Kalam's speech to focus on economy

Finance, oil regulator and telegraph Bills to be tabled.

President A P J Abdul Kalam's speech to the joint session of Parliament on Thursday, when the Budget session will start Budget session of Parliament, will reflect the strength of the Indian economy rather than any political issues.

This will be a reflection of the fact that India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is foremost an economist rather than a politician.

Growth rate of 8.1 per cent and savings rate of 29 per cent will also find their way into the president's speech. The prime minister's new portfolio of foreign affairs will also come in for comment by the president.

The Budget session will commence on February 16, and will conclude on April 28 with a recess on March 17 till April 3. The Parliament will sit for 38 sittings in total, according Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi.

The session will see, apart from the Finance Bill, the introduction of several important pieces of legislation, including the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Bill 2005 which will remove the petroleum ministry's regulatory powers and vest it with a board.

Also important are the Indian Telegraph (Amendment) Bill, and the Indian Post Office (Amendment) Bill 2005.

The Telegraph Bill, if passed, will enable the government to share the Universal Service Obligation Fund with private operators through a bidding process for mobile phone services. It will also bring in new norms for phone tapping laws along with stricter penalties to telecom firms found violating the law.

The Post Office Bill will regulate private courier companies. It will allow the department to enter new sectors like banking and bring it under a regulator. The Maintenance, Care and Protection of Senior Citizens Bill 2006 will also be introduced in this session.

When asked as to what the government would do in case the Samajwadi Party went ahead with the no-confidence motion against the government, Dasmunshi said the government was ready to face "any issue, at any time, in any form."

Later at a tea reception thrown by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also said, "We are not afraid of answering any question. No-confidence motions are a privilege of the opposition. It is they who will decide what they want to do," he said.