Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
Kuwait fire: A horror story of negligence
The context: Forty nine workers were killed in a fire that destroyed an apartment building in the district of Al-Mangaf. Of the dead, 45 were Indians—and included carpenters, masons, domestic workers, drivers, and delivery personnel. They worked for the same company—which housed 196 workers in the building.
What happened now: The initial investigation shows that there were serious lapses in fire safety. There were around two dozen gas cylinders on the ground floor—which were ignited by a short circuit. The building used paper, cardboard and plastic partitions to separate occupants inside the cramped rooms—stuffed with more than a dozen workers. And the doors to the rooftop were locked—blocking the sole avenue of escape. (Indian Express)
Speaking of exploited workers: Indian Express published an exclusive investigation into the condition of workers at Amazon India warehouses. They are forced to take “oaths” not to take toilet or water breaks—until a certain target is achieved. For example: unloading six trucks. This includes both ‘inbound’ and ‘outbound’ teams—i.e those who receive packages and those who send them.
One quick example of a worker forced to take the oath:
She alleged that on one occasion, when she was caught resting in a washroom, the supervisor took a photograph of her ID card and threatened to get it blocked. The woman, who earns Rs 10,088 a month and has to check returned items to see if they are eligible for refund, said, “I stand for nine hours a day, and am supposed to go through 60 small products or 40 medium-sized products every hour.”
Amazon has denied encouraging any such oaths—which violate Indian and Haryana labour laws. The Indian Express story is an absolute must-read, but is behind a paywall.
An arrest warrant for BS Yediyurappa
A Bangalore court issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for the former Karnataka Chief Minister—under the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. He is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at his Bangalore residence.
But, but, but: According to The News Minute, the girl and her mother approached Yediyurappa for help because she had been sexually assaulted by her cousin—and the case was stalling out. When they were at his home, he asked the girl to go to a separate room—where he molested her.
There is also a video clip of the mother confronting him:
“Appaji what did you do? What did you do to my daughter inside the room?” Priya is heard asking Yediyurappa. Yediyurappa then responds, “She is like my granddaughter. I have seven grandchildren and she is like one of them. She is a smart child. Nanu nodi, check maadide (I saw and I checked.)”
The News Minute has a highly detailed account of the family’s struggles with the system. (Indian Express)
NEET ruling: Grace marks begone!
The context: There are serious allegations of corruption and marks-tampering around this year’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test—the common medical entrance exam. One key issue: The inexplicable decision to award grace marks to 1,563 students—because they allegedly got less time to complete the paper. A claim that could not be verified. All of this was explained in yesterday’s Big Story.
What happened now: The Supreme Court was getting ready to hear petitions challenging the grace marks—when the union government cancelled them. These students now have the option to either sit for a retest, or accept a lower score minus the grace marks. The re-examination is likely to be held on June 23. As for the separate allegation of paper leaks, the SC has asked the National Testing Agency (NTA) to file its response in two weeks. (The Hindu)
Musk wins the battle of the big salary
Tesla shareholders voted in favour of giving the company CEO a staggering compensation of $56 billion—the largest for any company chief executive in the US. They chose to do so even though a Delaware judge has blocked the pay package—saying: “...Musk was uniquely motivated by ambitious goals and that Tesla desperately needed Musk to succeed in its next stage of development, but these facts do not justify the largest compensation plan in the history of public markets.” Investors also approved moving Tesla’s legal home from Delaware to Texas—to protect him from other such lawsuits. And they agreed to reappoint two of his loyalists as board members: James Murdoch and Kimbal Musk, Elon’s brother.
Why any of this matters: The vote in one sense is meaningless—it can’t override the judge’s ruling—which Musk has appealed. But it has great symbolic value:
The vote was widely seen as a referendum on Musk’s leadership during a time of great upheaval for Tesla, which has seen its stock price slide on news of shrinking sales, softening demand, and declining revenue.
Point to note: Musk owes his victory to a large number of mom-and–pop investors—who stayed in his corner. (The Verge)
Meanwhile at X: All your ‘likes’ are now private—and will not be visible to your followers. The reason:
Public likes are incentivizing the wrong behaviour. For example, many people feel discouraged from liking content that might be ‘edgy’ in fear of retaliation from trolls, or to protect their public image. Soon you’ll be able to ‘like’ without worrying who might see it.”
