#EVERYDAYQUIZ #improveEnglish #TheHindu #BusinessStandard #IndianExpress
THE HINDU: Reviving a good idea
It was a good idea in the
first place, but unfortunately it did not survive judicial scrutiny. By
recalling a three-judge Bench’s 2013 order striking down theNational
Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and
agreeing to hold a fresh hearing on a review petition by the Medical Council of
India,
the Supreme Court has now revived the idea of holding a national test to
ascertain the aptitude and suitability of those seeking to study medicine
anywhere in the country. Introduced in 2010 through amendments to existing
regulations relating to medical and dental admissions, NEET had a few laudable
objectives: saving students the trouble of writing multiple entrance
examinations to medical courses in State-run and private institutions, curbing
the increasing commercialisation of higher education in medicine, and ensuring
a transparent admission process in private, unaided institutions which thrive
on selling MBBS and postgraduate medical specialty seats to the highest bidder.
However, it encountered opposition from two influential quarters. One, State
governments were upset with the implicit centralisation of medical education in
the idea of a national test. They feared that NEET would undermine their
reservation policy. Some like Tamil
Nadu see all entrance tests as elitist and
against the interests of poor and rural students. And two, private
institutions, especially those established by minorities, were against any
interference in their admission process, arguing that their unfettered right to
regulate their own admissions had been upheld by an 11-judge Supreme Court
Bench in T.M.A.
Pai Foundation (2002). When
the institutions approached the Supreme Court, a three-judge Bench, by a
two-one majority, agreed with them that the regulations introducing NEET
violated their constitutional rights.
The
dissenting voice of Mr. Justice A.R. Dave, who ruled that NEET could be
conducted to regulate admissions without impinging on minority rights or
breaching the reservation norms of various States, was in a lost cause then.
His reasoning had great force: NEET merely creates a national pool of eligible
candidates from among whom colleges and institutions were free to select those
belonging to any preferred minority group or any reserved category. In a
curious turn of events, Mr. Justice Dave now heads the Constitution Bench that
will revisit the entire case. The Bench has said the majority in the earlier
verdict had not followed binding precedents and pronounced a hasty order
without internal discussion among the judges. The recall of the earlier
judgment even before the review has been fully heard has created some
confusion. NEET may be back in place, and it is possible that it could be held
at least for postgraduate medical admissions this year. However, NEET’s
validity has not yet been upheld. States which had obtained the interim stay
against NEET may believe that they are still entitled to go ahead with the
present admission process. The legal position in such States requires
clarification. An early disposal of the review petition is needed both to put
in place a free and transparent admission process and to eliminate any
confusion
ascertain
› to discover something:
The police have so far been unable to
ascertain the cause of the explosion.
[+ question word] Have you ascertained
whether she's coming or not?
laud
› to praise:
The German leadership lauded the Russian
initiative.
thrive
> to grow, develop, or be successful:
His business thrived in the years before the
war.
She seems to thrive on stress.
implicit
adjective (SUGGESTED)
> suggested but not communicated
directly:
He interpreted her comments as an implicit
criticism of the government.
unfettered
› not limited by rules or any other
controlling influence:
Poets are unfettered by the normal rules of
sentence structure.
dissent
› a strong difference of opinion on a
particular subject, especially about an official suggestion or plan or a
popular belief:
When the time came to approve the proposal,
there were one or two voices of dissent.
impinge
on/upon something
› to have an effect on something, often by
limiting it in some way:
The Supreme Court will decide if the new
communications bill impinges on the Constitutional right to free speech.
