Newspaper Vocabulary Analysis: article#3

Hello aspirants!

As you all are appearing in various competitive exams such as Banking, SSC, railways etc., it is very important for all of you to have good General Knowledge and strong command over English language. Nowadays vocabulary is asked in different forms in Banking and other exams. There can be direct vocabulary questions or questions can be asked in indirect form, but vocabulary is inevitable aspect, so here in this section we will discuss an article from any renowned newspaper and highlight some useful words and phrases with their meanings.

Article#3

source: TOI Editorial

Cut the flab: Organisations have to adapt to changing circumstances. Indian army is no exception.

The Indian army’s latest effort to turn itself into a lean and mean fighting force must reach its logical conclusion without being torpedoed by internal pulls and pressures. Defence ministry accounted for 17% of central government expenditure in 2018-19, but even without including defence pensions, revenue expenditure like salaries dwarfed capital expenditure for acquisitions and modernisation by a 2:1 ratio. Amid much sparser allocations for health and education which are equally important priority areas, army top brass will know there is little leeway for the government to drastically hike defence spending.

torpedoed: being destroyed by something; ruined(a plan or project).

dwarfed: to cause to appear small by comparison.

acquisitions: the process of getting or buying something;

sparser: scanty; in short supply

top brass: in the army or in other organisations, the top brass are people in the highest positions

leeway: amount of freedom available.

To widen the capital expenditure pie, the army must thus look inward. Given the changing nature of warfare, which is likely to be short and decisive, it also makes strategic sense to require more special operations forces, cyber war capabilities and integrated/joint operational capabilities. A bloated force is a drag on resources and will lead the army to be under-equipped in hardware (and software) that it really needs.  Measures under consideration include downsizing of army headquarters to reduce staff duties and creating integrated brigades to replace most of the 49 divisional headquarters.

bloated: excessive in size or amount.

downsizing: make (something ) smaller; make( a company or organisation ) smaller 
                           by reducing the number of employees 

India can take a leaf out of the playbook of China, which announced in March that it slashed 3 lakh troops after vowing last year to shed 10 lakh ground troops. China’s trimming efforts were accompanied by a capital expenditure push even as Indian generals bemoan the shrinking of modernisation budgets. The army would also do well to abandon colonial practices like the sahayak system and review the hiring of civilian personnel. The ballooning of pensions in recent years is also eating into finances that could otherwise be spent on new acquisitions. There can be no compromise on defence preparedness.

Phrase---take a leaf out of one's book : to do something in the way someone else would do it; to behave or act like someone else. 

vowing: solemnly promise to do a specified thing

bemoan: express discontent or sorrow over something

ballooning: to quickly increase in size, weight or importance

Hope this will help ! 😊😊

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