-Express News Service   Even as the State government readies for land acquisition for the Posco steel project, the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), which is spearheading a movement against the project, has announced that it would oppose the process. To add to the woes, the United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-Posco outfit, has threatened not to cooperate with the Jagatsinghpur district administration for the land acquisition.   PPSS president Abhay Sahu told...

The polluting cement plant will harm the ecosystem: expert body ‘It is considered a valuable common property resource by the locals' In a victory for the farmers of Gujarat's Bhavnagar district, the Environment Ministry has decided that the site of Nirma Industries' proposed cement plant there is a wetland and an environmentally sensitive area. The plant will have to be relocated, the Ministry told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. The Ministry accepted the...

Archaic labour laws are not affecting India's manufacturing sector as much as problems related to land, water, licences and clearances, a government panel's study shows. With the findings of the Planning Commission study, changing rigid labour laws, so far suspected to be the main hurdle before the manufacturing sector, is likely to drop on the government's list of priorities. The sector contributes 15% to India's GDP. "Against popular perception, we...

Work on the project was put on hold a year ago Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has lifted the stop-work order on the Maheshwar Hydel Power Corp Ltd., implying that he was yielding to pressure from the Prime Minister's office and Madhya Pradesh politicians across political lines. However, while project promoters are now free to construct the remaining five spillway gates of the dam, the lowering of the...

Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh has granted the final forest clearance to Posco's Rs.54,000-crore integrated steel plant in Orissa, even while urging action against the sarpanch of one of the villages protesting against the project. Last month, Mr. Ramesh offered some hope to the protesting people of Dhinkia and Gobindapur by taking note of the resolutions passed by their village councils alleging that the Orissa government had failed...