Government mulling constitutional status to minorities panel

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.

August 20th, 2009 Court strikes down NY lieutenant gov appointmentNEW YORK — A state appeals court has ruled that New York Gov. David Paterson's appointment of a lieutenant governor was unlawful.

August 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said the government was fully committed to the well-being of the minorities and had started many schemes for their welfare. We do not subscribe to the view that to take special care of the deprived sections of the society amounts to appeasement.

August 13th, 2009 US panel says India fails to protect minoritiesNEW DELHI — A U.S. panel on religious freedoms has placed India on its watch list of countries where such freedoms are at risk, noting that there has been a "disturbing increase" in violence against minorities in the South Asian country.

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 22nd, 2009 Bill to decide Puerto Rico's status moves forwardWASHINGTON — A House committee approved a proposal Wednesday that would let Puerto Ricans decide their island's political status. It was unclear whether the full Congress would consider the bill.

July 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday said that communalism should not be the agenda of education. Initiating a debate on the Demands for Grants for the human resource development (HRD) ministry in the Lok Sabha, former HRD minister and BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi alleged that his successor Arjun Singh tried to play a communal card in order to please the minorities.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Monday said the existing Companies Act did not empower the government to ask the private sector for providing minorities with jobs. "Despite this, the government has started the process of developing a common perspective on the issue of voluntary affirmative action by the corporate sector," Khurshid said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

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.

May 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Responding to the demand of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that he will support that coalition which gives 'Special Status' to his state, the Congress has asked Kumar to clarify what he means by 'Special Status'. "Mr. Nitish Kumar needs to tell us what he means by 'Special Status' for Bihar.

April 11th, 2009 JAMMU - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saturday challenged Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to a debate on whether Article 370 of the constitution that grants special status to the state had done it any good or harm. 'Omar Abdullah is welcome to have a debate whether the Article 370 has benefited the state or caused damage to it,' BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said at an election rally here.

March 19th, 2009 GANDHINAGAR - The Central Election Commission (CEC) has asked district electoral officers across Gujarat to conduct a vulnerability analysis of religious minorities, tribals, backward classes and economically weak sections to prevent them from being threatened by political parties during the Lok Sabha polls, an official said here Thursday. The district collectors, who are working as electoral officers, have been entrusted with the responsibility of identifying all sections that could face harassment and be forced not to vote by political parties, a senior official at the State Election Office here told IANS.

January 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The human resource development (HRD) ministry plans to set up a Central Madrassa Board on the lines of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), HRD Minister Arjun Singh said Tuesday. This would help modernise the education imparted in the Islamic seminaries across the country, the minister said.

December 30th, 2008 NEW DELHI - The government has constituted an anti-doping disciplinary panel to check incidents of drug abuse by sportsmen. The nine-member panel will be headed by Dinesh Dayal, retired additional district judge of Delhi.

December 22nd, 2008 NEW DELHI - The panel organising the Commonwealth Games here in 2010 has invited the ire of the Delhi High Court for not providing information about the progress in preparation under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. 'The Commonwealth Games are round the corner and people have the right to know how you are organising it,' Justice G.S.