Newspaper Editorials With English Vocab 2/4/2016

#everydayquiz #TheHindu #BusinessStandard #IndianExpress #TheDawn

The Hindu: Medical Council needs urgent therapy

It is a strange incongruity that in a democratic country with over 1.2 billion people, the systems of health-care delivery and medical education are poorly regulated, expensive, opaque and, by the government’s own admission, considerably corrupt. In December, the Centre acknowledged the need to modernise the Medical Council of India (MCI), the apex body that was temporarily superseded six years ago in the wake of a corruption scandal.

The functioning of the MCI has been controversial on several counts, culminating in the arrest of its president in 2010 on a graft charge. Reviewing its record, the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare expressed shock in a recent report tabled in Parliament that a body like the MCI, which sets ethical norms for medical professionals, could itself be headed by someone who was arrested for corruption. The report is a severe indictment of the Council and the Centre, for failing to stop the sale of medical seats in private colleges for capitation fees going up to Rs.50 lakh, and allowing a single, all-powerful agency heavily influenced by corporate hospitals to provide accreditation to institutions and assess their quality, ignoring blatant conflicts of interest. Clearly, a thorough clean-up in the manner medical education and health-care institutions are regulated is overdue; no compromise should be made on transparency, public interest and the highest ethical standards in doing this.

Comprehensive reform of the MCI should begin with the separation of functions: approving standards and accreditation requirements for medical education, fixing norms to assess the competence of medical graduates and laying down ethical practice guidelines. Here, it is worth considering the suggestions made by the government-constituted committee of experts led by Ranjit Roy Chaudhary, notably the creation of a National Medical Commission to oversee education and policy, and separate boards for undergraduate and postgraduate training, assessment of institutions and medical ethics. It is certainly untenable for the Centre to retain the present structure of the MCI, which seems designed to benefit vested interests. Inducting non-medical professionals of integrity and community health experts to regulatory bodies would help advance public interest. The NDA government would also do well to follow up the demand of the parliamentary committee for a time-bound probe into the curious phenomenon of a large number of inspectors from Gujarat and Bihar being sent for visits during 2014, in the absence of clear guidelines on selecting evaluators. The larger goal of a revamp should be to produce medical professionals, especially postgraduates, in such numbers that would improve the doctor to population ratio and ensure their availability across the country. The possibility of having an exit test for medical graduates at the end of their course and before they start practising, as a measure of standardisation across States, is worth debating. The commercialisation of health education needs to be given a quick burial.

in·con·gru·i·ty

The state of being incongruous or out of keeping.

o·paque

Not able to be seen through; not transparent.

su·per·sede

Take the place of (a person or thing previously in authority or use); supplant.

accreditation

The act of granting credit or recognition (especially with respect to educational institution that maintains suitable standards); "a commission is responsible for the accreditation of medical schools"

evaluators

(evaluator) an authority who is able to estimate worth or quality

re·vamp

Give new and improved form, structure, or appearance to.

The Hindu: Accidents and criminal liability

It is not god or divine chance but human error and negligence that cause accidents. The collapse of a portion of a flyover under construction in Kolkata that crushed to death 24 people and injured scores of others points to gross mismanagement and neglect by the construction company IVRCL, as well as poor oversight by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, run by the ruling Trinamool Congress. The project, which began in 2008 as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, was delayed following objections from local residents, difficulties in land acquisition, want of mandatory clearances and cost escalation. It acquired a fresh life only recently with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asking for the work to be completed before the Assembly election in April-May. The contractor was allowed to continue as further delays in implementation would have been politically inconvenient for the administration. More than three-fourths of the work had been completed at the time of the accident, when construction was on at a frenetic pace. Nothing can explain the collapse of a 100-metre section of the 2.2-km flyover other than the failure to adhere to safety norms and the deviations from standard operating procedures by the builder. Attempts by representatives of the builder to first suggest it was an “act of god”, hinting perhaps that it was the result of an unexplainable disaster, and later to claim that it could have been the consequence of an explosion, have so far not been substantiated by accounts of eyewitnesses or evidence on the ground. Indeed, such explanations are but feeble efforts to evade responsibility for a disaster brought about by criminal negligence and wanton disregard of safety norms.

