Cong writes to K'taka DG-IGP against BJP candidate's audio clip plotting Kharge's assasination
Bengaluru: An audio clip containing a criminal conspiracy to eliminate Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge and his family members by BJP candidate Manikanta Rathore has gone viral on social media. The clip is reportedly a mobile phone conversation between Rathore and one of his associates and runs for 51 seconds. The voice has been identified as that of Rathore, who is the official BJP candidate for the Chittapur (AC-40) reserved constituency in the Gulbarga district.
The audio clip has raised concerns about the safety of Kharge and his family members and has prompted the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Vice Chairman of Media Wing Ramesh Babu to write a letter to the Director General and Inspector General of Police, seeking action against Rathore. In the letter, Babu alleges that the BJP candidate is a habitual offender with over 40 criminal cases against him, and has a history of serious offences such as attempts to murder, assault, threats to life, illegally storing diesel, disturbing public peace, and cheating.
Babu also claims that Rathore has not furnished complete details of criminal cases registered against him in his nomination papers, which is a clear violation of the election code of conduct and the Supreme Court guidelines judgment rendered in WP.No. 536/2011. According to Babu, the concerned returning officer should have rejected Rathore's nomination papers on this basis.
The letter also alleges that the BJP leaders might be actively involved in the conspiracy, citing Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's recent campaign speech in Chittapur, in which he allegedly stated that illegal means were used in the 2019 parliament elections to defeat Kharge and that the same tactics would be adopted to defeat his son, Priyanka Kharge, in the upcoming assembly elections. Babu claims that Adityanath's statement coincides with the contents of the viral audio clip attributed to Rathore.
The letter concludes by calling for immediate action against Rathore and for the protection of Kharge and his family members. Babu also calls for the local police to take suo motu action against Rathore by registering an FIR against him. He further urges the Election Commission to disqualify Rathore for his involvement in criminal activities and for creating a threat to the life and limbs of another candidate, as well as for attempting to create fear in the minds of voters using undue influence. The letter includes photocopies of newspaper clippings and the viral audio CD as evidence.
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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.
