18 Nov 2017-The Hindu Editorial -Vocabulary

The Moody’s upgrade underlines the need for the government to stay the reform course

Moody’s decision to upgrade India’s sovereign credit rating by a notch after a gap of almost 14 years is undoubtedly a welcome recognition of the country’s enormous economic potential. It has been driven by some of the recent structural reforms — including the implementation of a long-delayed nationwide goods and services tax (GST), and moves to address the logjam of mounting bad loans in the banking sector through an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. These are expected to help ensure a healthier enabling environment to realize this potential over the longer term. The ratings agency has said the reforms undertaken until now would “advance the government’s objective of improving the business climate, enhancing productivity, stimulating foreign and domestic investment, and ultimately fostering strong and sustainable growth.” And viewed in conjunction with the sizeable foreign exchange reserves, India’s overall capacity to absorb shocks is now seen as much better. The market reaction — with the stock indices and the rupee posting handsome gains intraday — signals that local businesses and overseas investors see the upgrade as a vote of confidence in the economy and the policy approach to economic management and reforms, especially at a time when momentum has slowed to a 13-quarter low.

Still, as Moody’s has flagged in explaining why it has opted to change the ratings outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘positive’, the “high public debt burden remains an important constraint on India’s credit profile relative to peers.” At 68% of its GDP in 2016, general government debt in India is significantly higher than the 44% median for other similarly ranked economies, according to the New York-based agency, which sees the debt-to-GDP ratio widening by about 1 percentage point this fiscal year to 69%. Moody’s cites “the large pool of private savings available to finance government debt”, the steps taken to enlarge the formal economy by mainstreaming more and more businesses from the informal sector, and measures aimed at improving spending efficiency through better targeting of welfare measures, as all broadly supportive of a gradual strengthening of the fiscal metrics over time. But it is this very same ‘time’ element that holds the key to how the macro-economic situation could evolve. With economists and monetary authorities warning of the likelihood of fiscal slippages as a consequence of farm loan waivers by States, the Centre’s implementation of the pay commission’s award and even weaker tax receipts amid teething issues with the GST, there is a danger that the government may end up missing its fiscal deficit targets in the near term. And therein lies the challenge. For the economy to capitalize on this upgrade, the political leadership must stay the reform course, electorally alluring temptations to resort to populism notwithstanding.

1. UPGRADE  <UP /GRAE /D >==  सुधार करना

 [Verb]

Meaningà               To improve the quality or usefulness of something,

 Synà                       Improve ,better ,ameliorate ,reform ,enhance

Exampleà              Upgraded computers"

Antonymsà           Downgrade, demote      

 2. UNDERLINES  < UNDER /LINES >==आधारभूत

 [Verb]- 3rd person present: underline

Meaningà              Draw a line under (a word or phrase) to give emphasis or indicate special type.

Synà                        Emphasis, , pick out ,stress ,accentuate ,highlight

Antonymà             Ignore ,undermine ,underrate , weaken

Exampleà                  The accident underlines our need for better safety procedures.

3. NOTCH  < NO /CH >== निशान

 [Verb]

Meaningà             Achieve or score (something).

 Synà                       Gain ,earn ,secure ,attain, score

Antonymsà           ,Closing ,closure

Exampleà             "He notched up fifteen years' service with the company"

4. ENORMOUS  < E /NOR /MS >== विशाल

 [Adjective]

Meaningà         Very large in size, quantity, or extent

 Synà                       Vast ,huge, extensive ,wide ,broad      

Exampleà              "Enormous sums of money"

Antonymsà              Tiny ,small ,little ,diminutive 

5. LOGJAM< LOG /JAM>== गतिरोध

 [Noun]

 Meaning à           A backlog.

 Synà                       accumulation, pile-up, pile, heap, mountain, excess

 Antonymsà          Develop ,enlarge ,expand

Exampleà                              keeping a diary may ease the logjam of work’

                 

6. INSOLVENCY  < IN /SOL/VEN /SEE>== दिवालियापन

[Noun]

 Meaning à                        the state of being insolvent.=( unable to pay debts owed..) Synà                                                         Bankruptcy ,failure ,liquidation ,collapse ,ruin

Exampleà              Prolonged drought lead to huge loss and Insolvency of the bank

Antonymsà          

7. STIMULATING  < STEE /MU /LATE/IN >== उत्तेजक

[Adjective ]

 Meaningà                         encouraging or arousing interest or enthusiasm

Exampleà            a rich and stimulating working environment"

Synà                                   Exciting , ,challenging , hectic ,,inspiring ,interesting

 Antonymà                        Discouraging , boring ,depressing
 

8. FOSTERING  < FOS /TR/ ING >== को बढ़ावा देने

[Verb]=present participle=fostering

Meaning à             encourage the development of (something, especially something desirable).

Synà                                    Encouraging ,promote ,stimulate ,cultivate ,nurture

Antonymsà           Neglect ,suppress

Exampleà                   "the teacher's task is to foster learning

9. ALLURING < AL/U/RING >== मनोहर  / मन मोहक

[Adjective]

Meaning                   powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating; seductive.

Synà                                    Lure ,entice ,tempt,  appeal to ,charm

Exampleà              "the town offers alluring shops and restaurants"

Antonymà                     Revolting ,Repelling

10. POPULISM  < PO /PU /LEE/SM >== लोकप्रियता

[Noun]

Meaningà               support for the concerns of ordinary people. Or the quality of appealing to or being aimed at ordinary people.

Exampleà              "art museums did not gain bigger audiences through a new populism"

Synà                                 cause  ,  ,creed ,humanism, crusade , dogma

Antonymà             elitist(adj.)