Bad monsoon to affect GDP
Mumbai: With the southwest monsoon bypassing the crucial month of July, and deficient rainfall adversely hitting the Kharif crops, there are now fears that this may result in the GDP falling by two percentage points from the officially projected eight per cent. Rajasthan is among one of the worst hit as Northwest India received scanty rainfall around 60 per cent below the normal. The Central India is deficient by 40 per cent and Southern peninsula by 48 per cent. So far, the deficient rainfall has affected the sowing and standing Kharif crops in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Western Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Agriculture Ministry sources said the dry spell could hit the Kharif production by two to three per cent, affecting the oilseeds, pulses and coarse grains outputs by 10 to 15 per cent. The Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) says that coarse grains and pulses sown earlier this month have also withered away in the prolonged absence of rains. The sowing of coarse grains like bajra could not be done in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and some parts of Chhattisgarh. Agriculture contributes 22 per cent of the GDP.
On an optimistic note, the Indian Meteorological Department has said that the monsoon is likely to revive in a day or two over east central parts of the country, Maharashtra and south Madhya Pradesh, but stay away from Delhi and other Parts of the north western region for at least three to four days more.
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India criticizes WTO draft proposal
New Delhi: Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath said that draft proposals on agriculture put forward by the WTO's chief negotiator, in an attempt to re-launch deadlocked talks by the July-end deadline, favour the demands of wealthy countries. The document needs important changes and improvements before it can be accepted. Nath leaves for Geneva shortly where trade ministers from 40 countries including the United States, the European Union, Brazil, Australia and Japan will meet on July 27 and 29. India says there is a clear imbalance between certain major points that are guaranteed at the outset for developed countries and other points of fundamental importance for developing countries.

The main obstacles concern agriculture, the centre-piece of the round for most countries, industrial tariffs and special treatment for developing nations. Rich and poor states are still split on how to lower import barriers and slash the huge farm subsidies developed countries pay their farmers so growers in developing countries can compete more effectively. The G-20 developing country alliance led by India and Brazil says the current plan is too soft on richer states, particularly in market access or the lowering of barriers to imports, and wants to toughen it up. Although accounting for only 10 per cent of international trade, agriculture has long been the biggest single stumbling block to progress in the Doha Round, whose successful conclusion can be worth billions of dollars to the world economy.
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