71 killed due to excessive pre-monsoon rains in Karnataka since April
Bengaluru, May 31 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's office on Saturday said that 71 people lost their lives due to excessive pre-monsoon showers in the state since April.
The pre-monsoon rains in 2025 is the highest rainfall recorded during the pre-monsoon seasons and in the month of May in the last 125 years, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said in a statement.
The state normally receives 74 mm of rainfall in May, but the actual rainfall was 219 mm, which is 197 per cent higher than the average normal rainfall, it said.
Similarly, in the pre-monsoon period of 2025 (March 1 to May 31), the state normally receives 115 mm of rainfall, but the actual rainfall was 286 mm, which is 149 per cent higher than the average normal rainfall.
The rainfall, including thunderstorms and gales, was observed across the state during the 2025 pre-monsoon period (March 1 to May 31), with all districts receiving very high and above normal rainfall, the statement said.
During the period from April 1 to May 31, 48 people were killed due to lightning, nine due to falling of trees, five due to house collapse, four due to drowning, four due to landslide and one due to electrocution, it added.
A total of 71 lives were lost and an emergency compensation of Rs 5 lakh has been distributed to the heirs of the deceased, the statement said.
It said that 702 animal losses occurred, out of which compensation has already been distributed to the concerned in 698 animal loss cases. (Large animals - 225 and small animals - 477).
The statement said that 2,068 houses have reportedly been damaged, out of which compensation has already been distributed to 1,926 houses. (fully damaged - 75 and partial damage - 1993).
A total of 15,378.32 hectares of crops have been damaged, (agricultural crops - 11915.66 hectares and horticulture - 3462.66 hectares), said officials, adding that crop damage details have been provided to be entered in the compensation software and the compensation payment process is in progress.
As per the revised 2025 Southwest Monsoon Forecast released by the India Meteorological Department on May 27, there is a possibility of above normal rainfall across the state during the 2025 Southwest Monsoon (June-September) period and except for a few districts in the southern interior, all the remaining districts are likely to receive normal and above normal rainfall in June.
There are a total of five NDRF teams in the state, out of which four teams have already been deployed, one each for Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts for emergency response during the monsoon season.
Another team is in Bengaluru. Apart from this, the fire brigade, SDRF and other emergency service teams will be available for emergency response and rescue operations as required.
As on May 31, the total storage in 14 major reservoirs of the state was 316.01 TMC, which is 35 per cent of the total storage capacity (895.62 TMC) as against 179.95 TMC (about 20 percent of the capacity) during the same period last year, the CMO said.
Overall, the major reservoirs of the state recorded a cumulative inflow of about 718,193 cusecs (62.05 TMC) between May 19 and May 29, with the inflow generally increasing from May 25 due to widespread and heavy rainfall in the catchment areas.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
