Bangladesh on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Netherlands to prepare the "Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100" in order to build up a 50-100 years water management system.
Under the deal, Bangladesh will conduct about 20 studies of different types at the main rivers and adjoining areas with the Dutch help. Planning Minister AK Khandker and Dutch Minister for Development Dr Ben Knapen signed the MoU on behalf of their respective sides at the Prime Minister's Office. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina witnessed the signing of the deal.

The Cabinet on Thursday approved the draft of the 'Bangladesh Atomic Energy Control Act, 2012' with provisions for constituting a separate regulator for the country's first-ever nuclear power plant at Rooppur, Pabna.
The approval was given at the weekly meeting of the cabinet held at the Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

: Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) will distribute the seed of New Rice For Africa (Nerica), a high yielding variety, for the first time to some 37,000 farmers during the upcoming Aman season.
The rice seed will be distributed in 83 upazilas of 30 districts.
According to the BADC officials the country will get an additional 18,000-20,000 tonnes yield by cultivating the high yielding and short duration variety of paddy.

Dhaka: A three-day 'International Meeting of Parliamentarians on Climate Change: Beyond COP-17' begins in Dhaka Wednesday, seeking to formulate a parliamentary alliance involving the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Bangladesh Parliament through the Standing Committee on Environment and Forests Ministry with support from the UNDP under its project, 'Improving Democracy through Parliamentary', will organise the meeting at Radisson Water Garden Hotel in the city.

One in five adult Bangladeshi women dies due to cancer, says a recent study, insisting that much of the deaths can be prevented through early detection and screening. "Approximately 40 percent cancers are potentially preventable with screening and early detection," says a release of a development organization, a day after the World Cancer Day was observed in the country on February 4.

Dhaka: About 28 percent of Bangladesh's total population (41.7 million) is living in urban areas, said a Unicef report released on Wednesday.
Among the top 21 mega cities of the world, according to the report, Dhaka ranks 9th position with 14.3 million people, while Tokyo 1st with 36.5 million, Delhi 2nd with 21.7 million, Sao Paolo 3rd with 20.0 million.

Dhaka: The adaptation costs from the increased risks of cyclones and inland monsoon floods in a changing climate in Bangladesh will be approximately US$5.7 billion by 2050, says a new World Bank report.

The Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA) has been supplying arsenic-free drinking water among people in some parts of the dried tract for the last couple of years.
Sources said the BMDA has a target to construct 620 more installations to supply the safe drinking water through pipeline by the forthcoming June.
The initiative was taken to reduce the acute crisis of drinking water in the drought-prone Barind area especially during the dry season.

The World Bank is lending the Philippines $275 million to tackle huge volumes of untreated sewage that threaten to swallow the capital Manila, the lender said Wednesday.
The loan would be reinvested by a government bank into Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water Services projects to boost the two utilities' household wastewater collection and treatment systems, the World Bank said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $ 50 million in loan to help improve the environment by financing more energy-efficient brick kilns in Bangladesh. ADB's Board of Directors approved the "Financing Brick Kiln Efficiency Improvement Project" on May 10. Under the project, the ADB will provide $50 million in local currency to the Bangladesh Bank which will re-lend the funds to participating financial institutions, said a press release.