The Hindu Editorial (​Costs and wages) – Apr 20, 2026

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The Hindu Editorial (​Costs and wages) – Apr 20, 2026:

1. cost (noun) – expense, price, expenditure, charge (or) sacrifice, loss, penalty, suffering, damage.
2. wage (noun) – a fixed regular payment earned for work or services, typically paid on a daily or weekly basis; salary, pay, remuneration, earnings.
3. Noida labour unrest (noun) – the large-scale industrial protests and mobilizations by factory workers in Noida (Delhi-NCR) demanding better wages, humane working hours, and enforcement of labour rights.
4. unrest (noun) – a state of dissatisfaction, disturbance, and agitation, especially among a group of people; protest, agitation, turmoil, disruption.
5. view (verb) – to look at or consider a situation or subject in a particular way; perceive, regard, consider, interpret.
6. law and order (noun) – a strict adherence to the laws of a society, typically maintained by the police and legal system to prevent public disturbance; public order.
7. ongoing (adjective) – continuing, proceeding, underway, current.
8. industrial belt (noun) – a designated geographical area heavily concentrated with manufacturing plants, factories, and industrial operations; manufacturing zone, industrial corridor, factory district, industrial region.
9. belt (noun) – zone, region, tract, area.
10. mobilisation (noun) – the act of bringing people together and organizing them for a specific cause, such as a protest or movement; organization, rallying, assembling, grouping.
11. in recent times (phrase) – lately, recently, of late, in the recent past.
12. document (verb) – to record the details of an event or situation through written accounts, photographs, or film; record, register, report, chronicle.
13. stone-pelting (noun) – the act of forcefully throwing stones at people, police, or property during a protest or riot; rock-throwing, stoning, hurling stones.
14. breach (verb) – break through, break, violate, force.
15. police barricade (noun) – a physical barrier set up by law enforcement to block movement, control crowds, or secure an area; police block, security barrier, police cordon, roadblock.
16. as well as (phrase) – in addition to; along with, besides, plus, together with.
17. brutal (adjective) – excessively harsh, severe, and ruthless, especially involving physical violence; savage, cruel, vicious, severe.
18. lathicharge (noun) – a violent charge by police using lathis (long bamboo sticks) to disperse a protesting crowd; baton charge, police cane charge, use of force.
19. hike (verb) – increase, rise, raise.
20. following (preposition) – coming after or as a result of a particular event; after, subsequent to, in the aftermath of, succeeding.
21. realise (verb) – understand, comprehend, recognize.
22. exacerbate (verb) – aggravate, worsen, compound, intensify.
23. pinch (noun) – a painful or difficult economic situation caused by a shortage or high cost of essential goods; squeeze, hardship, strain, difficulty.
24. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (noun) – a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases used as a standard fuel for cooking and heating in households; cooking gas, gas cylinder.
25. interim (adjective) – temporary, provisional, stopgap, transitional.
26. meet (verb) – fulfill, satisfy, answer, achieve.
27. overtime pay (noun) – overtime compensation.
28. Labour Codes (noun) – the four comprehensive legal frameworks enacted by the Government of India that consolidated 29 existing central labour laws to regulate wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety.
29. enforce (verb) – implement, apply, execute, impose.
30. wage floors (noun) – the lowest legally permissible level of pay that employers can give to workers; minimum wage limits, base pay, statutory minimum pay, baseline wages.
31. as a result (phrase) – because of something; consequently, therefore, thus, hence.
32. code (noun) –  body of laws, statute, legal framework, regulation.
33. extract (verb) – draw out, force out, derive, obtain; milk, squeeze, extort.
34. at or near (phrase) – close to or exactly at a specific level or limit; around, close to, approximately at, approaching.
35. statutory (adjective) – legal, mandated, legally required, lawful.
36. contract labour (noun) – temporary workers, outsourced labour, gig workers, unregularized workers.
37. formal (adjective) – organized, regulated, official, structured.
38. Ironically (adverb) – paradoxically, unexpectedly, incongruously, strangely enough.
39. provision (noun) – clause, requirement, stipulation, condition.
40. encourage (verb) – promote, foster, stimulate, incentivize.
41. persist (verb) – continue, endure, remain, carry on.
42. rather than (phrase) – instead of, as opposed to, more than.
43. appreciate (verb) – recognize, acknowledge, value, realize.
44. job security (noun) – the assurance that an employee will be able to keep their job without the risk of arbitrary dismissal or unemployment; employment safety, job stability, work assurance.
45. limit (noun) – restriction, constraint, curb, regulation.
46. strike (noun) – a mass refusal by employees to work, carried out as a form of protest to force an employer to grant concessions; industrial action, walkout, work stoppage, boycott.
47. energy crisis (noun) – a significant bottleneck or shortfall in the supply of energy resources, driving up prices and disrupting the economy; fuel shortage, power crisis, energy crunch.
48. precipitate (verb) – to cause an event or situation, typically a bad one, to happen suddenly or sooner than expected; trigger, spark, provoke, cause.
49. recognise (verb) – to formally acknowledge, accept, admit, legitimize.
50. Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) (noun) – the central public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas that operates refining, pipeline, and marketing operations in India.
51. refinery (noun) – an industrial installation where raw materials like crude oil are processed and purified into usable products; processing plant/unit, oil facility.
52. go on (phrasal verb) – to engage in a particular activity; undertake, begin, engage in, embark on.
53. regime (noun) – system, framework, arrangement.
54. paper tiger (noun) – a person, law, or organization that appears powerful, threatening, or effective but is actually ineffectual and unable to enforce its authority; toothless entity, empty threat, weak authority, hollow institution.
55. claim (noun) – assertion, allegation, declaration, statement.
56. conspiracy (noun) – plot, scheme, collusion, machination.
57. radicalise (verb) – to cause someone to adopt radical or extreme positions on political or social issues; radicalize, polarize, make extreme.
58. insufficient (adjective) – inadequate, deficient, lacking, short.
59. neither – nor (conjunction) – used to indicate that two or more things are not true or do not happen; not this and not that, not either.
60. substantively (adverb) – meaningfully, significantly, seriously, practically.
61. bar (verb) – ban, block, prohibit.
62. civil rights (noun) – the fundamental rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality, including the right to protest and move freely; fundamental rights, human rights, civic liberties, constitutional rights.
63. infraction (noun) – violation, breach, infringement, contravention.
64. The Indian Labour Conference (noun) – the apex level tripartite consultative committee in the Ministry of Labour & Employment comprising government, employers, and workers, tasked with advising on national labour policies and issues.
65. convene (verb) – assemble, gather, summon, hold.
66. tripartite (adjective) – involving three parties; three-way, three-party.
67. facilitate (verb) – enable, assist, promote, smooth the way for.
68. agitation (noun) –  unrest, protest, demonstration, upheaval.
69. in sum (phrase) – to sum up, in short, basically, briefly.
70. institute (verb) – establish, introduce, initiate, set up.
71. humane (adjective) – compassionate, ethical, considerate, fair.
72. well enforced (adjective) – strictly applied, rigorously executed, effectively policed.
73. drag one’s feet (phrase) – to act slowly or reluctantly in making a decision or doing something; delay, stall, procrastinate, dawdle.

Note:

1. Definitions (elementary level) & Synonyms provided for the words above are our personal work. Tentative definitions/meanings are provided for study purposes only and they may vary in a different context. 

2. This word list is for personal use only. Reproduction in any format and/or Commercial use of it is/are strictly prohibited.

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