-PTI   Opposing acquisition of fertile and multi-crop land for setting up industries, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat on Saturday suggested Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik to hold talks with farmers before going ahead with the proposed Posco steel project. “I have requested the Chief Minister to talk to the people who are likely to be affected due to Posco project. Unless farmers agree to sacrifice their lands, no force should be used,”...

The new Land Acquisition Bill is unlikely to set a threshold for government intervention in land purchases, leaving it to the states to frame policies on this politically volatile subject. The Bill will, however, eliminate any scope for discrimination by specifying the same rate of compensation for all affected for land acquired by private developers or the state on their behalf. It will also put the onus of compensation on the...

-PTI   Holding the Naveen Patnaik government responsible for the delay in the implementation of the proposed POSCO steel project, Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee Tuesday sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention to shift it to barren land near the present site in Jagatsinghpur. "I told the Prime Minister about the fertile and multi-crop land at Dhinkia where the state government has identified land for setting up the POSCO project ... I informed...

The Noida-Greater Noida imbroglio will be instructive for the draft land acquisition bill In The Works...     * Government to acquire land, “public purpose” to be redefined     * Land acquisition only after getting written consent of 80 per cent of landowners     * Monitoring authority to be set up at the Centre and states to ensure compliance     * Payment component split into part-cash-down and remaining in annuity for 33 years     * Post...

Mahtab Alam examines the trouble with the steel project and suggests a way out THE PROPOSED mega Posco project and the anti-Posco movement are back in the news after the violence at the proposed site on 16 July. According to the reports I got, on that day, eight platoons of police attacked and lathicharged peaceful protesters in the village of Nuagaon, Jagatsinghpur district, Odisha. The protesters, despite being mostly women, were...