Daily Vocab For Various Competitive Exams: 11th July 2018

Thus in almost all administrative matters of consequence, the Lieutenant Governor acted as though he was the final word and that it was not necessary for him to seek the aid and advice of the elected government. A government for 20 million residents of Delhi was told that it could not govern if the Lieutenant Governor chose to not let them govern. Last week’s Supreme Court judgment in the Government of the NCT of Delhi has finally put an end to such constitutional coups. Cutting to the heart of all the political and constitutional wrangling, the judgment unanimously affirms the principle of an elected representative being vested with the power to administer democratically. It negates the bureaucratic usurpation of power that sought to operate in constitutional interstices, at the instance of an inimical central government. The majority judgment of Chief Justice Dipak Misra says: “There is no room for absolutism. There is no space for anarchy… Ours is a parliamentary form of government guided by the principle of collective responsibility of the Cabinet. The Cabinet owes a duty towards the legislature for every action taken in any of the Ministries and every individual Minister is responsible for every act of the Ministry… This principle of collective responsibility is of immense significance in the context of ‘aid and advice’. If a well deliberated legitimate decision of the Council of Ministers is not given effect to due to an attitude to differ on the part of the Lieutenant Governor, then the concept of collective responsibility would stand negated.”

Justice Chandrachud in his concurrence holds that, “In a cabinet form of government, the substantive power of decision making vests in the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as its head. The aid and advice provision contained in the substantive part of Article 239AA(4) recognises this principle. When the Lieutenant Governor acts on the basis of the aid and advise of the Council of Ministers, this recognises that real decision-making authority in a democratic form of government vests in the executive. Even when the Lieutenant Governor makes a reference to the President under the terms of the proviso, he has to abide by the decision which is arrived at by the President.”

1. Coups: (noun) : सफलता

Meaning: a successful result brought about by hard work

Synonyms: accomplishment, achievement, acquirement, attainment, baby, success, triumph

Antonyms: botch, mess, muddle, shambles, bummer, bust, catastrophe, debacle, disaster, dud, failure, fiasco, fizzle, flop, washout, disappointment, letdown, loss, setback

2. Wrangle: (verb) : तकरार

Meaning: to express different opinions about something often angrily

Synonyms: altercate, argue, bicker, brabble, brawl, controvert, dispute, fall out, fight, hassle, jar, quarrel, quibble, row, scrap, spat, squabble, tiff

Antonyms: coexist, get along, accept, agree, assent, concur, consent

3. Vest: (verb) : आधिकारिक या कानूनी शक्ति देना

Meaning: to give official or legal power to

Synonyms: accredit, authorize, certify, commission, empower, enable, invest, license (also licence), qualify, warrant

Antonyms: disqualify

4. Negate: (verb) : खंडन करना

Meaning: to declare not to be true

Synonyms: contradict, deny, disaffirm, disallow, disavow, disclaim, disconfirm, disown, gainsay, negative, refute, reject, repudiate

Antonyms: acknowledge, admit, allow, avow, concede, confirm, own

5. Usurpation: (noun) : हड़प लेना, हथिया लेना

Meaning: the unlawful taking or withholding of something from the rightful owner under a guise of authority

Synonyms: appropriation, arrogation, commandeering, expropriation, preemption, seizure, takeover

6. Interstice: (noun) : अन्तराल

Meaning: a break in continuity

Synonyms: discontinuity, gap, hiatus, hiccup (also hiccough), interim, interlude, intermission, interregnum, interruption, interval

Antonyms: continuation, continuity

7. Inimical: (adjective) : शत्रुतापूर्ण

Meaning: marked by opposition or ill will

Synonyms: adversarial, adversary, antagonistic, antipathetic, hostile, inhospitable, jaundiced, mortal, negative, unfriendly, unsympathetic

Antonyms: friendly, hospitable, nonantagonistic, nonhostile, sympathetic

8. Absolutism: (noun) : निरंकुश राज्य का सिद्धान्त

Meaning: a system of government in which the ruler has unlimited power

Synonyms: authoritarianism, autocracy, czarism , despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism, tyranny

Antonyms: democracy, self-governance, self-government, self-rule, freedom, self-determination

autonomy, sovereignty

9. Deliberate: (adjective) : जानबूझकर

Meaning: decided on as a result of careful thought

Synonyms: advised, calculated, considered, knowing, measured, reasoned, studied, thoughtful, thought-out, weighed

Antonyms: casual, unadvised, uncalculated, unconsidered, unstudied

10. Affirm: (verb) : अभिपुष्ट करना

Meaning: to state as a fact usually forcefully

Synonyms: allege, assert, aver, avouch, avow, claim, contend, declare, insist, maintain, profess, protest, purport, warrant

Antonyms: deny, gainsay