Partha Sarathi Biswas

3 weeks ago | indianexpress.com | Partha Sarathi Biswas

District judge Sonal S Patil, who would be the co-grand marshal of Yutak Charitable Trust’s Pune Pride on Sunday, has a long career in the judiciary. As the secretary of the Pune District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), Patil said the decision to join the march was to proudly support the LBGTQ+ community’s quest for equality and inclusivity. With a career of over 15 years in the judiciary, Patil has worked across Maharashtra in various judicial capacities.

3 weeks ago | indianexpress.com | Partha Sarathi Biswas

May, instead of being hot, has been exceptionally wet for Maharashtra. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) reported that the state has received 159.4 mm of rainfall as against the normal of 14.4 mm of rainfall it is supposed to receive normally. Monsoon arrived in Maharashtra on May 24, as opposed to its normal June 5 date of arrival. Even before its arrival, pre-monsoon rains had lashed the state.

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Partha Sarathi Biswas

For the present summer season (March 1- May 31) Maharashtra reported 86.9 mm of rainfall as compared to its normal 19.7 mm. Districts of Parbhani, Nanded, Hingoli, Pune, Satara have reported large excess rainfall. While the rainfall has been welcomed by most, it has also led to large scale damage especially to the horticulture crops. Reports say that 29,483 hectare of crops, especially horticulture crops like Mango, pomegranate, orange, sweet lime and vegetables have sustained damage.

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Partha Sarathi Biswas

Although touted as one of the oldest known oilseed, safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) has slowly fallen out of commercial farming for more than one reason. Farmers like Lad said they decided to go for crops like wheat in the rabi season instead of safflower in the past as the per acre yields of the latter were very low. Sold as a premium cooking oil, mostly in boutique cold pressed oil, the seed is used for medicinal purposes also. India produces 35,000-45,000 tonnes of safflower seeds annually.

1 month ago | indianexpress.com | Partha Sarathi Biswas

April 2025 for Pune was the month which saw the highest number of days when temperatures breached the 40 degrees mark. The average temperature of April was 39.4 degrees which made it the third hottest April in the last 10 years. By all accounts the city has seen hotter Aprils in the last 10 years but the present April is marked by the presence of residual heat as well as heat waves in nearby places. During the last month (April) Pune has seen 14 days when the maximum temperature crossed 40 degrees.