Daily Reads-60 (Level-1)

Reading Suggestion-1

Article Name:Speaking the language of change?
Author Name: Nissim Mannathukkare
Source: The Hindu
Category:Politics and Economy

Summary for this article :

This article presents the World banks report and says how the social movements and politics are shaping the way a bank functions.

The central focus of the report is to move the politics and power to the core of developmental thinking and action. The report says that the World Bank is not detached from the social processes but they are part of the very same processes that it describes.

The author concludes the article by quoting a telling from the report and leaving a question of whether the World Bank is willing to take the action and walk the walk.

Words to learn from this article :

Centralism: The concentration of power and authority in a central organisation i.e. the exercising of power by a single authority.
Incandescent: Characterised by intense and strong emotion
Intractable: Hard to manage or control
Grandiose: Something that is magnificent or impressive
Faustian –The word Faustian is inspired by the literary character Faust. Faustian means the sacrifice or compromiseof one’s beliefs or principles in order to gain success or power
Hubris: Having excessive pride or confidence in oneself

Reading Suggestion-1: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-2

Article Name:An India-Israel diary: The Wall, The Road, and The Connection
Author name: Chidanand Rajghatta
Source: Times of India
Category: Politics

Summary for this article :

The recent Modi visit to the Israel has got the entire nation talking, news channels displaying the friendship between the two Prime Ministers, various other forms of tabloids doing their own bit of work. This article focuses on the shared interests and friendships between the two countries.

The article first talks about the welcoming of different languages by the two countries. Israel has the three Abrahamic faiths living peacefully and on closed terms, while in India, we see Modi as a man who would never object the welcoming of these three faiths. The author here says that though these two nations will not produce a wall dividing religions, yet the Prime Minister will definitely get to see a wall that divides the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The author now talks about the founding father of Israel’s great admiration and respect towards Mahatma Gandhi.

The author next talks about the road that leads to Washington DC goes via Tel Aviv and the last two Indian ambassadors to the US also served as the ambassadors in Israel some years before coming to Washington DC. All of this had stirred up an idea among the right wing in all three countries about an alliance of all the three countries.

Lastly, the author talks about the diamond connection that the Israeli’s and the Indians have in Antwerp; the ground zero for the world’s diamond trade.

Words to learn from this article:

Cheek-by-jowl: Side by side or very close to each other
Capacious: Spacious
Venerated: Regarding someone with great respect
Myriad: Very large in number
Incumbent: An obligation to do something

Reading Suggestion-2: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-3

Article Name: Damned celebrity again: We need an Indrani to take note of poor Manjula’s jail killing?
Author name: BachiKarkaria
Source: Times of India
Category: Politics and Culture

Summary for this article :

This article says that after the brutal death of a jail inmate, Manjuala, in the Mumbai prison, the entire media and press got to taking note of the case and bringing the administration’s attention to it; but the sad part is that, the case was brought to the limelight only because we had Indrani Mukherjee starting protests in the prison against this horrific incident.

In India, the regular norm is that, once a death or a case of brutality takes place in a prison, there is an outcry that lasts for few days and then the case is forgotten and the focus is changed to fresh cases.

Sadly, in this we needed an Indrani to bring this horrific case in the public eyes and bring out the harshness and the brutality of the case which otherwise would have sounded normal

Words to learn from this article :

Yank: To take away or pull something quickly and forcibly
Edify: To enlighten or educate someone
Self-immolation: To kill oneself deliberately often by setting oneself on fire as a willing sacrifice
Conjure: To call upon a ghost or a spirit by invocation
Incorrigible: An incorrigible behaviour means something that cannot be changed and is just the way it is.