ANGUL: Protesting the midnight arrest of 11 anti-JR Power Plant leaders, hundreds of locals under the banner of Jiban Jibika Krusijami Suraksha Samiti laid siege to Kishorenagar Police Station in Athamallick sub-division on Friday. They demanded immediate release of those arrested while police forwarded the latter to court early in the morning.

GMDC has put on hold its plans to set up indigenous coal-based thermal power plants with an estimated investment of Rs 20,000 crore to generate 4,000 MW.

Uncertainties over the coal blocks allocated to the state PSU appears to be a key reason for the decision.

Five years ago, the Ministry of Coal had allocated the Morga coal block in Chhattisgarh and the Naini block near Angul in Odisha to GMDC, which prompted it to put in place pit-head power generation plans.

ANGUL: Cracking the whip, the Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) has imposed a fine of Rs 54,000 on Bhusan Steel Limited in Dhenkanal district for dumping its slurry in an open ground near a village. Official sources said during an earlier inspection at the plant, it was found that ash generated from two power plants was being dumped near a village illegally.

Bhusan has two power plants of 110 MW and 300 MW capacity.

Alstom Projects India Ltd has bagged two contracts for over Rs 84 crore. While one order is from Nalco to supply a fume treatment plant for its Angul plant, the other is from RINL to supply a stock house dust extraction system for its Vizag steel plant.

The Government has approved three highway projects in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Orissa that entail an investment of Rs 3,412 crore, under the National Highways Development Project.

The projects include Rs 1,114.27 crore scheme in Rajasthan, Rs 828 crore contract in Tamil Nadu and Rs 1,469.90 crore in Orissa.

Bhubaneswar: As many as 36 ancillary industries and 19 downstream units were expected to come up with the commissioning of Posco's 12 mtpa steel plant near Paradip, steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty informed the State Assembly here on Tuesday. Replying to a question, the minister said that the ancillary units included refractory materials, lancing pipes, forged rounds, foundry, steel strapplings, ferro alloys, hard coke, welding electrodes, conveyor belt, belt fasteners, fly ash bricks, calcinated petroleum coke and cotton waste.

BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has asked some of the Central public sector undertakings (PSUs) to develop waste water treatment facilities as they were discharging their effluents into major rivers. Forest and Environment Minister Debiprasad Mishra informed the Assembly while replying to a question on Tuesday. “The SPCB has already served showcause notices to three Central industrial units as their waste treatment facilities are not adequate,” Mishra said replying to Ashok Chandra Panda (BJD).

BHUBANESWAR: The year has been as challenging as it could be on the health front with public health concerns coupled with a belligerent medical workforce keeping the Government and the Health Department on their toes for a substantial part of 2011. Dengue raised its ugly head in a disastrous manner for the first time in the State in August claiming over 30 lives and affecting more than 1,300 people across majority of the districts.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has expressed concern over tardy decision-making process that is plaguing coal, environment and power ministries. He says the delay in decisions on proposals has put a question mark on the fate of projects worth Rs 1,74,000 crore which could expose financial institutions to “greater risk”.

The Ministry of coal has urged the Orissa government to constitute specialized committees and build close collaboration with the district authorities to address various issues relating to coal mining projects.