US prosecutors say Elon Musk's carmaker Tesla was improperly disposing used lead acid batteries, antifreeze, paint and electronic waste across California. A US court has ordered Elon Musk's Tesla Inc. to pay $1.5 million (€1.3 million) to settle a lawsuit that alleged the company disposed hazardous waste without following the proper regulations. The investigation of violation of environmental laws by Tesla was initiated by the San Francisco district attorney's office in 2018. It soon turned into a combined civil environmental case by 25 district attorneys from across California. The prosecution alleged that Tesla violated the laws by improperly disposing used lead acid batteries, antifreeze, paint and electronic waste at its car service and energy centers throughout the US state.   "While electric vehicles may benefit the environment, the manufacturing and servicing of these vehicles still generates many harmful waste streams," San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a statement. There was no immediate response from Tesla. What did the court say? Besides the monetary fine, the court order has also ordered Tesla to outsource auditors to conduct annual audits of some of its trash containers for hazardous waste for the next five years. It has also asked the company to provide mandatory training to employees on properly disposing of hazardous materials. Of the total settlement money, $1.3 million will be distributed among the 25 counties while $200,000 will be used to compensate the cost of investigations, according to the court order.

Despite Pakistan being inundated by monsoon rains, resulting in widespread water accumulation, the authorities have consistently failed to establish adequate water storage facilities. Various governments have attempted to implement plans for large storage dams, but political interference has continuously impeded these crucial projects. Elected representatives, influenced by personal interests, often mismanage development funds, creating a detrimental trend of political involvement in municipal tasks that are better suited for local governments. This shortsighted approach has particularly harmed the creation of water storage facilities in the country. Water distribution remains a contentious issue in Pakistan, marked by a lack of effective negotiation and cooperation between federating units. The historical opposition to the Mangla Dam in the 1960s by Mirpur residents exemplifies the challenges, requiring resettlement efforts and migrations to address the concerns of affected communities, ARY News reported. Similar concerns and prolonged discussions surrounded projects like Tarbela, Ghazi Barotha, and Neelum-Jhelum. Patient negotiation, a rare trait in Pakistani national psyche, has proven effective in instances such as the Water Accord of 1991, leading to the establishment of IRSA. The political inertia, however, often hampers progress, as seen with the Diamer-Bhasha Dam (DBD) project, delayed for eight years after receiving approval from the Council of Common Interests. Despite its potential benefits, political opposition and unnecessary bundling with Dasu Dam stalled progress. Ensuring water rights as guaranteed by the Water Accord 1991, addressing seawater intrusion in the Sindh Delta, and implementing effective measures to conserve water through dams, dykes, and embankments are crucial steps. Levying charges on hydel profits to reimburse construction costs and encouraging responsible water usage in agriculture, particularly for high-water crops like sugarcane and rice, are essential. Removing impediments to water storage is imperative to harness the abundance of rainwater that often goes to waste in Pakistan. Source: ANI

The Environmental Protection Act is a comprehensive law that covers all aspects of environmental protection. In 2016, the environmental policy was renewed. Waste management is one of the five main aspects of that policy. Although the government attaches great importance to it in the environmental policy, it is not implemented. City corporations, the Ministry of Shipping, the Ministry of Commerce and all those who produce solid waste have to come up with an integrated policy. Engineer Md. Abdus Sobhan, former Additional Director General of the Department of Environment of the govt. and General Secretary of Paribesh Bachao Andolon (PABA) said. He said this in a virtual dialogue titled 'Solid Waste Management' on Monday. The talks were organized by BARCIK under the 'Dhaka Calling Consortium' Project, supported by USAID and FCDO and technically supported by Counterpart International. Writer and researcher Pavel Perth presented the concept paper in a discussion meeting and chaired by Md. Jahangir Alam, URP researcher and coordinator of Barsik and conducted by Ferdous Ahmed Uzzal. Lawyer Syed Mahbubul Alam and journalist Emran Hossain participated in the discussion as panellists. At the beginning of the program, the project manager of DSK Md. Rakibul Islam presented the details of the project. Khandaker Rebecca San Yat, Executive Director of the Cup, Sumon Ahsanul Islam, Technical Adviser, Dhaka Calling Project, Mesbah Uddin Sumon, Secretary of POBA also participated in the discussion. 

