Topic Of The Day:-“Barcelona Horror”
A vehicular attack to maximise casualties and spread panic is now a well-tested terrorist strategy in European cities. Barcelona became the latest urban centre to be so hit when a van ploughed into pedestrians on a busy street, leaving at least 14 dead and more than 100 injured. This is Spain’s worst terrorist incident since the Madrid train bombings of 2004. The Islamic State has, expectedly, claimed responsibility. The plot appeared to be multi-site and involved numerous actors, not just a “lone wolf”. This hints at meticulous planning. The police have linked the van attack in Barcelona’s Las Ramblas area to an explosion the previous evening that ripped through a home and killed one person in a town 200 km south of Barcelona. Authorities also saw connections to a second vehicle attack that occurred in the resort town of Cambrils, south of Barcelona. With at least one attacker, the driver of the van, said to be at large, the Spanish government is likely to be grappling with the same question as its counterparts elsewhere in Europe: what options are available to law enforcement to thwart attacks using easy-to-obtain vehicles to grab the headlines? Over the past year, the weaponisation of vehicles has increasingly become the tactic of choice for extremists: it was used in London (March and June 2017, at least12 killed), Stockholm (April 2017, five killed), Berlin (December 2016, 12 killed), and Nice ( July 2016, 86 killed). If indeed it is established that the IS was behind the Barcelona attack, even if only as an “inspiration” and not in terms of planning or execution, this would call for a renewed focus on containing the jihadist group’s recruitment agenda in Europe. There is a real risk that with the steady erosion of the IS’s territorial control in Iraq and Syria, recently highlighted by its defeat in Mosul, foreign fighters may return from those battlefields to their home countries and focus on carrying out attacks there. European intelligence and security services that were beefed up after a multitude of al-Qaedalinked attacks through the decade of the 2000s are still fumbling to gain control of this new paradigm of individualised, low-tech terror. Until now it was believed that Spanish intelligence had performed better on this score than France, and perhaps even the U.K. Strained by a lack of resources and suboptimal intra-Europe coordination, France’s intelligence seemed no match for the 2015 IS terror campaign on its soil, which in the death of 130 people in the Paris attacks in November. Spanish authorities, on the other hand, are said to have foiled several major plots in 2008, and “at least 10 separate conspiracies” in 2016, not to mention additional networks reportedly uncovered this year. Notwithstanding these variations, law enforcement agencies across the continent, and elsewhere, now face the unenviable challenge of adapting to the evolving terror tactics of a dispersed, determined enemy.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Prognosis
Meaning: A forecast of the likely outcome of a situation.
Example: Gloomy prognoses about overpopulation.
Synonyms: Forecast, Prediction
2) Candour
Meaning: The quality of being open and honest; frankness.
Example: A man of refreshing candour.
Synonyms: Frankness, Openness
Antonyms: Insincerity
3) Asymmetry
Meaning: Lack of equality or equivalence between parts or aspects of something; lack of symmetry.
Example: There was an asymmetry between the right and left ears.
4) Pursuance
Meaning: Engagement in an activity or course of action.
Example: You have a right to use public areas in the pursuance of your lawful hobby.
Synonyms: Execution, Discharge
5) Contingent
Meaning: Subject to chance.
Example: The contingent nature of the job.
Synonyms: Chance, Accidental
Antonyms: Predictable
6) Dissavings
Meaning: The excess amount spent;The action of spending more than one has earned in a given period.
Example: Dissaving results when consumption is greater than income and is essentially the opposite of saving.
7) Inevitably
Meaning: As is certain to happen; unavoidably.
Example: Inevitably some details are already out of date.
Synonyms: Naturally, Automatically
8) Undershot
Meaning: To fail to achieve a particular result.
Example: The finance minister undershot his forecast by €3 billion.
9) Ballpark
Meaning: An area or range within which an amount or estimate is likely to be correct ;(of a price or cost) approximate.
Example: We can make a pretty good guess that this figure’s in the ballpark.
10) Prudence
Meaning: The quality of being prudent; cautiousness.
Example: We need to exercise prudence in such important matters.
Synonyms: Wisdom, Judgement
Antonyms: Folly, Recklessness
11) Adherence
Meaning: The quality or process of sticking fast to an object or surface.
Example: Observing the adherence of the seeds to clothing prompted the development of Velcro.
12) Calibration
Meaning: Carefully assess, set, or adjust (something abstract).
Example: The regulators cannot properly calibrate the risks involved.
13) Unenviable
Meaning: Difficult, undesirable, or unpleasant.
Example: An unenviable reputation for drunkenness.
Synonyms: Disagreeable, Unpleasant
Antonyms: Enviable, Desirable
14) Amelioration
Meaning: The act of making something better; improvement.
Example: Progress brings with it the amelioration of the human condition.
15) Perishable
Meaning: (especially of food) likely to decay or go bad quickly.
Example: The storage of perishable foods.
Synonyms: Easily spoilt, Biodegradable
16) Rekindling
Meaning: Revive (something lost or lapsed).
Example: He tried to rekindle their friendship”
Synonyms: Restoring, Reviving
17) Rectitude
Meaning: Morally correct behaviour or thinking; righteousness.
Example: Mattie is a model of rectitude.
Synonyms: Righteousness, Goodness
Antonyms: Infamy, Dishonesty
18) Spur
Meaning: A thing that prompts or encourages someone; an incentive.
Example: Wars act as a spur to practical invention.
Synonyms: Stimulus, Incentive
Antonyms: Disincentive, Discouragement
19) Recalibration
Meaning: To change the way you do or think about something.
Example: The sensors had to be recalibrated.
20) Lurking
Meaning: Be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone or something.
Example: A ruthless killer still lurked in the darkness.
Synonyms: Skulk, Loiter
21) Ploughed
Meaning: (especially of a vehicle) move in a fast and uncontrolled manner.
Example: The car ploughed into the side of a van.
Synonyms: Career, Plunge
22) Lone wolf
Meaning: A person who prefers to act alone.
Example: He’s a lone wolf; that’s what made him a successful foreign correspondent.
23) Meticulous
Meaning: Showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.
Example: The designs are hand-glazed with meticulous care.
Synonyms: Careful, Conscientious
Antonyms: Careless, Sloppy
24) Ripped
Meaning: Move forcefully and rapidly.
Example: Fire ripped through her bungalow.
25) Thwart
Meaning: Prevent (someone) from accomplishing something; oppose (a plan, attempt, or ambition) successfully.
Example: The government had been able to thwart all attempts by opposition leaders to form new parties.
Synonyms: Foil, Frustrate
Antonyms: Assist, Facilitate
26) Beefed
Meaning: A complaint.
Example: My main beef about the job is that I have to work on Saturdays.
27) Multitude
Meaning: The state of being numerous.
Example: They would swarm over the river in their multitude.
28) Fumbling
Meaning: do (or) handle something clumsily.
Example: She fumbled with the lock.
Synonyms: Botch, Bungle
29) Suboptimal
Meaning: Of less than the highest standard or quality.
Example: Suboptimal working conditions.
