Pollution levels in Delhi and satellite towns shot up again on Sunday morning, with the air quality bordering the 'severe plus' category at several places.
The government has asked the general public to call toll free numbers 1070 and 1077 during emergency situations .
He said India has a rich tradition and a long history of both discovery and use of science and technology.
Five persons were killed on Tuesday in two separate incidents of landslips triggered by incessant rains in Meghalaya's West Garo Hills district.
The overall AQI deteriorated further and touched the 268 mark, which falls in the poor category.
'It affects our economy, it is very important in many ways.' 'So we have to be the foremost experts in the world on the monsoon.' 'But the best minds in India have not devoted their time to the study of monsoon and they have followed the fashions of the West.'
According to the SRC, the evacuation of eight lakh people is the largest-ever evacuation operation in the country.
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.
Pollution levels were inching towards 'severe plus emergency' category due to a change in wind direction and rampant stubble burning in neighbouring states
According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, the overall air quality of the national capital docked at 376 at 8:30 am on Tuesday.
About 4.41 lakh rural habitations are facing drinking water scarcity and the government is closely monitoring the drought situation on a daily basis in 10 states, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said on Saturday.
The cyclone on Tuesday passed the Mumbai coast and much to the relief of the people in Maharashtra's capital, just brought rains and there was no loss of life or damage to property
Air quality in the national capital deteriorated alarmingly a day after Diwali as pollution levels spiked more than five times higher than normal leaving many at the risk of respiratory problems.
The cyclone lay about 720 km east northeast of Chennai over the Bay on Monday and it is very likely to move west southwestwards and intensify further into a severe cyclonic storm by Tuesday.
Vegetable, fruit prices to be on the rise over weak supply, crop damage
The cyclone would bring light to moderate rains at most places and 'heavy to very heavy downpour' at some places on November 6.
He said all necessary medical help should be given to the injured, including treatment in India, if required.
It is believed that the crop residue burning in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana are contributing to polluting the air.
According to SAFAR, both stubble burning in surrounding states of Delhi and firecrackers are causing deterioration of air quality in the national capital.
Heavy to very heavy rainfall was expected over north Coastal Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the next 24 hours.
The Child Protection Services programme under the Integrated Child Development Services was increased to Rs 1,500 crore from Rs 925 crore.
Slight tremors of 3.1 magnitude were felt in the national capital region on Monday night. The slight-intensity quake occurred at 12:41 am and the epicentre was Delhi, an India Meteorological Department report said.
The PM2.5 level (presence in the air of particles with a diametre of less than 2.5 micrometres) touched a new high at 158 as authorities predicted further deterioration of air quality in the coming days.
The problem is so severe that multiple agencies have issued several precautionary measures.
Large swathes of the country reeled under heatwave conditions on Tuesday with Churu in Rajasthan recording a high of 48 degree Celsius.
Yield loss due to natural calamity is calculated based on field reports and assessment of crop-cutting experiments by district and block agriculture officers.
While incessant rain in the past 24 hours has wreaked havoc in parts of the northeast, triggering flash floods, the national capital experienced one of its hottest days.
Authorities alerted people to avoid staying outdoors and L-G ordered to halt all civil construction activities across the city till Sunday.
The record temperatures in May were accompanied by other extreme events, including very heavy precipitation in parts of Europe and the southern US, and widespread and severe coral reef bleaching.
India and France on Friday signed 17 agreements, including on the stalled nuclear project in Jaitapur in Maharashtra, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held wide-ranging talks with French President Francois Hollande.
According to media reports, 56 people -- mostly farm labourers working in the fields -- died in Bihar while 44 people were killed across Uttar Pradesh, Jharkand and Madhya Pradesh.
The official India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the private Skymet Weather Services have made widely divergent monsoon forecasts.
Heavy rains triggered by a deep depression in the weather system claimed as many 38 lives in Gujarat on Wednesday.
Schools and colleges, closed since October 31, were shut on Saturday as well, while several universities postponed their exams.
Over 20,000 people have been displaced with officials warning the situation could get worse.
Congress on Monday appeared to claim credit for effective handling of cyclone 'Phailin', saying all steps are being taken under its rule to make the country "disaster-resilient" which was evident from the Indian Meteorological Department's accurate prediction and "record" evacuation of over one million people in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Critics argue that much more could have been done and that the government was slow to react to many events.
With water receding from most areas in Chennai and its suburbs, sanitation and conservancy workers face the mammoth task of removing one lakh tons of stinking garbage littering the streets as bright sunshine further eased the situation.
The IMD has said temperatures in most parts of the country from March to May would be 'above normal'.
Technology and prudent practices can ensure that crop output does not suffer in years of drought.
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