In a first since 2011, no heatwave recorded in Delhi this summer
New Delhi, Jun 23: Delhi's primary weather station, the Safdarjung Observatory, has not experienced any heatwave this summer season. In fact, it is expected that there will be no heatwave until the end of June.
This is quite unusual because since 2011, the observatory has always recorded at least one heatwave in summer, according to the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) data.
"The Safdarjung Observatory has not recorded any heatwave this summer season so far. Also, there will be no heatwave in the next seven days. Since 2011, this is the first summer without a heatwave in Delhi," said Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre.
Meteorologists attribute the absence of heatwave days to excess rainfall due to higher-than-usual western disturbances -- weather systems that originate in the Mediterranean region and bring unseasonal rainfall to northwest India -- this summer season (March to June).
According to the IMD's data, Delhi recorded 111 mm rainfall in May, 262 per cent more than the long-term average of 30.7 mm and the fourth highest in the month since the Met office started maintaining records.
The city logged more than 20 mm rainfall in April, the highest in the month since 2017, and heatwave conditions at isolated pockets.
The Met department has forecast intermittent rains over the next six to seven days, with the intensity peaking between June 25 and June 27.
Maximum temperatures are predicted to hover around the 35-degree Celsius mark during the period.
Though the IMD's extended range model guidance shows an upswing in rains over northwest India in the last week of June, the Met office is yet to announce a date for the arrival of monsoon in Delhi.
Normally, the rain-bearing system reaches the capital by June 27.
Mahesh Palawat, a meteorologist at private forecasting agency Skymet Weather, however, said monsoon may reach Delhi on June 28-29.
The IMD on Friday said monsoon has further advanced over some more parts of Karnataka, Telangana, the remaining parts of Andhra Pradesh, some parts of Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, the remaining parts of Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal, some more parts of Jharkhand and Bihar and some parts of east Uttar Pradesh.
The southwest monsoon flow has strengthened over the subcontinent and the rain-bearing system may cover some more parts of Chhattisgarh, the remaining parts of Jharkhand and Bihar, some parts of east Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and some parts of Uttarakhand over the next two days, it said.
"A cyclonic circulation lies over the northwest Bay of Bengal, extending up to the middle-tropospheric levels. An east-west trough runs from north Punjab to the above cyclonic circulation, extending up to the lower-tropospheric levels. These systems will help monsoon advance further," an official said.
"Conditions are also becoming favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon over some more parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana during the next three-four days," the Met department said.
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IPL mega auction to be held in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia on November 24, 25: BCCI
New Delhi, Nov 5: The mega auction ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025 will be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on November 24 and 25, the BCCI announced on Tuesday.
This is the second successive year the auction is being held overseas as Dubai hosted the previous one ahead of the IPL 2024.
The player registration officially closed on Monday and a total of 1,574 cricketers (1,165 Indian and 409 overseas) have been signed up for the auction, which will clash with the third and fourth day’s play of the first Test between India and Australia in Perth, which begins on November 22.
Each franchise will be able to form a maximum squad of 25 players (including respective retained players), and a total of 204 slots will be up for grabs from the auction.
The list includes 320 capped players, 1,224 uncapped players and 30 players from the Associate Nations.
Among capped players, 48 are from India. Moreover, 965 uncapped players of the country will also be part of the auction.
This year’s auction will feature some high-profile India stars such as Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Arshdeep Singh.
The 10 franchises will collectively have around Rs 641.5 crore to spend for the available 204 slots.
Out of those 204 slots, 70 are earmarked for overseas players.
As of now, 46 players have been retained by the 10 franchises with cumulative expenditure of Rs 558.5 crore.
Each franchise was allocated Rs 120 crore to build their squads but after the retention process, which was announced on October 31, Punjab Kings have the biggest purse -- Rs 110.5 crore.
The Punjab outfit retained just two uncapped players -- Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh for Rs 9.5 crore.
Rajasthan Royals, under Sanju Samson, have the smallest purse of Rs 41 crore after retaining six players.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have also retained six players but they have a remaining purse of Rs 51 crore.
