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Taking felicitous snippet from well reputed newspaper editorials, our motive is not just to make you learn the English language but keep you updated with the current affairs and events across the world which are important from the govt exams point of view. Either you are a job aspirant or a working person or just want to outsmart others, this is a befitting platform to expedite your performance thoroughly.
THREATS TO GLOBAL GROWTH MODERATE NARENDRA MODI'S ELECTION PROSPECTS:
In January, this column highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s (1) streak of lucky breaks (‘‘Modi is a Very Lucky Man’). These included a widely forecast (2) surge in global GDP growth in 2018, (3) spurring rapid Indian growth in his final 18 months in office and boosting his prospects in the 2019 general election. Recent events cast doubt on the strength of the global growth surge. This, in turn, casts doubts on whether India will surge forward on a global wave, aiding BJP electorally. The biggest threat to global growth is the aggressive trade bullying by US President Donald Trump, aimed especially at China. Trump was willing to (4) exempt countries that followed his idea of fair trade practices, and this might cover Europe and Japan. It will not cover China.
Trading Tariffs
Then, on April 2, China retaliated mildly with import duties on just $3 billion worth of US exports, including pork, nuts and wine. This mild approach was clearly aimed at saving face while avoiding an all-out trade war that would be a loss-loss for both sides. But Trump angrily hit back the very next day by proposing higher tariffs on a new list of 1,300 Chinese exports worth $50 billion. (5) Feathers ruffled, China, within 24 hours, threatened a tit-for-tat levy of 25% on $50 billion worth of US goods such as soya beans, aircraft, large cars and chemicals. Soybeans are an extremely important export item for the US mid-West, which usually votes heavily Republican. Hitting the income of US soybean farmers could hit Trump politically in the mid-West in the crucial Congressional elections in November. Far from cooling down, Trump on April 5, threatened tariffs on another $100 billion of Chinese exports. He said he had authorized the US trade representative to examine which Chinese exports should be targeted. (6) Undeterred, China declared that it, too, was looking into appropriate counter-measures.
Optimists think that both the US and China are using extravagant threats mainly to impress their own domestic audiences and will stop short of calamitous action. The stock markets are down, but not by much. Money usually floods out of emerging markets into safe (7) havens in a global crisis. Right now, emerging markets have stood up pretty well to all the bad news, because of the belief that things will not really be so bad. Instead of global money flooding into the US as a safe haven, there is only (8) trickle. The US dollar has remained relatively weak.
Trump’s track record suggests that trade optimists are partially, or wholly, wrong. He has repeatedly (9) sacked moderates in his administration and replaced them with hardline yes-men. He believes he can use threats of trade war to burnish his own patriotic credentials among US voters and convince them that harsh medicine is required to force China to behave. However, attempts to make China (10) kowtow could backfire. Maybe behind-the-scenes negotiations will cool tempers. But a ruinous trade war that hits global growth cannot be ruled out. Trump’s aggression is not limited to China. He has petitioned the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to force India to stop all export subsidies.
1. STREAK (noun)=विशेषता
Meaning: an element of a specified kind in someone's character.
Synonyms: element, vein, trace, touch, dash, strain; trait, characteristic.
Antonyms: abundance, fistful, gobs, heaps, loads, lot, mass, mess, much, oodles, passel, peck, pile, plenty, potful.
2. SURGE (noun) =तेजी से वृद्धि
Meaning: a sudden powerful forward or upward movement.
Synonyms: gush, rush, outpouring, stream, flow, sweep, soar, billow, drift, rise.
Antonyms: decline, fall, slump, drop, ebb, sink, deteriorate, cutback, run low.
3. SPUR (verb)=प्रेरणा
Meaning: promote the development of; stimulate.
Synonyms: stimulate, encourage, prompt, propel, prod, induce, impel, motivate, move, galvanize, inspire, urge.
Antonyms: curbing, discouraging, checking, delaying, counterincentive, disincentive.
4. EXEMPT (verb)=छुट देना
Meaning: free (a person or organization) from an obligation or liability imposed on others.
Synonyms: excuse, release, exclude, give/grant immunity, spare, let off, relieve of, liberate, absolve, discharge.
Antonyms: enforce, convict, compel, entrap, oblige, incarcerate, blame.
5. RUFFLE FEATHERS (idiom)= परेशान करना
Meaning: To annoy, irritate, or upset someone.
6. UNDETERRED (adjective) =दृढ़
Meaning: persevering with something despite setbacks.
Synonyms: resolute, constant, dedicated, dogged, valiant, tenacious, staunch, persistent.
