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Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka on Sunday unveiled a Tk 1401.88 crore budget for Dhaka City Corporation for 2007-08 fiscal year, depending mainly on the funds expected from the government and lending agencies.
   The outlay is Tk 103.97 crore less than the original budget and Tk 555.65 crore higher than the revised budget of 2006-2007 fiscal that expired Saturday.
   Khoka said no new taxes had been imposed on the city dwellers, but the corporation would strengthen its revenue collection activities to finance the development schemes intended to make city life comfortable.
   The mayor at a function at Mhahanagar Natyamancha also placed Tk 846.23 crore revised budget for the just-ended fiscal. He said the corporation had spent Tk 801.23 crore in the previous fiscal. The corporation has got a balance of Tk 45.00 crore carried over from 2006-07 fiscal.
   It was the sixth budget placed by Khoka, who completed his five-year term recently, but continuing the responsibility as election to the corporation is being delayed due to the promulgation of Emergency Power Rules.
   He underscored the need for a city government to strengthen the activities of the corporation and to meet the demands for civic facilities of the people at an optimum level.
   Khoka said the government should take initiative to prepare an integrated master plan for the next 50 years taking into consideration the increasing trend of people, transports and expansion of the utility services to keep Dhaka inhabitable.
   He also demanded magistracy power for the ward commissioners and empowerment of the women ward commissioners.
   Asked about corruption in the corporation, Khoka said the Anti-Corruption Commission was now very strong and it might take effective steps in this regard.
   ‘If anyone at the corporation is found corrupt and the commission takes action against him/her, we will welcome the action,’ he said.
   In the budget for the current fiscal, the corporation set the total earning, including revenue, government donation and local and foreign projects, at Tk 1356.88 crore.
   Government, foreign finance and private sector investment are expected to amount to Tk 619.43 crore.
   Holding tax is the single biggest source of revenue earning and the corporation expects Tk 230 crore to come from the sector against the total expected revenue earning of Tk 478.45 crore in 2007-08 fiscal.
   The corporation set a target of Tk 40 crore from markets, Tk 35 crore from trade license, Tk 8 crore from advertisements, Tk 6 crore from bus/ truck terminals, Tk 12 crore from cattle markets, Tk 45 crore from abattoirs and Tk 45 crore from road digging fees.
   Of the remaining amount, Tk 100 crore is expected to come from the government’s block allocation, Tk 150 crore from special allocation from the government and Tk 9 crore from sources.
   The corporation also set an ambitious expenditure target for the new fiscal though it could spend less than half of its total outlay of Tk 1245.14 crore of the just-concluded fiscal year.
   Out of Tk 1,356.88 crore, the corporation has earmarked Tk 1098.91 crore for development activities.
   Maintenance and repair of roads, lanes and by-lanes, footpaths, drains, medians, footbridge, underpass and terminals got the highest allocation of Tk 163.50 crore, which was Tk 184.50 crore in the previous fiscal.
   The allocation for mosquito control programmes remains same at Tk 15 crore of the 2006-2007 fiscal and the allocation for waste management has been fixed at Tk 8 crore, up by Tk 2 crore from the previous fiscal.
   Other major sectors for expenditure are Tk 11.50 crore for development of recreation centres and parks, Tk 6 crore for renovation and development of graveyards and crematory, and Tk 4.15 crore for environmental development.

The Dhaka City Corporation’s budget for fiscal year 2007-08 again depends largely on external resources for its revenue. The budget has projected that over half of its revenue would come from different projects.
   The projected revenue in the budget is Tk 1,401.88 crore, of which Tk 523.45 crore will be mobilised by the DCC from its internal resources, including an initial balance of Tk 45 crore.
   The DCC expects a block allocation of Tk 100 crore from the government along with special allocation of Tk 150 crore, which is the same as that of 2006-2007 fiscal year. The rest of the revenue, Tk 619.43 crore, is expected to come from local and foreign projects and private sector investment.
   The contribution from the government’s special allocation in 2006-07 was Tk 53.74 crore, which was a third of what the DCC had expected.
   It could only secure Tk 771.98 crore as revenue, with Tk 383.20 crore from internal resources and Tk 388.78 crore from government and other projects.
   The projects to be implemented under government/foreign funds and private investment in fiscal year 2008 include the Tk 30 crore project for landfill in Aminbazar under the solid waste management programme, Tk 85.02 crore for the four wholesale kitchen market projects, Tk 300 crore for the Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover, Tk 40 crore for the Banani supermarket-cum-housing complex project and Tk 30 crore for constructing a commercial market and building at Gulshan-2.

