NEW DELHI: Crop-nourishing monsoon rains lashed the Kerala coast of India's southwest on Tuesday, the India Meteorological Department said, the earliest start to the rains since 2011 which should boost the world's fasting growing economy's agriculture.
The monsoon delivers about 70 percent of India's annual rainfall, critical for the farm sector that accounts for about 15 percent of India's $2 trillion economy and employs more than half of the country's 1.3 billion people.
India's 260 million farmers depend on monsoon rains to grow crops such as rice, cane, corn, cotton and soybeans because nearly half of the country's farmland lacks irrigation. Higher farm incomes following plentiful rains lift the demand for an array of consumer goods ranging from lipsticks to refrigerators.
Monsoon rains hit the Kerala coast in line with the forecast of the India Meteorological Department, a senior weather department official, who did not wish to be named as she is not authorised to talk to media, said.
The India Meteorological Department declares the arrival of monsoon rains only after parameters measuring the consistency of the rainfall over a defined geography, the intensity, cloudiness and wind speed are satisfied.
Andaman and Nicobar, islands off India's southeastern coast that are usually the first areas to receive the monsoon, received rainfall six days ahead of schedule earlier this month.
The weather office on April 18 forecast this year's monsoon rains at 96 percent of a 50-year average of 89 cm.
As the monsoon intensifies over India, other neighbouring regions have been hit by the separate Cyclone Mora. The storm has caused deaths, destroyed refugee camps and damaged properties across Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and parts of northeastern India.
Landslides and floods in Sri Lanka killed at least 151 people and over 100 people are missing
Bangladesh has evacuated at least 350,000 people as the cyclone lashed coastal areas on Tuesday, officials said, causing havoc in refugee camps set up for Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in neighbouring Myanmar.
Heavy rains also lashed India's remote northeastern states of Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh as Mora moved further up the Bay of Bengal.
However, the cyclone is independent to India's southwest monsoon pattern.
In May, K.J. Ramesh, director general of the Meteorological Department, told Reuters that the country looked likely to receive higher monsoon rainfall than previously forecast as concern over the El Nino weather condition had eased.
El Nino, a warming of ocean surface temperatures in the eastern and central Pacific that typically occurs every few years and was linked to crop damage, fires and flash floods, faded in 2016.
Monsoon rains hit India's southern coast, to spur growth
Monsoon rains hit India's southern coast, to spur growth
Indonesia’s first woman president awarded honorary doctorate by Princess Nourah University
- Megawati was recognized for her leadership and contributions to social, legal affairs
- She has received 10 other honorary degrees from Indonesian and foreign institutions
JAKARTA: Megawati Sukarnoputri, who served as Indonesia’s fifth president and was the country’s only female head of state to date, has been awarded an honorary doctorate by Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, becoming the first foreign national to receive the title.
Megawati, the eldest daughter of Indonesia’s first President Sukarno and chairwoman of the country’s largest political party, the PDIP, served as president from 2001 to 2004.
The 79-year-old was awarded an honorary doctorate in organizational and legal affairs in Riyadh on Monday during a ceremony overseen by Princess Nourah University’s acting president, Dr. Fawzia bint Sulaiman Al-Amro.
“This recognition was given in appreciation of her efforts during her presidency, her significant contributions to social, organizational, and legal fields, and her role in strengthening institutional leadership in Indonesia,” the university said in a statement.
This is Megawati’s 11th honorary doctorate. She has received similar degrees from Indonesian and foreign universities, including the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 2003 and the Soka University of Japan in 2020.
She has also been awarded the title of honorary professor by several institutions, including by the Seoul Institute of the Arts in 2022.
“We gather at the Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, a university that stands as a symbol of women’s progress in education, knowledge and public service … To see so many intelligent women, I feel very proud,” Megawati said in her acceptance speech.
“Women’s empowerment is not a threat to any values, culture or tradition. It is actually a condition for nations that believe in their future … A great nation is one that is able to harness all of its human potential. A strong nation is one that does not allow half of its social power to be left on the sidelines of history.”
Megawati is the longest-serving political leader in Indonesia. Indonesia’s first direct presidential elections took place during her presidency, consolidating the country’s transition to democracy after the downfall of its longtime dictator Suharto in 1998.
