#everydayquiz #TheHindu #vocab
This
time in Africa
Drawing
a link between Indian and South African cultures during his four-nation visit
to Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the journey from “Gujarat
to Durban” as one “through the spirit of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (globalism) to
Ubuntu”, the last a Zulu word that expresses the core of humanism.
The
evocative reference imbues the historical links between India and African
nations with a unique warmth. But Mr. Modi also made it clear that this visit
was more than about words. In an interview to a South African newspaper, he
outlined his focus areas: energy, food and maritime security. His stops at
Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya were accompanied by discussions on
securing lines of coal and natural gas and funding capacity-building in energy
production. In Tanzania and Mozambique, in particular, there were discussions
on enhancing the export of pulses to India to meet a demand shortfall. As he
travelled along the southern coast of Africa, Mr. Modi spoke to his hosts in
detail about shoring up maritime ties as part of the Indian Ocean Rim
Association (IORA), and linking India’s own “Sagar-Mala” outreach for Indian
Ocean islands with the South Africa-authored “Operation Phakisa”, that focusses
on Africa’s combined strengths in blue economies and ocean governance. India
has been slow to upgrade ties with Africa, and it must chart its own trajectory
without competing with, or being inhibited by, China’s formidable presence in
the continent. China’s current hold in trade and investment in Africa is three
times India’s, and South Africa, for instance, has a key role in promoting the
Maritime Silk Route programme as part of the One Belt One Road initiative.
Mr.
Modi’s visit to these four countries in southern and east Africa should,
therefore, be seen as a work in progress. Africa is a continent of 54
countries, and each has diverse reasons to improve ties with India — from
sharing low-cost technologies and pharmaceuticals, building on the Solar
Alliance and renewable energies, and growing markets for each other’s goods.
For instance, 84 per cent of India’s imports from the Sub-Saharan region still
come from raw materials and natural resources, not consumer or processed goods.
However, if there was one message that Mr. Modi could have emphasised more, it
was the concern over racism in India that students and others from Africa often
face. As he spoke in Durban to the Indian community on the history of racism
that Indians and Africans had fought together for many decades, a line about
India’s commitment to fight the remaining vestiges of racism domestically would
not have been out of place. The omission is, in fact, also a reminder that the
outreach to African countries needs to be sustained back home in Indian cities
too, in the true spirit of “Ubuntu”.
Zulu
> A Member Of A People Who Live In Southern
Africa
> The Language
Spoken By The Zulu People:
He Speaks Zulu.
Evoke
To Make Someone
Remember Something Or Feel An Emotion:
That Smell Always
Evokes Memories Of My Old School.
A Detergent Designed
To Evoke The Fresh Smell Of Summer Meadows
Imbue Something/Someone With Something
— Phrasal Verb With
Imbue Verb
To Fill Something Or
Someone With A Quality Or Feeling:
Her Poetry Was Imbued
With A Love Of The Outdoors.
“Blue Economy” Is Marine-Based Economic Development That Leads
To Improved Human Well-Being And Social Equity, While Significantly Reducing
Environmental Risks And Ecological Scarcities. It Includes: • Reframing The
Oceans As “Development Spaces” That Are Subject To Spatial Planning
Trajectory
The Curved Path That
An Object Follows After It Has Been Thrown Or Shot Into The Air:
The Trajectory Of A
Bullet/Missile
Formidable
>Causing You To
Have Fear Or Respect For Something Or Someone Because That Thing Or Person Is
Large, Powerful, Or Difficult:
A Formidable
Obstacle/Task
A Formidable
Adversary/Enemy/Opponent
A Formidable Intellect
Disapproving The
Director And His Formidable Wife
Vestige
>A Small Part Or
Amount Of Something Larger, Stronger, Or More Important That Still Exists From
Something That Existed In The Past:
These Old Buildings
Are The Last Vestiges Of A Colonial Past.
There Is Now No
Vestige Of Hope That The Missing Children Will Be Found Alive.
Slowing down
fast food
The
notion of using tax as a tool to alter consumer food preferences cannot be
faulted in principle. Mexico provides us with proof that levying additional
taxes on non-essential food items that are rich in fat or calories can effectively
alter food choices. The country witnessed a 5.1 per cent dip in consumption
levels in foodstuff that had more than 275 kcal/100 g energy density following
the imposition of an 8 per cent levy in 2014. Sugar-sweetened drinks saw a 12
per cent drop in intake at the end of the very first year the tax was
introduced. In this context, Kerala’s decision to slap a 14.5 per cent tax on
certain calorie-rich food items such as pizzas, doughnuts and pasta sold in
branded restaurants may seem like a step in the right direction. But it bears
the stamp of being little more than a political gimmick. For once, such foods
sold by branded restaurants, consumed by the higher middle and upper classes,
are a very tiny part of the problem of poor food choices for the State’s
population. If the principal purpose was to tax some multinational food chains,
then the decision is understandable. But ignoring a wide variety of
high-calorie food items and focussing on a few is no more than tokenism. The
revenue that Kerala hopes to mop up from this — Rs.10 crore — is also meagre.
If
the State is serious about reining in consumption of unhealthy food, then there
are several measures it should quickly adopt. The first is to set a threshold
limit for fat and/or calorie and tax all foods items that are above this limit.
Bringing sugar-sweetened drinks and refined products under the taxable product
list should be a priority. There is no reason why packaged food items that have
high salt content should not be additionally taxed. Indians are known to
consume a few times more than the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit
of 5 grams a day and most of it comes from packaged food items. Similarly, what
excuse can there be for not charging a very high rate of tax on food items that
contain trans fats? There are a number of food items sold in India that contain
as high as 35-40 per cent of trans fats. Trans fatty acids, made through the
process of hydrogenation of oils, which improves the stability or shelf life of
the foodstuff that contains them, pose serious coronary risks. Taxing ‘bad’
foods should be accompanied by cross-subsidies of healthy and wholegrain food
items. Only a holistic approach such as this will be effective in making a real
change in our food consumption behaviour.
Notion
>A Belief Or Idea:
[ + That ] The Show's
Director Rejects The Notion That Seeing Violence On Television Has A Harmful
Effect On Children.
I Have Only A Vague
Notion Of What She Does For A Living.
Gimmick
>Something That Is
Not Serious Or Of Real Value That Is Used To Attract People's Attention Or
Interest Temporarily, Especially To Make Them Buy Something:
A Publicity Gimmick
Tokenism
>Actions That Are
The Result Of Pretending To Give Advantage To Those Groups In Society Who Are
Often Treated Unfairly, In Order To Give The Appearance Of Fairness
Holistic
Emphasizing The
Organic Or Functional Relation Between Parts And The Whole
Coronary
Obstruction Of Blood
Flow In A Coronary Artery By A Blood Clot (Thrombus
Threshold
The Starting Point For A New State Or Experience
Reining
Keep In Check
DATE: 13.07.2016
#SSC #IBPS #SBI #RBI #NABARD #NICL #NIACL #CAT #NMAT #everydayquiz
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