The Hindu Editorial (​Step up) – Dec 23, 2025

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The Hindu Editorial (Step up) – Dec 23, 2025:

1. step up (phrasal verb) – come forward (for a particular cause); increase, scale up, strengthen, intensify.
2. Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER) (noun) – It is a concept that suggests that it is the
   responsibility of the corporations/companies/departments operating within society to
   contribute towards economic, social and environmental development that creates positive
   impact on society at large. 
3. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (noun) – the ethical role of the corporation (private business) in society. It ensures that the company spends, in every financial year, at least two per cent of the average net profits of the company made during the three immediately preceding financial years, in pursuance of its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy.
4. compulsion (noun) – pressure, intimidation, constraint, obligation.
5. obligation (noun) – dedication, engagement, onus, responsibility, onus, liability, accountability.
6. bench (noun) – a court of law with a number of judges.
7. Constitution Bench (noun) – a bench of the Supreme Court having five or more judges on it. These benches are not a routine phenomenon.  Constitution Benches are exceptions, set up only if some circumstances exist).
8. Division Bench (noun) – a bench of two or three judges is called a division bench.
9. The Indian Companies Act 2013 (noun) – it replaced the Indian Companies Act, 1956. The Companies Act 2013 makes comprehensive provisions to govern all listed and unlisted companies in the country. it regulates the formation and functioning of corporations or companies in India. 
10. Great Indian Bustard (noun) – large bird of the bustard (a large, heavily built, swift-running bird) family; one of the heaviest flying birds in the world. The great Indian bustard inhabits dry grasslands and scrublands on the Indian subcontinent.
11. power/electricity infrastructure (noun) – it consists of the equipment and services necessary to take electrical energy generated from things like hydroelectric dams, fossil fuel (coal, natural gas, or oil), nuclear, solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass power plants (or electrical energy stored by energy storage systems) and transmit it to end-use residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
12. regime (noun) – system.
13. enforceable (adjective) – compulsory, mandatory, obligatory, required (by law).
14. rather than (phrase) – instead of.
15. undertaking (noun) – business enterprise, venture, project, scheme, activity.
16. discretion (noun) – choice, option, preference, disposition, volition.
17. Article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution (noun) – it states Fundamental Duty for every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have compassion for living creatures;
18. frame (verb) – devise, plan, put together, form.
19. discharge (verb) – do, perform, carry out, conduct.
20. engage in (verb) – pursue, conduct, take part in (an activity).
21. conservationist (noun) – environmentalist, preservationist, eco-activist.
22. species (noun) – a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring; a fundamental unit in biological classification.
23. endanger (verb) – imperil, jeopardize, put in danger.
24. interim (adjective) – provisional, temporary, short-term, transitional.
25. feasibility (noun) – practicality, viability (to work successfully).
26. non-fossil fuel or renewable energy (noun) – green/clean energy; energy generated from natural resources (such as water, wind & solar energy). 
27. build-out (noun) – growth, development, expansion, progress, improvement (of something).
28. operationalize (verb) – put into operation; put into use; employ, apply.
29. recurring (adjective) – continuous, constant, recurrent, perpetual, frequent, repeated, periodical, cyclical, unceasing.
30. breed (verb) – reproduce, multiply, bear young.
31. chick (noun) – a newly hatched, young bird.
32. interpretation (noun) – explanation, understanding/reading, conclusion, clarification.
33. audit trail (noun) – a record of financial transactions.
34. non-compliance (noun) – disregard, refusal, disagreement, disobedience, dissent, objection.
35. provision (noun) – clause, condition, stipulation, requirement, term.
36. shift (noun) – change.
37. deployment (noun) – installation, position, arrangement (the use of something or someone in an effective way).
38. onus (noun) – responsibility, duty, liability, accountability, obligation, burden.
39. ​habitat (noun) – natural environment, territory, surroundings.
40. given (preposition) – considering, taking into account, bearing in mind.
41. infrastructure (noun) – the basic physical or organisational structure or framework that a country or organization needs in order to function properly. For a whole nation, it includes all the physical systems such as buildings, roads & railways networks, utilities, etc.
42. doctrine (noun) – principle, belief, rule.
43. utility (noun) – an organization supplying the community with electricity (or gas/water).
44. translate into (verb) – change, transform, transfigure, convert.
45. outcome (noun) – result, consequence, effect.
46. on the ground (phrase) – in the place where real, practical work is happening; in actual conditions rather than in theories; in a place where real, practical work is done.

Note : 

1. Click each one of the words above for their definition, more synonyms, pronunciation, example sentences, phrases, derivatives, origin and etc. from http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/.

2. Definitions (elementary level) & Synonyms provided for the words above are my personal work and not that of Oxford University Press. Tentative definitions/meanings are provided for study purposes only and they may vary in a different context.  

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

The Hindu Editorial (Step up) – Dec 23, 2025: