Dope-cleared Sanjita Chanu to finally get Arjuna award for 2018
New Delhi: Cleared of the dope taint, two-time Commonwealth Games gold-winning weightlifter Sanjita Chanu will finally get the coveted Arjuna award which has been on hold since 2018.
A Sports Ministry source confirmed that Chanu will be conferred with the Arjuna award as per a 2018 Delhi High Court order, which directed the selection committee to consider her and keep the decision in a sealed cover to be disclosed only if she was absolved of the doping charges.
"Sanjita (Chanu) is absolved of all the doping charges by the international federation, so we will have to abide by the Delhi High Court order and consider her for the Arjuna award," the ministry source told PTI.
After she was ignored for the 2017 Arjuna Awards, Chanu had filed a writ petition before the Delhi HC challenging the decision to exclude her from the list of those recommended for the coveted honour.
During the pendency of the case, she tested positive for a banned substance in May 2018.
But the High Court, in its order in August that year, directed the committee to consider her for the award and keep its decision in a sealed cover, pending a decision on her appeal against dope charges.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) dropped the doping charge against Chanu due to "non-conformities" in the handling of her sample last month. The Manipuri plans to seek compensation from the IWF for the "trauma" she endured.
The IWF cleared her based on a recommendation from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), following which the national federation wrote to the Sports Ministry to comply with the High Court order.
Indian Weightlifting Federation secretary general also confirmed the development to PTI.
"It's confirmed, Sanjita will get her 2018 Arjuna award," he said without getting into details.
The 26-year-old had won back-to-back gold medals in the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games in the 48kg and 53kg categories respectively.
She had also applied for the recognition in 2016 and 2017 but was ignored on both occasions.
Chanu, who maintained she did not commit the doping violation, was informed about the final verdict of the IWF via an e-mail, signed by the world body's legal counsel Lilla Sagi.
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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.
