THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- November 18, 2016- Topic 2
When 86 per cent of currency
notes in a country of 1.3 billion people are rendered illegal tender in a
matter of hours, it is bound to create a short-term disruption in daily lives.
Particularly so, since much of India’s economic activity still takes place in
the informal sector with no cheque payments, resulting not just in widespread
direct and indirect tax evasion but also an inability to assess the true state
of the economy. For instance, while farmers’ income is not taxed, most of them
now have a Kisan Credit Card, first launched in 1998, and no-frills bank
accounts whose creation has been scaled up by the present government. But the
agricultural economy is still controlled by middlemen and traders who only make
cash payments to farmers while reaping a profit from the difference in prices
from farm-gate to fork. The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax will
make it tougher for such intermediaries to remain below the tax radar, though
foodgrains will be zero-rated under the tax regime. Just as paying taxes on
their profits is uncharted territory for such traders, the government too is
navigating uncharted waters with the demonetisation drive, necessitating
adjustments on the go.
Rural Indians, like their
urban peers, may be in a tizzy for now over the currency swoop and face
challenges in transactions, but there doesn’t seem to be a threat to the rabi
crop as the Opposition has sought to suggest. By last Friday, the total area
sown was significantly higher than at the same time last year, except for coarse
cereals. The latest relaxation, allowing farmers to withdraw Rs.25,000 a week,
should assuage any concerns on this front. However, the Reserve Bank of India
and the Central government were clearly not prepared for the cash crunch in
bank vaults and post offices, that has become evident a week after the
demonetisation. So, even soiled Rs.100 notes have been brought back into
circulation to tide over the scarcity. Given our abysmal public health
infrastructure, a thought should also have been spared for people’s healthcare
costs. Meanwhile, the Union Cabinet had cleared measures to push non-cash
payments in February, but little has been implemented — using credit cards
still involves high transaction charges, for example. Tweaking the exchange
limit for old notes from Rs.4,000 to Rs.4,500 and then down to Rs.2,000 has
created confusion, often leading to ugly scenes at banks. Afterthoughts may be
inevitable in emergency situations, but the government also needs to address
popular anxieties by constantly, and publicly, updating its road map.
Vocabulary
Rendered: cause to be or become; make.
Example: The rains rendered his escape impossible
Synonyms: make, cause to
be/become, leave
Disruption: disturbance or problems that interrupt an event, activity, or process.
Example: The schedule was planned to minimize disruption
Evasion: the action of evading something.
Example: Their adroit evasion of almost all questions
Synonyms: avoidance, elusion, circumvention, dodging, sidestepping
Reaping: cut or gather (a crop or harvest).
Example: Large numbers of men were employed to reap the harvest
Regime: a system or planned way of doing things, especially one imposed from above.
Example: Detention centers with a very tough physical regime
Synonyms: system, arrangement, order, pattern, method, procedure, routine, course
Tizzy: a state of nervous excitement or agitation.
Example: He got into a tizzy and was talking absolute nonsense
Synonyms: frenzy, state of
anxiety, state of agitation, nervous state, panic
Swoop: seize with a sweeping motion.
Example: She swooped up the hen in her arms
Synonyms: dive, descend, sweep, pounce, plunge, pitch
Abysmal: extremely bad; appalling.
Example: The quality of her work is abysmal
Synonyms: very bad, dreadful, awful, terrible, frightful, atrocious, disgraceful
Tweak: improve (a mechanism or system) by making fine adjustments to it.
Example: Engineers tweak the car's operating systems during the race
Synonyms: adjust, modify, alter, change, adapt, refine