Heatwave abates across parts of the country: IMD

HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The heatwave has abated from all parts of the country, the India Meteorological Department said on Tuesday, adding that maximum temperature has further fallen by 2°C-4°C over Rajasthan, Punjab, New Delhi and Haryana.

The maximum temperatures are likely to rise over many parts of northwest India again by 2°C-3°C after two days, the IMD said. No significant change in maximum temperatures is very likely over most parts of Central India during next 3 days and a rise by 2°C-3°C thereafter. Maximum temperatures are likely to rise by 2°C-4°C over Maharashtra from Wednesday, the IMD report said.

Also, isolated light rainfall, dust storms, and thunderstorms with winds gusting up to 50 kmph are very likely over Punjab, Haryana,

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan during the next two days, it said.

A cyclonic circulation is likely to form over South Andaman Sea and neighbourhood around May 4 which is likely to cause very heavy rain around Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over the same region around May 6. There are chances of the low pressure system intensifying further and moving towards the east coast around Odisha and West Bengal, IMD scientists said on Tuesday.

“There are chances of this system intensifying but its too early for us to say if it will become a cyclone. It could move towards the east coast around West Bengal and Odisha but only around May 9. This is the cyclone season so intensification of the system is not unexpected,” said Ananda Kumar Das, in-charge of monitoring cyclones at IMD. states. Both sides also discussed the destabilising effects of the conflict in Ukraine and its implications, and agreed to stay in touch on the issue.

But like Germany, which was the PM’S first stop during his Europe visit, Denmark condemned Russia by name for its aggression in Ukraine in the joint statement, while India, in line with its position on the issue, chose not to. The Danish PM also said that Russian president Vladimir Putin had to stop this war, and urged India “to use its influence with Russia”. India has, in its direct exchanges with both Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, emphasised the need for a return to diplomacy and dialogue and urged direct talks between the leaders. On Wednesday, Modi is scheduled to participate in the India-nordic summit before heading to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, who has just been re-elected for a second term in office.

In his remarks to the press, Modi chose to keep the focus on the larger relationship, saying, “I am happy that significant progress has been made in various fields, especially in the areas of renewable energy, health, ports, shipping, circular economy and water management. More than 200 Danish companies are operating in various areas in India – such as wind energy, shipping, consultancy, food processing, engineering.” The PM also said there were plenty of investment opportunities for Danish companies and Danish pension funds in both infra and green industries. On broader strategic issues, the PM said that the two sides had discussed India-european Union relations, Indo-pacific and Ukraine, expressing hope that an India-eu Free Trade Agreement would be concluded as soon as possible.

“We stressed on ensuring a free, open, inclusive, and rulesbased Indo-pacific region. We called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and adoption of dialogue and diplomacy to resolve the problem.”

Both sides, in the joint statement issued at the end of the consultations, welcomed the concrete progress under the green strategic partnership which was launched in 2020. “...the two leaders agreed to further strengthen their cooperation within the renewable energy sector and welcomed the work on a comprehensive

INDIA DENMARK

Energy Policy Dialogue in India and Denmark especially strengthening cooperation on cross-sectoral energy planning with a focus on green hydrogen, integration of renewable energy, energy storage and decarbonisation”, the statement said. Treating health as a part of the green partnership, India has agreed to join the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions while Denmark has confirmed its accession to the Global Digital Health Partnerships. On trade, both sides agreed that bilateral investments and trade flows through “diversified, resilient, transparent, open, secure and predictable global supply chains” would ensure economic security and prosperity.

The two PMS also welcomed Indian investments in the IT space in Denmark, and Danish investments in renewable energy, water, terminals and port modernisation and expansion, food processing and engineering sectors – noting that Danish companies employ their largest workforce outside of Denmark in India. At a separate event of the India-denmark Business Forum, Modi also highlighted the government’s business-friendly approach, borrowing from millennial lingo. “...the term FOMO or fear of missing out is gaining traction on social media. Looking at India’s reforms and investment opportunities, I can say that those who don’t invest in our nation will certainly miss out.”

India and Denmark also emphasised the importance of the India-eu strategic partnership, and called for a “balanced, ambitious, comprehensive, and mutually beneficial approach and an early and simultaneous conclusion”.

They welcomed the recent launch of India-eu Trade and Technology Council and underlined the importance of “deep, strategic collaboration on crosscutting issues related to trade, trusted technology and security”. Both sides also agreed to support the early implementation of the India-eu connectivity partnership.

