24 Nov 2017-The Hindu Editorial -Vocabulary

1. DETRACT <DEE /T/ RA /K /T >= कम करना

 [VERB]

Meaningà             Diminish the worth or value of (a quality or achievement).

 Synà                       Take away from ,Reduce ,lessen ,minimize , ,belittle

Exampleà              "These little fights in no way detract from her achievement"

Antonymsà           Attract

 2 LITERARY < LEE / T / R /REE >= साहित्यिक 

 [Adjective]

Meaningà              Concerning the writing, study, or content of literature, especially of the kind   valued for quality of form.

Synà                        Poetic ,written work of art ,dramatic ,published work of art  ,printed work of art 

Antonymà             Ill-Educated , illiterate

Exampleà                  “The great literary works of the nineteenth century"

3 BENCHMARK. < BEN /CH /MARK >=  मानदण्ड 

 [Noun]

Meaningà             A standard or point of reference against which things may be compared.

 Synà                       Standard ,basics ,point of reference ,criterion ,yardstick

Antonymsà            Deviation

Exampleà             "The settlement was used as a benchmark in all further negotiations"

.

4. REQUISITE <REE /QEE /ZIT >= आवश्यक

 [adjective]

 Meaningà                   Made necessary by particular circumstances or regulations.

 Synà                       Required ,necessary ,prerequisite ,essential ,needed.       

Exampleà              "The application will not be processed until the requisite fee is paid"

Antonymsà              Optional, Unnecessary, Non-Essential

5 EQUIVALENCE <E/QEE/V/LEN/ S >= समानक 

 [Noun]

 Meaning à           The condition of being equal or equivalent in value, worth, function, etc.

 Synà                       Equality ,sameness ,identical ,uniformity ,compatibility , 

 Antonymsà          Inequality 

Exampleà                              "Knowledge of equivalence of units is required"

6. HOSTILE < HOS /TIE / L >=शत्रुतापूर्ण

 [Adjective]

 Meaning à                        Showing or feeling opposition or dislike; unfriendly.

Synà                                    Aggressive ,antagonist ,confrontational  ,belligerent ,bellicose

Exampleà              "A hostile audience"

Antonymsà           Friendly, mild

7. CINEMATIC <SI /NAE /MAE / TIC >= चलचित्र संबंधी

[adjective]                                                                               

 Meaningà                         Relating to the cinema.

Exampleà              "A cinematic adaptation of a novel"

Synà                                   Filmi ,pictorial ,picturesque , retentive in detail

 Antonymà                        Unlike cinema

8. FOREBODINGS < FOUR / BODING>= अनिष्ट दर्शन

[Noun]

Meaning à             A feeling that something bad will happen; fearful apprehension.

Synà                                    Suspicion , dread ,fear  ,uneasiness , ,anxiety

Antonymsà           Calm

Exampleà                   "With a sense of foreboding she read the note"

9. NARRATIVE <NARE/TIV >= कथा

[Noun]

Meaning                   A  spoken or written account of connected events; a story.

Synà                                    Story ,tale ,account ,chronicle  history , description

Exampleà              "A chronological narrative of Ram’s life"

Antonymà                    Reality 

10. INTIMIDATE < IN /TEE /MEE /DATE >= डराना

[verb]

Meaningà              Frighten or overawe (someone), especially in order to make them do what one wants.

Exampleà              "The forts are designed to intimidate the nation’s  population"

Synà                                 Frighten ,terrify ,scare ,terrorize,threaten

Antonymà             Assure

Chief Ministers cannot cite law and order threats as an excuse to curb free expression

Given the violence and the threats, it is perhaps not surprising that the producers of Padmavati have decided to ‘voluntarily’ defer its release. But irrespective of how this changed timetable plays out, the conduct of politicians over the past few days has been cynical and deeply unmindful of the rule of law. In February 1989, days after Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran had issued a fatwa against him for his novel The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie published an open letter to Rajiv Gandhi, then Prime Minister. He reminded the Prime Minister that his book had already been banned in India in October 1988, under the Customs Act, and that while issuing the curb on its import the Finance Ministry clarified that the “ban did not detract from the literary and artistic merit of Rushdie’s work”. “Thanks for the good review,” wrote Rushdie, adding that it appeared “as if your Government has become unable or unwilling to resist pressure from more or less any extremist religious grouping”. It is worth recalling that letter, as it provides a benchmark to map the race to the bottom in the current row over Padmavati. Today, as a number of Chief Ministers across north India rail against the film and threaten to disallow its screening without requisite cuts, there is no longer even that perfunctory clarification that their action has nothing to do with the artistic merit of the film. And it is no longer the case that the governments are unwilling to resist pressure from extremist groups such as the Karni Sena. Chief Ministers now are actually rallying opinion against the film to whip up caste and religious anxieties.

Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh has forged an absurd equivalence between “those giving death threats” and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the film’s director, for “hurting public sentiments”. Vijay Rupani in Gujarat has taken a cue from Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh and called for a ban. This is in complete disregard of the Supreme Court judgment in S. Rangarajan v. P. Jagjivan Ram that the state cannot cite concerns about a “hostile audience” in curbing freedom of expression. Vasundhara Raje of Rajasthan, in fact, has argued that the “censor board” must go beyond just certifying a film, and should be mindful of the possible results after its release. And Amarinder Singh in Punjab has said he opposes a ban but “cinematic licence” cannot extend to twisting “historical facts”. The fact that these open appeals against cinematic expression are going mostly unchallenged across the political spectrum carries dark forebodings. The issue here is no longer Padmavati, its artistic merit or the factuality or otherwise of multiple retellings of the narrative. What is of real concern is the spectacle of state functionaries ignoring their constitutional responsibility in upholding free expression, and placing themselves alongside those out to intimidate, and release sectarian furies.