The Dhaka City Corporation has ignored the construction of eight proposed underpasses, including one at Shahbagh, in its budget for 2007-2008 fiscal year.
   The Dhaka mayor, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, did not give any focus on the construction of the much-needed underpasses while announcing the budget on Sunday.
   Khoka, while placing the budget for 2006-2007 fiscal year, said they had planned to construct eight underpasses in the capital.
   Of them, construction of the Shahbagh underpass was supposed to start soon after the announcement and the corporation estimated the cost of the project Tk 25 crore.
   But Khoka did not give any attention to the construction of the underpasses in the new budget and earmarked only Tk 3.5 crore for the underpass/footbridges sector.
   About the proposed underpass at Bangla Motor, Khoka said it would be included in the work list of the corporation after getting the Planning Commission approval. The commission is expected to give the approval by this month, he added.
   Regarding the long-demanded Shahbagh underpass, the Dhaka mayor said the construction of the underpass would start after completion of the same procedure.
   The corporation decided to construct an underpass at the busy Shahbagh point following the demonstrations of the Dhaka University students.
   The demand came as several students of the university became the victims of accidents at the place at different times.
   The other sites proposed by the corporation in 2006-2007 fiscal year are Newmarket-Gausia market, Nabisco intersection, Tejgaon intersection, Shapla Chattar intersection at Motijheel, Jonaki-Pallwell market at Naya Paltan, and Shantinagar intersection.

The Dhaka City Corporation once again set an ambitious target of revenue collection from outdoor advertisements although it failed to achieve the targets in the past four fiscal years.
   The target for the current fiscal has been fixed at Tk 8 crore although the corporation’s collection from the sector in the just concluded 2006-2007 fiscal was Tk 3 crore, half of its target.
   The revenue target from outdoor advertisement in the 2005-2006 fiscal was Tk 12 crore while the achievement was Tk 2.25 crore.
   In 2005-2006 fiscal, revenue earning from the sector was only Tk 10 lakh against the target of Tk 20 crore and the corporation could realise only Tk 60 lakh against the target of Tk 9.62 crore in 2003-2004 fiscal year.

The fourth round of the ‘Talent hunt top ten Baul’ was held at the Shaukat Osman Auditorium of the Central Public Library in Dhaka on Sunday.
   Palli Baul Samaj Unnayan Sangstha in collaboration with the German Embassy in Dhaka organised the competition.
   Noted poet Ashraf Siddiki inaugurated the event as chief guest. Among others German Embassy’s cultural attache, Katrin Weiss, deputy director of American Centre in Dhaka Laura Kerry and the Sangstha’s president Ferdousi Najma also spoke on the occasion.
   A total of 28 baul talents appeared took part in the fourth round. Of them, 22 talents have been selected to compete for the next round of the competition.
   The jury comprised baul musician Kuti Mannsur, Nazir Mahmud, Ahmed Rizvi, baul singers Akmal Shah, Aleya Begum, Abul Sarkar and others.
   The fifth round of the competition will be held on July 10.
   The first round of the competition was held on March 30 and 210 young bauls from across the country took part in the competition.

A group of pro-Jamaat teachers of the Rajshahi University on Sunday allegedly vandalised the room of the Islamic history and culture department chairman over hanging a name plate.
   Campus sources said some pro-Jamaat teachers of the department went on the rampage after the department chairman Professor Kazi Mustafizur Rahman hung his name plate on the wall of a retired teacher’s room.
   Prof Muklesur Rahman of the department recently went into retirement from the department.
   Prof Mustafizur after discussion with other teachers hung his name plate on the wall of the retired teacher’s room no 212 at Shahidullah Arts Building on Saturday, the sources said.
   The next day pro-Jamaat teacher Prof Yakub Ali along with his junior colleagues and staff vandalised the room of the department chairman, according to campus sources.
   The furniture at the chairman’s room was ransacked and the name plate damaged by the pro-Jamaat teachers, the sources added.
   Prof Yakub then removed all papers of Prof Mustafiz from the room and hung his own name plate, a teacher of the department told newsman.
   After the incident, Prof Mustafiz and Prof Yakub were locked in an altercation over the matter, department sources said.
   When contacted, Prof Mustafiz admitted the vandalism at his room saying, ‘I have informed the vice-chancellor and high authorities concerned of the matter.’
   Denying the allegation, Prof Yakub said ‘I did not know who ransacked the room of Prof Mustafizur and who hang my name plate on the wall of the room.’
   Some teachers of the department alleged that pro-Jamaat teachers always try to establish their control of the department.
   They also demanded exemplary punishment to the teachers responsible for vandalising the room of the department chairman.

Prices of essential commodities, including rice, flour, onion, powered milk and vegetables, increased in the port city during the last one week till Sunday.
   At different kitchen markets, including Kazir Dewri Bazar, Chowmohoni Bazar, Bahadderhat, Nalapara Bazar, Foillahtoli Bazar, Barapul Bazar and Chawkbazar, a kilogram of irri rice was selling at Tk 22, up by Tk 1 from the previous week.
   The prices of almost all varieties of rice also increased during the period.
   The wholesalers have increased prices of different varieties of rice between Tk 2 and Tk 3 per kg, which pushed the price up on the retail market, sources on the kitchen markets said.
   ‘Prices of different varieties of rice have increased by $7 to $10 per ton on the international market recently,’ said Abul Hasnat, proprietor of the Hasnat Enterprise, a rice import agency at Chaktai. Sellers at the city’s wholesale business hub, Chaktai-Khatunganj, said prices of all most all varieties of rice increased on the international market recently adding that it pushed up the wholesale prices between Tk 1 and Tk 3.
   He said there was a demand of 2.20 crore tonnes of rice a year in the country adding that 20 lakh tonnes of the total demand was being imported from Pakistan, India, Vietnam and Myanmar.
   Meanwhile, a kilogram of green chillies was found selling at Tk 100, which was only Tk 40 only a few days back, while prices of other vegetables including potato, aubergine, cucumber, carrot, bean, pumpkin, snake gourd, bitter gourd and okra marked increase by Tk 2 to Tk 5 a kg.
   According to the market sources, prices of different sorts of vegetables increased due to the short supply in comparison with the demand in the city area adding that increased transport cost had also prompted the price hike.

