Daily Vocabulary Newspaper Wordlist

Shape Up your Vocabulary from Newspaper Wordlist - 11th February 2017

Good Morning Everyone..!!
We are here with your Daily dose of Challenging Wordlist. Consider the given newspaper article as a Comprehension for your exams and do answer the questions at the end.

Today’s article, 'Bowing down to patriarchy’ has been picked from The Hindu.

This article talks about the quota implementation of reservation of seats in local body elections for women, to the order of 33% or more. Even after, the Nagaland government has declared the elections as “null and void” due to some tribal bodies opposed to reservations for women.

One of the success stories of affirmative action in India has been the implementation of reservation of seats in local body elections for women, to the order of 33% or more. The importance of democratising the public sphere by inclusive participation of women in a largely male-dominated society cannot be stressed enough. In rural areas the quota has helped improve local governance, enhancing outcomes in delivery of civic services related to drinking water supply, sanitation and irrigation, among others. In urban local bodies, the visible impact has been more quantitative in terms of representation rather than qualitative, with success being linked to emphasis on gender sensitisation by civil society and political parties. It is therefore unfortunate that the Nagaland government, after initial steadfastness to hold the long-delayed urban local body polls on February 1, declared the elections as “null and void” after some tribal bodies, opposed to reservations for women, sought to disrupt the process. Rather than bowing to this pressure, the State government led by the Nagaland People’s Front should have enforced the rule of law. That a substantial number of towns participated in the elections despite a bandh called by the tribal bodies reflects public support for affirmative action as mandated by the 74th Amendment to the Constitution.
Article 371A of the Constitution secures a special status for Nagaland. But as the civil society groups striving for reservation have argued, urban local bodies are not part of traditional Naga society, and ULBs are constitutional bodies to which customary Naga laws cannot be applied. The conduct of the long-delayed elections was achieved after a protracted legal struggle led by women’s groups. Arguments against women’s reservation invoking Naga customs have been consistently quashed by the courts, ultimately paving the way for elections to be announced for February 1. The State government later submitted to pressure exerted by the Naga Hoho, an apex group of 16 tribal groups, which smelled blood and sought Chief Minister T.R. Zeliang’s resignation. The State government then wrote to the Centre seeking exemption for Nagaland from Part IXA of the Constitution — which is clearly untenable. The Centre, meanwhile, sees Nagaland merely through the lens of the still- pending peace accord with some insurgent groups. This milieu has emboldened patriarchal forces to assert themselves and deny women their constitutionally guaranteed rights of representation in local bodies. Civil society and women’s groups now have their work cut out in realising their just demand for electoral representation. Denial of women’s rights cannot be a measure of the State’s autonomy.

Challenging Words in the Article -

  • Affirmative (सकारात्मक) - AdjectiveMeaning - agreeing with or consenting to a statement or request (Adjective)
    a statement of agreement with or consent to an assertion or request (Noun)
    Synonyms - positive, supporting
    Antonyms - dissenting, negative
    Example - The family is usually a source of encouragement from which affirmative influences come.
  • Inclusive (सम्मिलित) - AdjectiveMeaning - including all the services or items normally expected or required
    Synonyms
    - general, broad
    Antonyms - exclusive, narrow
    Example -
    Our club membership is inclusive and open to both men and women.
  • Emphasis (महत्त्व) - Noun
    Meaning -
    special importance, value, or prominence given to something
    Synonyms - attention, strength
    Antonyms - ignorance, lethargy
    Example -
    Our English teacher put emphasis on pronunciation.
  • Striving (प्रयास करता है) - Verb
    Meaning -
    make great efforts to achieve or obtain something
    Synonyms -
    conation, conatus
    Example -
     We must strive for the greatest authenticity possible.
  • Protracted (दीर्घ) - Adjective
    Meaning -
    lasting for a long time or longer than expected or usual
    Synonyms - 
    continued, extensive
    Example -
    Recovery was slow, but included a win in a protracted legal case.
  • Quashed (अभिखंडित करना) - Verb
    Meaning -
    reject as invalid, especially by legal procedure
    Synonyms -
    crush, quell
    Antonyms - surrender, permit
    Example -
    The CEO is trying to quash these unfounded rumors about a merger.
  • Paving (पक्की सड़क) - Noun
    Meaning -
    a surface made up of flat stones laid in a pattern
    Synonyms -
    flagstone, brick
    Antonyms - dig up, strip
    Example -
    Tom's sister paved the way for him to become a lawyer.
  • Emboldened (प्रोत्साहित करना) - Verb
    Meaning -
    give (someone) the courage or confidence to do something
    Synonyms -
    reassure, inspire
    Antonyms - depress, dissuade
    Example -
    The coach hoped his speech would embolden his team to win the playoff game.
 Now considering the article above as a Reading Comprehension question, try to answer the following - 
  • Will one term of reservation be sufficient for the women members to fight the next election by themselves?
  • Article "371A of the Constitution" talks about?
Given below are some words to check your vocabulary you can make sentences with those words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
  • Implementation 
  • Sensitisation 
  • Enforced 
  • Insurgent 
Take the Quiz below to find out how versed you are in your vocab.
http://chethanabankinstitute.blogspot.in/2017/02/quiz-on-daily-wordlist.html 


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