THE HINDU EDITORIAL : JUNE 26, 2018

 

THE HINDU EDITORIAL – June 26, 2018 is filled with two intense topics which deals about the plastics and its effects and the next one about the recent President Election in turkey and these two editorials topics are important as these might come in the forthcoming SBI CLERK Mains, SBI PO Prelims , South Indian Bank PO and Bank of Baroda PO (Manipal).

 

a) Reduce, segregate: On plastic ban

Maharashtra’s ban on several consumer articles made of plastic, introduced after a three-month notice period to industry and users, is an extreme measure. It is naturally disruptive, and Mumbai, famed for its resilience in the face of urban challenges, is trying to adapt quickly. Today, stemming the plastic tide is a national imperative. India hosted this year’s World Environment Day and Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a high-profile pledge, to international acclaim, that it would do away with all single-use plastics by 2022. This goal is not yet backed by an action plan so that State governments and local bodies can be in sync. Worldwide, the problem has got out of hand, with only 9% of about nine billion tonnes of plastic produced getting recycled. India has an uninspiring record when it comes to handling waste. It has patchy data on volumes, and even less on what it recycles. This lackadaisical approach is at odds with its ambitious goals. Quite simply, if the Centre and the States had got down to dealing with the existing regulations on plastic waste management and municipal solid waste, a ban would not even have become necessary. Specifications for the recycling of different types of plastics were issued two decades ago by the Bureau of Indian Standards. To address the global concern that the bulk of India’s plastic waste — estimated officially at 26,000 tonnes a day — is being dumped in the oceans, there has to be an effort on a war footing to segregate it at source. The Urban Development Secretary in each State, who heads the monitoring committee under the rules, should be mandated to produce a monthly report on how much plastic waste is collected, including details of the types of chemicals involved, and the disposal methods. Such compulsory disclosure norms will maintain public pressure on the authorities, including the State Pollution Control Boards. But segregation at source has not taken off, as there is little awareness, official support or infrastructure. Even bulk generators such as shopping malls, hotels and offices do not abide by the law. Priority, therefore, should be given to stop the generation of mixed waste, which prevents recovery of plastics. Companies covered by extended producer responsibility provisions must be required to take back their waste. In parallel, incentives to reduce the use of plastic carry bags, single-use cups, plates and cutlery must be in place. Retailers must be required to switch to paper bags. Potentially, carry bag production using cloth can create more jobs than machines using plastic pellets. What needs to be underscored is that plastics became popular because they are inexpensive, can be easily produced and offer great convenience. But, as the UN Environment Programme notes, their wild popularity has turned them into a scourge. Consumers will be ready to make the switch, but they need good alternatives.

b) Erdoğan’s day: On Turkey polls

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s re-election as President of Turkey comes as no surprise. With this, his authoritarian grip will be further consolidated; in the new term, he will acquire the sweeping executive powers given to the presidency through last year’s referendum. With Mr. Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its allies also winning the parliamentary election, his control over the government is untrammelled. The elections were held in a state of emergency, imposed in July 2016 following a coup attempt. One presidential candidate, Selahattin Demirtaş of the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), contested from prison. The outcome, which was expected, is a big setback to the secularist Republican People’s Party, the main Opposition. Its candidate, Muharrem İnce, who ended up with 30.7% of the vote compared to Mr. Erdoğan’s 52.6%, had promised to bring back a system of checks and balances over presidential power by strengthening civil liberties and restoring a constitutional democratic order. Mr. İnce had attempted a new compact between Turkey’s secular vote bank and religious conservatives, in an attempt to overcome the distrust between the statist-secularists and Islamic parties that has polarised Turkish politics since the days of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The rise of the neo-Islamist AKP and the consolidation of Mr. Erdoğan’s power drew from the backlash against the statist-secularists and the economic growth in the first decade of AKP rule. A faltering economy, characterised by plunging foreign direct investment, high inflation and a depreciating lira, had given the Opposition some hope of taking the fight to Mr. Erdoğan. But the President’s polarising personality and his party’s wide organisational reach, coupled with the perception that he was the right person to revive economic growth, helped him retain power. His electoral victory will embolden his regime to continue its authoritarian policies against critics, a greater worry now in the face of his newly acquired powers. His victory is likely to see Turkey continuing with its belligerent role in the West Asian neighbourhood. For minorities such as the Kurds, the silver lining is the fact that Mr. Demirtaş’s liberal-democratic HDP managed to win more than 10% of the vote to secure entry into Parliament. In contrast to Mr. Erdoğan’s triumphalism as the results trickled in, Mr. İnce was graceful in defeat and promised to work as an Opposition force for a more democratic Turkey. A stable, democratic and pluralist Turkey is essential in a neighbourhood that continues to be blighted by ethnically driven civil wars. As things stand, Mr. Erdoğan’s victory signals another hyper-nationalist, authoritarian turn.

