Daily News Capsules
1. Won’t play T20 WC in India: Bangladesh to ICC
Bangladesh on Sunday said it will not travel to India for next month’s T20 World Cup, citing security concerns, and asked the International Cricket Council (ICC) to relocate its matches amid strained bilateral relations between the two countries. In a statement, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said it had decided not to send its team to India for the marquee tournament “following a thorough assessment of the prevailing situation and the growing concerns” over the safety of its contingent, adding that the decision was taken on the advice of the country’s interim government. The ICC did not officially respond, but an official told HT, on condition of anonymity, that it would deliberate on BCB’s request. Sri Lanka is co-hosting the 20-team tournament with India. BCB’s decision came a day after three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) released Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman from their 2026 squad following instructions from BCCI. With his release, IPL 2026 will not feature any Bangladeshi players. Bangladesh are placed in Group C for the T20 World Cup along with England, Italy, Nepal, and the West Indies. They are scheduled to play their four group matches in India, three in Kolkata and one in Mumbai. Pakistan, placed in Group A along with India, will play all their group matches in Colombo. Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh’s youth and sports adviser, welcomed the BCB’s decision and criticised the BCCI for what he described as “communal policies”.HT reached out to BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia for a response, but he refused to comment on Nazrul’s statement. The relations between the two countries cratered after the formation of the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus in August 2024 following the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led regime. Bilateral ties have come under further strain in recent months, with India citing “unremitting hostility against minorities in Bangladesh” and Dhaka accusing New Delhi of spreading a false narrative.
Possible Question
Sporting events are increasingly intersecting with diplomacy and geopolitics. Examine how security concerns, bilateral relations, and the autonomy of international sports bodies shape decisions around hosting global sporting events.
2. Will use oil leverage against Venezuela: US
The US is ready to work with Venezuela’s remaining leaders if they make “the right decision,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday, AFP reported. “We’re going to judge everything by what they do, and we’re going to see what they do,” Rubio told CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” US commandos snatched Nicolas Maduro from a compound in Caracas on Saturday in a risky operation involving jets, helicopters, warships and ground troops. Rubio appeared to significantly soften President Donald Trump’s extraordinary statements on Saturday that the US will “run” Venezuela and that he would not be afraid to put military “boots on the ground.” Instead, he made clear that the US is ready to try working with Maduro’s vice president and now acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, and the rest of the ousted leader’s cabinet. “We are going to see what happens moving forward,” he said. He also gave no indication that the Trump administration will support opposition figures who have previously been hailed by Washington as the country’s legitimate leaders. Rubio said US pressure would remain on Venezuela in the form of the large naval presence in the Caribbean and an oil export embargo “that allows us to exert tremendous leverage over what happens next,” AFP reported. Rubio said the US would use an oil “quarantine” to get what it wants from Venezuela’s leaders, Bloomberg reported. “There’s a quarantine right now in which sanctioned oil shipments — there’s a boat, we go get a court order — we will seize it,” Rubio said. That’s “a tremendous amount of leverage” for the US to press for change in Venezuela, he said.
Possible Question
The United States’ reported seizure of Venezuela’s president and its use of oil sanctions signal an aggressive turn in foreign policy. Examine the legality of such actions under international law, and discuss how economic coercion, regime change narratives, and great-power unilateralism challenge the principles of sovereignty and the UN-centred global order.
3. Musk vows action against illegal Grok content
Microblogging site X owner Elon Musk on Saturday said people using the platform’s AI services Grok to make illegal content will face the same consequences as those uploading illegal content, with the company saying it will remove such content, permanently suspend accounts that uploaded the material and work with local governments as required. This came as India, Malaysia and France urged X to act after the artificial intelligence chatbot created sexualised images, including of minors in response to user prompts. The statement from Musk comes a day after the Union ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) directed X to immediately remove all vulgar, obscene and unlawful content, especially generated by AI app Grok, or face action under the law. “Anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content,” Musk said on X in response to a post on “inappropriate images”. Global government affairs at X reiterated Musk’s stance on illegal content. “We take action against illegal content on X, including Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), by removing it, permanently suspending accounts, and working with local governments and law enforcement as necessary. The ministry has directed the US based social media firm to submit a detailed action taken report (ATR) within 72 hours from the date when the order was issued. The order said it has received from time to time, including through public discourse and representations from various parliamentary stakeholders that certain categories of content circulating on X may not be in compliance with applicable laws relating to decency and obscenity.
