Guangzhou Asiad: India’s Olympic Dreams on Track

Giving plenty of visual feasts, with displays of splendour, grit and glory, curtains finally came down on the 16^th Asian Games in Guangzhou in China. With the successful conduct of the games, China once again proved to the world that they are second to none when it comes to playing hosts and organizing events of such magnitude. Obviously, they exhibited that the wide experience gained hosting the Olympics has not gone waste. It was an extravaganza of 15 days where strengths and sporting prowess were displayed, friendships built and strengthened and camaraderie relived. In fact, when 45 nations came together, on show was the multitude of plural vignettes: the continent encompassing within itself one-third of the global population, cradle of major faiths and various cultures…..in short, a mélange of human civilization meeting through their ambassador-the Sport Stars.

While their impeccable organizational capacities won all-round praise, the Chinese ensured that their dominance also extended into the sporting arena too. They were several notches higher than their continental competitors; not only in traditional strength areas but they could also make successful forays into new areas. Dominance showed in not only their pet and patented events like Badminton, Table Tennis, Gymnastics and Athletics, but also in events like Shooting, Chess, and a host of other games. The result of such dedicated forays and perseverance meant that the ended up with 199 Gold Medals out of a total 416 medals. The second placed South Korea could not even reach the half-way of that gold medal tally, finishing with 76 Golds only. It was complete domination and sprint from the Chinese from the start, completely unstoppable at all points in time. Unquestionable leaders at the top. Even in Cricket-the T20 version that made its debut in the Asiad-the Chinese were able to field teams in both men’s and women’s sections (Perhaps some food for thought for the people in the BCCI who run the game in our country, after refusing to send any team for the Games!!). Clearly, the Chinese stamped their wholesome authority in all disciplines at these Games.

Indian Performance:

Team India had come to these Games on the back of their glorious and stupendous performance in the Commonwealth Games at home, a few months back.  But that barometer broke in Guangzhou. After finishing Runners-Up in the medal tally in Delhi CWG, they were brought back to the earth by losing plots and gameplans going awry against the might of the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Iranians and Central Asian Republics. The Shooters, Wrestlers, Weight-Lifters and Shuttlers who reaped a rich haul in CWG, lost their way and disappointed. Perhaps, the major disappointment was from the shooting contingent, who were only saved a complete grimace by Ronjan Sodhi’s gold in Double-Trap. The Chinese imporved their tally greatly, grabbing a lion’s share of the medals in all events in this discipline. Saina Nehwal, who had promised much, also fell by the way-side. The grapplers and weight-lifters added to the listless performances. The Hockey team that lokked set for the Gold after clean-sweeping all the league games, fell to Malaysia in the semis, during extra-time.

However, such disappointments should not cloud over the other side of the story. Performances also picked up in many other fronts and these Games have become a milestone in India’s sports journey. Pocketing 14 golds, 17 silvers and 33 bronzes, India finished overall sixth in the medal tally. Pankaj Advani bagged his second consecutive English Billiards gold to open India’s Gold Rush. That Indian sport also ventured into unchartered territories reaping rich hauls became amply clear in Rowing. Throwing his oars with strength and speed, army man, Bajranglal Takhar conquered gold. Along with this, the investments made in this sport through hours and hours of practice in the backwaters of Kerala, fetched silver and bronnze medals in the team events.

Somdev Devvarman showed the world that there was life in Indian Tennis even after the Paes-Bhupati duo hangs their boots. In the absence of seniors, Somdev channeled all this energies and grit, to work through the Singles and Doubles. Making short work of the top seed Uzbek, Denis Istomin in the finals, he made history by being the first Indian to win an Asiad Singles Gold. He also teamed up with Sanam Singh to make it a golden double. He also proved that his singles gold at CWG was no fluke.

Perhaps, the most star rises in this Asiad for the country happened in the Track and Field. At the Aorti Main Stadium, India’s athletes left their marks, in what was the best Asian Games as far as Athletics was concerned. Bagging a total of 5 golds, 2 silvers and 4 bronzes, the contingent flew the tricolour high. What is more heartening is that 10 medals in athletics were won by women. Golds by Kerala girl Preeja Sreedharan in 10000m and Sudha Singh in 3000m Steeplechase opened the campaign on track. Another Golden Double came when both Ashwini Akkunji and Joseph Abraham won the race in 400m hurdles event. The final gold in track and field came through the quartert of Manjeet-Mandip Kaur, Sini Jose and Ashwini Akkunji in 4x400m relay. The Indian 4x400 relay quartets has made it a habit now in winning the yellow metal at the Asiad, with this being a hat-trick win. Count in the miss by Preeja for a double in 5000m, heart-break for Tintu Luka in 800m(settling for a bronze), and bronze for Krishna Poonia in women’s discus….Indian Athletics has really come of age and is now beginning to peak at the global stage.