The scale of the tragedy, which saw pedestrians and passengers in vehicles passing through the busy junction on Vivekananda Road trapped under concrete slabs and metal structures, should prompt the State government to rethink the way such projects are executed and awarded. The tragedy is all the more heart-rending because the accident was entirely preventable. Instead of indulging in a blame game, and trying to shift responsibility for the loss of lives on to the previous Left Front government, Chief Minister Banerjee must take corrective measures and ensure an impartial investigation into the cause of the accident. To say that the builder had been blacklisted does not absolve the government of its regulatory and monitoring responsibilities. If there is sufficient evidence of prima facie guilt, those in the administration who did not discharge their regulatory role must be made to stand trial for their acts of omission and commission, and not just the private builder for the seemingly gross negligence. The Kolkata flyover collapse is another reminder that accidents are not unfortunate incidents beyond human control, but man-made tragedies that are wholly avoidable. When they do occur, accountability must be clearly fixed.

fre·net·ic

Fast and energetic in a rather wild and uncontrolled way.

fee·ble

Lacking physical strength, especially as a result of age or illness.

wan·ton

(of a cruel or violent action) deliberate and unprovoked.

pe·des·tri·an

A person walking along a road or in a developed area.

Indian Express: A lesser team

There will, of course, be much analysis of how exactly India’s T20 team was so thoroughly taken apart by the West Indies, and how India messed up a tournament that was theirs to lose. The moment of wreckage shouldn’t deflect from the truth, however. In fact, India were just a shadow of the champion side that subdued Australia and won the Asia Cup. In hindsight, maybe the favourite tag was illusory — after all, none of the sides that they had beaten had qualified for the semifinal. The likes of Australia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka were hardly ever in contention

This isn’t to say that India were not equipped to mount a title challenge. They had the requisite ingredients but couldn’t put up a collective effort that propels a team to winning a global title, as in 2011 and 2007. Instead, they relied overly on a select few. Apart from Virat Kohli, none of the batsmen thrummed into top gear. The hitherto reliable opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma were far from their destructive best. Suresh Raina — he bowled more balls than he faced — and Yuvraj Singh were not quite the audacious pair of yore. The bowlers were at best utilitarian, seldom menacing. There wasn’t a single bowler whom M.S. Dhoni could summon and be guaranteed a breakthrough. That they reached this far in itself owed as much to Kohli’s composure under duress as Dhoni’s intuitive captaincy, which deserted him in the semifinal generally and in the last over in particular. There had been telltale signs of imminent doom as early as the first match, where New Zealand not only out-strategised India but also beat them at their own game. The famed twinkle toes of Indians, it seems, went AWOL. From there, it was about scraping through to the last four. The fortuitous run had to end sooner rather than later.

wreck·age

The remains of something that has been badly damaged or destroyed.

hind·sight

Understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened or developed.

il·lu·so·ry

Based on illusion; not real

con·ten·tion

Heated disagreement.

in·gre·di·ent

Any of the foods or substances that are combined to make a particular dish

thrum

Make a continuous rhythmic humming sound.

hith·er·to

Until now or until the point in time under discussion.

au·da·cious

Showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks.

yore

Of long ago or former times (used in nostalgic or mock-nostalgic recollection).

u·til·i·tar·i·an

Designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive.

men·ac·ing

Suggesting the presence of danger; threatening.

break·through

A sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development.

du·ress

Threats, violence, constraints, or other action brought to bear on someone to do something against their will or better judgment.

tell·tale

Revealing, indicating, or betraying something.

im·mi·nent

About to happen.

Business Standard: Course correction

One sunny afternoon nine years ago, Ratan Tata, then chairman of the Tata Group, had described his $13 billion trophy acquisition in the United Kingdom as "a defining moment" for his conglomerate. He explained how Corus, an ailing British steelmaker that was five times the size of Tata Steel at the time of the deal, would equip the group to remain at the leading edge of the steel industry. Mr Tata and his trusted lieutenants perhaps had misread Britain's fickle weather, as the Tata Steel statement last Wednesday said its decision to put the entire UK operations on the block was a "logical way of de-risking its businesses" after the book value turned nearly zero in the last one year. In the last five years, the company has written off more than two billion pounds in impairment costs. Though the decision has created a storm in Britain, as Tata Steel employs about 15,000 workers in that country, it is a prudent decision - which Cyrus Mistry, Mr Tata's successor at Bombay House, has finally taken to save Tata Steel, which has $11-billion debt on its books, from further distress. After all, half the cost of the largest-ever overseas buy for an Indian firm was funded through debt.

In fact, since taking charge a little over three years ago, Mr Mistry has had to take several such decisions - he sold Neotel, mothballed Brunner Mond's premium soda ash-producing unit in Kenya while shutting down the factory in the UK after a significant write-down, and abandoned his predecessor's long-drawn-out bid to acquire American luxury chain Orient-Express Hotels. However, challenges still remain from some of the other "iconic" acquisitions of the past, including the Pierre Hotel in New York. Mr Tata wanted to catapult the Indian conglomerate onto the global big league. While the acquisitions of Tetley Tea and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) have certainly been successful, others were not. Is it better perhaps to acquire global brands rather than manufacturing facilities? To be fair, some of those decisions were taken in vastly different economic conditions; the boom years of the 2000s called for risk-taking - which is totally contrary to today's more sedate mood, which demands caution and course correction.

