Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
A horror story in Hathras
Infamous for the brutal rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in September 2020, Hathras is back in the headlines for another horror story. At least 116 have died in a stampede at a ‘satsang’ for a godman known as Bhole Baba. Most of them were women and children.
How this happened: According to the police, devotees rushed to touch the baba’s feet—and collect his ‘pair ki dhool’ (dust of his feet). It was raining. So a number of them slipped and fell as the muddy grounds were slippery. There are conflicting reports on the number of attendees—but it seems to have been higher than 80,000. Here’s a clip that gives you a sense of the size:
Details are still emerging (we will have more in tomorrow’s Big Story). For now, Indian Express has some basic deets on Bhole Baba—and what could have gone wrong. New York Times has a decent overview. Below is one of the clips showing dead bodies outside the hospital. Content warning: This may be hard to watch.
Terrible airline turbulence… again!
The context: In May, ‘extreme turbulence’ killed one person and injured 71 others on a flight from London to Singapore. The plane dropped 6,000 feet (around 1,800 metres) within three minutes—during meal service when many were not wearing a seatbelt. But the sole fatality—a 73-year-old British man—died of a suspected heart attack. The flight was rerouted to Bangkok after the incident.
What happened now: Turbulence on an Air Europa flight from Uruguay from Spain resulted in 40 injured passengers—a number of whom have suffered neck and skull fractures. It was so bad that one man was thrown out of his seat—and became embedded in the overhead bin. You can see him in this clip (it’s not graphic and he seems to be relatively unharmed). Right now, we don’t know if it is the same kind of turbulence that affected the Singapore Airlines flight. A must read: Our Big Story on how climate change is making a certain kind of turbulence more severe and frequent. (New York Times, paywall, Reuters)
War on Gaza: A surprising update
According to a New York Times exclusive, the Israeli military really, really wants a ceasefire. And they don’t care if it keeps Hamas in power—unlike PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his buddies. The reasons:
They understand that a pause in Gaza makes de-escalation more likely in Lebanon. And they have less munitions, less spare parts, less energy than they did before — so they also think a pause in Gaza gives us more time to prepare in case a bigger war does break out with Hezbollah.
It isn’t clear what this means for the truce talks—but the fact that the military establishment is leaking to the Times is a key development. (New York Times, splainer gift link)
Meanwhile, in Myanmar: The military junta is arresting business owners who raised employee wages—to help the staff deal with inflation:
Raising wages has not been outlawed, but the business owners are charged with undermining the regime by making people believe that inflation is rising, one legal expert said. They all face three years in prison.
Starlink satellites are bad for the planet
Companies like Starlink have been a blessing for many—bringing internet connectivity to remote areas. But their satellites also have a shorter life span: just five years. According to a new study, when they plummet to the surface, they generate aluminium oxide which destroys the ozone layer. In fact, the amount of these pollutants could increase by 650%—due to the rise in defunct satellites.
Point to note: There are nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit today, 6,000 of which belong to Elon Musk’s Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX. Musk wants to build a massive constellation of 42,000 satellites in the years to come. (Gizmodo)
Three tech stories of note
Nvidia: will soon face an antitrust investigation in France. Tech companies are entirely dependent on its chips to run their chatbots and AI systems. This is causing concern in the EU—with the French taking the lead. What’s interesting: The big tech boys like Microsoft are already racing to build their own chips—which may turn out to be a boon in disguise for Nvidia. Reuters has the exclusive report.
Meta: is also under fire in the EU. The reason: The ‘pay or consent’ model on Insta and Facebook–where EU users have to either pay €12.99 a month—or cede their personal data for advertising. If Meta loses the case, it will have to pay close to $13.4 billion in fines—or 10% of its total revenue last year. The penalty could also go to up to 20%. (The Verge)
YouTube: will allow users to request the removal of any AI-generated content that mimics their appearance or voice. Until now, you could only report such content as ‘misleading’. But as always, the company makes the final call. (TechCrunch)
A super-duper bionic leg is here!
MIT scientists unveiled an artificial leg that can be controlled by an amputee’s brain. It is attached to the nerve endings in the thigh—and feels far more ‘real’: “It feels natural, as if the limb were made of flesh and bone. It’s as if the central brain isn’t aware the limb is amputated because the brain is getting normal sensations.” Patients using this interface can walk 41% faster and climb sloped surfaces and steps. Scientists hope the prosthetics will be on the market in five years. You can see it in action below. (CNN)
Two things to see
One: The Prime Minister made a terrible ‘Sholay’ joke in Parliament: “You might all remember the character of ‘mausi ji’ (aunt) from the film ‘Sholay’. We’ve lost for the third time, but mausi…it is true that we’ve lost for the third time, but mausi, it is a moral victory, isn’t it?” No one laughed. Of course, it went viral. (The Telegraph)
Two: Tired of those bottles of ketchup, mustard and mayo—taking up all the real estate in your kitchen? Heinz has the perfect solution for you—if you live in the UK. It’s called the ‘Every Sauce’—and literally combines all 14 sauces the company produces. Genius or culinary horror? (Food & Wine)
