Daily Editorials Snapshot & FREE Vocabulary PDF – 26 November 2025

The Hindu Editorials snapshot

Editorial 1

Drop shot in Sydney: On Indian badminton

For Indian badminton, 2025 has been challenging with fluctuating form and few notable successes outside the doubles bronze by Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty at the World Championships. Lakshya Sen’s recent triumph at the Australian Open Super 500 in Sydney, defeating Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 21-15, 21-11 in a 38-minute final, brought much-needed encouragement. Though not the highest tier tournament, Sen’s victory marked his first title of the year and ended a series of setbacks, including injuries and early losses that saw him fall in rankings. His rigorous semi-final win over world number 6 Chou Tien Chen showcased his resilience. However, beyond these few stars, India faces a supply gap with no other players in the top 10 of any discipline. While young players like Ayush Shetty and Tanvi Sharma show promise, the seamless rise of juniors like P.V. Sindhu post-Saina Nehwal remains elusive. The Badminton Association of India’s focus on training at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati and hosting international events, including the upcoming 2026 World Championships in Delhi, aims to revive India’s standing with a crop of medal contenders.

Editorial 2

Losing the plot: On North India’s air quality issue

On November 24, the Delhi government faced a small peaceful protest near India Gate about the city’s air quality index (AQI) near 400, responding with heavy police presence, raising concerns about prioritising political image over public safety. Delhi’s severely polluted winter air is part of a continuous contaminated zone extending from Islamabad to Bihar caused by emissions from industry, power, transport, and agriculture circulating in this shared airshed. This pollution crisis affects a broad region but is often seen as only Delhi’s problem. While Delhi’s middle class traditionally copes with air purifiers and avoiding outdoor activity, recent public protests signify growing frustration met more with policing than dialogue. The Commission for Air Quality Management, mandated to coordinate emissions control across central, state, and municipal agencies, has not yet matched the scale of the crisis. Long-term improvement requires time-bound sectoral plans, real enforcement, phasing out or retrofitting old polluting plants, supporting cleaner technologies, and offering alternatives to harmful practices like crop residue burning by farmers. Lasting change demands courageous political will and collaboration with citizens, not intimidation.

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The Indian Express Editorials snapshot

Editorial 3

Funny thing about AI: LLM can’t LOL

A new study by Cardiff University and Ca’ Foscari University found that Large Language Models (LLMs) struggle to truly understand humor, such as puns. For example, AI could recognize the structure of jokes like “I used to be a comedian, but my life became a joke,” but missed the essence of humor itself. Despite AI’s ability to mimic human tasks like creating art, writing scripts, and even engaging in online interactions, it falls short at grasping the subtleties of comedy. Concerns about AI overtaking human creativity are rising, with incidents like the 2023 Hollywood Writers Guild strike demanding protections against AI use, and legal challenges in Germany and lawsuits over data use in AI training. However, the study’s finding that AI cannot “crack up” like humans offers comfort. While AI can simulate many human behaviors, the genuine experience of humor, shared laughter, and bonding over funny moments remains uniquely human.

Editorial 4

​Cars are the culprit for Delhi’s pollution. Greening them is the challenge

Vehicular emissions have been identified since the late 1990s as the primary source of Delhi’s toxic air. The Supreme Court’s 2001 directive moved public transport to CNG, improving air quality temporarily, but the rise in private vehicles soon offset these gains. Despite consensus on targeting transport for pollution control, policies have been inconsistent. Recently, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister chaired a meeting directing NCR states to enforce measures like penalising non-compliant private vehicles and accelerating electric vehicle adoption. Personal vehicles remain necessary given unreliable public transport and soaring average trip lengths in the NCR, which have increased by 81% over 20 years. Although Delhi’s metro and electric bus fleet have expanded, public transport cannot keep up with urban sprawl, and bus numbers remain below Supreme Court targets. High congestion contributes significantly to pollution, increasing emissions up to sevenfold. The Delhi government promises enhanced public transport, but behavioral change requires visible government commitment. Urgent, practical steps like reducing dust pollution must accompany the shift toward sustainable mobility.​

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