Daily Briefing: Tough love for Team India

On that note, let’s kickstart the year with today’s edition.

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There’s no denying that India have had a tough tour Down Under. The team ended the year with some tough love from its head coach Gautam Gambhir. Fed up with the subpar performances in the Border Gavaskar Trophy, Gambhir declared, “Bahut ho gaya (I’ve had enough),” doling out some brutal assessments of the players.

Captaincy question: Facing criticism from all corners over his decisions, Rohit Sharma will likely take a call about his future after the current tour. A senior player has already begun projecting himself as an interim captain.

At odds: The Playing XI’s selection has also divided selectors. It seems Gambhir’s decision to bring in two young players for the first Test wasn’t a unanimous decision. His demands for another player were also shot down.

An exclusive Indian Express report brings you the mood inside the dressing room.

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Setting sail: 2024 was an election year for a record number of countries. As the dust settles, new policies, alliances and challenges are on the horizon. Two wars rage on, while dynamics shift in India’s neighbourhood and West Asia. The wild card in all this would perhaps be United States President-elect Donald Trump, whose out-of-office statements have already got the world paying attention. In this ongoing series, we take a look at the diplomatic challenges India will have to navigate in 2025.

🎧 Don’t miss today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, where Diplomatic Affairs Editor, Shubhajit Roy, joins our host to discuss the geo-political events in 2024 that shaped India’s diplomatic strategy and global standing.

From the Front Page

Peace call: In a rare admission of the situation in Manipur, the Ministry of Home Affairs has attributed the spike in insurgency in the North-East region to the ethnic strife in the state. Yesterday, Chief Minister Biren Singh apologised for the violence that has roiled Manipur for over a year and hoped for a return to “normalcy and peace” in 2025.

Counting heads: There’s a one crore drop in school enrolment figures in the years 2022-23 and 2023-24 compared to the previous years per government data. Officials attribute this to improved data collection methods that eliminated duplicate entries.

Power shock: The Adani Group is facing increased scrutiny after US prosecutors indicted its Chairman Gautam Adani and seven others in a $250 million bribery case. Now, the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government has cancelled its global tender for procurement of smart meters despite the Adani Energy Solutions Ltd (AESL) emerging as the “lowest bidder” for it.

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Year ahead: In our Opinion pages today, Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes down the five biggest trends in politics, economics and creativity that will shape 2025. “These are not predictions; it would be presumptuous to claim omniscience or even foresight,” he adds.

Mercy plea: Nimisha Priya, a nurse hailing from Kerala’s Palakkad, is convicted of killing a Yemeni national, who she has accused of fraud and abuse. For years, Priya’s family with the Indian government’s help has been trying to secure her release. With Yemen’s President sanctioning her death sentence on Monday, Priya’s fate could rest on just one loophole.

And Finally…

Marking new beginnings, The Indian Express brings you snippets of hope, dreams and nostalgia. We are looking at the biggest stories of 2000, and where they stand today. India’s billionth baby, born in May 2000, is all of 25 now, and she insists her life is more than a statistic. Elsewhere, a survivor of the IC-814 Kandahar hijack took his first international flight after the incident just last year. At ITC Maurya’s Bukhara restaurant, Senior Chef Culinaire J P Singh recalls preparing a meal for then-US President Bill Clinton who was visiting India in a significant turn for diplomacy.

That’s all for today folks. Here’s hoping your year begins on high. Until tomorrow,
Sonal Gupta

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