Possible Question
The regulation of AI-generated content poses new challenges for governments and digital platforms. Examine India’s legal and regulatory framework for tackling unlawful online content in the context of artificial intelligence and intermediary liability.
4. Dera chief gets another parole, 15th since 2020
Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, who is lodged at Rohtak’s Sunaria jail, serving a 20-year jail term for raping two of his disciples, was set to be released from prison on Monday after he was granted a 40-day parole, senior police officers aware of the development said on Sunday. This will be Ram Rahim’s 15th release from jail since 2020. So far, he has spent 366 days of his sentence out of jail. According to jail officials, Ram Rahim will stay at his Sirsa-based ashram during the parole period. The Dera head along with functionaries of the sect will celebrate the birth anniversary of Shah Satnam Ji Maharaj, second Dera chief of Dera Sacha Sauda on January 25. Ram Rahim’s parole and furloughs have been a matter of contention both political and concerns raised by the families of the victims. He was granted a 21-day furlough in April last year and a 30-day parole in January, ahead of the February 5 Delhi assembly elections last year. In 2024, he was granted a 20-day parole on October 1, days before the October 5 Haryana assembly polls. In August 2017, the dera chief was convicted for the rape of two disciples and sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. In January 2019, he was found guilty of the murder of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2021, he was also convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder of the sect’s manager Ranjit Singh. However, on May 28, 2024, the Punjab and Haryana high court acquitted him in the case. The CBI has appealed his acquittal in the Supreme Court. The Sirsa-headquartered Dera Sacha Sauda has thousands of followers in Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and other states. In Haryana, the Dera has a sizable number of followers in many districts, including Sirsa, Fatehabad, Kurukshetra, Kaithal and Hisar.
Possible Question
Frequent grant of parole and furlough to convicted prisoners has raised concerns about equality before law and political influence. Examine the objectives of parole and furlough, and discuss the safeguards required to prevent their misuse.
5. Salmonella to E Coli: Lethal mix in Indore water
More than a week after residents of Bhagirathpura in Indore fell ill from consuming contaminated water, test reports of water samples on Saturday confirmed the tap water was a cocktail of deadly pathogens — including E coli, Salmonella, and Vibrio cholerae bacteria, along with viruses, fungi and protozoa — that caused polymicrobial infections leading to multi-organ failure and sepsis among patients, officials said. At least 10 people have died and 210 have been hospitalised since the outbreak began on December 25, with residents blaming officials for ignoring months of complaints about foul-smelling water in the congested locality. As many as 32 patients are being treated in intensive care units. One of the sources is raw sewage leaking from a toilet at Bhagirathpura police outpost that had no septic tank, but officials also stated that there were multiple breaches in the 30-year-old pipeline that allowed untreated human waste to mix with drinking water supplied to around 50,000 residents in a city that is consistently ranked as India’s cleanest. Samples have now been sent for chemical testing as well, Khade said, to identify the presence of any other toxic chemicals. Doctors and experts, however, criticised the delay in testing, saying the lag likely contributed to deaths as polymicrobial infections require rapid pathogen identification for targeted treatment.
Possible Question
The Indore water contamination incident underscores systemic failures in urban public health governance. Examine the roles of municipal bodies, regulatory oversight, and accountability mechanisms in ensuring safe drinking water as a constitutional obligation.
