Editorial : Midnight rumble: on CBI feud

The Centre, which has been dragged into the CBI mess, has a lot of explaining to do
The abrupt(अचानक) replacement of Alok Verma as Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, albeit(यद्यपि/हालांकि) as an

interim(अंतरिम) measure(उपाय,प्रमाण), is the culmination(शिखर/पराकाष्ठा) of a series of murky(अस्पष्ट /धुंधला) events(घटनाएं/आयोजन) that must deeply embarrass(शर्मिंदा करें/संकट में पड़ना) the Centre. What was perceived(माना जाता है/अनुभव करना)as an unseemly internal tussle(खींचतान,संघर्ष/उलझन) among top officers of the premier investigating agency hasmorphed(बदला गया) into a full-blown(विकसित/प्रफुल्ल conflict(संघर्ष) between the Centre and Mr. Verma. It is one thing if Mr. Verma had merely(केवल/सादे तौर पर) challenged the legality(वैधता/जाब्तगी) of his dismissal(बर्खास्तगी/ पदच्युति). But he more than hinted at interference(दखल अंदाजी/हस्तक्षेप) in his functioning(कामकाज ). The suggestion that the Centre’s action was meant to protect(सुरक्षित करना/बचाना) certain(कुछ ) people has led to charges(आरोप लगाया) that he was removed because he was politically inconvenient(असुविधाजनक/दु:खदायी). The Centre may like people to think it behaved(व्यवहार किया) with a measure of even-handedness(यहाँ तक की-मनमानी ) by divesting(अधिकार से वंचित) both Mr. Verma and Mr. Asthana of their powers, but the action of the new acting director, M. Nageswara Rao — who has transferred(का तबादला/बदलना) many officers investigating cases against Mr. Asthana — exposes where its sympathy lies. This has raised the question whether the government is adopting strong-arm tactics against Mr. Verma, despite( बावजूद) his tenure(अवधि/कार्यकाल) and independence being protected by the law.

The Central Vigilance Commission, in its order divesting him of his office, has said that since the atmosphere(माहौल) within the agency had become vitiated(हानि पहुंचाना/भ्रष्ट करना) due to a factional(गुटों /उपद्रवी) feud(झगड़ा), it had to intervene. It also charged Mr. Verma with not making available the records and files sought by the CVC in connection with a corruption(भ्रष्टाचार) complaint against him — an approach which it held was wilfully(जानबूझकर) obstructionis(बाधावादी/विघ्नकारी). The sordid(घिनौना/गड़बड़ ) controversy(वादविवाद) has raised(उठाया) the important question of whether thestatutory(सांविधिक/वैधानिक ) changes aimed at insulating(अलग करना) the CBI Director’s office from political and administrative(प्रशासनिक) interference are adequate( adequate.(उचित/पर्याप्त). Section 4B of the Delhi Special Police Establishment(संस्थान/स्थापना) Act assures (भरोसा दिलाना)the Director of a two-year tenure and makes it clear that he cannot be transferred except by the high-power committee — comprising(शामिल/समावेश करना) the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India — that appointed him. The Supreme Court will address the question whether the ‘interim measure’ amounts to unlawfully(अवैध) curtailing(कटौती) the Director’s tenure. It will also examine whether the CVC’s power of superintendence has been rightly invoked(लागू/आह्वान करना/विनती करना) in the present case. But there are immediate(तत्काल) and arguably(यकीनन) more serious dimensions(परिमाण/विस्तार/आयाम) to this crisis. And itrevolves(घूमना/विचार करना) around how to repair the image of a CBI riven(विखंडित/फूट पैदा हो जाना) by a nasty(घृणास्पद/बुरा)feud, how to protect its independence, and how to address the mess contributed by a government that should have acted much earlier to resolve the controversy rather than let it attain the ugly dimensions it did.

Important Vocabulary

1.Culmination(शिखर/पराकाष्ठा)
Synonyms : apex, climax, completion, pinnacle, acme
Antonyms : anticlimax, nadir, base, beginning, bottom

2.Dismissal(बर्खास्तगी/ पदच्युति)
Synonyms : adjournment, banishment, bounce, brush-off, deportation
Antonyms : beginning, commencement, construction, employment, hiring

3.Embarrass(शर्मिंदा करें/संकट में पड़ना
Synonyms : agitate, annoy, bewilder, bother, confuse
Antonyms : aid, appease, calm, clarify, clear up

4.Abrupt(अचानक) 
Synonyms : hasty, hurried,precipitous, quick, sudden
Antonyms : expected, lazy, slow, at ease, calm

5.Albeit(यद्यपि/हालांकि)
Synonyms : admitting, even if, even though, notwithstanding

6.Merely(केवल/सादे तौर पर) 
Synonyms : hardly, only, purely, simply, solely
Antonyms : indefinitely

7.Divesting(अधिकार से वंचित)
Synonyms : bankrupt, deprive, dismantle, rob, unload
Antonyms : give, offer, clothe, cover, hide

8.Despite( बावजूद) 
Synonyms : against, although, even though, even with, in contempt of

9.Tenure(अवधि/कार्यकाल
Synonyms : administration, occupation, ownership, regime, reign
Antonyms : misconception, misunderstanding, release

10.Vitiated(हानि पहुंचाना/भ्रष्ट करना)
Synonyms : annihilate, negate, quash, abate, abolish
Antonyms : allow, help, permit, affirm, approve

11.Sordid(घिनौना/गड़बड़ ) 
Synonyms : disreputable, nasty, shameful, sleazy, squalid
Antonyms : clean, decent, good, kind, nice

12.Assures (भरोसा दिलाना)
Synonyms : encourage, persuade, reassure, satisfy, bag
Antonyms : discourage, dissuade, distress

13.Comprising(शामिल/समावेश करना) 
Synonyms : amount to, compose, constitute, contain, cover
Antonyms : abandon, destroy, exclude, neglect, ruin

14.Factional(गुटों /उपद्रवी) 
Synonyms : factional, parochial,, partisan, dissident, doctrinaire
Antonyms : conforming, broad, broad-minded, liberal, nonsectarian

15.Feud(झगड़ा),
Synonyms : altercation, bad blood, bickering, conflict, contest
Antonyms : accord, agreement, calm, concord, concurrence

16. Adequate.(उचित/पर्याप्त). 
Synonyms : acceptable, capable, competent, decent, fair
Antonyms : inadequate, inappropriate, incapable, incompetent, inept

17.Establishment(संस्थान/स्थापना) 
Synonyms : formation, formulation, founding, inauguration, installation
Antonyms : proletariat

18.Riven(विखंडित/फूट पैदा हो जाना)
Synonyms : divide, fray, rend, break, claw
Antonyms : agree, aid, assist, close, combine