WORDS/VOCABULARY

1) Disruptive

Meaning: Innovative or groundbreaking.

Example: “breaking a disruptive technology into the market is never easy”

Synonyms: Innovative, Inventive

Antonyms: Unimaginative, Conservative

2) Famed

Meaning: Known about by many people; renowned.

Example: “he is famed for his eccentricities”

Synonyms: Famous, Celebrated

3) Resilience

Meaning: The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.

Example: “nylon is excellent in wear ability, abrasion resistance and resilience”

Synonyms: Flexibility, Pliability

Antonyms: Rigidity, Fragility

4) Stemming

Meaning: Stop or restrict (the flow of something).

Example: “a nurse did her best to stem the bleeding”

Synonyms: Staunch, Stop

5) Imperative

Meaning: Of vital importance; crucial.

Example: “immediate action was imperative”

Synonyms: All-important, Vital

Antonyms: Unimportant, Optional

6) High-profile

Meaning: Attracting much attention or publicity.

Example: “a high-profile military presence”

7) Acclaim

Meaning: Enthusiastic and public praise.

Example: “she has won acclaim for her commitment to democracy”

Synonyms: Praise, Applause

Antonyms: Criticism

8) Sync

Meaning: Synchronization.

Example: “images flash on to your screen in sync with the music”

9) Out of hand

Meaning: Not under control.

Example: “things were getting a bit out of hand at the picket line”

Synonyms: Uncontrollable, Difficult

Antonyms: Manageable, Controllable

10) Uninspiring

Meaning: Not producing excitement or interest.

Example: “an uninspiring game that United scarcely deserved to win”

Synonyms: Boring, Dreary

Antonyms: Inspiring, Exciting

11) Patchy

Meaning: Not of the same quality throughout; inconsistent.

Example: “your coursework was patchy”

Synonyms: Deficient, Insufficient

Antonyms: Complete, Comprehensive

12) Lackadaisical

Meaning: Lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy.

Example: “a lackadaisical defence left Spurs adrift in the second half”

Synonyms: Careless, Lazy

Antonyms: Enthusiastic, Excited

13) Ambitious

Meaning: (of a plan or piece of work) intended to satisfy high aspirations and therefore difficult to achieve.

Example: “an ambitious enterprise”

Synonyms: Difficult, Exacting

Antonyms: Unambitious, Easy

14) Specifications

Meaning: A detailed description of the design and materials used to make something.

Example: “one of the telescope’s mirrors had been manufactured to incorrect specifications”

Synonyms: Description, Delineation

15) Concern

Meaning: A cause of anxiety or worry.

Example: “environmental concerns”

Synonyms: Affair, Question

16) Dumped

Meaning: Deposit or dispose of (rubbish, waste, or unwanted material), typically in a careless or hurried way.

Example: “trucks dumped 1,900 tons of refuse here”

Synonyms: Discard, Scrap

17) Footing

Meaning: The position or status of a person in relation to others; the basis on which something is established or operates.

Example: “the suppliers are on an equal footing with the buyers”

Synonyms: Status, Foundation

18) Disclosure

Meaning: The action of making new or secret information known.

