Chicago wheat rose for a third consecutive session to trade near its highest in more than 13 months as political turmoil in leading supplierUkraineand dry weather in the United States Plains stoked global supply concerns. We have rapidly deteriorating condition of the winter wheat crop, according to the latest commodity analysts.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, here are the latest weather alerts for different parts of the country:
Weather alert for northeastern states issued at 17:55 Hrs
Moderate rain and thundershowers are likely at many places in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura in the next 3 days. Some of the places may receive heavy rain and thundershowers . Strong winds ranging between 70 kmph and 100 kmph are also expected during this period..
Weather alert for Delhi/NCR issued at 17:50 Hrs.
Light to moderate dust storm/thundershowers are likely at few places in Delhi/NCR with strong winds ranging between 50 kmph and 80 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.
Weather alert for Haryana issued at 17:50 Hrs.
Light to moderate dust storm/thundershowers are likely at a few places in Bhiwani, Jind, Panipat, Rohtak and Sonipat districts with strong winds ranging between 60 kmph and 90 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.
Weather alert for Rajasthan issued at 16:05 Hrs.
Light to moderate dust storm/thundershowers are likely at few places in Bharatpur, Churu, Dholpur, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Sawai Madhopur and Sikar districts with strong winds ranging between 50 kmph and 70 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.
A dawn-to-dusk hartal had been called by the Mullaperiyar Protection Council against the Supreme Court verdict on Mullaperiyar dam on Thursday. Media reports suggest that the hartal has not gone down well with the other districts which are witnessing unusual period of pre-monsoon rain for the last couple of days.
In its order on Wednesday, the apex court clamped down on a law promulgated by Kerala government to declare Mullaperiyar dam as endangered and restrained it from obstructing the Tamil Nadu Government to raise the water level.
A five-judge constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice R M Lodha has directed the Kerala Government not to implement the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006.
The apex court also appointed a three-member committee comprising the representatives of the Center and the governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala to supervise the safety of the dam periodically. The Bench has empowered the committee to issue directions for ensuring the safety of the dam.
There had been differences between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the safety of the dam. Tamil Nadu has been contending that the dam was safe and its water level had to be raised from 132 feet to 136 feet, Kerala maintained that the structure was weak and needed to be replaced.
As tension between the two states rose in December 2011, a two-member technical team of the apex court-appointed Empowered Committee had visited the site and concluded that recent tremors in that region did not have any impact on the dam and that it was safe.
The apex court had on August 21 last year reserved its verdict on the legal battle between Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments over Mullaperiyar dam.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the national capital Delhi got hotter on Friday. The weather in Mumbai will be cloudy with chances of light rain. Major cities such as Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad in South India will observe cloudy weather on Friday with chances of rain. The weather in Kolkata will be much hot on Friday compared to what it was on Thursday. The following table shows that weather forecast for major Indian cities on Friday
| Cities | Maximum Temperature | Minimum Temperature | Conditions |
| Delhi | 41°C | 26°C | Partly cloudy sky, a hot and uneasy afternoon. |
| Mumbai | 33°C | 26°C | Chances of light rain under cloudy sky. A hot and humid afternoon. |
| Kolkata | 39°C | 28°C | Sky will be partly cloudy, with chances of thundery activity post noon. |
| Chennai | 34°C | 25°C | Sky will be cloudy and, with chances of rain or thundershowers |
| Bangalore | 32°C | 21°C | Cloudy sky with chances of light rain |
| Hyderabad | 30°C | 25°C | Partly cloudy sky with chances of good amount of rain |
Photograph by Eirik Refsdal
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan are the hottest states in India. Bhuj was the hottest place in India on Wednesday. Barmer in Rajasthan dropped to third spot. Deesa, Baroda and Ahmedabad are the latest entrant in the list.
| Places | State | Maximum temperature on Wednesday | Forecast trend for next 24 hours |
| Bhuj | Gujarat | 44°C | Same |
| Rajkot | Gujarat | 43.6°C | Drop |
| Barmer | Rajasthan | 43.6°C | Same |
| Jalore | Rajasthan | 43.5°C | Drop |
| Jalgaon | Maharashtra | 43°C | Drop |
| Deesa | Gujarat | 42.7°C | Same |
| Baroda | Gujarat | 42.6°C | Same |
| Idar | Gujarat | 42.6°C | Same |
| Ahmedabad | Gujarat | 42.5°C | Same |
| Amreli | Gujarat | 42.5°C | Same |
Photograph by www.swaminarayan.info
Arecanut is widely grown in Karnataka, Kerala and Assam and these three states contribute more than 80 per cent of the total production. It is also cultivated to a small extent in Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya, Goa, Tripura, Puducherry, Mizoram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The unusual rain in Karnataka has severely affected Arecanut crops, popularly known as betel nut or supari.
Farmers in the Holalkere, Hosadurga and Chitradurga taluks took to arecanut cultivation due to a steep increase in its price in the last few years. But due to vagaries of nature, scanty rainfall in the last three years and depletion of groundwater table, the farmers have incurred heavy losses.
Scanty rain is not the only reason; in fact untimely rain that has been lashing the state since March has majorly affected the crops and the growers have not received any compensation for their loss till date.
Heavy rains accompanied by squally winds wreaked havoc in several villages of south Karnataka, destroying crops on Monday night. More than 281 arecanut trees were uprooted at a village called Kula. Hundreds of banana, coconut, mango trees, Singapore jackfruit and Jambunerale (jamun) trees were also not spared. Few people also lost their lives as lightning struck them. Not only trees were uprooted but also damaged agricultural crops in many parts of the State.
In a span of 24 hours from 8.30 am on Wednesday, several places in Karnataka including Bangalore received 7.4 mm of rain, Belgaum 31.2, Chitradurga 5 mm, Gadag 5.8 mm, Honnavar 18.4 mm, Karwar 14.4 mm and Mangalore 5.5 mm of rain. Goa also received 3.3 mm of rain while Nashik received 7.5 mm.
The tropical low pressure area, which has now become a well-marked area will continue to feed in moisture and bring heavy rain to Kerala and south coastal Karnataka. But the intensity of pre-monsoon rain will reduce in Tamil Nadu.
Today heavy to good amounts of rain and thundershowers are likely at many places over Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Kodagu, Shimoga and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka with strong winds ranging between 60 kmph and 100 kmph.
Clouding has reached Maharashtra according to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, rain will continue over Maharashtra and Konkan coast as well for the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the latest weather update issued by Skymet informs that the weather system will lose its steam as it enters the land. At present the system is close to north Kerala and south coastal Karnataka and will shift towards the land during the next 24 hours.
picture courtesy- couriermail
In Maharashtra, the largest Sugar producing State, Sugar output was down 2 percent at 7.65 million tonnes, against 7.81 million tonnes last year. Indian Sugar futures fell on profit-taking as the peak-buying spree of summer season eased. Sugar futures expected to open weak in the absence of any major triggers, said the traders.
April witnessed a steady Indian Cashew market with a slight softening in prices of W240 and W320 verities at the lower end of the range for nearby from some processors. Prices were steady at the higher end of the range for forward positions. There was some pick up in off take in the Indian market but not much increase in prices, said traders.
Indian Turmeric futures ended down as the damage to crops from recent showers in growing belts of southernIndia. Due to the arrival of medium quality hybrid Turmeric at Erode spot market, prices decreased by Rs 500 per quintal. The finger variety of the Turmeric sold at Rs 6209-7689 per quintal at Erode spot market.
