-The Hindu   Union Minister of State for Forest and Environment Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said environmental clearance to a project should not be construed as a licence for forceful eviction of people. Asked about the resistance to land acquisition for the POSCO steel project in Orissa, Mr. Ramesh said acquisition should not be coercive. He hoped the Orissa government would exhibit sensitivity in dealing with the agitators and resolve the issue...

Support for the agitation against forceful land acquisition for the proposed mega steel plant project of POSCO in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa grew larger on Monday, forcing the administration to refrain from acquiring any land during the day. Many social activists, including Medha Patkar, Banwari Lal Sharma of Azadi Bachao Andolan, and noted Gandhian Amarnath Bhai, visited the agitating villagers at Govindpur village and raised their voice against the involvement of...

Orissa’s Jagatsinghpur district administration today indefinitely put on hold the land acquisition process for the 12-million-tonne POSCO steel plant. “The dismantling of betel vineyards for land acquisition in Dhinkia gram panchayat has been suspended till further instructions. However, officials have gone ahead with other work such as clearing the fruit-bearing trees from the project villages in two other gram panchayats,” said Paradip additional district magistrate Saroj Kanta Choudhury. On the other hand,...

-The Hindu   Amid the intensifying protests against land acquisition by South Korean company POSCO in Jagatsinghpur, Orissa, the resistance got some praise during a debate on “The POSCO Betrayal”, which was held here on Sunday. Sharing his experiences of being part of the Independent Investigation Committee that reviewed POSCO clearances, general secretary of the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) V. Suresh criticised the Orissa Government, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh...

-The Business Standard   The government’s cup of woes with regard to the much-hyped POSCO project seem to be brimming over. Even as the anti-POSCO activists have forced the Jagatsinghpur district administration to stop land acquisition for the project at Gobindpur and Dhinkia, the project supporters, who had assisted the officials in an almost trouble-free land acquisition in Gadakujang and Nuagaon panchayats, are now peeved with the administration for non-fulfilment of...