In a recast mode, the Indian Met dept will soon dole out critical inputs which will determine the performance of key sectors. Prabha Jagannathan checks out the all-new weather man JUNE is perhaps the most gruelling month for people above the Vindhyas. It

the Indian Meteorological Department (imd) has predicted a normal monsoon for this year. But such predictions are known to fail often. A recent study says predictions fail because most models do not

Here is some cheering news on the monsoon front. The countdown has finally begun for its onset over Kerala. According to the India Meteorological Department, conditions are fast becoming ripe for the system to set in during the next 3-4 days. The normal date of the onset is June 1. Experts at the IMD said numerical weather prediction models indicated that the west-south-westerly cross-equatorial wind flows from the southern hemisphere, which bring in the monsoon, were steadily becoming faster and deeper. Wind speed

Defence Ministry denies permission for low-flying photos, necessary for contour mapping of city The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's grand plans to arm itself with a mathematical model that will help predict a deluge like the 944-mm deluge of July 26, 2005, just received a huge setback. Looking to prepare a flood modelling system, the BMC had sought permissions to shoot a series of low-flying photographs of the city's surfaces for a contour mapping exercise, but were rebuffed. Last week, the Ministry of Defence rejected the plans for

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?

With southwest monsoon moving almost eight days in advance over Bay of Bengal and adjoining regions, the Indian Meteorological Department has predicted its onset over Kerala on May 29