-The Times of India The monsoon entered its second month carrying a big rain deficit of 31%, as on July 1, with Met officials still hopeful of good rains in July and August. The next few weeks are crucial as the monsoon's performance in this period could dictate whether the government would need to respond with special measures. India Meteorological Department officials, who till last week were confident that the monsoon...

-PTI India’s monsoon, vital for Asia’s third-largest economy, has been 22% deficient till June 26, official data showed, adding to the government’s worries and prompting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to consult key aides on measures to tone up the economy on Wednesday. In a revised forecast, the Met department predicted the rains would be 96% of the long-term average, lower than its April forecast of 99%. Rainfall is considered normal if...

PUNE/ KOLKATA: Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and parched fields in peninsular India as the monsoon resumed its journey after an agonising 11-day interruption, but the unforeseen 41% rain deficit this month has taken its toll, with vegetable prices rising sharply for the third straight month.  The monsoon, almost stagnant since June 6, touched southern parts of Gujarat and Chhattisgarh on Sunday. It is forecast to gain momentum in the next three...

-The Times of India With the development of cyclonic circulation over east central Arabian Sea on Tuesday, the southwest monsoon finally showed promise of progressing further into the country. In the next three days, the system which had so far stalled over coastal Karnataka and Tamil Nadu shortly after its onset on June 5 will become stronger over the west coast and Konkan.  "Under the influence of the cyclonic circulation, the southwest...

Weather conditions promoting El Nino persistent, says Met department; drought feared In its first monsoon forecast in late April, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had announced that monsoons would be normal this year and there was a little chance of El Nino—associated with dry spells west of the Pacific—arriving in the second half of the season. But of late, IMD seems to have shifted its stand. Now the weather agency is...