Congress' Karnataka unit takes out mega 'Freedom March' in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Aug 15: The Karnataka unit of the Congress on Monday took out a mega 'Freedom March' in the city to commemorate 75 years of independence with thousands of people participating from various parts of the state.
Senior party leaders, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah, All India Congress Committee general secretary and Karnataka in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, party state chief D K Shivakumar, his brother and MP D K Suresh, and former state unit president Dinesh Gundu Rao were among those who led the march.
The tricolour could be spotted all along the route from where the rally passed and all participants held a flag in their hand.
After passing through important routes including Anand Rao Circle, Freedom Park, Corporation, Town Hall, Minerva Circle, VV Puram, the rally culminated at the National College Ground where a public meeting was organised.
Addressing the gathering, Siddaramaiah said the first Prime Minister of the country Jawaharlal Nehru made a sincere effort to build a modern India during his 17-year tenure and accomplished many important projects.
He built many dams, roads, ports, airports and made the country self-reliant in agriculture, the former Chief Minister said.
He rued that inequality still existed despite rapid progress being made in the country.
"Until we achieve financial and social equality, there is no meaning to political equality and the independence of the country," Siddaramaiah said.
In his address, Shivakumar said people are suffering due to price rise and people are living in fear due to uncertainty.
"Nobody's income doubled as was promised. Prices have sky-rocketed while income has hit the netherworld. They are out to change the character of the country but no one can change this history of our nation," Shivakumar said.
He expressed anguish over the way attempts were made to erase the contribution of Nehru and his successors from history books.
The event is seen as a show of strength by the Congress ahead of state Assembly elections next year.
"We are organising this event to tell the people about the sacrifices made by the great freedom fighters to get independence, whose fruits we all are enjoying today," Suresh told reporters ahead of the march.
Bengaluru was chock-a-block with Congress workers and party leaders on the city roads. Elaborate security arrangements were made to ensure that the commuters were not put to hardship and law and order is maintained.
The march is also perceived as Congress state chief Shivakumar's answer to 'Siddaramotsava, organised by a section of Congress leaders to project Siddaramaiah as the chief ministerial candidate, held in Davangere earlier this month.
Shivakumar is also contending for the top post if the party comes to power.
Shivakumar and his brother Suresh had organised a march for a balancing reservoir across Cauvery river from Mekedatu in Shivakumar's Assembly constituency Kanakapura to the state capital, which was marred by legal hurdles due to the spread of COVID-19 earlier this year.
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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.
