed to find the money.
mar·shal
Arrange or
assemble (a group of people, especially soldiers) in order.
no·ta·ble
Worthy of
attention or notice; remarkable.
em·pha·sis
Special
importance, value, or prominence given to something.
viability
(of living
things) capable of normal growth and development
ush·er
Show or guide
(someone) somewhere.
pau·ci·ty
The presence
of something only in small or insufficient quantities or amounts; scarcity.
haul·age
The commercial
transport of goods.
e·nun·ci·ate
Say or
pronounce clearly.
roll-on/roll-off
hinge
A movable
joint or mechanism on which a door, gate, or lid swings as it opens and closes,
or that connects linked objects.
strap
Fasten or
secure in a specified place or position with a strap or seat belt.
hard-pressed
having a lot of difficulties doing something, especiallybecause there is not enough time or
money
THE HINDU: A prudent decision
Can
computer programmes be granted patents? On February 19, India’s patent office
wisely answered this question in the negative, putting an end to months of
ambiguity over the patentability of computer programmes. In this process, the
patent office, called the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs
& Trade Marks, effectively reversed an August 2015 guideline that had
triggered the ambiguity in the first place. Till that guideline came, India’s
stance on this issue had been clear through a 2002 amendment to the Patents
Act: that software per se was not to qualify for patent
protection. However, lawmakers also recognised that the intention must not be
to reject inventions involving software that “may include certain other things,
ancillary thereto or developed thereon”. Experts have interpreted this
exception to refer to innovations in both software and hardware. The 2015
guideline threatened to unsettle that nuance. According to that, technical
advancements could be sufficient grounds on which to confer patents. Its
nullification is welcome as such rules, though seemingly on the side of
innovation, do not enable a level playing ground. For starters, the share of
patents held by Indians has traditionally been low, and it continues to be so.
Also, the field of software is dominated by corporate giants with deep pockets
and significant expertise, and they can easily ‘out-patent’ the others out of
business. The smaller companies and start-ups — and there are far too many
aspirants with that profile — then not only have to spend huge sums of money to
protect their work, but they also have to be financially and operationally
ready to defend themselves.
The
patent office hasn’t left it at just that. It has also issued a three-stage
test to examine applications of computer-related inventions. Step one is to
interpret the claim. Once that is done, step two is to deny the claim in case
the “contribution lies only in mathematical model, business method or
algorithm”. Step three is to assess if the invention is claimed in the field of
software in conjunction with a novel hardware. The important point to note is
the recognition that software in itself is never patentable. This is a prudent
stance, because there are inherent problems in figuring out if software is
patentable or not. And this is true the world over. Germany and New Zealand
exclude software from patentability. In many other parts of the world, the
positions are nuanced, like the one taken by the European Patent Convention,
which does not entertain applications when they pertain to computer programmes
as such, but it does have an open mind when they lead to “non-obvious”
contributions. In the U.S., a more open policy has led to a flood of patents,
and consequently the negative connotation that the term ‘patent thicket’
carries now. There is a more important reason for holding back software from a
patents regime. And this goes back to what MIT researchers James Bessen and
Eric Maskin showed many years ago: imitation promotes innovation. Patents are a
hindrance here.
pru·dent
Acting with or
showing care and thought for the future.
an·cil·lar·y
Providing
necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organization,
institution, industry, or system.
nu·ance
A subtle
difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound.
nullification
The
states'-rights doctrine that a state can refuse to recognize or to enforce a
federal law passed by the United States Congress
nov·el
ex·clude
Deny (someone)
access to or bar (someone) from a place, group, or privilege.
nu·ance
Give nuances
to.
im·i·ta·tion
A thing
intended to simulate or copy something else.
hin·drance
A thing that
provides resistance, delay, or obstruction to something or someone.
