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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'Work together to achieve MDGs in health sector'
Speakers at a workshop here yesterday said that Bangladesh could achieve different targets of millennium development goal in the health sector like total fertility rate (TFR) and others before the dateline. They urged the doctors, NGOs and private sector representatives to work unitedly for achieving the targets within the time limit. They were addressing a workshop on 'Scaling up of evidence-based practices in maternal, neonatal, child health, family planning and nutrition' at a local hotel.
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Tremors jolt northern California, Russia's Kamchatka peninsula
A 5.3 magnitude earthquake struck in the mountains of northern California on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey reported. Meanwhile, another earthquake measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale Wednesday shook the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia's far east, RIA-Novosti news agency reported. In California, the quake's epicentre was 57 kilometers (35 miles) east of Eureka, 307 kilometers (191 miles) from the California state capital Sacramento, the USGS said. The earthquake was recorded at 7:03pm local time (0203 GMT) and had a depth of 17 kilometers (10 miles), it said.
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Monitor income generating schemes for ultra poor
PKSF Deputy General Manager Jashimuddin speaks at a seminar titled "Innovative Programmes for Ultra Poor' at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the city yesterday on the occasion of the five-day Micro-credit Fair 2008. Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation organised the seminar. Speakers at a seminar Tuesday laid emphasis on strong monitoring system to the income generating schemes for the ultra poor (poorest of the poor), funded by the micro-finance institutions (MFIs), for their sustainability in the development programme, says a press release.
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Indonesian boy dies of bird flu, rising death toll 108
A three-year-old Indonesian boy who died last week had bird flu, a health ministry official confirmed Wednesday, bringing the toll to 108 in the country worst hit by the disease. The child, from a village in Wonogiri in Central Java, died at a state hospital in nearby Solo city on April 23, health ministry spokeswoman Lili Sulistyawati said. "The results of two tests on the patient's samples showed that he was infected with the H5N1 virus," Sulistyawati said. Two positive test results are needed before Indonesian authorities confirm a bird flu infection.
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Fishing ban in Kaptai Lake from May 1
The district administration has put a ban on catching all kinds of fishes in Kaptai Lake for an indefinite period from May 1. The ban, which will be applicable for fishermen as well as common people, will include netting, marketing, preservation, drying and transportation of fishes, district administration sources said. The fishermen have been instructed to transport their dried fishes from Rangamati to other destinations by May 3. As per the instruction, Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation will take legal action against violators of the order.
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Bush pushes Congress to move on farm legislation
President Bush yesterday accused the Democratic-led Congress of blocking his proposals to deal with rising gas prices and dragging its feet on measures to address the sagging economy. He said he was "open to any ideas," including a proposal backed by presidential contenders John McCain and Hillary Clinton to suspend gas and diesel taxes this summer
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30pc of cancer patients suffer from head, neck cancer
Among the cancer patients of the country, around 30 percent are suffering from head and neck cancer. Smoking, chewing tobacco leaves and taking alcohol cause high risk for mouth, vocal cord and lung cancer, specialists told a seminar in the city yesterday. ENT department of Medical College for Women and Hospital at Uttara organised the seminar as part of the observation of "ENT, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week'. Former president Prof AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury was present in the seminar as the chief guest.
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UN starts meet to hammer out food crisis battle plan
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon began talks yesterday with key development agencies on how to tackle the crisis provoked by soaring food and fuel prices. "This is an exciting time for the United Nations, but it is also a time when we are challenged to exert our best efforts to rise to the expectations that the world is placing on us," Ban said ahead of meetings in the Swiss capital. The UN was to hammer out a battle plan of emergency measures at the two-day conference in Berne, while exploring other longer-term measures to solve the global food crisis.
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River erosion to make 29,000 homeless by next one year: Study
Around 29,000 people living along the banks of Brahmaputra, Jamuna and Padma rivers will be rendered homeless by next one year due to riverbank erosion, a research organisation working with river and water resources forecast yesterday. A study report of the Center for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) also said 2,840 hectares of land, 450 hectares of settlement, 150 metre of embankment, 1,860 metres of district road, 490 metres of upazila road and 3,750 metres of rural road are vulnerable to erosion along the three rivers.
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Untimely swelling of Jamuna causes havoc in Sirajganj
With untimely swelling of Jamuna River during the last several days, massive erosion along its western bank in Sirajganj district has devoured 200 homesteads and over 100 acres of croplands in 22 villages of five upazilas in the district. The affected upazilas are Kazipur, Sirajganj Sadar, Belkuchi, Chowhali and Shahzadpur. Meghai, Maizbari, Natuarpara, Shuvogachha, Simantabazaar and Dhekuria in Kazipur upazila, Kaizury, Gudhibari, Porzona, Monakosha and Datpara in Shahzadpur upazila and Khaskawlia, Umorpur, Jalalpur and Enayetpur in Chowhali upazila are worst affected areas.