Singh talks of growth pangs

POLITICS\\ For his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose to focus mainly on his Party’s economic policies, eliciting a few yawns from spectators. Singh said that he and his government will do everything in their power to save the country from the effects of the global economic slowdown. Focusing his address completely towards economic growth, he blamed lack of political consensus for slow growth and vowed to do everything to boost the economy through investments. He also linked development processes to national security. He said that national security will be affected if proper attention is not paid to economic growth and investments are not invited within the country. While talking about inflation Singh said that while it must be controlled, bad monsoons in 2012 could ‘pose some difficulties’. While wholesale inflation has come down to 6.87 per cent in July, prices of food items are still rising by over 10 per cent annually. The Prime Minister had to face a lot of criticism from the Opposition regarding his speech which they called inspiring with ‘nothing new to offer’.