A plot to target Ambani
The police seized a Scorpio with twenty gelatin explosive sticks found near Antilla—Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai home. The registration number on its number plate was the same as that of an SUV in his security detail. According to officials, it is “not an assembled explosive device.” We don’t know what any of this means as yet. (Indian Express)
A big setback in ‘Tandav’ FIRs
The makers of Tandav and Amazon Prime India’s content chief Aparna Purohit have been charged with hurting religious sentiments in 10 FIRs across the country. The Allahabad High Court dealt Purohit a serious blow yesterday by denying her anticipatory bail—and essentially declaring her guilty:
“…[T]he fact remains that the applicant had not been vigilant and has acted irresponsibly making her open to criminal prosecution in permitting streaming of a movie which is against the fundamental rights of the majority of citizens of this country and therefore, her fundamental right of life and liberty cannot be protected by grant of anticipatory bail to her in the exercise of discretionary powers of this court.”
In fact, he said the very title of the series—’Tandav’—can be offensive to the majority of the people of this country. So yeah, this is not looking good. (Indian Express)
Nirav Modi is coming home
The absconding jeweller—accused of scamming Indian banks of $2 billion—has been fighting his extradition to India to face charges. A UK court ruled against him, saying he has a case to answer in the Indian courts but that there is no evidence to suggest he would not receive a fair trial in India. The ball is now in Home Minister Priti Patel’s court—’’while our government plans to push for an early extradition. Times of India has more on the rude things the judge said about ex Supreme Court justice Katju who offered evidence on Modi’s behalf.
A two-day ‘pitched’ battle
The five day match in Motera ended in just two days—in a bizarre 10-wicket victory for the Indian team. But the real loser may be the cricket pitch—which foiled the best batsmen on both sides, and has become a big talking point. Indian Express says that at least part of the blame lies with the players:
“Part of the scorecard told the truth; part of it hid the truth too. The hard truth that batsmen are not as equipped to deal with spin as they once were. The reality, as this match would attest, is that it’s not some of the pitches that are undercooked or underbaked these days, but batsmen. Undercooked batsmen on undercooked pitches is a recipe for disaster.”
Captain Kohli agreed: “To be honest, I don’t think the quality of batting was at all up to the standards from both teams... lack of application from both sides.” Disagreeing with him: former greats like Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman and Michael Vaughan, who tweeted: “If we are going to see these pitches ... I have an answer to how it could work ... Give the Teams 3 innings !!! #INDvENG.” Then again, The Telegraph asks:
“But do we have five-day cricketers, ones who played Test cricket with the patience of a novelist? The game has changed, for good or bad, and while it’s always played on a pitch, the pitch doesn’t get to make its own surface.”
Evidence of torture in Singhu arrests
Nodeep Kaur made global headlines when Meena Harris tweeted out in support of the labour activist—who was arrested (explained here) on the Singhu border, one of the sites of the farmer protests on the Delhi border. Her fellow activist Shiv Kumar was also taken into custody alongside Kaur. Now, the medical report by government doctors shows that he was tortured by the Haryana police. Kumar was found to have multiple fractures, torn toe nails and was “mentally and physically abused.” Point to note: Kumar was held without any formal charges for seven days. Also this: In her bail plea, Kaur said the police "beat her black and blue" at the station after her arrest. Article14 has the shocking story on Kumar.
A rare India-Pakistan agreement
The two sides have signed a ceasefire agreement—with both agreeing to stop shooting at each other along the Kashmir border. This is the first such pact since 2003. It also indicates that despite all the fiery rhetoric in public, there has been significant back-channel conversations between the two governments. Washington Post has more on the treaty.
Biden gets tough on the Saudis
The United States is getting ready to release an intelligence report that implicates the Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The declassified report will say that he approved "and likely ordered" the hit. This marks a significant break from the Trump administration’s Saudi Arabia policy—but isn’t surprising. Candidate Biden had said that he planned to make the Saudis “pay the price, and make them in fact the pariah that they are.” NBC News and the New York Times have more on the implications for US foreign policy.
The causes of Zoom fatigue
Stanford researchers have identified four reasons why those online meetings leave you feeling exhausted. One: Excessive amounts of close-up eye contact is highly intense. Two: Seeing yourself during video chats constantly in real-time is fatiguing. Three: Video chats dramatically reduce our movements, pinning us to our seats. Four: Our brain has to work harder to ‘read’ what others are saying without the usual cues of body language. Medical Express has more plus quick hacks to solve for these problems.
