Two elephants electrocuted to death in Kodagu
Madikeri, Jul 25: Two elephants died due to electrocution on coming in contact with a live electricity wire at Nellihudikeri in Kodagu district, forest officials said.
The incident is said to have taken place during the early hours on Monday.
On Monday morning, estate workers spotted the carcass of a female elephant in a private estate owned by K Prakash Mandanna, while another carcass, of a male elephant was found close by in another estate owned by Sumanth Chengappa, officials said.
Stating that a 11kv electric line passes through the private estates, they said, the line was damaged following incessant rainfall and the broken wire was lying haywire inside the estate premises, and the female elephant, aged approximately 12 years and a male elephant, aged approximately 14 years, came in contact with the broken electric line at two different spots.
Both the elephants were electrocuted, they further said, adding that, while the female elephant had injuries of electrocution across her neck, the male elephant suffered fatal injuries on the forehead.
Forest department officials and the officials from the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) visited the spot.
"A case under the Wildlife Act has been booked and an FIR has been lodged against the concerned JEE of the CESC department for negligence," Poovaiah, Madikeri Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF) said.
The post-mortem of the two elephants was conducted and the carcasses were buried by the department staff, officials added.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
