Russia has supported India’s bid for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, a Russia, India and China (RIC) meeting discussed probable reforms of the United Nations and India is a strong nominee to become a permanent member of the UNSC. 

He said, Moscow supports India’s candidacy and believes India can become a full-fledged member of the Security Council. Foreign ministers of the RIC discussed reforms of the United Nations during the trilateral meet held through video conferencing. 

UNSC comprises five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members.India has been elected as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for a two-year term recently. India’s two year term will begin on January 1, 2021. 

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said that India and Russia share relationships based on special and privileged Strategic Partnership. He said Russia has assured that the ongoing military contracts between the two countries will be maintained, and in a number of cases, will be taken forward in a shorter time. Mr Rajnath Singh was speaking to the media in Moscow yesterday after meeting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov. Mr. Singh, who is on a three-day visit to Russia to attend the 75th Anniversary of Victory Day Parade, said his visit to Moscow is the first foreign visit of an official delegation from India after the COVID pandemic.

Terming it as a sign of special friendship, Mr Singh said, despite all the difficulties of the pandemic, bilateral relations between Delhi and Moscow have been keeping good contacts at various levels. He said, during the meeting, Indo-Russian defence cooperation was reviewed and plans to further extend it was discussed. Affirming defence relationship as one the important pillars in the relationship between the two countries, Mr. Singh informed that Indian proposals have received positive responses from the Russian side. He asserted that the traditional friendship between India and Russia remains strong and both countries continue to cooperate on mutual and shared interests. The Defence Minister said, he is looking forward to participating in the 75th Victory Parade wherein an Indian Military contingent will be marching in the Red Square today. He conveyed greetings to the people of Russia and especially the veterans, who he said, have immensely contributed for the common security of both the nations.

He also remembered the Indian soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the second world war and said, many of these soldiers were part of the war efforts to provide assistance to the Soviet Army.

The meeting of Indian and Russian Defence Ministers holds high significance in terms of early procurement of S-400 Anti Missile system from Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin is likely to visit India later this year.
 

In Tamil Nadu, a 7-day full lockdown in Madurai came into effect at midnight last night. It will be in force till the end of this month. The move is aimed at containing the recent surge in fresh Covid-19 cases in the city and its suburbs.

Tamil Nadu witnessed 2516 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, taking the total to 64,603.

AIR correspondent reports, Madurai joins Chennai in the state in going for the complete lockdown, which many say is a lockdown within the lockdown, the reason being the soaring new cases of Covid-19. The measure is aimed at breaking the chain of the spread of the elusive virus. Along with Madurai, its suburbs and adjacent villages also come under the intensified lockdown as they form a contiguous area.

However, retail outlets of essentials can function upto 2 pm including fuel stations. Health facilities can function without any restrictions, though vehicular movement is permitted bare to the minimum.

Meanwhile, the state Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy is slated to interact with all the district collectors today to review the current situation.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that it has now facilitated setting up one thousand laboratories across the country for testing Covid-19 samples.

In a tweet, ICMR termed it as a major milestone towards enhanced testing in the country. It added that there are 730 government labs and 270 private labs for the testing. The ICMR also said there was only one lab for testing on 23rd January this year, 160 labs on 23rd March and now the number has reached one thousand labs. It has advised all states, public and private institutions and hospitals to take required steps to scale-up testing for Covid-19.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that around 20 thousand beds including 250 ICU beds for COVID -19 infected persons will be added in the National Capital by next week. Mr Shah said that ten thousand bedded COVID Care Centre at Radha Swami Beas at Chhatarpur of Delhi will be operational by 26th of this month. He said, the work is in full swing and a large part of the facility will be operational by Friday. Mr Shah said this in a tweet while replying to a letter written by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inviting Mr Shah  to inspect the COVID Care Centre  at Chhattarpur. Delhi Chief Minister had also requested for deployment of doctors and nurses from ITBP and Army at the Centre. Mr Shah said,  Home Ministry  has already assigned the work of operating the COVID Care Centre at Radha Swami Beas to ITBP.

