Friday, March 1, 2002, Chandigarh, India
 Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

Sinha hits salaried class the hardest

5 pc security surcharge	LPG Rs 40 up
Fiscal deficit 5.3 pc

New Delhi, February 28 Life for the salaried class will become more difficult with the Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha today proposing a 5 per cent national security surcharge across-the-board on all categories of tax payers, hike in the prices of cooking gas, kerosene and postal rates, a cut in small savings rate and income tax rebate on savings. In video (56k)

Petrol, diesel prices cut, kerosene up   Tea, cosmetics to cost less   Laptops, cellphones cheaper   Postal articles dearer More Budget stories

Proposals at a glance    Editorial: Tight squeeze

In video: General public reacts to the Budget.  (28k, 56k)

In video (28k, 56k)

Communal amity at all costs: Advani
Says inquiry on Godhra trouble ordered
New Delhi, February 28
Union Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani today assured that the Centre would maintain communal peace and harmony and informed the Lok Sabha that the Gujarat Government had ordered a judicial inquiry by a retired High Court judge into the “horrendous” incident in which 55 persons were killed when two coaches of Sabarmati Express were torched at Godhra yesterday.

Ayodhya borders sealed
Curbs on activities of ‘kar sevaks’
Faizabad, February 28
Nearly 7,000 security persons were deployed in and around the temple town of Ayodhya and its borders sealed as the authorities today vowed to prevent ‘kar sevaks’ from carrying carved pillars to the disputed site for the construction of the proposed Ram temple.

14 pc hike for Defence
New Delhi, February 28
The government today chose to concentrate on the country’s security concerns by bringing about a substantial hike of 14.03 per cent in its allocation for Defence over last year’s revised estimates in the annual Budget presented by the Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, here today.

Govt control over oil prices goes
New Delhi, February 28
The government today announced dismantling of the Administered Price Mechanism (APM) in the petroleum sector from April 1, 2002.

• Sensex plummets by 143 points

PM terms it bold, allies decry LPG price hike
Opposition dubs it anti-poor, anti-farmer, Sinha defends
New Delhi, February 28
Terming the 2002-03 Budget as “bold” despite the global recession, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today asserted economic reforms would not affect developmental activities and that employment opportunities would be improved.
In video (28k, 56k)

Objectives lack clarity IT is a Budget with a lot of good intentions but the programmes are so dispersed that it is very difficult to evaluate because the objectives are not clearly stated. The overall macro-framework in which Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is working is not spelt out.