PARAGRAPH,WORDS AND MEANINGS

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Topic of the day:-“easing Fire: On Truce In Afghanistan”

The Taliban’s announcement of a three-day ceasefire with Afghan government troops for Eid, two days after President Ashraf Ghani declared an unconditional week-long ceasefire, is a glimmer of hope for a breakthrough in the long-struggling peace process. This is the first time the Taliban has announced a ceasefire in the 17 years since it was removed from power in Kabul. Though it has not acknowledged the government ceasefire, the timing and the public declaration unmistakably point to the reciprocity of the decision. In the past, Mr. Ghani’s government had tried several times to reach out to the Taliban to find a breakthrough in the conflict. In 2015, when both sides were in an advanced stage of talks, it was revealed that the Taliban leader Mullah Omar had died years ago, upending the whole process. In February, Mr. Ghani had invited the Taliban to shun weapons and join peace talks in return for security assurances and passports to militants. But the group shunned the offer after days of uncertainty. The surprise ceasefire declaration during Ramzan is the latest gambit by Mr. Ghani. The war has long entered a stalemate, and something needs to give. The Taliban has made enormous military gains in recent years. It now controls vast swathes of rural, mountainous Afghanistan, while the government retains its grip on the more populated urban centres. The Taliban doesn’t seem to be in a position to capture power by overthrowing the government as long as the U.S. and its allies remain committed to the regime’s security. Equally, Afghan forces are unable to defeat or even check the Taliban’s momentum in rural areas. The fact that the government and the Taliban finally accepted a limited ceasefire suggests that the appetite for a political solution is now stronger. But a three-day Taliban ceasefire will not necessarily set the scene for a more productive engagement. The Taliban has said that the truce is applicable only to the “domestic opposition”, which means it will continue to target foreign troops. Also, the announcement came immediately after several attacks over 24 hours left at least 50 security personnel dead, which shows how precarious the situation is. Even for talks to be initiated, there are serious bottlenecks — the Taliban insists that foreign troops be withdrawn, while the government demands that the group accept the Afghan constitution. Despite these challenges, the Taliban’s positive response is a small gesture which could be used by both sides to build confidence before moving to the next step. The U.S. could put pressure on the Taliban through Pakistan to bring them to the table. If not, the war will carry on, with neither side gaining a decisive edge and leaving millions of Afghans in unending misery.

MEANINGS AND WORDS

1) Revert

Meaning: Return to (a previous state, practice, topic, etc.).

Example: “he reverted to his native language”

Synonyms: Return, Regress

2) Bad bank

Meaning: A bank that takes bad assets (= assets that have lost their value) and bad loans (= debts that are unlikely to be paid back) from other banks or organizations and deals with them in order to help with economic problems.

Example: The Treasury is creating a bad bank that will take on the toxic assets that have damaged the global banking system.

3) Festering

Meaning: If an argument or bad feeling festers, it continues so that feelings of hate or lack of satisfaction increase.

Example: It’s better to express your anger than let it fester inside you.

4) Over-leveraged

Meaning: An over-leveraged person or business has borrowed too much money in relation to their ability to pay it back.

Example: When prices collapsed, many over-leveraged developers went bankrupt.

5) Cagey

Meaning: Reluctant to give information owing to caution or suspicion.

Example: “a spokesman was cagey about the arrangements his company had struck”

Synonyms: Secretive, Guarded

Antonyms: Frank, Open

6) Overhang

Meaning: Something that has a negative effect on a situation.

Example: Prices are unlikely to increase while there is an overhang of 40,000 unsold new houses.

7) Dent

Meaning: Have an adverse effect on; diminish; mark with a dent.

Example: “this neither deterred him nor dented his enthusiasm”

Synonyms: Diminish, Weaken

Antonyms: Increase

8) Entailed

Meaning: Involve (something) as a necessary or inevitable part or consequence.

Example: “a situation which entails considerable risks”

Synonyms: Require, Need

9) Write-downs

Meaning: A reduction in the value of an asset in a company’s accounts, when it is calculated to be worth less than previously shown.

Example: The business was hurt by $15 million in inventory write-downs.

Synonyms: Depreciation

10) Envisaged

Meaning: Contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event.

Example: “the Rome Treaty envisaged free movement across frontiers”

Synonyms: Predict, Anticipate

11) Deploy

Meaning: Move (troops or equipment) into position for military action.

Example: “forces were deployed at strategic locations”

Synonyms: Position, Station

Antonyms: Concentrate

12) Window-dressing

Meaning: An adroit but superficial or misleading presentation of something, designed to create a favourable impression.

Example: “the government’s effort has amounted to little more than window dressing”

13) Scrutiny

Meaning: Critical observation or examination.

Example: “every aspect of local government was placed under scrutiny”

Synonyms: Inspection, Survey

Antonyms: Glance

14) Intent

Meaning: Intention or purpose.

Example: “with alarm she realized his intent”

Synonyms: Aim, Purpose

15) Sluggish

Meaning: Slow-moving or inactive.

Example: “a sluggish stream”

Synonyms: Inactive, Quiet

Antonyms: Busy, Brisk

16) Sorted out

Meaning: To separate one type of things from a group of things.

Example: Sort out any clothes you want to throw away and give them to me.

Synonyms: Classifying

17) Witch-hunts

Meaning: A campaign directed against a person or group holding views considered unorthodox or a threat to society.

Example: “he claimed he was the victim of a media witch-hunt”

18) Demonstrable

Meaning: Clearly apparent or capable of being logically proved.

Example: “the demonstrable injustices of racism”

Synonyms: Verifiable, Plain

Antonyms: Unverifiable

19) Defaulters

Meaning: Someone who does not pay interest or other money that they owe, or who fails to do something that they should do by law.

Example: The names of credit card defaulters are referred to credit rating agencies.

20) Take a hard look

Meaning: To examine something very carefully in order to improve it in the future.

Example: We need to take a long, hard look at the way we control gun ownership.

Synonyms: Thinking, Contemplating