In the first of a two-part series, Business Standard examines the impact of the upcoming summer on agriculture and drinking water supply.
The incident is said to have occurred in the wee hours when a huge mound of earth fell on the 'row houses' and two children and five women were among the deceased, most of whom were plantation workers from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
Sixteen deaths in rain and flood-related incidents have been reported from western Maharashtra in the last seven days, while the toll in Karnataka rose to five since Sunday.
Though the summer is expected to be hotter, global and domestic forecasts point to good rains.
The total rainfall till now is not only deficient, but is also erratic in terms of both geographical spread and timings.
'The difficulty of coordinating the response in Uttarakhand suggests that the country is ill-equipped to deal with a large earthquake in a mountainous area. The effects would be many times worse,' warns Dave Petley, expert on landslides
The metrological department on Saturday said that Phailin is a very severe 'super cyclone' and its wind speed may go up to 200 and 240 km per hour by noon itself.
Rains will continue to batter Tamil Nadu for the next seven days and the next 48 hours are "very crucial", the IMD has said.
Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa as Cyclone Tauktae hurtled northwards towards Gujarat on Sunday, leaving four people dead in Karnataka and two in Goa, damaging hundreds of houses, uprooting electricity poles and trees and forcing evacuation.
As visibility remained poor and the city choked due to a haze, the Centre for Science and Environment asked the Delhi govt to roll out stringent plans for controlling winter pollution.
Life in Mumbai was on Wednesday slowly coming back on tracks as rains subsided and hundreds of stranded commuters headed home with the partial resumption of suburban train services.
Ford said it had also shut its plant, with an annual capacity of 340,000 engines and 200,000 vehicles.
Shutters of at least 22 reservoirs in the state have been opened to drain out excess water.
'The first two months of monsoon are not looking good.' 'In case both the halves fail, it is going to be misery.'
Two days later, Afghanistan and Pakistan are still trying to dig out people from the rubble, even as panic spreads across the region.
Residents in Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra continue to struggle as floods leave them in a watery hell.
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Asian Paints was the top gainer after the paints major posted robust first quarter earnings.
Scientists at the India Meteorological Department warn that not only has India turned hotter in the last two decades, but that heat waves are projected to become more intense, have longer durations and greater frequency, thereby resulting in more deaths.
'All El Ninos are not associated with the deficient monsoon.'
Of that figure, a whopping 4,246 people died in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone.
The deep depression in the Arabian Sea has intensified into cyclonic storm "Ashobaa" and is expected to further develop into a "super cyclonic storm" in next 24-36 hours, the weather office said on Monday.
This was the near-unanimous replies of 10 market participants.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's batting position will be under spotlight as India aim to go for the kill against a gutsy New Zealand in the third T20 International despite weather threatening to play spoilsport.
The India Meteorological Department on Tuesday said the monsoon this year is expected to be 'above normal.'
Sensex sinks into red at close on growth concerns.
Tata Motors was the top gainer on better-than-expected June quarter revenues
In a lot of ways, Tamil Nadu votes exactly as do other states. But at places there are crucial differences.
the India Meteorological Department has forecast intermittent rain with heavy to very heavy showers in the city and suburbs and extremely heavy rain at isolated places in next 24 hours.
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.
Given the school break, this is the peak travel season and companies catering to the 'friends and family' segment are expected to gain.
The IMD has fancy weather-monitoring radars in the name of providing better forecasts.
In an unprecedented measure, the Maharashtra government requested defence officials to arrange airlift of the stranded passengers of the 17412 Mahalaxmi Express.
The IMD on its part is sticking to its forecast of July rainfall.
A new 7.3-magnitude earthquake and seven powerful aftershocks struck Nepal on Tuesday killing at least 50 people and triggering panic in the Himalayan nation already devastated by a monster temblor less than three weeks ago that had claimed over 8,000 lives.
26 people died in Amreli, which is the worst hit district.
There should be one comprehensive and credible report on weather for India since a major part of the economy is dependent on it, says 'weather man' Angshujyoti Das.
Orissa learnt its lessons from previous cyclones, particularly the 1999 super cyclone, whereas Uttarakhand has failed to do so from any of the previous natural calamities that hit the state, says Dinesh C Sharma.
Stepping up relief and rescue operations in quake-hit Nepal, India on Sunday deployed over two dozen aircraft and choppers along with nearly 1000 trained personnel and said the situation in the Himalayan nation was "very, very serious".
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