The weather department has predicted occasional intense rain spells in the city in the next 24 hours.
The southwest monsoon season concluded on Saturday with India receiving 'below-average' cumulative rainfall -- 820 mm compared to the long-period average of 868.6 mm -- in an El Nino year.
Delhi sweltered under intense heat as the Safdarjung observatory, considered the official marker of the national capital, noted a high of 43.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above the normal average.
Authorities were on their toes in Banaskantha and Patan districts and relocated thousands of people residing in low-lying areas to safer places, they said.
The India meteorological department's Mumbai centre has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs in the next 24 hours, with a possibility of occasional gusty winds reaching 50-60 kmph, the official said.
Among the Sensex constituents, 18 stocks closed in negative with UltraTech Cement, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance and Tech Mahindra being major laggards. Other heavyweights like Asian Paints, Maruti, Titan and JSW Steel also saw heavy selling. In contrast, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserve, HDFC Bank, ITC and SBI bucked the trend and ended the session with a gain of up to 2.09 per cent.
The official India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the private Skymet Weather Services have made widely divergent monsoon forecasts.
By now, monsoon should have reached the central India, including parts of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, eastern Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, but it is yet to reach Maharashtra.
The five warmest years in Indian weather history have occurred in the past 14 years -- the others being 2009, 2017 and 2010, in order of intensity.
As Kerala battles severe heat, the meteorological department has issued a maximum temperature warning for 12 districts for the upcoming five days.
The air quality is expected to improve further due to wind speed favourable for the dispersion of pollutants.
Hailstorms were reported at various parts of the national capital including Palam, Chilpighat and Ayanagar, the IMD said.
The situation in fact is not that worrying for Thursday and IMD regional director Ganesh Das said the rain is expected to be "light and moderate".
'Usually the average rainfall per day is around 8 mm and India is receiving 10 to 11 mm per day since the last one week.' 'July seems to be very good for the entire country.'
For Tuesday, the IMD said heavy to very heavy rains, with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, are likely over Assam and Meghalaya.
With the prediction of an above normal monsoon in 2024, the government is expecting food prices to come down, the finance ministry's monthly economic report for March has said. The report, released on Thursday, said robust foreign inflows and comfortable trade deficits were expected to keep the rupee within a comfortable range. "Further easing of food prices is on the anvil as IMD (India Meteorological Department) has predicted above-normal rainfall during the monsoon season, which is likely to lead to higher production, assuming good spatial and temporal distribution of the rainfall," the monthly report, released by the Department of Economic Affairs, said.
A depression over the southeast Arabian Sea, south of Porbandar in Gujarat, is likely to move northwestward and intensify into a cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday.
Anything between 96-104 per cent of the LPA is considered as normal rainfall while precipitation in the range of 104-110 per cent is termed 'above normal'
As India's electricity demand soars, the power ministry on Tuesday reviewed the power supply situation to ensure 'zero load shedding' during the summer months. The ministry has drafted plans ranging from delaying planned maintenance of thermal power stations to mandatory operations of imported coal-based and gas-based stations till September. In a series of meetings with industry stakeholders, Union Minister for Power, New, and Renewable Energy R K Singh emphasised the importance of adequate planning to avoid situations where one state has surplus power while another state faces shortages.
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.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is unlikely to cut the benchmark interest rate at its upcoming monetary policy review meeting, taking place soon after the announcement of the Lok Sabha election results, amid inflation challenges, said experts. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may also refrain from rate cut as economic growth is picking up, notwithstanding the elevated interest rate of 6.5 per cent (repo) prevailing since February 2023. The meeting of the Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das headed MPC is scheduled for June 5 to 7.
Tourist centres have been closed in many districts, including Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, and a night travel ban has been imposed in the hilly areas of Idukki district.
As the month ended with 33 per cent deficiency, which translates to around 67 per cent of the Long Period Average, several parts of the country have been witnessing drought-like situation.
Above-normal heatwave days are predicted in most parts of central, east and northwest India during this period.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
Millions of farmers plant rice, cane, corn, cotton and soybean crops in the rainy months of June and July. Harvesting starts from October
Monsoon in August was almost 24 per cent below normal, which was the sixth driest August since 1901. It came on the back of a 7-per cent monsoon shortfall in July.
Also, the monsoon this year may end up being the driest since 2015, which recorded a rainfall deficit of 13 per cent, they said.
The weather bureau has issued a red alert for neighbouring Raigad and Palghar districts predicting heavy to very rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rain at isolated places for Wednesday. An orange alert is sounded for Thane district.
This is for the second time this month that Mumbai has recorded the highest maximum temperature in the country.
Aizawl has been cut off from the rest of the country due to a landslide on National Highway 6 at Hunthar.
The very severe cyclonic storm 'Biparjoy' intensified into an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' and is likely to cross Saurashtra-Kutch and adjoining Pakistan coasts around the afternoon of June 15 as a 'very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS)', the India Meteorological Department said on Sunday.
Although the monsoon is not active, it is not sluggish either he said, adding that the eastern coast, central India and north east are getting fairly good rains. Even Maharashtra and parts of peninsula are having rain.
In view of the safety of the passengers, the district administration stopped the passengers at Sonprayag and Gaurikund due to continuous bad weather.
July and August are expected to receive 107 per cent and 104 per cent of rainfall
https://www.rediff.com/business/report/quality-control-orders-what-does-this-mean-for-domestic-industry/20240425.htm
A low-pressure area, set to form over east central Bay of Bengal on May 22, is likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and strike the Odisha-West Bengal coast on May 26, the Met department said on Thursday, sparking fears of another Amphan-like catastrophe.
