Prez clicks start Budget Session

The Budget Session kicked off today with the President addressing the joint Houses of Parliament. Promising a 8216;8216;new deal to rural India8217;8217;, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam said the economy is poised to grow at 7 pc this year.

Abandoning the tradition of relying on printed text, Kalam read his speech from a computer. The new deal, he explained, involves 8216;8216;reversing the declining trend in investment in agriculture, stepping up credit to farmers, enhancing public investment in irrigation and wasteland development, increasing funds for agricultural research and extension and creating a single market for agricultural produce.8221;

The address took a dig at the previous NDA regime by drawing on its Lok Sabha poll slogan 8212; India Shining 8212; to stress that unless people in rural India prosper, India can not progress. 8216;8216;My Government wants India to shine, but it must shine for all,8217;8217; the President said.