<p>Order of the National Green Tribunal (Eastern Zone Bench, Kolkata) in the matter of In Re: Sinking Ba’deshi vessel dumps toxic fly ash in river near Ghoramara, shows video shared by panchayat
The government should attach top priority to the country's agriculture and food security and public service sectors in the forthcoming national budget of fiscal 2008-09, speakers said in a discussion in Rajshahi on Tuesday. They also said, the budget should be pro-people and welfare-oriented so that it could bring economic emancipation of the poverty-stricken people. And enhanced subsidy to the agriculture sector could be the means of increasing its yield, they pointed out.
Forty-two people died of diarrhoea in the last one month as the deadly water-borne disease spread alarmingly throughout the country due to hot and humid weather coupled with scarcity of pure drinking water. According to the control room of the directorate general of health services, 87,173 diarrhoea-affected people had been treated in hospitals last month and 42 of them died. At least 110 died of diarr- hoeal diseases and 3,43,922 were affected since January 1 this year.
Indian States bordering Bangladesh have become vulnerable to bird flu with the country continuing to be a breeding ground for the disease, officials here said on Monday. "Forty-seven of the 64 districts in Bangladesh are hit by bird flu. With the authorities failing to control the disease and no efforts at checking smuggling of poultry and poultry products, bordering Indian States are becoming vulnerable to avian influenza,' said Ashish Roy Burman, Director of Tripura's Animal Resource Development (ARD) Department.
Around 2.5 lakh people get infected with hepatitis viruses a year in the country, experts at a discussion said yesterday. Hepatitis, a serious disease which affects the liver, is 100 times more infectious than HIV, they said. Liver Foundation of Bangladesh organised the discussion at the National Museum auditorium in the city to mark the World Hepatitis Day.
The Tripura Government has asked the External Affairs Ministry to take up the issue of unchecked poultry movement from Bangladesh to bordering villages of Tripura, where incidents of bird flu were increasing. State Animal Resource Development Minister Aghor Debbarma here today said there were reports of poultry movement from across the border and since most of the area in Bangladesh had already been affected by the H5N1 virus, it increased the risk of flu spread.
The United Nations World Food Programme has started distributing food assistance to meet the immediate food needs of over 1.2 lakh people affected by rodent attack in Rangamati and Bandarban. The WFP will continue to assist 25,680 households of the 31 most affected unions of the seven severely affected upazilas for a period of four months, from May to August 2008, said a press release.
Experts at a seminar here yesterday urged the government to include the proposed surface water based North Rajshahi Irrigation Project (NRIP) in the upcoming budget to increase food production in there district. They said, implementation of the Tk 860 crore project would help increase food production by 2.11 lakh tonnes by providing irrigation facility to 74850 hectares of land in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Naogaon.
The draft National Child Labour Policy, which was circulated for opinions from the stakeholders, will soon be placed before the Council of Advisers for approval, said Labour and Employment Adviser Anwarul Iqbal yesterday. "I believe once approved the policy will contribute to the elimination of child labour both in government and private institutions,' he added. The adviser was speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of a national seminar titled 'Eradication of hazardous child labour' organised by labour and employment ministry at Biam auditorium in the city.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributing food assistance to meet the immediate food needs of over 120,000 people affected by rodent attack in Rangamati and Bandarban districts. WFP will continue to assist 25,680 households of the 31 most affected unions of the seven severely affected upazilas for a period of four months, from May to August, 2008, said a press release.
Power situation continues worsening with the average generation this May falling below the generation during the same period in the past year amid assurance of the interim government of better power supply after mid-May. The frequency of power outages has increased in the past few days because of a decline in power generation although the power agencies started withdrawing supply from irrigation as the boro season nears end.
