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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Mahila Raj' in Maharashtra

Women to helm 15 of 29 municipal corporations Mumbai: In a historic shift for urban governance, Maharashtra is set for an unprecedented era of female leadership. Following the high-stakes mayoral reservation lottery conducted today at Mantralaya, it has been confirmed that 15 out of the 29 Municipal Corporations in the state—including the financial powerhouse of Mumbai—will be headed by women Mayors. The lottery, presided over by Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal, ensures...

Mahila Raj' in Maharashtra

Women to helm 15 of 29 municipal corporations Mumbai: In a historic shift for urban governance, Maharashtra is set for an unprecedented era of female leadership. Following the high-stakes mayoral reservation lottery conducted today at Mantralaya, it has been confirmed that 15 out of the 29 Municipal Corporations in the state—including the financial powerhouse of Mumbai—will be headed by women Mayors. The lottery, presided over by Minister of State for Urban Development Madhuri Misal, ensures that over half of Maharashtra’s largest urban bodies will be governed by women for the next 2.5 years term. The highlight of the draw was the reservation of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for a General Category Woman. This marks a significant moment for the BJP, which emerged as the largest party in Mumbai with 89 seats. With 49 women corporators currently in its ranks, the party is already narrowing down a list of veterans to lead the "ace city." Similar "General Woman" reservations were drawn for other Tier-1 cities, creating a powerful block of female leadership across the state's economic engines – Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai and Thane (SC General, but high likelihood of female candidates). The 50% reservation policy, combined with the luck of the draw, has distributed female leadership across various categories. Among the total 17 mayoral posts that went to general (open) category 9 went to women, while in case of OBCs 4 went out of total 8 to women. In the SC category, 2 out of 3 posts have gone to women. BJP Prepares City BJP Chief Ameet Satam confirmed that the internal democratic process to select Mumbai’s Mayor is moving swiftly. "The corporators will elect the leader of the house in a couple of days, after which the registration process will be completed. The city Mayor is likely to be elected next week," Satam told reporters. With as many as 49 women corporators and many of them have already completed multiple terms, an intense lobbying for the top post is being seen within the BJP. Though more than half of the BJP woman corporators are first timers and a significant lot among senior corporators are non-Marathi, the real tough contest for the top post is among a handful of senior corporators. While a couple of senior turncoat corporators who switched sides just ahead of the corporation elections, are eyeing the top post, general mood within the party is in favour of choosing a party loyalist for the top post. Opposition Uproar The lottery was not without its share of political drama. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former Mayor Kishori Pednekar staged a walkout, alleging the lottery was "rigged" to favor the ruling Mahayuti alliance. The opposition argued that the BMC post should have rotated to an OBC or ST category, claiming that a new rule requiring at least three ST corporators to qualify for an ST reservation was a tactical manoeuvre to sideline opposition strength. MoS Misal, however, pointed out particular sections of the concerned rules and regulations that control the administration of Mumbai Municipal Corporation to justify the decision to not considering the ST category for lottery. The rule states that any category should be considered if there are more than 3 elected members from the category in the house, officials said. The outcome is, by next week, the "First Citizens" of Maharashtra’s most vital cities will represent a new, women-led chapter in the state's political history.

Equity MFs inflow drops 26 pc to Rs 29,303 cr in Feb; SIP hit 3-month low

  • PTI
  • Mar 12, 2025
  • 3 min read

Updated: Mar 13, 2025


SIP hit 3-month low

New Delhi: Inflow in equity mutual funds dropped 26 per cent to Rs 29,303 crore in February, primarily due to a significant decline in investments in small and midcap schemes, amid continued market volatility.

This was the second consecutive month of decline in inflow in equity funds. The latest fund infusion by investors also marks the 47th consecutive month of net inflows into the segment.

Moreover, inflows into systematic investment plans (SIP) came at Rs 25,999 crore in February, making it three months low. Before this, SIP inflow was Rs 26,400 crore in January and Rs 26,459 crore in December.

"The SIP inflows have come down, but the drop is not significant, partly due to February being a shorter month as compared to January," Suranjana Borthakur, Head of Distribution & Strategic Alliances at Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India), said.

According to data released by Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) on Wednesday, equity-oriented mutual funds saw an inflow of Rs 29,303 crore in February, way lower than Rs 39,688 crore registered in January and Rs 41,156 crore in December.

However, the pace of investments moderated compared to the previous month due to increased market uncertainty and a broader correction in equities.

"While short-term headwinds have tempered investment flows, domestic investor confidence remains strong, as indicated by continued inflows. Investors are adopting a cautious yet steady approach, reassessing their portfolios while maintaining long-term investment commitments," Nehal Meshram, Senior Analyst - Manager Research at Morningstar Investment Research India, said.

Akhil Chaturvedi, Executive Director & Chief Business Officer, Motilal Oswal AMC, said that continuous monthly market correction has led to a slowdown of sales in February, this could also be partially attributed to a truncated month. Investors are being cautious in allocations and may postpone or stagger in the near future. Having said so, net sales of Rs 30,000 crore are also pretty healthy and the broader sentiment looks optimistic from a long-term wealth creation perspective.

Also, the sharp decline was attributed to reduced inflows in mid and small-cap funds, which saw a drop to Rs 3,406 crore and Rs 3,722 crore in February, compared to Rs 5,147 crore and Rs 5,720 crore in January, respectively. In large-cap funds, inflows totalled Rs 2,866 crore, down from Rs 3,063 crore in January.

Within the equity categories, sectoral/thematic funds witnessed the highest net inflow of Rs 5,711 crore, followed by Flexi Cap Funds with Rs 5,104 crore.

Apart from equities, gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) saw an inflow of Rs 1,980 crore against Rs 3,751 crore in January.

However, debt mutual funds registered an outflow of Rs 6,525 crore last month in February, a sharp reversal from the strong inflows of Rs 1.28 lakh crore in the preceding month.

Despite the outflows, liquid funds saw the inflow at Rs 4,977 crore, followed by corporate bond funds (Rs 1,065 crore) and short-duration funds (Rs 473 crore). However, several short-term debt categories witnessed heavy redemptions, with ultra-short duration funds (Rs 4,281 crore), money market funds (Rs 276 crore), low-duration funds, and overnight funds (Rs 2,264 crore) seeing the highest outflows. Together, these four categories accounted for 90 per cent of total redemptions, Meshram said.

Of the 16 debt categories, 10 recorded net outflows, indicating that the bulk of redemptions were concentrated in short-duration funds.

Overall, mutual funds attracted over Rs 40,000 crore in the month under review compared to a staggering inflow of Rs 1.87 lakh crore in January suggesting a cautious approach from investors in the mutual funds space.

This slump in inflow has pulled the overall assets under management of mutual funds down 4 per cent to Rs 64.53 lakh crore in February-end compared to Rs 67.25 lakh crore in the preceding month.

This comes in the backdrop of global uncertainties and macroeconomic factors, which led to a slump in benchmark index Sensex by 5.5 per cent in the month.

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