Economy gets another booster dose
Incentives for auto sector, exports, housing
New Delhi, December 7
The government today announced major tax cuts across the board for housing sector and duty cuts for companies that provide finance to real estate companies. The move is intended to prop up sagging demand in sectors such as housing, exports, textile and infrastructure.

Highlights

Voting in J&K
55 pc polling amidst sporadic violence
Srinagar, December 7
Barring minor incidents of violence and separatists’ protests in Sopore and Baramulla, 55 per cent of polling was registered in 18 constituencies of four districts that went to polls in the fourth phase of elections in the state today.

Voters wait their turn outside a polling station at Magam during the fourth-phase Assembly polls in Badgam district, 35 km from Srinagar, on Sunday. Tribune photo: Amin War

Counting today
Cong, BJP look for a head start
New Delhi, December 7
The BJP and Congress are both waiting with bated breath for the results of the recently-concluded elections to the state assemblies. The counting begins and ends for five states tomorrow.

Mumbai Heat
Pak denies deadline
Handing over of LeT men to India
Islamabad, December 7
Pakistan today dismissed reports that it had agreed to a 48-hour deadline set by India and the US to take action against the LeT, as international pressure mounted on Islamabad to act against elements linked to the Mumbai attack.

Hoax Call
Pranab: Pak trying to mislead the world
New Delhi, December 7
Reports that he had made a 'threatening' phone call to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee fuming today as he lashed out at Islamabad for giving credence to a "hoax" in a bid to divert attention from the fact that the Mumbai attack was launched from the Pakistani territory.

ULFA vying for base in China: DGP
Guwahati, December 7
Apprehending crackdown by Bangladesh authorities to flush out Indian militants taking shelter on its soil, the proscribed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) is trying to set up another base at Yunan province of China.

Youth thwarts group child marriages
Jaipur, December 7
An alert and daring youth of Badliya village in Ajmer district took on his community and saved last night the lives of four ‘balika vadhus’ who were all set to become the latest victims of the child-marriage phenomenon, a social evil still prevalent in various parts of the state.

Chander Mohan converts, marries Dismissed from Cabinet Chandigarh, December 7 Missing Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Chander Mohan today surfaced in Delhi after one month with a new identity and a new companion. After converting to Islam, Chander Mohan presented himself as Chand Mohammad while his companion, Anuradha Bali, changed her name to Fiza Mohammad. A TV grab shows Chander Mohan and Anuradha Bali. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan