Topic Of The Day:-“Change In Mizoram”
The MNF Faces The Task Of Upgrading Infrastructure And Diversifying The Economy
In the din over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s losses to the Congress in three States in the Hindi heartland, the dismal defeat of the ruling Congress party to the Mizo National Front in Mizoram has gone insufficiently noticed. With this, the Congress has lost its last remaining State in the Northeast, a region in which it was traditionally dominant. The BJP managed to mark its first and only victory in the State by winning the Chakma refugee-dominated Tuichawng seat in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district. But the BJP will consider the MNF’s victory as a significantaccretion to its set of fellow-travellers and alliance partners in the Northeast. The MNF is part of the North-East Democratic Alliance, an anti-Congress front formed by the BJP that includes all the other ruling parties in the region. While the MNF has come to power on its own, without analliance with the BJP, its membership in the NEDA means it is an ally of the BJP for all practical purposes. Despite an improvement in social indices in the State over its decade-long tenure, the Congress was always expected to face an uphill task to retain power because of growing anti-incumbency sentiment following allegations of corruption in recent years. The MNF’s victory was also aided by its strong positions on total prohibition, a promise that carried a lot of weight with conservative and influential Christian civil society groups in the State, which hadimplicitly lent support to the party.
The presence of the Zoram People’s Movement, a collective of seven parties formed just a few weeks before the Assembly elections, hit the Congress’s chances even more. The candidates of the ZPM contested as independents but garnered close to 23% of the vote, damaging the Congress in particular. The Congress’s vote share dipped to 30.2%, a 14 percentage point swing from its 44.6% share in 2013. The Congress’s total tally of five seats is its lowest-ever in the 40-member Mizoram Assembly. The MNF faces the task of diversifying the economy, given thedisproportionately large section of the population dependent on agriculture and horticulture. The New Land Use Policy launched by the Congress did bring a significant pause to jhum cultivation (the practice of slash and burn), but fell short of encouraging sustainable agricultural practices as the scheme effectively provided patronage for commercial crop-growing by select beneficiaries. Mizoram has the potential to be a gateway in the Act East and BIMSTEC connectivity schemes to extend trade routes from the Northeast to Myanmar and onwards. But it requires better road connectivity and infrastructure. This should be an important priority for the new MNF government.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) dismal
Meaning : causing a mood of gloom or depression.
Synonyms : depressing
Antonyms : cheerful
Example : “the dismal weather made the late afternoon seem like evening”
2) dominant
Meaning : having power and influence over others.
Synonyms : assertive
Antonyms : auxiliary
Example : “they are now in an even more dominant position in the market”
3) accrete
Meaning : grow by accumulation or coalescence.(v)
Synonyms : grow
Antonyms : abate
Example : “ice that had accreted grotesquely into stalactites”
4) alliance
Meaning : a union or association formed for mutual benefit, especially between countries or organizations(n).
Synonyms : affiliation
Antonyms : discord
Example : “a defensive alliance between Australia and New Zealand”
5) Despite
Meaning : contemptuous treatment or behaviour; outrage(n).
Synonyms : against
Antonyms : exalt
Example : “the despite done by him to the holy relics”
6) retain
Meaning : continue to have (something); keep possession of.(v)
Synonyms : absorb
Antonyms : abandon
Example : “Labour retained the seat”
7) tenure
Meaning : give (someone) a permanent post, especially as a teacher or lecturer(v).
Synonyms : occupation
Antonyms : misconception
Example : “I had recently been tenured and then promoted to full professor”
8) implicitly
Meaning : in a way that is not directly expressed; tacitly.(adv)
Synonyms : regime
Antonyms : release
Example : “she implicitly suggested that he was responsible for the error”
9) lent
Meaning : contribute or add (a quality) to.
Synonyms : borrowed
Example : “the smile lent his face a boyish charm”
10) contested
Meaning : engage in competition to attain (a position of power)(v).
Synonyms : disputed
Antonyms : opted
Example : “she declared her intention to contest the presidency”
11) garnered
Meaning : gather or collect (something, especially information or approval).
Synonyms : reap
Antonyms : spend
Example : “the police struggled to garner sufficient evidence”
12) swing
Meaning : move by grasping a support from below and leaping.
Synonyms : stroke
Antonyms : stillness
Example : “we swung across like two trapeze artists”
13) influential
Meaning : having great influence on someone or something(adj).
Synonyms : dominant
Antonyms : inferior
Example : “her work is influential in feminist psychology”
14) conservative
Meaning : averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values.
Synonyms : timid
Antonyms : inconstant
Example : “they were very conservative in their outlook”
15) dipped
Meaning : put a hand or implement into (a bag or container) in order to take something out.
Synonyms : dive
Antonyms : ascent
Example : “Ian dipped into his briefcase and pulled out a photograph”
16) prohibition
Meaning : the action of forbidding something, especially by law.
Synonyms : constraint
Antonyms : allowance
Example : “they argue that prohibition of drugs will always fail”
17) diversifying
Meaning : make or become more diverse or varied(v).
Synonyms : transform
Antonyms : continue
Example : “the trilobites diversified into a great number of species”
18) incumbency
Meaning : the holding of an office or the period during which one is held.(n)
Synonyms : clamp
Antonyms : misconception
Example : “during his incumbency he established an epidemic warning system”
19) widely
Meaning : far apart; with a wide space or interval between.(adv)
Synonyms : extensively
Antonyms : narrowly
Example :”a tall man with widely spaced eyes”
20) adequately
Meaning : to a satisfactory or acceptable extent.(adv)
Synonyms : appropriately
Antonyms : inadequately
Example : “the resources required to prepare adequately will be extensive”
21) assigned
Meaning : designate or set (something) aside for a specific purpose.
Synonyms : accredit
Antonyms : deny
Example : “managers happily assign large sums of money to travel budgets”
22) designate
Meaning : appoint (someone) to a specified office or post(v).
Synonyms : nominate
Example : “he was designated as prime minister”
23) determined
Meaning : having made a firm decision and being resolved not to change it.(adj)
Synonyms : decisive
Antonyms : unfixed
Example : “Alina was determined to be heard”
24) diversifying
Meaning : make or become more diverse or varied.
Synonyms : expand
Antonyms : continue
Example : “the trilobites diversified into a great number of species”
25) disproportionate
Meaning : too large or too small in comparison with something else(adj).
Synonyms : excessive
Antonyms : moderate
Example : “people on lower incomes spend a disproportionate amount of their income on fuel”
26) significant
Meaning : sufficiently great or important to be worthy of attention; noteworthy.(adj)
Synonyms : important
Antonyms : insignificant
Example : “a significant increase in sales”
27) sustainable
Meaning : able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.(adj)
Synonyms : continual
Antonyms : untenable
Example : “sustainable economic growth”
28) patronage
Meaning : the support given by a patron(n).
Synonyms : auspices
Antonyms : blockage
Example : “the arts could no longer depend on private patronage”