Lady Gaga’s dogs stolen
In a shocking incident, a male suspect shot the singer’s dog walker and kidnapped her two French bulldogs: “She is offering half-a-million dollars to anyone who has her two dogs, no questions asked. Anyone who has the dogs can use this email, KojiandGustav@gmail.com to retrieve the reward." Mercifully, the dog walker is recovering well. (CNN)
Three outer space things
A UFO sighting? An American Airlines pilot reported spotting a “long cylindrical object that almost looked like a cruise missile,” while flying over New Mexico at 36,000 feet. The airline confirmed the report and asked the media to direct all further questions to the FBI. You can hear the audio of the radio transmission from the pilot below. Global News has the story.
Your name on Mars: NASA is accepting applications from people around the world who want the next spacecraft to carry their names to the red planet. Your name will be etched on to a microchip with an electron beam—which will then be placed onto the next NASA spacecraft destined for Mars. Also this: “People who submit their names will be given a mock printable "boarding pass," which acts as proof of their participation, and a "frequent flyer" account which shows how many miles their name travelled.” (NewsWeek)
Solar panel in space: Pentagon has successfully tested a solar panel—the size of a pizza box—that can send electricity back to any place on Earth:
“The panel is designed to make best use of the light in space, which doesn't pass through the atmosphere, and so retains the energy of blue waves, making it more powerful than the sunlight that reaches Earth.”
Scientists say that one day ‘space solar’ projects could match or exceed the largest power plants today, and power entire cities. (CNN)
Artificial art is v. good
A new study shows that artificial intelligence can create art that is indistinguishable from the human kind. The 211 participants were shown paintings created by machine learning algorithms and images of real artwork. And they failed to spot the difference, so to speak. ArtNet has the story. See: Examples of human vs AI art below: A computer; B human; C human; D computer.
The big whale rescue
Experts and volunteers are racing to save a pod of pilot whales that have been stranded on a New Zealand shore. Fifty have already died, and the 28 remaining are still at risk. The Guardian has the story. See rescue efforts below.
Response to Guardian’s Qatar story
Editor’s note: Earlier this week, we pointed to a Guardian investigation linking the death of migrant workers to construction work for the upcoming football world cup. A splainer subscriber (who prefers to be unnamed) explains why they are unhappy with the piece.
As someone working in Qatar, and that too within the construction industry, I wanted to share my dismay at the Guardian article that was discussed. While one cannot say that worker rights are perfect here, they are definitely much better than many places around the world, India included.
There was a mention of long summer hours. There are actually strict laws in place that do not allow construction during the peak afternoons and fines that are charged for those who violate them. Safety measures are of utmost priority at all construction sites, with strict enforcement of PPE wearing. Even as someone in the Corporate office going to the site office recently, I had to wear the mandatory safety shoes, helmet and vest.
And as far as the construction sites for the World Cup go, even more so. Our company is one of the partners in the construction of a stadium, and the regulations at the same are very rigid.The safety requirements, the accommodation requirements(all audited by international external parties), the healthcare....everything is monitored.
The article mentions the low COVID fatality rate. There is a very specific reason for this. From the time the pandemic took root in the country, the government declared that COVID treatment would not be denied to anybody, whether they were citizens, residents, tourists, business visitors etc, and everything is for free.
The first wave of the virus affected the industrial areas and worker accommodations the most. Testing was done intensely and contact tracing was rigorous, ensuring that all those affected were either quarantined or hospitalized. Our own workers/drivers who were afflicted have told me personally how well they were looked after. How anyone with even the smallest symptoms would be monitored regularly by the healthcare professionals, to make sure that their situation did not aggravate. This is why people are ready to get tested early and break the chain. Because we know that we will be looked after well, whoever we are.
COVID testing is available for free in the public health centres and results are given within 24 hours.Compare this to the situation in England, where my cousin who works in a pharmacy had to wait three days to even get a COVID test done after having high fever and cough...and then waited another three days to get the result. And then was told to quarantine at home, unless she got breathless.
Qatar gets a lot of rap for working conditions here. But there is a lot that the government is doing to emerge from that and bring change. Universal healthcare, and that too of good quality is a core value here and completely free for citizens and residents. How many countries can declare this. Yes, the country is rich, but there is also a sense of social obligation, of giving back to its people—whether they are citizens or not.
Just felt that as a Qatari resident, and someone within the construction industry, I had to chime in with this.