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today (Saturday) urged all not to waste food saying food was being wasted in many countries while many nations were suffering from food shortage.    "Don't waste food," she said in a virtual address from her official Ganabhaban residence coinciding with the World Food Day stressing the need for finding ways to recycle surplus food to evade wastage.    Sheikh Hasina said many nations were exposed to food shortage while some were wasting it.   The premier simultaneously called for continued research to boost food production in the country.   She also put importance on the research that whether other needs can be met by the excess food.   Hoping that Bangladesh will never face any scarcity of food in future, she said research on food production cannot be halted in any way as her government has been prioritizing it since assuming power.   Sheikh Hasina said, "Research has to be continued as the production capacity of newly invented seed may gradually decrease. That's why research has to be kept running. Everyone has to put concentration on it."   She said the country's scientists have achieved success in the research of inventing different varieties of drought, salinity, water-logging, severe winter or heat-tolerant paddies and this trend has to be continued.   She added, "I think our agricultural scientists are the best scientists in the world and I expressed my gratitude to them."   The Prime Minister said her government will build a hunger-and-poverty-free Bangladesh as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman where all the fundamental rights of people such as safe food, nutrition, education, residence etc will be ensured.   She went on saying, "In fact, when Awami League was in power, North Bengal became Manga (famine) free and it will remain Manga free . . . . But, we have to make sure that none can bring famine in the country through conspiracy."   She said that they will keep their work running to ensure food production and meet nutritional demand of people.   Sheikh Hasina urged all concerned to work in this connection.   She also reiterated her call to all to put attention on cultivation so one inch of land is not remained fallow.   She said many countries in the world have scarcity of food during the Covid-19 pandemic but Bangladesh never wants to see it.   With Agriculture Minister Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque in the chair, Senior Secretary of the Ministry Md. Mesbahul Islam delivered the welcome speech.   Fisheries and Livestock Minister S M Rezaul Karim and Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder also spoke as special guests.   A documentary on agriculture and food production was screened at the event, organized by the Agriculture Ministry in the city's InterContinental Hotel.   The World Food Day 2021 is being observed in the country as elsewhere in the world with the theme "Our actions are our future- Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life".   The Prime Minister introduced Bangabandhu Dhan-100 (Bangabandhu Paddy 100) through unveiling a portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman created with paddies.   She also unveiled the cover of a book "100 Years of Agricultural Development in Bangladesh". The Prime Minister said in 1973 Bangabandhu formed the “National Agricultural Award Fund,” while in the constitution he guaranteed the emancipation of peasants and workers, the provision of basic necessities to the citizens, the development of public health and the nutritional status of the people along with rural development and the agricultural revolution, and the preservation and development of the environment and biodiversity. She said the Father of the Nation wanted to introduce integrated/collective farming in a cooperative system. “Bangabandhu wanted rural development through the introduction of special farming system alongside agricultural development and he wanted collective farming in every village and the distribution of crops to the owners, workers and village funds,” she said, adding, “If his (Bangabandhu's) vision would have been materialized, Bangladesh emerged as a developed nation 40 years ago.” Sheikh Hasina said due to Bangabandhu’s efforts, Bangladesh became a member of FAO in 1973. As he adopted the first five-year plan, about 5 percent annual growth was achieved in the agricultural sector. She said following the footsteps of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after assuming power in 1996, her government started adopting and implementing plans extensively giving special emphasis on the development of the agricultural sector. For the first time, she said, they formulated “New Agricultural Extension Policy 1996” and “Agricultural Policy, 1999”. “As a result of our various initiatives in agricultural research and development, we’ve achieved food self-sufficiency by tackling the food shortages of the past,” the premier said. Sheikh Hasina said in the last 13 years, they’ve made huge progress in the agriculture sector by ensuring use of digital technology in farming. The government has made arrangements to exchange information with the farmers through Krishi Batayan, Krishak Bandhu Phone Service (3331), Krishaker Janala and Krishi Call Center (16123). In addition, the government has provided agricultural input assistance cards to about 2.10 crore farmers, out of which 1 crore 2 lakh 70 thousand 143 people are getting benefits by opening bank accounts at Taka 10, she revealed. Mentioning that her government is emphasizing on agricultural product processing and value chain management, Sheikh Hasina said since 2009, 655 improved yielding and adverse environment tolerant varieties of crops and 591 technologies have been developed alongside arranging the crops according to the climate and soil suitability. She said they have further increased allocation for agricultural education and research and as a result, agriculture scientists are rapidly moving towards the use of 4th Industrial Revolution technology in the agricultural sector. She said in comparison to the statistics of 2009, the present statistics showed that by 2020 the production of rice has increased by 17%, wheat by 21%, maize by 640%, potato by 98%, pulses by 443%, oilseeds by 75%, vegetables by 534% and onions by 248%, which is unimaginable. The Prime Minister said their efforts have made unprecedented progress in raising livestock such as cows, goats, ducks, chickens. In the last 12 years, the production of animal protein, milk, meat and eggs has increased 5 times, 7 times and 4 times respectively. At present, she said, the country is able to produce surplus food. She added, Bangladesh is now third in the world in rice production, third in vegetable production, fourth in tea production, seventh in mango and potato production and eighth in guava production. She continued the country has achieved third place in fish production in inland open water while first place in Hilsa fish production. Source: BSS AH

