Unplanned embankment poses threat to river
The ongoing construction of an embankment on the Sandhya river in Barishal has sparked outrage among locals who believe the structure will damage the river crucial to their livelihoods. Locals in Banaripara
Daily Star (Bangladesh)
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Food Crisis, Increased Oil Price, Climate Change
Bangladesh calls for immediate global action to address three major global challenges - food crisis, increased oil price and climate change. Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, Ismat Jahan, made this call while speaking on behalf of the least developed countries at the high level segment of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York Wednesday. Ambassador Jahan said the price of food grains had surged to its record high, affecting the LDCs most disproportionately.
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Farm sector top priority of govt
The present caretaker government will give the agriculture sector top priority in the upcoming budget since the sector must be developed and strengthened to maintain a healthy rural economy, Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed said yesterday. "If the farmers of the country are benefited, the rural economy will become healthy," he said while addressing a grand rally of farmers in Cheradangi village of Dinajpur sadar upazila.
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Most Myanmar survivors unreached by 'worst' disaster response
Most victims of Myanmar's cyclone remain without emergency food supplies two weeks after the catastrophe, experts said yesterday, with one calling it the worst disaster response in recent memory. Critical supplies are slowly making their way to survivors, but not nearly enough for the up to 2.5 million people who the United Nations says were severely affected by the storm.
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SMC launches micronutrient programme
Social Marketing Company (SMC) launched its micronutrient programme in the city yesterday through introduction of 'MoniMix' -- a micronutrient powder which can be easily mixed at home to fortify foods to address childhood Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA), says a press release. Sheri-Nouane Johnson, director of PHN Team, USAID, Dhaka and Jalaluddin Ahmed, chairperson, Board of Directors, SMC, were present at the launching ceremony at SMC Head Office.
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Nutrition situation deteriorates with outbreak of diarrhoea
Nutrition situation is deteriorating in the country with the outbreak of diarrhoea when 12 to 15 percent of children are already suffering from malnutrition due to poverty, food insecurity, low birth weight, lack of awareness and hygiene practice. Diarrhoea is a major cause of malnutrition and morbidity of children aged under five years across the globe, and 17 percent of children below five years die every year globally due to diarrhoea, of which 95 percent children are in developing countries, says World Health Organisation.
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Myanmar tightens access to cyclone disaster zone
Myanmar's ruling junta has tightened access to the cyclone disaster zone in the country's south, frustrating aid groups trying to bring help to survivors, reporters and aid agencies said yesterday. Relief groups are furious over the regime's refusal to allow foreign experts into the country to mount a full-scale disaster response, and say they face even more constraints in bringing help to some two million survivors.
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Save the forests, save the world
AT last, the Conference of Parties (COP 13) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in Bali, Indonesia, has agreed upon the future of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation in Developing countries (REDD) as a carbon reduction tool in the post-Kyoto protocol regime that will come into action after 2012.
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Water crisis aggravates in port city
Mainul Haq, a senior executive of a shipping company, requires water supply at least thrice a day to carry his daily household work and other needs of a four-member family at his Agrabad CDA Colony residence. Instead, he gets water twice a day and sometimes once, and this poor supply for the last few weeks put him in deep trouble and hassle. And he often found at a loss how to cope with the ever-compounding crisis.
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Climate change forcing people to migrate to urban areas
More and more people are migrating to urban areas because of climate change as it is causing frequent natural disasters, making the disaster-prone areas unlivable, experts said at a seminar yesterday. It would be difficult to provide employment for the increasing number of migrants, but the government remains indifferent to this issue, they said. Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) organised the seminar on 'Climate change, migration and Bangladesh' at the RC Majumder Auditorium at Dhaka University.
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Myanmar regime accused of hoarding cyclone aid
The United Nations said yesterday that only a tiny portion of international aid needed for Myanmar's cyclone victims is making it into the country, amid reports that the military regime is hoarding good-quality foreign aid for itself and doling out rotten food. The country's isolated military regime has agreed to accept relief shipments from the UN and foreign countries, but has largely refused entry to aidworkers who might distribute the aid.