DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA JOURNALISM OF COURAGE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2025, KOLKATA, LATE CITY, 16 PAGES `6.00 (`12 IN NORTH EAST STATES, `20 IN ANDAMAN) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 AFTER MELBOURNE ROUT, HEAD COACH PULLS UP PLAYERS FOR USING ‘NATURAL GAME’ EXCUSE Gambhir cracks whip in dressing room: ‘Bahut ho gaya’ A HAPPY NEW YEAR BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY SYDNEY, MUMBAI, CHENNAI, DECEMBER 31 SHORTLY AFTER India lost seven wickets in 20.4 overs and handed the Melbourne Test to Australia, head coach Gautam Gambhir had some stern words for the entire squad in the dressing room on Monday. “Bahut ho gaya (I've had enough),” the former India opener is learnt to havesaid,notholdingbackinhis assessment of the team. Though Gambhir didn't take names,thegistof hisspeechwas about how the players were doing their own thing in the name of “natural game”, instead of playing according to the situation. Gambhir, who took over as coach on July 9, is learnt to have talked about how he had let the team do what it wanted for the “lastsixmonths”butwouldnow “decide” how they would play. In a veiled warning to players to toe the line, he is learnt to have saidthatgoingahead,thosewho don't abide by his pre-decided team strategy would be given a Head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar with Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. File RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 31 AMID THE raging debate over H-1BvisasintheUS,policythink tank Research and Information SystemforDevelopingCountries (RIS) Tuesday said there was a needtodiversifytheskillsetsbeyondsoftwaresinceabulkof the H1-B visas are allotted to IT professionals. Stressingonpreparednessbefore President-elect Donald TrumpenterstheWhiteHouseon January 20, the think tank said India’s consumer goods exports such as pharma, gems and jewellery,andmarineexportsareparticularly vulnerable to US tariffs. India should focus on skill distribution since there is hardly any potential for growth in the H-1B benefits to India as it receives 72 per cent of the total visas under the programme, formerCommerceSecretaryRajeev Kher said. “65 per cent of these visas are for people with computer skills, and India needs to lookatskilldistribution,”hesaid, addingthatNewDelhimayneed to make sacrifices in some areas where higher tariffs have been imposed. The researchers flagged that Indiaisfirmintheservicessector in the US, but there is a high reliance on the H-1B visa as a tool for service delivery. “Service delivery business models are changing rapidly, so the provision of services from BPOs, etc stationed in India may not benefit as much from the time-zoneadvantageanylonger. India may like to increase its focus on professional services and maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, and similar other service sub-sectors,” the RIS said in a statement. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 EXPLAINED AVIATION WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE KOREA AIR CRASH PAGE 9 September. Virat Kohli went chasing a wide ball in the last over before lunch on the final day of the Melbourne Test, putting the team on the back foot. Rishabh Pantwasdismissedplayingalap shot off a pacer in the first innings and pulling a short ball from part-time spinner Travis Head down the throat of longon in the second, to trigger a stunning collapse. Captain Rohit Sharma,strugglingfortouchand form, fell playing an across-theline shot in the second innings. And Yashasvi Jaiswal went for a pull shot despite the field set for Where’s India’s billionth baby? Meet Aastha, 25, an Army nurse with a dream: ‘A house where each of us has a room’ Her birth in a hospital ward in 2000 marked a milestone. Now a nursing Lieutenant, Aastha Arora’s family says she is more than just a statistic CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Under fire, Biren caps 2024 with an apology: ‘I want to say sorry’ Says only way forward is dialogue; Congress asks why PM is still silent MOVING FORWARD 25YEARS, COUNTING RINKU GHOSH & ANKITA UPADHYAY Manipur strife led to rise in NE violence: MHA report MAHENDER SINGH MANRAL NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 31 AASTHA ARORA insists her life is more than a statistic. An Army nurse at a base hospital in Guwahati, in 2000, she was declared India’s billionth baby, her birth at New Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on May 11 that year celebrated as a milestone in the country's demographic journey. In the 25 years since then, the country has added at least 400,000 babies to the population count and the debate has movedfromdemographicdividendtowhetherthecountry’s growth has kept pace with aspirations of the youth. But Aastha’s own journey, her family and friends say, is much more than the “Google baby” tag that she has carried with her over the last 25 years. Shewouldmuchrathercelebrate other, more personal, milestones. Like her 25th birthday on May 11, 2025, which she plans to mark by dancing to her favourite BPraak music or watching a Varun Dhawan