Newspaper Editorials With English Vocab 21/3/2016

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THE HINDU: A Smart rate cut in small savings schemes

Without doubt, it is a very unpopular course to pursue. Yet, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has decided to act boldly and slash interest rates on several Centrally sponsored savings schemes. The decision will upset senior citizens, and the salaried middle class that forced the government to reconsider its decision to tax a portion of the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) corpus upon withdrawal.

The government has also decided to reset these rates every quarter. The objective is to align them with market rates. It has not come all of a sudden: there were enough hints to indicate that the government is not averse to shedding its populist mindset and looking to deal with economic issues from a realistic perspective. For instance, the government has excluded people above an annual income threshold from availing of the subsidy for LPG for household use. And though the government finally abandoned the Budget 2016 proposal to tax EPF, it was a clear indicator of things to come. Viewed in this context, there is a method in the manner in which the government has set out to implement its economic agenda. Its latest action on small savings could yet deliver the unkindest of cuts to its core constituency, the middle class. For, the rate cut covers a broad spectrum of schemes, including the Public Provident Fund (PPF), the Kisan Vikas Patra (KVP) and the National Savings Certificates (NSC). Surprisingly, the cut has also not spared schemes with a larger social intent, such as those for girl children and senior citizens. However, the government has decided to maintain the interest spread on such schemes. The rate cut is bound to emerge as a fresh rallying point for the Opposition to corner the government. These schemes have been a safe bet and offered assured returns for the salaried sections. These are also useful instruments to foster the saving habit among people. You cannot easily wish away the social security concerns thrown up by the rate cut decision, and the government will have to politically defend the cut.

Read in tandem with the U.S. Federal Reserve decision last week to keep its interest rate policy unchanged, the rate cut on the Centrally backed small savings schemes must clear the way for the Reserve Bank of India to lower its policy rates. Though the RBI had slashed its key policy rate by 125 basis points in 2015, banks had been extraordinarily reluctant to pass on the full benefits to borrowers. The deposit mobilisation efforts of the banks have faced unequal competition from small savings schemes, which offer artificially fixed, higher interest rates. That makes it difficult for banks to transmit fully the benefits of rate cuts made by the RBI. The rate cuts on savings schemes represent a necessary course correction to right the distortions in the system. It will also inevitably usher in a competitive cost structure in the economy for the greater public good. The cuts make good economic sense, and the government should stand firm on it.

cor·pus

A collection of written texts, especially the entire works of a particular author or a body of writing on a particular subject.

a·verse

Having a strong dislike of or opposition to something.

a·ban·don

Give up completely (a course of action, a practice, or a way of thinking).

fos·ter

Encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something regarded as good).

thrown up

to ​vomit:

I ​spent all ​night ​throwing up.

tan·dem

A bicycle with seats and pedals for two riders, one behind the other.

slash

Cut (something) with a violent sweeping movement, typically using a knife or sword.

re·luc·tant

Unwilling and hesitant; disinclined.

trans·mit

Cause (something) to pass on from one place or person to another.

dis·tor·tion

The action of distorting or the state of being distorted.

in·ev·i·ta·bly

As is certain to happen; unavoidably.

ush·er

A person who shows people to their seats, especially in a theater or at a wedding.

THE HINDU : The challenge in Jammu & Kashmir

Of late, political uncertainty has hit some of India’s strategically significant border States — Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Of these, J&K is undoubtedly the most sensitive State, where the Government of India has bled physically and financially for over 25 years to stop the separatist discourse and bring its people back to the political mainstream. But the demise of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in early January culminated in a political crisis as the two coalition partners, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, fell out, with the former accusing the latter of not abiding by the “Agenda of Alliance”, the goodwill treaty that had brought them together. Last week, the hope of such a coalition government emerging was renewed when Mehbooba Mufti, who is deemed a natural political successor to her father, met BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi. The meeting only resulted in further estrangement and left one big question: will the BJP be able to give Ms. Mufti what she wants? So far, she has declared the Mufti’s decision to join hands with the BJP an “unpopular” choice, but she has been vague when it comes to explaining where the BJP has gone wrong with the Agenda of Alliance. The BJP has not been forthright enough either. It is unclear what the party would or would not seek to deliver under the Agenda. For the Centre, governing Jammu and Kashmir has not been easy, not even in the post-insurgency era. Previous governments led by the BJP or Congress, backed governments in the State by making efforts to fill its budget deficits, fix its battered infrastructure and skilfully tackle separatist elements.

