The year 2010 ranked as the warmest on record – together with 2005 and 1998 – according to the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which added that last year also witnessed a large number of extreme weather events, including the heat wave in Russia and the devastating floods in Pakistan. In 2010, the global average temperature was 0.53 degrees Celsius (0.95 degrees Fahrenheit) above the mean for the period from...

The problem is all pervasive as the prices of almost all food items have been rising In a scenario that is all familiar in India and for that matter in many other countries too, rising food prices have become an extremely sensitive issue with major political and social ramifications that go well beyond the economic ones. Not that the economic consequences are unimportant. From the macroeconomic management point of view, rising food...

Their crops destroyed by frost between January 5 and 9, five farmers in Madhya Pradesh committed suicide while three are battling for their lives after consuming pesticide. The weather destroyed their standing crops of wheat, soyabean, gram, peas, opium and oranges in just five days. Their crops gone, farmers in the state, like their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, also faced the prospect of defaulting on repayment of loan from banks...

Good weather conditions and the recent rains in North India have brightened the chances of a better wheat crop this year. Improvement in the cultivation per hectare of wheat and better quality seed may also help increase production. According to sources, the total wheat production of Haryana and Punjab may reach 268 lakh metric tonnes in 2010-11, compared to 256 lakh MT of the previous year. It is expected that while...

An intense spell of Cold Weather has disrupted life across northern India, reportedly claiming two dozen lives. The capital, Delhi, has been badly hit by the cold snap, along with Indian-administered Kashmir, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. In Leh in Kashmir, temperatures dropped to -23.6C - this winter's lowest - on Sunday, weather officials said. Delhi, which is experiencing one of its coldest winters in years, has been hit by thick fog which...