After Beijing Olympics, the hallmark sport in the country has been without doubt, Boxing. The successors following the path of Vijender Singh have been countless, and the rise in the ring has been systematic. That trend was continued by the pugilists in this Asiad too. Some lost medals within striking distance; but on the whole, 9 boxers came close. Out of this, 5 made the finals and 4 had to be content with bronze. In the five finals, Vikas Krishan and Vijender hit the gold run, while three others lost out winning silvers. The haul of 2 golds, 3 silvers and 4 bronzes is yet another best for India in these games.

There were also impressive performances in other disciplines too. While the Men’s Kabbadi team kept its date with the gold, in the debut year for the women, Indian eves also did not disappoint and were crowned champions. Tarundeep Rai’s silver in archery, Virdhawal Khade’s bronze in 50m butterfly in swimming and Ashish Kumar’s bronze in Gymnastics are among them. In fact, Virdhawal and Ashish have age on their side, and are raring to go the distance in the coming years. Also, the sport of Wushu perfected by the Chinese, saw heart-warming performances by Sandhya Rani (Silver) and Bimoljit (Bronze). Medals were also won Sailing and Roller-Sports.

All these gains and results are the fruits of the constant training, proper regimen, and on the back of improved performances. The foreign training for the athletes and foreign coaches in boxing, have also helped a great deal. It also goes to what the best available modern technology, state aid and the open mind to accept new techniques can do for the Indian sporting arena.  Continuing with these resources and culling out the problem areas can definitely put India as multi-sport country rather than a ‘sole cricket’ based one. If these games have been the barometer or springboard for the London Olympics in 2012, then definitely one can say with great confidence that the Indian dreams are well-on track.

Copenhagen Climate Change Summit: India Crumbling before US-led Developed World??

The Following is the release brought out by the SFI-JNU on the Copenhagen Summit and India's shifting stances. With due acknowledgements to Arjun and Anagha, publishing this as a post

From today(7^th December), the attention of the world would be turned towards Copenhagen which is hosting the two-week United Nations Climate Change Conference that would last till 18^th December. The issue of the change in our atmospheric temperature fundamentally caused due to Global Warming is definitely of a serious nature, that can no more swept under the carpet. Any rise of global temperatures above 2 degree Celsius, according to experts and scientists would have catastrophic effects. This would in fact lead melting of glaciers, change climate patterns, and raise sea levels that would in turn make way for submergence of low-lying areas and islands, as has been feared with countries like Maldives. This would also affect the level and pattern of rainfall, leading to drastic impact on agricultural production and turn farm land into the deserts. The rise in global temperatures is brought about by the emission of Greenhouse gases that includes Carbon Di Oxide, Methane and four other gases, which severely damage the ozone layer. Therefore, the world should definitely look at the impact of climate change on livelihood of people as well as on the environment.

However, developments leading up to the global summit on climate change in Copenhagen have demonstrated yet again the sheer tenacity of the Rich and Developed countries in preserving their unequal and unjust privileges with respect to the rest of the world. In the last few months, the developed world, under the leadership of the US, has tried every trick in the book to transfer the entire burden of climate change on to the shoulders of the Developing Countries. This has been attempted in several ways. Firstly, developed countries have been shrilly insisting that developing countries take on legally binding and specific obligations to reduce their carbon emissions. This demand is accompanied, of course, by a view of the problem of climate change in which the historically dominant contribution of the developed world to carbon emissions is completely denied. The fact that different countries, at different stages of development, contribute differently to global emission levels, and should therefore bear the burden of emission reduction differently, is completely glossed over. India’s per capita emissions, for instance, are around one-tenth of the per capita emissions in the developed countries. In such an unequal scenario, insisting on an equal commitment to reduction from every country amounts to the worst kind of inequity. This view is outrageously blinkered to another important fact. The brunt of climate change, in terms of its impact on the quality of human life, is already being unequally and disproportionately shouldered by the Developing World–particularly the poorest of its inhabitants. Climate change has exceptionally severe consequences for countries that are predominantly dependant on agriculture or other kinds of primary economic activity. This is particularly the case where artificial irrigation is not very developed and extensive. In India, for instance, climate change can play havoc with agricultural activity by interfering enormously in patterns of precipitation. Further, as climate change is beginning to substantially impact the physical shape and ecological constitution of coastlines, activities like fishing, particularly in cases where levels of mechanization are comparatively low, stand to get acutely affected. The Developing countries and the lesser developed countries, therefore, is disproportionately vulnerable to the ravages of climate change.

