English Vocab

Jobs in India

The year 2017 is witnessing a growing list of poor tidings from across the world, reported every day by the national as well as the international television and press. President Donald Trump hangs like a dark cloud over the United States of America and, indeed, the rest of the world; Britain is struggling with an increasingly amorphous (lacking a clear structure or focus.) Brexit; Germany has to grapple with the outcome of its recent elections, Spain with separatist Catalonia, while North Korea remains in an unresolved nuclear confrontation with the US.

Recurring climate calamities provide even grimmer (worrying to consider.) warnings that the effect of global warming may be sooner upon mankind than what has been forecast.

India remains preoccupied with domestic challenges as well as those building up in its neighborhood. Discordant (disagreeing or incongruous.) debates about the state of the Indian economy have not been helpful regarding the likely short and long term outcome.

The lingering (lasting for a long time or slow to end.) impact of demonetization, the growing problem of unemployment, the impact of the goods and services tax, the face-off in Doklam, and the rising prices of goods and services are sources of constant anxiety and concern. Adding grist to the mill (useful experience, material, or knowledge.) are the rather unique Indian TV panel debates, most of which are verbal battles of incoherence, now watched with growing dismay by local audiences as well as by overseas Indian audiences. In these TV battles, there seems to be a pool of spokespersons, who participate by turns. The outcome of these daily verbal battles is mostly predictable. The moderator usually makes up his or her mind regarding what the outcome should be. The panel members are the usual political party hacks. They are trained to recite the party line, with powerful vocal chords, and have the ability to not hear any other fellow panelists. Their unflinching (not showing fear or hesitation in the face of danger or difficulty.) goal is to win this battle of the vocal chords.

For quite some time, India has been featuring in the global media as a highly attractive emerging economy of great opportunities. However, the usual reports regarding China and India's economic growth, socialism versus democracy, and so on seem to be less relevant, as China has surged ahead dramatically and India seems to falter in sustaining its democratic commitments and performance as a leading emerging economy.

As far as science, technology, innovation, education and public health are concerned, India is seen to be falling well behind its peers. Progress has been made, to a degree, in poverty alleviation but the promise of a demographic dividend is now turning into a significant demographic challenge. India is facing severe obstacles in creating skilled as well as unskilled jobs for the growing millions of its job seekers. The loss of livelihood of numerous manual and semi-skilled workers following demonetization was quite severe. Efforts to improve the ease of doing business in India seem to have made less progress than one may be led to believe.

Given the slowing growth of the world economy and threats to globalization, India's foreign trade is facing new hurdles. Investments in manufacturing and infrastructure remain below expectation: the lowering of interest rates is not a potential solution, but creating conditions for demand to grow and generate significantly more employment certainly is.

The introduction of GST is a historic event. The early revenue realization signalled positive fiscal outcome - that is, until the refund claims from payers started gathering momentum. While these are still early days, it would be worth heeding early warnings that the tax slabs of GST need to be made more manageable. Eventually the simplest workable solution may be to reduce these to a single or, at the most, two slabs for Indian producers, consumers and the state to maximize the benefits of GST. For example, the small and medium enterprises sector, which is a major source for generating very large numbers of skilled or unskilled jobs, must not, inadvertently (without intention; accidentally.), become a victim owing to complexities of the GST.

Generating employment for the growing millions of Indian youth entering the job market in search of jobs has become an unmanageable task. New jobs don't happen, they have to be planned, created, and subsidized in order to grow and be sustained. In recent years, there has probably been an over-reliance on manufacturing and services to generate jobs. The agriculture sector has been comparatively subdued (quiet and rather reflective or depressed.) in creating jobs. The social and economic consequences of inadequate investment in agriculture infrastructure are becoming very serious. In spite of erratic (not even or regular in pattern or movement; unpredictable.) seasonal rains, India's agricultural output has kept growing. Sadly, the wasted foodgrains, vegetables and fruits every year in India is more than the agricultural output of many countries put together.

The technologies for post-harvest management, along with food processing, packaging, storing and marketing are all extremely well advanced in the developed world. India does not have to rediscover the wheel. Providing the highest priority to planning, while liberalizing domestic and foreign investment in these agriculture sectors, can definitely generate a huge number of jobs for both skilled and unskilled aspirants in the shortest span of time. In addition to domestic resources, huge opportunities in the food chain need to be opened up for international investors and providers of technology. Two other sectors, which also have high job-creation potential in the medium term, are the modernization of Indian railways and the river linking schemes. Both these sectors remain seriously neglected. The deterioration of the Indian railways and growing challenges for conserving water are issues which can no longer be ignored.

