To mark the occasion, HURL also organised a Dealer Conference in Kolkata, which saw enthusiastic participation from its dealer network in West Bengal and Assam, as well as the marketing teams from both states. The conference served as a collaborative platform to reinforce partnerships, align strategic goals, and share insights into future growth opportunities.

Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into some more parts of South Interior Karnataka, some parts of Rayalaseema, most parts of Tamil Nadu, entire Southwest Bay of Bengal, some more parts of West central Bay of Bengal, entire Eastcentral Bay of Bengal and some parts of northwest and some more parts of Northeast Bay of Bengal.

The Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) now passes through Karwar, Shimogha ,Tumukuru, Chittoor, Chennai.

Conditions are becoming favourable for further advance of Southwest Monsoon into some more parts of Central Arabian Sea, Goa, Some parts of Konkan, some more parts of Karnataka, Rayalaseema, remaining parts of Tamilnadu, some parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, some more parts of Central and North Bay of Bengal and some parts of Northeastern states during next 2-3 days.

Conditions likely to become favorable subsequently for further advance of Southwest monsoon into some more parts of Maharashtra, Some more parts of Karnataka, Some parts of Telangana, some more parts of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, remaining parts of Bay of Bengal & northeastern states, Sikkim, some parts of Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal during subsequent 2 days.

A Low Pressure Area is likely to form over eastcentral Bay of Bengal during next 48 hours. It is likely to move westnorthwest wards and become more marked during subsequent 24 hours. Under its influence, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall accompanied with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely over Odisha, north Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana during 09th-11th June and isolated heavy falls over Vidarbha, Gangetic West Bengal, Gujarat state and south Madhya Pradesh during 10th-11th June.

The Western Disturbance as a trough and cyclonic circulation persist over north Punjab,
northeast Uttar Pradesh, Central Gujarat, eastcentral Bay of Bengal and Southeast Arabian Sea off Kerala Coast.

Meanwhile,
• General Weather Forecast for next 5 days (up to 0830 hours IST of 12 June 2020):

Maximum temperature likely to rise by 2-3°C over Maharashtra and central India during next 2 days. No significant change in maximum temperature during next 24 hours and rise by 2-4°C thereafter over northwest India.

No significant change in maximum temperatures likely over rest parts of the country during next 4-5 days.

Cyclone Amphan, one of the worst storms over the Bay of Bengal in years, has killed 12 people in West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday.

The powerful cyclone destroyed thousands of homes, leaving authorities struggling to mount relief efforts amid the coronavirus crisis. Bengal took the brunt of Cyclone Amphan, which barreled into the coast with gusting winds of up to 185 km per hour.

Ms Banerjee said the impact of Amphan was worse than the coronavirus pandemic and claimed damages due to the cyclone could be in the region of Rs 1 lakh crore. Over five lakh people had been taken to shelters in Bengal and over one lakh in Odisha.

Road clearance and restoration work by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are underway after extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan hit West Bengal .

NDRF Director-General SN Pradhan tweeted photographs of restoration work by NDRF personnel at various locations in West Bengal, including North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Howrah, Kolkata and South 24 Parganas.

The cyclone made landfall with gusting winds of up to 185 kmph and waves about 15 feet tall. Over five lakh people had been placed in shelters in West Bengal and over one lakh in Odisha.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that severe cyclonic storm Amphan over Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal coast moved north-northeastwards with a speed of 30 km/ph during the past six hours and it is very likely to continue to move north-northeastwards and weaken further into a deep depression during the next three hours and into a depression during subsequent six hours.

In its daily bulletin IMD said that heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places over Western Assam and Meghalaya and heavy at other northeastern states during the next 24 hours. IMD has also predicted a Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and squall at isolated places in Bihar and lightning and gusty winds over Lakshadweep, and Kerala.

Amphan weakened from a super cyclone to an “extremely severe cyclonic storm” on Tuesday, causing strong winds and heavy rain in parts of Odisha and Bengal as it advanced towards the Indian coast. More than three lakh people have been evacuated in Bengal. Officials anticipate massive destruction when the cyclone strikes.

Amphan is expected to pack winds gusting up to 185 kilometres per hour when it crosses West Bengal’s Digha and Bangladesh’s Hatiya. Amphan is only the second “super cyclone” to form in the northeastern Indian Ocean since records began. Indian Navy is on “high alert” on the east coast for relief efforts, an official statement said.

