The Hindu Editorial (Road bumps) – Nov 11, 2020

On Monday, the Fifteenth Finance Commission submitted its report with recommendations on the formula for sharing the divisible pool… For further reading, visit “The Hindu”. Below is today’s word list-1 for The Hindu Editorial (Road bumps) – Nov 11, 2020.

To read this article, click here.

This preview is provided here with permission.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Today’s word list-1 for The Hindu Editorial (Road bumps) – Nov 11, 2020:

road bump (noun) – speed bump, something that makes progress slower; obstruction, obstacle, setback.
Finance Commission (noun) – It is a Constitutionally mandated body that is at the centre of fiscal federalism. Set up under Article 280 of the Constitution of India, its core responsibility is to evaluate the state of finances of the Union and State Governments, recommend the sharing of taxes between them, lay down the principles determining the distribution of these taxes among States. The first Finance Commission was set up in 1951 and there have been fifteen so far.
road map (noun) – schedule of a (complex) program.
amid (preposition) – in the middle of, surrounded by; during.
standoff (noun) – deadlock, stalemate, impasse (in a dispute/conflict).
divisible pool (noun) – the taxes of the central government that it should share with the state governments in accordance with the recommendations of the Finance Commission.
fiscal (adjective) – financial.
in the public domain (phrase) – if something (e.g. information) is in the public domain, people generally know about it since it is not secret.
table (verb) – submit, put forward, present, propose, introduce.
prescription (noun) – (authoritative) recommendation, instruction, order, direction.
take-home (adjective) – (of salary/wages/payment) remaining after all deductions including taxes.
cut (noun) – share, portion, allocation, allotment.
cause (noun) – reason, grounds, motive, purpose.
upbeat (adjective) – optimistic, positive, hopeful.
mop up (phrasal verb) – account for, dispose of, dispatch, finish off, deal with (by absorbing final details of something).
turn out (phrasal verb) – transpire, happen; come to be, become.
deploy (verb) – use, utilize, employ.
cess (noun) – a form of tax charged/levied over and above the base tax liability of a taxpayer. A cess is usually imposed additionally when the state or the central government looks to raise funds for specific purposes.
surcharge (noun) – an additional charge/an extra fee.
garner (verb) – gather, collect, accumulate.
anxious (adjective) – worried, concerned, distressed, bothered.
not in the least (phrase) – by no means, not at all, in no way, certainly not, absolutely not, definitely not.
compensation (noun) – payment, repayment, settlement (for loss/damage).
GST compensation (noun) – Under the GST law (In India), state governments are guaranteed full compensation for any revenue loss for the first five years after the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in July 2017. The compensation is a gap between actual revenue collected and projected revenue.
dues (noun) – payment, contribution (which is (long) pending).
on board (phrase) – join in a team/group as a member.
conjure up (phrasal verb) – suggest, allude to, refer to; produce, materialize, generate (by magic).
loose ends (noun) – unsettled or unexplained details.
pile up (phrasal verb) – increase, raise in quantity.
non-lapsable fund (noun) – it means the unspent amount from capital budget of the ministry will not lapse (revert/surrender back to the ministry if not consumed), and will continue (carry forward) in the next fiscal (financial year).
incentivise (verb) – encourage, motivate, galvanize.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) (noun) – a scheme launched by Government of India on 1 January 2013 to transfer the benefits and subsidies of various social welfare schemes like LPG subsidy, MNREGA payments, Old Age Pension, Scholarships etc. directly in the bank account of the beneficiary.
penalise (verb) – punish, discipline.
potential (noun) – possibility, potentiality, prospect.
assessment (noun) – evaluation, appraisal, analysis.
pandemic (noun) – the worldwide spread of a new disease; The illness spreads around the world and typically affects a large number of people across a wide area.
lockdown (noun) – an emergency protocol implemented by the authorities that prevents people from leaving from a place; An extended state of confinement/encirclement/isolation of a person by the authority.
to make matters/things worse (phrase) – to make the situation/condition even more bad/difficult.
interim (adjective) – provisional, temporary, transitional.
forecast (noun) – prediction, indication, projection, prognosis, speculation, calculation (of future events or trends).
slow down (phrasal verb) – reduce, lessen decrease (one’s activity).
demonetisation (noun) – the act of deprive currency unit (note/coin) of its status as money.
tailspin (noun) – a situation in which something begins to perform badly or to fail and becomes out of control; (emotional) collapse due to rapidly increasing chaos or panic; uncontrollable decline, downturn, breakdown.
heartening (adjective) – encouraging, promising, hopeful.
allay (verb) – reduce, diminish, decrease, lessen; alleviate, ease, relieve.
anxiety (noun) – concern/stress/tension, unease, apprehension, disquiet.
lay something to rest (phrase) – to end/stop something (anxiety) by resolving an issue/problem.
uncertainty (noun) – unpredictability, unreliability, riskiness/precariousness.
receptive (adjective) – open-minded, responsive, approachable, amenable, willing to consider new ideas.
forge (verb) – form, create, establish, set up.
cohesive (adjective) – united, integrated, cooperated.
federal (adjective) – relating to a system of government in which establishments such as states or provinces share power with a national government.
compact (noun) – treaty, pact, accord, agreement, deal.
“double engine” government theory (phrase) – the concept behind “double engine” governments is that the same party (in this case BJP) should be in power in the state and at the Centre.
hasten (verb) – push forward, advance, accelerate, expedite.