st December Parajumble – SE429€¦ · the Indian Navy’s inventory came from the Soviet Union. Though Soviet Admiral Sergey Gorshkov had reportedly suggested supplying nuclear

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9982019963 Gopal pura, Jaipur

21st DecemberCloze Test – The Hindu

It is the most banal of transactions, one thatplays out on city buses ________(1)______ thecountry every single day. A commuter boards abus, takes out some ______(2)_____, carefullycounts it ________(3)_______, and hands it over tothe conductor. The conductor, in turn, examineseach coin and hands over the change if any tothe passenger, again after a thorough______(4)______. It isn’t just on buses. This veryscene plays out in every transaction involvingsmall change, be it at a paan or cigarette shop, aroadside food vendor, a drug store or a bakery.The due diligence by both sides isunderstandable, given that Rs. 1 and Rs. 2coins, by far the most common, look similar.They’re both made of ferritic stainless steel andare pretty much the same size. True, some of thenew Rs. 1 coins are smaller, but then they areoften confused with the 50 paise coin, which still_______(5)_______ up now and then. In itself,each transaction is harmless. But when it isrepeated across the country millions of times,every single day, it translates into a needlesswaste of time, of productive manhours lost.

1. (a) over (b) above(c) across (d) through

2. (a) money (b) change(c) time (d) chance

3. (a) up (b) in(c) out (d) for

4. (a) check (b) search(c) delay (d) gap

5. (a) pops (b) shows(c) crops (d) turns

Parajumble – SE429A. The annual motorcycle show is globally

regarded as the Holy Grail for manufacturersto show off new products and upgrades,

B. but this year brought in something veryspecial for India from four very variedmanufacturers.

C. that don’t quite burn a hole in the pocket

D. and now, at EICMA 2017 in Milan, Italy, itseems like the next big revolution has justbeen shaped.

E. Over the years the Indian motorcyclingenthusiast has had a growing choice ofperformance-oriented motorcycles

Basic Fillers1. Johnny ________ very badly at Mary’s birthdayparty.A) conducted B) behaved C) showedD) operated E) looked

2. Mr. Jones has ________ painting since heretired.A) taken up B) taken off C) taken overD) taken in E) taken down

3. How many ________ does Peter learn atschool?A) topics B) themes C) ideasD) subjects E) objects

4. It wasn’t my ________ that the plate broke.A) blame B) mistake C) errorD) fault E) slip

5. Ask Joan if she would give me ________ withthe washing-up.A) a leg B) a hand C) a helpD) an assistance E) an aid

6. The Browns ________ anyone who hasn’tmuch money as they have.A) look up to B) look away fromC) look down on D) look out forE) look round at

7. Part of that electric plug is ________; youought to tighten it.A) safe B) loose C) freeD) disjoined E) unattached

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8. I’m reading a book about ________ ofShakespeare.A) the living B) the existence C) the wayD) the life E) the road

9. Sally ________ a little money every week forher holiday.A) puts in B) puts off C) puts byD) puts over E) puts upon

10. My brother has curly hair but mine is quite________.A) even B) regular C) unevenD) level E) straight

Grammar ExerciseGerund –infinitive – participle – causative1. I felt someone _____ me on the shoulder butwhen I turned round, there was no-one there.A) tapping B) to tapC) tapped D) tap

2. Look at that old man _____ to cross the road.A) trying B) triesC) to try D) tried

3. I can feel something _____ up my leg.A) crawling B) crawlC) to crawl D) crawls

4. I won’t waste time _____ to his letter.A) reply B) to replyC) replying D) to have replied

5. It’s high time we _____.A) go B) to goC) went D) going

Word of the Day…

Answers:Cloze Test – CBCAAParajumble – ECDABBasic Fillers - 1-B 2-A 3-D 4-D 5-B 6-C 7-B 8-D9-C 10-EGrammar Exercise Answer – 1.C 2.A 3.A 4.C 5.C





Russia matters to our submarine plans

In early November, a Russian news websiteclaimed that the Indian Navy allowed a UStechnical team to inspect the Russian Akula-Class nuclear submarine loaned to India in2012. Although the report turned out to be false,the issue raised eyebrows in strategic circles fortwo reasons. First, it brought into focus Indo-Russian cooperation in the domain of nuclearsubmarines.

India is the only country in the world to haveoperated a nuclear submarine on loan from anuclear-weapon state, and Russia is the onlysuch state to have leased one. The history oftheir cooperation on nuclear submarines has,however, been shrouded in secrecy. Second, ithighlighted potential strains in Indo-Russiandefence ties against the backdrop of New Delhi’sgrowing strategic closeness with Washington.