THE HINDU: The waning of the pink tide
Keiko Fujimori’s victory in the first round of the presidential
poll in Peru and the relegation of leftist candidate Veronika Mendoza to third place means that the former
is set to face right- wing candidate Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in the final run-off
on June 5. Ms. Fujimori’s father Alberto had ruled Peru in the 1990s, his reign
known for repressive measures against the political opposition. Ms. Fujimori
has promised a break from her father’s notorious past while seeking to
resuscitate his right-wing populism, if elected to power to succeed former
President Ollanta Humala. The run-off between Ms. Fujimori and Mr. Kuczynski is
yet another setback for the left in Latin
America after years of political
ascendancy in the 2000s, marking what was termed the “rise of the pink tide” in
the continent. The socialist regime in Venezuela lost a parliamentary election
against the centre-right opposition; the Peronists led by Cristina Fernández
had to relinquish power to right-wing forces in Argentina last year; and Evo
Morales, possibly the most popular Latin American leader, lost a referendum on
whether he could retain power for a fourth term in Bolivia. Meanwhile,
impeachment proceedings have already begun against President Dilma Rousseff in
Brazil, following street protests against corruption involving the Workers’
Party-led government.
In the early
2000s, a series of mass mobilisations and upsurges gave rise to either new
leftists (the Bolivarian socialists in Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia), or
social democratic regimes (the Workers’ Party in Brazil) or populist
governments (Argentina under the Kirchners). These were a reaction to a social
and economic environment controlled by elites who undertook skewed economic
policies, exacerbating economic inequality and poverty. The loss of popularity
for the left has country-specific reasons, but the common current has been the
inability of regimes to go beyond statism or dependence on welfarism fuelled by
natural resource extraction and related commodity production. This is
especially seen in the difficulty the Bolivarian regime in Venezuela faces in
weaning the country away from its dependence on petroleum extraction, and the
malfeasance in Brazil in the running of its natural resources sector. Demand
shortfalls in the global market have resulted in export downturns and a crisis
in the oil sector which in Venezuela have led to macroeconomic problems. The
charisma of leaders such as the late Hugo
Chávez and Lula da Silva may have
helped their regimes garner support from varied segments of society, but their
successors have been unable to match their popularity or political cunning. In
the face of the reverses suffered by the left-leaning regimes and the growing
influence of the centre-right, the former need to make an honest re-evaluation
of the efficacy of their strategies and their record in power. Any
recalibration in their strategy must be based on policies that are neither
shaped nor overly dependent on a commodity boom, leave alone individual
charisma.
wane
› to become weaker in strength or
influence:
By the late 70s the band's popularity was
beginning to wane.
relegation
› the act of moving a football team to a
lower division:
Southampton face relegation if they lose
again.
After losing their last three home games,
they are now facing a relegation battle.
repress
› to not allow something, especially
feelings, to be expressed:
He repressed a sudden desire to cry.
› to control what people do, especially by
using force
resuscitate
› to bring someone or something back to life
or wake someone or something:
Her heart had stopped, but the doctors
successfully resuscitated her.
setback
> something that happens that delays or
prevents a process from developing:
Sally had been recovering well from her
operation, but yesterday she experienced/suffered a setback.
ascendancy
› a position of power, strength, or
success:
They are in danger of losing their
political ascendancy (= controlling power).
relinquish
› to give up something such as a
responsibility or claim:
He has relinquished his claim to the throne.
She relinquished control of the family
investments to her son.
upsurge
› a sudden and usually large increase in
something:
An upsurge of/in violence in the district
has been linked to increased unemployment.
skewed
› not accurate or exact:
Maybe your world view is a little skewed.
› not straight:
Her smile is slightly skewed.
exacerbate
› to make something that is already bad even
worse:
This attack will exacerbate the already
tense relations between the two communities.
malfeasance
› an example of dishonest and illegal
behaviour, especially by a person in authority:
Several cases of malpractice and malfeasance
in the financial world are currently being investigated.
