THE HINDU EDITORIAL
A) SHOOTS TAKE ROOT: ON FED HIKE
The biggest take
away from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to raise the federal funds rate,
for a third time in six months, is its assertion that growth
in the world’s largest economy has gained traction and is on
course to warrant further “gradual” rate increases. Fed Chair Janet Yellen
emphasised the factors underpinning this rebound in economic
activity — an “ongoing improvement in the job market and relatively high levels
of consumer sentiment and wealth” that have spurred household
spending, an expansion in business investment, and most significantly, a global
pickup in demand. This offers more reassurance that the global
economy may have finally re-emerged from the post-financial crisis doldrums.
It is also noteworthy that the economic revival has been happening amid
heightened policy uncertainty worldwide, especially in key areas like trade, as
political tumult continues to roil the U.S. under the Donald
Trump administration and, more recently, the U.K. as well. And while Ms.
Yellen reiterated that the American central bank remained on
alert in monitoring inflation developments, given a recent softening in price
gains, the Fed’s decision to announce the contours of a programmed
to gradually pare the size of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet is another sign
that the U.S. economic engine is warming up. India’s exporters can take heart
that demand in one of the largest markets for their goods and services is
likely to continue to strengthen in the coming months. The Fed also bumped up
the median projection for U.S. economic growth in 2017 to 2.2%, from 2.1%
forecast in March. Ms. Yellen and her colleagues on the Federal Open Market
Committee have also done well to ward off a 2013 ‘taper tantrum’-like scenario by
flagging the projected path of balance sheet normalization — a deliberate and
clearly calibrated set of reductions that increase over time —
without detailing a schedule for the start of the process. Clearly spelling out
that the plan to decrease reinvestment of principal payments from asset-backed
and Treasury securities is conditional on the economy staying
its anticipated course, the Fed has earmarked this year as the
broad time frame for its start. India’s monetary authorities can derive some
reassurance that they are not alone in adopting a policy stance that seems
counter-intuitive to some in the light of slowing inflation in their respective
economies. While the Fed describes its stance as “accommodative” to spur
further strengthening in labour market conditions and a sustained return to 2%
inflation, the Reserve Bank of India has said that its “neutral” poise is
intended to continue support for economic expansion while ensuring price
stability. The common theme is the welcome emphasis on consistency and
stability in the messaging.
B) No time to work
In a welcome
move this week, India has ratified two key global conventions
meant to keep children away from work, decades since they were originally
adopted by the International Labour Organisation. Nonetheless, the skepticism aroused
by the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2016 over the
government’s commitment towards complete abolitionof child labour
will persist. The ILO treaties are about the minimum age at which a person may
begin work and the hazardous industries where she may not. Crucially,
conventions 138 and 182 of the United Nations body leave it to the
member-states to determine what constitutes acceptable or unacceptable work for
children at different ages. Such flexibility has given the Indian
government wiggle room in adopting the international standards
in question, even though the 2016 legislation falls several notches below a
comprehensive prohibition of child labour. The Act contains the controversial
provision that condones the employment of children below 14
years under the rubric of family enterprises and the
declassification of several industries as hazardous occupations. The
detrimental effects on the ground from these dilutions of the original 1986 Act
could be widespread. With roughly 90% of the workforce continuing to remain
outside the ambit of the organised sector, protecting vulnerable children from
exploitation is difficult. The rules notified by the Ministry of Labour and
Employment for the enforcement of the 2016 amendment include some small
concessions. Under these stipulations, children may work in domestic
enterprises only for three hours after school, and not between 7 p.m. and 8
a.m. These restrictions are intended to ensure attendance at school. But given
the sensitivities involved in monitoring activities within traditional
households, effective enforcement will pose a challenge, and the rescue of
vulnerable children will remain an uncertain proposition. India’s ratification
of the two conventions, after more than 165 countries have legally bound
themselves to their obligations, is itself a sad commentary on the priorities
of successive governments, cutting across party lines. The ILO’s Minimum Age
Convention of 1973 entered into force in 1976 — and the instrument pertaining
to the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in 2000. While
policymakers are no doubt alert to the inequities that perennially plague
Indian society, the practical realities are too painful for the millions
who languish on the margins. Any genuine enforcement of a
minimum age at work will elude governments so long as a universal minimum wage
of subsistence for the adult workforce is not implemented scrupulously. On this
score, the record of different States is at best patchy. This
scenario is unlikely to improve in the absence of a vibrant mechanism of
collective bargaining among stakeholders. Without this, the total elimination
of child labour will remain a difficult task.
