-Outlook Bhubaneswar: Odisha government has acquired 2,100 acres of land for the proposed mega steel project by Posco-India in Jagatsinghpur district. "State-owned Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) has acquired 2,100 acres of land of which 546 acre had been handed over to Posco. Rest 1,554 acres is ready to be handed over to Posco," the status paper prepared by the state government said. Another 600 acres of land for the purpose was expected...

-Deccan Herald With just a little more than a year left before the nation goes to polls, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government has proposed to raise the allocation for rural development to Rs 80194 crore in 2013-14, although an amount of about Rs 21371 crore is estimated to be left unspent from the fund earmarked for the sector this year. The Ministry of Rural Development is likely to leave unutilized...

-The Hindu   Books will soon be procured for all the children, says district coordinator of SSA Tiruvallur: Asish Mehra sits in the front row of his class, flipping through his notebook. There is hardly any space between the Oriya letters, as if he is desperately trying to save paper. It is his only notebook, and it turns out Asish is indeed trying to make the paper last. He is one of the many...

-DNA Tribal minister shoots letter to 9 guvs seeking cancellation of leases. Union tribal affairs minister V Kishore Chandra Deo has asked governors of nine states to invoke their special powers to revoke lease agreements and MoUs signed between state governments and corporates to extract mineral wealth in tribal areas. Pointing out that power lobbies were disregarding land regulations, he castigated the Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh government. The union minister, who is also...

-Outlook Bhubaneswar: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has found Odisha Government of extending undue benefits to South Korean steel major Posco in allotment of a piece of land in the state capital here. "The company was extended undue benefit in allotment of land disregarding zonal regulation and charging of premium at a reduced rate," the CAG in its latest report tabled in the Assembly yesterday said. The CAG observation was made based...