WASHINGTON, April 3 The US Senate on Thursday approved its fiscal 2010 budget plan that embraces the initiatives in President Barack Obama`s $3.55 trillion proposal, but trims it to avoid exploding the federal deficit.

Senators will have to work out any differences between its $3.41 trillion plan and another version the House of Representatives approved earlier in the day. The budget legislation is nonbinding, but it sets parameters for spending and tax measures later this year.

The Senate rejected most Republican alternatives to slash spending and cut taxes.

However, it added extra money for heating assistance to low-income households and security on the US border with Mexico, which is trying to curb drug violence.

The US House of Representatives, earlier, passed a version of the federal budget that includes President Obama`s initiatives on healthcare, energy and education but leaves the government deeply in debt for the foreseeable future.

The House budget is a slightly less expensive version of Mr Obama`s $3.55 trillion plan for fiscal 2010 starting Oct 1.

Democrats control both chambers.

Passage of the budget bills would be a political victory for Mr Obama, who has said the big increase in spending is central to his plan for rescuing the recession-mired US economy.

The House voted 233-196 to pass the Democrats` $3.45 trillion budget with no Republican support.

It followed a 293-137 vote to reject a Republican alternative that would have slashed spending but expanded tax breaks.

A compromise version of the House and Senate Democrats` measures is expected to take form in coming weeks.—Reuters

NEW DELHI, April 3 India`s main Hindu-nationalist opposition party promised low taxes and interest rates to revive a slowing economy and a tough posture on Pakistan in an election manifesto on Friday aimed at boosting its poll ratings.

The Bharatiya Janata Party also promised to retrieve Indian money illegally stashed abroad, generate employment through massive infrastructure projects and give cheaper farm loans to cushion Indians from the global financial crisis.

The BJP said it would cut housing interest rates, give tax exemption to citizens above the age of 60 and also waive personal income tax for hundreds of thousands of defence personnel and pensioners.

“We are giving a message to our voters that if you give us an opportunity then whatever we do we will do with honesty,” the party`s prime ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani said.

The BJP said India would resume peace talks with Pakistan only after Islamabad dismantled the “terrorist infrastructure” on its soil. “Without that there can be no comprehensive dialogue with Pakistan,” spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

The party has accused the ruling Congress party in the past of being soft on national security, sharpening the criticism in the wake of the Mumbai attacks in November blamed on a Pakistan-based guerilla group.

The BJP-led opposition alliance trails in most opinion polls for the month-long election beginning on April 13 and is struggling to find allies in potentially swing states.

Its principal battle is with the ruling Congress-led coalition in the staggered election running from April 16 to May 13.

Votes will be counted on May 16 and most analysts predict that smaller regional parties will hold the balance of power after the election.

Populist measures

Announcing a raft of populist measures, the BJP proposed farm loans at an interest rate of four per cent and a ban on foreign direct investment in retail to help domestic trade.

It also threatened retaliation against moves by countries to discourage hiring of Indian workers abroad by imposing visa restrictions. The party promised subsidised foodstuff, higher personal income tax ceiling for low income categories and one million houses for the poor every year.

Its manifesto said the party would build 25-20km of new highways every day, providing jobs to the poor.

Since its 2004 election win, Congress has put privatisation on hold, and highways have been hampered by a lack of finance.

Temple project

The BJP also promised to implement a long-standing pledge to build a Hindu temple on a site revered by Hindus but disputed by the country`s Muslim minority.

It said it would construct the temple in the northern town of Ayodhya, the site of a 16th century mosque pulled down by mobs in 1992 that led to deadly Hindu-Muslim riots and killed nearly 3,000 people.

The BJP rose to prominence on the back of a Hindu revivalist campaign that sought the construction of the Ram temple, and analysts say by reviving the temple plan the BJP was aiming to garner Hindu votes.

The party also planned to revive a stringent security law that it enacted during its 1998-2004 rule that allowed for suspects to be held up to 90 days without being formally charged.

It also said India would continue to pursue its civil and military nuclear programme.—Reuters