George Osborne laid out his budget plan to Parliament. In a controversial move during a period of squeezed public finances in Britain, the chancellor cut the top rate of income tax from 50% to 45% from next year and reduced corporation tax to 24%, with a further fall to 22% to follow. Pensioners were outraged at an indirect tax increase on their incomes, though a 7% stamp duty on homes worth over £2m ($3.2m) was introduced, offsetting claims that the measures favour the rich. Mr Osborne made no apologies, and said his budget "unashamedly backs business." The so-called "Buffett rule," put forward by Barack Obama to ensure that millionaires pay higher income taxes, would raise $47 billion over ten years, according to an analysis by the Joint Committee on Taxation, a non-partisan congressional body. This would fall well short of making up for revenue lost from abolishing the alternative minimum tax paid by middle-income earners, which Mr Obama wants to replace with the Buffett rule. A nasty surprise India's government proposed a retroactive tax on foreign takeovers of Indian assets. The measure is aimed at Britain's Vodafone, which has been in dispute with the government over billions of dollars in capital-gains tax on its 2007 acquisition of an Indian mobile-phone firm. In January India's Supreme Court sided with Vodafone in a ruling that many hoped would bring stability to India's capricious treatment of foreign investors. In the latest trade spat with China, America said it would impose tariffs on imports of Chinese solar panels because of alleged export subsidies. Meanwhile, the European Union discussed whether to close state contracts to bids from foreign firms in countries that do not open their own bidding processes to European firms. And a senior official in India suggested his country is willing to retaliate, as China has, to the EU's emissions-trading scheme for airlines. Jaguar Land Rover, a British carmaker owned by India's Tata, took the first step towards setting up a manufacturing base in China by proposing a joint venture with Chery, a Chinese car company. Glencore, the world's biggest commodities-trading company, agreed to buy Viterra, a Canadian grain-exporting business, in a transaction valued at $6.1 billion. Glencore's acquisition will ensure that it reaps the benefit from the deregulation of Canada's export market for wheat. Australia's Parliament passed a mining tax on companies that operate in the country, which include BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. A tax was first mooted in 2010 at a rate of 40% on all mining "super profits," but the legislation passed this week will implement a 30% tax on the super profits made from producing iron ore and coal. Taking a bite out of Apple Apple said it would return $45 billion of its vast cash pile to shareholders over the next three years. The company is to pay a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share for the first time in 17 years, though the dividend yield will remain a modest 1.8%. It indicated that the payout to shareholders would be even greater if it could gain access to the $65 billion held outside America without facing extra tax liability. Even with additional planned share buy-backs worth $10 billion, Apple's cash reserve will probably keep growing faster than it dishes it out. Cisco, a maker of networking equipment, made its biggest acquisition in two years by agreeing to buy NDS for $5 billion to bolster its business in video software. Cisco is tapping the $47 billion cash pile it holds (mostly outside America) to fund its purchase. In a big shake-up of its operations, Hewlett-Packard announced a merger of its personal-computer and printer divisions, as Meg Whitman, HP's boss, continues her cost-cutting drive. Operating income at both divisions fell by 30% in the past quarter. America's UPS agreed to pay $6.8 billion for TNT Express, a rival logistics company based in the Netherlands, as it seeks to extend its global operations. Deutsche Bank, which is preparing for a change in leadership in May, adjusted its management team and designated a new candidate as the bank's risk officer, apparently because the preferred candidate did not receive support from BaFin, the German banking regulator. Losing their fizz The consumption of carbonated soft drinks in America fell to a 16-year low in 2011, according to Beverage Digest. The average American drank 714 eight-ounce servings of fizzy drinks over the year, with the three most popular being Coke, Diet Coke and Pepsi-Cola. Since 2005 health-conscious Americans have been slurping fewer high-calorie drinks and more bottled water.