Improved prospects

Monsoon may still become erratic in second half

Even as the jury is still out over the technical validity of the official declaration of the monsoon’s onset over Kerala on May 29, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has come out with an updated forecast, projecting the season’s total rainfall to be around 103 per cent of the long period average, against 99 per cent predicted earlier. It has also indicated that the rainfall would be normal, or marginally above normal, in all regions of the country. This is despite a degree of uncertainty created by the conflicting status of the two important monsoon influencers — La Nina (cooling