BUSINESS STANDARD: Railways'
tough times
The Railway Budget for 2016-17 has been presented under
difficult conditions. Its revised estimates for 2015-16 naturally reflect a
general economic slowdown; and the bill attached to the Seventh Central Pay
Commission's recommendations skews the bottomline for 2016-17. The revised
estimates for the operating ratio (expressed as per cent of gross traffic
earnings consumed by working expenses plus depreciation and pension provisions
- the lower the figure, the better) over the current year shows a deterioration
by 1.5 percentage points to reach a disturbing 90 per cent. This is in contrast
to the previous year, 2014-15, when things turned out better than expected.
What is worse is that the estimates for 2016-17 project a further deterioration
in the financial health of the national carrier with the operating ratio
deteriorating by two full percentage points to 92 per cent. What is most
worrying perhaps is that provisions under a key head - depreciation reserve
fund - which is used to carry out critical repairs like replacing ageing tracks
(a fall in this activity can lead to more accidents) have been lowered to a
paltry Rs 3,200 crore for next year from the revised estimate of Rs 5,500 crore
for the current year, which itself was substantially lower than the Budget
estimate of Rs 7,900 crore. Actual expenditure can be a bit different but the
numbers (presumably the best that can be afforded) send out a negative signal.
Poor demand conditions are outside Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's control. He has at least done something to control costs: Working expenses in the revised estimates have been cut by seven per cent. If they are up about 12 per cent in the estimates for the next year, that is the pay commission's impact. On the whole, Mr Prabhu deserves credit for trying to minimise the financial damage. He has also not strayed from the right path on framing a freight policy, undertaking organisational restructuring and stepping up investments while remaining focused on his customers. But several issues need highlighting. He has not lost sight of reforms but moved slowly on them in the current year. Ideas on restructuring and setting up a tariff authority have been around for a long time but they are not yet in place. Even preparing an alternative accrual-based set of accounts, on which there is no controversy, is yet to be completed. But the crucial question is: what are the economic growth assumptions for next year on the basis of which Mr Prabhu has budgeted for growth in both freight and passenger revenues? These have after all been revised downwards sharply in the current year.
Poor demand conditions are outside Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's control. He has at least done something to control costs: Working expenses in the revised estimates have been cut by seven per cent. If they are up about 12 per cent in the estimates for the next year, that is the pay commission's impact. On the whole, Mr Prabhu deserves credit for trying to minimise the financial damage. He has also not strayed from the right path on framing a freight policy, undertaking organisational restructuring and stepping up investments while remaining focused on his customers. But several issues need highlighting. He has not lost sight of reforms but moved slowly on them in the current year. Ideas on restructuring and setting up a tariff authority have been around for a long time but they are not yet in place. Even preparing an alternative accrual-based set of accounts, on which there is no controversy, is yet to be completed. But the crucial question is: what are the economic growth assumptions for next year on the basis of which Mr Prabhu has budgeted for growth in both freight and passenger revenues? These have after all been revised downwards sharply in the current year.
skew
An oblique
angle; a slant.
bot·tom line
The final
total of an account, balance sheet, or other financial document.
pal·try
(of an amount)
small or meager.
stray
Move away aimlessly
from a group or from the right course or place.
accrual-based
a method used
in accounting in which amounts of
money are
recorded at the time something
is bought or
sold, although payments may not yet have been made or received
INDIAN EXPRESS: Freedom of
her speech
Human Resource
Development Minister Smriti Irani made an impassioned defence of her ministry
in Parliament as the House debated Rohith Vemula’s suicide and the police action on Jawaharlal
Nehru University students. In both style and substance, it stood apart from
other speeches from the treasury benches. The speech, later endorsed by the prime
minister himself — with a satyamev jayate postscript — was a clear articulation
of her party’s views on both issues. The message is disturbing. It underlines
the BJP’s resolve
to go on the offensive against what it calls the anti-national views of the JNU
students and to leverage that issue to one of politics and identity. She
targeted the TRS, the party in government in Hyderabad, for neglecting Rohith
and accused the Opposition, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in particular, of politicising his death: “A
child’s body was used as a political tool” was her refrain.