Even when Russia remains India’s largestdefence supplier, New Delhi has increasinglylooked toward the US for top-of-the-line defenceequipment including attack helicopters, artilleryguns, and advanced transport aircrafts. Moreworrying for Moscow is the recent emphasis ontechnical cooperation between the two sides injoint production of defence equipment. In thecurrent environment of distrust between the USand Russia since the Ukraine crisis, Moscow isincreasingly wary of US-India defencecooperation lest it compromise existing Russiandefence technology in Indian hands.

Old tiesMoscow first loaned India a nuclear submarinein January 1988 during the era of the SovietUnion, which was not only India’s strategicpartner during the Cold War but also its mostimportant source of military equipment,especially for the Indian Navy. Between 1964 —when Moscow first started supplying navalequipment to India — and 1987, 70 per cent ofthe Indian Navy’s inventory came from the SovietUnion. Though Soviet Admiral Sergey Gorshkovhad reportedly suggested supplying nuclearsubmarines to the Indian Navy in the late 1960s,the Soviets first agreed to lease a nuclearsubmarine to India during Marshall NikolaiOgarkov’s visit to New Delhi in March 1981.Both sides subsequently also reached anunderstanding on assistance to India’sindigenous nuclear submarine programme.

As Vice-Admiral Mihir Kumar Roy reminiscedlater, this was the beginning of Project-S (thecodename for India’s nuclear submarines).Moscow also agreed to train Indian navalpersonnel and help expand the Visakhapatnamnaval dockyard for nuclear submarineoperations.

In October 1986, the Soviet Politburo confirmedthe lease of a submarine. However, there werevoices of resistance. An internal memorandumcirculated by some politburo members inNovember 1986 pleaded with PresidentGorbachev to cancel the lease on grounds that itwould unleash a nuclear arms race in the IndianOcean, create a perception of Soviet compromisewith the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, andharm the prospects of creating a zone of peace inthe Indian Ocean. The memo also expressedfears that “in the process of the use of thenuclear submarine a succession of technicaldata about the boat’s systems, and also partiallyabout the external parameters of the benchmark(bazovoy) of the nuclear power plant for ournuclear submarines will fall into the Americanhands.”

Daily Vocab – Business line – 21st DecRussia matters to our submarine plans

Turn out – to be discovered to be, to prove to beपाया जानाTo raise eyebrows – to show that you disapproveor are surprised by sth अ वीकार करनाShrouded – a thing that covers आवरणWary – cautious सावधानी बरतनाIndigenous – to be manufactured in own countryवदेशी

Reminisce – to think about a happy time in pastअ छ पुरानी यादUnleash – release शु करनाHeed – to pay attention यान देनाAssuage – to pacify शांत रखनाErroneous – not correct, based on wronginformation गलतShrift – to give little attention यान न देनाAcquiesce – to agree without objection सहमत होनाPipedream – a hope of plan that is impossible toachieve याल पुलावEmanate – to produce or show sth उ प न होना





Gorbachev did not heed these voices and thetransfer was officially completed in December1987. However, a special service group (SSG) ofthe Soviet Navy accompanied the Soviet nuclearsubmarine K-43 — rechristened INS Chakra bythe Indian Navy — when it sailed forVisakhapatnam from Vladivostok in January1988.

The SSG’s mandate was not only to help withthe smooth operations of the boat but also toensure that no technical parameters were leakedduring the period of the lease. That theVisakhapatnam naval base was completely outof bounds to Western navies also helped assuageSoviet fears. In fact, during the Cold War, adivision existed between the Eastern and theWestern command of the Indian Navy, with theEastern Command primarily dealing withequipment supplied by Moscow.

Moreover, the Indian Navy maintained strictcontrols over access to the boat even for its ownsenior commanders.

Tilting towards the US?If Moscow feared its defence equipment beingcompromised in Indian hands during the ColdWar, current circumstances accentuate theseconcerns. From being an exclusive preserve ofthe Russian defence industry, the Indian Navy isincreasingly looking forward to Americanhardware.

For example, Russian Tu-142 maritimereconnaissance aircrafts have been replaced byBoeing’s P-8 I Poseidon aircrafts of the sametype, and India is seeking US technology for itsnew aircraft carriers. India conducts its mosthigh-profile naval exercises — the Malabar series— with the US Navy, with an emphasis on jointoperations. The sea change in India-US navalrelations is evident in the fact that in 2015, USdefence Secretary Ashton Carter visited theVisakhapatnam naval base, which wasconsidered a Soviet outpost for much of the ColdWar.

