Reliance fuel dealers on warpath in Gujarat

Reliance fuel dealers on warpath in Gujarat

Gandhinagar, April 12: Reliance petrol pump dealers in Gujarat are on the warpath, seeking a refund of their investments because of losses and have threatened to take to the streets if their demands are not met, a spokesperson of the Gujarat Reliance Petrol Pump Dealers’ Association said on Monday.

It is imperative that the company refund their investments made in opening retail outlets as four years of continuous losses have drained them financially, the spokesperson said. “We are in no position to take anymore of it,” said association member Varun Patel after a meeting of the body.

Dealer owners and dealer operated (DODO) outlets in the state passed a resolution demanding termination of land lease and dealership agreements and buying equipment installed at the outlet at current prices. “In case RIL wants to run these outlets themselves they should pay market rent to the landowners,” Patel added. According to him, when the association first launched a stir two months ago they were given assurance by RIL group president Parimal Nathwani that their demands would be looked into but nothing had come out of it so far.“We are left with no option but to restart our agitation and intensify it,” he said. Reliance and Essar had set up a countrywide chain of retail fuel outlets but shut them subsequently in view of the variation between their prices and those of government owned companies. (IANS)

PM asks ministers not to comment on internal security

NEW DELHI, April 12: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked all ministers to refrain from commenting in the media on matters of internal security, sources in the government said.

The ministers received on Sunday a circular sent by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrashekhar on behalf of the prime minister. The Cabinet Secretary stated in his missive that the Prime Minister “desires” that ministers should not remark on the internal security of the country and should not voice “different opinions” on the matter. The home ministry is competent to react to such matters, it added. The Prime Minister’s direction comes after the April 6 massacre of 76 security personnel in the forests of Chhattisgarh, the largest Maoist attack in four decades.

It is learnt that the Prime Minister gave the direction for the circular after colleagues like Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Food Processing Minister Subodh Kant Sahay commented on the attack. The Prime Minister left on Saturday for a weeklong trip to the US and Brazil.(IANS)

Why Didi is afraid of Dada

Why Didi is afraid of Dada

NEW DELHI, April 11: It appears no Congress minister dares to talk with West Bengal’s Communist leaders in the formidable presence of Trinamool Congress chief and Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee. But Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is an exception.

Popularly called “Pranab da”, he even shared a car with West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee - archrival of Mamata Banerjee - after a meeting at the Prime Minister’s residence over price rise.

Mukherjee is not believed to be too happy about Banerjee meddling in the Central Government’s handling of problems in the Left-ruled State.

But Banerjee, often addressed as “Didi”, had to be silent on Pranab da’s open bonhomie with the Marxists because she fears he may lose his temper, which he often does. She also believes that he has the ability to broker a political alliance with the Communists in the State where she is making an all-out effort to end three decades of leftist rule, they say.

IRDA asks life insurers to defy SEBI ban

IRDA asks life insurers to defy SEBI ban

Chennai, April 11: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has asked 14 life insurers to defy the ban imposed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on selling unit linked insurance policies (ULIP). The IRDA, contending that the ban would bring the life insurance sector to a standstill, on Saturday night directed the 14 insurance companies mentioned in Friday’s SEBI order to “continue to carry out insurance business as usual, including offering, marketing and servicing ULIPs in accordance with the Insurance Act, 1938, Rules, Regulations and Guidelines issued by it.”

Meanwhile, the life insurers — Aegon Religare, Aviva, Bajaj Allianz, Bharti AXA, Birla Sun, HDFC Standard, ICICI Prudential, ING Vyasa, Kotak Mahindra, Max New York, Metlife India, Reliance Life Insurance, SBI Life Insurance and TATA AIG — are expected to approach the court Monday to get a stay on the operation of SEBI’s ban order.