Dhaka, Jun 25 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday urged China to persuade Myanmar so that they take back their over one million Rohingya nationals from Bangladesh. The Prime Minister made the plea when Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh…
Category: Environment
Developed countries push for changes to Adaptation Fund
24 June, Bonn (TWN) — Discussions over the composition of the Adaptation Fund (AF) Board and eligibility of Parties to the Board have become contentious at the ongoing climate talks in Bonn, Germany. This was due to the proposals by…
Guterres for world youth to keep leading climate response
Lisbon, June 23 – Older generations have “failed to respond properly” to the climate emergency said the UN chief on Sunday, while the young are “stepping up to the challenge” and taking the lead to slow the destructive pace of…
World Environment Day Observed at BAU
Mymensingh, June 23 – The Environmental science department of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) observed the world environment Day on Monday with amid much enthusiasm and festivity on the campus. This year’s theme of the day is: Connecting People to the…
Anti-tobacco groups for specific tax on tobacco products
Dhaka, June 23 (UNB) – Leaders of different anti-tobacco organisations on Sunday urged the government to impose specific tax on tobacco products and withdraw all the facilities given to tobacco companies in the national budget considering public health. They came…
Saudi airline changes flight routes to avoid Iran’s airspace
Riyadh, Jun 23 (AP/UNB) — Saudi Arabia’s state airline Saudia says it is rerouting flight paths to some Asian destinations in order to avoid Iranian airspace amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf. The statement Saturday evening follows the U.S.…
Shonibar Bikel and Iti, Tomari Dhaka take part in Leeds International Film Festival
Culture Desk Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s unreleased film Shonibar Bikel and Bangladesh’s first anthology film Iti, Tomari Dhaka will take part in the on-going Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF) in the UK. The festival started at London on June 20 and…
PM Hasina likely to talk Rohingya issue during China visit
Dhaka, June 22 – The Rohingya issue is likely to come up when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina meets the Chinese President during her official visit in July, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said on Saturday. “Myanmar has great respect for…
Massive tree plantation stressed for adaption of climate change
Speakers at a programme stressed the need for massive tree plantation to reduce environmental degradation and adapt to adverse impacts of climate change for a safer planet. They expressed the view at the discussion organised by divisional office of the…
Budgetary reform for sustainable development in BD urged
Dhaka, June 21 – Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan), a civil society platform of Bangladesh called for budgetary system reform for sustainable development. The platform recommended the budgetary system be reformed to effectively impact the country’s sustainable development at roundtable programme…
‘Born a refugee, I dream of a place called home’
By Mohammed On World Refugee Day, personal reflections of a young Palestinian from the Gaza Strip CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina, USA, Jun 20 2019 (IPS) – I am a refugee, born to a refugee family. I was granted that status…
Developing countries’ concerns over details of UNFCCC meet
Bonn, 21 June (TWN) — Agendas of the next UNFCCC session, frequency of forthcoming meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COPs) and participation of non-Party stakeholders in the process have proved contentious in discussions under the agenda item on…
Restaurants could be 1st to get genetically modified salmon
New York, Jun 21 (AP/UNB) — Inside an Indiana aquafarming complex, thousands of salmon eggs genetically modified to grow faster than normal are hatching into tiny fish. After growing to roughly 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) in indoor tanks, they could…
Saline water leaves BD croplands barren in 37 Satkhira villages
Satkhira, June 21 (UNB) – Farmers in Sadar uapzila of the district had harvested paddy from wetlands in a festive mood even last year, but this year they are struggling to remove saline water from their paddy fields, let alone…
BD High Court directives to bring discipline back on roads
Dhaka, June 20 – In a verdict, the High Court yesterday issued a set of directives to bring back discipline on the road and reducing road accident across the country. While delivering a judgment, the HC bench comprising Justice JBM…
Desertification ‘more dangerous, more insidious than wars’
By Desmond Brown Ankara, Jun 18 2019 (IPS) – Businesses are being encouraged to follow the lead of the youth to halt desertification, reduce degradation, improve agricultural sustainability and restore damaged lands. “The youth is a very particular case. The…
Prioritize Rohingya rights, safety: ASEAN lawmakers
Dhaka, June 19 (UNB) – ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and Progressive Voice on Wednesday said the government of Myanmar must ensure that the human rights of the Rohingya community…
Invest in refugee-hosting countries matching hospitality: UN
Dhaka, June 19 – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has laid emphasis on investment in the countries which are hosting refugees despite struggle with their own economic challenges and security concerns. “I want to recognise the humanity of countries that host…
HC to know steps for stopping fish cultivation in Sewer lagoons
Dhaka, June 19 – The High Court Division of the Supreme Court on Wednesday wanted to know the steps taken to implement its 2015 directives for stopping cultivation of fishes in Dhaka, Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) lagoon in…
Petrol pump fire in capital extinguished
Dhaka, June 18 (UNB)— Firefighters put out a fire that broke out at a petrol pump in Kalyanpur on Tuesday afternoon. The fire originated at M/S Shahil Filling Station around 5:25pm, said Atiqul Islam, duty officer at the control room…
Rampal power plant won’t harm Sundarbans: says Minister
Dhaka, Jun 18 (UNB)– The proposed coal-fired power plant adjacent to the Sundarbans will not do any harm to the world’s largest mangrove forest, claims Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin. “Fears about damage to Sundarbans are…
Air pollution, biggest environmental threat to human health
By Emily Thampoe UN, Jun 17 2019 (IPS) – In a world that is becoming more and more industrial by the day, air pollution appears to be on the rise. While there have been efforts in major cities to combat…
No continent, no country not impacted by land degradation
By Desmond Brown Ankara, Jun 17 2019 (IPS) – The coming decades will be crucial in shaping and implementing a transformative land agenda, according to a scientist at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) framework for Land Degradation…
What to expect from the Bonn climate talks this month
Bonn, 17 June, 2019 (Meena Raman) – As students, youth and environmental activists around the world staged recent protests and continue to do so demanding for urgent and greater climate action on the part of governments in combatting climate change,…
How indigenous people in Sikkim united in anti-dam movement
by Sahana Ghosh on 17 June 2019 • Territoriality through traditional self-governance played a key role in successful and sustained anti-dam protests by two indigenous communities in Lachen and Lachung in the eastern Himalayas. • While many anti-dam protests have…
Give up Rampal power plant project: TIB urges govt
Dhaka, June 17 – Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Monday urged the government to stop all ‘controversial projects’ including Rampal power plant which might pose a threat to largest mangrove Sundarbans. Expressing concern over the UNESCO’s recent proposal of listing…
What’s wrong with environmental impact assessments?
by Maxwell Gomera Cambridge – Walhi, Indonesia’s largest environmental organization, recently took the government to court for issuing construction permits to a Chinese company based on what they allege was a “deeply flawed” environmental impact assessment. In fact, Wahli contends,…
Islands of climate innovation
by Mike Eman Oranjestad – To live in a small island state today is to reckon regularly with the cruellest irony of climate change. Islands contribute little to global warming, but they are the first to suffer from its devastating…
24bn tons of fertile soil globally; 8% GDP of poor nations lost annually
Dhaka, June 17 – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said dryland degradation reduces national domestic product in developing countries by up to 8 percent annually. “We must urgently change such trends,” he said in a message marking the World Day…
Washington waterfront owners asked to take dead whales
Port Hadlock, Jun 16 (AP/UNB)— At least one Washington state waterfront landowner has said yes to a request to allow dead gray whales to decompose on their property. So many gray whale carcasses have washed up this year that the…