Corporate News Headline
•    L&T bagged three orders worth Rs. 14.38 bn from different agencies for power infrastructure-related works. (BS)
•    DLF announced up to Rs. 13 lakh cut in the prices for the existing and new customers of its residential project in Chennai on account of fall in input costs and slump in property demand. (BS)
•    RIL may shut part of its Jamnagar refinery in April or May and is likely to use the large workforce available at its new unit site for the annual maintenance job. (BS)
Economic and Political Headline
•    The Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced an across-the-board cut in excise tax rate and two percentage point cut in service tax rates to 10%. The goods that attract 10% excise duty will now be charged at 8%. However, excise rates on items that attract 8% and 4% excise duty will not be changed. The cut in excise duty have been extended beyond March 31, 2009. (BS)
•    The US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke rejected the idea that officials plan to use reviews of banks’ balance sheets as a pretext for government takeovers of the nation’s largest lenders. (Bloomberg)
•    The confidence among the US consumers plunged to 37.4 in February, signaling spending will slump further as unemployment soars. (Bloomberg)