: The heavy deluge experienced during the last couple of days which caused flooding and landslides has wreaked havoc in several parts of the country, leaving at least four people dead and more than 50,000 affected. In addition around 8,000 families were reported as displaced by yesterday. Weathermen warned yesterday that there was a risk of more landslides and floods as heavy rains would accompany the onset of Southwest Monsoon, expected to get established over the island within the next two days.

Tropical Storm Arthur, the first of the year in the Atlantic, weakened to a depression over Mexico on Sunday but still dumped torrential rain across the south of the country that threatened to create floods. Arthur, which had been forecast to move early Sunday into the Gulf of Mexico where there are many oil installations, was still overland and was seen moving farther inland in coming hours and then losing punch. Still, Arthur's wicked winds forced the closure of two of Mexico's three main oil exporting ports in the Gulf of Mexico because of rough seas.

A strong 6.4-magni-tude earthquake rocked the ^northern Philippines and southern parts of Taiwan early Sunday, shaking houses and prompting authorities to order some people to leave their homes. The quake struck at a depth of 22 km under the seabed in the Philippines' Batan Islands region at 0157 GMT, said the U.S. Geological Survey. There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage and no tsunami warning was Issued. There were some weaker aftershocks and residents in some coastal areas were told to evacuate their homes.

Myanmar must stop forcing cyclone survivors to return to their shattered homes where they face more misery or even death, rights groups said on Saturday, as a US official accused the junta of being "deaf and dumb" to foreign aid pleas. The former Burma's junta started evicting destitute families from government-run cyclone relief centres on Friday, apparently fearing the 'tented villages' might become permanent. "It's unconscionable for Burma's generals to force cyclone victims back to their devastated homes," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

NALBARI

A strong earthquake with a 6.4 magnitude struck southwest of Australia's Macquarie Island early today, the US Geological Survey said. The epicentre of the quake, which hit at 12:31am (AEDT), was 745 kilometres southwest of the remote Australian territory, which lies about 1,450 kilometres southeast of the island state of Tasmania. The US agency reported that the quake hit at a depth of 10 kilometres. There were no immediate reports of damage and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had not issued a tsunami warning.

Ananthakrishnan G | TNN Thiruvananthapuram: The southwest monsoon kept its date with Kerala on Saturday sprouting seeds of hope across the country. Farmers and planners looked up in delight as the clear, blue sky gave way to dark clouds and Friday night's drizzles climaxed in a downpour.

Rare Interaction Among 3 Weather Systems Generated Bounty: Experts Most Delhiites couldn't stop shaking their heads in disbelief as they beheld cloudy skies yet again on Saturday evening. Just where is all the rain coming from has been the most asked question this May with repeated thunderstorms creating Shimla-like conditions instead of the burning high 40s that mark summer.

WE ARE a country that always believed that summer monsoons were something that the rain gods deigned. In the past, if the monsoons failed and ricocheted on agriculture (the backbone of our economy) and impacted on food prices, we had few options. But of late, there's been a sea change in that whole perception. The change is qualitative, in consonance with sudden and volatile climactic developments.