New Delhi, Jan. 3 -- In The Beat Report, Mint's journalists bring you unique perspectives on their beats, breaking down new trends and developments, and sharing behind-the-scenes stories from their reporting.

Good morning!

In the wee hours of 1 February, 2007, Mint printed its first edition with a mission to "serve as an unbiased and clear-minded chronicler of the Indian Dream". How does such a chronicler wrap up the last 12 months as it readies to enter its 20th year of publishing?

By looking forward, not behind.

Because while those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, it is also true that history remains a poor predictor of the future. As public intellectual extraordinaire Yuval Noah Harari nuanced it pithily in ...