Funds for minority affairs up by 74 percent

September 16th, 2009 Gabelli Funds increases stake in ViacomRYE, N.Y. — GAMCO Investors Inc., which administers the Gabelli Funds family of mutual funds, Wednesday reported that it had increased its ownership in Viacom Inc.

September 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - After allocating Rs. 25 crore (Rs.250 million) for two more campuses of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), the government is planning to set up three more universities for the country's minorities, according to officials.

July 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Thursday told parliament his ministry has a mechanism to regularly monitor the progress in implementation of various development schemes for the minorities undertaken by the government. "Review of progress of implementation of the schemes is done through periodic review meetings and through the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Minority Affairs and the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation," Khurshid said in the Lok Sabha.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has increased the budgetary allocation to the minority affairs ministry by Rs.740 crore for the year 2009-10 to address the educational and economic backwardness of the Muslim community, Minister Salman Khurshid said Monday. "The plan provisions for the ministry has been enhanced from Rs.130.89 crore in 2006-07 to Rs.500 crore in 2007-08, Rs.1,000 crore in 2008-09 and Rs.1,740 crore for the year 2009-10, Khurshid told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Monday said the home ministry had issued guidelines to address communal issues. "Guidelines on communal harmony have been issued by the ministry of home affairs, Khurshid told the Rajya Sabha while replying to a question related to the steps taken by the government to address the socio-political issues of the minority community.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The budget has increased the outlay for the minority affairs ministry from Rs.1,000 crore last fiscal to Rs.1,740 crore with a focus on educational schemes. The funds have been hiked to implement projects for the welfare of the minorities, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced while presenting the union budget Monday.

July 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Plan Outlay of the Ministry of Minority Affairs has been enhanced from Rs. 1,000 crore in BE 2008-09 to Rs.1,740 crore in 2009-10, registering an increase of 74 per cent.

July 1st, 2009 MUMBAI - Mutual funds have been barred from charging an entry fee on investments from Aug 1, India's market regulator said in a late evening announcement Tuesday. Mutual funds can, however, levy a "a maximum of 1 percent of the redemption proceeds" when an investor exits from the scheme, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Private sector mutual funds are likely to outperform state-owned funds for the sixth consecutive year, accounting for over 78 percent of the mutual fund market till May 31, says a report. "The market share of PSU mutual funds in the overall aggregate AUM (assets under management) has fallen sharply from 71.77 percent to 21.59 percent during the period between years 2000 and 2009," according to a survey by brokerage firm SMC Capitals.

June 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Government's Ministry of Minority Affairs has sanctioned rupees 100 crore for nine districts in various States to speed up implementation of multi-sectoral development plans in areas where minorities are in sizeable number. The Ministry has listed 25 Minority Concentrated Districts (MCDs) out of a total of 90 to implement the project under its 100-day work plan.

June 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed has said that the government will prefer a smooth process for reservation of jobs for minorities in the private sector instead of pushing it down to anybody's throat. Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Khursheed said the government is proceeding with as much urgency as it can on the issue.

June 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minister of State for Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid Thursday said the government was considering giving constitutional status to the National Minorities Commission and would decide on reservation for Muslims after studying the Andhra Pradesh and Kerala models. We want to give the minorities commission a constitutional status and will try our best for that, Khurshid told reporters after a meeting with the commission members.

June 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Dr. Tushar A. Chaudhary assumed charge as the Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, here at Nirman Bhavan on Monday.

May 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minority shareholders of soda ash manufacturer Gujarat Heavy Chemicals Ltd (GHCL) Thursday said they would form a forum to protect their interests and 'avoid being cheated by the promoters'. GHCL has been mired in a controversy after a Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) order barred chairman Sanjay Dalmia, managing director Ravi Shanker Jalan and company secretary Bhuwneshwar Mishra from trading in equities markets, saying the company had inflated its shareholding in its quarterly filings.

April 29th, 2009 EU lays out new rules for hedge fundsBRUSSELS — The European Union is proposing new rules extending oversight for the euro2 trillion hedge fund and private equity fund industry. The European Commission says the new rules will require registration for funds managing more than euro100 million of assets — covering just 3 percent of hedge fund managers dealing with 9 percent of assets in EU-based funds.