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Welcome to Online English Section with explanation in AffairsCloud.com. Here we are providing some difficult words from editorials , which is important and very helpful for IBPS PO/CLERK/LIC AAO/RRB & SSC CGL EXAM and other !!!
TH : Crunch time at WTO: On farm subsidies
Ass leaders at the World Trade Organisation’s 11th biennial Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires seek to define the future contours of multilateral global trade, the challenges the U.S. has mounted on the institution are impossible to ignore. Notable among the proposals trade ministers will consider are those relating to new rules on farm subsidies, the elimination of support for unsustainable fisheries, and the regulation of e-commerce. With the backing of more than 100 countries, a joint proposal from India and China to eliminate the most trade-distorting farm subsidies worth $160 billion in several industrialised economies is arguably the most contentious agenda item at the Ministerial. The two countries see this as a prerequisite to address the prevailing imbalance in the Agreement on Agriculture, which unfairly benefits developed countries. But host Argentina has cautioned that the joint proposal could potentially unravel negotiations. Lending credence to such scepticism is the lukewarm stance the U.S. has adopted towards the WTO over the past year, suggesting that the Ministerial meet should serve as a forum for reflection rather than to shape substantive agreements. The other major dispute centres on finding a so-called permanent solution to the large subsidies that underpin public stock-holding programmes to bolster food security in the developing world. The G-33 coalition — which includes Indonesia, China and India — seeks a complete exemption from commitments to reduce subsidies, such as minimum support prices, from this poverty-alleviation programme. New Delhi has declined to negotiate any more trade-offs on this proposal at Buenos Aires, or accept calls for stringent transparency requirements to monitor these schemes. The EU and Brazil have expressed broad support for the G-33 coalition’s position on public stock-holding programmes. But in return they seek agreement on their own proposal to reduce trade-distorting subsidies on a percentage basis, in both advanced and developing economies.
- Contours – आकृति
Meaning – an outline representing or bounding the shape or form of something.
Synonyms – curve, delineation, figuration, figure, form, lineament, lines, relief, shape, silhouette.
Antonyms – be inside, center.
Usage – she traced the contours of his face with her finger.
2. Contentious – विवादास्पद
Meaning – causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial.
Synonyms – argumentative.
Antonyms – calm, easy-going, laid-back.
Usage – the contentious issue of abortion.
3. Prerequisite – शर्त
Meaning – a thing that is required as a prior condition for something else to happen or exist.
Synonyms – necessary condition, precondition, condition, essential, requirement, requisite, necessity, proviso, qualification, imperative, basic, rudiment, obligation, duty; sine qua non; informalmust.
Antonyms – optional, unnecessary, voluntary.
Usage – training is a prerequisite for competence.
4. Prevailing – प्रचलित
Meaning – existing at a particular time; current.
Usage – the unfavourable prevailing economic conditions.
5. Negotiations – वार्ता
Meaning – discussion aimed at reaching an agreement.
Synonyms – conference, consultation, debate, dialogue, discussions, negotiations, parley.
Antonyms – bad manners, impoliteness, rudeness.
Usage – a worldwide ban is currently under negotiation.
6. Credence – प्रत्यय
Meaning – belief in or acceptance of something as true.
Synonyms – accepting, admission, admitting, assurance, belief, certainty, confidence, credit, dependence, faith, reliance, stock, store.
Antonyms – distrust, faithlessness.
Usage – psychoanalysis finds little credence among laymen.
7. Scepticism – संदेहवाद
Meaning – a sceptical attitude; doubt as to the truth of something.
Synonyms – doubt, doubtfulness, dubiousness, a pinch of salt, lack of conviction; disbelief, cynicism, distrust, mistrust, suspicion, misbelief, incredulity; pessimism, defeatism; raredubiety, Pyrrhonism, scepsis, minimifidianism.
Antonyms – distrust, faithlessness.
Usage – members of the organization greeted his ideas with scepticism.
8. Lukewarm – गुनगुना
Meaning – (of liquid or food that should be hot) only moderately warm; tepid.
Synonyms – apathetic, half-hearted, indifferent, lackadaisical, moderate, unenthusiastic.
Antonyms – chilly, cool, cooled.
Usage – they drank bitter lukewarm coffee.
9. Bolster – सिलेंडर
Meaning – a long, thick pillow that is placed under other pillows for support.
Synonyms – aid, assist, bear up, boost, brace, buck up, bulwark, buoy, buttress, carry, cushion, help, hold up, maintain, pick up, pillow, prop, reinforce, shore up, stay, strengthen, support, sustain, uphold.
Antonyms – hinder, not support, obstruct, prevent, undermine.
Usage – most of them were sitting on the floor which was strewn with cushions, bolsters, and rugs.
10. Stringent – कड़ी से कड़ी
Meaning – (of regulations, requirements, or conditions) strict, precise, and exacting.
Synonyms – acrimonious, binding, brick-wall, by the book, by the numbers, compelling, confining, convincing, dead set on, demanding, draconian, drawing, dyed-in-the-wool, exacting, forceful, hard, hard-nosed, harsh, inflexible, iron-fisted, ironclad, picky, poignant, powerful, rigorous, rough, set, severe, stiff, strict, tough, unpermissive, valid.
Antonyms – flexible, inexact, tolerant.
Usage – stringent guidelines on air pollution.
