India has considerably more impressive achievements to be proud of.
>> I fail to see how this is "mindless hero worship"
Of course it is. Some kid does something entirely ordinary (and probably realises that is the case), and the media treats it like the next big thing and calls him a prodigy. (For examples, look at the links I posted.)
>> rather than a means to push India into the spotlight for their 15 minutes of fame, granted the story makes international headlines.
Better unknown than famous like this.