The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary 18th December 2024

The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary 18th December 2024 is an effective tool for regularly learning new words and their contextual meanings. Candidates can utilize this free resource daily to improve their vocabulary knowledge, especially those preparing for government exams like the IBPS PO, SBI Clerk, SSC, and Others.

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Trade shocker: On November’s trade estimates

November’s low tally scuppers (stops or obstructs) expectations of a recovery in goods exports

This October’s foreign trade numbers had offered a sliver of hope for India’s generally weak export story over the past couple of years, as goods exports grew at a 28-month high pace of 17.2%. Any prospects of a sustained turnaround with better global demand for this Christmas season, have, however, come undone with November’s trade estimates released on Monday. In a double whammy of sorts, not only did the value of outbound shipments sink (fall or drop suddenly) to the lowest in a little over two years at just $32.1 billion but the import bill also hit a record high of $70 billion, rising 27% year-on-year which is the fastest uptick (increase or rise) in more than two years as well. Relative to October, goods exports were 18.1% lower. Three of the last four months have now clocked record-breaking import bills, with $64.3 billion in August and $66.3 billion in October. As in August, November’s import bill spike was led by gold imports that jumped 331.5% from last November to a whopping $14.9 billion. Overall gold imports are now up 49% this year, and while higher prices and seasonal spikes for the festive and wedding season explain some of the uptick (increase or rise), this warrants some examination (careful study or investigation), especially as exports of gems and jewellery are sputtering (failing or struggling), including in the employment-intensive businesses such as diamond polishing and gold ornaments. Gems and jewellery exports are down 10.2% between April and November, while imports have widened over 30%, with November seeing a record high deficit of $14.4 billion in the segment.

The overall gap in merchandise trade also expanded to a fresh high of $37.8 billion in November, perhaps the first time that the deficit is higher than the export tally. Apart from precious metals, petroleum also played a key part in this widening, with exports halving (decreasing by half) to $3.7 billion while imports rose 7.9% to $16.1 billion. Officials have sought to downplay ((reduce the importance or seriousness of) concerns by linking the export slump to lower oil prices, but the same should also hold true for imports. It may well be that the discount gains on Russian oil India had capitalized (took advantage of) on to ramp up its exports, are fading, and domestic demand is stronger than before, but economists are a tad puzzled (slightly confused) at this phenomenon of recent months. The Commerce Ministry top brass has often argued that rising import bills are not a worry because India is growing faster than the world, much of the imports are directly correlated to, or are inputs for exported goods, and non-oil exports that are rising should remain the focus. But oil and jewellery remain among India’s top tradables, and policymakers must glean (extract or gather) a better sense of the dynamics behind this tumult (confusion or disorder), even if they are unfazed by the expanding trade deficit.

Hindu Vocab Wordlist 18th December 2024

Upskill yourself and enhance your vocabulary knowledge. Candidates should begin learning new words daily with Hindu Editorial Vocabulary on 18th December 2024.

1. Scuppers: To spoil or ruin something.
2. Sink: To go down below the surface of water, or to fall or drop to a lower level.
3. Uptick: A small increase in something.
4. Examination: The act of looking at or considering something carefully in order to discover something.
5. Sputtering: To make a series of short, weak sounds, often because something is failing.
6. Halving: To reduce something by half.
7. Downplay: To make something seem less important or less serious than it is.
8. Capitalised: To take advantage of a situation.
9. Puzzled: Feeling confused because you do not understand something.
10. Glean: To collect information in small amounts and often with difficulty.

Hindu Vocab Master 18th December 2024 with Synonyms & Antonyms

Here are the synonyms and antonyms of all the difficult words in Hindu Vocab Master Hindi equivalents for all the words for 18th December 2024:

Word	Synonyms	Antonyms
Scuppers	Ruins, sabotages, obstructs, defeats	Aids, assists, helps, supports
Sink	Submerge, drop, decline, descend	Rise, float, ascend, increase
Uptick	Increase, rise, boost, surge	Decline, decrease, drop, fall
Examination	Inspection, analysis, assessment, review	Disregard, neglect, overlook, dismissal
Sputtering	Spluttering, stuttering, faltering, hesitating	Steady, smooth, consistent, fluent
Halving	Dividing, splitting, reducing, cutting	Doubling, increasing, enlarging, expanding
Downplay	Minimize, belittle, underrate, trivialize	Amplify, exaggerate, emphasize, highlight
Capitalised	Utilized, exploited, harnessed, leveraged	Wasted, ignored, overlooked, squandered
Puzzled	Confused, bewildered, perplexed, mystified	Clear, certain, understanding, confident
Glean	Collect, gather, extract, harvest	Scatter, disperse, lose, relinquish