The  Home Minister said  that one thousand  bed full-fledged hospitals with 250 ICU beds for COVID -19 infected persons will be ready by next week. He said,  DRDO and Tata Trust are building the facility with the support of the Central Government. He said, Armed forces personnel will man it and  this Covid Care Centre will be ready in the next 10 days. He said, Armed Forces personnel have been detailed for providing medical care and attention to the infected persons housed in the Railway Coaches in the national capital. He said, eight thousand additional beds have already been placed at Delhi government’s disposal for making COVID Care Centres, as per requirement.

India and China have reached a consensus to disengage in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

In the Corps Commander level talks between India and China at Moldo, both sides agreed to disengage from all frition areas.

Army sources say,  the Corps Commander level talks between India and China on Monday were held at Moldo in a cordial, positive and constructive atmosphere.

AIR correspondent reports, Modalities for disengagement from all friction areas in Eastern Ladakh were discussed and will be taken forward by both sides.

The marathon meeting lasted nearly twelve hours in Moldo on the Chinese side of Line of Actual Control (LAC) to defuse tensions at the Eastern Ladakh sector.

This was the second meeting between the two sides.

They had earlier met on June 6th and agreed to disengage at multiple locations.

But on June 15th, violent clashes took place and casualties were reported from both sides. India termed the clash as a premeditated action by the Chinese troops.  

Reacting to the development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured the countrymen that Indian armed forces are leaving no stone unturned in protecting the country.  

Mr Modi asserted that country today has such capability that no one can dare even look towards an inch of our land.

People are spontaneously boycotting and burning Chinese products in different parts of the country.

India has said that respecting the international law, recognizing  legitimate interests of partners, supporting multilateralism and promoting common good are the only ways of building a durable world order.

In his opening remarks at the Russia-India-China- RIC trilateral  Foreign Minister’s Video Conference  today, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said that this  Special Meeting reiterates our belief in the time-tested principles of international relations.

He said,the challenge today is not just one of concepts and norms, but equally of their practice. He said, the leading voices of the world must be exemplars in every way.

Dr Jaishankar said the United Nations began with 50 members and today it has 193.

He said UN’s decision making surely cannot continue to be in denial of this fact.

He said Russia, India and China have been active participants in shaping the global agenda and it is India’s hope that RIC will also now converge on the value of reformed multilateralism.

Dr Jaishankar said the victory over Nazism and Fascism in the second world war was achieved through sacrifices across many theatres by many countries.

India made a significant contribution, with 2.3 million of its citizens under arms and 14 million more participating in war production.

The Minister pointed out that when the victors met to fashion the ensuing global order, the political circumstances of that era did not give India due recognition.

He said this historical injustice has stood uncorrected for the last 75 years, even as the world has changed.

He said that therefore, it is important for the world to realize both the contribution that India made and the need to rectify the past.

I’m suspicious of those things where more is always supposed to be better. Nature prefers moderation, so good things can harm you when you get too much of them. Drinking more water is good. Too much and you’ll drown.

I think “meaning” is one of those things that is usually good, but that can cause you problems when there is too much of it.

What Meaning Means

Meaning is a slippery word, so it’s hard to be clear we’re using it the same way. However, we all know when a person, thing, goal or idea feels significant to us, and when those same things feel ordinary. The difference is meaning.

In addition to being a feeling, meaning is also an idea. When someone asks you what something means, they’re asking for you to explain it in words. They want its definition, cause or likely implications. Meanings are words and ideas you weave together in your head.

More meaning tends to be better. A complete absence of meaning usually (although perhaps not always) feels awful. Similarly, a lack of meaning in the conceptual sense is confusion and ignorance. We’d prefer to say what things mean and believe it, than to simply shrug our shoulders and say, “I don’t know.”

How Can You Have Too Much Meaning?

I think there’s two ways you can have too much meaning.

First, you could feel too strongly about the significance of something. We’ve all had anxiety and fears when something is so important to us that we’re unable to function. That relationship that you wanted to hold onto even though the other person wasn’t in love with you. That job which meant everything to you—until you got fired. That conviction you held to desperately, until it started to unravel.

