New Delhi, With lower to medium level clouds kissing the tops of hilly terrains, cool northerly-northwesterly winds blowing at a light speed of 5-10 kmph and temperatures that have started to come down in their twenties and even single digits, the weather has turned perfect to visit the famous tourist places in the Western Himalayan region in India.

The weather of Shimla in Himachal Pradesh is wooing tourist as the maximum is just above twenties and the minimum is just above 10 degrees. However, Kullu is much hotter as the maximum is around 28 degrees but it is much cooler than the capital city as the minimum has dipped below 10 degrees.

In Uttarakhand also, Nainital has 22 degrees as a maximum while 11 degrees as a minimum. Tehri Garhwal, Chamoli, Rudra Prayag and Pithoragarh have started to experience cooler mornings as the minimums are just above 10 degrees. The maximums are also in their mid-twenties.

In Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar has turn pleasant with a maximum of 24-25 degrees while the minimum is also around 6-7 degrees. Jammu is still much hotter than the summer capital as the maximum is around 30-31 degrees while the minimum is around 19 degrees.

New Delhi, Heavy rains accompanied by damaging winds and dangerous beach conditions are expected to test the residents of Sydney during the next 24 to 48 hours as they may cause flash flooding in parts of the coastal areas and eastern ranges.

A low pressure system will deepen off the southern New South wales coast afternoon onwards on October 11, before deepening further and moving north towards Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter. The main moments of concern would be Thursday evening and Friday morning, before the system moves away to the east later on Friday.

The winds are expected to blow at an average speed of 60km/h with peak gusts of 100km/h over coastal parts of the Illawarra and the South Coast on Thursday evening, progressing towards Sydney and the Hunter on Friday morning.

Due to heavy rain, there is also the potential for some roads to become dangerous due to flash flooding. Fishermen and surfers have also been warned not to navigate as a very heavy surf is forecast and beach conditions could be dangerous. People are advised to stay well away from the surf and surf-exposed areas.

New Delhi, The sky is expected to become clear during the evening encounter at SuperSport Park at Centurion, South Africa where Indian teams would lock horns in their first match of the Champions league Twenty 20 match.

Rains have been forecast throughout the day with overcast conditions on October 13 but later in the afternoon and the evening, the sky will first become party cloudy to set in as a clear one by the time the game starts between Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils at 7.30pm (IST).

Though, there is a 36 percent chance of showers during the match, which may have an impact. The temperature would be around 18 degrees and easterly to southeasterly winds would be blowing over the ground. The humidity level would be around 75%. SuperSport Park is situated in Pretoria Irene in the central South African province of Gauteng.

New Delhi, The continuous showers during the month of September over the tea producing state of Assam may again push the price of tea as production is expected to go down. The price is up on an average by about Rs. 25 per kg compared to the same period last year.

The period of consistent heavy rain in the state of Assam during September damaged tea crops badly in Upper Assam where many tea-growing areas are virtually submerged. Upper Assam produces more than 50 percent of the country's total tea output and 70 percent of the total North Indian production. It also accounts for 60 percent of total tea production in the state.

Tea production in North India was first hit by scanty rainfall and now by excessive rain. The weather is playing truant in North India since October last year. The best tea producing months in North India, July to October, have taken a hit and henceforth, the production will gradually taper off with the season coming to a close from January.

New Delhi, As the retreat of the monsoon is about to complete over northwest India, post season diseases such as Dengue has once again reared its head. Hundreds of cases have been reported in the national capital since September 12 when the first dengue victim was diagnosed. But with a proper prevention plan, we can beat such mosquito's inflicted diseases. Here are some tips to secure you from mosquito inflicted diseases:

• The water in the flower pots should be changed at least once a week
• Water storing containers should be covered with a tight lid
• Barrels, drums used in water storage, etc. should be replaced by a fresh stock once a week
• Water tanks, like those in buildings, should have single piece cast iron, tight fitting cover
• To climb and examine the tanks regularly, a suitable ladder should be provided to enable civic staff
• To keep mosquitoes away, a net should be fitted with the overflow pipe
• Container-like objects like tyres, coconut shells, bottles, etc. should be disposed of or destroyed
• Water fountains should be kept dry once a week
• Surface wells should be well-maintained so that mosquitoes do not breed in the vicinity
• Rain water collected on terraces/roofs should be cleared once a week

New Delhi, 50% of custard apple crop has been damaged by the erratic rain in Maharashtra. The plant growers of Pune district are most affected as they have planted custard apple on acres of land and made major investment as the crop has fetched good returns in last few years.

