The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– March 5, 2021

Vocabulary is something that cannot be ignored while you are preparing for any major banking, government or insurance exam. An aspirant preparing for any such competitive examination should have a sound vocabulary as it will help them build a sound base for the English language section. We regularly post Hindu vocabulary articles and we pick and choose difficult words and provide their contextual meanings. Here we are with our today’s Hindu editorial article. Give it a read below and learn a set of new difficult words along with their meanings.

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Difficult Words & their Meanings

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Clearing a low bar: On spectrum sale

The government must take a relook at spectrum auction formats, unrealistic pricing, and regulatory norms

India’s latest auction of telecommunications spectrum is a qualified success from the Centre’s perspective, mainly because the winning bids cumulatively (in a way that increases by one addition after another) exceeded the government’s own low expectations for receipts from the sale of airwaves. A total of 855.6 megahertz was successfully bid for — out of the 2,308.8 MHz that was on offer — as the three largest telecom services providers sought to optimise (to make something as good or effective as possible) their purchases of radio spectrum by seeking to acquire only what they deemed (to consider or judge) essential airwaves, either as renewal or for strengthening their network, while entirely avoiding costlier bandwidth offerings. The newest entrant (a new member’s entry) to the industry, Reliance Jio, was also the most acquisitive, as the Reliance Industries unit accounted for close to 60% of the spectrum bought at 488.35 MHz and contributed almost three-fourths of the ₹77,815 crore that the Department of Telecommunications garnered from the sale. That Jio’s ₹57,123 crore by itself surpassed the government’s estimate of ₹45,000-₹50,000 crore for takings from the auction where the reserve price for the entire spectrum on offer across seven bands amounted to about ₹3.92-lakh crore, tells its own tale. Clearly cognisant (fully aware or informed) of the prevailing overall economic circumstances amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the high level of indebtedness (the condition of owing money, or the amount of money owed) in the industry, the government appears to have tempered its expectations to a more realistic level. Still, the Centre can hardly be sanguine (positive & hopeful) about an outcome where a mere 37% of the airwaves on offer found takers.

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In a repeat of the 2016 auction’s outcome, the significantly more efficient 700 MHz was yet again shunned by all bidders given its prohibitive (too expensive to pay) reserve price. It is a little hard to fathom (understand/discover the meaning of something) the government’s approach to pricing this nationally valuable resource, especially given its avowed intention of accelerating the digitisation of the economy including the broadening and deepening of the digital delivery of the multitude of public services to India’s farthest reaches. The relatively low frequency 700 MHz, for instance, is considered as ideal for enhancing network availability and reach in the highly urbanised settings of large, densely built-up cities where the issue of poor signal penetration inside buildings is a perpetual bugbear for users and providers alike. For all the brave talk on the auction’s outcome providing assurance, the nation’s telecom authorities need to take a hard look at the entire policy framework that has contributed a fair share to the current precarity (dangerous state) in the industry. From auction formats that may no longer be relevant given the sharply reduced number of players, to grossly unrealistic pricing of spectrum, and regulatory norms and tax practices that threaten to tip the sector into an unhealthy and fractious duopoly (two suppliers dominating the market), the government has its task cut out. It must now act quickly to ensure it does not end up hurting the very sector that has become a key multiplier of economic empowerment and progress.

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This is all from us related to today’s Hindu editorial difficult words and their meanings. Check The Hindu Editorial Vocabulary– March 4, 2021 here.