The European Commission will grant Turkey conditional approval for visa-free travel within the EU’s Schengen area, sources have told the BBC.The move is part of a deal in which Turkey has agreed to take back migrants who have crossed the…
Category: Environment
When breast tissue goes rogue
Scientists say they now have a near-perfect picture of the genetic events that cause breast cancer. The study, published in Nature, has been described as a “milestone” moment that could help unlock new ways of treating and preventing the disease.
11 sued over Apr 27 Sundarbans fire
Bangladesh Forest Department has filed a case against 11 suspects in connection with the fire that broke out in Tultala area of the Sundarbans under Chandpai Range in Sharankhola upazila on April 27 last. Station officer (Dhansagar station) of Chandpai…
Brief rain spell along with squalls brings relief from heat in Bangladesh
Dhaka – After several days of hot spell, people heaved with sigh of relief as a nor’wester accomompanied with shower swept many parts of the country, including the capital city, on Sunday evening. Officials at the Meteorology Department said the…
Cambodia to add 1 million hectares of protected forest
Cambodia’s prime minister has ordered a million hectares of forest be included in protected zones as the country faces one of the world’s fastest deforestation rates. The move, which covers five new areas of forest, will bump Cambodia’s conservation zones…
Armed guards at India dams as drought leaves farmers dry
As young boys plunge into a murky dam to escape the blistering afternoon sun, guards armed with guns stand vigil at one of the few remaining water bodies in a state hit hard by India’s crippling drought. Desperate farmers from…
Smoke still billowing at Chandpai of Sundarbans
Bagerhat – Three days into the forest fire that broke out in Tultala area of Chandpai range of the Sundarbans in Sarankhola upazila, smoke was still billowing around the burnt out area on Friday.
Sizzling heat wave claims over 300 lives in India
Patna — A sizzling heat wave has claimed more than 300 lives in India this month, and officials have forbidden daytime cooking in some areas to prevent fires that have killed nearly 80 others.
Celebrate Plant Something Day
Danielle Nierenberg Since 1950, the number of people residing in urban areas has increased from 746 million to 3.9 billion. By 2050, according to the United Nations, 66 percent of the world’s population will be living in cities. There are…
Special security measures at Sundarbans forests Chandpai Range
Bagerhat – The Forest Department has issued a special ‘alert’ in Chandpai range of the Sundarbans East Zone following the fourth fire incident there in four weeks, unb news agency reported. The Forest Department has put in place a number…
Ireland edges closer to forming new government with deal on water charges
A deal between two rival parties to suspend controversial water charges nudged Ireland closer to the formation of a minority government on Wednesday after more than two months of tortuous negotiations. Fine Gael, the largest party to emerge from the…
Breaking free from fossil fuels
by Payal Parekh BERN – There has never been a better time to break free from fossil fuels. Record-breaking global temperatures, plummeting fossil-fuel prices, historic investments in renewable energy, and global pressure to honor climate pledges are all coming together…
Rare ice data collected by early ‘Citizen Scientists’ confirms warming
In 1442, 50 years before Columbus “sailed the ocean blue,” Shinto priests in Japan began keeping records of the annual freeze dates of a nearby lake. Along a Finnish river, starting in 1693, local merchants recorded the date the ice…
Yet another fire in Sundarbans
Yet another fire broke out in Tultala area of the Sundarbans under Chandpai Range in Sharankhola upazila on Wednesday. This was the 4th fire incident in the world’s largest mangrove forest and a Unesco world heritage site in four weeks.…
Enhance less water consuming Aus rice cultivation: experts
Rangpur Correspondent Experts at a regional workshop have stressed on enchaining farming of less irrigation water consuming Aus, drought- and other stress tolerant rice to gradually reduce Boro cultivation and lessen pressure on underground water. They also put emphasis on…
Royal visits put Kaziranga National Park on international media
By Nava Thakuria Sustainable increase of precious one-horned rhinoceros, recent royal visit by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, concerns expressed by an international rights body over shooting of a number of unconfirmed poachers and many more news put Kaziranga National…
High nuke plant cost for safety precautions, roundtable told
Dhaka – Defending the high cost of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project (RNPP), Chairman of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEA) Engineer M Ali Zulquarnain on Monday said safety issues have been ensured in the country’s first-ever nuclear power project…
Heatwave affects normal life badly in Rajshahi
Rajshahi Correspondent April 24, 2016 (BSS)- People in Rajshahi region are experiencing a hot spell amid a drought-like situation with an average 40 degrees Celsius temperature for the last couples of days and absence of rainfall for a long time.…
Enemy’ of wheat detected
A team of Bangladeshi and British scientists have detected the fungi responsible for the blast disease that afflicts wheat. The team, led by Prof Tofazzal Hossain of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, and Prof Sophien Kamoun of the UK,…
Forest Department suspends 3 employees over Sundarbans fire
Dhaka – The Forest Department has suspended its three employees for their negligence of duties in connection with the recent fire incidents in the Sundarbans in Sharankhola upazila, unb news agency has reported. The suspended employees are M Nasir Uddin,…
World must protect tropical forests: Researchers
US-based researchers have said the world must conserve its tropical forests and the people who live in them to buy time to switch away from climate-damaging fossil fuels.
Large fish catches marked in Munshiganj section of the Padma
Dhaka – For the last couple of weeks, the Padma River in this district has been abundant with big size fishes of different species such as roui, katal, boal and pangas thanks to the sudden influx of gushing waters from…
Our responsibility to act: Obama
Saturday is Earth Day — the last one I’ll celebrate as President. Looking back over the past seven years, I’m hopeful that the work we’ve done will allow my daughters and all of our children to inherit a cleaner, healthier,…
175 states sign landmark Paris deal on climate change
UN (AP/UNB) – Leaders from at least 175 countries were signing the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday as the landmark deal took a key step forward, potentially entering into force years ahead of schedule. U.S. Secretary of State John…
Limestone deposit at Naogaon can meet country’s demand
Bangladesh on Thursday announced the discovery of the biggest ever limestone deposit in its northern district of Naogaon, capable of meeting the entire demand of the country’s cement industry.
Fulfill demands of water transport workers: National committee
Dhaka – The National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads & Railways (NCPSRR) on Thursday urged the concern authorities to fulfill waterways transport workers’ 15 point demands including increasing of its minimum wage. At a joint statement, National Committee adviser and…
Vietnam investigates mass fish deaths
Vietnam Thursday said it was investigating whether pollution is to blame for a spate of mysterious massfish deaths along the country’s central coast after huge amounts of marine life washed ashore in recent days. Tonnes of fish, including rare species…
Youth fined for grazing buffaloes on Sundarbans
Dhaka – A mobile court here on Wednesday fined a young man Tk 4,000 for grazing buffaloes on the protected Sundarbans, unb news agency reported.
Highlights of the climate pact to be signed in New York
Leaders and envoys from more than 160 countries will sign on Friday the climate-change pact the world adopted in principle in Paris last December. These are the key points in the Paris Agreement: The goal – The purpose is to…
Access to genetic data is “the big issue of our time”
By Edward Hammond Regulating access to genetic data is “the big issue of our time” in crop development, says Cornell University’s Edward Buckler. The maize geneticist contends that, at least for industrial agriculture, “Germplasm is becoming the information technology that…