Bhubaneswar: The international rights group Amnesty International on Thursday said that the red mud pond, containing toxic residue, at Vedanta's aluminium refinery in Odisha poses serious health risks to local people, a contention denied by the mining major.

However, refuting Amnesty

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has proposed to come out with a specific mineral policy in line with the National Mineral Policy of the Centre.

The draft of the policy is expected to be readied within a month and it will be posted on the site of the state steel & mines department to invite objections and comments from various stakeholders.

The state specific mineral policy will emphasize

Bhubaneswar: The case relating to violation of forest laws by Jindal Steel & Power for its six million tonne steel plant at Angul has taken a new turn with the state forest and environment department asking the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF) to take necessary action under Environment Protection Act (EPA)-1986 against JSPL.

It may be noted that the MoEF in March this year had directed

Jagatsinghpur: Palpable tension continued to prevail since Wednesday evening in Nuagaon and Polanga areas within the proposed Posco sites after some miscreants allegedly torched the betel vine of an anti-Posco supporter of Nuagaon village under Kujanga police station.

The betel vine of Natha Samal, was set ablaze by some miscreants on Wednesday evening at about 8 pm in Polanga village.

The a

Bhubaneswar: The state government on Saturday decided to take stern action against the encroachers of forest land in the capital city in the first phase in its effort to embark on a massive plantation programme to make the city eco-friendly under the Urban Tree Plantation Initiative.
It also imposed restrictions on felling of trees and cutting of branches in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation

Bhubaneswar: With a view to expanding irrigation coverage to additional three lakh hectares of land, the Odisha government has planned to invest Rs 12,000 crore during the next three years on major and medium projects, said principal secretary, water resources department, Suresh Mohapatra.

Briefing newsmen here Mohapatra said that the thrust is now to complete the ongoing 12 medium and eight ma

Jagatsinghpur: Seven policemen were held hostage by a group of villagers opposing the Rs 52,000 crore Posco steel plant for nearly five hours on Saturday before being set free in Jagatsinghpur district.

Seven policemen and the driver of police jeep which entered Patana village in Dhinkia panchayat were stopped by villagers, mostly women and were held captive, Additional Superintendent of Police

Cuttack: The Odisha High Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on a PIL seeking stay on the ongoing land acquisition for the Posco project near Paradip till June three and asked the petitioners to file a fresh affidavit.

The court, which was scheduled to hear the case filed by some residents from villages at the proposed plant site in Jagatsinghpur district, asked the petitioners to file the

Jagatsinghpur: After a break of two days, the district administration on Monday resumed the land acquisition process for the Posco project and managed to demolish 18 betel vine patches at Nuagaon village in the project area.

It handed Rs 37.50 lakh to the beneficiaries who handed over their betel vines to the district administration for land acquisition.

The United Action Committee (UAC) mem

Bhubaneswar: A thunder storm hit several parts of Odisha on Thursday afternoon killing 12 people and injuring 34 others.
According to the Met department, rain accompanied by thunderstorm lashed almost the entire Northern Odisha where the impact of the storm was quite visible in the state and the twin city also experienced sharp showers.

A twelve-year-old and a woman were killed in Rourkela w

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