By Kelly Levin We’re only a few days into the new year, but it’s already off to an extreme start. Washington DC, Jan 6 2018 (IPS) – Parts of the United States are experiencing blizzard and record low temperatures, with…
Category: Green corner
To resist robots invest in people
The rise of robots is inevitable, but the associated grim predictions around job losses aren’t. Asian Development Bank vice president Stephen Groff explains how countries can prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. By Stephen Groff A knitting factory in Bangladesh…
Trump gives 200,000 Salvadoreans deadline to leave US
Donald Trump’s administration has decided to cancel permits that allow nearly 200,000 people from El Salvador to live and work in the US. They were granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) after earthquakes rocked the Central American country in 2001.
Balkan War Crimes: The promise and limits of int’l justice
The groundbreaking court brought many of the war’s worst criminals to justice, but more is needed to heal the region’s deep divisions. By Benjamin Ward and Param-Preet Singh Hundreds of men buried alive, men and women mutilated and slaughtered, children…
Project to check air pollution in Dhaka and Chittagong
Dhaka, Jan 9 – Environment and Forest Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud on Tuesday said the government is implementing clean air and sustainable environment (CASE) project to check air pollution in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Tillerson ‘never questioned’ Trump’s mental health
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he has “never questioned”, President Trump’s mental health after the author of a controversial book said his staff saw him as a “child”.
Close all schools for a day – stop corporal punishment
A clarion call has gone out to Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, MP to close all schools and madrasas on January 13 for the day, by resolute anti-corporal punishment crusader Sir Frank Peters.
North Korea accepts Olympics talks offer, says South
North Korea has accepted an offer to attend high-level talks next week, South Korean officials have said. The meeting, on 9 January, will focus on finding a way for North Korean athletes to attend the Winter Olympic Games in South…
Billionaires, fiscal paradise, world’s debt, and victims
By Roberto Savio Rome, Jan 2 (IPS) – Among Bloomberg’s many profitable activities is a convenient Bloomberg Billionaires Index that has just published its findings for 2017. It covers only the 500 richest people, and it proudly announces that they…
Apan Jewellers’ bail stay extended further
Dhaka, 02 Jan – The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday (Tuesday) extended their earlier order that stayed the High Court order granting bail to three owners of Apan Jewellers until January 8 in three money laundering cases.
2018 starts with record cold in parts of the Midwest
Des Moines, Jan 1 (AP/UNB) – Bone-chilling cold gripped the middle of the U.S. as 2018 began Monday, breaking a low-temperature record, icing some New Year’s celebrations and leading to at least two deaths attributed to exposure to the elements.
Suspected militant held for Aug 15 blast
Dhaka 01 Jan – The Counter-terrorism unite detained one militant, Mamun, 21 in a connection to the hotel blast in Dhaka’s Panthapath area on August 15 last year. He allegedly made the bomb and supplied the same for the attack…
China’s ban on ivory trade comes into force
China has long been one of the world’s biggest markets for ivory, but as of 2018 all trade in ivory and ivory products in the country is illegal. The move is being hailed as a major development in efforts to…
Restoration of electoral system – Great challenge: BNP
Dhaka – BNP standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury thinks that restoration of country’s election system and people’s confidence would be the great challenge for the Election Commission in the year 2018. The election system has been broken and…
2017 toll of environmental disasters on Earth
Hurricanes were more powerful, floods more debilitating and wildfires more damning in 2017. Mumbai: We entered into 2017 with promises of a new tomorrow and inhibitions about the uncertain future.
Rampal power plant impact on Sunderbans to emerge soon
Dhaka 30 Dec – Leaders of the National Committee to Protect Sundarbans said on Saturday that 13 research reports on the Sundarbans by world class scientists have been handed over to the prime minister’s SDG affairs coordinator Abul Kalam Azad.
AC Land Biroda exempted from charge, granted apology
Dhaka, 28 Dec – Bhurungamari’s Assistant Commissioner (land) Biroda Rani Ray has been exempted from the charge over sentencing a lawyer illegally, after she offered unconditional apology.
The Jerusalem vote and the US-Israel link
By Chandra Muzaffar One hopes that the overwhelming rejection of the Trump Administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on the 21st of December 2017 will compel Washington DC to rescind its…
Next proceedings in Grenade Attack Case Jan 1
Dhaka, 27 Dec – Judge Shahed Nuruddin of the Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 fixed January 1 for next proceedings of the case lodged over the August 21 grenade when prosecution will place their arguments on legal points.
Mainstreaming agrobiodiversity in sustainable food systems
Rome, Italy, 26 Dec – Bioversity International has recently published a book on mainstreaming agrobiodiversity in sustainable food systems. The book summarises evidence on the contribution of agricultural biodiversity to four interconnected dimensions: (1) diverse, healthy diets; (2) multiple benefits…
Raw jute worth Tk 109-crore gutted in Khulna fire
Khulna, Dec 27 – Huge raw jute were burnt down in a fire that broke out at two godowns of a jute mill by Bhatpara-Bejerdanga road in Phultala upazila early Wednesday.
Bangladesh releases its first biotech rice
Dhaka, Dec 27 – Scientists in Bangladesh have developed country’s first biotech rice variety giving farmers an answer to the difficulties they face in harvesting the staple with machines. Stems of BRRIdhan-86, the variety that got official release approval Wednesday,…
Typhoon that battered Philippines spares Vietnam
Hanoi, Dec 26 (AP/UNB) — A powerful storm that left a trail of death and destruction in the Philippines was downgraded to a tropical depression Tuesday and failed to make landfall in Vietnam.
The Vietnam War is not history for victims of Agent Orange
By Marjorie Cohn and Jonathan Moore Watching the Ken Burns-Lynn Novick 18-hour series, “The Vietnam War,” is an emotional experience. Whether you served in the US military during the war or marched in the streets to end it, you cannot…
Dubai’s RTA trialling hydrogen-powered taxis
Dubai’s Roads and Transports Authority (RTA) is trialling the region’s first hydrogen-powered electric vehicles, according to the Dubai Media Office. The Toyota Mirai will be put to the test as part of Dubai’s taxi fleet, in collaboration with Al Futtaim…
College principal held with Yaba pills in Rajshahi
Rajshahi – Members of Department of Narcotics Control on Saturday arrested a college principal with ten pieces of Yaba tablets from Kharail village at Mohanpur upazila in Rajshahi.
UN: “American Dream” rapidly becoming “American Illusion”
Geneva, 19 Dec (Kanaga Raja) – “The American Dream is rapidly becoming the American Illusion as the US now has the lowest rate of social mobility of any of the rich countries,” said Professor Philip Alston, the UN Special Rapporteur…
A year in review by Food Tank: 2017 food and agriculture news
Danielle Nierenberg We have collected some of the agriculture and food news highlights from 2017 to share with you. As 2017 comes to a close, Food Tank has collected news highlights from the food and agriculture world to share with…
Organic farming can feed world if meat taking, food waste are cut
A new study, published in the journal Nature Communications, takes a food systems approach that goes beyond a focus on production, yields and environmental impacts per unit output of specific commodities. It measures the impacts of a conversion to organic…
Move to conduct survey of Sundarbans
Dhaka, Dec 16 – The government has planned to conduct the Unesco-prescribed Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in the Sundarbans and adjoining areas to assess the cumulative impacts of development in the world’s largest mangrove forest for going ahead with the…