The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
It will provide a shorter route to north-eastern States Jairam Ramesh is on a four-day visit to Myanmar India to sign four pacts for economic cooperation India will seek to accelerate the path-breaking Kaladan multi-modal transit project that will provide an alternative route to the north-eastern states and later to …
This paper draws on recent field work within South Asia and an extensive review of secondary data to examine the dynamics of cross border trade and investment in South Asia, exploring the potential for, and obstacles to, such trade through the lens of a sector that is salient throughout South …
concerns over a possible attack of Ug99 on wheat crops in Pakistan is soaring high. But officials in the country have said the globetrotting infectious wheat fungus has not reached croplands there. "There is no such threat now as harvesting has already begun in Sindh and Punjab provinces. However, if …
bird flu is spreading in Bangladesh despite efforts to control it. By February 19, the H5NI virus outbreaks had been reported in 43 out of 64 districts. The nation's poultry industry, one of the world's largest, is now confronted with its greatest challenge since large-scale poultry farming was introduced in …
Click here to enlarge view the much delayed plan to supply water to Kathmandu is set to roll. On February 13, the Nepal government said the newly formed Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (kukl) would take over the project from the Nepal Water Supply Corporation (nwsc). The government said the corporation …
Work has begun to repair three damaged undersea fibre-optic cables that were severed in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf on January 30 and February 1. The cause of the cable break is yet to be confirmed and speculations are there that a ship's anchor was to blame. The …
about 50 heads of livestock, mostly cattle, died in the last week of January after drinking water from a stream in the Ghaggar Union Council of Bin Qasim township on the outskirts of Karachi in Pakistan. Effluents from the nearby army-owned Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited has polluted the water. …
Sri Lanka raises fuel prices: After doling out huge fuel subsidies for five months, the Sri Lankan government finally increased fuel prices on January 13. The price of petrol has increased by LKR 10 (US $10 cents) a litre to LKR 127 (US $1.2), while the new prices for diesel …
A food crisis looms large in Bangladesh after two waves of floods and a cyclone. Three natural disasters within four months have ruined the late-monsoon aman paddy, the second major cereal crop in the country. As a result, food prices have soared and the government is finding it difficult to …
The South Asia Media Commission has declared 2007 a very difficult year for South Asian journalists. The year saw 25 journalists and media workers getting killed in the line of duty. Besides, the media had to face "unprecedented restrictions and forced closures' in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. The report, …
Bird flu in Bangladesh Nearly 2,000 chickens have been culled in a village in northern Bangladesh after the H5N1 bird flu virus was detected at a poultry farm in the last week of December. This latest spurt of infection was in Dinajpur district, near the capital city Dhaka. The government …
there is considerable excitement in Harike wetland in Punjab over the sudden appearance of Indus river dolphins, an endangered species found only in Pakistan. "When I saw the hump and the snout, I knew they were Indus-river dolphins,' says Basanta Kumar, divisional forest officer of Harike Wetland and Wildlife Sanctuary. …
First human bird flu case in Pakistan: WHO has confirmed that the limited human-to-human bird flu transmission has occurred in Pakistan. The country reported eight cases of human bird flu in December including two people who succumbed to the disease. An initial analysis by WHO says that the outbreak might …
Global warming intensifying natural disasters in Bangladesh Storms batter Bangladesh every year. Cyclone Sidr killed more than 4,000 people in November, 2007, causing a loss of over us $900 million. It triggered 5-metre high waves that devastated coastal areas, displacing over 2 million people The worst cyclone was in 1970 …
cyclone Sidr hit Bangladesh on the night of November 15, killing thousands of people and severely damaging paddy crops just before harvest, and the Sundarbans. Though the official death toll till November 20 was about 4,000, unofficial estimates say the figure could cross 10,000. The worst cyclone in terms of …
Ata-Ul-Haq is CEO of Green Technology Environmental Corporation, which set up Pakistan's first mega composting plant in Lahore in 2006. He tells Arnab Pratim Dutta that the model adopted for the plant can be replicated across South Asia Why a composting plant for Lahore? Getting this plant up and running …
No littering in bhutan: Bhutan has passed a law to prevent littering and pollution in the kingdom's capital Thimphu. The Thimphu Municipal Solid Waste Management Rules and Regulations 2007 will come into force from December 1, laying down stiff penalties for littering and illegal dumping of waste in and around …
despite the two recent floods which forced farmers to plant seedlings late, Bangladesh has achieved season's target of cultivation of paddy on 5.3 million hectares, say officials. In August and September, the country faced two massive floods which affected two-thirds of its land, especially in the central districts around greater …
cleaning Colombo: The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in the second week of October has directed the attorney general to prepare a new action plan within a month to reduce air pollution caused by vehicles in the capital city of Colombo. Acting on a petition filed by the Environmental Foundation …
