Nepal bans single-use plastics in Everest region
Nepal will make the Everest region a plastic-free zone by 2020 by banning single-use plastics. The new rule will come into effect from January 1, 2020.
South Asia
The Bangladeshi Supreme Court has given all rivers in the country legal rights
Now, people who damage a river can get taken to court by the government-appointed National River Conservation Commission. They’ll be tried as if they’d harmed a living entity.
Youth literacy rate in Bangladesh soars to 93%
Youth literacy rates in Bangladesh have risen to almost 93%, up from 62% in 2006 and 45% in 1991.
Tiger populations in India have doubled to nearly 3,000 in last 15 years
“It was decided in St. Petersburg that target of doubling tiger population would be 2022, we achieved it 4 years in advance.”
Sri Lanka is measles-free, World Health Organization says
Sri Lanka has defied the global trend in the battle against measles, with the country declared free of the highly infectious disease by the World Health Organization.
AIDS deaths in India plummet by over 70% since 2005
New infections have declined in India by more than 80 per cent from peak of epidemic in 1995 and deaths from the disease have come down by 71 per cent since its peak in 2005.
Indian cities to buy thousands of electric buses
The sudden jump in electric buses purchases is the result of a financial subsidy worth US$360 million, offered by the central government.
Costs of building large-scale solar installations in India fell by 27 per cent in 2018
Around the globe, prices are falling and India is now producing the world’s cheapest solar power, according to an IRENA survey.
Indian state Madhya Pradesh breaks Guinness World Record, plants 66 million trees in just 12 hours
Madhya Pradesh created a new Guinness World Record after 1.5 million volunteers planted more than 66 million tree saplings within half a day along the Narmada river.
‘Humanity’ added as a religion option on Kolkata college admissions forms
Bethune College, has decided to do away with the heterogeneous clubbing of different religions together under ‘other’ and introduced another ‘Humanity’ for all people who feel restricted by the limited options.