While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
Prices have continued to move up in Delhi's markets, wholesale and retail, on supply worries and spoilage due to record cold weather.
Rain or thundershowers have also been predicted in south interior Karnataka and at a few places over Coastal Karnataka and North interior Karnataka.
The flood situation in Assam deteriorated drastically on Thursday with one person losing his life and nearly five lakh people reeling under the deluge across 12 districts, an official bulletin said.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'Red Alert' and predicted 'very heavy' to 'extremely heavy' rainfall across several districts of Assam till Thursday.
Traders estimate around 30 per cent of rabi crop damage.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said 52 deaths have been reported so far due to pre-monsoon rains in the state, along with damage to properties, and directed officials concerned to provide immediate relief.
Even before NCP-Ajit Pawar leaders came to meet in Delhi, the central government decided to buy 200,000 tonnes of onions from farmers at Rs 24.1 per quintal. This was among the highest prices at which onions have ever been bought from farmers.
The spokesperson said the attackers fled to Bangladesh after snatching the weapons of the troops.
A head of its meeting, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) can take some solace from the softening food commodity prices. However, the events surrounding the last few weeks show that the fall may not be uniform across all commodities, and cereals like wheat and rice could be the outliers. A Reuters report said that local wheat prices jumped to a record Rs 23,547 per tonne on Wednesday. That is a 12 per cent rise from the recent lows that followed the government's surprise ban on exports on May 14.
'The RSS has opposed the introduction of GM Mustard tooth and nail, but PM Modi does not give a hoot for what they think.'
Hailstorms were reported at various parts of the national capital including Palam, Chilpighat and Ayanagar, the IMD said.
'Due to severe rains and heavy cross winds, arrivals at #AAI Chennai Airport will remain suspended from 1315 hrs to 1800 hrs, today. Departures will continue. The decision has been taken considering the safety aspect of passengers and severity of wind,' the Chennai Airport tweeted.
'Hindus have never been polarised across Maharashtra in any state election.'
Above-normal heatwave days are predicted in most parts of central, east and northwest India during this period.
Analysts worry about possible loan waiver.
Automobile retail sales in India rose to a record high in November, aided by the best ever monthly performance across passenger vehicle and two-wheeler segments, dealers' body FADA said on Wednesday. The overall retail sales stood at 28,54,242 units last month, 18 per cent higher over 24,09,535 units in November 2022. Passenger vehicle (PV) retail sales rose to 3,60,431 units as compared to 3,07,550 units in the year-ago period, registering a growth of 17 per cent.
Showtime is watchable but never engrossing, notes Sukanya Verma.
Rising prices of cereals and concerns over rice production in the 2023-2024 crop year due to insufficient rains followed by floods could be the possible causes.
Yield loss due to natural calamity is calculated based on field reports and assessment of crop-cutting experiments by district and block agriculture officers.
'The number of deaths attributable to warming is likely to rise in the future.'
Following the public suicide of farmer Gajendra Singh in the national capital, Dausa district Tehsildar Satish Kumar Jain on Thursday stated that the former was 'financially sound'.
The suicide note also stated about "foul language" used by people associated with a cooperative society and threat by lenders (finance firms), a police officer said on Monday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast 'extremely heavy rains' at a few places in Marathwada, Mumbai and other parts of the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra in the next 24 hours.
The Punjab government has ordered the closure of schools till July 13 while in Chandigarh schools are closed till Thursday.
'Seek medical help if after five days of the first symptom the fever has not subsided.'
There were no reports of loss of life due to the cyclone which uprooted trees. Incidents of wall collapse were reported from some parts of Tamil Nadu, state Revenue Minister R B Udhayakumar said.
An unspecified number of people were evacuated from coastal areas of Odisha where Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak and Balasore were likely to experience heavy rainfall accompanied by high-velocity winds, particularly on May 19 and 20, IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said.
Tomato prices in retail markets of metro cities have shot up to Rs 72 per kilogram on tight supply due to unseasonal rains in key producing states like Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
It will also be the third cyclone to hit the western state in June since 1965, the meteorological office said.
'There is no mechanism to understand how things would evolve'.
Health premiums have picked up again after a slight moderation in growth, taking the non-life insurance industry's growth to 22 per cent in November, and to almost 17 per cent so far this financial year. Health premiums grew by 22.54 per cent in the April-November period, driven largely by group health plans, which have seen good growth due to rationalisation of discounts in premiums caused by adverse claim ratios in prior periods, medical inflation, and enhanced coverage. Health premiums grew by 29 per cent in the same period last year.
Not only primary vegetables, but also additives like garlic, ginger and chilly have recorded a sharp increase in prices
The eastern and northern parts of Delhi witnessed rain and hailstorm, IMD said.
In Punjab, more than 9,000 people were evacuated in Patiala, Rupnagar, Moga, Ludhiana, Mohali, SBS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, officials said on Tuesday.
A lesson we have not learnt from China is the urgent need to knit the vast country together to keep it from falling apart at the seams. While there is considerable dent in poverty, sadly, the North East remains as distant today as it always was, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
This time, the global appetite for risk is in favour of India.
Karnataka suffered a crop loss in around 97,365 hectares out of the total bearing area of 2,26,244 hectares of coffee and spices plantations.
Amit Panghal helped his father with the harvesting of wheat and in the process witnessed the 'misery of farmers' shattered by unseasonal rains and the lockdown to contain the deadly pandemic.
A memorandum with over two lakh signatures of people favouring a complete ban on the weedicide has been submitted to Union minister for agriculture and farmers welfare Narendra Singh, SJM co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said.
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