British Airways has apologised to a Canadian family after they were bitten by bed bugs on an overnight flight. Heather Szilagyi was flying from Vancouver to London with her eight-year-old daughter and fiancé earlier this month, CTV reported.
Category: Pollution
Deposit hydraulic horns to police in 15 days: HC
Dhaka – The High Court yesterday ordered owners and drivers of vehicles with hydraulic horns to deposit their horns to the police stations within 15 days. The HC also asked the police to destroy these horns.
Prince Charles worns of ‘plastic on the manu’ in world’s fish
Britain’s Prince Charles said that plastic is now “on the menu” in the fish we eat and called for decisive action as he opened a conference Thursday on protecting the world’s oceans. The heir to the British throne, a long-time…
Sound pollution turns alarming in Dhaka City
Dhaka, Sept 28 – Sound pollution has turned acute in the capital city as the sound frequency always goes far beyond the permissible level, putting the public health at risk, at public places, says a new survey of the Department…
Where do 50 million tonnes a year of toxic e-waste go?
By Baher Kamal ROME, Sep 27 (IPS) – Each year, the electronics industry generates up to 41 million tonnes of e-waste, but as the number of consumers rises, and the lifespan of devices shrinks in response to demand for the…
World’s poor ‘paying the price’ for global crises: UN
Dhaka, Sept 15 (UNB) – People living in poverty around the world are facing increasing multiple threats, including climate change and the global economic crisis, but the political will to tackle the issues is lacking, a United Nations human rights…
Are you drinking plastic water
A new research found that plastic fibers have infiltrated the drinking water of cities and towns all over the world Tap water is considered to be the safest in the statistics about drinking water coverage that our government provides us.…
Houston left with a toxic mess as Trump relaxes rules
By BEN LEFEBVRE and ALEX GUILLÉN Explosions and fires at a Houston-area chemical plant triggered an evacuation Thursday in a region still in chaos from Hurricane Harvey — and generated new criticism of President Donald Trump’s efforts to repeal the…
HC imposes bar on scrapping ‘radioactive vessel’
Dhaka – The High Court Division on Tuesday imposed restrictions on scrapping MT Producer, an imported scrap vessel at a ship-breaking yard in Chittagong, till October 5 for alleged presence of radioactive material in one of its pipes.
Mobile app to helps sustainable waste management
AKM Moinuddin, UNB Staff Writer Dhaka, Aug 27 – A Bangladeshi youth has come up with an innovative idea to ensure sustainable waste management the lack of which remains a major health and environmental concern in urban areas of the…
Stop use of hydraulic horns within 48 hrs: BD High Court
Dhaka, Aug 23 – The High Court on Wednesday directed the government to stop the use of hydraulic horns in the capital within 48 hours aiming to mitigate sound pollution. The HC bench of Justice Kazi Rezaul Haque and Justice…
Minamata Convention, curbing mercury use, is now legally binding
By IPS World Desk Rome, Aug 16 (IPS) – The Minamata Convention — a legally-binding landmark treaty, described as the first new environmental agreement in over a decade – entered into force August 16.
France, UK among 4 countries urged to check eggs
Brussels, Aug 7 (AP/UNB) – The European Union has notified food safety authorities in Britain, France, Sweden and Switzerland as a precautionary measure that some eggs contaminated with an insecticide might have entered their territory.
Keep four rivers surrounding Dhaka free from pollution
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday ordered the authorities concerned to strengthen their efforts to keep the four rivers surrounding the capital free from pollution.”These four rivers will die if those are not freed from wastes and pollution,” she said…
Value of water is on the rise
By Rafiqul Islam Dhaka (IPS) – In the wake of recent water-related disasters in Bangladesh, including water-logging and floods that displaced thousands of families, a high-level consultation in the capital Dhaka on valuing water will look at ways to optimize…
Decades of collusion over hazardous pesticides, chemicals
Watchdog Groups Digitize and Release 20,000 Documents for Public Review The Bioscience Resource Project and the Center for Media and Democracy today are releasing a trove of rediscovered and newly digitized chemical industry and regulatory agency documents stretching back to…
The high costs of pesticides to society
A new study warns of the “very high costs” of current levels of exposure to pesticides in food, especially for children and pregnant women. It suggests that the damage caused by pesticides across the European Union amounts to at least…
English shoppers shun plastic bags with 5p levy
London — The number of plastic carrier bags handed out by large stores in England fell by 83% since they started charging a levy for their use, government data showed on Friday.
Cargo vessel hits oil tanker: Oil spills in Kirtankhola
Barisal, July – A huge quantity of oil spilled in the Kirtankhola River as an oil-laden vessel collided with another vessel at Charkaua point of the river in Barisal on Friday.
Nuclear ban approved, now what?
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, Jul 12 (IPS) – More than seven decades after the deployment of deadly atomic bombs in Japan, the UN has passed a historic treaty banning nuclear weapons around the world. Though it has sparked hope for…
BNP terms Rampal power plant harmful
Dhaka, July 7– BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Friday said their party will not change its stance against the construction of the coal-fired Power Station at Rampal near the Sundarbans though Unesco has withdrawn its objection…
Can new protections save Dhaka’s dying rivers?
Experts and environmentalists have criticised Bangladesh’s environment agency for its decision to declare four dying rivers around Dhaka as ecologically critical areas (ECAs).
15 bodies found after landslide buries scores in China
Mao County, Jun 25 (AP/UNB) – Crews searching through the night in the rubble left by a landslide that buried a mountain village under tons of soil and rocks in southwestern China found 15 bodies, but more than 100 more…
MEPs reject move to curtail ban on neonicotinoid pesticides
Members of European Parliament MEPs have overwhelmingly rejected an attempt by a UK Conservative MEP to oppose a full ban on neonicotinoid pesticides that have been linked to bee decline.
35pc Tannery factories have relocated from Capital Dhaka
About 35 percent of tanneries in Hazaribagh have relocated to the leather industrial estate in Savar, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu has said.Fifty-five of the 154 tanneries in Savar have started production, said Amu in response to a question from…
Will Bangladesh’s new vehicle emission standards be enforced
The exponential growth of vehicles over the last decade has forced Bangladesh’s authorities to set new transport emission standards to curb increasing air pollution, in a country of more than two million vehicles and little effective monitoring. The Department of…
CSIRO kicks off biggest marine pollution survey
The CSIRO has begun what it says is the world’s largest marine pollution survey, in collaboration with other countries, to find out the extent of pollution and examine steps to reduce the litter that enters the oceans. Among the countries…
Grameenphone starts mobile handset recycling
To celebrate World Environment Day, Bangladeshi mobile operator Grameenphone has launched its ‘Mobile Handset Recycling’ campaign. Under this initiative, Grameenphone invites customers to deposit their unused/discarded mobile handset in a drop box located at Grameenphone Centres. Grameenphone will recycle these…
Industrial waste destroys Narsingdi Rivers
Narsingdi – Industrial chemicals and wastes have destroyed most of the rivers including Shitalakhkha, Brahmaputra and Harikhola Rivers in the district, inflicting acute damage on the entire ecosystem of the locality. UNB news agency reported
Ecnec okays Tk 160 cr project to enhance waste management capacity
Dhaka – The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved ‘Procurement of Equipment for Solid Waste Management’ project with Tk 160.12 crore, aiming to enhance waste management capacity in Dhaka North, Dhaka South and Chittagong City…