Antonyms: irresolute, mousy, timid, tremulous, fearsome, cowardly, fainthearted.
7. HAVEN (noun) =आश्रय
Meaning: a place of safety or refuge.
Synonyms: refuge, retreat, shelter, sanctuary, asylum, sanctum, protection, harbor.
Antonyms: hazard, threat, offshore, hazard, menace, imperilment.
8. TRICKLE (noun)= तरल की धीमी गति
Meaning: a small flow of liquid.
Synonyms: drop, ooze, stream, drizzle, spill, dripping, sprinkle, dribble.
Antonyms: flood, rush, inundation, torrent, squirt, deluge, outpouring.
9. SACK (verb) =बर्ख़ास्त करना
Meaning: dismiss from employment.
Synonyms: bounce, can, cashier, discharge, dismiss, fire, muster out, release, remove, retire, terminate, turn off.
Antonyms: contract, subcontract, recruit, employ, engage, hire, retain, take on.
10. KOWTOW (verb) =प्रणाम
Meaning: act in an excessively subservient manner.
Synonyms: grovel, behave obsequiously, be servile, submit, toady, truckle, adulate, bootlick, crawl, creep.
Antonyms: disrespect, rebel, revolt, maverick, knot, despise, disdain, scorn, gibe, jeer.
IMPORTANT GA FACTS REGARDING GDP:
1. The Indian economy is in a high growth mode and 7.2 per cent expansion in the December quarter marks its return as the fastest growing major economy in the world, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said. China had recorded a growth of 6.8 per cent in the December quarter.
2. The 2018 Global Economics Prospect (GEP) released by the World Bank projects India's GDP growth to pick up to 7.3% in 2018-19 and to 7.5% for the next two years. In comparison, the figure for the second quarter of the current financial year (July-September 2017) was 6.3%, up from the three-year low of 5.7% in the first quarter.
3. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in India
GDP growth rate compared to previous year
2015 8.01%
2016 7.11%
2017 6.72%
2018 7.37%
4. Gross domestic product (GDP) is total market value of the goods and services produced by a country’s economy during a specified period of time. It includes all final goods and services. It is used throughout the world as the main measure of output and economic activity.
GDP is defined by the following formula:
GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + Net Exports
5. GDP differs from gross national product (GNP), which includes all final goods and services produced by resources owned by that country’s residents, whether located in the country or elsewhere. International organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) periodically publish and maintain historical GDP data for many countries. In the United States, GDP data are published quarterly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
In January, this column highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s (1) streak of lucky breaks (‘‘Modi is a Very Lucky Man’). These included a widely forecast (2) surge in global GDP growth in 2018, (3) spurring rapid Indian growth in his final 18 months in office and boosting his prospects in the 2019 general election. Recent events cast doubt on the strength of the global growth surge. This, in turn, casts doubts on whether India will surge forward on a global wave, aiding BJP electorally. The biggest threat to global growth is the aggressive trade bullying by US President Donald Trump, aimed especially at China. Trump was willing to (4) exempt countries that followed his idea of fair trade practices, and this might cover Europe and Japan. It will not cover China.
Trading Tariffs
Then, on April 2, China retaliated mildly with import duties on just $3 billion worth of US exports, including pork, nuts and wine. This mild approach was clearly aimed at saving face while avoiding an all-out trade war that would be a loss-loss for both sides. But Trump angrily hit back the very next day by proposing higher tariffs on a new list of 1,300 Chinese exports worth $50 billion. (5) Feathers ruffled, China, within 24 hours, threatened a tit-for-tat levy of 25% on $50 billion worth of US goods such as soya beans, aircraft, large cars and chemicals. Soybeans are an extremely important export item for the US mid-West, which usually votes heavily Republican. Hitting the income of US soybean farmers could hit Trump politically in the mid-West in the crucial Congressional elections in November. Far from cooling down, Trump on April 5, threatened tariffs on another $100 billion of Chinese exports. He said he had authorized the US trade representative to examine which Chinese exports should be targeted. (6) Undeterred, China declared that it, too, was looking into appropriate counter-measures.
Optimists think that both the US and China are using extravagant threats mainly to impress their own domestic audiences and will stop short of calamitous action. The stock markets are down, but not by much. Money usually floods out of emerging markets into safe (7) havens in a global crisis. Right now, emerging markets have stood up pretty well to all the bad news, because of the belief that things will not really be so bad. Instead of global money flooding into the US as a safe haven, there is only (8) trickle. The US dollar has remained relatively weak.
