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February 25, Indian Railway minister Lalu Prasad said that the people could expect a good railway budget as the interests of all sections of people as well as safety and security issues were kept in mind while preparing it. He said that the 2007-08 Railway budget would protect the interests of all sections of society and it would not discriminate against people or consumers.

Lalu said that he would not say anything whether the passenger and frieght fares were going to be increased. He said that they had kept the interests of common man in the earlier budget too. He also said if there were any shortcomings, people should tell him, he would try to remove them in future.

Mr.Lalu will commend the 2007-08 Railway Budget to the Lok Sabha on February 26 noon. It will be his fourth budget in a row. He appealed the opposition to raise the issues at an appropriate time and to allow him to present the railway budget.

He noted that the people have lots of expectations from the railway budget as trains carry millions of passenger and essential commodities from one corner of the country to another. He also said that the government would take all steps to provide safety and security to the train to Pakistan.

A long-range nuclear capable ballistic missle was tested successfully by Pakistan on February 23. This long-range nuclear capable ballistic missle system could target major cities in India and said it was strategy of credible minimum deterrence was fully in place.

The Pakistan military said that the test was part of a “continuous process of validation and technical improvement which Pakistan follows to consolidate and verify its various landbased strategic missile systems.

The Hatf VI (Shaheen II), with a 2000 kilometre range, was launched from an undisclosed location and the military said the test was part of a “continous process of validation and technical improvement which Pakistan follows to consolidate and verify its various landbased strategic missile systems.”

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Ehsan ulHaq, who witnessed the launch of Hatf VI (Shaheen II), with a 2000 kilometre range, and said that Pakistan’s strategy of credible minimum deterrence was fully in place.

He also said the Pakistan armed force was maintaining a certain minimum number of forces and wapons in comparison to that of the Indian Armed Forces. Haq described the missile system launch as an important milestone in Pakistan’s for sustaining strategic balance in south Asia”.

After two days of the tests, India and Pakistan signed an agreement in New Delhi to reduce the risk of a accidental nuclear war between them. Hatf VI is Pakistan’s longest range ballistic missile system. It is a two-stage solid fuel missile system which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with high accuracy.

February 24, President APJ Abdul Kalam said that the government would go all out to contain inflation and ensure food security through improved supplies of essential items. He said in his last address that his government would continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that the poor were not adversly affected by inflation.

Abdul Kalam said that the government would provide food security to the poor through strengthening of the public distribution system. He listed out fiscal policy steps to check inflation which had shown an ‘upward trend’.

Mr.Abdul Kalam also shared the concerns of farmers on acquisition of land for industrial purposes. He said that the government was committed to bring a new rehabilitation policy backed by changes in the Land Acquisition Act for fair pricing of the agriculture land.

Abdul Kalam said there was a great optimism about economic performance and prospects. He said that the gorwth had to be employment-oriented and equitable and should liberate the poorest of the poor from the scourge of poverty, ignorance and disease.

Expressing his sincere condolences for the blasts victims, he said that our hearts go out to the families of those innocent people. He also said that we should not allow that tragic event to affect our common quest for normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan.

Abdul Kalam said that they remain concerned over infiltration and cross-border terrorism, and the success of the dialogue process was predicated on Pakistan fulfilling its commitment not to permit any territory under its control to be used to support terrorism in any manner. This was a reference to the then Prime Minister Aral Behari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s joint Statement of January 6, 2004.