Retail inflation declined to a five-year low of 3.54 per cent in July mainly on account of subdued prices of food items, and base effect, according to official data released on Monday. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) based retail inflation was 5.08 per cent in June 2024 and 7.44 per cent in July 2023.
Satellite imagery showed a layer of dense fog extending from Punjab and north Rajasthan to the northeast. Patches of fog were also visible along the east coast.
The very severe cyclonic storm Tauktae is likely to intensify during the next 24 hours and reach the Gujarat coast on Monday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Data released by the IMD on Thursday showed that the mean minimum temperature (MMT) this December was 7.1 degrees Celsius.
Flight services at Mumbai airport were severely impacted on Monday due to low visibility after heavy rains in the city, leading to runway operations being shut for over an hour and approximately 50 flights being cancelled, sources said.
The minimum temperature in the national capital on Saturday settled at 10.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above the season's average, it said.
On June 2, wind speed will reach 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 over south Gujarat coast, with sea condition very likely to be "rough to very rough". On June 3-4, squally wind speed will reach 90-100 kmph gusting 110 kmph over Gujarat coasts, and the sea condition is very likely to be high to very high.
The rest of Maharashtra was very likely to get rain and thundershowers in isolated places during this period, the official informed.
The threshold for a heat wave is met when the maximum temperature of a weather station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius in the plains, 37 degrees in coastal areas, and 30 degrees in hilly regions, and the departure from normal is at least 4.5 notches.
The India meteorological department has issued an orange alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and other coastal districts in Maharashtra, stating it is very likely that 'heavy to very heavy' rainfall will occur in isolated places in this region.
A well-marked low-pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on Thursday morning packing wind speed of 40-50 kmph as it moved towards the north Tamil Nadu coast, the weather office said.
In view of the widespread rains and 'red alert' for extremely heavy showers issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for several districts, control rooms are working round the clock to monitor the situation and help stranded people, he said.
The searing heat pushed the city's peak power demand to its highest for May, while the Delhi government directed the schools that have not closed for summer vacations to do so with immediate effect.
Spurred by cyclone Remal, the southwest monsoon set in over the Kerala coast and parts of the northeast on Thursday, a day earlier than forecast by the weather office.
Western Railway stated that local train services were running normally on Monday morning, however, commuters claimed trains were running late by 5 to 10 minutes.
The chargesheet, which was submitted in court last week, includes views of the premier VJTI, as well as IMD about the ill-fated structure being of sub standard quality and not having the capability to withstand winds, an official said.
The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday issued an orange alert for Delhi, predicting 'heavy' to 'very heavy' rainfall in parts of the capital with winds gusting up to 60 kilometers per hour.
While rain intensity reduced on Tuesday compared to a day ago, affecting mainly districts in the Saurashtra region, administration carried out rescue and relief operations on a large scale, shifting thousands of people to shelters.
The bounteous monsoon this year has already dumped 1159.4 mm of rainfall in Delhi till Thursday afternoon, the highest since 1964 and the third-highest ever, according to the IMD data
Among the fatalities recorded on Friday, the maximum 17 were from Uttar Pradesh, 14 from Bihar, five from Odisha and four from Jharkhand, where officials said more than 1,300 people are hospitalised with heatstroke conditions.
From the Sensex firms, Power Grid, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Maruti were among the laggards. Asian Paints, Wipro, JSW Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finserv and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the biggest gainers.
India will receive normal monsoon this season, country's meteorological department said on Wednesday in its forecast for the Southwest monsoon that covers 75 per cent of the country, and thereby may bring much-needed respite to the economy, which is reeling under the catastrophic effect of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The IMD has also issued a red-coded warning alert to the Odisha and West Bengal coasts.
The depression, which was initially over west-central Bay of Bengal and adjoining areas, moved westward and intensified into a deep depression.
The storm would continue to move north-northwestwards, intensify further and reach north Bay of Bengal near West Bengal and the adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts by the morning of May 26
Cyclone Tauktae weakened into a 'depression' and lay centred over south Rajasthan and adjoining Gujarat region on Wednesday morning, the India Meteorological Department said.
Five people died in rain-related incidents in Delhi Friday as Monsoon arrived with a fury early in the morning, lashing the city with its highest rainfall in a single day of June in 88 years which brought it to a standstill with streets flooded, traffic in chaos and some commuters stranded on roads.
Temperatures in 17 locations breached 48 degrees Celsius on Monday, with the relentless heat affecting health and livelihoods across large parts of northwestern and central India.
As severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' initiated its landfall process between the coasts of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal on Sunday evening, authorities took swift action, evacuating over 1 lakh people from vulnerable areas of the state to safety.
Skymet lowered its full season monsoon forecast to 'below normal' from 'normal', while the IMD is sticking to its earlier forecast that rains in June to September of 2018 would be 'normal' at 97 per cent of the LPA with a model error of +/-5 per cent.
With a gradual rise in temperature and the start of heatwave, FMCG and dairy firms selling cola-based fizz drinks, juices, mineral water, ice creams and milk-based beverages expect a spike in sales and have ramped up their production and stocks to meet the anticipated consumer demand. The makers are launching new products keeping in mind the evolving consumer preferences and also investing substantially on promotions and expansion of the channels this season, company executives of beverage and ice cream makers said. Beverages major PepsiCo said summer months are naturally the most favourable season for its category and it is "optimistic" that its portfolio of brands will continue to delight consumers during the period.
A cyclonic circulation lies over the southeast Bay of Bengal and the adjoining south Andaman Sea extending up to middle tropospheric levels. Under its influence, a low pressure area is very likely to form over the southeast Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood during the next 24 hours.
Delayed by 10 days due to cyclone Biparjoy, southwest monsoon is likely to progress further and hit Mumbai between June 23 and 25, the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
The unrelenting heatwave sweeping large parts of the country has claimed at least 110 lives and left over 40,000 people grappling with suspected heatstroke between March 1 and June 18 this year, health ministry sources said on Thursday.
Monsoon is likely to be 96 per cent of the long period average
The IMD DG said there should not be an impression that climate change leads to rise in the temperature, but on the contrary, it leads to erratic weather.
India received 41 per cent more rainfall than normal from October 1-21 with Uttarakhand alone recording more than five times its normal precipitation, IMD data showed on Thursday.
"Cyclone Nisarga is likely to become a severe cyclone in the next 12 hours. It will continue to move for the next six hours in a northerly direction along the coast, after that it will re-curve as a cyclone and cross Raigad and Daman-Raigad," Aanand Sharma, deputy director, IMD told ANI.
Temperatures remained above 45 degrees Celsius in large parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh, affecting daily life as many chose to remain indoors in the afternoon.
The mercury in Delhi, which recorded its hottest day of the year so far at 45.6 degrees Celsius on Sunday, came down to 42.4 degrees Celsius, according to the India meteorological department.
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