THE HINDU EDITORIAL : JULY 4, 2018

 

THE HINDU EDITORIAL – July 4, 2018 is one of the must read for the competitive exams like SBI PO Prelims , SBI CLERK Prelims Exam, BOB PO Manipal Online Exam and South Indian Bank PO Manipal Exam. These topics are widely expected to be asked in the reading comprehension , Cloze Test or in Error Detection topics in the forthcoming exams. So gear up for your Exam preparation and learn new words daily.



a) A good beginning: on the Cauvery Water Management Authority

That the first meeting of the Cauvery Water Management Authority took place in a cordial atmosphere augurs well for a sustained phase of constructive cooperation among the States concerned. The CWMA has been formed by the Centre to implement the water-sharing award of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal as modified by the Supreme Court earlier this year. At its meeting on Monday, it asked Karnataka to release 31.24 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of water in July. The quantum is based on the monthly schedule drawn up by the Tribunal, and excludes the surplus realised on the Tamil Nadu side in June. For the Authority to successfully perform its role, it needs the cooperation of the States in gathering data on rainfall, inflows and outflows, cropping patterns and periodic withdrawals from reservoirs. The CWMA is expected to meet once every 10 days during the monsoon months. The south-west monsoon has been active for nearly a month, and is forecast to be normal this year. Therefore, the CWMA may not face any major problem in overseeing the release of water to Tamil Nadu. As long as the inflows into Karnataka’s major reservoirs are substantial, it has had no problem releasing its surplus water into the lower riparian areas of the basin. It is only in a distress year that the CWMA will face a significant challenge, as determining the extent of distress, and dividing the shortfall among the States on a pro rata basis can be tricky exercises. Karnataka is planning to challenge in the Supreme Court the Centre’s notification constituting the Authority. It will be unfortunate if this dispute gets into another round of litigation. The provisions of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, make it clear that it is the Centre’s duty to notify a scheme to implement the award of a Tribunal. Parliament has the power to modify the scheme, or leave it as it stands, but Karnataka’s claim that the scheme requires parliamentary approval before it is implemented is questionable. Further, the Supreme Court approved the draft scheme only after finding it to be “in consonance with the dictum and directions in the Award as modified by this Court and also in conformity with Section 6A of the 1956 Act”. Now that the CWMA has become functional, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry should approach the issue of sharing the waters of the inter-State river in a spirit of cooperation and help the Authority in implementing the verdict. The parties concerned should leave behind the era of litigation. There is now a non-political mechanism available to make sound professional decisions on water availability and sharing of distress, if any, after discussing the issues threadbare. After having been locked in a contentious legal dispute for so long, all parties concerned must embark on a new era of mutually beneficial water-sharing.


b) Jalalabad gauntlet: on the growth of IS in Afghanistan

The suicide attack in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, which left at least 19 people dead, mostly from the minority Sikh and Hindu communities, is yet another warning from the Islamic State to the war-torn country’s dilapidated political and security apparatus. The victims were travelling in a bus to meet President Ashraf Ghani when the bomber struck. That the attack claimed the life of the only Sikh candidate running for elections this year speaks volumes of the plight of minorities in a country once celebrated for its diversity. Over the past few months, the Afghan government has been trying to reach out to the Taliban to begin a peace process. Mr. Ghani first offered the militants pardon in return for giving up weapons, which the group rejected. In the run-up to Id last month, he announced a unilateral ceasefire, which drew a truce, though shorter, from the Taliban. But at a time when the number of Taliban-led attacks has come down, the IS, which controls some areas in the Nangarhar province, in which Jalalabad is located, has stepped up assaults. Last month it had threatened to attack schools in response to U.S. and Afghan military operations in Nangarhar. A day before the Jalalabad attack, a boys’ school in Khogyani district of the province was attacked. Militants beheaded three workers and set fire to the school building. The IS set up its Afghan affiliate as a South Asian outpost when its so-called caliphate in Iraq and Syria came under strain. Afghanistan is relatively easier terrain for the IS to recruit fighters from and occupy turf. When the government and the Taliban were fighting each other, the IS built a network in Nangarhar and started targeting minorities. Most of its previous attacks were aimed at the Shia minority. Now, by attacking Sikhs and Hindus, the IS has re-emphasised its worldview and renewed its threat to any attempt to make peace in Afghanistan. Over the past two years, both Afghan and U.S. forces have targeted operations against the IS. Last year the U.S. even used the Mother of All Bombs — the most powerful conventional bomb in its arsenal — against the IS in Nangarhar. But despite these claims the IS remains lethal and capable of striking citizens, as the latest attack suggests. The Afghan government, overstretched in the endless civil war, faces two fronts now. On the one side, it faces the Taliban which controls almost half of Afghan territory; and on the other, the IS’s rising profile is further weakening the already fragile social equation in the country. The war against the Taliban has slipped into a stalemate, and the government’s strategy is to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Meanwhile, if the IS, is allowed to grow, Afghanistan’s descent into total chaos will only be a matter of time.


WORDS/ VOCABULARY

1) Cordial

Meaning: Warm and friendly.

Example: “the atmosphere was cordial and relaxed”

Synonyms: Friendly, Genial

Antonyms: Unfrinendly

2) Augurs

Meaning: (of an event or circumstance) portend a good or bad outcome.

Example: “the end of the cold war seemed to augur well”

Synonyms: Portend, Bode

3) Sustained

Meaning: Continuing for an extended period or without interruption.

Example: “several years of sustained economic growth”

4) Overseeing

Meaning: Supervise (a person or their work), especially in an official capacity.

