Maharashtra is expecting its active caseload to reach 11.9 lakh by April 30, compared to the current active caseload of 5.64 lakh, Thackeray said.
Even as Tauktae's intensity weakened, it left behind a trail of destruction with as many as 13 people losing their lives in different parts of Gujarat, including Bhavnagar, Rajkot, Patan, Amreli and Valsad, officials said.
Several parts of north and west India reeled under scorching heat wave with the temperature touching 50 degree Celsius in Rajasthan's Churu district on Tuesday, even as the meteorological department predicted very heavy rainfall in Assam and Meghalaya till May 28.
Maharashtra, the country's largest cane and sugar producer after Uttar Pradesh, had, over the past few years, weathered adverse market dynamics brought about by a domestic and global sugar glut, mounting arrears and muted exports.
The Bombay high court on Thursday asked Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut to file a reply to actor Kangana Ranaut's petition against the demolition of a part of her bungalow in Mumbai, and said it will start final hearing from Friday.
In Uttar Pradesh, the death toll due to lightning strikes rose to 42.
With the cyclone set to make landfall on Wednesday, Maharashtra and Gujarat activated their disaster response mechanism, deploying NDRF teams and evacuating people from areas likely to be hit.
After remnants of cyclone Gulab that hit the eastern coast of the country brought torrential rains to central Maharashtra, a senior India Meteorological Department official said on Wednesday that we are witnessing a rare occurrence as the weather system might generate another cyclonic storm.
The Southwest Monsoon is set to arrive early with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands expected to receive first seasonal showers on May 15, the weather office said on Thursday.
In one of the clips, an unknown person accompanying Mahajan is seen taking selfie video as they rode through water in parts of Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.
According to disaster management control room of the civic body, no injury or casualty has been reported so far.
A total of 435 people died in the country due to extreme weather events during the last three months of the southwest monsoon, according to the data compiled by the India meteorological department.
Taking a sceptical view of MUDRA program, Shiv Sena sought to know when the distressed farmers get help and how does the government plan to curb their suicides.
Swine flu claimed the lives of 40 more people in the country as the toll from the disease reached 1,115 while the total number of cases breached the 20,000 mark.
Mumbai's dabbawalas have also suspended their services on Tuesday.
The overall voting percentage in the bypolls to 51 assembly seats was nearly 56.84 per cent, the Election Commission said while releasing data available till 7 pm, adding that the polling passed off peacefully.
The agriculture ministry projects India's tomato output at 19.69 million tonnes in 2016-17 (July-June)
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said people living in the coastal belt would be shifted to safer places.
'The last time we had such a late withdrawal of monsoon was in 1960 or so.'
The British-era bridge across Savitri river, whose collapse claimed 26 lives, was to be dismantled in December this year as part of Mumbai-Goa highway expansion project.
A defence spokesperson said that nine persons were stranded on the terrace of a building close to the Ulhas river near Kalyan.
The mercury breached the 46-degree Celsius mark in several places such as Allahabad (46.8 degrees Celsius) and Jhansi (46.2 degrees Celsius) in Uttar Pradesh; Sports Complex (46.4 degrees Celsius) in Delhi; Ganganagar (46.4 degrees Celsius) in Rajasthan; Nowgong (46.2 degrees Celsius) in Madhya Pradesh; and Maharashtra's Chandrapur (46.4 degrees Celsius).
A 58-year-old man died after a power transformer fell on him in Raigad district. 2 people died and 3 were injured in two separate cyclone-related incidents in Pune.
The price of export quality lady's finger, for example, shot up 150 per cent in two weeks to close on Thursday at Rs 40 a kg against Rs 16 a kg on September 16 in the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee, Vashi, near Mumbai.
Deficient rains in west, flooding in north play havoc with crop cycles.
The downpour also disrupted the long-distance Mumbai-bound trains.
Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rallies for Wednesday were cancelled.
'Onion supply to mandis has declined due to its lower availability.'
According to an IMD forecast issued on Thursday, a heatwave spell will persist over northwest and central India during the next five days and over east India during the next three days.
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.
'If the government does not take any action soon, 21 cities of India will become like Cape Town, with no water.' 'Four cities -- Delhi, Gurgaon, Meerut and Faridabad -- will suffer the worst.'
'The first two months of monsoon are not looking good.' 'In case both the halves fail, it is going to be misery.'
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.
During the four-month monsoon period, India recorded the highest rainfall since 1994, according to the India Meteorological Department.
Southwest Monsoon was vigorous/active over East Rajasthan and the Gujarat region during many days and over West Rajasthan, Konkan and Goa and Madhya Maharashtra on a few days of the week ending July 11.
The Gujarat government had evacuated over 63,700 people from coastal areas of eight districts and 18 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and six teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were deployed for rescue operations.
Before they take the field for the World Test Championship final on Friday, June 18, Rajneesh Gupta takes a look at India-New Zealand Test encounters in the new century.
Meanwhile, flight operations from the Kochi international airport will resume at 12 noon on Sunday, an airport official said.
The unexpected and heavy rain has affected standing crops in the onion producing regions in the state, and it is beginning to make its impact felt. It is said that even slight excess in rainfall can damage the highly perishable commodity.
