Local commissioners appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to inspect the Lotus Temple have said there was “visible discoloration of a large number of tiles” on the structure.

Pre-monsoon rains have produced what looks like an unmatched record this season, delivering excess or normal rainfall for the entire country as at April-end.

A clear picture is likely to emerge only towards the end of June

Total area impacted across India pegged at 18.9 mn hectares

El Nino is not only expected to affect monsoon in India but also in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and some parts of Myanmar.

India has evacuated 2500 stranded Indians, even as a fresh feeble tremor on Monday jolted the battered Himalayan nation.

Private forecaster Skymet has stuck to its earlier forecast of a normal monsoon this year, unruffled by the weather office's prediction that rainfall in the crucial June-September period would be b

Monsoon is expected to be below normal in central India as well, though the India Meteorological Department's region-wise monsoon distribution will be released only in June.

IMD's forecast is a good nine percentage points less than that of Skymet