Modi speaks to Karnataka CM on flood situation
New Delhi, Aug 19 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy about the flood situation in the state and assured him that the central government would extend all possible help.
"Spoke to Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy ji regarding the flood situation in parts of the state. Extended all possible support in the rescue and relief operations. I pray for the safety and well-being of those in the flood affected areas," the Prime Minister said in a tweet.
About 3,500 marooned people were rescued in Karnataka's worst flood-hit Kodagu district even as incessant rains hampered relief work, the government said on Sunday.
"The Indian Army, Navy and other state and central agencies have rescued more than 3,500 people so far," a statement from Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy's office said.
The rescued people have been shifted to 30 relief camps and efforts were on to reach the others held up on hilltops.
The exact number of people still stranded across the district could not be ascertained from the officials.
Located in the Western Ghats mountain ranges, the coffee-growing district is the worst-hit due to the south-west monsoon rains since June first week.
The incessant rains have been causing flooding and landslips across the region, damaging the arterial roads.
Over 60 people have been stranded in Mukkodlu village of the district, but airlifting them has not been possible due to bad weather, Kumaraswamy said on Saturday.
About 300 people were rescued on Saturday, including more than 30 senior citizens and 50 children.
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Trump confronts South African president over killing of white farmers
Washington, May 21 (AP): President Donald Trump used a White House meeting to confront South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing his country of failing to address the killing of white farmers.
“People are fleeing South Africa for their own safety," said Trump, who at one point dimmed the lights in the Oval Office to play a video of a communist politician playing a controversial anti-apartheid song that includes lyrics about killing a farmer. "Their land is being confiscated and in many cases they're being killed."
Ramaphosa pushed back against Trump's accusation. The South African leader had sought to use the meeting to set the record straight and salvage his country's relationship with the United States. The bilateral relationship is at its lowest point since South Africa enforced its apartheid system of racial segregation, which ended in 1994.
“We are completely opposed to that,” Ramaphosa said of the behaviour alleged by Trump in their exchange.
Experts in South Africa say there is no evidence of whites being targeted, although farmers of all races are victims of violent home invasions in a country that suffers from a very high crime rate.
