TEN finalists have been announced for South Australia’s Low Carbon Entrepreneur Prize as part of a push for the state’s capital Adelaide to become the world’s first carbon neutral city. The finalists will each receive AU$10,000 form a total prize…
Category: Environment
Smelly seaweed invasion hits Sierra Leone beaches
Sierra Leone has launched a clean-up operation after the beaches around the capital Freetown became clogged with foul-smelling seaweed, hitting tourism and fishing. At Lumley Beach in the west end of the city, the white sands have become covered with…
Stress-tolerant crops can ensure food security: experts
Rangpur Correspondent Innovation of stress-tolerant crop varieties, newer technologies and mechanization of agriculture have become inevitable to keep agro-production increasing in ensuring food security amid changing climate. Agriculture and environmental experts put maximum emphasis on innovation of need-based newer ways…
Doing well by doing good
Ethiopis Tafara Washington, DC – Two years ago, Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to open access to his company’s patents to anyone – a move that ran completely counter to traditional competitive behavior. Why would a company give away its…
Ozone layer ‘to heal’ by 2050, hole shrinks by 4m sq km
The hole in the ozone layer has diminished by 4 million sq km since 2000 and could heal completely by 2050, scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have shown in their latest study, which appeared in the journal Science.…
Agreement for social security of Nepali migrant workers in Oman
Muscat: To benefit expatriate workers, the government of Nepal and Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide social security and (pension) provident fund to migrant workers.
30 individuals, institutions to receive PM’s tree plantation award
The government has finalised the nomination of 30 individuals and institutions for the Prime Minister’s National Award for TreePlantation 2015. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the awards to 30 individuals and institutions at the end of July, said…
Brexit throws spanner into EU climate policy
Britain’s exit from the European Union may erode the bloc’s leadership role in fighting climate change and stymie crucial efforts to set more ambitious targets for cutting greenhouse gases, officials and experts said Tuesday. The damage will become worse the…
BD scientist’s discovery earns ‘Zootaxa’ recognition
Bangladeshi scientist Dr Belal Hossain’s discovery of a new amphipod species, named Victoriopisa bruneiensis, has earned the recognition of science journal ‘Zootaxa’. Dr Belal Hossain, an associate professor of Fisheries and Marine Science Department at Noakhali Science and Technology University…
Rains or not, India faces drinking water crisis
As large swathes of drought-devastated India desperately wait for the monsoon rains to arrive, one village in the dry, hot north is flush with water. But this farming area’s bountiful water supplies are feared contaminated with heavy metals, underscoring the…
Report links 6.5 million deaths worldwide to air pollution
The International Energy Agency says each year about 6.5 million deaths worldwide are linked to air pollution and warns that the number will grow unless the energy sector steps up its efforts to slash emissions.
Voters approve controversial French airport site
Voters in western France gave the go-ahead Sunday to a controversial airport development that has been at the centre of a years-long battle between environmental activists and the government. The local referendum on the new Nantes Atlantique airport passed with…
Dying Putimari river cries for a new lease of life
Dhaka-It was barely 30 years ago when heavy water vessels like cargo, streamer and launch, used to ply the Putimari River in the district. Gone are the days! The once-mighty Putimari is almost a dead river now. It is going…
Ban on entering the Sundarbans withdrawn
The forest department withdrew the ban on the people’s access to forest resources in Chandpai and Swarankhola ranges in Sundarbans on Saturday, nearly two months after its issuance in face of frequent fire incidents in the forest areas.
Two dead in California fires, thousands evacuated
At least two people have died in a fire in central California that has destroyed 100 structures and prompted the governor to declare a state of emergency, officials said Friday. The fast-moving blaze that erupted late Thursday afternoon in the…
Dutch inventor harnessing waves to clean up the seas
The Dutch inventor behind a ground-breaking project to remove millions of tonnes of plastics floating in vast ocean “garbage patches” unveiled Wednesday the first prototype of his ambitious sea-cleaning device. Boyan Slat’s innovative idea—first drawn on a paper napkin when…
Record number of people killed for protecting the environment
More than three people were killed every week for trying to protect their land, forests and rivers against industries last year, with Southeast Asia emerging as one of the most dangerous regions for environmental activists. The new report by international…
The Gulf States’ expat dividend
How should policymakers in the Middle East’s Gulf States manage their countries’ large expatriate workforces? In Saudi Arabia, foreign nationals account for roughly one-third of the population. In Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, nine out of every ten residents…
Tree plantation for improving environment stressed
Rangpur Correspondent Tree plantation must be turned into a more effective social movement for building a safer planet through improving environment, ecology and biodiversity amid frightening climate change threat. The opinion came at launching ceremony of fortnight-long ‘Wood, Fruit and…
65 million people displaced in 2015, a new record: UN
Geneva, (AP/UNB) – The U.N. refugee agency says persecution and conflict in places like Syria and Afghanistan raised the total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide to a record 65.3 million at the end of last year. The…
Obama touts environmental record on family outing to national parks
President Barack Obama and the first family celebrated America’s cherished natural heritage Saturday during a weekend tour marking the 100th anniversary of the nation’s vaunted national park system. Obama, also using the occasion to tout his environmental record, is the…
Sicily suffers harm from sea, fire disasters
Sicily was hit by weather-related and other disasters which caused heavy damage but no loss of life, local reports said Thursday. Strong sirocco winds were partly blamed for a hydrofoil crashing into the dockside of the port of Stromboli, a…
Kuwait domestic helper offices’ owners slam new law
Kuwait: In a recent session, the parliament approved amending the law to establish a closed shareholding company to recruit domestic helpers and referred it to the government. The first article of the law stipulates establishing a closed shareholding company that…
Migrants rescued as boat runs aground near Greek island
Dhaka-Greece’s coast guard rescued 57 migrants or refugees from a sailboat which ran aground off the coast of the eastern Aegean island of Lesbos Thursday, and arrested two suspected smugglers who had also been on board, authorities said.
Dozens of pilot whales stranded in Indonesia, eight dead
Eight pilot whales have died after a mass stranding on the coast of Indonesia’s main island of Java that sparked a major rescue operation, an official said Thursday. Thirty-two of the short-finned pilot whales came ashore during high tide early…
‘Remittances bring economic stability to families, countries’
Rome – On the International Day of Family Remittances, 16 June, Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), calls for greater recognition of the vital financial contribution migrants make to the economic stability of their…
Construction climate talks for reducing carbon footprint in cities
The first four episodes in the Construction Climate Talks series have looked at issues such as sustainable development in the construction industry and the concept of green buildings. In the fifth film, released today, Carina Borgström-Hansson, Expert on Ecological Footprint,…
Efforts for saving marine ecology in ship-breaking pledged
Islamabad – Experts and government representatives have pledged to jointly tackle degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems, caused by environmentally-damaging and unsustainable ship-recycling activities. They were speaking at a two-day national policy workshop on “Hazardous waste assessment for environmentally-sound management…
Bangladeshi male domestic workers’ recruitment allowed in Kuwait
KUWAIT: Kuwait Interior Ministry’s Assistant Undersecretary for Citizenship and Passport Affairs Major General Sheikh Mazen Al-Jarrah issued a circular to immigration departments in Kuwait’s six governorates allowing citizens to bring Bangladeshi domestic helpers.
PM calls for countrywide massive tree plantation
Dhaka-Underscoring the need for massive tree plantation in the country, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday urged all, including her party followers, to plant at least three saplings — fruit bearing, herbal and timber ones — each over the next…