The impact of demonetization cannot be reversed; but GST needs to be immediately simplified. India must re-prioritize investment and liberalize the inflow of technology to reflect the urgency of generating employment. In order to bring about (to cause something to happen) such changes effectively, India must create conditions to attract resources and expertise by developing a 21st-century framework for public-private partnership reform and take urgent steps to ease doing business in India. Only by wisely deploying the energy and resources of our nation and by giving priority to the creation of employment can India hope for a socially and economically sustainable outcome.

Millions of Indians are desperately in search of a livelihood, and their search cannot be met by political philosophies or promises of a future any longer.

1. Amorphous (adjective): (Lit- without a clearly defined shape or form./Figlacking a clear structure or focus.) (डावांडोल/दिशाहीन)

Synonyms: Nebulous, Vague, Formless, Unstructured.

Antonyms: Definite, Distinct, Shaped.

Example: The amorphous laws are hard to follow because they are not clearly defined.

Origin: from Greek amorphos ‘shapeless’ (from a- ‘without’ + morphē ‘form’) + -ous.

2. Discordant (adjective): (Disagreeing or incongruous.) (असंगत/प्रतिकूल/विरुद्ध)

Synonyms: In Disagreement, At Odds, Discrepant, Contradictory, Contrary, Conflicting.

Antonyms: Concordant, Cooperating, Harmonious.

Example: The proposal was not passed as many members were discordant with the way of its implementation.

3. Grim (adjective): (Worrying to consider/ very serious or gloomy.) (विषादपूर्ण)

Synonyms: Dour, Gloomy, Depressed, Sad, Melancholic, Dismal, Doleful

Antonyms: Bright, Cheerful, Joyful, Happy.

Example: After Bill was unexpectedly fired, he was in a grim mood for weeks.

4. Lingering (adjective): (Lasting for a long time or slow to end.)  

Synonyms: Continuing, Long-Lasting, Prolonged, perpetual.

Antonyms: Ending, Ephemeral, Fleeting, Short-Lived.

Example: Corruption has been a lingering issue to the Indian Politics.  

Verb forms: Linger, Lingered, Lingered.

Related words:

Linger (verb) - to stay in a situation or place

5. Grist to the mill (idiom): (Useful experience, material, or knowledge.) (फ़ायदेमंद)

Synonyms: Useful, Beneficial, Gainful, Efficacious.

Antonyms: Disadvantageous, Harmful.

Example: Presence of MS Dhoni has always been Grist to the mill to the Indian Cricket team.

6. Unflinching (adjective): (Not showing fear or hesitation in the face of danger or difficulty.)  (दृढ़ / अदम्य)

Synonyms: Resolute, Determined, dogged, Resolved, Firm, Persistent, Persevering.

Antonyms: Unsteady, Wavering, Shakable.

Example: Because Jared was unflinching about his decision to not have children, I knew he and I were not destined to be married.

Related words:

Unflinchingly (adverb) – दृढ़तापूर्वक

7. Inadvertently (adverb): (Without intention; accidentally.) (असावधानी से/गलती से/अनजाने में)

Synonyms: Accidentally, Unintentionally, Recklessly, Rashly, In An Unplanned Manner

Antonyms: Intentionally, In A Planned Manner

Example: It is wonderful to know that how many inadvertent inventions were developed in the process of trying to discover something totally different.

Related words:

Inadvertent (adjective) - Not intentional; not on purpose; not conscious.

Origin: from in- ‘not’ + Latin advertent- ‘turning the mind to’

8. Subdued (adjective): (Quiet and rather reflective or depressed.) (मंद/ उदासीन)

Synonyms: Somber, Downcast, Depressed, Low, Gloomy, Despondent, Dispirited.

Antonyms: Cheerful, Animated, Effervescent, Rosy

Example: The subdued nature of the economy manifests the wrong adopted policies of the government.

9. Erratic (adjective): (Not even or regular in pattern or movement; unpredictable.)   (अनियमित/अस्थिर)

Synonyms: Unpredictable, Inconsistent, Changeable, Inconstant, Irregular, Turbulent, Unsteady.

Antonyms: Stable, Predictable.

Example: When the police officer saw the girl driving her scooter in an erraticmanner, he pulled her over to question him.

Related words:

Erratically (adverb) - अनियमित ढंग से

10. Bring about (phrasal verb): (To cause something to happen) (घटित करना)

Synonyms: Give Rise To, Make Happen, Engender, Effectuate.

Antonyms: Halt, Stop.

Example:  The invention of the internal-combustion engine brought about a huge shift in people's mobility.

Verb forms: Bring about, Brought about, Brought about.