Editorial Snapshots
A. Crossing a red line in Caracas
The US intervention in Venezuela is both stunning and alarming for the manner in which the country disregarded international laws and abducted the elected President of a sovereign country to put him on trial in New York on charges of narco-terrorism. The implications of this action will not be limited to the US and Venezuela. Trump won the support of the Make America Great Again movement claiming he would end America’s foreign wars. Time and again, he insisted that his government was not interested in regime change. Maduro’s abduction by US security forces, from the presidential quarters in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, is unprecedented, even by the US’s record of interventions in South and Central American countries. Trump has since said the US will now administer Venezuela, and American firms will manage that country’s oil and petroleum resources. He has even dismissed the credentials of Venezuela’s opposition. The West-enforced rules-based order that has shaped global power relations since World War II now lies in ruins. The Trump administration’s action undermines the US’s standing as a responsible world power — the perception was an important aspect of the rules-based order — and sends out the message that might is right in international affairs. Powers such as Russia and China have criticised the US action, but these nations too nurture imperial ambitions — events in Ukraine and the approach to Taiwan are evidence — and Washington’s action could set a new precedent. Venezuela is a close ally of China, and how Beijing responds to this event will be closely watched. Under the rules-based order, national sovereignty and national borders have been red lines to be respected. With the United Nations ineffective and big powers discredited, a reasonable framework or credible platform for dispute resolution is missing.
Q: The abduction of Venezuela’s president by the US has exposed the erosion of consensus around sovereignty and multilateralism. Analyse how major powers such as China and Russia could recalibrate their strategic responses, and assess the challenges this poses for India’s commitment to strategic autonomy.
B. Taking on Trump, from the Big Apple
After taking oath as the mayor of New York, Zohran Kwame Mamdani, 34 announced that he would govern as a democratic socialist and will not abandon his principles “for fear of being deemed radical”. When read with his promise to “deliver an agenda of safety, affordability, and abundance — where government looks and lives like the people it represents”, it becomes clear why the mayor of an American city — not just another city but the world’s financial capital — has emerged as a leader whose election attracted global attention. Mamdani’s rise signifies the entry of a rank outsider — a socialist of South Asian descent and Muslim faith in the US at the height of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement — into the establishment or the arrival of a new voice that promises to force a course correction in the ongoing political discourse across many world capitals. Which is why Mamdani’s tenure in office will be keenly watched in the US and beyond. The NY mayoral vote had become an ideological contest. Mamdani introduced a radical civic agenda around public utilities and social inclusion, which is in sharp contrast to Trump’s transactional politics and anti-immigration agendas that have captured the imagination of America, and even many European nations. During his campaign, Mamdani spoke for the city’s working class and promised free childcare, free buses, a rent freeze for about one million households, and city-run grocery stores. In his inaugural speech as mayor, he spoke about New York’s diversity, food, and culture in the midst of a polarising climate that villainises immigrants and prefers social exclusion even at the cost of hurting the economy. He also reiterated his intent to tax the wealthy and corporations to fund his welfare proposals. For sure, his politics will test multiple fault lines — immigration, ethnicity, faith, role of the State, ownership of resources — and how he stands up for what he deems right will have a bearing not just on the rising tide of conservatism but also shape the political resistance to it.
Possible Question
The rise of ideologically distinct political leadership in liberal democracies reflects changing socio-economic priorities and voter behaviour. Discuss the factors contributing to the resurgence of welfare-oriented politics in urban centres, and assess its implications for governance and fiscal sustainability.
Fact of the day
Coal India opens e-auctions to neighbours: State-owned CIL on Friday said buyers from neighbouring nations Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal can now join its online coal auctions directly, skipping the Indian middlemen. The move will help in utilising the surplus coal resources better and promote transparency. Earlier, access to Coal India Ltd’s (CIL) dry fuel by consumers across the borders was only through domestic coal traders who were allowed to buy and sell without any end-use restrictions. “In a first, effective January 1, 2026, CIL has permitted coal consumers located in the neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, who wish to import coal from India, to directly participate in the Single Window Mode Agnostic (SWMA) auctions conducted by the company,” state-owned CIL said in a statement. SWMA auction is a unified, simplified e-auction system launched in 2022 to replace multiple existing auction windows (Spot, Special Spot, Forward) into one single platform, making coal procurement easier, transparent, and market-driven for all buyers. The CIL board has cleared the decks recently for this move, tweaking the scheme’s mechanism in the SWMA auction. The payment process will be transparent as per Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules, with Nepal buyers allowed to pay in INR or US dollars, while those from the other two countries must pay in US dollars, valued in INR.
