-The Hindu Waning El Nino among factors underlying Met office’s optimism. In line with recent predictions by private weather forecasters, India’s official weather forecasting agency too has said the monsoon is likely to be “above normal” and likely to be 106 per cent of the average of 89 cm. Monsoon rains within 96 per cent and 104 per cent of this average are considered “normal” in the terminology of the India Meteorological Department...

-Livemint.com Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology says there is a 54% probability that rainfall during the monsoon season this year will be 10 mm-per-day more than normal New Delhi: Weather scientists said they may have spotted signs of a normal, if not a good, rainy season this year, sparking hope among farmers and policymakers alike after two successive bad monsoons. With just three weeks to go for the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD’s) much-awaited...

-The Hindu Business Line A long-range forecast is not authoritative, but sets the mood for farmers, industry New Delhi: After two consecutive years of drought, the monsoon this year promises to be above normal, going by an early forecast. A long-range weather forecast by climate management company Weather Risk Management Services indicates that the monsoon this year may end up 5 to 10 per cent above normal — with well-distributed rainfall over the...

-Hindustan Times Jhabua: Bhil tribes people in Madhya Pradesh’s Jhabua and Alirajpur districts have revived their age-old tradition “halma” to conserve environment. Bhil tribes people said the water level and forest cover in the two districts are decreasing and if they do not conserve the natural resources then the next generation will suffer. More than 85% people in the two districts are tribal; most of them are farmers and daily wage workers. Alirajpur...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Rock-star French economist Thomas Piketty said it was "very moving" for him to be in Mumbai "after what happened in Paris in the last few weeks". In a wide-ranging conversation moderated by writer Patrick French, Piketty, author of the acclaimed Capital, an exposition on global inequality, and renowned Harvard professor Michael Sandel, whom French introduced as "the public philosopher of the BBC", talked about everything from growing...