India experienced its hottest year on record in 2024, officials said, with large areas of the world’s most populous nation suffering through extended heatwaves induced by climate change.
Dr Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department, said the country's annual mean temperature was more than 0.5ºC above the long-term average last year.
“The annual mean temperature for the country during 2024 crossed 0.65ºC above the long-term average. It was the warmest year on record since 1901,” Dr Mohapatra told a press conference.
The previous highest mean temperature was recorded in 2016, when it rose 0.54ºC above the long-term average. “It is showing an increasing trend because of the impact of climate change,” he added.
The annual mean temperature is arrived at by collecting the maximum and minimum daily temperatures recorded at observatories across India "and then the average cumulative maximum and minimum temperature is divided by 12", said Mahesh Palawat, vice president of Skymet Weather, a private forecaster.
The country of 1.4 billion people has been experiencing unusually hot weather in recent years, with several places reporting record temperatures and prolonged heatwaves – when temperatures cross the 40°C mark. The temperature in the capital, New Delhi, reached 52.9ºC in May, the highest recorded in the country, and at least 37 Indian cities reported temperatures of more than 45ºC that month, according to the meteorological authority.
The heat caused nearly 400 deaths across the country and forced more than 40,000 people to seek medical treatment between March and July, the government told Parliament.
A survey by HeatWatch, an Indian non-profit group, put the toll higher, saying more than 700 people lost their lives because of heatstroke during those months. Birds fell from the sky and hospitals reported an influx of patients both day and night due to the heat. Doctors told The National of a patient who was admitted with a body temperature of 41ºC, before being put in a tub filled with ice and cold water to bring it down.
Weather experts attributed the record heat to the absence of periodic light rain owing to the lack of active western disturbance – a weather system that emanates from the Mediterranean and brings moisture-rich clouds to the subcontinent – as a result of climate change.
Experts have also blamed the rampant expansion of cities and towns and the shrinking of green cover and water bodies in cities including New Delhi, as hot winds become trapped in areas with a high number of multistorey buildings.
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• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
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Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
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What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
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Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
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The specs
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Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
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Explained
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
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Chelsea: Jorginho (83'), Abraham (87')
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
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