WORDS/ VOCABULARY
1) Assertion
Meaning: A confident and forceful statement of fact or belief.
Example: She very quickly asserted her authority over the class.
Synonyms: Declaration, Claim
2) Traction
Meaning: The ability of a wheel or tyre to hold the ground without sliding.
Example: In deep snow, people should use snow tyres on their vehicles to give them
better traction.
Synonyms: Grip, Friction, Adhesion
3) Underpinning
Meaning: To give support, strength, or a basic structure to something.
Example: He presented data to underpin his argument.
Synonyms: Nub, Hub, Kernel
4) Spurred
Meaning: To encourage an activity or development or make it happen faster.
Example: Rising consumer sales have the effect of spurring the economy to faster
growth.
Synonyms: Stimulus, Incentive, Encouragement
Antonyms: Disincentive, Discouragement
5) Reassurance
Meaning: Words of advice and comfort intended to make someone feel less worried.
Example: I felt I couldn’t cope with the situation and was in desperate need of
some reassurance.
Synonyms: Buoy Up, Cheer Up, Comfort, Soothe
Antonyms: Alarm, Unnerve
6) Doldrums
Meaning: Unsuccessful or showing no activity or development.
Example: Her career was in the doldrums during those years.
Synonyms: Depression, Melancholy, Gloom
Antonyms: Happiness
7) Tumult
Meaning: A loud noise, especially that produced by an excited crowd, or a state of
confusion, change, or uncertainty.
Example: You couldn’t hear her speak over the tumult from the screaming fans.
Synonyms: Din, Loud Noise, Racket
Antonyms: Silence
8) Reiterated
Meaning: To say something again, once or several times.
Example: The government has reiterated its refusal to compromise with terrorists.
Synonyms: Repeat, Say Again, Restate
9) Contours
Meaning: An outline representing or bounding the shape or form of something.
Example: This map has contours marked at 250-metre intervals.
Synonyms: Outline, Silhouette, Form
10) Bumped
Meaning: An increase in something.
Example: There had been a bump in the number of students with learning disorders.
Synonyms: Nodule, Node, Outgrowth, Growth
Antonyms: Pothole
11) Calibrated
Meaning: Carefully assess, set, or adjust (something abstract).
Example: The regulators cannot properly calibrate the risks involved.
Synonyms: Modify, Alter, Regulate
12) Treasury
Meaning: The government department, in the UK and some other countries, that is
responsible for financial matters such as spending and tax.
Example: The Treasury has announced new taxes.
Synonyms: Exchequer, Purse
13) Earmarked
Meaning: To keep or intend something for a particular purpose.
Example: Five billion dollars of this year’s budget is already earmarked for
hospital improvements.
Synonyms: Set Aside, Lay Aside, Appropriate, Designate
14) Ratified
Meaning: (Especially of governments or organizations) To make an agreement
official.
Example: Many countries have now ratified the UN convention on the rights of the
child.
15) Skepticism
Meaning: Doubting that something is true or useful.
Example: The Company’s environmental claims have been treated with scepticism by
conservationists.
Synonyms: Doubt, Disbelief, Atheism
Antonyms: Conviction
16) Abolition
Meaning: The official ending of an activity or custom.
Example: The public wanted to retain the death penalty; parliament decreed its
abolition.
Synonyms: Scrapping, Ending, Stopping
Antonyms: Retention, Creation
17) Wiggle
Meaning: To (cause to) move up and down and/or from side to side with small, quick
movements.
Example: He tried wiggling the control stick but nothing happened.
Synonyms: Jiggle, Twitch
18) Condones
Meaning: To accept or allow behavior that is wrong.
Example: If the government is seen to condone violence, the bloodshed will never
stop.
Synonyms: Deliberately ignore, Forgive
Antonyms: Condemn, Punish
19) Rubric
Meaning: A set of instructions, especially on an exam paper, usually printed in a
different style or color.
Example: Read the rubric carefully.
Synonyms: Title, Legend
20) Languish
Meaning: To exist in an unpleasant or unwanted situation, often for a long time.
Example: After languishing in obscurity for many years, her early novels have
recently been rediscovered.
Synonyms: Weaken, Wither, Waste away
Antonyms: Thrive, Flourish
21) Patchy
Meaning: Sometimes good and sometimes bad.
Example: Matthew found the service extremely patchy.
Synonyms: Uneven, Bitty, Intermittent, Fragmentary
Antonyms: Uniform, Complete