A large number of people attended the concluding function of the seven-day world music festival titled Fête de la Musique on Saturday.
   Alliance Francaise de Dacca organised the world music event in the capital on June 23.
   Teachers and students of Ecole de Musique, a musical school of the Alliance Francaise, took part in the musical programme on the concluding day.
   They performed western music, played classical guitar, cello and piano on the day. Latin dance like Salsa and Waltz was also performed.
   The concert of guitar was held at Cafe la Veranda while piano concert was organised at the newly renovated auditorium of Alliance Française.
   On the first day of festival, a number of Baul singers including Abdul Ali Boyati, his son Mohammad Lokman and daughter Rojina Akhter performed in the musical function.
   They rendered songs of Lalon, Hasson Raja, Shah Abdul Karim and folk songs of Sylhet. Rabindra Sangeet artiste Nargis Rahman also rendered a good many songs with her group on the opening day.
   Two concerts were held on the second day of the programme. Nilufar Banu rendered a number of songs with her group and young artiste Mesbah Ahmed enthralled the audience with ghazals.
   Eminent singer of Nazrul’s songs, Anup Barua’s concert took place on Monday while the Chorale Group of Alliance Française, on Tuesday, presented a musical soirée which included songs on certain social and political movements around the globe including Bangladesh.
   Two groups of the Nrityam Nrityasheelon Kendra on Wednesday performed traditional Bangladeshi folk dances under the guidance of Tamanna Rahman, the director of the institution.
   Fête de la Musique or World Music Festival, is a free and popular musical event held annually. Launched in 1982 by the French ministry for culture, the Fête de la Musique is held in more than hundred countries in Europe and over the world.

A bomb exploded at Sultanabad area in the Rajshahi city Saturday night, sending a wave of panic in the locality.
   The locals said the bomb went off in front of the residence of the Rajshahi Education Board chairman at around 8:00pm. Later they informed the Rapid Action Battalion and the police of the incident.
   The RAB men raided the area several times and arrested a construction worker Shamim, 24, for his suspected involvement with the bomb blast.
   During interrogation, Shamim denied involvement with the bomb explosion.

Light to moderate rain or thunder showers accompanied by temporary gusty or squally wind is likely at most places over Khulna, Barisal and Chittagong divisions and at many places over Dhaka and Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Rajshahi division with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places during the 24-hour period till 6:00pm today, the Met Office said on Sunday.
   The day temperature may rise slightly over the northern part of the country and remain nearly unchanged elsewhere over the country, it said.
   The country’s highest temperature on Sunday, 34.3 degrees Celsius, was recorded in Rajshahi and the lowest, 23.5 degrees Celsius, in Feni. The sun sets in the capital today at 6:50pm and rises tomorrow at 5:15am.

Orientation ceremony for summer semester at Eastern University was held at the university auditorium at Dhanmondi on Saturday, says a press release.
   The programme was held in two sessions. The first session was organised for fresher students of Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Law. Harry Shutt, international Advisor of Eastern University was the chief guest while Iqbalur Rahman, member of the board of governors of Eastern University Foundation was the special guest at the function.
   The second session was organised for the fresher students of the Faculty of Business Administration which was held in the same venue at 3.00pm.
   The function was attended by SM Emdadul Islam, member of board of governors of EUF as the chief guest.

RAB seizes
phensidyl in Ctg
Rapid Action Battalion in separate drives seized 28 bottles of foreign liquor and 76 bottles of phensidyl from Laldiarchar and Deverpar areas in 24 hours ending at 6:00pm on Sunday. The battalion sources said they seized 28 bottles of different brands of foreign liquor from the adjacent place of the house of Mohammed Shah Alam in an abandoned condition. The RAB said they arrested two persons — Mohammed Jakir Hossain, 30, and Fatema Begum, 24 — in possession of 76 bottles of phensidyl and 50 bottles of Recodex syrup from the Juinna Mazir Bari at Dever Purbapar in Agrabad area.

15 structures dismantled in Ctg
A mobile court of the Chittagong City Corporation reclaimed 45 kathas of land worth Tk 3 crore along the Chaktai Canal on Sunday. The court, led by CCC magistrate Sayeda Sarwar Jahan, conducted the drive and pulled down 15 unauthorised structures on the land. Another mobile court of the Chittagong Port Authority penalised a construction company with Tk one lakh for extracting sand violating the lease treaty. The court realised the fine from Real Construction for extracting sand from outside the allowed area in the River Karnaphuli.
— New Age