Daily The Hindu Vocab & Editorial 12 January 2026 English Notes for SSC

Daily The Hindu Vocab & Editorial 12 January 2026 focuses on English language concepts for competitive exams. It covers the misuse of the POCSO Act and the US's shift towards isolationism. Key areas include essential vocabulary, idiomatic expressions, one-word substitutions, grammar rules, and reading comprehension, offering a holistic approach to mastering English for SSC GD, SSC CGL, CHSL, RRB Group D, NTPC, ALP,  and Railway Exams.

Today's Editorial Analysis Preview

Today’s editorials focus on two significant and contrasting issues shaping law and global politics. The first explores the misuse of a protective law in personal relationships, while the second examines a major shift in the foreign policy direction of a global superpower. Both editorials are important for understanding contemporary legal, social, and international developments.

Misuse of the POCSO Act

• Headline: Young love: On a weaponisation of the POCSO Act

• This editorial discusses the concerning trend of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act being weaponized by parents.

• Parents use it to control young couples and adolescents, often to enable parental pushback (resistance) against adolescent relationships.

• Grammar Note: Pushback functions as a noun here, indicating parental resistance. As a phrasal verb, to push back means to resist or oppose.

US Shift Towards Isolationism

• Headline: Inward turn: On the US’ impending plunge into isolationism

• The second editorial addresses the global turmoil caused by the United States' increasing withdrawal from international affairs, signaling a move towards isolationism.

• This "inward turn" concerns developing countries, exemplified by the US pulling back from commitments like the Paris Agreement.

• The term impending means something that is about to happen in the future.

• This isolationist stance is predicted to fuel (support or encourage) ethno-nationalism and racial hatred.

Pictorial Vocabulary Review

This section revises high-frequency words that appear in editorials and international affairs contexts. Each term is explained in simple language to help build conceptual clarity and improve retention for exam-oriented vocabulary usage.

• Annexation: The act of taking over territory; takeover.

• Punitive: Relating to punishment; disciplinary.

• Underline: To be the fundamental basis; fundamental.

• Circumvent: To find a way around an obstacle; bypass or dodge.

• Hegemony: Dominance of one group over others; dominance.

• Accounting for: To form a part of a whole; constituting.

• Undermine: To weaken or damage gradually; weaken.

• Substantial: Of considerable importance or size; considerable or significant.

• Anxiety: A feeling of worry or unease.

• Menace: A threat or danger.

• Eroding: To gradually wear away or destroy; decaying.

Also Read:

• SSC Monthly Current Affairs
• SSC Weekly Current Affairs

Idiomatic Expressions

This section covers commonly used idioms that frequently appear in editorials and everyday English. Understanding these expressions helps improve comprehension, contextual interpretation, and usage in descriptive and analytical writing.

To twist someone's arm:

Meaning: To force or pressure someone to do something.

Example: The coach tried to twist the player's arm to make him practice all day.

To go through the motions:

Meaning: To do something without real enthusiasm or interest.

Example: He was just going through the motions with his studies, lacking genuine engagement.

To give loose rein to:

Meaning: To give someone complete freedom of action.

Example: One should not give loose rein to their children without guidance.

To frame eternity in a photograph:

Meaning: To attempt to capture something that cannot be contained or made static, highlighting the impossibility of the act.

One-Word Substitutions

This section focuses on precise vocabulary used to express complex ideas in a single word. Such substitutions are especially useful for improving clarity, conciseness, and language quality in exams, editorials, and formal writing.

Having the same source or origin: Cognate.

Note: A polemic is a strong verbal or written attack.

A person excessively concerned with minor details and rules, or displaying academic learning: Pedant.

Note: A novice (or neophyte) is a beginner.

To show or state that someone or something is not guilty: Vindicate.

A dentist specializing in tooth pain, disease, and infection: Endodontist.

Related terms: Orthodontist (teeth alignment), Dermatologist (skin), Ophthalmologist (eyes).

Core Vocabulary from the Editorial

This section highlights key words directly drawn from the editorial and explains them in an exam-friendly manner. Understanding these terms helps in better comprehension of opinion pieces and improves precision in answer writing.

Weaponized (verb):

Meaning: To use something (like a law or idea) as a weapon to harm, threaten, or punish.

Synonyms: Misused, manipulated, exploited, abused.

Antonyms: Protected, safeguarded, defended, neutralized.

Consensual (adjective):

Meaning: Happening with the mutual agreement and consent of all parties involved.

Synonyms: Mutual, agreed, voluntary, permitted.

Antonyms: Coerced, forced, involuntary, imposed.

Subverted (verb):

Meaning: To corrupt, undermine, or divert something from its original, intended purpose.

Synonyms: Distorted, corrupted, sabotaged, overturned.

Antonyms: Upheld, supported, strengthened, maintained.

Predatory (adjective):

Meaning: Involving the exploitation or abuse of others; seeking to exploit or harm others for one's own gain.

Synonyms: Exploitative, aggressive, abusive, oppressive.

Antonyms: Protective, caring, ethical, supportive.

Rendered (verb):

Meaning: To cause to be or become; to make something be in a particular state or condition.

Synonyms: Made, turned, caused, transformed.

Antonyms: Reversed, restored, undone, prevented.

Indiscriminate (adjective):

Meaning: Done at random or without careful judgment or selection.

Synonyms: Random, unchecked, uncontrolled, blind.

Antonyms: Selective, careful, deliberate, targeted.

Deterrent (noun/adjective):

Meaning: A thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something.

Synonyms: Discouragement, restraint, preventive, hindrance.

Antonyms: Encouragement, incentive, motivation, attraction.

Coercive (adjective):

Meaning: Using force or threats to make someone do something.

Synonyms: Forced, pressuring, oppressive, threatening.

Antonyms: Voluntary, consensual, free, optional.

Cast a net (idiom):

Meaning: To include a large number of people or things in a search, investigation, or action.

(Memory Tip: Think of a fisherman casting a wide fishing net to catch many fish, not just one. It implies being broad and inclusive in scope.)

Trigger (verb):

Meaning: To cause an event or situation to happen or exist; to initiate.

Synonyms: Initiate, activate, provoke, spark, set off.

Antonyms: Stop, prevent, suppress, halt.

Validates (verb):

Meaning: To confirm or prove the truth, accuracy, or value of something.

Synonyms: Confirms, supports, verifies, authenticates.

Antonyms: Disproves, invalidates, denies, rejects.

Practice Session: Phrasal Verbs & Grammar

This practice section is designed to strengthen command over commonly used phrasal verbs and grammar concepts. Regular revision of such usage-based elements helps improve accuracy in comprehension, writing, and objective English questions.

Phrasal Verbs

• Bail out: To help someone out of a difficult (especially financial) situation.

• Talk back: To reply rudely or disrespectfully.

• Run down: To criticize someone or something harshly.

• Pass off: To pretend something is what it is not.

Grammar: Error Correction

Error: "The systemic vulnerability lie within the Act’s inflexible architecture, which scholars have argue is due to its indiscriminate criminalization."

Correction: Use the past participle after have. Corrected: "…scholars have argued…"

Error: "The minor person's consent is rendered legally irrelevance."

Correction: Legally (adverb) must modify an adjective. Irrelevance is a noun. Corrected: "…rendered legally irrelevant."

Error: "In cases of elopement… parents often files charges…"

Correction: The plural subject parents requires a plural verb form. Corrected: "…parents often file charges…"

Antonym & Spelling

• Prosaic (adjective): Meaning ordinary or dull.

• Antonym: Creative.

• Incorrectly Spelled Word: Embelishment.

• Correct Spelling: Embellishment (a decorative detail).

Reading Comprehension: The POCSO Act

On January 9, the Supreme Court formally acknowledged an issue that legal scholars, advocates, child rights experts, and young adults in consensual relationships have long voiced: the menace of the POCSO Act being weaponized by families to punish young persons, especially young men in romantic relationships with young women. The intervention validates years of alarm over how a statute designed to shield against predatory violence has been subverted to enforce parental authority and traditional social boundaries. The systemic vulnerability lies within the Act’s inflexible architecture. Scholars have argued that by establishing a rigid age of consent at 18 years and applying strict liability in which the minor person’s consent is rendered legally irrelevant, POCSO casts an indiscriminate net on those it deems to be offenders. Together with its stringent provisions and mandatory minimum sentences, which are intended to deter heinous offenders, the Act is easily manipulated by disapproving families. In cases of elopement crossing cast or religious lines, parents often file charges of kidnapping and sexual assault. This triggers the Act if the woman is under 18. As a result, in the current framework, a consensual adolescent relationship is hard to distinguish from coercive abuse, allowing families to use the state’s punitive machinery against partners they consider unsuitable.

Comprehension Questions

What was the original purpose of the POCSO Act?

Answer: To protect children from predatory violence.

How do parents misuse the Act in elopement cases?

Answer: By filing false charges of kidnapping and sexual assault.

What makes the POCSO Act vulnerable to misuse?

Answer: Its rigid age of consent and strict liability provisions.

What does "weaponized" mean in this context?

Answer: Using the law as a tool to harm or punish someone.

Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?

Answer: "The Act clearly differentiates between consensual relationships and coercive abuse." (The passage states it's hard to distinguish).