Wednesday, March 1, 2006, Chandigarh, India
Updated at 3:00 am (IST)

No change in personal and corporate IT
*Small cars, ice-creams, soft drinks cheaper
*Major thrust to farm sector
*Rs 100 crore allocated for PAU
New Delhi, February 28
Proposing no change in the personal and corporate Income Tax, the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has slashed excise duties on a number of items, including small cars and aerated soft drinks, and brought 16 more items like ATM operations and luxury class air travel under the service tax net. In video (28k, 56k)

BUDGET 2006 HIGHLIGHTS Editorial: With hope and confidence Business page: FM admits failure on power front Sports page: Budget focuses on Commonwealth Games More in Nation, Business, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab pages

An equal mix of cheers and tears in Budget
Jewellers joyous, India Inc upbeat
New Delhi/Mumbai, February 28
Expressing guarded reactions to marginal changes in fringe benefit tax, hike in service tax, captains of Indian industry and investment bankers today lauded Finance Minister P. Chidambaram for measures to bring in fiscal discipline and cut deficit. (Details in Business page) In video (28k, 56k)

Jolt for Mulayam; HC disqualifies 40 rebel BSP MLAs
Lucknow, February 28
The BSP won a major legal battle when two judges of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court today maintained that the “law of natural justice had been violated” by the four orders of the Vidhan Sabha speakers in the disqualification case of 40 BSP MLAs.

Nation page: Mulayam wins trust vote as BJP, BSP, Cong abstain

No agreements to be signed during
Bush visit
New Delhi, February 28
As the US President George W. Bush begins his maiden passage to India tomorrow evening, no agreements will be signed between the two sides — not because there aren’t any but because that is Mr Bush’s personal style.

Special Article: No compromise on capability
Opinions page: Fast breeders for energy security
Editorial: PM silences sceptics
Delhi page: City fortified as Air Force One descends today

India: The Tasks Ahead
   SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT

125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS,
INAUGURAL SESSION

	PUNJAB: 500 waterworks face power disconnection
	HARYANA: HPCC rally to cut Bhajan Lal to size
	HIMACHAL: Shimla Mayor’s resignation sought
	J&K: NC members stall House proceeding over Handwara killings
	CHANDIGARH: City gets Rs 1,030.66 cr
	LUDHIANA: Farmers clash with police, 18 hurt
	DELHI: Jessica case cops to face court: Paul
	Opinions: With hope and confidence
	BUSINESS: An equal mix of cheers and tears in Budget
	NATION: Mulayam wins trust vote as BJP, BSP, Cong abstain
	WORLD: PM asks US to force Pak abjure terrorism
	SPORTS: India favourites against depleted England

Haryana slashes excise duty
Does away with auctioning of liquor vends
Chandigarh, February 28
Haryana’s new excise policy, announced by the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, here today not only dispensed with the system of auctioning the vends but also slashed the excise duty drastically in an obvious attempt to check smuggling of liquor from outside the state.

Naxalites kill 25 tribesmen
Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, February 28
In stepped-up violence, Naxalites ambushed two trucks killing at least 25 tribesmen and injuring 34 others, besides hijacking a third truck carrying about 125 villagers in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district.

21 lawyers held for defying HC order
New Delhi, February 28
As a sequel to Delhi High Court order initiating contempt proceedings against 25 members of the Delhi Bar Association for “vandalising” courts at Tis Hazari in the course of their agitation against shifting of some courts to Rohini, the city police today arrested 21 advocates.

Gurbachan Jagat to be new Chairman of UPSC Chandigarh, February 28 Mr Gurbachan Jagat will be the next Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission. He will take over on April 1. One of the most decorated former Punjab cadre IPS officer, Mr Gurbachan Jagat, is, perhaps, the first police officer to be appointed Chairman of the UPSC. Gurbachan Jagat