May 21 to be observed as ‘protest day' across Orissa  “Naveen Patnaik compromising people's interests for land acquisition” Public meeting to be held at Balitutha to express solidarity with villagers BHUBANESWAR: Several Opposition parties and mass organisations of Orissa on Sunday condemned the police action against villagers opposing the POSCO-India's steel project in Jagatsinghpur district. They also warned the Biju Janata Dal government against using police force on innocent people to acquire...

Even as the Orissa government attempts to use force to secure the `POSCO area', serious discrepancies have emerged in the submissions made by the state government to the Centre in order to secure the forest clearance for the project. The state government had claimed that the three villages involved had not filed any claims over the forest land under the Forest Rights Act. But TOI has got access to the...

Villagers on dharna at Balitutha teargassed, lathicharged About 100 people were injured when police fired rubber bullets and teargas shells, and lathi-charged hundreds of villagers in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa on Saturday afternoon to help the administration acquire land for the steel project of POSCO-India. The police took action after the villagers did not respond to their orders to move away from Balitutha, the main entry point to the site earmarked...

Six non-Congress, non-BJP and non-BJD political parties and six other grassroot organizations opposed to proposed POSCO steel project on Sunday called for state-wide protests on May 20 and May 21 in reaction to “police excesses” on anti-POSCO activists in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa. The decision to observe the protest day was taken at a meeting of the political parties including CPI, CPM, Forward Bloc, JMM, RJD and SJP at CPI’s...

The $12 billion mega steel plant project of South Korean behemoth POSCO proposed to be set up near Paradip port hangs in balance between promise and protest. While chief minister Naveen Patnaik assured the South Korean president, Lee Myung-Bak, to expedite the much-delayed project, anti-plant protesters have launched an indefinite dharna opposing the project. “I assured the South Korean President that the POSCO steel plant project will be expedited. Of course, our...