INDIA is likely to receive normal monsoon rains this year, the state-run weather office said on Thursday (14), raising prospects of higher farm and general growth in Asia's third-biggest economy.
The rains, which usually lash the southern tip of Kerala state around June 1 and retreat by September, are expected to be 99 per cent of the long-term average this year, the India Meteorological Department said in a statement.
New Delhi defines average, or normal, rainfall as ranging between 96 per cent and 104 per cent of a 50-year average of 87 cm (35 inches)for the four-month season beginning in June.
"The encouraging forecast of a normal monsoon in 2022, coupled with healthy reservoir levels in all regions, augurs well for a timely onset of summer crop sowing," said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at rating agency ICRA, the Indian arm of Moody's.
FILE PHOTO: Commuters drive along a road during a heavy monsoon rainfall in Chennai on November 11, 2021. (Photo by ARUN SANKAR/AFP via Getty Images)
The monsoon is crucial for the $2.7-trillion economy, as it brings nearly 75 per cent of the rain needed by farms, besides replenishing reservoirs and aquifers.
Nearly half of India's farmland gets no irrigation and is dependent on the annual rains from June to September. Farming accounts for nearly 15 per cent of the economy but sustains more than half of a population of 1.3 billion.
Key cotton, soybean and sugarcane growing regions in northern parts of peninsular India, central India, the foothills of the Himalayas and some northwestern areas are likely to get normal to above normal seasonal rainfall, the IMD said.
Tea, rubber and rice-growing regions in northeast India and southern parts of the peninsula could receive rainfall that is below normal, it added.
India is the world's biggest producer of cotton and pulses and the second-biggest producer of sugar, wheat and rice. It is also the world's biggest importer of edible oils such as palm and soy.
A normal monsoon will help India maintain rice exports and cut imports of edible oil in the next season, a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm said.
(Reuters)
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During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)