WASHINGTON: The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a 3.45-trillion-dollar budget blueprint for the 2010 fiscal year largely in line with President Barack Obama's proposal. The Democratic-drafted budget got approval Thursday by a vote of 233-196, along party lines, after defeating a Republican alternative that slashed spending and taxes. The Senate is working on its own budget for the 2010 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1 this year. It is expected to pass its plan as soon as late Thursday, according to news reports. Any differences between the two versions will have to be worked out. The House budget is slightly less expensive than the 3.55-trillion-dollar budget that Obama submitted to Congress in February. The budget includes a deficit of 1.2 trillion dollars for the 2010 fiscal year. Obama's budget, his first one, seeks to shore up the nation's economy that has been in a recession since December 2007 while overhauling health care, energy and education. The president has described his budget as "an economic blueprint for our future -- a foundation on which to build a recovery that lasts." "Our budget lays the groundwork for a sustained, shared, and job-creating recovery," House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer was quoted as saying. Republicans, however, contend the budget spend too much and will leave the nation with deficits that are too large. The budget legislation is non-binding but sets guidelines for spending and tax measures that will be considered later this year, according to the news reports.
Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in
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