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...

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...

The Right to Education Act, which lacks a transformational vision, is geared to preparing foot soldiers for the global market. THE most encouraging and delightful news regarding school education in India since the pro-market reforms began in 1991 came from Erode district in Tamil Nadu recently. To be sure, it is neither about the World Bank-sponsored District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) of the 1990s nor about the internationally funded and...

Armed policemen accompanying officials return to their makeshift camps Congress legislators to raise issue during Assembly session Chief Secretary: administration trying to carry out peaceful land acquisition As the agitation continued to intensify over the POSCO steel project, the Jagatsinghpur district administration on Tuesday did not acquire any land for the venture but continued the construction of a boundary wall on the land acquired earlier. While senior leaders belonging to the Opposition Congress and the...

TODAY, India is considered around the world as a rapidly developing country posting economic growth rates of around 8-9 percent consistently over the last several years. Along with China, which is much further ahead, India is seen as a powerhouse of the global economy in the decades to come and already it is home to a very large number of dollar billionaires, perhaps the largest such number in Asia. In...