Tension prevailed in the area chosen for the proposed Posco steel project in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur on Friday after 17 persons opposing land acquisition for the venture were taken into custody. They include Basudev Behera, Panchayat Samiti member of Gadakujang gram panchayat and vice-president of Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti, the organisation leading the anti-Posco agitation since 2005, four women and five children. The villagers, who were picked up by the policemen from Noliasahi...

-The Telegraph   A World Health Organisation panel’s decision to tag mobile phone radiation as “possibly carcinogenic” has set off one of the most intense debates involving an everyday device that touches the lives of 5 billion people worldwide. The WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified electromagnetic radiation in the category of agents such as lead, styrene, even coffee, for which there is limited evidence of carcinogenicity in...

The government is scurrying for an alternative to its plan on engaging private sector in providing urban amenities in rural areas. After a good initial response that saw more than 90 companies showing interest in the scheme - Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas, or PURA, - the Rural Development Ministry has received only eight pilot proposals from six companies. Of the 45 shortlisted, most, including big players like Reliance...

Construction related projects in the state are facing a huge problem of labour shortage. Labourers are not available even at higher wages and as a result, ongoing projects, including many realty projects, are progressing at a snail's pace. The labour intensive real estate and infrastructure industry is worth nearly Rs 50,000 crore and depends heavily upon migrant labourers from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar besides Panchmahal and Dahod districts of Gujarat. "Infrastructure...

-The Times of India   The district administration's attempt to acquire land for a city centre has run into a major row with farmers refusing to part with their land. On Saturday, an SDM and a police officer, who had gone to the village to sort out the issue, were confined for hours by villagers in Chandauli. They managed to reach the district headquarters in the evening. Though Chandauli district magistrate Vijay...