Even as farmers of Halligudi vilage of Gadag district are up in arms against the government's move to acquire land for the Posco steel plant, the Tata group, which plans to set up its Tata Metaliks plant in Haveri, will take 300 farmers to its Jamshedpur steel plant. The group will take farmers of Agadi and Budagatti and other villages of Haveri district in batches in August or September so that...

The Orissa government suspends the land acquisition for the Posco project in the face of stiff opposition from the people. SIX years ago, when the South Korean steel giant Posco arrived in Orissa with the biggest ever foreign direct investment that had come the country's way, it was expected to help rid the economically backward State of its ‘poor' tag and bring prosperity. Posco had won the $12 billion deal at...

West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee moves closer to keeping her promise to return to ‘unwilling' farmers the land given to Tata Motors. WITH the passage of the Singur Land Rehabilitation and Development Bill, 2011, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee got one step closer to keeping the promise made to the people of Singur that she would reclaim the land allocated to Tata Motors and return it to “unwilling” farmers (that...

Protest against government attempts to suppress democratic resistance by villagers Police avoid confrontation; no work on construction of boundary wall As Orissa on Wednesday made failed attempts to acquire land for the Posco steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district, five political parties announced that they would begin an indefinite dharna opposing the Naveen Patnaik government's attempts to suppress democratic resistance by villagers who oppose establishment of the project in their locality. The dharna would...

Agrees to consider five coal blocks to be moved from “no-go” to “go” zone In a further breakdown of his vaunted “no-go zone” concept to prevent mining in heavily forested areas, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has agreed to consider five coal blocks in the forests of Orissa to be moved from the “no-go” to “go” zone. Interestingly, the decision comes on a day when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted that he had...