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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same...

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same narrative unfolded on a cricket field, the reaction would have been dramatically different. In cricket, even defeat often becomes a story of heroism. A hard-fought loss by the Indian team can dominate television debates, fill newspaper columns and trend across social media for days. A player who narrowly misses a milestone is still hailed for his fighting spirit. The nation rallies around its cricketers not only in victory but also in defeat. The narrative quickly shifts from the result to the effort -- the resilience shown, the fight put up, the promise of future triumph. This emotional investment is one of the reasons cricket enjoys unparalleled popularity in India. It has built a culture where players become household names and their performances, good or bad, become part of the national conversation. Badminton Fights Contrast that with what happens in sports like badminton. Reaching the final of the All England Championships is a monumental achievement. The tournament is widely considered badminton’s equivalent of Wimbledon in prestige and tradition. Only the very best players manage to reach its final stages, and doing it twice speaks volumes about Lakshya Sen’s ability and consistency. Yet the reaction in India remained largely subdued. There were congratulatory posts, some headlines acknowledging the effort and brief discussions among badminton enthusiasts. But the level of national engagement never quite matched the magnitude of the achievement. In a cricketing context, reaching such a stage would have triggered days of celebration and analysis. In badminton, it often becomes just another sports update. Long Wait India’s wait for an All England champion continues. The last Indian to win the title was Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Before him, Prakash Padukone had scripted history in 1980. These victories remain among the most significant milestones in Indian badminton. And yet, unlike cricketing triumphs that are frequently revisited and celebrated, such achievements rarely stay in the mainstream sporting conversation for long. Lakshya Sen’s journey to the final should ideally have been viewed as a continuation of that legacy, a reminder that India still possesses the talent to challenge the world’s best in badminton. Instead, it risks fading quickly from public memory. Visibility Gap The difference ultimately comes down to visibility and cultural investment. Cricket in India is not merely a sport; it is an ecosystem built over decades through media attention, sponsorship, and mass emotional attachment. Individual sports, on the other hand, often rely on momentary bursts of recognition, usually during Olympic years or when a medal is won. But consistent performers like Lakshya Sen rarely receive the sustained spotlight that their achievements deserve. This disparity can also influence the next generation. Young athletes are naturally drawn to sports where success brings recognition, financial stability and national fame. When one sport monopolises the spotlight, others struggle to build similar appeal. Beyond Result Lakshya Sen may have finished runner-up again, but his performance at the All England Championship is a reminder that India continues to produce world-class athletes in disciplines beyond cricket. The real issue is not that cricket receives immense attention -- it deserves the admiration it gets. The concern is that athletes from other sports often do not receive comparable appreciation for achievements that are equally significant in their own arenas. If India aspires to become a truly global sporting nation, its applause must grow broader. Sporting pride cannot remain confined to one field. Because somewhere on a badminton court, an athlete like Lakshya Sen is fighting just as hard for the country’s colours as any cricketer on a packed stadium pitch. The only difference is how loudly the nation chooses to cheer.

Climate of Division

Updated: Jan 27, 2025

America’s second withdrawal from the Paris Agreement marks a seismic shift in global climate diplomacy.

Donald Trump

For the second time in less than a decade, the United States has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord, the landmark 2015 international treaty aimed at combating global warming. President Donald Trump, fresh into his second term, signed an executive order to exit the agreement, characterizing it as an “unfair, one-sided rip-off.” The move, announced with great fanfare at a rally in Washington, underscores his administration’s unwavering scepticism toward climate science and its prioritization of domestic fossil fuel production.


This decision leaves the United States among a dubious quartet of nations—alongside Iran, Libya, and Yemen—standing outside the global pact. It also delivers a significant blow to international efforts to limit the planet’s temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a critical threshold for avoiding the worst impacts of climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).


The Paris Agreement was a hard-won achievement in 2015, signed by 196 parties after years of negotiations. Nations were asked to set voluntary emissions-reduction targets and submit plans for achieving them, with progress reviewed every five years. Wealthier countries also pledged financial support for developing nations to adapt to climate change and transition to clean energy.


The United States, under President Barack Obama, played a pivotal role in shaping the accord and committed to reducing emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025. But the path to fulfilling those promises has been anything but smooth. Trump first announced the U.S. withdrawal in 2017, claiming the agreement undermined American sovereignty and disadvantaged domestic industries. Although his administration formally exited in 2020, the Biden presidency reversed course in 2021, rejoining the accord and setting more ambitious climate targets.


Trump’s latest decision not only reverses those gains but also accelerates the timeline. By declaring the withdrawal effective immediately—sidestepping the standard one-year notice period—the United States has left its global partners scrambling to recalibrate.


As the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, contributing 15 percent of global emissions, the U.S. plays an outsized role in global warming. Its participation in the Paris Agreement is not just symbolic but essential for achieving global climate goals. The country’s previous commitments under Biden—to halve emissions by 2035 and reach net-zero by 2050—set a high bar for international cooperation and spurred investments in renewable energy worldwide.


The abrupt withdrawal jeopardizes these gains. Without U.S. leadership, the momentum toward clean energy could slow, as could the flow of climate finance to developing nations. The United States had pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund but delivered only $1 billion, leaving a gaping shortfall for nations most vulnerable to rising sea levels, extreme weather, and other climate-related crises.


Trump’s rhetoric, dismissing climate change as a “hoax,” aligns with his broader push to deregulate the oil and gas industry.


Global investments in renewable energy have surged since the Paris Agreement’s adoption, driven in part by the accord’s long-term vision. Wind and solar energy capacity has nearly doubled, and clean energy technologies have outpaced fossil fuels in growth. The U.S.’s withdrawal risks derailing this progress, particularly if it emboldens other major emitters like China or India to scale back their commitments.


The Paris Agreement is far from perfect. Its non-binding nature and reliance on voluntary targets leave it vulnerable to political winds. Yet, it represents the most comprehensive global effort to address climate change, fostering collaboration and innovation across borders.


Trump’s withdrawal leaves a vacuum that other nations, particularly China, may seek to fill. While China has made strides in renewable energy, its growing emissions underscore the challenge of achieving global decarbonization without American participation.


The resilience of the Paris Agreement will be tested in the coming years. As the U.S. retreats into isolationism, the question looms whether can the rest of the world carry the burden of climate leadership alone?


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