Irani’s speech, in
its essence, echoed the shrill rhetoric of BJP supporters in the street, of the
men who assaulted students, teachers and journalists in court and the Delhi BJP
MLA who wanted to gun down “anti-nationals”. She sought to claim victimhood,
talking of her being hanged and offering her head if that’s what the Opposition
wanted. She also spoke of being a mother to raise an emotional pitch about
Rohith but was relentless against the JNU students. Her invocation of Cicero
was revealing. The enemy at the gates was less dangerous than the traitor
within who rots the soul of a nation, she recalled the Roman philosopher,
adding that “a murderer is less to fear”. Really? In the India of 2016, with
its vibrant democracy, which she eloquently referred to as well, are dissenting
students traitors?
In her fire and
fury, there was a moment that showed what this speech could have been. She kept
referring to Rohith as a “child”. She was spot-on — the university-student
compact is, in a way, similar to that of a parent and a child. Certainly not
what she invoked when she quoted Cicero and alluded to the JNU students being
ones who appeal to the “baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men” and
“rot the soul of a nation”
NOTE: TO JUDGE
THIS ARTICALE YOU NEED TO WATCH SMRITI IRANI SPEECH
im·pas·sioned
Filled with or
showing great emotion.
en·dorse
Declare one's
public approval or support of.
un·der·line
Draw a line
under (a word or phrase) to give emphasis or indicate special type.
re·frain
Stop oneself
from doing something
ech·o
(of a sound)
be repeated or reverberate after the original sound has stopped.
shrill
(of a voice or
sound) high-pitched and piercing.
rhet·o·ric
The art of
effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of
speech and other compositional techniques.
as·sault
Make a
physical attack on.
wanted to gun down
to shoot someone and kill or seriously injure them, often when that person cannot defend himself or herself
re·lent·less
Oppressively
constant; incessant.
eloquently
With
eloquence; "he expressed his ideas eloquently"
el·o·quence
Fluent or
persuasive speaking or writing.
dis·sent
Hold or
express opinions that are at variance with those previously, commonly, or
officially expressed.
NEWYORK TIMES: Private Prisons Are
Cashing In on Refugees’ Desperation
Berlin — IMMIGRATION and
Customs Enforcement calls the detention site in Dilley, Tex., a “family
residential center.” But to the 2,000 migrant children and mothers who live
there, it’s something else: “People who say this is not a prison are lying,”
Yancy Maricela Mejia Guerra, a detainee from Central America, told Fusion last year.
“It’s a prison for us and a prison for our children, but none of us are
criminals.”
The Dilley center holds
people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
a government agency, but it is run by the Corrections Corporation of America,
America’s largest private prison and detention company. It is one part of a
worrisome global trend of warehousing immigrants and asylum seekers at remote
sites maintained by for-profit corporations. The United Nations estimates that one in
every 122 people on the planet is displaced. This is a crisis that requires a
humanitarian solution; unfortunately, some people view it as a business
opportunity.
In recent decades, many
Western governments have increasingly outsourced prisons to private companies,
claiming that doing so saves money. As the number of migrants and asylum
seekers has grown, governments have found a new use for the private-prison
model.
It has become a
multimillion-dollar industry. The company Hero Norway runs 90 refugee centers
in Norway and 10 in Sweden, charging governments $31 to $75 per refugee per
night. Australia’s government has contracted the company Broadspectrum to
manage two detention camps in Nauru and Papua New Guinea for asylum seekers. In
Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron’s government awarded the security firm
Serco a seven-year contract in 2014 worth over $100 million for running the
Yarl’s Wood immigrant detention center.
These private companies
are too often plagued by scandal and accused of abuse. The Corrections
Corporation of America has a long history of
ignoring detainee safety and federal laws. Serco has been accused of
inadequately training its guards and overcharging the British governmentfor
substandard work. One doctor who worked at a site run by Broadspectrum in
Nauru told The Guardian that
the detention center was “reminiscent of Guantánamo Bay.”