Yet, it would be erroneous to assume that Indiawill give short shrift to Russian concerns. On thecontrary, India acquiesced in a Russian navalgroup accompanying the Akula-class nuclearsubmarine loaned to India in 2012 and the samewill be true when India next borrows a boat,negotiations for which are currently underway.Indian naval strategists appreciate the strategicutility of Russian cooperation, even when these

boats are largely meant for training and comewith restrictions on their use for offensivepurposes.

But most importantly, Russia’s technologicalassistance to India’s indigenous nuclearsubmarine programme has been immense.India’s first nuclear submarine, the INS Arihant,would have been a pipedream without Moscow’sassistance, which remains critical for the nextgeneration of India’s nuclear submarines as well.

Given this history of cooperation and India’sneed for continued Russian assistance, it is hardto imagine that New Delhi would shoot itself inthe foot by revealing Russian secrets to itsAmerican counterparts. In fact, the reluctanceamong the Indian defence services (including theNavy) on signing the Communication andInformation Security Memorandum of Agreementwith the US partly emanates from suchconcerns.

Moreover, it is impossible for the Navy to do sowithout prior consultations with Moscow as thelatter’s naval personnel are always on-board itsleased nuclear submarines. Finally, even thoughsome Indian strategists now argue for UStechnical cooperation in naval nuclearpropulsion, New Delhi knows it will be difficultfor the US to overcome its reluctance to sharemilitary nuclear technology with India. For thesake of some future possibility of cooperationwith the US, India cannot afford to abandon itsmost important defence partner.

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1. It is the most banal of transactions, one thatplays out on city buses across the country everysingle day. A commuter boards a bus, takes outsome change, carefully counts it out, and hands itover to the conductor. The conductor, in turn,examines each coin and hands over the change ifany to the passenger, again after a thorough check.

It isn’t just on buses. This very scene plays out inevery transaction involving small change, be it at apaan or cigarette shop, a roadside food vendor, adrug store or a bakery. The due diligence by bothsides is understandable, given that 1 and 2coins, by far the most common, look similar.They’re both made of ferritic stainless steel and arepretty much the same size. True, some of the new

1 coins are smaller, but then they are oftenconfused with the 50 paise coin, which still popsup now and then.

In itself, each transaction is harmless. But when itis repeated across the country millions of times,every single day, it translates into a needless wasteof time, of productive manhours lost.

A case in point: the city buses in Bengaluru;conductors there are known to often makeunscheduled stops of crowded buses so they canmake their way to all the passengers collectingfares, diligently examining each coin they receiveand hand back. Never mind that the bus, jammedwith 60-70 people, is needlessly delayed in a citywhere traffic is gridlocked even on a good day.

For the affluent, all this may seem a minor irritant,unworthy of attention. But for the poor, every littlepaisa counts. It goes a good way in helping themmake ends meet, a rupee saved being a rupeeearned. They can ill afford to lose 2 thinking itwas a 1 coin.

Those were the daysA few decades ago, things were far easier, eventhough there were coins in many moredenominations. We had 1 paise, 2 paise, 3 paise, 5paise, 10 paise, 25 paise, 50 paise and 1 coins.And yet, it was impossible to mistake one for theother, as each had a unique shape and/or size.And mind you, one could actually purchase anitem or two even with 1 paise.

Even today, it is impossible to mistake the 5cupronickel coin for any other denomination, andlikewise the new 10 coin.

In sum, there is a case here for another round ofdemonetisation, in a manner of speaking. Thegovernment should seriously consider withdrawing

1 and 2 coins (or at least one of them) andissuing new ones with distinct features. All that itwill take is a half-decent imagination to designcoins with unique shapes and sizes. And voila,everyone will be able to quickly dispense andaccept change. And keep those buses running.

But the Central government, quite literally, is theonly institution that can make this happen. Whilecoins can be issued for circulation only by theReserve Bank, the right to mint them lies solelywith the Government of India, under the CoinageAct, 1906, with all its amendments. The designingof coins in various denominations is also theresponsibility of the Government of India. And itwould do well to seize this low-hanging fruit andearn praises for taking a bold, decisive step.

It won’t wipe out black money, and it mostcertainly will not advance the digital-transactionagenda. But it will make it easier for millions ofIndians to do business.

2. To say that there is panic among retirees,pensioners and those dependant on interestearned from fixed deposits would be anunderstatement. Call it an occupational hazard ofworking in a business newspaper, but in the southDelhi colony where I live I am constantlyconfronted by the elderly who ask me if theirmoney is safe in the bank. Would they lose theirdeposits if their bank go commercially unviableand a “bail in” is ordered by the government?

