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Surfers' comments
The threshold limits on tax need to be increased and tax rates should be spread across more slabs so as not to hurt the salaried class. - Jayaraman

The I-T exemption for men should be Rs 1.8 lakh. Rs 1.5 lakh is peanuts. - Naveen Kumar
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Expert comments
Gaurav Taneja,
Partner & National Tax Director says the Finance Minister has stressed on buoyancy in tax collections and on attaining a Tax—GDP ratio of 12.5%.
Motilal Oswal, Chairman and Managing Director of Motilal Oswal Financial Services says the Finance Minister was uniquely positioned to present a landmark Budget.
Srinivasa Rao, Partner & India International Tax Leader, Ernst & Young is of the opinion that Union Budget has lived up to the populist trend.
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Union Budget 2008-09  »   Railway Budget
New Trains And Routes
GARIB RATH
Jaipur-Chandigarh (Tri-weekly) via Rewari-Bhiwani
Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam Express (Tri-weekly)
Varanasi-Delhi (Tri-weekly)
Bangalore-Kochuveli(Tri-weekly)
Ranchi-Delhi (Bi-weekly)
Jammu Tawi-Kathgodam (Weekly) (in lieu of Nizamuddin - Dehradun Garib Rath Express announced in the Railway Budget 2007-2008)
Yesvantpur-Puducherry (Tri-weekly)
Jabalpur-Mumbai (Bi-weekly)
Delhi-Jaynagar (Bi- Weekly) via Patna
Pune-Nagpur(Tri-weekly)
NEW TRAINS
Amravati-Mumbai Express (Bi-weekly)
Chennai-Tiruchendur Express (Weekly)
Hyderabad-Usmanabad Express (Tri-weekly)
Bhubaneshwar-Mumbai Express (Bi-weekly) via Sambalpur
Amritsar-Saharsa Jan Sadharan Express (Weekly) via Hasanpur
Ranchi-Chopan Express (Tri-weekly)
Asansol-Mumbai Express via Jasidih (Weekly) with restoration of Howrah-Mumbai Mail via Gaya on all 7 days of the week.
Kamakhya-Gandhidham Express (Weekly)
Kochuveli-Dehradun Express (weekly)
Jaynagar-Saharsa Janaki Express (Tri-weekly) via Hasanpur
New Dibrugarh Town- Kamakhya Express (Tri-weekly) via Moranhat
Machallipatnam-Bangalore Express (Tri-weekly)
Surat-Muzaffarpur Express (Weekly) via Azamgarh - Chhapra
Amritsar-Kochuveli Express (Weekly)
Delhi-Pathankot Express (Tri-weekly) via Amritsar
Malda Town-Patna Express (Tri-weekly) via Bhagalpur
Indore-Udaipur Express (Tri-weekly) via Ratlam
Varanasi-Rameshwaram Express (Weekly)
Delhi-Jogbani Link Express (Weekly)
Khajuraho-Delhi Link Express (Tri-Weekly)
Kamakhya-Gaya Express (Weekly)
Ramnagar-Delhi Link Express (Daily)
Kolkata-Murshidabad Hazar Duari Express (Weekly)
Mathura-Chhapra Express (Tri-weekly)
Gwalior-Indore Express (Tri-weekly)
Udaipur-Delhi Chetak Express (Tri-weekly) via Ajmer-Neem-ka-Thana
Puri-Darbhanga Express (Weekly)
Yesvantpur-Jodhpur Express (Weekly)
Radhikapur-Delhi Express (Weekly)
Vasco-da-gama-Patna Express (Weekly) via Konkan railway
Paradeep-Bhubaneshwar Express (Daily) in lieu of one pair passenger service between Paradeep and Cuttack
Bilaspur-Pune Express (Weekly)
Kendurjhargarh-Puri Express (Daily)
Gaya-Chennai Express (Weekly)
Balharshah-Mumbai Link Express (Daily)
New Dibrugarh Town-Yesvantpur Express (Weekly) via Moranhat
Ranchi-Bhagalpur Express (Tri-weekly) via Kiul in lieu of 3405/3406 Ranchi- Bhagalpur Vananchal Express (Bi-weekly via Kiul)
Lucknow-Delhi Air Conditioned Express (Tri-weekly)
Dehradun-Delhi Air Conditioned Express (Six days)
Ahmedabad-Mumbai Air Conditioned Express (Weekly)
Chennai-Rameshwaram Express (Daily) via Mayiladuthurai - Karaikudi(after Gauge conversion)
Chennai-Tiruchchirappalli Express (Daily) via Mayiladuthurai (after Gauge conversion)
Chennai-Salem Express (Daily) via Vriddhachalam (after Gauge conversion)
Madurai-Tenkasi Passenger (Daily) (after Gauge conversion)
Villupuram-Mayiladuthurai Passenger (Daily) (after Gauge conversion)
Mysore-Nanjanagud Town Passenger (Daily) (after Gauge conversion)
Ahmedabad-Patan Passenger (Daily) (after Gauge conversion)
Dabhoi-Pratapnagar Passenger (Daily) (after Gauge conversion)
Hajipur-Phulwaria passenger (Daily) (upon commissioning of new line)
Itarsi-Katni Passenger (Daily)
Shoranur-Nilambur Road Passenger (Daily)
Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur Passenger (Daily)
Vasai Road-Panvel MEMU (Daily)
EXTENSION OF TRAINS
8611/8612 Varanasi-Ranchi to Sambalpur via Rourkela (bi-weekly)
2677/2678 Bangalore-Coimbatore Express to Ernakulam
4207/4208 Delhi-Raebareli Padmavat Express to Pratapgarh
7405/7406 Tirupati-Nizamabad Krishna Express to Adilabad
3225/3226 Danapur-Darbhanga Express to Jaynagar
