70% Of Country Has Got Less Than Normal Rainfall

• Land Hold. Former state chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, under whose tenure the Adarsh housing scam was perpetrated, told a two-member inquiry committee that he was not informed about the land being under military possession or that a garden existed on the plot. Deshmukh also blamed bureaucrats for not telling him about the road development authority’s objection to the state’s plan of significantly decreasing the adjacent road to make more land available for Adarsh. On Monday, another former CM Sushilkumar Shinde blamed Deshmukh for the decision to allot land to the society. [Hindustan Times]

• Rain Down. After predicting a healthy rainfall this year, data from the Indian Meteorological Department shows that almost 70 per cent of the country has got less than normal rains so far. A third of the country has received deficient rainfall, while another third has seen almost no or scanty rains. The weather department has predicted that the rains will pick up in the beginning of July. [The Times of India]

• Petrol Prices. Petrol prices in India are likely to be slased by up to Rs4 a litre from July 1 on the back of steep falls in the global price of crude oil. This comes just a month after prices were increased by nearly Rs8 a litre on May 23. Officials caution, however, that the price cut would only come into effect if current global petrol prices and the rupee-dollar exchange rate hold steady for the rest of the month. [Hindustan Times]