-The Business Standard Quick step by govt to provide alternate source only hope for Lanjigarh refinery Bhubaneswar: The 12-0 drubbing in gram sabhas held to seek a referendum on bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills has pushed into uncertainty the fate of Rs 5,000 crore one million tonne refinery of Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) at Lanjigarh, which is struggling to stay in operation by sourcing bauxite from different places outside Odisha. The Dongaria tribes of...

-The Hindustan Times Tribals in colourful and traditional attire danced in joy as the last of the 12 gram sabhas on Monday overwhelmingly voted against the proposed bauxite mining by Vedanta Group's alumina refinery plant in Odisha's Niyamgiri hills. With this all the 12 gram sabhas have voted against the proposed bauxite mining in the hills, driving in the proverbial last nail in Vedanta's fading mining hopes. Like all previous gram sabhas, the...

-PTI New Delhi: Amid differences between rural development and agriculture ministries over implementation of works under rural job scheme, a parliamentary panel said that improper planning of jobs during farm season was causing labour availability problem in the key sector. "... Lack of proper planning of works under MNREGA without keeping in view of local agriculture practice is causing the problem of labour availability in agriculture sector," Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural...

-The Hindu Collector asks people to have a blueprint for making their village free from open defecation Vellore (Tamil Nadu): gram sabhas conducted four times in a year - on Republic Day, May Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanthi - are meant to be an open forum to enable public to demand schemes, especially on basic amenities required for the villages and benefits from welfare schemes. But, in reality, the public, especially...

-Outlook Bhubaneswar: In another setback to the Odisha government's plan for bauxite mining for Vedanta on the Niyamgiri hills, an eleventh gram sabha and the penultimate one of the scheduled 12 to be held, today voted against the proposal. The gram sabha or village meeting at Khambesi village in Rayagada district unanimously rejected the proposal with all its 72 members, including 49 women, saying no. The members said the mining would severely affect...