Hindi English Translation || Editorial || ​Surprise acceleration: On price gains

​Surprise acceleration: On price gains

Erratic (अनियमित) rains make the goal of curbing (निंयत्रण रखना, रोकना) inflation more challenging

Retail price gains (मूल्य वृद्धि) registered a surprise acceleration (गति, त्वरण) last month with June’s provisional (अस्थायी, अंतरिम) Consumer Price Index (CPI) (उपभोक्ता मूल्य सूचकांक) reading showing inflation (मुद्रास्फीति) snapping a five-month downtrend (गिरावट, मंदी) and quickening (तेज करना, गति बढ़ाना) to 5.08%, 28 basis points (बुनियादी निर्देश) faster than the 4.80% logged in May. Food prices were, as expected, the main culprit (दोषी, अपराधी). Year-on-year (वर्ष-दर-वर्ष) food price inflation based on the Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) (a measure of change in retail prices of food products consumed by a defined population group in a given area with reference to a base year) quickened by 67 basis points in June to a worrying 9.36%. Even more disconcertingly (व्याकुलता से, चिंताजनक रूप से), the CFPI logged the fastest sequential (happened in sequence/order/succession) acceleration in 11 months, as food prices rose by 3.17% from May’s levels and dragged (खींचना) the broader CPI too higher by 1.33% from the preceding (previous, prior, earlier) month. It is precisely this kind of unpredictability (uncertainty, unreliability, instability, fickleness, changeability, volatility, undependability, riskiness/precariousness) in food price gains that monetary policymakers have been concerned about in opting to leave interest rates unchanged. RBI Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra had been emphatic (certain, clear, decided, firm, determined, assertive, insistent, outright, one hundred per cent, categorical, unequivocal, unambiguous) in observing at the Monetary Policy (monetary policy refers to the use of monetary instruments under the control of the central bank to regulate magnitudes such as interest rates, money supply, and availability of credit with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy mentioned in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934) Committee’s meeting last month that “the Indian economy remains hostage to intersecting (overlapping, underlying, convergent) food price shocks (price shocks are times when the prices for something have drastically increased or decreased over a short span of time). Their repetitive (recurrent, recurring, unchanging, unvarying; monotonous, tedious, boring, uninteresting, mundane) occurrence calls for intensifying monetary policy vigil (vigilance, surveillance, close watch, monitoring) to ward off (prevent, block, stop, resist, oppose, repel, drive back, beat back, chase away, turn away, beat off, fend off, stave off) spillovers (consequence, outcome, repercussion (an unexpected one)) to other components of inflation and to expectations”. Food price data show that the CFPI’s nine sub-categories posted month-on-month (used to compare data for one month with that in previous months) gains, with eight of them, except the sugar and condiments (ingredients (added to the preparation of the food)) group, registering sequential accelerations. Vegetables continued to experience the most intense price gains, rising 29.3% year-on-year and by a worrying 11-month-high sequential pace (rate, speed) of 14.2%. The most widely consumed potato, onion and tomato continued to log some of the fastest gains, with their prices rising year-on-year by 57.6%, 58.5% and 26.4%, respectively.

