Further action on ACB dissolution based on BJP manifesto: CM Bommai
Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the state government's further action following the High Court's decision to abolish the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and restore the powers of the Lokayukta police wing, will be on the basis of BJP's 2018 manifesto.
BJP in its poll manifesto had promised to scrap the ACB, which was formed by the then Congress government headed by Siddaramaiah in 2016.
"Yesterday the High Court gave its decision regarding the ACB. Keeping our party manifesto in mind, we will discuss in the Cabinet today, taking view of the instructions given in the court's order copy," Bommai said ahead of the cabinet meeting.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "We will take further action on this, on the basis of our party manifesto."
The judgement of the Division Bench of Justice B Veerappa and Justice K S Hemalekha came on a petition challenging the ACB's formation and the subsequent March 16, 2016 government order withdrawing the powers of the Lokayukta police from registering and investigating into cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The formation of the ACB through an "executive order" is not justified and Constitutional, the judgement said. With this, the ACB stands abolished.
All cases pending before the ACB would now be transferred to the Lokayukta police wing, the HC said, adding that however, the actions taken by ACB so far would stand.
The two 2016 notifications of the government were challenged in a bunch of petitions by various petitioners, including the Advocates Association, Bengaluru, Chidananda Urs and 'Samaja Parivartana Samudaya'.
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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.
