The Bay of Bengal (BoB) region is emerging as an important focal point for climate security risks. This is largely due to a multi-layered interplay of geopolitical, geostrategic, and climate-related regional dynamics. It forms the final leg between West and East Asia. The region is one of the most climate-vulnerable …
More than 100 people were killed in flash floods caused by heavy storms in central Myanmar this week, an official said on Sunday. “So far, 35 dead bodies were found out of 106 missing people. The other 71 people are also believed to have been killed in the floods” on …
China and Myanmar have agreed to “properly settle” a dispute over Myanmar’s suspension of a dam built and financed by Chinese firms as a Chinese leader hoped “friendly consultations” would bring a solution to ensure cooperation and stable ties. Myanmar’s new civilian president, Thein Sein, suspended the $3.6 billion Myitsone …
Over two dozen countries, including Pakistan, will take part next week in a full-scale test of the Indian Ocean`s tsunami alert system, using the 2004 Sumatra quake as the basis for the exercise, Unesco said on Thursday. Exercise IOWAVE 11 will re-enact the seismic events of Dec 26, 2004, simulating …
Thailand aims to revive a long-stalled plan to become an oil trading and biofuel hub in Southeast Asia, challenging Singapore's dominance, its new energy minister said on Thursday. The net oil importer plans to boost its crude reserves, excluding refined oil products, to 29 days from 18 days now to …
The surprise decision by Myanmar's new civilian government to suspend a controversial, Chinese-backed dam is straining relations between the erstwhile allies, but neither is likely to risk lasting damage. China is pressing for an "appropriate solution" to the shelving of the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam, a moved hailed by its …
China urged Myanmar to protect the rights of its companies after the Southeast Asian nation's president ordered the suspension of construction of a contested hydroelectric dam backed by Beijing. The move underscored political tension between the strategic neighbors and growing opposition faced by China's dam builders as they take on …
Myanmar’s government suspended on Friday a controversial $3.6 billion, Chinese-led dam project, a victory for supporters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and another sign of apparent reform in one of Asia’s most repressive states. After weeks of rare public outrage against the Myitsone dam, Myanmar’s largest hydropower project, …
Scientists and researchers have identified 11 most threatened sea turtle populations from around the world, five of which were on the beaches or in the exclusive economic zones of Bangladesh,India and Sri Lanka. This was revealed in a study carried out by International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), …
Myanmar's president called Friday for a halt to construction of a controversial Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam in the country's north, a move that had been called for by the country's pro-democracy movement. President Thein Sein said in a note read aloud in parliament that construction of the $3.6 billion Myitsone dam …
The waters around India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are home to the world’s most endangered sea turtles, according to a study released Thursday aimed at setting a blueprint for global conservation. While it was well known that almost all sea turtle species face extinction, the study by 30 scientists was …
* MEA, DoNER to supervise construction work * 10 km in B’desh, 5 km in India * Agartala to be connected with Chittagong port and Ashuganj river port in Bangladesh * To be completed by 2014 AGARTALA: India has sanctioned Rs 267-crore Railway project linking Agartala with Akhaura in Bangladesh …
It could reduce the pressure on native forests but the rapid expansion in bamboo plantations is in danger of making it the latest in a long line of tarnished 'wonder crops'
Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic and on the occasion of the 10th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (10th ICAAP), being held at Busan, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) released a new report on the HIV epidemic in the Asia-Pacific region. The report …
High level ministerial meeting 4 August, 2011 - The year 2012 was declared as the year of intensification for routine immunisation in the South East Asia region by the world health organisation, following a high level ministerial meeting in New Delhi on August 2. Health ministers from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri …
The number of critically endangered gharial (Gavialis gangetics) has increased to 102 from 81 in 2008, according to a recent census. Gharial was listed as a critically endangered species in the Red Data Book of the World Conservation Union in 2007. A critically endangered species faces an extremely high risk …
Aizawl: The State-owned North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NEEPCO) will set up three power plants in Mizoram, generating a total of 1,526 MW, officials said here on Monday. The two sides signed a Memorandum of Agreement last month
This paper looks at the progress made in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in the eight countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region using the national reports to the CBD as the primary source. The paper concludes that all the Hindu Kush-Himalayan countries are making efforts to …
Poaching and illegal trade of bears, driven largely by the demand for bile, used in traditional medicine and folk remedies continues unabated across Asia on a large scale, a report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, has found.
The Status of Bt Cotton-the Silver Sixth-in Myanmar, 2010 features a comprehensive overview of the adoption and impact of the introduction of Ngwe chi 6 or Silver Sixth– the long staple insect resistant Bt cotton variety developed using genetic modification technology. The new publication includes the most relevant authoritative statistics …
