-The Times of India   Tension gripped the site of the proposed Posco steel project in Jagatsinghpur district on Friday after 20 anti-land acquisition villagers were arrested on charges of preventing entry of officials and police into the villages. Police also dismantled two wooden barricades built by the villagers to bar the entry of "outsiders". "We arrested Niranjan Swain, Pravat Palei, Achuti Das, Srimanta Parida, Bhamara Rout, Tushar Nayak , Narayan Parida and...

A report from a sample survey of the functioning of the public distribution system in 12 villages in two districts in Orissa, a state usually associated with a poor PDS. While there are errors in exclusion and inclusion of households covered, there has been a vast improvement in operation of the PDS; below the poverty line households seem to be receiving their entitlements. The households also express a strong preference...

Vidarbha Civil Society Collective and Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS) have raised strong objections to provisions in the National Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill 2011 tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. They demanded that the Bill be redrafted to safeguard interests of the dryland farmers and other landowners. "The Bill has ignored all suggestions made by the civil society and farmer advocacy groups. A month ago the rural development minister Jairam...

-The Times of India   Farmers along the national highway 8 (NH-8) in the district are up in arms against the land acquisition for the expansion of the highway. The highway is being made into a six-lane highway and land has been acquired around it in the district. The farmers in the district who have been taking up land acquisition issues under the banner of the Ekta Gramin Praja Vichar Manch (EGPVM)...

Interview with social activist and Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal. THE organisational abilities of Arvind Kejriwal exhibited during the recent Jan Lokpal Bill movement earned him the sobriquet “Field Marshal of a peaceful agitation”. The social activist and Ramon Magsaysay Award winner played a significant role in conceiving the slogans, the symbolism and the trajectory of the movement. He is credited with anticipating some of the moves of the government...