“Freedom from fear” and “Punishment-free zone” read the slogans on the school walls. These signify the end of corporal punishment. They take on a different meaning, though, when schools are occupied by the police, as they are around Dhinkia and Govindpur, the villages resisting the State's takeover of their farmland for Posco's mega power and steel project ( The Hindu , July 13-14). Children here grabbed national attention when they joined...

-DNA   Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa on Friday said that POSCO plant would not come to Gadag district without farmers’ consent. Speaking in Hubli where he arrived for a two-day state BJP executive meet, Yeddyurappa reiterated that only if the seers and farmers arrived at a “consensus” on setting up of the project, he would consider the project’s implementation in the district. “The Rs30,000-crore steel project by Korean major POSCO will...

-IANS   South Korean giant Posco's plan to set up a six million tonnes per annum steel plant in Karnataka is in doldrums with the state government dropping plans to acquire land, in the face of opposition from farmers and religious leaders. "Even if the farmers agree to give land, we will not acquire it in Gadag district," Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters Thursday. "If Posco is interested in setting...

Nearly half of the people served notice have filed their submissions before the Special Land Acquisition Officer (SLAO) of KIADB at Dharwad. Of the 232 notices served, 144 persons have replied and nearly 97 land owners had outrightly opposed the land acquisition and categorically declared before the land acquisition officer that they would not give their lands. Forty-seven land owners have given ‘conditional consent’ for giving their lands. According to the Assistant...

-The Deccan Herald "Law is misused for business interests." There is reason for serious concern over the aggressive acquisition of farm land by the Karnataka government on behalf of corporates. It has notified 3,382 acres in Halligudi in Gadag district where Korean steel giant Posco proposes to set up a 6 million tonne per annum integrated steel plant and a 450-mw captive power plant. Farmers in the area, whose lands have been...