News Update News - Deccan Herald

LALU SAYS 'CHAK DE' RAILWAYS
Populist rail rolls on; Five per cent cut in fare, no hike in freight rates Continuing the trend of not hiking passenger fares in the last four years in the face of competition from low cost airlines, the budget will make AC first class travel cheaper by seven per cent and AC-II by four per cent. "For the first time in the proud history of independent India, the returns on the capital investment in the Railways will reach 21 per cent," the Railway Minister announced. Drawing a parallel with the ShahRukh Khan starrer based on the game of hockey, Lalu said: "We are scoring goal after goal in every match. Every child in the country will now say 'Chak De Railway'." Train travel to cost 4-7 per cent less: Lalu Concessions for students, women, AIDS patients 'Lalu has presenteda parochial & discriminatory budget' Lalu clarifies remark on people of Karnataka ''When the question was raised, I advised the media not to raise dirty things but the media quoted me as saying dirty people,'' he said.
COMPLETE TEXT OF RAILWAY BUDGET 2008-09 PART-1: Performance for current year, PART 2: Railways New Profile, PART 3: Passenger Services, PART- 4: Budget Estimates 2007-08

IN THE RAJYA SABHA

Govt blames RIL, Essar for LPG crisis
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said oil marketing companies had reported backlog in LPG supplies in certain states in supply of bulk LPG by Reliance and Essar.
Hyd, B'lore airports will close: Patel
Commissioning of the new airports is pursuant to the provisions of the contractual agreements with the concerned airport companies," Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said while replying to a query.

India successfully tests under-sea missile
The missile K-15, with a range of 700 kms, was test fired from a pontoon immersed in the sea at 1258 hours off the eastern coast of Vishakhapatnam and eyewitnesses saw the missile rising from the waters into the sky.

Reliance Energy mulls buy back
"A meeting of the board of directors of the company will be held on March 5 to consider buy back of equity shares of the company," Reliance Energy said in a communique to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Pranab Mukherjee to visit US next month, nuclear deal to be focus
We are looking forward to his (Mukherjees) visit next month, Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said. The dates are yet to be fixed, the top official who is the US pointsman for the nuclear deal, said.

US very pleased with Ronen Sen's extension

India must decide on N-deal with US: Burns
If the civilian nuclear initiative did not go forward, it will be several years or many years before another attempt is made, Burns warned.

White House says it fully supports Mush
"If you look at what we asked President Musharraf to do, which is to take off the uniform, to set free and fair elections, and to lift the emergency order, he did all of those things", White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said.

Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav arrives at the Parliament House to present the Railways Budget 2008-09, in New Delhi on Tuesday. PTI Photo

Click Here for DH Photogallery

TODAY'S PRINT EDITION

Front Page Stories

	Yahya's ally held in B'lore

	'SUICIDE BOMBER' IN CITY

	Factory closed as 125 take ill

	Truck stir may push up prices

	TRUCKERS MEET OFFICIAL

	Ishant fined, India allege provocation

	IN BRIEF

NEWSCROLL

Indian victim of ferry crash wins huge compensation

Artificial coral reefs to improve fish population in TN

Indian publishing BPOs to clock 35 pc growth per annum : CII

Mobile phone radiation affects human skin

Indonesia's Sumatra rattled by strong earthquake

Indian students at the centre of Oz education boom

Teenage Buddhist monk turns soldier only to lose his life

Sitar, harmonium to be taught in London schools

STOCK MARKETS

BSE	17,806.19	155.62	▲
NSE	5,270.05	69.35	▲
Feb 26, 2008 at 4:00 pm

DAVIS CUP CONTROVERSY:
Karan Rastogi backs out of players' revolt against Paes
"Basically I am willing to play under any captain. Playing

for the country is a matter of pride and that comes before any personal ambition," he added.

Search for excellence outside academics

Hosted jointly by Air India and Deccan Herald, the Rank Award is for students while the Bolt award is for teachers.

CRICKET CAPSULE: TRI-SERIES TOURNAMENT
India move into tri-series final by thrashing Lanka Desperately needing to win the last match to secure a place in the final, the Indians completely dominated the encounter with pace sensation Ishant Sharma (4/41) and rookie pacer Praveen Kumar (4/31) bundling out the islanders for a paltry 179 in 47.1 overs to set up the victory. The Indian batsmen then overhauled the target without much fuss with 17.4 overs to spare in a one-sided encounter at the Bellerive Oval. SCORE-BOARD Dhoni becomes second Indian wicketkeeper to take 100 catches Dhoni, who had 98 catches and 31 stumpings to his credit before the match, reached the milestone when he pouched Chamara Silva off Praveen Kumar... Indian wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni Tendulkar not worried about his form "I am all right and hitting the ball well. I am confident and the team is confident...people get carried away because of more expectations. People should not react more than what is necessary," he added. CAPTAINS COMMENT: Dhoni happy with batsmen "It was one of the most comprehensive performances by our batsmen ever," a beaming Dhoni said after the win which ensured the team a berth in the best of three tri-series finals against Australia. Dhoni warns Aussies not to provoke his side in finals Jayawardane blames it on poor batting, Murali flopshow Jayawardene admitted his side's one-day form has taken a dip. Muralitharan's failure to pick up regular wickets in the series was noticeable, he added. Indians, Aussies friends despite controversies: Lee
Indians have never helped Pak cricket, fumes Miandad "If the Indians wanted to help us out they could have come for a week. They could even have rested some of their main players and tried out some of the players who have not been picked in the squad for the series in Australia," Miandad said. Kirsten, Kumble to meet BCCI officials Kirsten is taking over formally as the coach from March 1 and the Board wanted to have this meeting to know how he proposes to go about the job, the sources added.