Important English Vocabulary from “The Hindu Editorial”-(Day-92):
Dear Readers, to score good marks in English Section first and for most thing is you need to develop your reading skills, while reading a passage you need to highlight the tough words in it and you should know the correct meaning for those words. This will help you understand the passage clearly and also you can learn more new words, it means also you can develop your vocabulary. To help you in this part we have provided a English Vocabulary passage along with meaning, synonyms and usages of hard words in the passage, make use of it. We also providing Important Vocabulary Quiz based on “THE ECONOMIST” and “THE HINDU”
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The Hindu Editorial – 03.02.2018
Desert defeat
The Rajasthan bypoll victory has given the Congress a ray of electoral hope
Byelections are not clear pointers to the direction of the political wind, even when they are held close to a general election. A host of local factors are often at play, and election of candidates and civic grievances exercise as much influence on the voter’s
mind as do livelihood concerns and governance issues. Even so, the results of the Rajasthan byelections would have jolted the ruling BJP. The Congress not only won
the two Lok Sabha seats and the lone Assembly seat, but it did so with impressive margins. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election the BJP made a complete sweep of Rajasthan, winning all 25 seats. The Congress’s recovery of some of the lost ground reflects a general dissatisfaction with the Vasundhara Raje government. Ms. Raje seems to have paid the price for an imperious attitude that alienated large sections within her own party. True, Rajasthan voters have not given either the BJP or the Congress two consecutive terms since the BJP returned to power in 1993. But the Modi wave of 2014 was supposed to have changed the political narrative, with the BJP emerging as a pan Indian party and the natural party of government. The BJP has lost some Assembly elections since 2014. However, Bihar 2015 was arguably a mere blip, more on account of a coming together of a motley mix of opposition parties than on account of any erosion in its base. Punjab 2017 was written off as the Akali Dal’s loss rather than the BJP’s own. But in Rajasthan, as in Gujarat where the BJP scraped through in late-2017, the two national parties will be in a straight contest. A defeat can mean only one thing: the BJP is slipping in approval ratings in the run-up to 2019. A negative vote it may have been, but the verdict is also a vindication of the Congress tactic of letting a young Sachin Pilot be its public face. Many in the party blamed the inability to close the gap with the BJP in Gujarat on the failure to identify a youthful leader, and instead relying entirely on borrowed leaders such as Alpesh Thakor, Hardik Patel and Jignesh Mevani to free it of a jaded look. If it wants to beat the BJP, the Congress has to find a way to counter its strategy of turning every election into a presidential contest between Prime Minister Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi. The byelection results suggest the key to doing so lies in encouraging a youthful regional leadership to emerge in each State. But if the BJP is slipping in Rajasthan, it is gaining in West Bengal: the party finished second behind the Trinamool Congress in the Uluberia Lok Sabha and Noapara Assembly constituencies. With the collapse of the Left Front vote bank, it is the BJP that is emerging as a challenger. But a second-place finish in West Bengal is poor compensation. The BJP’s setback in Rajasthan has given the Congress a ray of electoral hope, as the State goes to the polls later this year.
Get cracking
The Centre must draw up an implementation roadmap for the new health scheme
The NDA government lost precious time in its first three years in initiating a health scheme that serves the twin purposes of achieving universal coverage and saving people from high health care costs. It announced two years ago in the Budget a health protection scheme offering a cover of Rs.1 lakh per family, but ultimately that did not extend beyond Rs.30,000. Fresh hopes have been raised with the announcement
of Ayushman Bharat in Budget 2018. The plan has the components of opening health centres for diagnostics, care and distribution of essential drugs as envisaged in
the National Health Policy, and a National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) to provide a cover of up to Rs.5 lakh each for 10 crore poor and vulnerable families for hospitalisation. These are challenging goals, given the fragmented nature of India’s health system. Some States already purchase health cover for the poor, but do not regulate private secondary and tertiary care services or treatment costs. The task before the Centre, which has provided Rs.3,200 crore for the programme areas, is to now draw up an implementation roadmap. Developing countries that launched universal health coverage schemes over a decade ago, such as Mexico, had to address some key challenges. These included transfer of resources to provinces, recruitment of health personnel, and purchase and distribution of medicines to the chosen units. All these apply to India. Moreover, the steady growth of a for-profit tertiary care sector poses the additional challenge of arriving at a basic care package for those who are covered by the NHPS, at appropriate costs. A national health system will also have to subsume all existing state-funded insurance schemes. This will give beneficiaries access not just within a particular State but across the country to empanelled hospitals. In the case of the local health centres that are planned under the Ayushman Bharat
programme, there is tremendous potential to play a preventive role by reducing the incidence and impact of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. Such centres can dispense free essential medication prescribed by all registered doctors and procured through a centralised agency. But the efficiency of a large-scale health system depends on strict regulation. The early experience with state-funded insurance for the poor shows that some private hospitals may resort to unnecessary tests and treatments to inflate claims. Determination of treatment costs by the government is therefore important. This will also aid those with private health insurance, since it eliminates information asymmetry and provides a comparison point. The Centre must share details of the next steps.
1). Jolted (Verb)
Definition: give a surprise or shock to (someone) in order to make them act or change
Synonyms: startle, surprise, shock, stun, shake
Usage: she tried to jolt him out of his depression
2). Lone (Adjective)
Definition: having no companions; solitary or single
Synonyms: solitary, single, solo, unaccompanied, unescorted, alone
Usage: I approached a lone drinker across the bar
3). Imperious (Adjective)
Definition: arrogant and domineering.
Synonyms: peremptory, high-handed, commanding, imperial, overbearing, overweening
Usage: his imperious demands
4). Alienated (Verb)
Definition: make (someone) feel isolated or estranged.
Synonyms: estrange, turn away, set apart, drive apart, isolate, detach
Usage: an urban environment which would alienate its inhabitants
5). Relying (Verb)
Definition: depend on with full trust or confidence
Synonyms: depend, count, bank, place reliance, bargain, plan
Usage: I know I can rely on your discretion
6). Verdict (Noun)
Definition: a decision on an issue of fact in a civil or criminal case or an inquest
Synonyms: Judgement, adjudication, adjudgement, decision, finding, ruling
Usage: the jury returned a verdict of not guilty
7). Vindication (Noun)
Definition: the action of clearing someone of blame or suspicion
Synonyms: prove, justify, disprove, refute
Usage: I intend to work to ensure my full vindication
8). Jaded (Adjective)
Definition: bored or lacking enthusiasm, typically after having had too much of something.
Synonyms: satiated, sated, surfeited, glutted, cloyed, gorged
Usage: meals to tempt the most jaded appetites
9). Envisaged (Verb)
Definition: contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event
Synonyms:
Usage: the Rome Treaty envisaged free movement across frontiers
10). Inflate (Verb)
Definition: fill (a balloon, tyre, or other expandable structure) with air or gas so that it becomes distended
Synonyms: blown up, aerated, filled, puffed up, puffed out, pumped up
Usage: never use an air line on a garage forecourt to inflate your tyres
11). Empanelled (Verb)
Definition: enrol (someone) on to a jury
Synonyms: select, pick
Usage: several of her friends have been empanelled
12). Tertiary (Adjective)
Definition: third in order or level.
Usage: the tertiary stage of the disease
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