TTX Vocabulary

India said on Monday it had foiled an attempt by Chinese troops to change the status quo on their disputed and ill-defined border in a fresh flare-up between the two nuclear-armed countries. “On the night of August 29/30, 2020, PLA troops violated the previous consensus arrived at during military and diplomatic engagements during the ongoing standoff in Eastern Ladakh and carried out provocative military movements to change the status quo,” the Indian army said in a statement. It said Indian soldiers foiled the Chinese bid to “unilaterally change facts on the ground”. There was no immediate comment from China. For months, troops have been locked in a faceoff in the western Himalayas where both sides accuse the other of violating the Line of Actual Control, or the de facto border. In June, 20 Indian soldiers were killed during a clash in the Galwan valley, following which the two sides agreed to pull back . But despite several rounds of talks, troops remain faced off at other poi...

Oxford Learners [uncountable, countable] 1. ​permission to leave your duties for a period of time, especially for soldiers working in a foreign country The plane was full of soldiers going home on furlough. a six-week furlough ​ 2. (North American English) permission for a prisoner to leave prison for a period of time He was released on a weekend furlough. The prisoner failed to return from a furlough.

Oxford Learners (plural redundancies) ​[uncountable, countable, usually plural] (British English) the situation when somebody has to leave their job because there is no more work available for them Thousands of factory workers are facing redundancy. to accept/take voluntary redundancy (= to offer to leave your job) the threat of compulsory redundancies All members of staff are entitled to redundancy payments. 200 workers have been issued with redundancy notices.

‘THE end came when it was least expected’ is a sentence that punctuates so many discussions about all kinds of sudden and not-so-sudden events in our life. Sardar Usman Buzdar may never have reached the shores during his term so far as chief minister. But once again the chatter that predicts his removal from the post has intensified just after the gentleman collected a handful of compliments for holding his nerve during Punjab’s fight against Covid-19. Most of these positive vibes have come from his PTI colleagues but then it is the same source that is believed to pose the most potent threat to the sardar. Quite certainly, the unrest predates whatever little praise may have come the way of the Punjab chief minister in recent months. The situation appears pretty tense. As more and more people join the chorus of questions about the chances of his survival, every move that Mr Buzdar makes these days must be viewed in the context of his durability in the chief minister’s office. ...

WHILE mudslinging and point-scoring may be part and parcel of politics, certain issues should not be exploited by opponents just to get back at rivals. For example, when questions of religion are dragged into political debates, this can have dangerous consequences in a society like Pakistan, as we have witnessed in the past. PML-N leader Khawaja Asif has been under fire, particularly from religious parties, after comments he made in the National Assembly last week. On Tuesday, Mr Asif had to clarify his remarks , saying that “misinterpreting” his statements was “extremely irresponsible and wrong”. The former federal minister had said that “no religion is superior” under the Constitution, apparently speaking in reference to a social media campaign targeting Pakistan’s minority citizens. Religious parties had leapt at the remarks, in reaction to which Khawaja Asif had to reiterate his belief in Islam and its tenets in the house. The fact is that a great fuss is being created out of...

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday warned India against any misadventure , saying such a move would evoke a prompt telling response from Pakistan. “Beware, beware, remember February (2019) and be ready for a quick retaliation while casting an evil eye on us,” he said while speaking in the Senate. Addressing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, he said the Pakistani nation could not be cowed down by Indians. He said there was a complete unanimity in the country over the Kashmir issue and matters concerning the country’s sovereignty, integrity and prestige . Referring to the situation in Ladakh, he said Indian soldiers were suffering casualties there. Claims no walkover was given to India during UNSC election “There is a dramatic shift in the region. China has openly landed in the arena against India,” he said and pointed out that the conflict was drawing blood now. He also referred to telephonic con...