The three successive governments in post-insurgency Kashmir could only function when they had the Centre’s backing. In the early 2000s, the decision of the Vajpayee government to allow cross-LoC trade and travel, enter into bilateral engagement with Pakistan, and talk to Kashmiri separatists on the side, not only increased voter confidence but also brought the mainstream discourse back to the Valley. A decade later, with the arrival of the PDP-BJP coalition government, a similar approach was expected. But the State seems to be vulnerable again, with the number of militant strikes increasing and the absence of a civilian government furthering political alenation. For the BJP, the need of the hour is to work out an alliance with the PDP and scuttle any attempts to subvert Ms. Mufti within her party through undemocratic means, such as horse-trading. It is equally important to cultivate a strong mainstream leadership in the State by giving politicians like her the space to bargain with the Centre within the constitutional framework. Therefore, the BJP must not use the government at the Centre to make political gains in Jammu and Kashmir. It should revisit the Agenda of Alliance and also set the terms of the Agenda in concrete terms. If that does not work, it should simply go for new elections. Any undemocratic attempt to break the deadlock could have larger ramifications.

bleed

Lose blood from the body as a result of injury or illness.

cul·mi·nate

Reach a climax or point of highest development.

fell out

If a ​tooth or ​your ​hair ​falls out, it ​becomes ​loose and ​separates from ​your ​mouth or ​head:Her ​baby ​teeth are ​starting to ​fall out.

co·a·li·tion

An alliance for combined action, especially a temporary alliance of political parties forming a government or of states.

es·trange·ment

The fact of no longer being on friendly terms or part of a social group.

forth·right

(of a person or their manner or speech) direct and outspoken; straightforward and honest.

bat·tered

Injured by repeated blows or punishment.

dead·lock

A situation, typically one involving opposing parties, in which no progress can be made.

ram·i·fi·ca·tion

A consequence of an action or event, especially when complex or unwelcome.

INDIAN EXPRESS: Not the unkindest

The stage has been set for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to slash interest rates by a minimum of 50 basis points (bps) in its monetary policy review on April 5. Consumer price inflation, at 5.18 per cent year-on-year in February, is low despite two consecutive droughts. This, together with negative industrial production growth for a third straight month in January, constitutes a strong macroeconomic argument for a policy rate cut deeper than the usual 25 bps. It has been strengthened by the budget staying the course on fiscal consolidation and not opting for “aggressive” spending policies, in RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s words, to artificially stimulate growth. And with the US Federal Reserve clarifying last week that it is in no hurry to raise interest rates (“the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative”), there is no risk of low domestic rates triggering global fund outflows.

But the strongest case was made by the finance ministry’s surprise move, on Friday, to bring down interest rates on small savings schemes. These cuts — from 60 bps on the public provident fund (PPF) to 130 bps on one-year time deposits — should help address the issue of what the RBI calls effective “transmission” of its monetary policy actions. Since January 2015, the RBI has cumulatively lowered its benchmark repo lending rate by 125 bps, whereas banks have not passed on even half of this to borrowers.

They argue that they cannot reduce lending rates without lowering deposit rates — which is not possible if post office schemes give higher returns. But that excuse no longer holds: Even the RBI cannot say now that there is no point in cutting repo rates when “transmission” is weak. The rationalisation of small savings rates — probably more significant than any budget announcement — will encounter political opposition, especially from those who read it as an attack on middle-class and low-income savers.

This argument is spurious at best. Savers require positive real interest rates. They did not have it when CPI inflation was in double digits and no administered savings scheme gave more than 9.5 per cent interest. But today, CPI inflation is at 5.0-5.5 per cent and the PPF rate is at 8.1 per cent — that too, tax-free — even after the latest rationalisation. The poor and middle class stand to gain much more from the boost to overall economic activity following from lower interest rates. The Modi government should stay the course here as well.

de·spite

Without being affected by; in spite of.

consolidation

Combining into a solid mass

cumulatively

In a cumulative manner; "mind has become self-reproducing through man's capacity to transmit experience and its products cumulatively"

spu·ri·ous

Not being what it purports to be; false or fake.

BUSINES STANDARD: SYL row: Centre can't be a mute spectator

Under the radar, a constitutional crisis is brewing in north-west India, and national parties or the central government must step in to cool it down. The most egregious instance of the breakdown of central authority came when the Punjab Assembly chose to support Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's resolution that the state would defy the Supreme Court of India if necessary, and "not abide by any order against its interests". The Court is addressing a question over the sharing of river water for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. Hundreds of crores have already been spent on infrastructure for this canal, over decades - Haryana, a beneficiary, has paid for a large proportion. The Supreme Court may have stopped Punjab from returning land acquired decades ago for the canal to the farmers from whom it has acquired - but the state has reportedly moved ahead with the land return programme anyway, encouraging farmers to dump debris into the half-built canal.

