THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- September 1, 2017- Topic 1

Shifting goal posts

Demonetisation has totally failed to curb black money

On November 8, 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to the nation that Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 currency notes would cease to be legal tender from midnight, he was unequivocal in asserting that the measure was aimed at breaking “the grip of corruption and black money”. Explaining how the shock move would work, he said: 

“The... notes hoarded by anti-national and anti-social elements will become just worthless pieces of paper.” The premise then was that a sizeable part of the Rs.15.44 lakh crore of the two high-value banknotes would remain in the hands of the holders and would not be tendered back into the banking system due to fear of punitive government action. There were hints that the windfall gains made from the scrapped currency notes that couldn’t be deposited in banks, estimated at anything between Rs.3 lakh crore to Rs.5 lakh crore, would be deployed for larger purposes — social welfare schemes and infrastructure projects, for example. This would be effected with the Reserve Bank of India, which bears the liability to honour the value of the country’s currency, paying as dividend to the government the majority, if not all, of its extinguished liabilities. But with the RBI’s annual report, released on August 30, showing that as much as 98.96% of the demonetised currency had returned to the central bank as of June 30, the gains in the form of cancelled liability from the note ban have been piffling.

For the Finance Minister to now claim that the “confiscation of money” had not been an objective, and for his Ministry to say that the government “had expected all the SBNs [specified bank notes] to come back to the banking system to become effectively usable currency,” is disingenuous. If that were indeed the case, the rationale behind the various stop-go announcements that followed in the wake of the November 8 decision are hard to fathom. For instance, the RBI circular setting a Rs.5,000 limit on deposits of withdrawn notes unless done under the government’s amnesty scheme, tendered for the first time or explained otherwise was clearly a measure intended to dissuade bank customers from returning the demonetised currency. True, demonetisation has had some beneficial spin-offs such as arguably fostering greater compliance with the tax laws and reducing the economy’s reliance on cash through increased adoption of digital payments. But such gains could have been achieved by other and less self-defeating ways. As things stand, it is unclear how many of those who have laundered their black money will be punished. Despite the large amounts that were deposited in banks post-demonetisation, it is doubtful whether the Income Tax authorities have the necessary resources to track down and penalise the corrupt. All in all, the costs of demonetisation, which has resulted in robbing the country of its economic momentum, are far greater than the benefits it has bestowed.

Vocabulary

Tender: showing gentleness and concern or sympathy.

Example: He was being so kind and tender

Synonyms: caring, kind, kindly, kindhearted, softhearted, tenderhearted

Unequivocal: leaving no doubt; unambiguous.

Example: An unequivocal answer

Synonyms: unambiguous, unmistakable, indisputable, incontrovertible

Hoard: amass money or valued objects and hide or store away.

Example: Thousands of antiques hoarded by a compulsive collector

Synonyms: stockpile, store, store up, stock up on, put aside, put by

Premise: a previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion.

Example: If the premise is true, then the conclusion must be true

Punitive: inflicting or intended as punishment.

Example: He called for punitive measures against the Eastern bloc

Synonyms: penal, disciplinary, corrective, correctional, retributive

Scrapped: discard or remove from service

Example: The decision was made to scrap the entire fleet

Synonyms: throw away, throw out, dispose of, get rid of, toss out

Deployed: move troops into position for military action.

Example: Forces were deployed at strategic locations

Synonyms: position, station, post, place, install, locate, situate, site

Liability: the state of being responsible for something, especially by law.

Example: The partners accept unlimited liability for any risks they undertake

Synonyms: accountability, responsibility, legal responsibility, answerability, 

Extinguish: cause a fire or light to cease to burn or shine.

Example: Firemen were soaking everything to extinguish the blaze

Synonyms: douse, put out, stamp out, smother

Piffling: trivial; unimportant.

Example: Australia itself does not even have any long bridges - the longest in the country is still the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which is absolutely piffling by international standards.

Confiscation: the action of taking or seizing someone's property with authority; seizure.

Example: A court ordered the confiscation of her property

Synonyms: seizure, requisition, appropriation, expropriation

Disingenuous: not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does.

Example: Pete's selection for the show is nothing but cheap entertainment, and it is disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

Synonyms: insincere, dishonest, untruthful, false

Rationale: a set of reasons or a logical basis for a course of action or a particular belief.

Example: He explained the rationale behind the change

Synonyms: reason(s), reasoning, thinking, logic, grounds

Dissuade: persuade someone not to take a particular course of action.

Example: His friends tried to dissuade him from flying

Synonyms: discourage from, deter from, prevent from, divert from

Compliance: the action or fact of complying with a wish or command.

Example: They must secure each other's cooperation or compliance

Bestow: confer or present an honor, right, or gift.

Example: The office was bestowed on him by the chief of state

Synonyms: confer on, grant, accord, afford, endow someone with