Congress leaders pay tributes to Rajiv Gandhi on death anniversary; call him 'great son of India'
New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and members of the Gandhi family on Sunday paid homage to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among a large number of party leaders who paid their tributes at Veer Bhumi, the memorial of Rajiv Gandhi.
Sharing a video of his father on Twitter, Rahul Gandhi said, "Papa, you are with me, as an inspiration, in memories, always."
Kharge also shared a video on the former prime minister's life on Twitter.
"Rajiv Gandhi was a great son of India. Through multiple interventions such as lowering of voting age, strengthening Panchayati Raj, Telecom & IT revolution, and sustained peace accords, he transformed India, propelling it in 21st century. Our humble homage on his martyrdom day," he said in a tweet.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said one of the last major accomplishments of Rajiv Gandhi before his assassination on this day, 32 years ago, was the finalisation of the Congress party's manifesto for the 1991 Lok Sabha elections. He spent many hours on it.
"In July 1991, when Dr Manmohan Singh as FM was criticised for ushering in economic reforms, he would quote frequently from this manifesto, which in many ways bore Rajiv Gandhi's personal imprint.
"His contributions for taking India into the IT age were also distinctive contributions. He wooed GE and Texas Instruments to kickstart software exports. As also his battle for giving Constitutional status to panchayats and nagarpalikas a truly transformational move," Ramesh said on Twitter.
Several other leaders also remembered the former prime minister on his death anniversary.
India's prime minister between 1984 and 1989, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by LTTE terrorists at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu in 1991 during an election campaign.
पूर्व प्रधानमंत्री स्व. राजीव गांधी जी की स्मृति में समाधि स्थल वीर भूमि पर प्रार्थना सभा का आयोजन किया गया।
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 21, 2023
कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge, CPP चेयरपर्सन श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी, पूर्व अध्यक्ष श्री @RahulGandhi और महासचिव श्रीमती @priyankagandhi जी ने पूर्व… pic.twitter.com/dGw86S7Yis
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Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
