The Cabinet on Monday approved a proposal of the Ministry of Environment and Forests to continue the ban on cutting trees in the country’s reserved and natural forests until 2022.The approval came from the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet…
Category: Environment
Area-based bus services must to reduce jam on Dhaka’s roads
Mostafa Kamal Majumder Some people are learnt to be critical of the circular bus service launched by the Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation Annisul Huq because of the fixed Taka 15 fare charged for a single trip to any…
‘Farakka Dam’ responsible for spate in river Ganga: Bihar CM
Patna – Amid apprehensions of flood waters entering into Patna town, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Sunday said silt deposited in Ganga after the construction of Farraka Dam was responsible for spate in the river and asked the Centre to…
‘Floating schools’ in Bangladesh creating awareness in villages
Mohammad Likhon looks furious as he sits in class. The nine-year-old had thought that he would be the first one to answer his teacher’s complex math problem; he had even screamed the solution in one breath: “230 x 7 is…
Tk 9,568b mega dredging plan keep rivers navigable
Dhaka – The government has taken a mega plan to conduct 2001 kilometers of river dredging and 690 kilometers of river training at a cost of Tk 956, 834 crore over the next 15 years, UNB news agency reported.
Protest against Rampal power plant to save Sundarbans
Leaders and activists of different Leftists parties on Friday staged a sit-in programme at the central Shaheed minar premises, demanding cancellation of all kinds of agreements including Rampal power plant project that will cause harm to the Sundarbans.
Maritime ports asked to hoist signal no. 3
Dhaka: Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla and Payra have been advised to hoist local cautionary signal no. 3 as a low lies over the northeast bay. Under its influence deep convection is taking place over the North Bay,…
Over half million people likely to die annually for climate change
Dhaka-More than half a million people worldwide, including Bangladesh, are likely to die annually by 2050 because of the impact on agriculture of changing climate, according to an Oxford University study on the future of food.
‘Mosquitoes kill 7.25 lakh people worldwide annually’
Mosquitoes kill approximately 7.25 lakh people worldwide every year though all mosquitoes do not transmit life-threatening diseases, said Regional Director of World Health Organisation (WHO) South-East Asia Region Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh.”The diseases mosquitoes spread can result in bouts of…
UNESCO – Help save the Sundarbans
Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, provides protection to millions of Bangladeshis against devastating cyclones, but the massive Rampal coal plant is now threatening its delicate ecology.Major spills have happened before and the next accident is right around the corner.
Slain imam’s body arrives from NY
Dhaka -The body of Bangladeshi expatriate imam Maulana Alauddin Akhonjee, who was shot to death along with his assistant by a gunman in New York City on Saturday, arrived home Thursday morning, UNB news agency reported.
Georgia has highest mortality rate caused by air pollution
The FINANCIAL — Georgia leads the countries with the highest mortality rate caused by air pollution according to the study by The International Energy Agency (IEA). This is due to a sharp rise in the number of old, dirty diesel…
Happy Birthday? Narmada Bachao Andolan
Himanshu Thakkar Several times Ive felt that some lines from famous hindi song[i] from film Abhimaan sum up the feelings of many activists like me.. Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics came to mind again as I thought of writing about the Narmada…
Domestic helpers on display sparks controversy in Saudi Arabia
Recruitment company faulted for not respecting dignity and privacy of the helpers Manama: A recruitment company has waded into controversy and will face tough action after it displayed three of its domestic helper staff at a mall in the Eastern…
Protesters block Dhaka street junction opposing Rampal Project
Dhaka – Pragatishil Chhatra Jote, a left-leaning student organisation, on Tuesday staged demonstrations at Shahbagh intersection protesting the proposed Rampal coal-fired power plant project near world’s largest mangrove forest the Syndarbans.
Northern California wildfire forces 4,000 to evacuate
Lower Lake: A wildfire destroyed at least 10 homes and forced some 4,000 of people to flee their homes in two Northern California towns Sunday as flames jumped a road and moved into populated areas. The fire reached Main Street…
‘Bangabahadur’ to stay few more days at Jamalpur
The rescuers will take a few more days to shift the wild elephant, which was swept away by flood water and strayed for about 1,000 km from Assam of India to the northern region of Bangladesh over the last one…
Entire ministry isn’t responsible for any official: Mayor Nasir
Mayor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) AJM Nasir Uddin on Saturday said the entire ministry is not responsible for any official taking bribes for allocating funds for the city corporation.
Fish, vegetable farms ruined by abnormal Jessore flood
Dhaka – Around 50 villages were submerged by floodwater washing away some 1,200 large and small fish enclosures in Sharsha upazila of Jessore district in the last couple of days. According to the district agriculture office, around 50 villages, including…
Saudi Arabia withdraws ban on BD workers
Dhaka – The Ministry of Labor and Social Development of Saudi Arabia has lifted the ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers as of Wednesday, UNB news agency reported. The ban was in force for the past six years except…
Call for revoking industries near vital forest in Bangladesh
A Caritas official has joined calls by environmental activists for the Bangladesh government to ban all industrial activity near the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest.Environmentalists have expressed alarm after leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported Aug. 9 that about…
Error puts Chinese tourist in German migrant hostel
A Chinese tourist spent nearly two weeks in a German migrant hostel after mistakenly applying for asylum when he actually wanted to report a theft.German media say the 31-year-old backpacker, who spoke neither German nor English, underwent a medical check…
Monsoon depression brings heavy downpour to Bangladesh
Dhaka -The monsoon depression over coastal gangetic West Bengal and southwestern part of Bangladesh moved northeastwards and lies over Khulna and adjoining area on Wednesday morning and is likely to move northwards further. Under its influence, steep pressure gradient persists…
Tk 558.20cr project approved to address DND water logging
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved a Tk 558.20 crore project aiming to effectively address the vexing water-logging problem in Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) areas. The weekly Ecnec meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, approved…
Ten students fall sick ‘drinking water’ at Rajshahi madrasah
Dhaka – At least ten students of a madrasah fell sick reportedly after drinking water from a tank in the madrasah premises in Kakonhat of Godagari upazila of Rajshahi on Monday night, UNB news agency reported. Eight of the sick…
Developing countries want clear definition of ‘climate finance’
New Delhi (Indrajit Bose) — The issue of what is ‘climate finance’ was the subject of intense discussion at the 13th Meeting of the UNFCCC’s Standing Committee on Finance (SCF), held in Bonn from 18-20 July. The issue came up…
Farmer managed seed systems in Morogoro, Mvomero – Tanzania
African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in partnership with Mtandao wa Vikundi vya Wakulima Tanzania (MVIWATA) and Sustainable Agriculture Tanzania (SAT), has shared a new report, “Farmer managed seed systems in Morogoro and Mvomero, Tanzania: The disregarded wealth of smallholder farmers”.…
39 killed by mudslides in Mexico
Mexico City (AP/UNB) — Mountain communities in two Mexican states are recovering from weekend mudslides that killed 39 people during heavy rains brought by remnants of Hurricane Earl. On the other side of Mexico, authorities prepared as newly formed Tropical…
Mission: Save the environment
Sean B. Carroll Chevy Chase, Maryland – Picture this. It is 1966. You are standing in a government office in Washington, DC, watching a uniformed official tell a man in business attire, “Your mission is to eradicate an enemy that…
Indian team fails to rescue stray elephant
The three-member Indian team has failed to rescue the Indian wild elephant, which was washed into Bangladesh with floodwater from Assam through Roumari border in Kurigram over a month ago.