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India experienced deficient monsoon rainfall in 2015 that followed the deficient monsoon of 2014. India Meteorological Department (IMD) correctly predicted the large rainfall deficiency (86% of long period average) in 2015. Incidentally, this was the first ever deficient monsoon forecast issued by IMD, though it had earlier issued below-normal rainfall forecasts in the previous two deficient monsoon years (2009 and 2014) and was partially correct. The fact that there were only three previous occasions of consecutive two deficient monsoon years during the last 114 years (1901–2014) was itself a challenge to IMD to issue the forecast in 2015. It may be mentioned that IMD persisted with the deficient monsoon forecast for 2015, even though there were predictions from private agencies for a normal monsoon and apprehensions from the press and media about the low probability of two consecutive deficient years. IMD …