Zee News cited Mr Naveen Patnaik CM of Orissa as saying that at least 18 persons including a woman were arrested and 100 cases registered against those involved in anti POSCO agitation.
Mr Patnaik in his reply to a question on the government's action against those opposing the country's biggest FDI said that all the cases were registered at Kujang police station in Jagatsinghpur district and 490 persons were named as accused in the FIRs.
He said “Mr Abhaya Sahu president of POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti was among those arrested and sent to jail.”
As many as 32 criminal cases were registered against Mr Sahu before he was arrested on October 12th 2008, while at least 18 cases had been registered against Mr Sisir Mohapatra the present president of the PPSS and sarpanch of Dhinkia gram panchayat.
PPSS, a CPI backed organization has been spearheading agitation against the South Korean steel major's INR 51,000 crore project since the formal signing of the MoU.
Official sources said “At least 1 person identified as Mr Dula Mandal was killed in a clash between the supporters and opponents of the POSCO project on June 20th 2008. The sources said that besides, at least 85 people were injured and 9 of them were subsequently rendered invalid as they lost their limbs in a clash with the police, adding that the proposed plant site near Paradip had been witnessing clashes at regular intervals.
The police said “This apart, at least 2 kidnapping incidents involving South Korean nationals were also registered in connection with anti POSCO agitation.”
(Sourced from http://www.steelguru.com/news/index/2009/07/22/MTAzMjMy/POSCO_war_zone_-_100_cases_registered_in_anti_POSCO_agitation.html)
RINL eying acquisition of Neelachal Ispat
After the unsuccessful bid of Steel Authority of India to acquire Neelachal Ispat Nigam, a joint sector company promoted by MMTC and the Orissa government, another central PSU, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited has intensified its efforts to join the Orissa based steel unit as a strategic partner.
With the state government unwilling to divest its shares, RINL has sought to acquire the majority stake in NINL by buying out the shares of MMTC and Mecon.
SAIL had initially evinced interest to take over NINL and accordingly IDBI was given the job of evaluating the share price. But both MMTC and the Orissa government showed their unwillingness to sell their stake at IDBI’s recommended price of INR 27 per share. Following objections of the promoters, Industrial Finance Corporation of India and KPMG had been given the job of revaluation of the share price.
Sources said “With the SAIL bid now pushed to the cold storage, the present mandarins in the steel ministry are keen on RINL joining NINL as a strategic partner, as it would give the Vizag based company, operating without any captive iron ore mines, access to the raw material source. NINL has a captive mine at Koida with 110 million tonne of iron ore reserve.”
Senior official of the company “It authorities have suggested some changes in the process of share evaluation. After these, the consultants are expected to give the final report shortly. This may push up the share value further, adding that in any case, the share value would have been much higher, had it not been evaluated in a recessionary business environment.”
Keen to keep the cost of acquisition low, Mr PK Bisnoi CMD of RINL hoped the pricing of the shares would be reasonable, as it is a government to government sale. It is up to the ministry of steel and commerce to decide the final share price, though we want to keep it reasonable.
The principal promoter, MMTC, owns 49.8% of the shares and Mecon has a small stake of 1.5%. The Orissa government, through Industrial Promotion and Investment Corporation and Orissa Mining Corporation holds a 26% stake in the company.
(Sourced from http://www.steelguru.com/news/index/2009/07/22/MTAzMjMz/RINL_eying_acquisition_of_Neelachal_Ispat.html)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
POSCO war zone - 100 cases registered in anti POSCO agitation
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