This document contains the presentation by Rais Akhtar on Climate change and extreme weather events mortality in India, presented at National climate research conference, IIT Delhi, March 5-6, 2010. This paper highlights the impact of climate change & variability including rising temperature, heavy precipitation, increase in heat wave and cold wave conditions causing increased human mortality in India. In India heat waves events and consequent deaths have been increasing year after year. In 1981 there were 7 heat wave days with 63 deaths. These figures rose to 27 events and 1662 deaths in 1998, and 70 events and 1539 deaths in 2003. Similarly, cold wave events and consequent deaths have also been in increase, from 10 events and 22 deaths in 1994, to 30 events and 425 deaths in 2000. In 2003, mortality due to cold wave conditions was the highest in the country. The objective of the chapter is to present heat wave and cold wave scenarios in India based on data from India Meteorology Department for the period 1979-2008, and to highlight various adaptation strategies- socio-economic index and behavioural changes, adopted by people in the events of heat waves and cold waves.Besides the outbreak of malaria epidemic in four districts of desert region of western Rajasthan state