Dhaka – Law Minister Anisul Huq on Thursday submitted the draft of the rules of the discipline and code of conducts for the subordinate court judges to Chief Justice (CJ) Surendra Kumar Sinha.
Category: Green corner
The bilateral relationship that matters
By Chandra Muzaffar Which is the most important bilateral relationship in the international arena today? Many analysts would argue that it is the relationship between the United States of America and China that has the greatest significance for the world.…
Biological annihilation on Earth accelerating
Robert J. Burrowes Human beings are now waging war against life itself as we continue to destroy not just individual lives, local populations and entire species in vast numbers but also destroy the ecological systems that make life on Earth…
The unnoticed demise of democracy
By Roberto Savio Rome, Jul 24 (IPS) – Politicians are so busy fighting for their jobs, they hardly seem to notice that they risk going out of business. Democracy is on the wane, yet the problem is nowhere in Parliaments.…
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…
Electric vehicles form future of auto industry
Electric cars constitute less than 0.1 percent of the vehicle market today, but the market and regulatory forces all but ensure electric vehicles will be the future of the auto industry. According to the 2016 Global Electric Vehicle Outlook from…
When generations come together learning goes further
Older people in the city of Volgograd in Russia are teaching sewing, cooking, and housekeeping to orphaned children. They socialise, play, share knowledge of the history of the country, and encourage the orphans to reach their potential by introducing them…
Why the Greens lost and Trump won
When President Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accords, embraced coal, and stacked his administration from people from fossil-fuel producing states, the environmental movement reacted with near-apocalyptic fear and fury. They would have been better off beginning to understand…
Dhaka can reclaim its lost canals ‘as Seoul did’
Abdur Rahman Jahangir, UNB Staff Writer Dhaka, July 22 – Though it looks to be a daunting task to recover the capital’s 43 lost canals and many other wetlands to restore its natural drainage network, green activists think well-thought-out plans,…
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.
Climate vulnerable nations must get support: BD
UN, Jul 21 – Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said the developed nations must support the climate vulnerable nations like Bangladesh, particularly in the forms of financing, innovative solutions and technology transfer, to combat the perils of climate change.
Toilets as the path to health and dignity
Guangzhe CHEN Mollar Bosti is a crowded slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, home to 10,000 people: garment workers, rickshaw drivers, and small traders, all living side-by-side in tiny rooms sandwiched along narrow passageways.
Twenty initiatives saving seeds for future generations
Danielle Nierenberg By saving, exchanging, and re-using seeds over thousands of years, farmers and gardeners carefully selected crops for various traits adapted to many growing conditions and climates, creating a rich genetic plant heritage that formed the base of the…
Mass dolphin deaths off France and England
British and French researchers say the number of dead dolphins washing up on their shores is at its highest level in more than 14 years. In the first six months of this year, more than a thousand dolphin carcasses have…
Don’t move resources from development to security: UN Chief
By António Guterres UN, Jul 17 (IPS) – Twenty years ago, when I was starting my functions as Prime Minister of Portugal, the world was surfing a wave of optimism. The Cold War had ended, technological prosperity was in full…
Water scarcity hotspots shifting
New York – Reservoirs, dams and irrigation systems have shifted global patterns of water scarcity over three decades, “causing a distinct pattern of beneficiaries and losers”, according to recent research.
India’s Northeast have floods disaster for man-made causes
Since May 2017, several flood related incidents have taken place in the North East showing how our shortsightedness in understanding the rivers, how our thoughtless construction along the rivers in the name of flood control and how our careless operation…
Is social democracy facing extinction in Europe?
by Davide Vittori The last French presidential election and the recent legislative elections confirmed a seemingly unstoppable declining trend in the electoral support of social democratic parties. For the second time in the last fifteen years, the official candidate of…
We have to reclaim public policy space for SDGs
By Jens Martens Bonn, Jul 13 (IPS) – At the High-Level Political Forum which currently takes place at the United Nations in New York several events, for instance, SDG Business Forum, are devoted to the critical role of business and…
Extreme weather wiping out hard-won GDP gains in hours
By Kenton X. Chance Brussels, Belgium, Jul 14 (IPS) – With Antigua and Barbuda joining St. Kitts and Nevis as the two eastern Caribbean nations to attain middle-income country status, a senior diplomat has identified climate change as a major…
‘Bacteria never swim alone, form flocks with algae’
Lund University (Sweden) – Many animal species display flocking behaviour, but the fact that microorganisms do is not as well known. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now shown that algae and bacteria form flocks at very low concentrations…
Communities step up to help save Jamaica’s forests
By Desmond Brown Kingston, Jamaica, Jul 12 (IPS) – According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 31.1 percent or about 337,000 hectares of Jamaica is forested. Of this, 26.1 percent or 88,000 is classified as primary forest,…
GCF discuss funding forestry sector projects
New Delhi, 13 July (Indrajit Bose) — The Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) discussed matters related to funding activities in the forestry sector aimed at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD-plus) in developing countries during its…
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…
Writ for setting up institution of Ombudsman
Dhaka – A writ petition was filed yesterday with the High Court Division of the Supreme Court seeking its direction to appoint an Ombudsman.
Legal notice served for preserving Sawgat editor’s house
Dhaka – A legal notice was served to the government on Wednesday to protect and preserve ‘Nasiruddin Smrity Bhaban’, the 127-year old house of Mohammad Nasiruddin, who was the editor of the monthly Shawgat and founder of the weekly Begum.
World Pop Day: What we can learn from Bangladesh?
by Maitreyi Bordia Das Tuesday marked World Population Day and this year’s theme is “Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations”. It is an opportune moment to reflect and continue the conversation on demographic trends that I started through my blog…
EU – Brazil against ending “green box” cotton payments
Geneva, 5 Jul (D. Ravi Kanth) — The European Union and Brazil opposed the elimination of a range of green box direct payments for cotton as demanded by the Cotton-4 countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Chad – in…
TIB hails decision to observe Anti-Corruption Day
Dhaka, Jul 11 – Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has hailed the government as it decided to observe December 9 as the Anti-Corruption Day every year.
Promoting sustainable pop growth, key to raising HR standards
By Dr. Hanif Hassan Al Qassim Geneva, Switzerland, Jul 11 (IPS) – The world population has witnessed a remarkable growth during the recent decades. In 1965, it stood at 3.3 billion people. In 2017 –52 years later– the global population…