Secondly, there has been a concerted effort by developed countries to shamelessly distance themselves from their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The principle that served as the foundation of the understandings reached at these conventions was that of “common but differentiated responsibilities”. On this principle, developed countries were supposed to take a lead in emissions reduction with specific legally binding reductions within specific lengths of time. Most developed countries have grossly violated these binding targets. (The US, of course, which refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol has unabashedly let its emission levels rise). They have also tried, over the last few months, to systematically remove these legally binding obligations from public memory. Most developed countries, therefore, pretend that the Copenhagen summit is a forum wherein deliberations on climate change can be ‘begun’ from a clean slate! The sheer deceit of such a stand has had several crude manifestations. The blatant lie that the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012, for instance, belongs to this category.

Thirdly, there has been a strong insistence by the developed world that technology and knowledge transfers to the Developing and less developed world, pertaining to emission reductions, should be subject to international Intellectual Property Rights frameworks. It is an undeniable fact that countries in the Third World, if they are to develop–if they are to lift themselves out of the mire of poverty, unemployment and economic stagnation–they will have to increase their levels of carbon emissions.

What can, however, mitigate the consequences of such a rise is the adoption of technologies that can help reduce the level of pollution relative to a given level of production. However, plagued as these countries are by economic and technological underdevelopment, their capacity to develop these technologies on their own is limited. Hence, the transfer of ‘green’ technologies from the developed to the developing world is of extreme importance. The developed countries, predictably of course, are attempting to profit from even this dire situation. By insisting that IPR norms apply to these technology transfers, the Rich countries are, in effect, insisting that the developing world and lesser developed countries be incapable of pursuing a trajectory of development. Through this insistence, the developed countries, under American leadership, have revealed their stark and cynical indifference to both the question of climate change and that of the welfare of the overwhelming numbers of people languishing in situations of extreme want and underdevelopment in the Developing World.

The position of the Indian government, in the run-up to the Copenhagen summit, seems equally shocking. The government seems to be extremely keen to accede to the unconscionable demands of the US-led developed countries. This has largely been in the form of the reversal of several of the principled positions that India has traditionally had on the question of climate change. In fact, in all the dilution and watering down the principled positions, the role of the Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh has been that of leading from the front!! The Prime Minister’s earlier stated position was that India’s per capita emissions “would not exceed” the per capita emissions of the Developing World. However, Jairam Ramesh, has recently modified this position by replacing the words “would not exceed” with “will stay below” thereby making room for negotiations under the per capita emission levels of the developed world. This amounts to nothing but shocking enthusiasm for the inequitable and unjust pressures exerted by the rich and developed countries. The minister has also announced 20%-25% reduction in emissions, while stating that this was ‘only domestic measure and would not be legally binding’. Further, the same minister has gone to the extent of claiming in the Lok Sabha that taking per capita emissions as the key standard is mistaken in the first place as it is largely a function of the population size. The concept of ‘per capita emissions’ has been central to the arguments of resistance made by the developed countries against the iniquitous designs of the developed countries on the question of climate change. To attack the use of this concept is therefore to render this resistance toothless. Further, he has offered to make India’s internal emission reduction efforts open to external monitoring and verification, regardless of whether technology transfers outside the domain of IPR are carried out at all or not, thereby deviating from one of the key components of India’s stated position on the issue. Of course, this has been accompanied by a vehement dismissal of the importance of the G-77, which till some time earlier had been viewed as a principally important formation as far as the resistance to the first world’s climate change-related bullying was concerned. These constant flip-flops and dilly-dallying by Jairam Ramesh in the past few days, and now the only goes to show the dilution in India’s Negotiating position on this issue and thereby, kowtowing or acting in the interest of the Developed World led by the US. Hence, this sudden shift in the country’s Environment and Climate Change is not hard to comprehend as it only points to the larger strategic alliance with the United States. In fact, two key members of the country’s Negotiating team in Copenhagen, Chandrasekhar Dasgupta and Prodipto Ghosh had even initially sought to not travel for the Summit due to differences with the Minister’s position.

Finally, the recent announcement of the Prime Minister attend the final days of the Summit only raises apprehensions as to whether this came under the pressure of the US, where Barack Obama would also be in Copenhagen. In fact, this is in contrast to his earlier position that if the proposed terms of understanding were unequal, he would not be a part of the forum. His decision to attend it, therefore, represents the final confession on the part of the UPA government that it has no intention whatsoever to resist the US-directed imperialist tyranny of the rich and developed countries on this issue. The series of agile u-turns and somersaults the government has done on the question of climate change have been nothing but a part of their systematic effort to dismantle mechanisms and space for resistance to US imperialism and hegemony in general. Finally, it represents a deep-rooted and fundamental callousness, on the part of the UPA-led government, to questions of the welfare of the Indian people, particularly those enormous sections of it grappling with material want and abysmal conditions of life.

Therefore, there has to be a united opposition to these positions of the Indian government. The need for all concerned sections is to ensure that even while taking into cognizance and acting on the perils envisaged by Climate Change, there can be no reversal or dilution of Principled Negotiating positions, by kowtowing to the diktats of the US and the Developed World. 

India's exit from T20 World Cup: A Post-Mortem

As Team India marked its exit from the T20 World Cup, there have been wide-scale dissections and digging up in formulating a post-mortem of the campaign. The media is spearheading in the role as the sole sentinel of Indian cricket. Therefore, it is important to analyze the Indian campaign in right perspective and take some sense, beyond the frenzy unleashed by the media that is baying for blood by calling for Dhoni's head. Any loss is heart-breaking, and that too going out unable to defend the crown is all the more depressing. So, the analysis has to take the disappointment of the fans also into consideration.

Let us begin with the negatives first. It is agreed that Dhoni and the team management faltered in the crucial game against England. But before stating that emphatically, it is also important to understand that it was only a continuation of the loss a couple of nights before at the same ground against the Windies. Some former players argue that Dhoni faltered in choosing his option at the toss and the decision to put England in was an error in judgement. In fact, they say this mistake at the beginning set in motion things which spiralled down at the end of the match. However, I would beg to differ. In their first game at Super Eights, India had batted against the Windies. But the result was there for every one to see. T20 is an unpredictable format, and teams batting first are generally never sure of the ideal target to be set. While more than 150-160 is very important, that's not a sure-shot target giving any rise in the comfort levels. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the bowlers to defend totals. But this also comes with the rider that putting low totals on the board, do no help to the bowlers. If one sees the day when India played the West Indies, Sri Lanka also played against Pakistan. The Lankans defended a total of around 150 by applying the pressure and taking wickets, while the Indians failed in their efforts to do so. So, Dhoni may have well thought that chasing was a better option, with a strong batting going down to number eight. Indeed, the target against England was also perfectly gettable. Sending Jadeja up the order is another point of contention in such a crucial match. In fact, many have argued even against his selection in the first place, replacing in-form Pragyan Ojha. However, again I would like to contend this. Ravindra Jadeja, an all-rounder with handy left-arm spin is a good pick in a format like T20. The role of spinners in T20 is getting greater prominence in stopping the flow of runs as well as to break crucial partnerships. Jadeja also proved this with his two wickets of Bopara and Pieterson at a time when the duo was looking ominous. However, the argument that Irfan Pathan could have filled that role equally with ease, is without any doubt true. But his leaking of runs has been a perennial concern now, even though with the bat, he is very effective.

However, on him being sent up the order, I feel the team management faltered. By keeping three of the best batsmen-Yuvraj, Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan-towards the near-end certainly pushed matters to the brink. The relative inexperience of Jadeja caught up with him and his failure to rotate the strike cost the Indians hard. With an ever-increasing required rate, there was little for the Indians to do than to rue the decision. Even the pressure was visible on Jadeja's face, as he tried valiantly for the big hits, but ended up consuming lots of dot balls in the process. In T20, such 'consumption' only proves too costly. This also did not favour Yuvraj, who was the ideal person for such situations. Hence, with not enough time to get a feel of the prevalent situation, the game became a quick sand for the Men in Blue. The dismissal of Yuvraj to a good stumping of Foster really hit the nail on India's prospects. Even Dhoni and Yusuf could not save the match at this point. But it was the failure of the Indians to deal with the short-pitched stuff in two consecutive matches that rankles the most. Both the Windies and the Englishmen peppered the Indians with short of length balls along with slow and high bouncers to rattle the Indians. The dismissal of Rohit Sharma, India's makeshift opener in the place of Sehwag, in both matches proves this point beyond doubt. The opposition sorted India out, with their best weakness, proving to be their Achilles' Heel. Even Suresh Raina, who loves to pull and hook, threw his wickets away to Sidebottom.