Covax will distribute 14.4 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to 31 more countries next week, the WHO said Friday as it warned people not to waste, through complacency, the hope that vaccines bring. The Covax global vaccine-sharing facility shipped more than 20 million doses to 20 countries as the scheme aimed at ensuring poorer nations get access to jabs took off this week. But the World Health Organization voiced fears that further waves of the coronavirus pandemic could be on the way if people think the roll-out of vaccines around the globe means the crisis is over. “The arrival of vaccine is a moment of great hope. But it potentially also is a moment where we lose concentration,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a press conference. “I really am very concerned that… we think we’re through this. We’re not. “And countries are going to lurch back into third and fourth surges if we’re not careful. “We should not waste the hope that vaccines bring… by dropping our guard in other areas.” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the first full week of the Covax roll-out, but said wealthy countries were nonetheless still leaving others behind in the vaccination rush. Within Africa, Angola, the DR Congo, The Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan and Uganda have now received their first doses through Covax. Elsewhere, Cambodia, Colombia, India, Moldova, the Philippines and South Korea have also taken deliveries. – ‘Mass trauma’ – “In the next week, Covax will deliver 14.4 million doses to a further 31 countries. That brings the total number of countries to 51,” said Tedros. “This is encouraging progress, but the volume of doses being distributed through Covax is still relatively small.” He said the first round of allocations, running until the end of May, only covered between two and three percent of the population in recipient states, “even as other countries make rapid progress towards vaccinating their entire population within the next few months”. He called for vaccine production to be urgently ramped up, including through linking manufacturers with rival companies that have spare capacity. Tedros also said the planet would be feeling the mental scars from the pandemic for years to come and said the scale of its impact would be worse than during the recovery from World War II. “The whole world is affected. Each and every individual. That means mass trauma which is beyond proportion. Even bigger than what the world experienced after the Second World War,” he said. “And when there is mass trauma it affects communities for many years to come.” “Countries have to see it as such and prepare for that. “Mass, mass trauma.” – Brazil fears – Meanwhile Tedros voiced alarm about the coronavirus situation in Brazil, where cases and deaths have shot up, bucking the global trend. He said that in the week beginning November 2, there were 114,000 new cases in Brazil — a figure that hit 374,000 in the week of February 22. Tedros said the number of deaths had also shot up from 2,500 to 8,000 over the same time period. “The situation is very serious and we’re very concerned, and the public health measures that Brazil takes should be aggressive while also rolling out vaccines,” he said. “Brazil has to take this very, very seriously.” He said that because Brazil bordered so many other countries, the situation there threatened the entire South American continent. Ryan said the P1 variant — which has now been found in 29 countries — had become dominant in Brazil, adding to its woes. He said basic public health measures were still the “best bet” in trying to control case numbers. “Our risk, to an extent, is still in our hands,” Ryan said. But he added that it was very hard in countries like Brazil with large urban populations to take measures like physical distancing and mask-wearing “where they don’t have the resources to do that without the support of the state”. Source: AFP/BSS AH

State Minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu said that power production from waste will begin within next two years. He said this while briefing the newsmen at his office at the secretariat on Monday. The State Minister said also said that two power plants- one at Aminbazar (36 mega watts) and another at Narayanganj (6 mega watts) will be set up. There will be underground electric cable line at the entire DPDC area within 3-4 years. The first phase work will begin at Dhanmondi area in the next year. Read In Bangla Version AH

