New Mangalore Port Trust
The New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT) has registered 0.6 per cent growth in traffic by handling 79.98 lakh tonnes during the first six months of the current year. MPT chairman S Ram Kumar told newspersons on Tuesday that traffic was 15.31 per cent over the target fixed by the Union government. The port has created several records during the period by discharing 6,300 tonnes of limestone in a day, handling 16.74 lakh tonnes of traffic in a month during september and discharging 96,200 tonnes of crude oil in a day.

MP roads
Paucity of financial resources has been the prime reason for the poor conditions of the state roads, the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha was informed on Wednesday. State public works department minister Shravan Patel said the World Bank had agreed to give Rs 1,000 crore for the repair of state roads. Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) had also agreed to give a loan of Rs 1,000 crore for improving and renovating the roads. As against the actual need of Rs 400 crore during 1994-95, the department could garner only Rs 209 crore.

North Frontier zone to be surveyed
Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has directed Railway Board officials to visit the North Frontier Railway areas in a bid to enthuse courage and vigour among the railway staff in that zone. Talking to newsmen in New Delhi on Wednesday, Banerjee said the entire Railway Board team is expected to visit the area at the earliest. She disclosed that the morale of the local police is also very low there and needs to be uplifted.

Tender for a bridge over pothole
After the gesture of raising fish in a `pond-like' crater in the busy Machkhowa road in Guwahati failed to arouse the PWD, the beleaguered residents this time have taken up yet another novel protest method by deciding to float a `global tender' for building a bridge over the pothole.

Film actor Mirel Kudus, vice-president of the Machkhowa Samaj Kalyan Parishad on Wednesday said that his organisation would float global tenders for constructing the bridge so as not to disturb pisciculture in the pothole.

Chinese talks with Kiocl
A high-power delegation from China is in India to have dialogue with Indian officials to improve trade relations and explore the possibility of technical collaboration with Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd in Karnataka.