-The Hindu Land acquisition for the proposed steel project of Posco at Gobindpur village in Jagatsinghpur district of odisha was halted and police force withdrawn from the locality on Wednesday following stiff opposition from the locals, particularly women and children. The land acquisition exercise that was resumed after a long gap on Sunday came to a halt after hundreds of agitating villagers and leaders of different Opposition parties reached the spot where...

-NDTV Bhubaneswar: The odisha government has put off the land acquisition for Rs. 52,000 crore Posco steel plant in Jagatsinghpur district today after protests by local villagers since the process resumed last week. The police force deployed at the Gobindpur village near the Posco site will also be withdrawn for now. The move comes a day after standoff between villagers and police when the cops allegedly tried to enter the village. The agitators, including...

-The Hindu As many as 20 platoons of armed policemen stood guard as land acquisition for Posco’s proposed steel plant project resumed at the break of dawn on Sunday, with the demolition of betel vineyards in and around Gobindpur village in this coastal gram panchayat of odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district. The administration was trying to acquire 700 acres for the project, in addition to the 2,000 acres already acquired, by demolishing around 400...

-Outlook Malkangiri (odisha): Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today launched the Re 1 a kg rice scheme for the poor in odisha from the backward and tribal-dominated Malkangiri district. Patnaik, who distributed cheap rice to members of the Bonda tribe, had announced the scheme on Republic Day. It would provide rice at Re 1 per kg to people living below poverty line (BPL) as well as Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, disabled and beneficiaries of...

-PTI There was sharp rise in purchase of cereals, sugar and kerosene from Public Distribution System (PDS) between 2004-05 and 2009-10, a government survey said. According to National Sample Survey Organisation's 66th round, the percentage of households reporting consumption of rice from PDS rose sharply from 24.4 percent to 39 percent in rural areas. The percentage of such families consuming rice increased from 13 percent to 20.5 percent during the period. The increase...