Nafed sends pulses to Orissa
National Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation (Nafed), a nodal agency of Government of India for price support operation and marketing of pulses, has so far dispatched about 2000 mts of pulses to the cyclone-affected areas of Orissa. The consignment includes about 1600 tonnes of Arhar daal and 200 tonnes moong daal for supply through the Orissa Civil Supplies Corporation, a government release. More quantity of moong daal is under despatch, the release added.

Paper industry imports floor price
The Indian paper industry has expressed serious dissatisfaction over the Union government's failure to provide a floor price for imports of newsprint to protect the domestic industry. President of Indian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (Ippta) ARK Rao told reporters that the paper industry was currently passing through difficult times. Despite commerce ministry recommendation to the finance ministry that a floor price be set up for imports for newsprint, the latter had not taken any action in this regard, he regretted. Rao, also the CMD of state-owned Hindustan Paper Corporation, said that the country had already lowered duty rates to a much greater extent than what required to comply with WTO norms.

Cauvery basin oil output to be 1mln
Oil production in the Cauvery basin in Tamil Nadu is expected to go up to one million tonnes in the next two years from the present 0.6 million tonnes, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) technical director RC Gourh has said. Gas production in the wells in the basin was also expected to go up from the present 6.5 million cubic metres a day to 10 million cubic metres a day in the next two years, he said. Addressing reporters on the eve of the ONGC's technical seminar here on Thursday, Gourh said the gas fields in the state would support small power plants.

Fertiliser plant commissioning
In Bhubaneswar, commissioning of the Rs 1,900-cr fertiliser complex of the private sector Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers, nearing completion at Paradip, has been delayed by about two-and-a-half months, CMD Abhey Oswal said. Stating that he did not regret setting up his fertiliser complex at the port town despite the unprecedented cyclone, the CMD said the trial production was likely to start in January next. The proposed giant fertiliser complex has suffered a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore in the October 29 super cyclone, he said. To assist the cyclone victims, the company has floated a trust to the tune of Rs 200 crore in the next 5 years, he said. The trust would be spending Rs 40 crore by march next year to help the affected persons residing within a 50-km radius.

Symbolic sale of cement
In what was described as a `symbolic' sale, the Tamil Manila Congress (TMC) on Friday sold cement bags at Rs 125 per 50 kg bag, charging the Tamil Nadu Government with failing in its duty to curb the prohibitively high cost at which it was being sold in the state. The first sale was made by TMC general secretary S Peter Alphonse and a total of 1,500 bags of different brand and different manufacturers and all 53 grade cements were made available. TMC had been raking up the issue for the last two months and Alphonse said the cement bags were being sold at a rate ranging between Rs 185-200 per bag, even as it was available for rs 110/- in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.