The global flows of
refugees are unlikely to abate anytime soon. Wars in the Middle East continue,
as does the epidemic of gang violence in Central America. Climate change will
send millions more people fleeing their homes in the years to come. Governments
must accept that for-profit detention centers are not the way to deal with this
issue.
State-run detention
centers don’t necessarily guarantee more respect for human rights, but there is
evidence that government control brings improvements: A 2014 report by the
American Civil Liberties Union, for example, found that private immigration
detention centers in the United States were more crowded than state-run ones,
and detainees in them had less access to educational programs and quality
medical care. And public centers, while still flawed, are more transparent.
Opacity is a common
denominator in the privatized detention system around the world. In Australia,
Europe and the United States, journalists have less access to private prisons
than they do to public ones; governments maintain less oversight. That’s not a
coincidence. As Matthew J. Gibney, a political scientist at Oxford
University, told The New York Times:
“When something goes wrong — a death, an escape — the government can blame it on
a kind of market failure instead of an accountability failure.”
Advocates of private
immigration detention claim they are saving taxpayers money. But that seems
unlikely. The American government spends more on immigrant detention today than
it did 10 years ago, when the number of border crossings was higher. The
Corrections Corporation of America and other companies have lobbied politicians
to keep more people behind bars rather than deporting them. Congress requires
that at least 34,000 people be housed daily in
detention centers — a so-called detention bed mandate
Making a profit doesn’t
just require keeping beds filled, it can often lead companies to skimp on
services. This means mental health care, outdoor activities and healthy food
are far less available in private detention centers than at those run by the
government. Last year, the United Nations described a camp for refugees
in Traiskirchen, Austria, that
is run by the Swiss firm ORS Service, as “inhumane” because of overcrowding.
Similar reports are common not just on Europe’s frontiers but across the world.
Governments that receive
migrants and asylum seekers must reverse their reliance on private companies.
The current practice is a short-term fix that in the long run will cost
governments more and subject refugees to worse conditions. In the meantime,
governments from Canberra to Vienna to Washington should institute independent
cost analyses to ensure that private centers give taxpayers the best value for
their money. They should encourage more oversight of these sites, from
government agencies and from the news media. And the 34,000-bed quota must also
be done away with immediately.
In its 2014 annual
report, the Corrections Corporation of America worried that changes to American
immigration policy could cut into the company’s bottom line. Many other such
contractors might have similar fears. Let’s hope they do. Unless governments
make drastic changes now, these corporations look likely to get richer and
richer as more people around the world flee their homes, desperately seeking
safety.
Cashing
Desperation
the feeling that you have
when you are in such a badsituation that you are willing to take risks in order to changeit
en·force·ment
The act of
compelling observance of or compliance with a law, rule, or obligation.
de·tain·ee
A person held
in custody, especially for political reasons.
a·sy·lum
The protection
granted by a nation to someone who has left their native country as a political
refugee.
dis·place
Take over the
place, position, or role of (someone or something).
hu·man·i·tar·i·an
Concerned with
or seeking to promote human welfare.
plague
Cause
continual trouble or distress to.
rem·i·nis·cent
Tending to
remind one of something.
a·bate
(of something
perceived as hostile, threatening, or negative) become less intense or
widespread.
flawed
Blemished,
damaged, or imperfect in some way.
o·pac·i·ty
The condition
of lacking transparency or translucence; opaqueness
de·nom·i·na·tor
The number
below the line in a common fraction; a divisor.
de·port
Expel (a
foreigner) from a country, typically on the grounds of illegal status or for
having committed a crime.
skimp
Expend or use
less time, money, or material on something than is necessary in an attempt to
economize.
in·hu·mane
Without
compassion for misery or suffering; cruel.
re·li·ance
Dependence on
or trust in someone or something.
dras·tic
Likely to have
a strong or far-reaching effect; radical and extreme.
THE Dawn: Zardari: no lessons learnt
ASIF Ali Zardari, former president and still PPP boss,
has surprised and confounded before. In recent times, Mr Zardari has even
surprised his own party with his pronouncements on national politics,
institutional relations and the role of the military establishment.
