Interim budget; focus on farm, defence and social sector

Indian government paraded its economic achievements on Monday and promised help for the rural sector as it tried to shield the economy from a global credit crunch and stem job losses with elections just weeks away.Acting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee began charting spending plans for the 2009-10 fiscal year from April to July, a stop-gap measure to take care of essential spending during and in the immediate aftermath of general elections.