Nor does the outlook (chances, possibilities, expectations, prospects, future) for food prices offer much comfort. Data on the Department of Consumer Affairs (Department of Consumer Affairs is one of the two Departments under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. It was constituted as a separate Department in June 1997 as it was considered necessary to have a separate Department to give a fillip to the nascent consumer movement in the country) Price Monitoring Division’s website shows that the all-India average retail price of potato and onion continued to remain on a tear (rise quickly; very active) as on July 15, being almost 56% and 67% higher, respectively, than a year earlier. And tomato prices, though almost 43% softer than 12 months ago, were 76% higher than in mid-June, likely signalling a shift in its price momentum (the increase in the rate of growth of something; strength, impetus). Prices of cereals (a grain or plants that produce it (for example-wheat, maize, rice & etc.)), the largest constituent of the food basket (a group of something), too offered little respite (stoppage, cessation, discontinuation; break, pause, rest, interval) with the average retail price of rice and wheat running almost 10% and 6% higher than a year earlier, respectively. Also, IMD data as on July 14 reveal that countrywide precipitation (rain, rainfall) since June 1 was still not only at a 2% deficit (shortfall, shortage, inadequacy, deficiency, slippage), but also spatially (used (in a way) to describe things relating to areas) skewed (uneven, distorted, unbalanced, one-sided, unequal). Eleven of India’s 36 meteorological sub-divisions were still classified ‘deficient (inadequate, insufficient, short, scarce, scant, meagre)’, meaning these regions had received 20%-59% lower rainfall than the long-period average. With some key food growing areas including Punjab seeing deficient rains, policymakers face an unenviable (difficult, painful, disagreeable, undesirable, unpleasant) task in trying to slow the pace of inflation.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.acceleration (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गति, त्वरण
English Meaning - increase, surge.

2.price gain (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मूल्य वृद्धि
English Meaning - a general increase in the price of something.

3.erratic (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अनियमित
English Meaning - unpredictable, inconsistent, inconstant, changeable, variable, irregular, uncertain, turbulent, unsteady.

4.curb (verb)

Hindi Meaning - निंयत्रण रखना, रोकना
English Meaning - control, contain, restrict, limit.

5.inflation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मुद्रास्फीति
English Meaning - simply meaning “cost of living”; increase of price level of goods & services and vice versa decrease of currency value.

6.provisional (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - अस्थायी, अंतरिम
English Meaning - temporary, short-term, interim, transitional.

7.Consumer Price Index (CPI) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उपभोक्ता मूल्य सूचकांक
English Meaning - The CPI looks at the basket of consumer goods and services and it measures the change in price of this basket over a period of time. To put it simply, the CPI monitors retail prices at a certain level for a particular commodity.

8.Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - थोक मूल्य सूचकांक
English Meaning - The WPI looks at a basket of wholesale goods (goods purchased in large quantities by businesses directly from manufacturers with the intent of reselling them to retailers). the WPI tracks prices at the factory gate before the retail level.

9.downtrend (noun)

Hindi Meaning - गिरावट, मंदी
English Meaning - decline, downturn, slump.

10.quicken (verb)

Hindi Meaning - तेज करना, गति बढ़ाना
English Meaning - increase, speed up, accelerate, expedite, step up, advance.

11.basis point (BPS) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - बुनियादी निर्देश
English Meaning - a unit of measure used in finance to describe the percentage change in the value or rate of a financial instrument. One basis point is equivalent to 0.01% (1/100th of a percent). Used for measuring change in interest rate/yield.

12.culprit (noun)

Hindi Meaning - दोषी, अपराधी
English Meaning - a thing responsible for causing a problem.

13.year-on-year (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - वर्ष-दर-वर्ष
English Meaning - year over year (for comparison).

14.disconcertingly (adverb)

Hindi Meaning - व्याकुलता से, चिंताजनक रूप से
English Meaning - unsettlingly, disturbingly, worryingly.

15.drag (verb)

Hindi Meaning - खींचना
English Meaning - pull forcefully.

16.reading (noun)

English Meaning - figure, indication, record, measurement.

17.snap (verb)

English Meaning - lose one’s self-control, get overwrought, crack, freak out.

18.log (verb)

English Meaning - achieve, attain; register, record.

19.Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) (noun)

English Meaning - a measure of change in retail prices of food products consumed by a defined population group in a given area with reference to a base year.

20.index (noun)

English Meaning - an (economic) data figure reflecting something (e.g. price/quantity) compared with a standard or base value; pointer, indicator.

21.sequential (adjective)

English Meaning - happened in sequence/order/succession.

22.broader superlative adjective of broad (adjective)

English Meaning - comprehensive, extensive, wide, wide-ranging, broad-ranging.

