The sight on television was heartbreaking: children lying in rows in the searing sun to be human shields against the takeover of their land for Korean giant POSCO’s mega bucks project. Facing them were armed police sent by the state government to assist in the operation. The steel plant and port project, located in a coastal district of Odisha, has been in a six-year-long eyeball-to-eyeball battle with people whose land will...
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Power centre or toothless body? by Akshat Kaushal
Why is the ruling party unable to pass 3 very important bills? The National Advisory Council draws its exalted status from the fact that UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi heads it. But its inability to get its way on three new Bills indicates that its influence is waning. A couple of weeks ago, the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) cleared the drafts of two significant Bills — the Food Security Bill and...
More »Land Acquisition Act has become an engine of oppression: court by J Venkatesan
What farmers get are lathis and litigation, observes Justice Ganguly The Supreme Court on Tuesday expressed concern over misuse of the Land Acquisition Act, a colonial law, by all States to acquire land from farmers for development in the guise of a ‘public purpose'. A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly said that in the name of globalisation and land development the States had marginalised farmers by paying a pittance...
More »Work at Orissa Posco site resumes after 10 day break by Nageshwar Patnaik
There is something for Posco finally to cheer about as work at its proposed site for Rs 52 ,000-crore steel project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district resumed on Tuesday after remaining stalled since June 26. "Work in Gadakujanga and Nuagaon areas is going on today," Jagatsinghpur district collector N C Jena said. Felling of trees and clearing of forest area and acquired betel-vine farms were continuing in Gadakujanga and Nuagaon areas,...
More »NCPCR visits Posco project site, stunned by the presence of cops by Nageshwar Patnaik
A three-member of team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights led by Dr Yogesh Dubuey on Monday visited the proposed Posco steel plant site near Paradip and made an on-the-spot investigation into the alleged use of children by Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS), an anti-displacement forum in the protest blockade for more than three weeks. The team also visited Badagabapur transit camp and interacted with members of...
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