The government has started doling out sops to woo voters, though elections are a distance away. In a move to appease minorities (read Muslims), Arjun Singh, human resource development minister, announced on Thursday the government will bear the cost of education of children who opt for modern subjects in madra-ssas and maktabs.

The Assembly session for the vote-on-account on Thursday was lacklustre and short-lived as it barely survived 30 minutes, consigning it to just a routine exercise with the entire Opposition boycotting it.

The BJP MLAs took their seats, their lips sealed with white masks and walked out of the House before chief minister Ashok Gehlot could present the state’s interim Budget. The CPM members declared they were boycotting the House after Gehlot’s speech, but not before blasting the state government.

Gehlot presents vote-on-account, estimates revenue deficit of Rs913 cr

The state government secured a vote-on-account for the first quarter of the financial year 2009-2010 in the state Assembly on Thursday and proposed a plan expenditure of over Rs17,300 crore.

While the BJP walked out of the House demanding a debate on the vote-on-account, the House passed the interim budget for four months after which the Assembly session was adjourned sine die by speaker Deependra Singh Shekhawat.

Washington - US President Barack Obama on Thursday outlined a 2010 budget and projections for the next 10 years, offering a look at how he hopes to revive the embattled US economy while completing a series of ambitious priorities he set out on the campaign trail.

Union Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday announced the interim Foreign Trade policy, which offers sops to exports in leather, textile, gems and jewellery and food product sectors.

The government has scaled down the export target to 175 billion dollar for this fiscal from the earlier target of 200 billion dollar.