The civic budget has crossed Rs3,000-cr mark for the first time

Citizens have been spared from paying higher taxes this year.

Standing committee chairman Shyam Deshpande on Friday presented a Rs3,027.41-crore budget for 2009-10, which is a little over Rs346 crore as proposed earlier by municipal commissioner Praveensingh Pardeshi.

This is the first time that the civic budget has crossed the Rs3,000 crore mark. In the budget tabled before the general body, a sum of Rs1,929.86 crore has been earmarked for development works.

Umroi, Jan 25: Voting has begun for the assembly by-election at Bhadohi reserve segment in Sant Ravidas Nagar in Uttar Pradesh this morning.

The polling will decide the fate of sixteen contestants. The main contenders are from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP_.

Three hundred sixty five polling booths have been set up for three lakhs forty five thousand voters to cast their votes. One hundred fifty three polling booths have been identified as sensitive.

New Delhi, Feb 23: The Election Commission (EC) will conduct series of meetings from today before announcing dates for the Lok Sabha elections.

Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami and other two Election Commissioners Navin Chawla and S Y Quraishi are scheduled to meet Telecom Secretary Siddartha Behura today to expand communication network.

The Commission will also meet Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta to review the law and order situation across the country.

Besides, the three-member Commission is likely to hold discussion on the accessibility of Central paramilitary forces to avoid any kind of untoward incident during polls.

Baghdad  - A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki won a majority of seats in Iraq's Basra province and a near majority in the capital of Baghdad, Iraq's electoral commission announced on Thursday.

In the southern province of Basra, al-Maliki's State of Law coalition won 20 out of the province's 35 seats, Iraqi news agency the Voices of Iraq (VOI) reported.

The province, known for its oil, is an important victory for the Iraqi premier.

Beirut  - The European Union announced on Tuesday that it will send monitors to observe Lebanon's parliamentary elections in June.

"The EU is ready to send a delegation to monitor the June 7 parliamentary elections," EU commissioner for external relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora at the Governmental Palace in downtown Beirut.

The commissioner, who is on a two-day visit to Lebanon, also held talks with President Michel Suleiman, Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud.

Beirut  -The European Commission has pledged 4 million euros (5.1 million dollars) to ensure that Lebanon's parliamentary elections, due in June, proceed in a democratic way, a statement by the EU said on Monday.

According to the statement "the money will cover technical assistance as well as the purchase of equipment needed for the June 7 elections."