The Hindu Editorial (Reform reluctance) – Feb 21, 2023

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The Hindu Editorial (Reform reluctance) – Feb 21, 2023:

reluctance (noun) – unwillingness, disinclination, hesitation.
GST Council (noun) – a federal body (established under article 279A of the Constitution) that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform.
regime (noun) – system.
flaw (noun) – defect, fault, imperfection/weakness.
ebb (verb) – diminish, decrease, fade away, disappear; it also means recede, retreat, flow back, go out.
in person (phrase) – physically, personally, actually present, in one’s own person.
broad (adjective) – comprehensive, extensive, all-embracing, broad-ranging.
consensus (noun) – an idea or opinion that is shared by all the people in a group, agreement, concurrence.
establish (verb) – set up, institute, launch, state, begin.
appellate (adjective) – (of a court) dealing with cases on appeal to review the decision of a lower court.
tribunal (noun) – panel, committee (set up to resolve some disputes particularly).
fine print (noun) – small print; it refers to some important details or conditions of an agreement/contract, but written/printed in small letters (e.g. mutual funds’ terms & conditions).
in consultation with (phrase) – after having a discussion with.
legislative (adjective) – law-making, parliamentary, policy-making, administrative.
backing (noun) – support, endorsement, approval.
Finance Bill (noun) – ‘Finance Bill’ means the Bill ordinarily introduced in each year to give effect to the financial proposals of the Government of India for the following financial year and includes a Bill to give effect to supplementary financial proposals for any period. It concerns the country’s finances – it could be about taxes, government expenditures, government borrowings, revenues, etc. There are different kinds of Finance Bills-the most important of them is the Money Bill. The Money Bill is concretely defined in Article 110.
likely (adverb) – possibly, potentially, probably.
disposal (noun) – clearance, removal, scrapping, discarding.
add to (phrase) – increase, intensify, heighten.
case load (noun) – the number of cases to be handled by a court or a lawyer at one time.
cog (noun) – a wheel (with square or triangular teeth around the edge); prong, gear, point.
fathom (verb) – understand, comprehend, discern, assimilate, absorb.
among other things (phrase) – used to indicate that there are several more things like the one mentioned, but that you do not intend to mention them all.
a tad (adverb) – to a small extent; somewhat; little, slightly, fairly, moderately.
penal (adjective) – disciplinary, punitive, corrective.
nod (noun) – indication, signal, sign (of approval).
implications (noun) – consequence/outcome, ramification, repercussion.
move (noun) – measure, action, initiative, step.
evasion (noun) – dodging, bypassing/sidestepping, circumvention.
prone (adjective) – vulnerable/susceptible.
minutiae (noun) – details, niceties/finer points, particulars.
much-deferred (adjective) – much delayed, much postponed, (much) put off.
stuck (adjective) – frozen or fixed in one place.
stated (adjective) – specified, given, expressed.
take up (phrasal verb) – pursue a matter further.
entrust (verb) – assign, confer on, bestow on, vest in, invest in, give responsibility for.
schedule (verb) – arrange, organize, plan, make arrangements for.
augur well (verb) – bode, indicate, portend (a good outcome).
prickly (adjective) – problematic/troublesome, sensitive, difficult.
of greater concern (phrase) – if something is of (greater) concern to you, you think it is very important and you feel worried about it.
stalling (noun) – obstructing, impeding, interfering, hindering, hampering, blocking thwarting, inhibiting, stopping.
rationalisation (noun) – systematisation, formalisation, rationale, justification.
slab (noun) – category.
critical (adjective) – all-important, key, essential, vital.
left out (adjective) – omitted, excluded, disregarded, ignored.
leave out (phrasal verb) – miss out, omit, overlook, forget, disregard, ignore.
task (verb) – assign a task to.
fix (noun) – solution, way out, answer, remedy, antidote, panacea.
anomaly (noun) – something that is different, abnormal or unusual from what normally/usually happens; oddity, abnormality, peculiarity, aberration, eccentricity, exception, deviation, divergence, departure.
levy (noun) – imposition, charging, collection (of a tax, fee, fine).
inverted duty structure (noun) – it refers to a situation where the rate of tax on inputs purchased is more than the rate of tax on output or final products. An inverted duty structure arises when the taxes on output or final product is lower than the taxes on inputs, creating an inverse accumulation of input tax credit which in most cases has to be refunded. Inverted duty structure has implied a stream of revenue outflow for the government prompting the government to relook the duty structure.
aggregate (noun) – total, combined, complete, full, comprehensive.
rather than (phrase) – instead of.
revenue neutral rate (RNR) (noun) – the rate at which income to the states and the Centre isn’t eroded in absence of pre-GST taxes. It is the rate at which tax revenue remains the same despite giving credit of duty paid on inputs and other factors.
envisage (verb) – conceive, imagine, envision, think, perceive, apprehend.
flag (verb) – indicate, point out, identify; draw attention to something.
rejig (noun) – reorganization, rearrangement, alteration, reconstitution, remaking.
defer (verb) – postpone, delay, put off.
inflation (noun) – simply meaning “cost of living”; increase of price level of goods & services and vice versa decrease of currency value.
surge (verb) – rise or increase suddenly.
headache (noun) – concern, matter, problem, worry.
onset (noun) – start, beginning, arrival.
culminate (verb) – come to an end with, finish with, conclude with, terminate with, lead up to.
dithering (adjective) – hesitating, oscillating, indecisive, unsure, undecided.
dither (verb) – be indecisive, be unsure, be undecided, hesitate.
hold true (phrase) – remain true, remain valid, to be applicable, to be valid.
compliance (noun) – adherence, observance, conformity.
bolster (verb) – strengthen, support, make stronger, reinforce, buttress.
perhaps (adverb) – maybe, possibly.
dilute (verb) – weaken/reduce (in value); lessen, reduce, diminish, soften.
unwieldy (adjective) – cumbersome, unmanageable, badly organized (administration/government system).
tangle (noun) – mess, mix-up, confusion, mishmash.
a roof over one’s head (phrase) – a place to live.