-The Business Standard Rich coal reserves found in Dharamjaigarh in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district have thrown the lives of the 15,000 Bangladeshi settlers in turmoil Kalipada Das was 12 years old when his parents slipped into India from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) after Partition in the early fifties. As violence rocked parts of Bangladesh, Das and his parents sailed across Khulna River to reach a railway station from where they hoped to board...

-The Business Standard Bhubaneswar: A week before presenting an affidavit in the Supreme Court, the Union government could have diluted its interpretation of the Forest Rights Act, if sources are to be believed. The move could have provided Vedanta an advantage in arguing its case for bauxite mining in the tribal area of Odisha’s Niyamgiri hills. But, sources say, the government might say mining should not be allowed in Vedanta’s case, as...

-The Hindu Withdraw cases against villagers, Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti: Civil society groups Several civil society groups have alleged abuse of human rights and registration of false cases by State government agencies in order to curb resistance against the land acquisition for the proposed Posco steel plant in Odisha. Highlighting instances of “biased and arbitrary” police action in the eight villages of Jagatsinghpur district affected by the plant, illustrated in the recently-released fact...

-The Times of India BHUBANESWAR: The furore against the state government resuming land acquisition for South Korean steel giant Posco seems to be spilling out of national borders with Netherland-based Friends of the Earth International appealing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, chief minister Naveen Patnaik and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to stop police 'excesses' at the proposed Posco site in Jagatsinghpur district. The foreign NGO, which has been fighting for environmental...

-The Hindu Bhubaneshwar: Even as land acquisition for the proposed steel project of Posco remained suspended at Gobindpur village in Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha on Thursday, villagers staged a demonstration demanding complete withdrawal of the police from the locality. Leading the protest, Communist Party of India leader D. Raja condemned the entry of police into Gobindpur during night on Sunday when land acquisition was resumed after a gap of more than a...