BUSINESS STANDARD: Limited integration
Indian farmers have long
sought the ability to trade seamlessly across state barriers, and the new
electronic "e-mandi" platform, which Prime Minister Narendra
Modi formally launched on Thursday, is an important step in that direction,
even if it does not go all the way. The concept of a barrier-free national
agricultural market was mooted in the early 2000s to allow farmers to sell
their produce wherever they could get good prices. This would allow them to
escape the cartels that dominate local mandis and
strangle the freedom to trade, pushing the mark-up between the farm and the
table for agricultural produce in India to among the highest in the world. The
first-ever National Policy for Farmers brought out in 2007 by the United
Progressive Alliance government also mentioned this need. However, getting
states on board for full agricultural marketing reform turned out to be difficult.
The present National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government instead allocated
funds in the 2015-16 Budget for the electronic infrastructure necessary to
allow wholesale trading on a national electronic platform.
At present, farm marketing varies not only from state to state but also within the states, with each wholesale mandi being governed by its own Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC). These mandis require separate licences and they charge different marketing fees. The use of technology is low, which means that there is very little transparency in transactions, which eventually hurts farmers. The new integrated electronic platform begins, in a limited way, to address many of these problems. All 585 major farm markets across the country are planned to be linked to the e-platform by March 2018. Karnataka already has a statewide barrier-free electronic market for farm produce which has resulted in better price realisation for farmers by reaching out to more buyers, including food processors and organised retail chains. The new national platform will broadly follow the Karnataka model.
However, while this platform is being officially called the "national agricultural market", it stops well short of making a real national market a reality. And it is dangerous to presume that a model that has worked well at the state level will automatically succeed at the national level as well. There are too many prerequisites for that to happen. The three most critical among them are a single wholesale trading licence valid across the catchment area, a single-point levy of market fees, and e-auction as the mode for price discovery. Currently, there are too few warehouses equipped with facilities for weighing, grading and standardisation of stocks sold through the electronic platform. Moreover, aggregators would need to emerge that pool together small marketable surpluses of individual farmers for sale to bulk buyers to attract competitive bidding. The Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), the nodal agency for running the new electronic platform, can serve as an aggregator through its existing or specially created local units.
The starting point for real reform continues to be what it always has been: amendment of the states' APMC Acts strictly on the lines of the Model APMC Act circulated by the Centre in 2003. Many states have changed their marketing laws, but few have followed the model Act in totality. At the root of the half-hearted marketing reforms is the reluctance of states to give up control over APMCs which, apart from giving them political clout, yield handsome revenues for the state exchequers. That is also why many states remain outside even this current and more limited effort to integrate agricultural marketing. Most of the country's important wholesale markets, including those in Azadpur in Delhi and Vashi in Mumbai, have not yet opted to come on board. The Centre would need to do a good deal of canvassing to make more states, especially major agricultural states like Punjab, part of this effort.
At present, farm marketing varies not only from state to state but also within the states, with each wholesale mandi being governed by its own Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC). These mandis require separate licences and they charge different marketing fees. The use of technology is low, which means that there is very little transparency in transactions, which eventually hurts farmers. The new integrated electronic platform begins, in a limited way, to address many of these problems. All 585 major farm markets across the country are planned to be linked to the e-platform by March 2018. Karnataka already has a statewide barrier-free electronic market for farm produce which has resulted in better price realisation for farmers by reaching out to more buyers, including food processors and organised retail chains. The new national platform will broadly follow the Karnataka model.
However, while this platform is being officially called the "national agricultural market", it stops well short of making a real national market a reality. And it is dangerous to presume that a model that has worked well at the state level will automatically succeed at the national level as well. There are too many prerequisites for that to happen. The three most critical among them are a single wholesale trading licence valid across the catchment area, a single-point levy of market fees, and e-auction as the mode for price discovery. Currently, there are too few warehouses equipped with facilities for weighing, grading and standardisation of stocks sold through the electronic platform. Moreover, aggregators would need to emerge that pool together small marketable surpluses of individual farmers for sale to bulk buyers to attract competitive bidding. The Small Farmers Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC), the nodal agency for running the new electronic platform, can serve as an aggregator through its existing or specially created local units.
