A baby owl had an amazing escape after it fell from its nest into a zoo enclosure only to leave it face to face – with a LION. The fluffy tawny owlet managed to survive for three days after it tumbled from a branch and landed inches from the killer lioness. Onlookers watched as the ... Read more
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Eyes on green banking
Mamun Rashid A green bank is a bank that promotes environmental and social responsibility but operates as a traditional community bank and provides excellent services to investors and clients. Its progressive approach to the community and the earth sets it apart from other banks. It is more about focusing on ‘mother planet and its sustainability’, ... Read more
How will it respond to predicted climate change?
Kuakata Biodiversity How will it respond to predicted climate change? Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman KUAKATA, locally known as Sagar Kannya (daughter of the sea) is located in the southwest of Bangladesh. Next to Cox’s Bazar it is the second most famous sea beach of this country. And Kuakata is one of the rarest sea beaches ... Read more
Alien invasive species disrupting native biodiversity
Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman LANTANA is a native evergreen shrub to tropical America. It is now a major weed in many regions of the Palaeotropics where it invades natural and agricultural ecosystems. The plants can grow individually in clumps or as dense thickets, crowding out more desirable species. It may grow up to 6 ft ... Read more
Climate change: Disappeared South Talpatti, what next?
Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman The South Talpatti measuring 81 square miles in the Sunderbans has disappeared due to sea level rise and soil erosion. Its disappearance was confirmed by satellite image and sea patrols. Sugata Hazra, a professor from the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University in Calcutta, told reporters, “There’s no trace of ... Read more
Branding Bangladesh
Mamun Rashid “A name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors” — that is how marketing guru Philip Kotler defines “Brand”. In other words, a brand is basically a name ... Read more
Offshore Nijhum island: Overcoming climate change impact
Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman NIJHUM is an offshore island in the Bay of Bengal, located in the extreme south of Hatia island separated by Hatia channel. It is a scenic treasure trove having 20 kms long sandy and grassy beach. Accredited on the estuarine Meghna river and the Bay of Bengal, Nijhum is a virgin ... Read more
A Brief Story on Silk Fabric
Among all fabrics available silk fabric is the most expensive and rich. It is considered in all countries irrespective of the culture and dressing sense. Silk may vary from countries to countries, name can be changed but the main material of the fabric that is silk is unchanged and maintains the elegance throughout ages and ... Read more
Bees Can Say ‘Stop’
The finding shows that bee colonies behave more like giant, single beasts than as individual insects. THE GIST: 0 Bees can tell others in their colony to avoid troublesome places. 0 This is the first time a “negative” bee signal has been identified. 0 The bees doing the warning can target the bees who are ... Read more
Population, a growth engine
Rohan Samarajiva I was surprised, during my last stay in Dhaka, to read a magazine article about Bangladesh’s “population problem” that made no reference to demographic structure. Modern scholarship no longer sees population solely as a burden, understanding that the relevant question is not about the size of the population as such, but about its ... Read more
Digital innovation fair: An assessment
Habibullah N Karim Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on March 4 inaugurated the first-ever government sponsored ICT fair of the country at Bangabandhu Novo Theatre complex in Dhaka. The country has had many ICT fairs since the late eighties but those are all sponsored and organised by the private sector. The Digital Innovation Fair is the ... Read more
Slums: Human rights live here
More than 1 billion people across all continents live in slums. These communities, characterized by inadequate housing, lack of basic services, overcrowding, and high levels of violence and insecurity, are also places where residents live, work, and raise their children. Yet, many governments are failing in their duty to protect the rights of these people. Global ... Read more
Climate change: Whispering from the Sunderbans
Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman Due to increased rate of emissions of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone and chlorofluorocarbons) from different sources such as burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and other human activities, the rate of global temperature increase accelerated from +0.6°C over the past century to an equivalent rate of +1.0°C per ... Read more
European hemeroby approach for appropriate measuring
Human Impacts on Nature European hemeroby approach for appropriate measuring Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman Nature conservation anchors a discourse that articulates a nexus of nature-culture-artificiality-stability-biodiversity. The concepts of human disturbances have been enjoying increasing popularity in the discussion of biodiversity conservation. Anthropogenic behaviour that harms nature” or “human activities contrary to nature” leads to unnatural ... Read more
Bangladesh IT industry going global
From The Daily Star Bangladesh IT industry going global Habibullah N Karim The information technology industry in Bangladesh has gradually come of age and today accounts for more than Taka 25 billion or USD350 million in annual revenues. It is still a tiny blip compared to a GDP nearing USD100 billion but it’s a noticeable ... Read more
Impact of climate change on St. Martin’s Island
Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman Global climate change poses a high risk to the biodiversity of coral reefs of St. Martin’s. The major threats to the coral reefs are high levels of sedimentation, cyclones, storm surges and beach erosion. Global warming is a matter of major concern for coral reefs of this island as elsewhere. St. ... Read more
Parthenium weed poses danger to crops
Parthenium, a newly discovered invasive and dangerous weed, has been posing a serious health problems to human beings and livestock and also causing loss of crops and vegetation in the country, reports The New Nation The dangerous weed is affecting many countries in Asia, Africa and the Pacific Islands causing serious environmental problems. It is ... Read more
Sundarban water warming faster than global average
In the Sundarbans, surface water temperature has been rising at the rate of 0.5 degree Celsius per decade over the past three decades, eight times the rate of global warming, says a new study, reports Times of India on Tuesday. That makes the Sundarbans one of the worst climate change hotspots on the globe. The ... Read more
Dhaka celebrating 400 years to project her glorious past
From WeeklyHoliday Abdur Rahman Khan A nation cannot progress without having a clear conviction and pride in her past glories. A citizen develops the feeling of esteem for his or her heritage through learning about the country’s historical and cultural legacy. This is why the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (ASB) have planned a three-year programme ... Read more
Towards a new paradigm for conserving biodiversity
From The Daily Star Morticulture Towards a new paradigm for conserving biodiversity Dr. Md. Mizanur Rahman IT was not a poet but an American scientist, Mark Harmon, who nicknamed his field of study “morticulture”, to suggest the importance of managing the dead trees in the forest to maintain biodiversity. Deadwood plays a vital role for the ... Read more