Topic Of The Day:-“Lacking guarantees”
In addition, to those who may just consider, as Libya did, to relinquish nuclear weapons, the fact that NATO destroyed Libya anyway is a disincentive. The UN has done itself no favours by failing to censure NATO on violating its mandate only to the responsibility to protect (R2P) and not for regime change in Libya in 2011. To other countries that may enter talks, as Iran did, the imminent threat from the U.S. of walking out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (P5+1 agreement) would make them question the efficacy of the UN in guaranteeing any deal struck. Other decisions of the Trump administration in the U.S., to walk out of the climate change agreement as well as threaten to cancel its funding contributions to the UN, have also seen little comment from the world body, which further reduces the respect it is viewed with. Nowhere is that lack of respect more obvious than regarding Myanmar, where the military junta faced sanctions for years. Despite inviting former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to prepare a report on Rakhine state, post-democracy Myanmar has been able to carry out one of the region’s most frightening massacres just days after the report was submitted. On the basis of satellite pictures, and eyewitness accounts, the UN Human Rights chief called military action a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing”, as half a million Rohingya fled for their lives from Rakhine villages that were then burnt down, with landmines laid along the border to Bangladesh to prevent their return. The Security Council will now meet on Thursday to consider the situation, but it is short on ideas and late on action, and restoring more than a million stateless refugees to their homes seems a daunting task, even for a worldbody that was set up expressly to ensure that such a displacement would “never again” be allowed to occur. A similar impotency has been imparted to the UN on the issue of terrorism. India’s grievances here are justified and are a symptom of the UN’s powerlessness to enforce even the basic strictures against terrorists it sanctions, given that Hafiz Saeed and associates now plan to stand for public office in Pakistan, while others like Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who received bail despite UN financial sanctions, have simply disappeared. Meanwhile India struggles to convince China to allow the Security Council to sanction Masood Azhar, whose release in exchange for hostages in 1999 should have been proof enough of his perdy. Mr. Guterres’s concerns about what he calls the “dark side of innovation” are valid, and the world is seeing an increasing number of cyber-attacks, especially from nonstate actors. But the UN must do more to act on attacks carried out by states, especially those that are permanent members of the Security Council. Both Russia and the U.S. have been known to use cyber warfare, but equally the use of new-age warfare — drones, robotic soldiers and remote killings — must see more regulation from the international community.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Fretful
Meaning: Feeling or expressing distress or irritation.
Example: The baby was crying with a fretful whimper.
Synonyms: Distressed, Upset, Uneasy
2) Realm
Meaning: A field or domain of activity or interest.
Example: The realm of applied chemistry.
Synonyms: Domain, Area
3) Awe
Meaning: A feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder.
Example: They gazed in awe at the small mountain of diamonds.
Synonyms: Wonder, Amazement
Antonyms: Contempt, Despise
4) Slumber
Meaning: Sleep.
Example: Sleeping Beauty slumbered in her forest castle.
Synonyms: Sleep, Doze
Antonyms: Wake up
5) Furled
Meaning: Roll or fold up (something) neatly and securely.
Example: He shouted to the crew to furl sails.
6) Delegations
Meaning: A body of delegates or representatives; a deputation.
Example: A delegation of teachers.
Synonyms: Deputation, Delegacy
7) Rang hollow
Meaning: To sound false or not sincere
Example: The company’s claim that it is an unwitting participant rings hollow.
8) Brandished
Meaning: Wave or flourish (something, especially a weapon) as a threat or in anger or excitement.
Example: A man leaped out brandishing a knife.
Synonyms: Flourish, Wave
9) Hurled
Meaning: Throw or impel (someone or something) with great force.
Example: Rioters hurled a brick through the windscreen.
Synonyms: Throw, Toss
10) Outdone
Meaning: Be superior to in action or performance.
Example: The men tried to outdo each other in their generosity.
Synonyms: Surpass, Outshine
11) Provocations
Meaning: Action or speech that makes someone angry, especially deliberately.
Example: You should remain calm and not respond to provocation.
Synonyms: Encouragement, Rousing
12) Confronting
Meaning: Come face to face with (someone) with hostile or argumentative intent.
Example: 300 policemen confronted an equal number of union supporters.
Synonyms: Challenge, Oppose
Antonyms: Avoid
13) Cursory glance
Meaning: Going rapidly over something, without noticing details; hasty; superficial.
Example: A cursory glance at a newspaper article.
14) Tack
Meaning: A method of dealing with a situation or problem; a course of action or policy.
Example: As she could not stop him going she tried another tack and insisted on going with him.
Synonyms: Approach, Way
15) Squeezed
Meaning: Obtain (something) from someone with difficulty.
Example: Councils will want to squeeze as much money out of taxpayers as they can.
Synonyms: Extort, Force
16) Belligerent
Meaning: Hostile and aggressive.
Example: The mood at the meeting was belligerent.
Synonyms: Hostile, Aggressive
Antonyms: Friendly, Peaceable
17) Brutal
Meaning: Savagely violent.
Example: A brutal murder.
Synonyms: Savage, Cruel
Antonyms: Gentle, Humane
18) Rogue
Meaning: A dishonest or unprincipled man.
Example: You are a rogue and an embezzler.
Synonyms: Scoundrel, Reprobate
19) Efficacy
Meaning: The ability to produce a desired or intended result.
Example: There is little information on the efficacy of this treatment.
20) Ethnic
Meaning: Relating to a population subgroup (within a larger or dominant national or cultural group) with a common national or cultural tradition.
Example: Ethnic and cultural rights and traditions.
Synonyms: Racial, Race-related
21) Fled
Meaning: Run away from a place or situation of danger.
Example: To escape the fighting, his family fled from their village.
Synonyms: Escape, Bolt
22) Burnt down
Meaning: To destroy something, especially a building, by fire, or to be destroyed by fire.
Example: He tried to burn down the school by setting fire to a pile of papers.
23) Daunting
Meaning: Seeming difficult to deal with in prospect; intimidating.
Example: A daunting task.
Synonyms: Formidable, Disconcerting
24) Grievances
Meaning: A feeling of resentment over something believed to be wrong or unfair.
Example: He was nursing a grievance.
Synonyms: Complaint, Objection
Antonyms: Commendation
25) Hostages
Meaning: A person seized or held as security for the fulfilment of a condition.
Example: They were held hostage by armed rebels.
Synonyms: Captive, Prisoner
26) Forum
Meaning: A meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged.
Example: We hope these pages act as a forum for debate.
Synonyms: Meeting, Assembly
27) Propaganda
Meaning: Information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.
Example: He was charged with distributing enemy propaganda.
Synonyms: Information, Promotion
28) Paramount
Meaning: More important than anything else; supreme.
Example: The interests of the child are of paramount importance.
Synonyms: Chief, Uppermost
29) Chaotic
Meaning: In a state of complete confusion and disorder.
Example: The political situation was chaotic.
Synonyms: Disorderly, Confused
Antonyms: Orderly
30) Interlocutors
Meaning: Someone who is involved in a conversation and who is representing someone else.
Example: Abraham was able to act as interpreter and interlocutor for our group.