action film. Or the other big moment in her itlateintheevening,finallysinking Team India at Melbourne. Multiple sources in Indian crickethavesaidtheatmosphere in the dressing room is far from ideal. There has been some tensioninthecampforawhilenow, in fact, since before the first Test in Australia. It’s learnt that Gambhir had pressed for the inclusion of Cheteshwar Pujara, the out-of-favour Test specialist with 100 matches behind him, but the selectors shot it down. Even after the Perth Test that India won, Gambhir was still talking about Pujara, it’s learnt. MANIPUR CM ASKS ALL TO FORGIVE, FORGET NEW YEAR POSTCARDS In Trump era, look beyond IT for H-1B visas: Think tank RIS “thank you”. With the team trailing 1-2 in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy and qualification for the World Test Championship final looking tough, Gambhir has drawn the line. Clearly, he has had enough. Sources said Gambhir addressed the conflict between intent and team interest. He told the players that instead of executing the “plans discussed”, theyweredoingtheirownthing. He discussed how the batters had been underperforming for a while now, since the home series against Bangladesh in NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 31 Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh addresses a press conference in Imphal on Tuesday. PTI JIMMY LEIVON & SUKRITA BARUAH IMPHAL, GUWAHATI, DEC 31 INSIDE From the family album: Aastha at home in Najafgarh, Delhi; The Indian Express report of her birth in the edition dated May 12, 2000 IC-814 HOSTAGE TO BIRTH OF A STATE career as a nursing Lieutenant in the Army — when she called her family after helping a soldier get back on his feet. “The patient had been critically injured in a road traffic Before she joined the Army six months ago, Aastha was a nurse at a multispeciality hospital in Delhi’s Dwarka. “She would tell us about cancer accident and had ended up with broken limbs. He was under Aastha's care for a month. Since then, her career has become her identity,” says her mother Anjana Arora. PAGE 7 CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ON THE last day of the year, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh expressed “regret” and “apologised” for the ethnic strife that has gripped his state since May 3, 2023, leaving at least 258 dead and thousands homeless. “This entire year has been very unfortunate. I feel regret and I want to say sorry to the people of the state for what's happening till today since last May3,”hesaidwhileaddressing a press conference. “Manypeoplelosttheirloved ones. Many people left their homes. I really feel regret. I EXPLAINED WISHES ITS READERS SRIRAM VEERA, DEVENDRA PANDEY & VENKATA KRISHNA B E Under ● pressure THE CM’S comments come in the backdrop of increasing pressure on him from his own legislators and allies. After violence in Jiribam district claimed 22 lives last month, there were fresh demands for Biren Singh's ouster. would like to apologise to all the victims. But now, I hope, after seeing the last three-four CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 IN A rare admission of the situation in Manipur, the Ministry of Home Affairs has attributed the spikeininsurgencyintheNorthEast region to the ethnic strife in the state. In its annual report, released Monday evening, the MHA said, “The increase of insurgency-related violence in 2023 was primarily due to ethnic strife in Manipur… Manipur is affected by activities of Meitei, Naga, Kuki, Zomi, Hmar insurgent groups.” “The State accounted for about 77% of the total violent incidents in NER (North-East Region) in 2023 (Manipur: 187, entire NE: 243)... counter-insurgency operations resulted in killingof 33insurgentsandarrest of 184 insurgents with recovery of 49weapons…80cadresof insurgentoutfitssurrenderedwith 31 arms,” the report stated. “Large-scale ethnic violence erupted between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 School numbers dip 1 cr in 2023-24; On Zeenat’s capture, expert recalls fear: ‘Did not Govt says count now more accurate want repeat of Bengal tiger’s death in Lalgarh’ ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 31 FOR THE FIRST time in many years, enrolment of students in schools, as per a UDISE+ report, has declined by over a crore in 2022-23and2023-24compared to an average of about 26 crore everyyearoverthepreviousfour years,withthedropbeingattributedbyofficialstoimproveddata collection methods that eliminated duplicate entries. UDISE is India's most com- TOTAL SCHOOL ENROLMENT 2023-24 24.80 cr 2022-23 25.18 cr 2021-22 26.52 cr 2020-21 26.44 cr 2019-20 26.45 cr 2018-19 26.03 cr Average total enrolment for 2018-19 to 2021-22 is 26.36 cr Source: UDISE+ report prehensive database on school education, and serves as a crucialtoolformonitoringandevaluating the quality of education from pre-primary to higher secondary levels. This report is prepared by the Education Ministry based on data fed directly by the states on parameters such as enrolment, number of teachers, and number of schools. The latest report shows that schoolenrolmentstayedabove26 crore from 2018-19 to 2021-22, withslightincreasesofafewlakh CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 RAVIK BHATTACHARYA KOLKATA, DECEMBER 30 Tracking tigress Zeenat since it entered West Bengal from Jharkhand, 58-year-old Mrintunjay Biswas had only one thinginmind—toavoidarepeat of an incident in 2018, when villagers killed a Royal Bengal tiger in Lalgarh. When Zeenat was finally sedated and caged, it had been 21 days since the tigress left Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha Mrityunjoy Biswas (second from right), deputy ranger of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve, and his team. Express and entered West Bengal after crossing Jharkhand. It had covered over 30 km. Biswas,DeputyRangerof the Sunderban Tiger Reserve and an expert in trapping and tranquilising tigers, was called in by the West Bengal government. In April 2018, after forest department officials failed to capture a tiger for over a month in Lalgarhof Jhargamdistrict,itwas hunted and killed by villagers there.“Theonlythingattheback of my mind was that the Lalgarh incident should not be repeated. That innocent tiger was hunted down by locals as we failed to capture it. At the start of the op- eration in West Bengal, our seniors held a meeting and I was reminded of the Lalgarh incident. We were under pressure,” Biswas told The Indian Express over the phone. OnDecember20,Biswasand his team were called in from the Sunderbans to Jhargram. This CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘TIGRESS HANDED OVER TO ODISHA’: OFFICIALS PAGE 6 World starts waking up to Indian coffee, exports cross $1 bn first time PAGE 1 ANCHOR RAVI DUTTA MISHRA NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 31 TRADITIONALLY A tea exporter, India is making significant inroads into the global coffee export market with total exports during the current financial year uptoNovembercrossingthe$1billionmarkforthefirsttime,according to data from Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Thesharpgrowthispartlyat- tributed to a surge in Robusta coffee prices, which account for over 40 per cent of global production, and partly due to stocking ahead of the European Union’s new deforestation regulation that could raise the cost of coffee as well as several other agricultural exports to the EU. India’s coffee exports rose to a record high of $1,146.9 million between April and November in FY24, compared to $803.8 million during the same period last year, registering a 29 per cent rise. This figure is nearly double the exports during the same periodinFY21,whichstoodat$460 million. Global Robusta prices have soared to multi-decade highs duetosupplyissuesinmajorcoffee-producing countries like Vietnam and Brazil. According to news agency Reuters, the price of Robusta beanspeakedat$4,667permetric ton on the London-based ICE Futures Europe market in June, marking a 63 per cent increase this year alone. Notably,India’sexportsof tea saw little change despite expectations of gaining new markets following the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, one of the largest tea exporters in the world. A government official said INDIA’S COFFEE EXPORTS (April - Nov) ■ Exports($million) 2020-21 2021-22 460.7 621.5 2022-23 765.6 2023-24 803.8 2024-25 1,146.9 Source: Commerce Ministry/ CMIE that Indian coffee managed to capturethe“premiumsegment” of the export market unlike in the case of tea. A report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) earlier this month highlighted that drought and high temperatures in Brazil during thefruitdevelopmentandfilling period caused Arabica and Robusta yields to fall below initial projections. With nearly flat output, Brazil’s coffee bean exports are forecast to drop by 2.6 million bags to 40.5 million, primarily due to last year’s inventory drawdown, which reduced total supplies. Notably, Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer, contributing about 40 per cent of global production. Meanwhile, Vietnam, the second-largest coffee producer, has also reported lower production forecasts. Although Vietnam’s coffee production is expected to recover by 2.6 million bags to 30.1 million, it will still remain below the record cropof 2021/22,accordingtothe USDA. Coffee Board data showed that Chikkamagaluru, Kodagu and Hassan in Karnataka with 2,48,020 MTs during 2022-23 is the largest producer of Arabica and Robusta coffee. Kerala comes a distinct second at 72,425 MTs followed by Tamil Nadu at 18,700 MTs. “The beginning of the rainy season started dry and was followed by below-average precipitation and temperatures in many major growing areas. While similar conditions reduced yields and output in the past two harvests, growers responded to higher coffee prices this year by picking as much as possible, including smaller, less profitable cherries. Bean exports are forecast to rebound by 1.8 million bags to 24.4 million due to higher available supplies,” the USDA report stated. Official data revealed that India’s top export destination between April and November this year was the European Union, with Italy, Belgium, and Germany accounting for nearly CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Kolkata