Daily briefing: Decoding cause of Kuwait fire that killed 45 Indians; PM Modi reviews J-K terror situation; and more

In March this year, Aadujeevitham, a movie capturing the trials and tribulations of a Malayali immigrant labourer in Saudi Arabia, was released worldwide. Among the co-producers of the film was Kerala businessman in Kuwait K G Abraham. Months later, Abraham is in the news again.  Here’s why.

In today’s Opinion section, S Irudaya Rajan and Varsha Joshi write about the rights of migrant workers. “The tragic deaths of migrants in Kuwait add to the list of serious risks — sometimes even leading to death — faced by migrants. These crises are a result of a chronic indifference towards addressing migrant rights, safety and working conditions. The repetition of the incidents also suggests that we have not learned the lessons we should have.”

⚡Only in Express

At one of Amazon India’s five warehouses in Haryana’s Manesar, the workers, on May 16, were asked to take an unusual “oath” — that they would not take toilet or water breaks until their target is achieved. The target: unloading packages from six trucks, measuring 24 feet each.  The Indian Express speaks to employees at the warehouse to understand their woes.

📰From the Front Page

In the wake of a series of terror attacks in the Jammu region, including on a bus carrying pilgrims near Reasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while chairing a meeting to review the situation in J&K, directed the “deployment of the full spectrum” of “counter-terror capabilities”.

Amid the row over the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Undergraduate) 2024 results, including allegations of a paper leak, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said that there was no evidence of a paper leak. The announcement came on a day when the National Testing Agency said that a NEET retest would be conducted for 1,563 candidates who were given ‘grace marks’ for ‘loss of time’ during the exams.

👉Must Read

If you think the sweltering summer heat is only becoming unbearable, here’s the real deal: India is witnessing the most number of heatwave days that are more severe and far more widespread across the country. The ongoing season is already set to emerge as the one that produced the most intense heatwave in the last 15 years.

If being vegetarian means having diets loaded with dal (pulses), sabzi (vegetables) and phal (fruits), without any animal-origin products, most vegetarians in India would not make the cut. Simply put, being vegetarian here is not being vegan. Here’s how the latest official Survey on Household Consumption Expenditure for 2022-23 (August-July) helps us explain this.

“Won’t it be cool to build one?” Cricket buddies in Chennai Moin S P M and Srinath Ravichandran dared to ask each other this question around a decade ago about a shared passion: rockets. The  audacious question turned into reality in 2024 when their company AgniKul Cosmos’s first sub-orbital test vehicle powered by the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed rocket engine lifted off on May 30.

🔴And Finally…

If you have also been wondering why the programmable six-hitting machine of this era – Rohit Sharma – hasn’t been hitting as many sixes this ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, we might have a few answers for you. While muscle outmuscles touch and timing, the pitch in the United States seems to be the villain in the piece. Here’s why.

Delhi Confidential: When former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar took charge as a Union minister (Power, and Housing & Urban Affairs) on Tuesday, the armed commandos of the Haryana Police in his security detail accompanied him inside the offices, making for an unusual sight. However, things have changed since. Read our latest column to know more!

In the latest edition of our ‘3 things‘ podcast, we discuss the terrorist attack that happened in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, the opposition to the controversial Agnipath scheme and how the government responded to it, and the postal recruitment ‘fraud’ over submission of forged class 10 certificates that is being investigated by the CBI in Odisha.

Until tomorrow,

Rounak Bagchi and Vibha B Madhava

Cartoon of the day by E P Unny