-The Hindu They will be able to secure a premium price for their produce, says Chief Minister Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday said foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector would help farmers secure a premium price notwithstanding the controversy surrounding the Central policy matter. Addressing a meeting after inaugurating a godown at the Agriculture Market Yard here, Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy said an investment of Rs. 500 crore...

-The Economic Times Cooking gas dealers will no longer be able to enroll new customers as the government has centralised the process and asked the state firms to approve fresh applications after verifying that the applicant does not have multiple connections from different agencies. "Customers can submit applications for a new connection to a local distributor with valid documents but it will only be processed and approved by oil companies after verification...

-The Times of India The probe into the mega-billion 'Coalgate' scam moved into a higher gear on Tuesday, with the Central Bureau of Investigation registering five FIRs into irregularities against five companies and several individuals, including a leading political family of Maharashtra. Those named in the first set of FIRs include Congress member of Rajya Sabha Vijay Jawaharlal Darda, his brother and education minister of Maharashtra Rajendra J Darda and his son...

-The Hindu In a growing indication of Central trade unions setting aside differences to present a united front, a national convention of workers held on Tuesday here announced a two-day countrywide general strike on February 20 and 21 next year. National-level leaders of the five prominent trade unions said that unless workers and unions stood united, they would lose the struggle against violation of labour laws and contractisation of labour, besides being...

-The Indian Express A coal mine worker in Jharkhand and an expert on the coal industry called to protest against what he called was the noora kushti (shadowboxing) going on in Delhi. The power of the coal players was earlier seen in Jharkhand politics, he said, but now we see it in Delhi. Our players are small, yours are big and powerful. With the CBI itself unearthing prima facie evidence of...