Tension prevailed in the villages where the Naveen Patnaik government is striving to acquire land for the proposed steel plant project of Posco. In Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district villagers protesting land acquisition clashed with police. Eight persons, including six women, were injured when police resorted to lathi charge to disperse villagers who came out of their homes to protest tree cutting by the men engaged by the district administration to acquire land near...

-MSN   Jalgaon, Jul 13 (PTI) A debt-ridden farmer allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a well in north Maharashtra, police said today. The body of Vishwanath Kashinath Baviskar, a resident of Sukali village, was recovered today, they said. Baviskar had taken loans from four private money lenders. He was unable to repay the amount due to frequent losses in farming, they said. Unable to bear harassment of the money lenders, the farmer decided...

In Rajasthan’s Neem ka Thana region, the echoes of mining explosives are like clockwork, on the hour every hour. For some time now, another feature has become almost routine here: houses, left unsteady by the explosions, propped up by wooden poles or bricks. Tired of no recourse and continued government harassment, villages have begun a movement to stop illegal mining, primarily led by ex-army servicemen. It began on March 1 this year...

There is something for Posco finally to cheer about as work at its proposed site for Rs 52 ,000-crore steel project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district resumed on Tuesday after remaining stalled since June 26. "Work in Gadakujanga and Nuagaon areas is going on today," Jagatsinghpur district collector N C Jena said. Felling of trees and clearing of forest area and acquired betel-vine farms were continuing in Gadakujanga and Nuagaon areas,...

Akhil Gogoi was associated with the CPI(M-L) in Assam, but had no links with Maoists, sources here said today, while raising questions whether an Assam police officer was transferred for not trumping up charges against the RTI activist. The mystery of police action and subsequent allegations by one other than the chief minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, against Akhil are seen with suspicion in New Delhi. On Thursday, former home secretary G.K....