Explaining the significance of the PM’S visit to Denmark, Garima Mohan, senior fellow, Asia Program, at the German Marshall Fund, said that it points to a fundamental shift in Indian foreign policy. “Our diplomatic energies are no longer focused on the capitals of Paris, Berlin and London. India is starting to develop new partnerships with Europe’s sub-regions.” from the weather detected on the radar. “The track that the pilot chose was to keep the aircraft at a safe distance from the turbulent weather seen on the radar,” the airline said. Dibyendu Nandi, who described himself as a physicist and “space weather guy” on Twitter, contended on the social media platform: “It (the aircraft) flew straight into an intense localised storm, the famous Nor’wester!” Along with this, Nandi posted a flight tracker map of the route the aircraft took and archival data from a weather app that showed bad weather at the time of the flight.

Ian Petchenik, a Flightradar24 spokesperson, however, said: “Turbulence that is hard to detect is called ‘clear air turbulence’, because it presents without other indicators... Not all turbulence can be forecasted or seen in advance. This incident highlights the necessity of wearing your seatbelt at all times, especially during critical phases of flight.” There were 195 people, including two pilots and four cabin crew members, on board the Mumbai-durgapur flight. The plane took off from the Mumbai airport at 5.13pm on Sunday and landed about twoand-a-half hours later. “Based on historical data for this route, the flight path is not out of the ordinary,” Petchenik said.

A former pilot with a private airline said such systems are not always accurate. “Weather radars are not completely reliable. When there is extremely heavy turbulence, the weather radar shows nothing, this is a well-known flaw... It may be that the weather radar was slightly unreliable, which is not uncommon,” he said, asking not to be named. Experts said the incident needs to be investigated from all possible angles. Mark D Martin, member of the Royal Aeronautical Society and founder of aviation safety firm Martin Consulting LLC, said: “We need to get to the bottom of this case...action needs to be taken accordingly.”

India’s aviation regulator DGCA has launched an inspection of the entire aircraft fleet after the incident. It has also taken off the roster the flight’s crew, aircraft maintenance engineer and incharge of Spicejet’s maintenance control centre pending a probe. Spicejet has 91 aircraft in its fleet, according to its website. The aircraft involved in the incident on Sunday is currently grounded in Kolkata.

Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said that DGCA deputed a team to investigate the incident. “The matter is being dealt with utmost seriousness and deftness,” he said.

According to aviation safety expert Mohan Ranganthan, when there are high temperatures going into regions such as West Bengal, one experiences temperature variations between 24,000ft and 14,000ft of altitude. “When this is recognised, one must reduce speed... If the turbulence penetration speed is not maintained, then the pilot should be asked the reason for not doing so,” he said.

Martin said no pilot wilfully enters or plans to remain in turbulence. “Turbulence is something that is beyond the pilot and airline’s control; it is something that the pilots have to fly the aircraft through and mitigate it. It needs to be found if the pilot was briefed that turbulence was expected in the route.” He said it needs to be determined what kind of turbulence the pilots faced. “If this was a ‘wake turbulence’, then ATC should have told the pilot of traffic ahead. Clear air turbulence is published in advance hence the airlines’ operations and dispatch teams alert the pilot about it. The third turbulence is due to bad weather. India has three weather satellites, all airline dispatch offices have satellite data with updated weather data and the crew is notified about it and asked to fly in a particular region. Hence, the pilot alone cannot be blamed for the accident.” Martin said that clear air turbulence is hard to detect on the radar in real time.

Wake turbulence occurs when an airplane passes by another airplane or helicopter and gets caught in the other aircraft’s stream. The bigger the plane, the more severe the turbulence. To avoid this, aircraft are guided by rules that ask aircraft to maintain a specific distance from another when approaching. A former DGCA official suggested that a diversion could have avoided the situation. “As per my experience, the pilot should have avoided the weather. During Nor’westers, all these areas see bad weather. They have to deviate 15 to 20 mile back and if the weather is still bad, instead of penetrating into the weather, the pilot should divert.” He asked not to be named. On being asked if the aircraft’s weather radar may have had issues, Spicejet said: “The weather radar on this aircraft (a Boeing 737-800) did not have issues. The aircraft had operated four sectors prior to this sector on May 1.”