India conducted nationwide civil defence mock drills simulating multiple hostile scenarios like air raids, fire emergencies, and rescue operations across several states and union territories. The drills, dubbed 'Operation Abhyaas,' aimed to enhance emergency preparedness in light of recent terror attacks. The exercises involved coordinated efforts by various agencies, including civil defence personnel, police, fire and emergency services, and the military. Mock drills were conducted at various locations, including railway stations, malls, and high-rise buildings, showcasing the response capabilities of authorities in different emergency scenarios. The drills highlighted the importance of public awareness and cooperation in dealing with real-time emergencies.
Delhi sweltered under intense heat as the Safdarjung observatory, considered the official marker of the national capital, noted a high of 43.8 degrees Celsius, four notches above the normal average.
Wheat production during the current season is expected to be better than last year provided the weather remains favourable over the next few weeks, said senior industry executives. The weather had turned uncharacteristically hot in the latter half of last month, but owing to strong winds, the chill has returned in the last few days.
'A few answers for the reason of the crash will be known -- whether it was a technical fault, design issue, human error etc.'
The IMD said India did not experience any "break monsoon" conditions this year because of the large number of low-pressure systems.
Skymet expects a good monsoon over western and southern India.
Forty-one Border Road Organisation labourers working to clear snow near the high altitude border village of Mana in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district were trapped under an avalanche on Friday.
The bodies of the last four of the trapped labourers were pulled out from the site of the avalanche-hit Border Roads Organisation (BRO) camp in Chamoli on Sunday, taking the death toll to eight as authorities ended the nearly 60-hour rescue operation.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX on Wednesday scrubbed the launch attempt of the agency's Crew-10 mission to the International Space Station due to a 'hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A' at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
States are mandated to develop and implement 'heat HAPs' for prevention of heat-induced diseases. But most do not go beyond standard advisory on heat prevention.
The avalanche hit the BRO camp between Mana and Badrinath between 5:30 am and 6 am on Friday, burying the workers inside eight containers and a shed, according to the Army.
The United States State Department took the unprecedented step to shut down its entire unclassified email system over the weekend after its computer network was hacked.
Dense fog blanketed parts of Delhi on Wednesday morning, reducing visibility and disrupting over 100 flights and 26 trains. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported minimum visibility of 200 metres in moderate fog at Safdarjung and 150 metres in dense fog at Palam. The IMD has issued an orange alert for Delhi, with dense to very dense fog reported in several areas. Cloudy skies are expected throughout the day, with light rain or drizzle likely in some areas.
Cooler weather meant that demand for milk products and value-added items like buttermilk and ice-cream did not show the usual rise.
Landslides and flash floods triggered by incessant rain in Himachal Pradesh have paralysed normal life.
Putin is keen on establishing a good personal rapport with Trump and anchor a meaningful US-Russia partnership, realistic enough to accept that Trump is as good an American president as Russia would ever get, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The weather office has issued a forecast of heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places in several districts of Gujarat over the next one week.
Himachal Pradesh experienced its second snowfall of the season, leading to the closure of 15 roads, including two national highways. A tourist from New Delhi died in an accident on an icy road in the Lahaul Spiti district, while three others sustained injuries.
Lakhs of voters will have to bear the searing heat when they step out to exercise their franchise in the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Friday.
Residents of North India battle freezing conditions.
Heavy rain in the first week of July compensated for the shortfall but caused flooding in many northeastern states.
Local officials said no casualties have been reported due to Wednesday's quake that hit the Madoi County in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai province of northwest China at 3:44 pm (Beijing time), tremors for which were also felt in north-eastern Nepal.
The searing heat pushed the city's peak power demand to its highest for May, while the Delhi government directed the schools that have not closed for summer vacations to do so with immediate effect.
Heatwave conditions have been prevailing in Odisha since April 15 and the Gangetic West Bengal since April 17, according to the MeT department.
The body of one of the nine workers trapped inside a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district was recovered by army divers on Wednesday on the third day of the rescue operations, officials said.
As weather patterns grow more unpredictable due to climate crisis, India is taking a giant leap with "Mission Mausam" to improve weather understanding and forecasting through expanded observation networks, better modeling and advanced tools like AI and machine learning.
However, there was no report of any major damage or casualty so far even as the landfall process started more than an hour ago, the official said.
The airport had temporarily suspended operations on Saturday due to strong winds and heavy rainfall caused by cyclones.
The NDMA added that the National Capital Region, and Hisar, Kaithal, Jind, Kurukshetra, Karnal in Haryana is likely to be again hit by the unusual weather on Wednesday.
Flight services at Mumbai airport were severely impacted on Monday due to low visibility after heavy rains in the city, leading to runway operations being shut for over an hour and approximately 50 flights being cancelled, sources said.
The cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph), it said.
According to the government, the additional chief secretary of the state housing department is designated to sign an agreement with the Union government for the land lease transfer.
The state government has directed a joint assessment of crop loss due to the cyclone by officials of the agriculture and revenue departments, he said.
India has received 20 per cent less rainfall since the start of the monsoon period on June 1, with the rain-bearing system making no significant progress between June 12 and 18, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
Cyclonic storm Fengal has commenced making landfall close to Puducherry and it may approximately take 4 hours for it to cross the coast completely, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said. The process of the cyclone's landfall commenced at about 5.30 pm on November 30. The IMD said the forward sector of spiral bands associated with the cyclone has entered into the land and is likely to move west-southwestwards and cross north Tamil Nadu-Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mahabalipuram close to Puducherry as a cyclonic storm with a wind speed of 70-80 kmph gusting to 90 kmph during next 3 to 4 hours.
'Modi's intention was to create goodwill that will allow India to be seen by Trump as more than just a bad tariff problem.' 'He succeeded brilliantly on that count but none of these wins are unfortunately permanent.' 'Modi will have to do this again and again if Trump's grievances are to be durably assuaged.'
There is a definite attempt to put the landslides on the backburner because news of them and climate change worry Wayanad's tourism and real estate businesses greatly. Whatever I experienced of Wayanad's 2024 by-elections; the July landslides were not a burning issue, observes Shyam G Menon.
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.
'By his words, actions, and body language during their joint press appearance wanted to convey his personal respect and, more broadly, his desire to work closely with India.'
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