Monsoon finally arrives; there's a lot riding on it

South-west monsoon , the key to the agriculture-driven trilliondollar Indian economy , today brought showers to Kerala . Farmers are understandably anxious because pre-monsoon showers are down a third , resulting in unusually parched fields.

Progress of the monsoon will be keenly watched as there are chances that El Nino , a weather phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean , might play spoilsport from early August.