THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 21, 2016- Topic 1
The outcomes of the latest
meeting of the Council tasked with steering the Goods and Services Tax regime
are worrying. For one, it leaves the Centre hard-pressed to meet its intended
deadline for the new indirect tax regime, April 1, 2017. Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley had set a November 22 target to resolve all operational issues with
State representatives in the Council so that the rates and implementation
modalities could be codified into law and passed by Parliament in the winter
session. When it met for the first time in late September, things appeared to
be on track, with the Council agreeing almost unanimously on technicalities
such as the turnover thresholds for firms to be covered under the GST and the
division of administrative control over tax assessees between the Centre and
the States. A time-bound road map to finalise remaining details, such as the tax
rates, compensation for States in case of revenue loss under the new system, as
well as the legislative actions required in Parliament and the State
Assemblies, was also agreed upon.
As the winter session
approaches, that spirit of cooperation has evaporated: the Council has agreed
on precious little, including the tax rates proposed by the Centre. Worse, the
pact reached earlier on administrative control of manufacturing sector
assessees has unravelled with States raising fresh concerns. The proposal to subsume
in the GST all cess levies, several of them introduced by the present NDA
government, has been discarded. This was a critical part of the official GST
pitch and was backed by the Council in September. But now the Finance Ministry
is keen on an additional cess on ultra-luxury and ‘sin’ goods to fund
compensation for States losing revenue. It has suggested a cess may be better
than the 40 per cent slab for demerit goods, mooted by a committee led by Chief
Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian along with two other slabs of 12 per cent
and 17-18 per cent. With a four-tier GST rate structure, a 4 per cent tax on
gold (in line with the CEA’s advice), in addition to some exemptions that would
be granted as tax refunds, topped with the new cess to compensate States, the
new regime could well just be old wine in a new bottle, from the taxpayers’
perspective. Mr. Jaitley has explained that the rate proposals are meant to
prevent a spurt in retail inflation. But to bring about convergence with States
at the Council’s next meetings in November and bring its showcase reform item
back on track, the government needs to return to the drawing board.
Vocabulary
Intended: planned or meant.
Example: The intended victim escaped
Synonyms: deliberate, intentional, calculated, conscious, planned, studied
Modalities: modal quality.
Example: The harmony had a touch of modality
Unanimously: without opposition; with the agreement of all people involved.
Example: A bipartisan law passed unanimously by Congress
Evaporated: turn from liquid into vapor.
Example: Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated
Synonyms: vaporize, become vapor, volatilize, dry up
Precious: affectedly concerned with elegant or refined behavior, language, or
manners.
Example: His exaggerated, precious manner
Synonyms: affected, overrefined, pretentious, la-di-da
Worse: of poorer quality or a lower standard; less good or desirable.
Example: The accommodations were awful, and the food was worse
Unravelled: investigate and solve or explain (something complicated or puzzling).
Example: They were attempting to unravel the cause of death
Synonyms: solve, resolve, clear up, puzzle out, unscramble, get
to the bottom of, explain
Subsume: include or absorb (something) in something else.
Example: Most of these phenomena can be subsumed under two broad categories
Pitch: the steepness of a slope, especially of a roof.
Example: Keeping a steep roof pitch and adding dormers to the new second story are
good options.
Synonyms: gradient, slope, slant, angle, steepness, tilt, incline, inclination
Sin: an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law.
Example: A sin in the eyes of God
Synonyms: immoral act, wrong, wrongdoing, act of evil/wickedness, transgression
Perspective: a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of
view.
Example: Most guidebook history is written from the editor's perspective
Synonyms: outlook, view, viewpoint, point of view, POV, standpoint, position
Convergence: the process or state of converging.
Example: The convergence of lines in the distance