-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Monsoon is likely to remain strong through the month of June, the India Meteorological Department said on Thursday, as another storm system developed over the Bay of Bengal, promising widespread rain across central and south India over the next four-five days. As on June 18, the Monsoon was 10% above normal, mainly on account of excess rains over central India, the southeastern coast and parts...

-The Indian Express The average days of employment provided per household, too, fell to 40.01 from 45.97 in 2013-14 and 46.20 in 2012-13. From Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s public barbs against its being a “living proof” of 60 years of Congress misrule, to a proposal now for extending the annual work entitlement to 150 days in drought-affected areas, the BJP-led government’s disposition towards the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Act (MGNREGA)...

-The Telegraph Mayong (Morigaon): It was just some weeks ago that Jogeswar Bangthai, Ganesh Saikia and Mohammad Anar Ali were dreaming of a bumper crop as they gazed at their fields that had turned golden with the ripe paddy waiting to be harvested. A few days more and their granaries would brim over. Or so they thought. Then came the rain that refused to go away. In this fabled land of black magic, farmers...

-The Economic Times NEW DELHI: The rapid warming in the Indian Ocean is weakening the Monsoon, particularly over central India where agriculture is still mostly rain-fed, a study by meteorologists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology shows. The weakening trend in summer rainfall during 1901-2012 was also observed over the centraleast and northern regions of India, along the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna basins and the Himalayan foothills. This will include states of Uttar Pradesh,...

-The Economic Times PUNE | NEW DELHI | KOLKATA: Despite the forecast of a deficient Monsoon, coupled with its poor start, farmers are trying to maximise their returns. Choosing the crops that have high market prices is their strategy, shows the meager sowing taken place so far in the regions that have received Monsoon and pre-Monsoon showers. Crops like pulses, groundnut, chillies, onions, whose market rates have been ruling high, are...