The Rajasthan Government on Thursday declared 2,381 villages in 10 districts as scarcity-hit following extensive damage to rabi crops caused by frost and cold wave earlier this year. The maximum number of 1,722 such villages are in Jaipur, followed by 249 in Sriganganagar, 178 in Jhalawar, 103 in Tonk, 43 in Nagaur, 29 in Jodhpur, 25 in Sawai Madhopur, 14 in Bikaner, 13 in Sikar and five in Jaisalmer.

Eighty-nine people were killed in the high-velocity thunderstorm that ripped across Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. The deaths came as winds blew at 80 km an hour uprooting trees and triggering wall collapse and lightning ignited fires. The thunderstorm caused a blackout in several parts of the State as power lines snapped. Trains services were also affected. Power, rail services restored

Unable to reach out to their families and friends in cyclone-hit Myanmar, and unhappy with the pace of rescue work in the country, Burmese nationals living in Delhi have begun collecting money and garnering support to help the affected people. These Burmese nationals, some of whom have been living in the city for over a decade now, are collaborating with the monks and celebrities who are involved in the aid work back in Myanmar.

On Sunday, Liu Li received a simple Mother's Day present from her only child: a basket of red, pink and white carnations wrapped in purple rice paper. That afternoon, the 15-year-old returned to boarding school knowing he had made his mother the happiest woman in their village. Liu and her husband never thought about defying China's one-child policy. They already had everything they could hope for in a son. Meng Hao was not only a good student and star athlete, he was even the tallest kid around.

Large-scale destruction of mangroves contributed heavily to the damage inflicted by cyclone Nargis in Myanmar last week, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Myanmar, home to the eighth largest mangrove area in the world, has lost large swathes of mangroves over the last four decades. FAO estimates from 2005 put the loss at around 70,000 hectares between 1972 and 2005, but 2008 estimates suggest this could be much higher.

First, the water level in a pond inexplicably plunged. Then, thousands of toads appeared on streets in a nearby province. Finally, just hours before China's worst earthquake in three decades, animals at a local zoo began acting strangely. As bodies are pulled from the wreckage of Monday's quake, Chinese online chat rooms and blogs are buzzing with a question: Why did n't these natural signs alert the government that a disaster was coming?

The humanitarian organisation founded by actor George Clooney and other Ocean's Thirteen stars has donated $250,000 to help children and families in Burma affected by Cyclone Nargis.

China warned the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000 while the government issued a rare public appeal on Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster. Rescue workers cleared roads to the epicentre in the race to find survivors.

At least 124 persons were killed in various accidents across Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday night when a duststorm, accompanied by a short spell of rain, lashed through several parts of the state, according to official sources.

Torrential tropical downpours lashed Myanmar's Irrawaddy delta on Friday, deepening the misery of an estimated 2.5 million destitute survivors of Cyclone Nargis and further hampering the military government's aid efforts. Despite the latest storm, which is likely to turn already damaged roads to mud in the swamp-covered region, the former Burma's ruling generals insist their relief operations are running smoothly.