India's peak power demand reached an all-time high of 257.37 GW on Monday, driven by increased use of cooling appliances during an intense heatwave, according to power ministry data. The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast continued heatwave conditions in northwest and central India.
Team Anna on Monday alleged a conspiracy behind the collapse of the northern power grid, with activists alleging that such developments were taking place in Delhi as Anna Hazare is sitting on an indefinite fast.
More than 20 hours after the country's worst power failure, the three major electricity grids that had collapsed have been restored, Power Grid said on Wednesday.
"Yes, there are problems with Northern Grid, we are trying to restore it," said SK Soonee, CEO of Power System Operating Co (PSOC)
Delhi Police's Special Cell has dismantled an inter-state terror, arms, and espionage module allegedly supported by Pakistani handlers and the ISI, revealing a covert surveillance network near sensitive military locations.
By all available indications, the White House drafted a face-saving note and handed it, ready-made, to Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to then post it in the guise of a plea urging Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks 'to allow diplomacy to run its course'. Trump would then graciously accept Pakistan's 'request' and declare a ceasefire. Sharif dutifully posted the message on X. Except that he, or whoever was handling the account, forgot to delete the tell-tale first line visible in the edit history: 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X'. Prem Panicker's must read blog on the Iran War.
Barely three weeks after the state was charged for having triggered the multiple grid failure and plunging more than half of India into darkness, the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday claimed to have averted an abrupt failure of the northern grid.
Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled over 1 per cent each on Friday as tensions soared between India and Pakistan, fuelling fears of a wider conflict.
From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Power Grid and State Bank of India were among the laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Titan, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers.
Of these only 150 attacks were successful, officials said on Monday.
In the wake of major power grid collapse in north India, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of any such electricity failure in the state claiming that the "power system has been improvised".
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted above-normal rainfall for the upcoming monsoon season in India (June to September). The cumulative rainfall is estimated to be 105 percent of the long-period average. The IMD has also ruled out the possibility of El Nino conditions during the entire season. The monsoon is crucial for India's agriculture sector, which supports the livelihood of a significant portion of the population and contributes substantially to the country's GDP. However, while the prediction of normal rainfall brings relief, climate change is expected to cause variations in rainfall distribution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a tri-services ceremonial welcome in Colombo, Sri Lanka, marking the first time such an honor has been bestowed upon a foreign leader. The welcome took place at the historic Independence Square, the venue for national day celebrations. Modi's visit comes as Sri Lanka shows signs of recovery from a recent economic crisis, with India playing a significant role in providing assistance. During the visit, both leaders are expected to discuss a range of issues, including defense cooperation, energy, and digital initiatives.
Touted as one of the world's biggest such collapse, Tuesday's incident of three power grids going offline forced over half of India's population in 21 states to stay without electricity for several hours.
Pakistani drones were intercepted by Indian air defence in Jaisalmer. Explosions were heard and flashes seen in the sky.
After an impressive turnout on Sunday, the morning crowd at the fast venue of Jantar Mantar in New Delhi was just around 400 with organisers blaming the low turn out on rains and disruption in Metro services due to collapse of the Northern Power Grid. They said they expect the crowd to swell as the day progressed.
Two Indian Army personnel, including a captain, were killed and another was injured when suspected terrorists set off an improvised explosive device (IED) near the Line of Control (LoC) in the Akhnoor sector of Jammu on Tuesday. This was the third incident of cross-border action by terrorists in the Jammu region in four days, highlighting the ongoing security challenges in the area. The blast occurred while the troops were on patrolling duty near a forward post, underscoring the risks faced by security personnel in the region. Following the incident, the Army launched search operations in the area and expressed condolences for the loss of its personnel.
Deposit of pollution particles on transmission lines was attributed as the reason for tripping, which officials described as a common phenomenon during winter -- which has been unusually long this year. Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana were the most hit due to the failure in the lines.
"This year, the Southwest Monsoon is likely to set over Kerala on May 31 with a model error of four days," the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
India on Thursday night swiftly foiled Pakistan's attempts to hit various key Indian installations including military stations at Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur with drones and missiles, the defence ministry said.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi revealed that 300 to 400 drones were deployed across 36 locations, with several being shot down by Indian forces using both kinetic and non-kinetic methods.
Two consecutive days of grid collapse has left almost half of India's population without power. Three major grids -- northern, north-eastern and eastern -- have crashed. Reportedly, over 20 states have been affected. Trains have stalled, markets have closed down, and institutions and offices have been forced to announce holidays.
Two consecutive days of grid collapse has left almost half of India's population without power. Three major grids -- northern, north-eastern and eastern -- have crashed. Reportedly, over 20 states have been affected. Trains have stalled, markets have closed down, and institutions and offices have been forced to announce holidays.
Two consecutive days of grid collapse has left almost half of India's population without power. Three major grids -- northern, north-eastern and eastern -- have crashed. Reportedly, over 20 states have been affected. Trains have stalled, markets have closed down, and institutions and offices have been forced to announce holidays.
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.
To ensure immediate cooling of the body, the hospital has set up a first-of-its-kind heatstroke unit.
While some states have kicked in their heat action plans, experts feel this is not enough to tackle the current extreme weather.
Intense heat swept through east India and parts of the southern peninsular region on Thursday, testing power grids and prompting the Kerala government to order closure of educational institutions till May 6.
The ceasefire along Indo-Pak border is working 'well' since February 2021 agreement, he asserted.
Union Power Minister R K Singh says the Mumbai power outage of October 2020 was caused by 'human error'.
India is set to experience extreme heat during the April to June period, with the central and western peninsular parts expected to face the worst impact, the IMD said on Monday as the country prepares for seven-phase general elections from April 19.
While the Northern states are overdrawing power in violation of grid discipline, one of the units of Dabhol plant has stopped operating and Tata Power has shut one 500 Mw plant for annual overhaul.
The take home message from the grid failure is that the paradigm of centralised generation of electricity and grid based distribution has outlived its usefulness.
Over drawing of electricity by northern states could be one of the reasons for the massive power failure last month that hit half of the country's population, according to the initial findings of a high-level panel appointed by the government to probe the grid collapse.
Delhi and various other areas in neighbouring states faced a power cut for the second successive day on Tuesday as the Northern Grid failed again.
Delhi and various other areas in neighbouring states faced a power cut for the second successive day on Tuesday as the Northern Grid failed again.
"It looks like some states withdrew more power than required. I have constituted a committee of experts and they will examine and file a report on the entire issue in detail. We will take stern action against the erring states. This has happened despite 5000 megawatt additional electricity availability in the northern grid," the minister said.
Seven major state power distribution utilities, identified by the central government for financial restructuring, have failed to increase their tariff considerably to improve their financials.
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