The weather department's forecast of early monsoons in the national Capital this year has raised the concerns of the Delhi Government.

Considering the importance of the southwest monsoon for the country, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has proposed National Mission on Monsoon to develop most representative and advanced dynamic model framework for India for forecasting monsoon rainfall and its variability in various space and time scales.

This year's south-west monsoon will be normal, says the India Meteorological Department in a forecast issued recently. But that is also what the IMD predicted last April for the 2009 monsoon, which then turned out to be a severe drought. This time the odds favour the IMD forecast being correct.

There is good news for those reeling under a heat wave. The four-month monsoon season beginning June is likely to bring normal rainfall to the country, and provide huge relief to the government.

LUCY TOBIN

The probes do not need a huge chunk of concrete or a power station to get them to run and they contain long-lasting batteries

Accurate forewarning: Put together with meteorological predictions for rainfall and storms, the data from the sensors can show how and why things are moving, and indicate the start of a landslide.

Eli Kintisch

SULFATE AEROSOLS Aerosol pollution has helped keep the planet cool by blocking sunlight Unlike carbon dioxide, which persists in the atmosphere for centuries, aerosols last for a week at most. So cutting them would probably accelerate global warming rapidly

JORHAT, April 20: While the rest of the country is reeling under a sweltering heat wave, the rain gods seem to have smiled down on the Northeast by keeping temperatures down. The recent rains have taken Assam from a 30 per cent rainfall-deficit State prior to March 19, 2010 to a 64 per cent excess-rainfall State post March 29, last, till date.

Prashant Rupera | TNN

Vadodara/Anand: Here is some good news for all those who are perturbed with the heat wave that is sweeping the state. While the heat wave isn

Rains May Gain Speed In Aug & Sept To End As Normal Monsoon
Nidhi Nath Srinivas NEW DELHI

INDIA may be on course this year for normal monsoon rains after last year

Vinson Kurian

How are western disturbances, currently busy creating weather over northwest India, positioned relative to the track of the volcanic cloud originating from Iceland?