The starting point for real reform continues to be what it always has been: amendment of the states' APMC Acts strictly on the lines of the Model APMC Act circulated by the Centre in 2003. Many states have changed their marketing laws, but few have followed the model Act in totality. At the root of the half-hearted marketing reforms is the reluctance of states to give up control over APMCs which, apart from giving them political clout, yield handsome revenues for the state exchequers. That is also why many states remain outside even this current and more limited effort to integrate agricultural marketing. Most of the country's important wholesale markets, including those in Azadpur in Delhi and Vashi in Mumbai, have not yet opted to come on board. The Centre would need to do a good deal of canvassing to make more states, especially major agricultural states like Punjab, part of this effort.
seamless
(CLOTHES)
› without any seams (= lines of sewing
joining different pieces of cloth):
seamless stockings/tights
moot
› to suggest something for discussion:
The idea was first mooted as long ago as the
1840s.
His name was mooted as a possible
successor.
prerequisite
› something that must exist or happen before
something else can exist or happen:
Passing a written test is a prerequisite for
taking the advanced course.
canvass
(GET SUPPORT)
› to try to get political support or
votes, especially by visiting all the houses in an area:
I've been out canvassing for the Labour Party
every evening this week.
INDIAN EXPRESS: The missing link
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call on Thursday for businesses to participate in the creation
of infrastructure that will make India’s 7,500-kilometer coastline an “engine
of growth” is certain to be widely welcomed. Speaking at a summit in Mumbai, he
spoke of raising a staggering Rs 1,00,000 crore to more than double India’s
port capacity by 2025 — a precondition for creating the smooth logistical
networks necessary to link the country’s businesses to the global economy.
There will have been those in the audience, though, who would have raised a
sceptical brow at the PM’s promise that investors would enjoy “a pleasant
journey”. This year’s Economic Survey is only the latest of a series of
official declarations calling for poor maritime infrastructure to be addressed
on a war footing. In 2014, for example, Union Shipping and Ports Minister Nitin Gadkari promised eight new ports, as well as rail
connections to the 12 existing ones. The same promises, give or take a minor
matter of detail, are made on the National Investment Promotion Agency’s Invest
India website — which, it seems, no one has bothered to update since 2012. In
past years, money has been frittered away on creating new ports where it might
have been better spent improving efficiency at existing ones; the quality of
services at many state-run facilities remains, by international estimation,
dismal.
Ideas for the way forward have never been in short supply. Gadkari’s
promise of new ports, connected by railways and roads, is one building block.
Experts have suggested building small ports along the coast, as well as
reviving long-disused inland waterways, to ease the load on highways and
facilitate regional trade. Efficiencies at ports, business advocates have been
saying, could also be dramatically increased, bringing down the time needed to
handle freight, and the cost of doing so. These measures, however, need focused
political action — and that, the record shows, has been in somewhat shorter
supply than well-meaning speeches.
This points us in the direction of a deeper malaise. For the most
part, India has been oddly reluctant to embrace its maritime potential: A
reluctance that is all the more perplexing because of a heritage of oceanic
trading that dates back to the Indus Valley civilisation, and ancient networks
that spanned from the South China Sea to Zanzibar, Aden and Rome. The reasons
might lie in the dominance of a political culture drawn from the Indo-Gangetic
plains. The truth, however, is that no great industrial civilisation has been
built without strong maritime foundations, including naval power — and India
can be no exception. In decades to come, Indian economic power cannot and will
not improve unless it builds a vital maritime tradition, and the infrastructure
to sustain it
staggering
> very shocking and surprising:
It costs a staggering $50,000 per week to
keep the museum open to the public.
sceptical
> doubting that something is true or
useful:
Many experts remain sceptical about/of his
claims
fritter
sth away
› to waste money, time, or an opportunity:
If I've got money in my pocket, I tend to
fritter it away.
malaise
› a general feeling of being ill or having
no energy, or an uncomfortable feeling that something is wrong, especially
with society, and that you cannot change the situation:
They claim it is a symptom of a deeper and
more general malaise in society.
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