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 secretariat to find out why the food was not distributed.
powerless Lahore: The recent cold wave in Pakistan led to long power cuts in Lahore. People were left shivering as the city experienced severe gas shortage. The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, the largest gas company in Pakistan, faced a shortfall of 400 million cubic feet of gas as temperature dipped below 3^oC. Bitter frosts froze the pipelines and gas pressure plummeted. This forced the company to resort to six hours of load shedding every day. The company has meanwhile disconnected supply to 50 per cent of cng stations in the city.