The unsettled rain has affected 5000 hectare of planted custard apple at Purandar Tehsil in Pune. At the beginning of the monsoon season when the plants needed water the most, the rain was poor. The increased rain at the end of the season and the heavy rain also affected the plants when they were flowering. This means the crop has been hit twice by the erratic rain and the production will not be more than 50%. Tehsils in Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Latur districts also grow custard apple plants.

In the last few years, the demand for custard apple has increased as some dishes like sitaphal rabdi and sitaphal ice-cream have gained marvelous popularity. The demand for the fruit shot up and many farmers decided to cultivate the fruit trees. Some factories were set up near Pune city in the last three years to separate the seed from the fruit and process the pulp.

New Delhi, The delay of the withdrawal of monsoon brought the third wettest October for Mumbai, in the last 10 years. The rain in the first week of the month, from Oct 1 to Oct 7, crossed the monthly average of 55.8 mm at the Santa Cruz weather station and went on to record 124.8 mm. During the same period, the weather station at Colaba also recorded 92.2 mm of rain.

During 2006, the city had received 238.6 mm of rain, which is the highest in the last 10 years while in 2009, the city recorded its second highest rainfall of 223.3 mm. Till Sunday morning at 8.30am, the Colaba and Santa Cruz observatories recorded 31.7 mm and 32 mm of rain during the last 24 hours but after that the city remained dry till the evening.

But during the evening, the city and suburban areas once again received rain, 8.8 mm at Colaba weather station and 31 mm rain at the Santa Cruz weather station, registered between 6pm to 8.30pm. Till Monday morning at 8.30am, the weather station at Santa Cruz recorded 33.4 mm while the one at Colaba recorded 15 mm of rain. During the next 24 hours, light rain is expected to continue over the city but will remain silent for the next 24 hours to again pick up after this period.

New Delhi, The worst drought in decades for the US forced the Ranchers from Missouri to Texas and west into New Mexico to sell off huge portions of their herds as their pastures dried up and nor was it possible for them to buy food for their animals any further.

The drought hurt fodder production at the same time damaging grazing land and in some cases, ranchers can't find or afford hay to replace bales that were stolen. For instance, in Texas, the cost of an 800-pound bale of hay is about $150, roughly twice as much as it was at this time last year.

Some Ranchers have started breaking fences of neighbours or leaving their gates open to let their cattle graze on greener pastures. Thefts of livestock and other materials are being reported in the region as the ranchers are struggling to stay in business.

In some cases, stealing a neighbor's grass may be the only alternative for the ranchers to feed livestock. Some farmers in Missouri have tried to deter thieves by painting bales of hay bold colors to help identify stolen bales sitting on others' property.

New Delhi, A low intensity earthquake was felt at Darmashala in Himachal Pradesh at around 8.30pm on Wednesday. The magnitude of the earthquake was 3 on Richter scale and the epicenter is reported to be around Dharmshala and its adjacent areas. The depth of the earthquake was 5km.

This is the fifth earthquake reported in Himachal Pradesh during the last three days. The recent series of the tremors started with two moderate earthquakes on October 2, when a 4.5 and a 4.9 magnitude earthquake jolted the residents within a span of five hours.

The next two tremors of 3.8 and 3.6 magnitude were felt on October 3 in a time interval of just above half an hour at around 10pm. The epicenter of these four earthquakes was reported to be at the border region of Chamba, Lahaul and Spiti districts of the state. The intensities of these tremors have been low to moderate.

New Delhi,The Rhinos of Kaziranga National Park are bearing the brunt of heavy rain for a week now. The present weather over the national park has made life difficult for these unique animals as at least five of them have been killed by drowning in the third phase of floods caused by heavy rain.

The rain and poor light have become a hurdle in saving their lives as it is difficult to tranquillise them for the fear of scaring them off to the Brahmaputra river where they could possibly drown.

Earlier, during the second wave of floods, 13 of them drowned to death. In the first wave of floods, during June-July, 19 rhinos were among the 631 animals killed in Kaziranga. Rhinos in Kaziranga also face a threat from poachers for their precious horns.

New Delhi, Rainfall with moderate intensity is expected to continue over Mumbai during the next 24 hours. Rains could be heavy at one or two places over the coastal belt of Maharashtra including Mumbai, during this period. The cyclonic circulation over the east-central Arabian Sea off Maharashtra coast is responsible for an increase in the rainfall over the metropolitan and adjoining areas.

With rains, the afternoon would be sultry as the humidity level  which is above 75% and the light to moderate speed wind of the southwesterly would make it a bit uneasy. However, the morning and the evening would be pleasant as land winds from the southeast direction would prevail during this period.

The withdrawal of monsoon from the city has been delayed due to the present weather system. The normal withdrawal date of monsoon from Mumbai is October 1. The announcement of the retreat of monsoon from the city can only be anticipated when the cyclonic circulation moves away.