Depositors’ fears have suddenly been fuelled by aproposed legislation — the controversial draftFinancial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI)Bill 2017 — which has a provision for such a “bailin.” Of course, the Prime Minister’s recentassurance that deposits in banks would be safehas assuaged some concerns. But there are manywho wonder why Clause 52 in the Bill (whichprovides for seizing depositors’ and shareholders’money) has not been struck down if the PM isindeed serious about protectingdepositors’interests.

That there has been no clarity forthcoming on whathas become a dal and roti issue is foreboding.Bank officials, on their part, have been ambiguous.They say money is safe for now but they cannotdiscount the possibility of such a bail in happeningin the future. To make matters worse, pushymutual fund salespersons have been declaringbanks as risk prone and hence no longer a safezone for investments.

The only hope, depositors feel, rests with the JointParliamentary Committee which is studying the





Bill. But unfortunately, there is no guarantee thatits recommendations will be taken seriously by theGovernment. The Government needs to spell outwhere it stands on the FRDI Bill and also the risksthe citizenry runs by depositing their savings inbanks—both private and government-run. LikeAadhaar the matter cannot be left to speculationand cloaked in ambiguity.

3. Like allies, the sea and the sky wore the sameshade of livid blue the evening Arogyadas hoppedonto a kerosene-operated plywood boat. Even in thecompany of 13 men, he felt alone as his son, a regularat the sea, was back at home recovering from a viralfever. His wife recalls the pleasant breeze that nightand the weather, an assuring calm. While she driftedinto a deep, dreamless sleep, her husband sailed into anightmare, battling the winds that toppled his littleboat and scattered the rest of the crew. The calm haddeceived 90 fishermen, in 29 boats, to leave the safeshores of Poonthura, a fishing hamlet inThiruvananthapuram, on the fateful night ofNovember 29. Elsewhere that night, KM Abraham,Chief Secretary of Kerala, was tricked by a jargon thatarrived as repeated warnings from the IndiaMeteorological Department. A ‘deep depression’ wasthus ignored.

Panic, like the morning, arrived slowly. Beginningwith Arogyadas’s breakfast going cold and then, as thedrizzle acquired a fierce temper, uprooting trees, thewind raging against roofs and, finally, setting in whenthe news reports christened the tragedy. Ockhi. Bornon November 20. Birthplace, the Gulf of Thailand. Inhordes, like ants marching away from a trampled hill,the villagers gathered on the shores by the afternoon.Dusk saw the coastguards, the navy, and the air force,along with the efficiency of a Boeing P8i and severalAdvanced Lightweight Helicopters, scan 250 nauticalmiles into the storm-struck sea. The men who’dsurvived the waves had swum away from the currentsor held onto fragments of their boats, but only a luckyfew were sieved out of the sea. For three days,surviving on a single meal, 57-year-old Arogyadasclung on to a log — which was all that was left of hisboat — and hope.

“Neither the navy nor the air force, it was the churchthat found my father four days later,” says Suresh, the

eldest of Arogyadas’s three children. He stands underthe tarpaulin of a temporary pavilion erected for hisfather’s funeral. Behind him, inside his house, awoman reads out loud from the Bible.

“The doctor said my father was alive until an hourbefore they found him. He wasn’t mauled by the fish,his skin wasn’t swollen, his body was fresh.” Fresh is aword that comes easily to a fisherman.

Ever since the tsunami warning and timely evacuationin 2004 the community had unwavering faith in thegovernment and the Met department’s predictions.Now, however, Suresh no longer wants to takechances. “I am the only breadwinner in my familynow.” He pauses to help a neighbour, a 48-year-oldmother of three who is being escorted by her teenagedaughter to a nearby school that’s functioning as acamp, after she complains of chest pain. Her husband,Denise, was among the 13 who accompaniedArogyadas to the sea that night to never return.

“Why brave the sea and leave behind widows andorphans so that others can enjoy a good meal? To feedmy wife and kids I will try another occupation. I’drather sell betelnuts, learn to climb a coconut tree orbecome a mason,” Suresh tells me.

A few houses away, some women fan Amala Pushpa,another Ockhi widow. Earlier in the day she hadlashed out at an official. Tears require energy, and shewas already worn out, and alone. “We have received

10,000 from Matsya Fed and 10,000 from abureaucrat as aid. Can they make up for their failureto give us a timely warning even if they pay us inlakhs?” Her husband, Lazar, was found by thecoastguards four days after he ventured into the sea.Seven unidentified, unclaimed bodies had been hastilycremated at the city’s Government Medical College tomake space for the dead that the sea had returned thatday, including Lazar.


Documents

st December Parajumble – SE429€¦ · the Indian Navy’s inventory came from the Soviet Union. Though Soviet Admiral Sergey Gorshkov had reportedly suggested supplying nuclear