Early morning visuals showed winds and heavy rain in Paradip in Odisha and South 24 Paraganas in Bengal. Seven districts of Bengal are likely to face the direct impact of the cyclone. Kolkata, which is close to the coast, is also on alert.

Describing the vulnerable areas as “red plus zones”, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she would stay overnight in the control room tonight.

Those living near the coast have been warned against stepping out; fishermen have been warned to stay off coast. Mamata Banerjee said they should stay in from Wednesday morning until an all-clear was sounded on Thursday. “The tail-end of a cyclone can do worst damage, so people should not come out of their homes until they get an all-clear,” she said, recalling that when Cyclone Fani hit last year, more died when the cyclone was leaving.

Three lakh people have been evacuated in Bengal, one lakh have been evacuated to safety in Odisha. On Tuesday, Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Chief Ministers of Bengal and Odisha – Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik – on phone, assuring them all help from the central government.

Cyclone Amphan along with the coronavirus fight pose a double challenge for the country, National Disaster Response Force chief SN Pradhan said on Tuesday. “We have told Bengal and Odisha, social distancing has to be maintained strictly in cyclone shelters. If a shelter has space for 1,000, then only 500 should be allowed,” NDRF said

It is very likely to move north-northeastwards across northwest Bay of Bengal and cross West Bengal – Bangladesh coasts between Digha (West Bengal) and Hatiya Islands (Bangladesh) close to Sundarbans during the Afternoon / Evening of 20th May 2020 as an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 165-175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph.

(1) Heavy rainfall Warning:

Odisha

Coastal Odisha is likely to experience light to moderate rainfall at many places from tonight with heavy falls at isolated places over coastal Odisha (Gajapati, Ganjam, Puri, Jagatsinghpur & Kendrapara Districts) on 18th May, 2020. Rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over north coastal Odisha (Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Jajpur, Balasore, Bhadrak & Mayurbhanj Districts) and isolated heavy falls over Khordha & Puri districts on 19th May and isolated heavy rainfall over north Odisha (Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Kendrapara and Keonjhar Districts) on 20th May 2020.

West Bengal

Coastal districts of Gangetic West Bengal (East Medinipur, South & North 24 Parganas) are likely to experience light to moderate rainfall at many places with heavy falls at isolated places on 19th May. Rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places & extremely heavy falls at isolated places likely over Gangetic West Bengal (east & west Medinipur, south & north 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hoogli, Kolkata and adjoining districts) on 20th May and isolated heavy rain over interior districts on 21st May, 2020.

Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim

Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places over Malda & Dinajpur districts on 20th May and over most of the districts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim on 21st May, 2020.

Assam & Meghalaya

Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places over the western districts of Assam & Meghalaya on 21st May.

(2) Wind warning

West Bengal & Odisha

• Squally wind speed reaching 45 to 55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph is likely to commence along and off south Odisha coast from 18th evening, increase becoming 55 to 65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph extend to along & off north Odisha coast from 19th morning and along and off West Bengal coast from 19th afternoon.

• The wind speed will gradually increase becoming gale wind speed reaching 75 to 85 kmph gusting to 95 kmph from 20th morning along and off north Odisha (Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts) and West Bengal (east & west Medinipur, south & north 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hoogli, Kolkata Districts). It will gradually increase thereafter becoming 110 to 120 kmph gusting to 135 kmph along & off the above mentioned districts of North Odisha.

• Gale wind speed reaching 165 to 175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph very likely along & off east Medinipur and north & south 24 Parganas districts and 100-110 kmph gusting to 120 kmph over Kolkata, Hoogli, Howrah and West Medinipur Districts of West Bengal during the time of landfall (20th afternoon to night).

• Squally wind speed reaching 55-65 kmph gusting to 75 kmph likely to prevail over Puri, Khordha, Cuttack, Jajpur districts of Odisha during 20th May 2020.

Deep Sea area

• Gale wind speed reaching 230-240 gusting to 265 kmph is prevailing over westcentral Bay of Bengal. It is likely to increase becoming 230-240 gusting to 265 kmph over northern parts of central Bay of Bengal and adjoining North Bay of Bengal from tonight to 19th May morning.

• Gale wind speed reaching 200-210 gusting to 230 kmph over north Bay of Bengal from 19th morning and gradually decrease becoming 165-175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph by 20th evening.

The states going into lockdown till March 31 include those where coronavirus cases have been reported – Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and Uttarakhand.

People entering Assam from Coronavirus infected states will be stamped and will be kept under Home Isolation for 14 days.