But perhaps never before has Mr Zardari simultaneously
stunned the country at large and mystified his own party as he did on Tuesday.
For several frenzied hours two days ago, the media and
the political leadership tried to dissect a statement attributed to Mr Zardari
in which the former president appeared to call on army chief, Gen Raheel Sharif,
to reconsider his decision to retire in November.
It was a bewildering statement and directly contradicted
Mr Zardari himself from just a month ago. What was the former president
thinking?
The only thing that is clear at this point is that the
PPP does not function coherently when its leader is trying to run its affairs
from self-exile.
Neither apparently is Mr Zardari himself capable of
staying on message when his personal spokesperson, Farhatullah Babar, is not
around to vet the former president’s words and opinions.
Desperately for national politics and the PPP itself, the
party that was in power at the centre less than three years ago and that still
governs Sindh appears to have become a parody of itself.
While Mr Zardari has now disowned the crux of his
statement on Tuesday and his party spokespersons have gone into damage control
mode, it is worth considering the implications of Mr Zardari’s ruminations on a
possible extension for Gen Sharif.
Perhaps most astounding is how unaware Mr Zardari appears
to be of his own role in making it possible to have a debate on an army chief’s
extension in the first place.
Five years ago, had Mr Zardari not cravenly submitted to
a power-hungry Ashfaq Kayani, then army chief on the verge of retirement, it is
almost inconceivable that an extension for an army chief in civilian times
could be considered today.
It is possible that at the time Mr Zardari had calculated
that an extension for Mr Kayani would have ensured the PPP a full term in
office, an unprecedented achievement in the massively interrupted democratic
history of the country.
Yet, just a few months after the extension was granted,
the Memogate controversy rocked the PPP government — and it quickly and
abundantly became clear that the targets were none other than Mr Zardari
himself and his handpicked ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani.
Worryingly, Mr Zardari appears to have learnt no lessons
from his own and very personal history with extensions and the institutional
problems they can cause.
Was Mr Zardari hoping to win a reprieve for his party in
Sindh? Or was he hoping to drive a wedge between the federal government and the
military leadership? If so, to what end?
Mysterious indeed have become the ways of Asif Ali
Zardari.
con·found
Cause surprise
or confusion in (someone), especially by acting against their expectations.
pro·nounce·ment
A formal or
authoritative announcement or declaration.
stun
Knock
unconscious or into a dazed or semiconscious state.
mys·ti·fy
Utterly
bewilder or perplex (someone).
fren·zied
Wildly excited
or uncontrolled.
dis·sect
Methodically
cut up (a body, part, or plant) in order to study its internal parts.
be·wil·der
Cause
(someone) to become perplexed and confused.
co·her·ent
(of an
argument, theory, or policy) logical and consistent.
des·per·ate·ly
In a way that
shows despair.
de·spair
The complete
loss or absence of hope.
par·o·dy
An imitation
of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate
exaggeration for comic effect.
dis·own
Refuse to acknowledge
or maintain any connection with.
crux
The decisive
or most important point at issue.
as·tound·ing
Surprisingly
impressive or notable.
cravenly
In a craven
manner
on the verge
If you are on
the verge of something or come to the verge of something, you are very close to experiencing it
in·con·ceiv·a·ble
Not capable of
being imagined or grasped mentally; unbelievable.
un·prec·e·dent·ed
Never done or
known before.
memogate
The memogate
controversy revolves around a memorandum ostensibly seeking help of the Obama
administration in the wake of the Osama bin Laden raid to avert a military
takeover of the civilian government in Pakistan, as well as assisting in a
Washington insider takeover of the government
hand·pick
Select
carefully with a particular purpose in mind.
re·prieve
Cancel or
postpone the punishment of (someone, especially someone condemned to death).
wedge
A piece of
wood, metal, or some other material having one thick end and tapering to a thin
edge, that is driven between two objects or parts of an object to secure or
separate them.
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