The heat wave is the result of an anti-cyclone over Pakistan and western Rajasthan, the impact of which is being felt across the northern plains.
Sugarcane, which is grown by no more than 1.1 million farmers, consumes 70 per cent of water available in Maharashtra for irrigation. In contrast, about 10 million jowar, pulses and oilseeds farmers get only 10 per cent of irrigation water, points out Abhishek Waghmare.
26 tigers have already died this year.
East and northeast India recorded 29 per cent rain deficit -- 141.5 mm against the normal of 199.9 mm -- from March 1 to May 3.
Some low-lying areas like the Andheri subway were submerged, forcing authorities to divert the traffic through alternate routes, civic officials said.
'Secularism is the life of Kerala, and the BJP is trying to poison this atmosphere.'
Amid the ongoing festival season and ahead of the elections for five state assemblies, the Centre is closely monitoring inflation, particularly in food items, to enable it to take steps to increase their supplies. "There is a complete no-nonsense attitude when it comes to food inflation, and instructions have been issued at all levels to be very sensitive to any possible price movements in any commodity," a senior official explained. Sources have said that all departments dealing with food items have been instructed to keep a close eye on all commodities and maintain a weekly record of their price movements.
Rajesh Karkera journeys in monsoon rains and through verdant countryside to the little-explored pristine Lonar lake in eastern Maharashtra.
The story of Sahara India Pariwar founder Subrata Roy, who died in Mumbai on November 14 aged 75, is the stuff of movies - of a spectacular rise and an equally spectacular fall. Born in Araria, Bihar, Roy was 30 when he set up Sahara in 1978. He started with a capital of about Rs 2,000, a peon, a clerk and his father's Lambretta scooter in Gorakhpur, eastern Uttar Pradesh, writes Tamal Bandyopadhyay in his 2014 book, Sahara: The Untold Story. Sahara was not his first venture.
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
Irfan Khan is accused of plotting Kolhe's murder, allotting special tasks to the other accused and supplying vehicles and money to them.
Wielding a broom, the prime minister took part in the drive along with fitness influencer Ankit Baiyanpuriya.
The Janata Dal-United on Tuesday became the third major ally after the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party after 2019.
The Delhi high court has quashed the summons issued to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray by a court in Bokaro in an alleged hate speech case, observing that faith and religion are more resilient and cannot be hurt or provoked by the views of an individual.
The SC, however, rejected NIA's request for immediate stay to the order.
Above-normal heatwave days are predicted in most parts of central, east and northwest India during this period.
India is likely to experience below-normal monsoon rainfall this year, with a 20 per cent chance of drought due to the end of La Nina conditions and the potential for El Nino to take hold, private forecasting agency Skymet Weather said on Monday.
In view of the prime minister's visit, a few roads in the area will be closed for vehicles, while traffic will be diverted on some other routes, the traffic police said.
While some states have kicked in their heat action plans, experts feel this is not enough to tackle the current extreme weather.
Senior officials, including those from a central team, were present during the night-long operation and a close vigil is being maintained on further movement of locusts, Katiyar said. Two fire brigade vehicles loaded with insecticide had been deployed in all four Jhansi tehsils besides six vehicles were kept ready at the district headquarter. Ten municipal employees with two insecticide spraying machines were posted in every block.
The curfew imposed under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) will be relaxed from 7 am to 10 am, it said.
'...despite not being ideologically aligned with a vast section of the people of the north east.' 'But the results in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya show that no party, including the BJP, can say that it has really done well.'
The shutdown generated tension in Mumbai and a number of towns and cities across Maharashtra.
Both the BJP and Congress understand that coalitions and alliances are not just about numbers, but have symbolic value.
Mumbai and its adjoining areas were lashed by heavy showers on Tuesday, causing water-logging at a number of places, including railway tracks, which slowed the movement of trains and vehicles on roads.
'By their actions, the Sena MPs diverted attention from the original issue that sub-standard food and services are offered at Maharashtra Sadan. It is disconcerting that the state's official guest house in the national capital has such poor standards,' says N Suresh.
According to the data, the tiger population in the country increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,167 in 2022.
'That the South and West regions are more women-friendly in terms of employment is not a surprise.'
Sparks flew on the first day of the debate on the no-trust motion moved by the Congress with the Opposition on Tuesday asserting that it was forced to do so to break Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) on Manipur and the treasury benches hitting back saying it was a no-trust vote against a 'poor person's son' who has worked for the welfare of the people.
Several global models are predicting El Nio to appear around the second half of the year, which are the crucial rain-bearing months.
If you consider yourself a passionate India traveller, have a go at this quiz on fallen-off-the-map places to visit in our country.
A rail track between Sonua and Lotapahar stations in West Singhbhum, under Chakradharpur Division of South Eastern Railway (SER), was damaged past Friday night in a blast that was allegedly triggered by the Maoists.
Some low-lying places like Hindmata, and areas in Dadar and Sion, including the Gandhi Market and road number 24 in Sion, were inundated, forcing pedestrians to wade through the water and making it difficult for motorists to commute.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
The fight for Mumbai's green lung continues through the Ganesh Utsav festival.
Temperatures in March will be critical to determining the impact of any unusual heatwave conditions on this year's wheat crop in North India. It is that time of the year when the crop enters its vital grain-filling stage, say meteorologists and crop experts. So far, the high day temperatures in the North are not believed to have any significant impact on the final yields since the crop hasn't entered a stage where heat affects yields.
Congress party in Maharashtra has its hopes pinned on a 'newly recharged' vice-president Rahul Gandhi for its revival.
As heavy rains batter several parts of west and south India, the meteorological department on Friday said isolated extremely heavy falls are very likely over Konkan, Goa and central Maharashtra in the next two days.
Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil (both from the NCP), Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut (both from the Congress), Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai (both from the Sena) took oath as ministers along with Thackeray.
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