Mr Mistry's other task would be to diversify revenue, and reduce the group's continued over-dependence on just one company - Tata Consultancy Services, which brings in more than Rs 18,000 crore annually. Compare this to the Rs 8,000 crore of cash that drains out from the group's other 10 largest listed companies. The 100-company strong Tata group relies excessively on TCS to drive its market value and group profitability - the software company accounts for about 70 per cent of the group's combined net profit and 87 per cent of dividends paid out by the group. This obviously needs to change, particularly when TCS itself is showing some signs of stress and the other group star, Tata Motors, is facing a slowdown in Chinese demand for JLR vehicles. It is reassuring, however, that Mr Mistry is in the midst of reconfiguring and reconstructing businesses to make the group more resilient. India's largest private sector conglomerate has to consolidate vigorously in such a volatile environment.

con·glom·er·ate

A number of different things or parts that are put or grouped together to form a whole but remain distinct entities.

fick·le

Changing frequently, especially as regards one's loyalties, interests, or affection.

a·ban·don

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

re·sil·ient

(of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.

vig·or·ous·ly

In a way that involves physical strength, effort, or energy; strenuously.

The Dawn: Ghani’s challenges

AFGHAN President Ashraf Ghani is a man under pressure. While the famously temperamental technocrat-turned-politician has tried to project an air of confidence as president, occasional frustration — and possibly fear — makes itself apparent.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Ghani railed against fellow Afghans who are choosing to flee to Europe and argued that for Afghanistan to be a country, its countrymen should not abandon it.

As the BBC itself noted, Mr Ghani’s comments are likely to further erode his already plummeting popularity: Afghans are unlikely to be impressed by a leader who is looking for scapegoats instead of addressing growing political problems.

While the Taliban insurgency and attempts to restart peace talks have dominated the news, the problems in Afghanistan are increasingly complex.

Last month, the outgoing UN envoy in Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, identified five issues threatening the very survival of the Afghan state: a fragile economy, with low growth and high unemployment; the intensifying Taliban insurgency; fractious elites; pressures on foreign aid; an uncertain reconciliation process.

Perhaps the one factor that is in the immediate control of the Afghan politicians is the political process.

Indeed, had the national unity government demonstrated even a modicum of efficiency and competence, the Afghan state could have pushed through some necessary political and administrative reforms.

Instead, the struggle for dominance between rival camps led by President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah has all but brought governance to a halt.

The situation has escalated to the point that it is unclear if a September deadline for parliamentary elections and a constitutional assembly to ratify changes in the political structure matters anymore — the government could collapse before that deadline.

Perhaps, though, the growing speculation about state collapse will force the Afghan leadership to make the necessary adjustments before it is too late.

While the national unity government is deeply flawed, the problem was not completely of the Afghans’ making.

The US — having made errors over and over again in Afghanistan over the last decade — somehow thought that the way to salvage a flawed election and demonstrate that Afghanistan is headed in the right direction was to force an alliance that no one inside Afghanistan wanted.

So just when Afghanistan needed a strong, unified political leadership to deal with the economic and security threats and handle external relations adroitly, it was given a weak, fractious leadership to try and fix the country’s problems.

If the background is dismal, the future need not be. Much will depend on how Mr Ghani navigates the months ahead. Progress on reconciliation paired with resolving some intra-administration tensions would send a message of political rejuvenation.

That could create the space for dealing with the more intractable economic and security problems of Afghanistan. First, however, Mr Ghani must resist the temptation to lash out — there is simply too much at stake for raw emotion at this point.

tem·per·a·men·tal

(of a person) liable to unreasonable changes of mood.

ap·par·ent

Clearly visible or understood; obvious.

plum·met

Fall or drop straight down at high speed.

scape·goat

(in the Bible) a goat sent into the wilderness after the Jewish chief priest had symbolically laid the sins of the people upon it (Lev. 16).

insurgency

An organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict

frac·tious

(typically of children) irritable and quarrelsome

rec·on·cil·i·a·tion

The restoration of friendly relations

mod·i·cum

A small quantity of a particular thing, especially something considered desirable or valuable.

es·ca·late

Increase rapidly.

dead·line

The latest time or date by which something should be completed.

spec·u·la·tion

The forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence.

flawed

Blemished, damaged, or imperfect in some way.

sal·vage

Rescue (a wrecked or disabled ship or its cargo) from loss at sea.

al·li·ance

A union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations.

adroitly

With adroitness; in an adroit manner; "he handled the situation adroitly"

in·trac·ta·ble

Hard to control or deal with.

temp·ta·tion

A desire to do something, especially something wrong or unwise.

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