Outright defiance of the Supreme Court, if this is what is happening, is an extremely dangerous precedent. It reflects a fraught moment in the state's politics, when a government - an alliance between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is facing a re-election test against not just the Congress but also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Under such circumstances, the political temptation to slip into soft-separatist patterns of behaviour must be great - but it should have been anticipated by the Centre and headed off. Indeed, the government at the Centre is also led by the BJP - so surely there must have been some feedback that this is what their state government in Punjab intended. If the feedback was not sent, then it is dangerously poor political management on the part of the BJP; if the feedback was ignored, then it is irresponsible governance. The Centre cannot afford to be a bystander just because the party in power believes there might be an electoral payoff to this defiance of lawful, constitutional authority. The BJP is after all also in power in Haryana. The Congress is also a national party, and the AAP has pretentions of being one. Both must act in the national interest as well and avoid making this an electoral issue.

Certainly, tensions between upper and lower riparian states will only grow in a time when more states are feeling the pinch of water pressure. If the legitimacy of the SYL canal can be bypassed so easily by Punjab, there are serious risks for several other such river-sharing agreements among other states in the country. The Centre, therefore, cannot allow the current developments around the SYL canal project to become an unhealthy precedent for other river-sharing agreements. Moreover, north-west India has been particularly profligate in its use of water. The crop mix of Punjab and Haryana is not suited to its natural climate. This has led to massive depletion of groundwater and a water crisis in the region. The Centre should have worked to anticipate this, and to wean the two states off water-intensive agriculture. This long-term plan has not been put into effect. But even worse, perhaps, are the long-term effects of allowing Punjab and Haryana - but especially Punjab, given its history of separatism - to slip into an anti-outsider and anti-Centre mentality. Such open challenges cannot be permitted and the Centre must act.

brew

Make (beer) by soaking, boiling, and fermentation.

e·gre·gious

Outstandingly bad; shocking.

de·fy

Openly resist or refuse to obey.

fraught

(of a situation or course of action) filled with or destined to result in (something undesirable).

headed off

to ​start a ​journey or ​leave a ​place:

What ​time are you ​heading off?

by·stand·er

A person who is present at an event or incident but does not take part.

pretentions

(pretention) Archaic spelling of pretension

ri·par·i·an

Of, relating to, or situated on the banks of a river.

pinch

Grip (something, typically someone's flesh) tightly and sharply between finger and thumb.

prof·li·gate

Recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources.

de·ple·tion

Reduction in the number or quantity of something.

an·tic·i·pate

Regard as probable; expect or predict.

wean

Accustom (an infant or other young mammal) to food other than its mother's milk.

The dawn: Perception of democracy

CHIEF Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali appears to be growing into his job as the senior-most judge in the country. That entails developing a judicial philosophy that implements the letter of the Constitution and, for now, encouraging democratic institutional development.

On that crucial latter issue, Chief Justice Jamali has indicated a deeper understanding of what has ailed Pakistan over the decades.

Speaking at a tribute to the late Hafeez Pirzada, one of the architects of the 1973 Constitution, Chief Justice Jamali suggested that the frequent impositions of martial law had left a majority of the population unaware of the spirit of democracy and that has contributed to lawlessness in the country.

In a week in which retired Gen Pervez Musharraf left the country perhaps never to return, Chief Justice Jamali’s comments are particularly poignant. While electoral democracy is becoming the new norm in the country, is the country really moving towards full-fledged democracy and rule of law?

Perhaps it is worth reflecting on the past that Chief Justice Jamali referred to. The several impositions of martial law — under Mr Musharraf the nomenclature was changed, but the impact was the same — did not just interrupt democracy, it made democracy seem optional.

The damage caused by the perception that democracy is optional, that if the system is not producing desirable results in the short term it ought to be replaced by something else, has proved more long-lasting than the dictatorships themselves.

Its effects can be seen everywhere. In Karachi, an operation that began with the narrow purpose of fighting crime and militancy has morphed into an attack on the political structure of the nation’s most populous city.

The denizens of Karachi want peace and their party of choice, but peace and democracy are being offered as mutually exclusive options.

At the centre, eight years into a seemingly strong transition to democracy, the sharing of power between the military and the civilians is tilting in the wrong direction. In Fata, the military has absolute control.

Balochistan is effectively one big no-go area. While the reasons vary, everywhere the effect is the same: democracy may be desired, but it is seen as optional — by elements of the state and sometimes by the people themselves.

Changing that will require not just time, but purposeful effort by democratic elements. An obvious path from the lawlessness that Chief Justice Jamali identified to lawfulness would be fundamental reforms in the delivery of justice.