Example: “a judge ordered the disclosure of the government documents”

Synonyms: Revelation, Declaration

Antonyms: Concealment

19) Pellets

Meaning: Plastic resin pellets are small granules generally with shape of a cylinder or a disk with a diameter of a few mm. These plastic particles are industrial raw material transported to manufacturing sites where “user plastics” are made by re-melting and molding into the final products.

20) Underscored

Meaning: Emphasize.

Example: “the company underscored the progress made with fuel cells”

21) Scourge

Meaning: A person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering.

Example: “the scourge of mass unemployment”

Synonyms: Affliction, Plague

Antonyms: Blessing, Godsend

22) Consolidated

Meaning: Strengthen (one’s position or power).

Example: “the company consolidated its position in the international market”

Synonyms: Strengthen, Secure

23) Sweeping

Meaning: Wide in range or effect.

Example: “we cannot recommend any sweeping alterations”

Synonyms: Extensive, Wide-ranging

Antonyms: Narrow, Restricted

24) Untrammelled

Meaning: Not limited by rules or any other controlling influence.

Example: Self-governing schools are untrammelled by education authority rules.

Synonyms: Freedom

25) Setback

Meaning: Something that happens that delays or prevents a process from developing.

Example: Sally had been recovering well from her operation, but yesterday she experienced/suffered a setback.

26) Ended up

Meaning: To reach a particular place or achieve a situation after other activities.

Example: After two weeks of traveling around Europe, we ended up in Paris.

27) Polarised

Meaning: Divide or cause to divide into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs.

Example: “the cultural sphere has polarized into two competing ideological positions”

28) Backlash

Meaning: A strong negative reaction by a large number of people, especially to a social or political development.

Example: “a public backlash against racism”

Synonyms: Counterblast, Comeback

29) Faltering

Meaning: Lose strength or momentum.

Example: “the music faltered, stopped, and started up again”

Synonyms: Hesitate, Delay

30) Plunging

Meaning: Rapidly decreasing.

Example: “sleet, snow, and plunging temperatures also worsened conditions”

31) Depreciating

Meaning: Diminish in value over a period of time.

Example: “the latest cars will depreciate heavily in the first year”

Synonyms: Devalue, Cheapen

Antonyms: Appreciate

32) Lira

Meaning: (until the introduction of the euro in 2002) the basic monetary unit of Italy, notionally equal to 100 centesimos; the basic monetary unit of Turkey, equal to 100 kurus.

33) Revive

Meaning: To start to grow, develop, or become successful again, or to make something do this.

Example: Ministers are hoping to set up a programme to revive the ailing agricultural sector.

Synonyms: Revitalize, Refresh

Antonyms: Abolish

34) Embolden

Meaning: Give (someone) the courage or confidence to do something.

Example: “emboldened by the claret, he pressed his knee against hers”

Synonyms: Encourage, Strengthen

Antonyms: Dishearten, Discourage

35) Acquired

Meaning: To get something.

Example: He acquired the firm in 2008.

Synonyms: Obtain, Get

36) Belligerent

Meaning: Hostile and aggressive.

Example: “the mood at the meeting was belligerent”

Synonyms: Hostile, Aggressive

Antonyms: Friendly, Peaceable

37) Triumphalism

Meaning: Excessive exultation over one’s success or achievements (used especially in a political context).

Example: “an air of triumphalism reigns in his administration”

38) Trickled

Meaning: Come or go slowly or gradually.

Example: “the first members of the congregation began to trickle in”

39) Blighted

Meaning: Spoil, harm, or destroy.

Example: “the scandal blighted the careers of several leading politicians”

Synonyms: Ruin, Spoil

40) Ethnically

Meaning: With reference to birth, origins, or cultural background.

Example: “a racially and ethnically diverse society”

For more videos of ENGLISH WINGLISH – THE HINDU EDITORIAL ANALYSIS check the below playlist.

THE HINDU EDITORIAL : JUNE 25, 2018

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