If found in streets or public place before the completion of 14 days quarantined, will be booked immediately by Police.

The states going into lockdown till March 31 include those where coronavirus cases have been reported – Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and Uttarakhand.

Three new coronavirus positive cases were reported in Rajasthan on Sunday, taking the total number in the state to 28. One positive case each was reported from Bhilwara, Jhunjhunu and Jodhpur, Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said. He said that out of the total 28 cases, 13 are from Bhilwara and four from Jhunjhunu and rest from other parts of the state including the capital city Jaipur. Singh said that the government is in process if earmarking quarantine facility for 1 lakh people to face any emergency.

Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel announced a lockdown in urban areas of the state till March 31 in view of the novel coronavirus outbreak. “To prevent the spread of virus in Chhattisgarh, we have decided to impose curfew till 31 March in all urban areas. During this period, all offices, institutions,
transport services etc will be closed. However, essential services such as medical shops, grocery shops, vegetable outlets, milk shops and petrol pumps will function,” he said.

Besides, services like electricity supply, water supply, domestic gas supply, municipal sanitation, waste disposal and commercial transport will continue to function as before, he said.

However, the metro services will operated for essential internal operational maintenance activities during this duration and security of the system will continue to be taken care of by CISF, DMRC said in a statement.
Noida-Greater Noida metro, city bus services will also be suspended till March 31 with immediate effect, declared NMRC.

Earlier, on account of nation-wide ‘Janta Curfew’ that was observed on Sunday from 7 am to 9 pm after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal, the Delhi Metro had decided to keep its services closed on 22 March 2020. “In the wake of ‘Janata Curfew’ to be observed this Sunday i.e, on 22nd March 2020, DMRC has decided to keep its services closed. The move is aimed at encouraging public to stay indoors and maintain social distancing, which is essential in the fight against Covid-19,” DMRC said in a tweet. In a statement, DMRC also said, “Random thermal scanning of passengers will be carried out at all metro stations.”

Moreover, the Cabinet Secretary on Sunday reviewed Covid-19 status with Chief Secretaries of states and a slew of decisions were taken, which included lockdown in 75 districts across the country affected by corona virus. These districts have either reported confirmed cases or casualties relating to Covid-19. Only essential services will be allowed in these 75 districts.

It also decided that all trains will be stopped till 31 March, no metro rail and inter-state buses will operate till month-end.

Also, the decision to stop inter-state public transport was taken because the government noted a trend of people, especially migrant labourers working in big cities, scrambling to take trains to go back to their villages in states in the East and other parts of the country.

Earlier in the day, the Railways announced suspension of all trains from March 22 till March 31. Only goods trains will be allowed to ply during this period.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government put Kolkata under lock down till March 31 to control COVID-19. The Punjab government also announced its decision to enforce lock down in the entire state till March 31.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths in Italy outstripped those in China, where the virus originated late last year. The toll from an outbreak of corona virus in the country rose in the last 24 hours by 427 to 3,405. Thursday’s figure represented a slight improvement from the day before, when Italy recorded 475 deaths.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday urged citizens to face the corona virus pandemic with collective determination and patience, to make sure that “humanity and India prevails”.

COVID-19 has infected more than 244,000 people and killed over 10,000, according to an estimate from John Hopkins University, which is live-tracking cases reported by the World Health Organization and additional sources.

The national helpline number for the corona virus is 011-23978046, and a toll-free number 1075.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says all malls in Delhi, excluding grocery, pharmacy and vegetable shops, will be closed because of the corona virus outbreak.

The Maharashtra chief minister says citizens should take precautions for the next 15 days.

Thackeray says groceries, milk and other day to day items shall be available. He also urges citizens to reduce unnecessary movement to contain the spread of corona virus.

Uddhav Thackeray announces that all workplaces in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region – Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur will remain closed till March 31. He also says government offices to operate at 25% attendance.

Chhattisgarh government orders all schools to be closed till further notice to prevent the spread of corona virus in the state, reports “In view of the first case of corona virus patient being reported in Raipur on Thursday, the order was amended on the direction of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel,” a government official says. “Now schools will remain closed till further orders.”

Karnataka has 14 coronavirus patients. The number of cases in Ladakh rose to eight and Jammu and Kashmir four. Telangana has reported six cases which include two foreigners.

Rajasthan has also reported seven cases including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu has two cases so far.

Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Pondicherry, Chandigarh and Punjab have reported one case each.

In Haryana, there are 17 cases, which include 14 foreigners.