Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will lead a global panel to set international targets on sustainable development, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.

The panel will start work after a major summit next month in Rio de Janeiro. The trio admitted in a joint statement that there was still "some way to go" to eliminate global poverty.

Australia will provide A$100.5 million dollars, equivalent to Tk 8.3 billion, as official development assistance to Bangladesh for the 2012-13 fiscal year.

“Australia's aid program makes an important contribution to a global effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in particular for eradicating poverty,” said Acting High Commissioner of Australia Tim Bolotnikoff.

This is part of the Australian government's overall commitment to increase the size of the Australian aid program to A$5.2 billion from A$4.8 billion in 2011-12 fiscal year, said a press release.

Microsoft on Tuesday vowed it would be carbon neutral in the fiscal year starting July.

The plan to zero-out the overall amount of climate-changing gas spewed while running data centers, software labs, and offices and even during work-related travel included charging departments a fee for carbon produced.

"The goal is to make our business divisions responsible for the cost of offsetting their own carbon emissions," Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner said in a release.

The government's plan to reduce electricity consumption by forcing building owners to install rooftop solar panels might not yield desired results as the initiative involves a number of flaws, an analyst warned yesterday.

M Rezwan Khan, vice chancellor of United International University, said recent rules make it mandatory for owners of new buildings to set up rooftop photovoltaic (PV) power stations for getting electricity connections from the national grid.

Aiming to ensure proper management of wetlands and protect biodiversity of the country's haor region, the government has formed a National Network of Ramsar Wetlands Management.

Environment and Forests Ministry with the help of IUCN, Bangladesh created the network, which also targets to improve livelihood of the poor people of this region.

The Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday fined Hua Thai Ceramics Industry in Gazipur Tk 20 lakh for pollution due to its operation without effluent treatment plant.

The verdict that fined the amount to the ceramics industry in the district's Hotapara area was issued by the director (Enforcement) of DoE, said a press release of the department.

Under the ownership of a former lawmaker G M Fazlul Haque, the industry was reportedly running without obtaining environment clearance and had no waste treatment plant.

Floods carrying volcanic debris swept through a town in eastern Indonesia yesterday killing four people, including a nine-year-old child, and leaving 10 others missing, a government official said.

A further 15 people were injured after floodwaters rampaged through 11 villages in Ternate City in North Maluku province, national disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

Around 150 Sampans (boat) joined a procession on the Karnaphuli River in the port city yesterday demanding the river be saved from pollution.

Starting from Abhoy Mitra Ghat, the procession ended at Bangla Bazar Ghat where more than 300 members from 23 co-operative organisations of boatmen took part.

The event was held as part of a three-day “Sampan Khela O Chatgan Sangskritik Mela” (Sampan festival and Chittagong cultural fair), which began yesterday.

Chittagong Regional Cultural Academy is hosting the programme.

The High Court yesterday directed the authorities concerned to stop encroachment on the river Turag at Gabtoli point in the capital, and remove illegal structures from the point within 24 hours.

The court also asked the chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and deputy commissioner of Dhaka to take appropriate legal actions against those responsible for encroaching and constructing structures in that river point.

Environmentalists yesterday demanded the government's immediate and firm steps to stop India's National River Linking Project for the sake of Bangladesh's existence.

They were addressing a rally organised by Green Voice, an organisation of young environmentalists, marking its seventh anniversary and Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Bangladesh from May 5 to 6, before the capital's Jatiya Press Club.