Example: “the Home Secretary oversees the police service”

Synonyms: Supervise, Superintend

5) Riparian

Meaning: Relating to wetlands adjacent to rivers and streams.

Example: “the ranch’s most expansive riparian habitat”

6) Pro rata

Meaning: Proportional.

Example: “as the pound has fallen costs have risen on a pro rata basis”

7) Constituting

Meaning: Give legal or constitutional form to (an institution); establish by law.

Example: “the superior courts were constituted by the Judicature Acts 1873–5”

Synonyms: Inaugurate, Establish

8) Litigation

Meaning: The process of taking legal action.

Example: “the company wishes to avoid litigation”

Synonyms: Legal action, Lawsuit

9) Consonance

Meaning: Agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions.

Example: “consonance between conservation measures and existing agricultural practice”

Synonyms: Agreement, Concord

10) Dictum

Meaning: A short statement that expresses a general truth or principle.

Example: “the old dictum ‘might is right’”

Synonyms: Saying, Proverb

11) Conformity

Meaning: Compliance with standards, rules, or laws.

Example: “conformity with the law”

12) Era

Meaning: A long and distinct period of history.

Example: “his death marked the end of an era”

Synonyms: Epoch, Period

13) Threadbare

Meaning: (of an argument, excuse, idea, etc.) used so often that it is no longer effective.

Example: “the song was a tissue of threadbare clichés”

14) Contentious

Meaning: Causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial.

Example: “a contentious issue”

Synonyms: Controversial, Debatable

15) Embark

Meaning: Begin (a course of action).

Example: “she embarked on a new career”

Synonyms: Begin, Commence

16) War-torn

Meaning: (of a place) racked or devastated by war.

Example: “a war-torn republic”

17) Dilapidated

Meaning: Old and in poor condition.

Example: The hotel we stayed in was really dilapidated.

Synonyms: Tumbledown, Battered

18) Apparatus

Meaning: The complex structure of a particular organization or system.

Example: “the apparatus of government”

Synonyms: Structure, System

19) Diversity

Meaning: A range of different things.

Example: “newspapers were obliged to allow a diversity of views to be printed”

Synonyms: Variety, Assortment

Antonyms: Uniformity

20) Reach out

Meaning: To try to communicate with a person or a group of people, usually in order to help or involve them.

Example: The new mayor is reaching out to the local community to involve them in his plans for the city.

Synonyms: Communicate

21) Pardon

Meaning: The action of forgiving or being forgiven for an error or offence.

Example: “he obtained pardon for his sins”

Synonyms: Forgiveness, Remission

22) Ceasefire

Meaning: A temporary suspension of fighting; a truce.

Example: “the latest ceasefire seems to be holding”

23) Truce

Meaning: An agreement between enemies or opponents to stop fighting or arguing for a certain time.

Example: “the guerrillas called a three-day truce”

Synonyms: Ceasefire, Armistice

Antonyms: Fighting

24) Come down

Meaning: To become lower in position or value.

Example: I am not going to buy any more coffee until the price comes down.

25) Stepped up

Meaning: To take action when there is a need or opportunity for it.

Example: Investors have to step up and assume more responsibility for their assets.

Synonyms: Acting

26) Beheaded

Meaning: Cut off the head of (someone), especially as a form of execution.

Example: “Mary was beheaded at Fotheringhay”

Synonyms: Decapitate, Kill

27) Affiliate

Meaning: Officially attach or connect (a subsidiary group or a person) to an organization.

Example: “they are national associations affiliated to larger organizations”

Synonyms: Associate, Connect

28) Outpost

Meaning: A small military camp or position at some distance from the main army, used especially as a guard against surprise attack.

Example: “troops in some outposts have surrendered”

29) Caliphate

Meaning: The rule or reign of a caliph or chief Muslim ruler.

Example: “the Umayyad caliphate in Damascus was overthrown by the Abbasids”

30) Turf

Meaning: An area or sphere of activity regarded as someone’s personal territory.

Example: “he did not like poachers on his turf”

Synonyms: Territory, Domain

31) Re-emphasised

Meaning: Place emphasis on (something) again.

Example: “the latter document re-emphasized the need for a national curriculum”

32) Worldview

Meaning: A particular philosophy of life or conception of the world.

Example: “a Christian world view revolves around the battle of good and evil”

33) Conventional

Meaning: (of weapons or power) non-nuclear.

Example: “agreement on reducing conventional forces in Europe”

34) Arsenal

Meaning: A place where weapons and military equipment are stored or made.

Example: “the mutineers broke into the arsenal”

Synonyms: Armory, Ordnance depot

35) Lethal

Meaning: Very harmful or destructive.

Example: “the Krakatoa eruption was the most lethal on record”

Synonyms: Fatal, Mortal

Antonyms: Harmless, Safe

36) Overstretched

Meaning: Make excessive demands on.

Example: “classes are very large and facilities are overstretched”

37) Fragile

Meaning: Easily destroyed or threatened.

Example: “you have a fragile grip on reality”

Synonyms: Tenuous, Unreliable

Antonyms: Durable, Sound

38) Slipped

Meaning: Pass or change to a lower, worse, or different condition, typically in a gradual or imperceptible way.

Example: “many people feel standards have slipped”

Synonyms: Decline, Degenerate

Antonyms: Improve, Rise

39) Conflict

Meaning: A prolonged armed struggle.

Example: “regional conflicts”

Synonyms: War, Action

Antonyms: Peace

40) Descent

Meaning: A moral, social, or psychological decline.

Example: “the ancient empire’s slow descent into barbarism”

Synonyms: Degeneration, Deterioration


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