The ozone hole, which had caused serious environmental concerns, is shrinking and it could fully heal by the end of the century, bringing more rain to eastern Australia, scientists said on Wednesday.

Rescuers glided through several city neighborhoods in fishing boats and canoes on Tuesday, searching water-logged houses for trapped residents and abandoned belongings, after heavy rains flooded Georgia and other parts of the Southeast. The deluge left eight people dead, dozens stranded and thousands without electricity.

MUMBAI: This time, the monsoon came late and was not even adequate, but the number of trees it managed to uproot touched almost 1,500, more than double the figure last year. The total count of trees that fell this year is almost (more than three months are still left of 2009) equal to the city toll in the last two years.

P. Sunderarajan

NEW DELHI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday said the southwest monsoon is all set to withdraw, even as the deficiency in the cumulative rainfall for the season as a whole increased marginally from 20 to 21 per cent over the past week.

Govind D. Belgaumkar

ROURKELA: Even as the fickle monsoon is set to deal a body blow to the farming community of the district with looming crop loss, it has also made life miserable for the common man. Muggy weather has taken sap out of common man

A week of subdued rainfall activity has marginally deepened the seasonal rainfall deficit in the country, indicating beginning of the withdrawal of the monsoon season.

Surinder Sud / September 17, 2009, 0:43 IST

This refers to Sunita Narain