23.preceding (adjective)

English Meaning - previous, prior, earlier.

24.unpredictability (noun)

English Meaning - uncertainty, unreliability, instability, fickleness, changeability, volatility, undependability, riskiness/precariousness.

25.monetary policy (noun)

English Meaning - monetary policy refers to the use of monetary instruments under the control of the central bank to regulate magnitudes such as interest rates, money supply, and availability of credit with a view to achieving the ultimate objective of economic policy mentioned in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

26.opt (verb)

English Meaning - decide on, choose, select.

27.emphatic (adjective)

English Meaning - certain, clear, decided, firm, determined, assertive, insistent, outright, one hundred per cent, categorical, unequivocal, unambiguous.

28.observe (verb)

English Meaning - say, mention, comment, remark.

29.The monetary policy committee (MPC) (noun)

English Meaning - it is a six-member panel that is expected to bring “value and transparency” to rate-setting decisions. It will feature three members from the RBI — the Governor, a Deputy Governor and another official — and three independent members to be selected by the Government. The MPC will meet four times a year to decide on monetary policy by a majority vote.

30.be hostage to something (phrase)

English Meaning - to be influenced and controlled by something.

31.intersecting (adjective)

English Meaning - overlapping, underlying, convergent.

32.price shocks (noun)

English Meaning - price shocks are times when the prices for something have drastically increased or decreased over a short span of time.

33.repetitive (adjective)

English Meaning - recurrent, recurring, unchanging, unvarying; monotonous, tedious, boring, uninteresting, mundane.

34.call for (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - require, publicly ask/necessitate, demand.

35.vigil (noun)

English Meaning - vigilance, surveillance, close watch, monitoring.

36.ward off (phrasal verb)

English Meaning - prevent, block, stop, resist, oppose, repel, drive back, beat back, chase away, turn away, beat off, fend off, stave off.

37.spillover (noun)

English Meaning - consequence, outcome, repercussion (an unexpected one).

38.month-on-month (adjective)

English Meaning - used to compare data for one month with that in previous months.

39.condiment (noun)

English Meaning - ingredients (added to the preparation of the food).

40.pace (noun)

English Meaning - rate, speed.

41.outlook (noun)

English Meaning - chances, possibilities, expectations, prospects, future.

42.Department of Consumer Affairs (noun)

English Meaning - Department of Consumer Affairs is one of the two Departments under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. It was constituted as a separate Department in June 1997 as it was considered necessary to have a separate Department to give a fillip to the nascent consumer movement in the country.

43.on a tear (phrase)

English Meaning - rise quickly; very active.

44.momentum (noun)

English Meaning - the increase in the rate of growth of something; strength, impetus.

45.cereal (noun)

English Meaning - a grain or plants that produce it (for example-wheat, maize, rice & etc.).

46.basket (noun)

English Meaning - a group of something.

47.food basket (noun)

English Meaning - a group of components/constituents/items related to food.

48.respite (noun)

English Meaning - stoppage, cessation, discontinuation; break, pause, rest, interval.

49.India Meteorological Department (IMD) (noun)

English Meaning - an agency under the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India which is responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology. It has the responsibility for forecasting, naming and distributing warnings for tropical cyclones in the Northern Indian Ocean region, including the Malacca Straits, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf.

50.precipitation (noun)

English Meaning - rain, rainfall.

51.deficit (noun)

English Meaning - shortfall, shortage, inadequacy, deficiency, slippage.

52.spatially (adverb)

English Meaning - used (in a way) to describe things relating to areas.

53.skewed (adjective)

English Meaning - uneven, distorted, unbalanced, one-sided, unequal.

54.deficient (adjective)

English Meaning - inadequate, insufficient, short, scarce, scant, meagre.

55.unenviable (adjective)

English Meaning - difficult, painful, disagreeable, undesirable, unpleasant.