Learn Vocab With Daily News Articles For Govt Exams: 8th May

If we speak of hot topics like career, education and a propitious life, the English Language is ineluctable. In Exams like SSC CPO and and SSC CGL where dealing with English and General Awareness Section is mandatory, reading this way is beneficial. If you find it arduous to learn new words in a plain mode, ADDA247 is here to buttress your learning skills in a more fun and productive way.

Taking felicitous snippet from well reputed newspaper editorials, our motive is not just to make you learn the English language but keep you updated with the current affairs and events across the world which are important from the govt exams point of view. Either you are a job aspirant or a working person or just want to outsmart others, this is a befitting platform to expedite your performance thoroughly.

INDIA’S DIRTY DOZEN


The Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) may have adequate reasons to work up lather over a WHO report that lists Patiala among the world’s 20 worst polluted cities. The PPCB’s (1) beef is that the WHO picked on just one measure of air pollutant concentrations-particulate matter pollution (PPM) of 2.5- and it may well be correct. But there can’t be any argument with the rising trend of deaths due to pollution estimated at 6 lakh every year in India due to fine PPM in the air. Some years back, Khanna from Punjab was among the 20 cities in the WHO’s hall of (2) infamy.


Pollution knows no state boundaries. The country needs to first admit that urban pollution is beyond all liveable (3) norms. It needs no (4) iteration that the high concentration of suspended matter in the air leads to allergies and cardiovascular diseases, ultimately contributing to erosion of household income and loss of crores of workdays. The standard fare of tougher emission standards for industry and automobiles have prevented the problem from taking a turn for the worse. But millions of Indians are heading for premature death or avoidable illness because of a host of reasons of which high PPM is one.

The promise of 100 smart cities had raised visions of a (5) comprehensive effort at unitedly tackling pollution’s multiple sources. That vision has since suffered a (6) meltdown. It is encouraging that Punjab is taking serious steps to (7) curb (8) stubble burning. Like all states, its pollution control board has a wide remit: from controlling modified silencers on bikes to thermal plant pollution. Regulators from the (9) apex court to state PCBs have been actively engaged in checking pollution from all possible sources. But for the longer term, the Centre needs to implement its targets for green energy. India must move beyond (10) rhetorical flourishes to actually give a good quality of life to its citizens.


1. BEEF (noun) : उलाहना
Meaning: an expression of dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment.
Synonyms: bleat, carp, complaint, fuss, grievance, gripe, grouch, grumble, lament, moan, squawk, wail, whimper.
Antonyms: commendation, compliment, plaudit, acclaim, applause, praise, approval, endorsement.

2. INFAMY (noun) : बदनामी
Meaning: the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed.
Synonyms: notoriety, ill repute, ill fame, disgrace, discredit, shame, dishonor, ignominy, scandal, censure, blame, disapprobation, condemnation, contempt.
Antonyms: admiration, appreciation, estimation, regard, reverence, fame, glory, renown, repute, esteem, honor, respect.


3. NORM (noun) : आदर्श
Meaning: something that is usual, typical, or standard.
Synonyms: standard, usual, normal, typical, average, the rule, predictable, unexceptional.
Antonyms: abnormality, anomaly, deviation, exception, rarity.

4. ITERATION (noun) : पुनरावृत्ति
Meaning: the action or a process of repeating.
Synonyms: duplication, redo, reduplication, reiteration, renewal, repetition, replay, replication, reprise.

5. COMPREHENSIVE (adjective) : सविस्तार
Meaning: covering everything or all important points.
Synonyms: inclusive, complete, thorough, extensive, overarching, exhaustive, in-depth, far-reaching, radical, compendious, omnibus.
Antonyms: circumscribed, limited, narrow, restricted, specialized, exact, precise, incomplete, patchy.

6. MELTDOWN (noun) : मंदी
Meaning: a disastrous collapse or breakdown.
Synonyms: fiasco, catastrophe, debacle, fusion, tragedy, decay, adversity, exigency,
Antonyms: advantage, aid, benefit, blessing, boon, cause, delight, favor, fortune, gain, happiness, help, joy, luck, miracle.

7. CURB (verb) : वश में रखना
Meaning: restrain or keep in check.
Synonyms: repress, suppress, bridle, tame, subdue, stifle, muzzle, limit, retard, restrict, constrain, deter, impede, trammel.
Antonyms: liberate, loosen, unleash, express, vent, permit, liberate, assist, encourage, aid.

8. STUBBLE (noun) : खूंटी
Meaning: the cut stalks of cereal plants left sticking out of the ground after the grain is harvested.
Synonyms: straw, husk, debris, shuck, dregs, residue, orts, stalk.

9. APEX (noun) : सिरा
Meaning: the top or highest part of something, especially one forming a point.
Synonyms: acme, apogee, capstone, climax, crescendo, crest, culmination, peak, pinnacle, summit, top, zenith.
Antonyms: abyss, base, minimum, bottom, nadir, perigee, trough.

10. RHETORICAL (adjective) : शब्दाडंबरपूर्ण
Meaning: marked by the use of impressive-sounding but mostly meaningless words and phrases.
Synonyms: extravagant, grandiloquent, magniloquent, lofty, orotund, grandiose, pompous, pretentious, oratorical, declamatory, epideictic, fustian.
Antonyms: eloquent, well-spoken, direct, matter-of-fact, plain, plainspoken, simple, stark, straightforward, unadorned, unaffected, unpretentious.

IMPORTANT GA FACTS BASED ON ABOVE ARTICLE:

1. 14 of the world’s 15 most polluted cities are in India, with Kanpur topping the list of 4,300 places, a World Health Organization (WHO) study revealed lately. 


2. The other cities are Faridabad, Varanasi, Gaya, Patna, Delhi, Lucknow, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur. Beijing, once the most polluted city in the world, is not even among the top 20. Delhi has climbed down from fourth position last year to the sixth.

3. WHO estimates that around seven million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air that penetrate deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system, causing diseases including stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and respiratory infections, including pneumonia.

4. The WHO report evaluates the concentration of PM 2.5 in the air of the cities studied, based on 2016 data. PM, or particulate matter, is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the air. PM 2.5 particles are extremely fine, so small that the body’s defences, such as nostril hair, cannot stop them, and they enter our lungs and even the blood stream, causing respiratory complications and even cancer.


5. Air pollution threatens us all, but the poorest and most marginalized people bear the brunt of the burden, said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO.