For third straight day on Sunday, the standoff between protestors and the armed police at Dhinkia village the entry point to Posco project site continued without bloodshed though the Orissa government on Friday had declared the assembly as unlawful and hinted at action if the protesters continued to restrict the officials' movement. Land acquisition officials backed by about 800 armed police have so far not been able to enter the...

-Express News Service   Reacting to Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh's concern over use of force against villagers opposing land acquisition in Orissa for the Posco steel project, a pressure group on Sunday said that the minister should withdraw the illegal clearance given to the company. Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) said: "The minister appealed to the Orissa government to respect 'democracy and dialogue' and refrain from coercion in taking over...

In the wake of mass protest by locals against land acquisition process The Union government on Sunday asked the Orissa government not to take precipitate action in the wake of a mass protest by locals against the land acquisition process launched at Govindpur village for the Posco steel plant. Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said in a statement that coercion was not the way to resolve the crisis. He hoped that the Orissa...

-PTI   The Communist Party of India (CPI) national secretary, D Raja, today demanded that the Odisha government should shift Posco steel plant from its current location."Even hough the locals, and particularly tribals, have been agitating against the plant since last six years, the Odisha government never listened to them," Raja said, adding that the state government was mercilessly using the police to suppress the people's movement."I urge the government to...

While A. Raja's alleged shenanigans in the Telecom Ministry have been grabbing all the headlines, some activists are now urging the CBI to focus its spotlight on the tainted DMK leader's earlier role as Environment Minister. For example, Mr. Raja granted Korean steel giant Posco its first major statutory clearance in 2007 by approving the captive port component of its controversial Rs. 52,000 crore steel plant project in Orissa. Interestingly,...