Private sector not liable to job quota for minorities

September 25th, 2009 PITTSBURGH - The Group of 20 (G20) nations Friday agreed to increase the voting power of developing countries at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by at least five percent. "We are committed to a shift in IMF quota share to dynamic emerging markets and developing countries by at least five percent from over-represented countries to under-represented countries using the current quota formula," G20 leaders said here in a statement.

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Ministry of External Affairs has revised its rules for allocation of quota for Haj pilgrims for private tour operators. This was decided at a meeting chaired by External Affairs Minister S.M.

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.

July 23rd, 2009 SHIMLA - Mumbai-based ship building major ABG Shipyard Ltd has been allotted three hydroelectric projects in Himachal Pradesh after global bidding, an official said Thursday. "The government has allotted three out of five major hydropower projects to ABG Shipyard Ltd of Mumbai.

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 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government will provide Rs.185 crore (Rs.1.85 billion) as loans during the current financial year for income generating activities to help individuals from minority communities living in abysmal poverty, the Lok Sabha was told Thursday. Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Thursday said the National Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (NMDFC) will disburse the amount to 79,860 beneficiaries living below double the poverty line.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - A day after reinforcing job quota in faculty of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Thursday said the government is "committed" to reserving 25 percent seats in private schools for weaker sections. The minister said this during an interaction with officials of 30 private schools in the national capital, a ministry statement said.

July 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Union Cabinet today approved providing free and compulsory education to children aged 6-14 by giving its nod to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill 2005. Earlier announcing the government's agenda for the education sector in the next 100 days, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal had said that enactment of the Bill - also known as the Right to Education Bill - will be followed by the notification of the 86th Constitutional Amendment in the official gazette.

June 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In a bid to facilitate the issuance of temporary passports to Haj pilgrims, the UPA Government has decided to do away with police verification process. On Monday, the Haj Committee of India said the Government's decision to this effect came after two meetings in Delhi and Bangalore on June 8 and 10 June, chaired by N Ravi, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs.

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 16th, 2009 Hollywood rep: private sector key in China accessHONG KONG — Hollywood's top lobbyist said Tuesday the American industry will increasingly work with the growing Chinese private film sector to pressure Beijing to loosen its movie quotas and better combat piracy. The top American studios want to show more films in the booming Chinese market, but have been frustrated by Beijing's annual quota of 20 blockbusters on a revenue-sharing basis.

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 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav got company in former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharati, who has also decided to oppose the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form. "When I heard the President's speech on television that within 100 days, the Women Reservation Bill will be passed, then my party and I decided that we will oppose the bill in its present form," Uma Bharati, the Bharatiya Janashakti Party chief in the national capital.

June 6th, 2009 NEW DELHI - After threatening to consume poison if the Women's Reservation Bill is passed Janata Dal (U) chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday demanded a separate quota for backward castes to be included in the Women's Bill. "I am not asking for a reservation of 33 per cent (for women), it could be even 50 per cent.

January 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Having failed to get the Central Industrial Security Force (Amendment) Bill, 2008, passed by Parliament, the government Friday decided to promulgate an ordinance enabling the private sector to avail of the paramilitary force to guard against terror attacks on industrial houses. The union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave the go-ahead to bring in an ordinance said Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal.