All Editorials Snapshot & Free Vocabulary PDF – 15 Dec 2025
The Hindu Editorials snapshot
Editorial 1
Addressing an Anomaly: On Stubble Burning, Burnt-Area Estimates
India’s Environment Ministry claimed Punjab and Haryana cut stubble burning “fire incidences” by 90% in 2025 versus 2022—a traditional quick field-clearing method for paddy-to-wheat shift blamed for October-November Delhi air pollution spikes—via carrot-and-stick measures like fines, subsidised harvesters/tractors, and incentives to sell stubble for thermal plant co-firing. Fire counts from polar-orbit satellites (passing 10am-1:30pm) fell since 2020, letting government claim success, but independent analysis using burnt-area metrics from other satellites showed just 30% drop (31,500 sq km in 2022 to 19,700 sq km by Nov 2025), with Meteosat geostationary data confirming evening shifts to dodge detection—despite Supreme Court 2024 order for burnt-area tracking amid varying satellite resolutions. Government withholding year-wise burnt-area data erodes trust; Centre must publish promptly for credible air pollution action.
Editorial 2
Time to Pause: On Retail Inflation, Data Takeaways
India’s retail inflation hit 0.7% in November 2025—second-lowest ever after October’s record low—due to base effects from high 2024 levels (6.2% Oct, 5.5% Nov) waning by July 2026, with food/vegetables (~46% CPI weight) contracting 2.8% from last year’s 8.2% high, dragging headline down sharply. New CPI series expected Q1 FY27 updates 2012 base to 2024, rejigs weights to reflect modern consumption (less food dominance), resetting base effects. RBI’s MPC cut rates 25bps to 5.25% in Dec 2025 (125bps total for year, most since 2019); despite H2 growth slowdown forecast, should pause in Feb 2026 to assess rate cuts’ demand/investment impact, post-Budget fiscal effects, and new CPI dynamics
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The Indian Express Editorials snapshot
Editorial 3
The National Human Rights Commission Has Been Drifting. Its Directive on UP Custodial-Death Compensation is Welcome
The National Human Rights Commission ordered Uttar Pradesh to pay Rs 10 lakh to the family of a 36-year-old man who died in police custody in 2021, reaffirming human dignity and accountability amid systemic failures: official data shows over 4,400 custodial deaths nationwide from 2020-2022 (UP with 952), Gujarat flagging rises as public concern in 2023, and the 2025 Status of Policing report revealing police approval for coercion from surveys of 8,276 officers across 17 states/UTs.
Created in 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act as a check against state excesses—investigating violations, recommending remedies, shaping jurisprudence—the NHRC early successes included prison reforms, extra-judicial killing guidelines, labour rights defence, communal violence victim support, and compensation pushes, but later deference to governments, avoidance of sensitive cases, opaque appointments exposed weaknesses like non-binding powers, earning “toothless tiger” label, with 2024 UN accreditation deferred again over transparency/diversity lacks. This directive counters institutional drift with needed assertion, though no single verdict or payout revives lives, it re-anchors NHRC to defend voiceless through vigilance.
Editorial 4
Inflation is Low, but Policymakers Cannot Take Their Eye off the Ball
India’s headline inflation rose 0.7% in November, a modest uptick from October’s record low 0.3% yet confirming RBI Governor’s view of a “benign 2.2%” full-year rate and 8.0% H1 growth as a rare Goldilocks period, part of broader disinflation from October 2024’s 6.21% (above 2-6% comfort zone) to Q2 FY26 average 1.7%—first breaching the lower bound since flexible targeting began in 2016. Disinflation stems largely from food prices collapsing from nearly 10% last October to negative since June, wielding heavy ~50% CPI weight to drag headline down sharply. Core inflation (excluding food/fuel) climbed to 4.3% from 0.7% over the year, gold a key driver, warning policymakers against complacency amid volatile drivers.
Vocabulary from the Editorial: 1
| Word | Simple Meaning | Synonym | Antonym |
| Anomaly | Unusual deviation | Irregularity | Norm |
| Carrot-and-stick | Rewards and punishments | Incentives/penalties | All rewards |
| Proxies | Indirect measures | Substitutes | Direct data |
| Pyrrhic | Costly “victory” | Hollow win | True success |
| Geostationary | Fixed orbit over spot | Stationary satellite | Orbiting |
| Disingenuous | Not straightforward | Dishonest | Honest |
| Erosion | Gradual wearing away | Decline | Build-up |
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