tsunami relief: Sri Lankan authorities destroyed large stocks of rice, pulses, vegetable oil and canned fish and other food items, donated as tsunami relief, on December 29. The food stocks, donated by the UN World Food Programme, were stored in warehouses in Boossa from December 2004 and were no longer suitable for human consumption. A special investigation had been initiated by Galle district

The Lahore High Court has issued notices to Deputy Attorney General in a petition filed by President Lawyer Welfare Forum Muqtadir Akhtar Shabir, against increase in CNG prices. The court had issued notices to Federation of Pakistan and Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas but no one appeared before the court here on Wednesday.

The Worldwide Fund for Nature, Pakistan, and Lahore Compost have signed a memorandum of understanding to join hands for promoting non-chemical interventions for sustainable livelihood development among farming communities for two years.

Representative organisations of farmers' community have urged the new government to reduce interest rate on agricultural loans from 16 percent to five percent.