-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...

-The Times of India In a significant move towards transparency, the government on Tuesday said all public authorities should proactively disclose information related to public private partnerships (PPP) projects on their websites. Though the disclosure will be voluntary, this marks a shift from the Centre's stand for the last two years when it stonewalled Central Information Commission (CIC)'s recommendation seeking disclosure of PPP projects and will herald greater transparency. Guidelines issued by the...

-The Hindu Concerned over the extreme left groups' penetration into tribal territories and their ability to win over the hearts and minds of people deprived of basic necessities of life, the government has drawn-up a nine point action plan to deal with a host of development challenges. The action plan is an outcome of series of meeting of a specially constituted Review Group of LWE (Left-Wing Extremism) under the aegis of...

-The Hindu     Lakshmi Puri calls for greater political momentum on Women's Reservation Bill "My ambition for my country is it should become a democracy for women, by women and of women. This revolution is happening at the local level but [it] should also happen at the State and national level," said Lakshmi Puri, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and acting head of U.N. Women. She believes much progress has been made by...

-The Hindu     The public transport system is the most effective way of reducing the number of vehicles as well as emissions Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently launched the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), 2020 with an ambitious goal of shifting to electric propulsion for surface transport. This would reduce our dependence on diesel and petrol and lead to lower emission levels, including carbon-di-oxide emission, which is one of the major contributors...