Chennai: Siddaramaiah conferred with Ambedkar Sudar award by VCK
Chennai, Jul 30: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who received the Ambedkar Sudar award instituted by the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), at a gala function here on Saturday evening accused the BJP government at the Centre of 'duplicity' in ensuring social justice.
Though he hailed Droupadi Murmu becoming the President of India, the Centre was not keen on implementing social justice, he claimed and referred to a statement by former Union Minister Anant Kumar Hegde, who had said his party came to power to change the constitution drafted by Ambedkar.
"The Minister in Narendra Modi's cabinet made a statement: 'We have come to power only to change the constitution written by Ambedkar.' He should have made the statement with the knowledge of the Prime Minister and Home Minister Amit Shah, otherwise he would have been sacked immediately," Siddaramaiah claimed.
"I welcome Droupadi Murmu becoming the President but wonder if the RSS has ever followed social justice in elevating its leaders," the leader of the opposition in Karnataka Assembly said.
The award was in recognition of his tireless service in opposing the 'Sanatana' and following the footsteps of "revolutionary social reformer" B R Ambedkar said Lok Sabha MP Thol Thirumavalavan, after presenting the award.
"Siddaramaiah's past 16 years of political journey has been with the Congress. He remains firm in opposing the principles of 'Sanatana' because of his own backward class background and his ideological commitment to activist Ram Manohar Lohia, Ambedkar and social reformer Basavanna," Thirumavalavan, also founder of the TN-based VCK said.
The former Karnataka CM remained committed to opposing the hate politics of the Sangh Parivar that engineers divisions within society and caste on religious lines," the VCK leader said and added that Siddaramaiah's ascension to the position of Chief Minister was a result of his relentless hard work and the politics of social justice taken forward by him.
S V Rajadurai, writer and human rights activist, V G Santhosam industrialist, Chellappan former IAS officer, Tehlan Baqavi, leader of Social Democratic Party of India, Prof K Rajan, archaeologist and R Jawahar (posthumous) writer and activist were presented the Periyar Oli, Kamarajar Kathir, Iyothee Thass Aadhavan, Quaid-E-Millat Pirai, Semmozhi Gnayiru and Marx Mamani awards, respectively.
"I am very very happy to receive this prestigious Ambedkar Sudar award given by VCK," Siddaramaiah said after receiving the award.
Advocating the abolition of the caste system in India, AAP Minister for Social Welfare, SC & ST, Rajendra Pal Gautam pointed out that world over caste system has been dispensed with and only in India it has been kept live.
"Why was the caste system not abolished in India? The Centre and BJP-ruled States want the caste system to be alive. They want the atrocity to continue. They are not willing to give us our share. So, we have to fight for justice and fulfill the dreams of Ambedkar," he said.
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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.
