At 44.2 degrees Celsius, Akola sees day's highest temperature in India; parts of Maharashtra sizzle
Nagpur/Mumbai (PTI): Parts of Maharashtra are reeling under intense heat, with Akola city in the Vidarbha region recording the maximum temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the highest in the country for the day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
Along with Akola, three other cities in the state - Amravati (44), Wardha (43.9) and Nagpur (43.4) - occupied the top four spots in the country in terms of the highest maximum temperature for the day, it said.
Officials said mercury levels are set to go up and heatwave conditions will prevail over most districts of Vidarbha.
Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh was also at the fourth place with 43.4 degrees Celsius, as per the information provided by the IMD's Nagpur centre.
These places were followed by Solapur, which saw the maximum temperature of 43.3 degree Celsius, Malegaon (in Nashik) 43.2 and Beed in Maharashtra 43.1 degrees Celsius, all in Maharashtra.
Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh recorded the maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius and Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh saw 43 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
Talking to PTI, Dr Praveen Kumar, a scientist at the IMD's Nagpur centre, said Akola has been recording the highest maximum temperature in the country since the last two-three days.
The IMD issued a warning that heatwave conditions are likely to develop in Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Nagpur, Yavatmal, Washim, Buldhana, Chandrapur and Bhandara districts of Vidarbha in the next five days, he said.
"In the coming four to five days, there will be no respite from the heat and temperatures will continue to rise in Vidarbha. The reason is that there is an anti-cyclonic circulation existing at the height of 3.1 km and above from the mean sea level over Maharashtra and adjoining area," Kumar said.
As per the IMD's predictions, the maximum temperature is expected to go down from April 21, according to him.
The district administration of Wardha has directed all the schools to remain shut on Thursday in view of the extreme heat.
Most parts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada also witnessed the temperature soaring above 40 degrees Celsius.
Sangli recorded 41.8 degrees Celsius, Baramati 40.2, Parbhani 42, Jalgaon 42.3, Ahilyanagar 41.9, Dharashiv 41 and Satara 40 degrees Celsius, it said.
Although the temperature in coastal districts of the state was below 40 degrees Celsius, humidity coupled with heat added to people's woes.
Ratnagiri recorded 32.8 degrees Celsius, Santacruz observatory in Mumbai (suburbs) 34.5 degrees Celsius, Colaba observatory of Mumbai (island city) recorded 34.2 degrees Celsius.
The IMD has issued a yellow alert with hot and humid conditions for the coastal districts of Palghar, Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Sindhudurg.
A yellow alert with a heatwave warning has also been issued for Sangli, Solapur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Akola, Amravati and Wardha.
The IMD grades the severity of any weather system through colour-coded alerts - green (no warning), yellow (be aware), orange (be prepared) and red (take action).
Meanwhile, an expert from Vasantrao Naik Agriculture University in Parbhani told PTI that the heat wave conditions will continue to prevail in parts of the Marathwada region, comprising eight districts, for the next 48 to 72 hours.
The temperature here can go up by 4 to 5 degrees during this period, he said.
"When the temperature rises up by around 4.5 degrees Celsius, it is considered a heat wave. Such a rise in temperature is most likely to be recorded in 4-5 districts of Marathwada," agrometeorologist Kailas Dakhore told PTI.
An alert has been issued by the government agencies about this weather change. People in Nanded district have been advised not to step out of homes during afternoon hours unless it is very necessary, another official said.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