Feelings are mental tools. They put our minds into a state that allows certain ideas, actions and thoughts to flow more easily than others. However, to allow some ideas to flow more easily, that must necessarily mean you’re blocking others. The feeling of significance therefore will be useful in some contexts and harmful in others, just like anger, fear, optimism, joy, love, sadness and everything else you feel.

The second way you can have too much meaning is related to the intellectual idea of meaning. If you have a strong set of ideas about what something means, either in terms of its definition, explanation or implied effects, that can “lock” you into a certain way of seeing things. Too much meaning can prevent you from seeing something in another way, and other perspectives may be necessary to solve certain problems.

How to Tell if You Have Too Much Meaning

I suspect that the anxiety and fear we often feel in our daily lives is a result of too much meaning, rather than too little. It’s a combination of a strong feeling of significance, along with a perceived lack of control.

If you follow politics, you may feel like the world is going mad, and that the battles over who leads the country and what policies they implement is extremely significant. Yet, at the same time, you may feel nearly powerless to control the results.

Similarly, in your personal life, there may be situations where there isn’t much more you can do to overcome a problem, but you can’t stop thinking about it. Although people don’t often see their anxieties and fears as resulting from an excess in meaning, it follows that this is the case because if you genuinely didn’t feel the situation was significant you wouldn’t worry about it.

Intellectually an excess of meaning can result in an overly rigid and fixed way of viewing the world. Your ideas, explanations and reasoning about the world is so tight, that you get stuck when you encounter situations that fail to make sense for you.

Is Mindfulness the Relaxation of Meaning?

I have an explanation of meditation and mindfulness and why it seems to be so popular.

Mindfulness, particularly the body-scanning methods popular among Vipassana retreats, are effectively, a way of reducing the emotional and intellectual excesses of meaning.

A common experience when you’re practicing, for instance, is to have a pain somewhere in your body. At first this feels very significant and something that you ought to do something about. After twenty minutes though, the pain starts to turn into something more abstract, perhaps an odd pulsation or throbbing that has changing characteristics.

At one level, I think what has happened is similar to how if you repeat the same word over and over again (say the word “meaning” a few dozen times out loud to get what I mean). By repetitive attention something that would be processed at a level of meaning dissolves into parts that lack that meaning and you start experiencing something that seems to lack connection to the meanings you had previously.

I hesitate to say this is entirely what’s going on with meditation. Many meditators will note the opposite experience: that suddenly the world feels filled with a hidden specialness that was invisible before.

However, I also suspect that this may be a consequence of the thorough de-meaning-ization of your regular experience. Dehabituate your normal filters for processing meaning and new ones will start forming again in the vacuum. Those new ones may not have the same obstacles as the old ones and the fresh perspective may be more enjoyable.

Should You Take Time to “Relax” Your Meaning of Life?

I think meanings, especially intense ones, are an important part of living life well. Don’t confuse what I’m saying for arguing we should all live nihilistically.

Rather, I think what’s necessary is that, from time to time, you are able to temporarily “relax” your meanings in life. This relaxation may be necessary to get out of ruts where your current way of viewing the situation is frustrated and can’t allow you to live your best life.

These meaningness relaxations may be related to specific situations (i.e. how you think about your future career) or it could be more global (i.e. should you find meaning in ambition at all?).

I also suspect that there is no perfect state of meanings, no eternal viewpoint that will be good for all things. Therefore, relaxation of meaning is probably a necessary adjustment that needs to be done every once in awhile. The new meanings you get to may not be any better (in an absolute sense) than the ones you went in with, but they may help you see around obstacles that keep you from living a good life.

At the global level, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases have exceeded 90 lakhs, with nearly four lakh 70 thousand fatalities.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, 90 lakhs six thousand 757 cases of Novel Coronavirus have been reported across the world.

The United States continues to remain the worst-hit with 22 lakh 91 thousand 353 cases and one lakh 20 thousand 106 deaths, followed by Brazil 10 lakh 83 thousand 341 cases and over 50 thousand deaths and Russia reported five lakh 84 thousand 680 cases and over eight thousand deaths. Other countries with over two lakh cases include India, Britain, Spain, Peru, Italy, Chile and Iran.