A civilian-led effort — a joint effort by elected representatives and the judiciary — to reform a broken judicial system would have far-reaching effects.

At its core, Pakistan’s problem remains one of the rule of law — justice for all, equally, timely and in a transparent manner.

The rules must be fair, but they must be clear — and justice certain. That would foster the public’s belief in the fundamentality of democracy and circumscribe the actions of state institutions.

The country’s elected representatives have made a great deal of progress by internalising the need for democratic continuity and accepting the electorate’s verdict. But a true national spirit of democracy will only come with the rule of law.

en·tail

Involve (something) as a necessary or inevitable part or consequence.

ail

Trouble or afflict (someone) in mind or body.

impositions

The Crown of England traditionally exercised the right to impose import duties for the regulation of trade and the protection of domestic industry. ..

poign·ant

Evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret

no·men·cla·ture

The devising or choosing of names for things, especially in a science or other discipline.

morph

Change smoothly from one image to another by small gradual steps using computer animation techniques.

den·i·zen

An inhabitant or occupant of a particular place.

tilt

Move or cause to move into a sloping position.

fos·ter

Encourage or promote the development of (something, typically something regarded as good).

The DNA :How Putin’s Syria gamble has already paid off

Vladimir Putin says he is withdrawing most Russian forces from Syria because his “objectives” have been achieved. How to judge that boast? On such goals as keeping the dictator Bashar al-Assad in power, increasing Russian influence in the Middle East, restoring Moscow’s seat at the table of global power, and sending a message of strength to Islamic extremists inside Russia’s own borders, the jury is still out.

But it’s not too early to consider Russian success on another front: showcasing military strength to potential adversaries, allies and arms buyers. “Essentially, Russia is using their incursion into Syria as an operational proving ground,” retired Air Force general David Deptula told the New York Times last year. And Moscow proved quite a bit.

The Russian military had not been in a conflict of this scale since its disastrous pullout from Afghanistan decades ago. The closest it came was the five-day border fracas with Georgia in 2008, and while the campaign was a political success, the Kremlin’s military was highly unimpressive against a weak opponent. Just seven years later, the Russians have done a great deal to redeem themselves. In what was primarily an air campaign, they showed a good ability to keep up the tempo of sorties.

In December, cruise missiles fired underwater by a super-stealthy Rostov-on-Don submarine in the Mediterranean struck targets near Islamic State’s de facto capital, Raqqa. Given that such sea-based missiles are vastly more expensive than dropping bombs from planes, one can assume that the real aim was sending a message to Washington.

Russia also deployed some hardware that there was little reason to suppose would ever be used: sending the missile cruiser Moskva off the coast of Syria and placing advanced S-400 ground-to-air missile systems at the airbase near Latakia. This impressive air-defence assemblage might have seemed a bit much given that the Syrian rebels and Islamic State jihadists didn’t have a single plane, but the real point was flexing muscles, and the US clearly took notice.

The Syria campaign should do nothing to hamper Russia’s soaring arms sales, at 25% of the global market as compared to America’s 33% over the last five years, despite Ukraine-related sanctions. Moscow is rumoured to be locking its top client, India, into $7 billion in purchases including S-400 air defences and three Admiral Grigorovich-class frigates now under construction. The two nations have long discussed a joint building operation of a next-generation fighter jet. India’s mortal enemy, Pakistan, made its first-ever deal with Moscow for four helicopters last summer, and more may be on the way, especially if a Republican-led group in Congress continues to try to block fighter-jet sales to Islamabad.

What most concerns the US and its Middle Eastern allies, though, is Moscow’s courtship of Iran. After the signing of the nuclear-weapons deal last summer, Russia agreed to make good on a long-promised sale of an advanced air-defence system to Tehran, and discussed possible sales of multi-role Su-30 aircraft and Russia’s main battle tank. Republicans in Congress are pressuring the Barack Obama administration to block any such sales using United Nations sanctions, but in the long run there’s little doubt that Moscow and Tehran will strengthen ties over weapons deals — another Putin objective furthered by his risky decision to make Assad’s war his own

with·draw

Remove or take away (something) from a particular place or position.

ad·ver·sar·y

One's opponent in a contest, conflict, or dispute.

in·cur·sion

An invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one.

dis·as·trous

Causing great damage.

pull·out

A section of a magazine or newspaper that is designed to be detached and kept for rereading.

fra·cas

A noisy disturbance or quarrel.

re·deem

Compensate for the faults or bad aspects of (something).

ham·per

Hinder or impede the movement or progress of.

ru·mor

Be circulated as an unverified account.

frig·ate

A warship with a mixed armament, generally heavier than a destroyer (in the US Navy) and of a kind originally introduced for convoy escort work.

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