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has cleaned its area from the sacrificial animals waste within 24 hours after cooperation from all quarters. With total 11 thousand 508 cleaning workers and other managerial officials including 2667 cleaners of its own DNCC performed the activities. DNCC’s chief waste management officer Commodore M Saidur Rahman shared the information on Sunday afternoon. Commodore M Saidur Rahman said, DNCC cleaners and PWCSP workers have cleaned the city areas collecting the waste from homes and slaughtering places through STS and containers. There were 256 fixed slaughtering places in the corporation area. The Mayor has initiated a plan to build a modern slaughtering house at Gabtali in the city according to the direction of the Prime Minister. He said, some wards were declared clean from the animal waste between 5 pm to 10 pm yesterday by the respective Ward Councilors. Later other wards were declared waste free. AH     

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md. Atiqul Islam alleged that nobody is leaving waste of sacrificial animals in the certain places. The allegation of the mayor came in while visiting the slaughtering house of sacrificial animals of DNCC digital haat at Basila Sadiq Agro on Saturday. The mayor said, there are 256 certain places for dumping waste of sacrificial animals, I have visited some of the sites but observed that nobody is leaving waste in those places. To the city dwellers he said, please leave the waste in the certain places. We have to change our mentality to protect the city. It is very challenging. It will be fulfilled when we work as united. Mayor Atiq said that four hundred sacrificial animals were slaughtered in the slaughtering house. For the first time animals were slaughtered in this way. AH

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Wednesday said that no more garbage and waste would be allowed on roads and open places. Garbage collectors will now collect garbage from house-to-house from six o'clock in the evening in every wards. All waste will be transferred to this Intermediate Waste Transfer Center (STS) by 10 pm (night). From STS, the waste will be taken to Matuail waste disposal site from 10pm, said Taposh. So, there will be no more waste on open places and roads, he said while laying the foundation stone of Islamabad STS under ward number 29 of the city this morning. Taposh said, "We have already rearranged our waste management activities." From now on, we will build waste transfer centres in the wards which do not have waste transfer centres.” “We will build one STS in each of the 75 wards of DSCC.” Read The News In Bangla Meanwhile, Mayor Taposh said that the cleaners will sweep the streets from 9pm and Dhaka city will be clean and tidy within 6 am. Later, Taposh inspected the STS to be constructed at Malibagh (Ward No 12) and inspected the front road adjacent to Nagar Bhaban, Bangabazar, Anandabazar and Fulbaria bus stopover behind Nagar Bhaban and identified the existing problems. He also directed to take necessary steps to keep these roads free. Source: UNB AH

According to a BBC report, The National Institute of Health (ISS) said water from Milan and Turin showed genetic virus traces on 18 December, long before the country's first confirmed cases. It adds to evidence from other countries that the virus may have been circulating much earlier than thought. Chinese officials confirmed the first cases at the end of December. Italy's first case was in mid-February. In May French scientists said tests on samples showed a patient treated for suspected pneumonia near Paris on 27 December actually had the coronavirus. Meanwhile in Spain a study found virus traces in waste water collected in mid-January in Barcelona, some 40 days before the first local case was discovered. In their study, ISS scientists examined 40 sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants in northern Italy between last October and February. Samples from October and November came back negative, showing that the virus had not yet arrived, ISS water quality expert Giuseppina La Rosa said. Waste water from Bologna began showing traces of the virus in January. The findings could help scientists understand how the virus began spreading in Italy, Ms La Rosa said. However she said the research did not "automatically imply that the main transmission chains that led to the development of the epidemic in our country originated from these very first cases". Italy's first known non-imported virus case was a patient in the town of Codogno in the Lombardy region. The town was closed off and declared a "red zone" on 21 February. Nine other towns in Lombardy and neighbouring Veneto followed and the entire country went into lockdown in early March. The ISS said the results confirmed the "strategic importance" of sewage water as an early detection tool because it can signal the virus's presence before cases are clinically confirmed. Many countries are now using the technique. The institute says it aims to begin a pilot project monitoring waste water at tourist resorts in July with a view to setting up a nationwide waste water monitoring network later this year. Nearly 35,000 people have died with Covid-19 in Italy, a tally from Johns Hopkins University shows. Source: UNB AH