Trump’s track record suggests that trade optimists are partially, or wholly, wrong. He has repeatedly (9) sacked moderates in his administration and replaced them with hardline yes-men. He believes he can use threats of trade war to burnish his own patriotic credentials among US voters and convince them that harsh medicine is required to force China to behave. However, attempts to make China (10) kowtow could backfire. Maybe behind-the-scenes negotiations will cool tempers. But a ruinous trade war that hits global growth cannot be ruled out. Trump’s aggression is not limited to China. He has petitioned the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to force India to stop all export subsidies.
1. STREAK (noun)=विशेषता
Meaning: an element of a specified kind in someone's character.
Synonyms: element, vein, trace, touch, dash, strain; trait, characteristic.
Antonyms: abundance, fistful, gobs, heaps, loads, lot, mass, mess, much, oodles, passel, peck, pile, plenty, potful.
2. SURGE (noun) =तेजी से वृद्धि
Meaning: a sudden powerful forward or upward movement.
Synonyms: gush, rush, outpouring, stream, flow, sweep, soar, billow, drift, rise.
Antonyms: decline, fall, slump, drop, ebb, sink, deteriorate, cutback, run low.
3. SPUR (verb)=प्रेरणा
Meaning: promote the development of; stimulate.
Synonyms: stimulate, encourage, prompt, propel, prod, induce, impel, motivate, move, galvanize, inspire, urge.
Antonyms: curbing, discouraging, checking, delaying, counterincentive, disincentive.
4. EXEMPT (verb)=छुट देना
Meaning: free (a person or organization) from an obligation or liability imposed on others.
Synonyms: excuse, release, exclude, give/grant immunity, spare, let off, relieve of, liberate, absolve, discharge.
Antonyms: enforce, convict, compel, entrap, oblige, incarcerate, blame.
5. RUFFLE FEATHERS (idiom)= परेशान करना
Meaning: To annoy, irritate, or upset someone.
6. UNDETERRED (adjective) =दृढ़
Meaning: persevering with something despite setbacks.
Synonyms: resolute, constant, dedicated, dogged, valiant, tenacious, staunch, persistent.
Antonyms: irresolute, mousy, timid, tremulous, fearsome, cowardly, fainthearted.
7. HAVEN (noun) =आश्रय
Meaning: a place of safety or refuge.
Synonyms: refuge, retreat, shelter, sanctuary, asylum, sanctum, protection, harbor.
Antonyms: hazard, threat, offshore, hazard, menace, imperilment.
8. TRICKLE (noun)= तरल की धीमी गति
Meaning: a small flow of liquid.
Synonyms: drop, ooze, stream, drizzle, spill, dripping, sprinkle, dribble.
Antonyms: flood, rush, inundation, torrent, squirt, deluge, outpouring.
9. SACK (verb) =बर्ख़ास्त करना
Meaning: dismiss from employment.
Synonyms: bounce, can, cashier, discharge, dismiss, fire, muster out, release, remove, retire, terminate, turn off.
Antonyms: contract, subcontract, recruit, employ, engage, hire, retain, take on.
10. KOWTOW (verb) =प्रणाम
Meaning: act in an excessively subservient manner.
Synonyms: grovel, behave obsequiously, be servile, submit, toady, truckle, adulate, bootlick, crawl, creep.
Antonyms: disrespect, rebel, revolt, maverick, knot, despise, disdain, scorn, gibe, jeer.
IMPORTANT GA FACTS REGARDING GDP:
1. The Indian economy is in a high growth mode and 7.2 per cent expansion in the December quarter marks its return as the fastest growing major economy in the world, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said. China had recorded a growth of 6.8 per cent in the December quarter.
2. The 2018 Global Economics Prospect (GEP) released by the World Bank projects India's GDP growth to pick up to 7.3% in 2018-19 and to 7.5% for the next two years. In comparison, the figure for the second quarter of the current financial year (July-September 2017) was 6.3%, up from the three-year low of 5.7% in the first quarter.
3. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in India
GDP growth rate compared to previous year
2015 8.01%
2016 7.11%
2017 6.72%
2018 7.37%
4. Gross domestic product (GDP) is total market value of the goods and services produced by a country’s economy during a specified period of time. It includes all final goods and services. It is used throughout the world as the main measure of output and economic activity.
GDP is defined by the following formula:
GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + Net Exports
5. GDP differs from gross national product (GNP), which includes all final goods and services produced by resources owned by that country’s residents, whether located in the country or elsewhere. International organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) periodically publish and maintain historical GDP data for many countries. In the United States, GDP data are published quarterly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
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