-The Telegraph New Delhi: The national weather agency has adopted a new rulebook, tweaking figures that define rain conditions, cold and heat waves and abandoning what it has conceded were ambiguous and unhelpful terminology such as "could" and "may". A forecasting circular issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has altered in subtle ways the definitions of cold and heat waves (see chart), introducing uniform cut-offs for locations across the country, and...

-The Times of India PUNE: This year is not only in line to be the hottest on record globally but also in India. The country has lived through its hottest September, October and November this year, reveals India Meteorological Department's data going back to 1901. The countrywide mean temperature in November this year was 1.25 degrees C above normal, the highest-ever for the month since record keeping began. The mean minimum and...

-The Indian Express Extended dry spell hits rabi plantings on top of failed kharif crop Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh, an agricultural success story of the past decade, is bracing itself for a rough time this year, with deficient rains resulting in the failure of the kharif crop and also putting a question market over sowing in the ongoing rabi season. The state, in recent times, had emerged as the country’s second largest contributor of...

-IPSNews.net DHARNI (Maharashtra): In the semi-darkness of her hut in Berdaballa, a forest village 610 km northeast of Mumbai, 28-year old Babita Mavaskar sat with her newborn baby boy watching him checked by a paramedic in an important antenatal exam. After about 20 minutes the health worker emerged from the shelter and made a big announcement, “All is well. Everything, the weight, temperature and height … is normal.” The small crowd of...

-The Indian Express Over 1,800 people have been affected by the virus, according to the municipal corporation’s last report. Overnight showers in the capital has prompted the Union health ministry to issue an advisory to the Delhi government on Saturday to “intensify” measures to check mosquito-breeding, while warning of a further spike in dengue cases. The advisory stated, “In view of further rain predicted by the weather department, there is a possibility of...