2855/2856 Nagpur-Raipur Express to Bilaspur
2691/2692 Chennai-Bangalore Express to Sri Sathyasai Prashanti Nilayam
6733/6734 Madurai-Manmad Express to Rameswaram on one side and Okha on the other
2141/2142 Rajendranagar(T)-Lokmanya Tilak(T) Express to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus
2409/2410 Nizamuddin-Bilaspur Gondwana Express to Raigarh
4201/4202 Mathura-Lucknow Express to Patna
2083/2084 Coimbatore-Kumbakonam Jan Shatabdi Express to Mayiladuthurai (after Gauge conversion)
1423/1424 Solapur-Bagalkot Express to Gadag(after Gauge conversion)
571/572 Bangalore-Salem Passenger to Nagore (after Gauge conversion)
724/725 Tuticorin-Tirunelveli Passenger to Tiruchendur
356/357 Dharwar-Gadag Passenger to Bijapur
INCREASE IN FREQUENCY
2425/2426 New Delhi-Jammu Tawi Rajdhani Express from weekly to daily
2203/2204 Amritsar-Saharsa Garib Rath from bi-weekly to tri-weekly
2449/2450 Nizamuddin-Madgaon Goa Sampark Kranti Express from weekly to bi-weekly
6513/6514 Bagalkot-Yesvantpur Basava Express from tri-weekly to daily
3403/3404 Bhagalpur- Ranchi Express via Andal from five days to daily
2891/2892 Baripada-Bhubaneswar Express from tri-weekly to six days a week
2151/2152 Lokmanya Tilak (T)-Howrah Samrasta Express from weekly to bi-weekly
2421/2422 Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express from bi-weekly to tri-weekly
2947/2948 Ahmedabad- Patna Azimabad Express from weekly to biweekly
2431/2432 Nizamuddin-Thiruvanthapuram Rajdhani Express from biweekly to tri-weekly
5109/5110 Varanasi-Rajgir Buddh Purnima Express from tri-weekly to daily
Sector Analysis
AUTO
Negotiating a rough patch
Demand growth is expected to be buoyant driven by new vehicle launches, likely softening of interest rates and continued growth on the export front.
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Railway Budget
Lalu presents people's budget, slashes fares
The minister announced launch of several new trains and reduction in fares across all classes amid chaos by Opposition in Parliament.
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Features
A budget for Bharat
Buoyant tax revenues a lower fiscal deficit and an economy that's in top gear permit the FM to pump big money into agriculture and the social sector. Those efforts might help at the hustings, too.
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Economic Survey
'Expand telecom infrastructure, R&D'
"With rapid growth of telecom network, there is a need to further expand the infrastructure and research and development," the survey said.
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Surfers' comments
This is a very good budget, especially for agriculture and education. P Chidambaram is the best.
- By Saravanan P (plsharavanan@rediffmail.com)
If you can waive Rs 50,000 crore for farmers what about the tax on housing loan interest? That should also have been reduced.
- Chandra Shekar V (rilshekar@yahoo.co.in)
Please tax the street hawkers and give relief to the salaried persons.
- Rajaram (rajaramghurup@rediffmail.com)
This is the worst budget the finance minister has ever presented. The backbone of the country's economy is the transport but he completely missed it out.
- Jayakaanthan A (jayakaanthan@gmail.com)
The budget is sure to augment growth and will also lessen the volatility of the stock markets.
- Sidharth Paul (sidharth.paul@gmail.com)
Overall, the budget is satisfactory but the health sector should have been given greater importance.
- Ankit Chaudhary (chaudharyankit1987@gmail.com)
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Business Today's Budget edition
Editorial: Predictably populist budget
Special: Something for everyone...
Column: All for the common man
Exclusive interview with the FM
Maintaining the growth story
The Finance Minister defends Budget 2008 and the Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver doled out to farmers in an exclusive interview to Business Today's Sanjoy Narayan and R Sridharan.
VOX CEOs
"Total reduction of excise duties by 2% will give a welcome boost to the manufacturing sector. Also, the exemption of specified parts of set-top boxes from customs duties is commendable".
- Rakesh Bharti Mittal, Vice Chairman, Bharti Enterprises
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Beginner’s guide to budget
Union Budget is an estimate of the Government of India's revenue and expenditure for the end of a particular fiscal year, which usually runs from April 1 to March 31. Read on...
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