Karnataka Congress protest State,Centre's "failure" in handling floods, drought
Bengaluru, Aug 28: The Congress in Karnataka on Thursday held a day-long protest against the state and central governments alleging that they had failed in handling drought and floods in the state.
The party also petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that the situation be declared as "national calamity" and sought immediate release of Rs 5,000 crore as interim relief.
In the petition to the Prime Minister through the Governor Vajubhai Vala, the Congress leaders have also demanded an aerial survey by the Prime Minister immediately, and special grant for drought-affected areas for this year.
In a letter handed over to the Governor, the Congress delegation including KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao and CLP leader Siddaramaiah, said: "...the government of India has not yet declared the situation in Karnataka as national calamity.
No funds or special grants have been released out of national calamity fund."
Claiming that a report on damages has not been sent by the state to the Centre, and after "lapse" of weeks the union government had sent a team of officials, it said, "the study team made only flying visits to some flood-affected areas and they failed to assess real damages and to obtain the opinion of people in affected areas."
Also, highlighting the situation in drought-hit regions, the Congress said unfortunately, in spite of severe floods and drought, the state government has failed to deal with the situation and take the relief work on "war footing."
Noting that the Karnataka government has only released Rs 374 crore to meet this severe situation, it said, of this Rs 203 crore was released by the government of India as part of NDRF allocation fund of Rs 252 crore which is a meagre amount.
It said Congress teams had visited the flood-hit areas and the estimated damages was more than Rs one lakh crore.
Congress leaders including Rao and Siddaramaiah on Thursday held day long protest demanding immediate relief and action from the Centre.
Congress leaders warned that they would take the agitation to Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
Addressing the gathering, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah alleged that the government was "absent" in the State though the Congress was always willing to cooperate with it.
"Our cooperation is there but you (Yediyurappa) have failed. There is no government at all. At least now start the relief work on a war footing. If you fail, then we will take our struggle to the streets," he said.
The Congress Legislature Party leader clarified that the purpose of the agitation was not to "trouble" the government but to "awaken" them to take measures on providing flood relief.
"It's more than 20 days since the flood hit the state.
On the one hand, there is flood and on the other, there is drought," Siddaramaiah said.
Congress state president Dinesh Gundu Rao said if the government "remained in slumber" to provide any relief to the flood-affected people, the party would stage demonstration in the national capital.
Rao charged the Chief Minister with being "afraid" of seeking Central aid.
Yediyurappa had recently told an inter-ministerial central team visiting Karnataka to assess the damage caused by the recent floods that overall losses incurred was estimated to be more than Rs 30,000 crore.
According to official data, as many as 103 taluks in 22 districts are flood affected, and around 7 lakh people were shifted to safe areas.
A total of 87 people have died due to flood and landslides in the state, where around 2.3 lakh houses are damaged, of which 1.79 lakh houses are fully damaged.
More than 7.82 lakh hectares crop loss is estimated in preliminary assessment, and 35,000 km of road, 2,828 bridges, 57,000 electric poles, 14,076 transformers and 3,724 power supply lines are severely damaged, official data showed.
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Putin meets Iran's FM Araghchi, says Russia ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia
Moscow (PTI): Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who hailed the Iranian people for fighting bravely and heroically for their sovereignty and said Moscow is ready to do its best to help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible.
Araghchi, who held talks with Omani and Pakistani leadership before arriving in Russia, met Putin in St. Petersburg and thanked him for supporting Iran, state-owned TASS news agency reported.
"Russia is ready to do everything in its power to ensure that peace in the Middle East is achieved as soon as possible," Putin said during his meeting with Araghchi, which was also attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Revealing that he received a message from Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei last week, Putin asked Araghchi to convey his "gratitude for this message and best wishes for his health and well-being."
He praised the Iranian people for fighting "bravely and heroically" for their sovereignty, Iran's state-run PRESS TV reported.
"We really hope that, based on the courage and desire for independence, the Iranian people, under the guidance of the new leader, will weather this difficult period of trials and peace will come,” Putin said.
He also stressed that Russia “intends to maintain” its strategic relations with Iran.
Araghchi said that the world witnessed Iran’s strength in countering the US during the recent war, and that the Islamic Republic is a "stable and powerful establishment."
"With their courage, the Iranian people succeeded in resisting the US aggression and will be able to endure it,” he said.
He said that it became clear that Iran has “great friends and allies” like Russia, and conveyed “warmest greetings” from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian to the Russian leader.
Araghchi said relations between Moscow and Tehran represent a “strategic partnership at the highest level” and will continue to develop "regardless of circumstances."
"We are grateful to you for the solid and strong positions in support of the Islamic Republic of Iran," he said.
Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the talks between President Putin and the Iranian Foreign Minister were "useful and constructive."
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said that Russia is "ready to provide any good offices, any mediation services that are acceptable to the parties."
"We will be ready to do everything so that ultimately peace ensues, guaranteed peace, and that there is no return to hostilities," Peskov was quoted as saying by TASS.
He was asked how Moscow can assist in future negotiations on the Iranian settlement.
Araghchi arrived in Russia after his whirlwind trip to Islamabad, which, according to him, was “very productive” and involved “good consultations" with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, amid uncertainty over the second round of peace talks to resolve the war in West Asia.
"We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on,” Araghchi said in a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival in St Petersburg.
Referring to the second round of talks between the US and Iran to resolve the conflict in West Asia, Araghchi said: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations."
"Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation,” Iran's official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.
He said that the trip to Pakistan was a good opportunity to review developments related to the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.”
Araghchi arrived at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Airport early Monday, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, the report said.
The first round of peace talks between Iran and the US, held on April 11 and 12, failed to bring the desired result for the parties to the conflict.
The Iranian minister arrived in Islamabad for the second time on Sunday after a short visit to Oman, where he held talks with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said on security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the Iran-US conflict.
After Araghchi left Pakistan for Oman on Saturday, President Donald Trump announced that US negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer be going to Islamabad for talks with Iran, contending that Washington held all the cards on the matter.
Trump on Sunday reiterated that the US and Iranian officials can talk by phone for a peace solution to the conflict.
On Tuesday, Trump extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to give Tehran more time to prepare a unified proposal to end the war, just hours before the truce was set to expire.
The war began when the US and Israel jointly attacked Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top commanders. The retaliation by the Islamic Republic extended the war to the entire Gulf region.