It also allows the algorithm to get a more accurate sense of the content that appeals to you. In September, X gave Premium users the option to hide their likes tab, so that they could “keep spicy likes private.” Reminder: This comes on the heels of a decision to greenlight adult content on the platform—perhaps to become a competitor to OnlyFans. (NBC News)
War on Gaza: The latest update
Israel attacks Al-Mawasi: On Thursday, Israeli tanks bombarded the Al-Mawasi area of Rafah by land, air, and sea. Navy boats were used to fire heavy machine guns, which forced many families to flee their homes and tents in darkness. No casualties have been reported yet.
Why this matters: This area was designated as a “humanitarian area in all announcements and maps published by the Israeli army” since it invaded Rafah in May. About 550,000 people are now in Al-Mawasi—which was already filled with displaced people, before civilians in Rafah were ordered to move there.
The suspicious bit: Israeli forces denied that they attacked this humanitarian zone, but said they were “continuing intelligence-based, targeted operations on Rafah”—adding that the military had struck 45 targets across the strip in the past day. FYI: The US is still negotiating a ceasefire with Israeli officials and Hamas. (Reuters)
A terrible stat: According to the media office in Gaza, 15,694 Palestinian children have been killed in the strip since October 7. A reminder: The total death toll has also crossed 37,000.
Gender gap is getting wider in India
We seem to be going backwards on gender equity. India dropped two places to #129 on this year’s Global Gender Gap Index. Worse, the amount Indian women earn for every Rs 100 earned by men has fallen—from Rs 46 in 2012 to Rs 39.8 in 2023. In our neck of the woods, we trail Bangladesh (#99), Nepal (#111), Sri Lanka (#125), and Bhutan (#124). FYI: Iceland has been #1 on the index for a decade—followed by Finland, Norway, New Zealand, and Sweden. At the very bottom: Sudan. (The Wire)
Look: It’s a splainer easter egg!
Editor’s note: Every once in a while, we drop something funny, whimsical or beautiful in an unexpected part of the edition. Our last easter egg was a striking self portrait by Korean-American painter Sasha Gordon—called ‘Trimmings’—that challenges body ideals with impish humour.
Today, we have this devastating poem by Andrea Cohen—unearthed by columnist Raja Sen:
I tell my mother
I’ve won the Nobel prize
Again? she says. Which
discipline this time?
It’s a little game
we play: I pretend
I’m somebody, she
pretends she isn’t dead.
India’s dangerous pollution levels: Two stories
One: According to a new study, India contributed 11% of the global emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in 2020—making it second only to China (16%). Most of it comes from fertilisers—which get an 80% subsidy in India. Reminder: N2O is 273 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2)—and stays in the atmosphere for longer. Although there is more CO2 pollution, it may be more urgent to tackle nitrous oxide. (The Hindu, paywall, NDTV)
Two: According to a new study, PM 2.5 pollution caused 135 million premature deaths between 1980 and 2020. This is the tiniest and most dangerous particulate matter that can infiltrate human lungs. Smaller the particles, and the more prolonged the exposure, the more hazardous they are to human health. South Asian countries were among the worst affected. China (49 million) had the most premature deaths—followed by India (26.1 million). (DownToEarth)
A super-speedy UTI test
A new test can identify a bacterial infection in the urinary tract in just 15 minutes. And it can suggest the correct antibiotic treatment within 45 minutes! Here’s how it works:
It starts with a urine sample, which is squirted into a cartridge containing tiny doses of five different antibiotics and placed inside a machine… The machine then uses microscopy to monitor how any bacteria grow in the presence of the different drugs.
The test has won the Longitude prize of £8 million ($10 million)—which recognises innovations that tackle challenges of “gargantuan proportions in desperate need of real-world solutions.” This test will help fight superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics—by prescribing the right med asap. (BBC News)
One human-created photo to see
In a hilarious turn of events, a photographer has been disqualified for an image submitted in the “AI generated” category of the prestigious 1839 Awards. The reason: There was no machine involved—and yet Miles Astray’s photo of a flamingo came in at third place. Why he did it:
Astray, 38, says he was motivated to break the rules after a spate of AI-generated images winning conventional photography contests. “It occurred to me that I could twist this story inside down and upside out the way only a human could and would, by submitting a real photo into an AI competition.”
To which we say: Well played, sir! PetaPixel has more details.