Dhoni's batting and keeping have also come under the scanner. His inability to get the big hits is an area of concern no doubt. So, is a slight dip in his keeping skills, wherein against the Windies, he made mess of a run-out chance against Dwayne Bravo. But it is not Dhoni alone who has faltered. The overall bowling of the Indians also lacked aggression and penetration. Ishant's problems in the shortest version of the game were again visible. Zaheer never looked 100% fit, which may be due to the fact the shoulder injury may not have been fully healed. R.P. Singh and Praveen Kumar never got enough chances. Perhaps another negative of Dhoni in this tournament that I feel is the fact that he did not allow his frontline bowlers to finish their quota of overs. R.P.Singh bowled one over less against England; but I also feel that it R.P.Singh was a pale shadow of himself in the IPL last month, for the Deccan Chargers. While Harbhajan and Ojha bolwed well, the bowlers on the whole gave away needless runs with wayward and indisciplined bowling. Also, the bowling in the death also remains an area of concern for India. In pressure situations, giving away crucial runs tells alltogether a different story. The batting also did not live up to the expectations of the 'Super Unit' tag. That killer punch and authority was not visible. The overall fielding of the Indians also dipped, with shoddy work on the field, thereby leaking many runs.

However, the post-mortem also has to negate certain wrong theories and faulty formulations. One of them is the fact that the IPL had a drastic effect on Indians, causing them mental fatigue and thus, tiring them out. Long hours of endless cricket with constant travelling also are pointed out as factors. Even coach Kirsten feels the same way. Some players also carried injuries from IPL into the tournament. However, blaming IPL for this disappointing show is going overboard. To substantiate my point, let me point out that apart from India-whose entire squad featured in IPL's 2nd Season-South Africa had most members in IPL. Almost their entire squad represented one franchisee or the other. However, they were never hit by fatigue and are playing some wonderful cricket. All the players have mentioned IPL as having been the best platform for practice for the World T20. Modern cricket is all about professionalism and adapting to situations in the best possible manner. I agree with Dhoni that using IPL as an excuse can never be justified. It is the individual choice of players to choose their options in either playing for or keeping themselves away from tourneys like IPL. To carry this further, take a look at the Australians, many of whom kept away from IPL this season. People like Ponting, Mike Hussey and Mitchell Johnson. Has 'ample rest' done them any good?? on the contrary, the 'rest' only 'rusted' them as they made an ignominious exit from the first round itself. unlike Indians who made their way out after Round Two. I also feel the loss of a dangerous batsman like Sehwag from the tournament due to injury also dented India's chances. A batsman at the top of the order to tear apart the opposition bowling attack, who could accelerate the team totals, Sehwag's presence would have pressurized teams right from the start. Rohit Sharma despite his best efforts, could not fit into Sehwag's shoes. Neither could Gambhir take on the mantle from Sehwag. His grind with the bat was more like the 50 over version.

Calling for Dhoni's head for this crucial loss, is again above rationality and going over-board. It is the same Dhoni who was the poster boy of the media, over the past few seasons. Winning the inaugural T20 World Cup, the series in Australia, the home series against the Aussies, Pakistan and England, taming the Lankans twice in their den and also winning in New Zealand for the first time after many years are all under the astute leadership of Dhoni. Leading the team effectively and ably supported by them, Dhoni has augmented a further leap started by Ganguly. The combination with Kirsten has also served the team well. The media, whose rumour mills were abound with theories of rift between him and his Sehwag were also set at rest by him, with the show of unity at press conference. Not fearing to call spade a spade, Dhoni may have also got the ire of the media. But the fact that Sehwag was seriously carrying an injury also proved the point that the captain was indeed right.

The time is seeking a rational analysis of this loss. Perhaps the pressure of being the 'Defending Champions' also got to India. The time now is to put behind this loss and take lessons from it. There is a need to iron out flaws too. Instead of the frenzy being unleashed, it would do a lot of good to the Indian cricket, if the cricketers are allowed to get back refreshed and more aggressive.