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New Crew Of Astronauts Bound For International Space Station

By
Angel Gimalo
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A new crew of astronauts has left Earth, bound for the International Space Station (ISS).

The quartet – Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Koichi Wakata, and Anna Kikina – departed Florida’s Kennedy Space Centre at exactly midday, local time.

Their SpaceX Falcon rocket has put them on a path to catch the orbiting outpost in about 29 hours’ time.

Nicole Mann is making a piece of history by becoming the first Native American to go to space.

Cosmonaut Kikina’s participation continues the ride share agreement between Russia and the US.

The two countries have promised to keep carrying each other’s spacefarers to orbit even though they are at odds over matters in Ukraine.

“Crew 5”, as Wednesday’s launch quartet are known in Nasa/SpaceX nomenclature, will temporarily boost the number of people living above the planet to 14.

This total is made up of the 11 who will shortly be occupying the ISS (Crew 5 will join seven individuals already aboard) and the three Chinese “taikonauts” currently inhabiting the Asian nation’s Tiangong space station.

Crew 5 is a mixture of first-timers and one hugely experienced flier.

ASUU Breakaway, CONUA Speaks On What They Will Do Differently

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA) a breakaway faction of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, has stated what the new union of lecturers will do differently in resolving the challenges rocking Nigerian universities, particularly on recurring strike actions.

CONUA’s National Coordinator, Dr. Niyi Sunmonu, emphasised the need to democratise the university setting, saying this was what the academics should be after, adding that academics must look at issues from different perspectives.

Sunmonu said there should not be a fixed perspective to issues, noting that it should not be a thing of “only this way or the highway.”

Sunmonu, while speaking in a television interview, said the use of strike action to press home demands in the country had been on for well over 40 years, saying, “in that period of 40 years, we’ve had different kinds of governments, the military dictators, the democracy that we all enjoy; we’ve had one response and that response is put pen to paper on agreement and renege on the agreement later.

“We are of the opinion that these agreements, to us, are actually done under duress; where you have the situation in which the other party which is the government that you’re actually discussing with, comes to a meeting with a relaxed mind that once they have an agreement that is workable; when they put pen to paper to sign, they would honour that.”

Sunmonu noted that even in situations of outright wars, “issues are resolved at the table; why can’t we devote more time to that so as to avoid casualties? In this case, casualties are parents and students.”

“We want to deploy all our faculties, all our networks to the area of discussions at the table that will lead to a win-win situation; discussions that will lead to an agreement that the other side will not feel it’s being compelled to do,” he said.

Asteroid Deliberately Struck By NASA Dart Probe Leaves Trail Of Debris

By
Angel Gimalo
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A new image shows that an asteroid which was deliberately struck by NASA’s Dart probe has left a trail of debris stretching thousands of kilometres.

A telescope in Chile captured the remarkable picture of a comet-like plume spreading behind the giant rock.

The probe was crashed last week to test whether asteroids that might threaten Earth can be nudged out of the way.

Scientists are working to establish whether the test was a success, and the asteroid’s trajectory altered.

The extraordinary image was taken two days after the collision by astronomers in Chile, who were able to capture the vast trail using the Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope (Soar).

It stretches for more than 10,000km (6,200 miles), and is expected to get even longer until it disperses completely, and looks like other space dust floating around.

“It is amazing how clearly we were able to capture the structure and extent of the aftermath in the days following the impact,” said Teddy Kareta, an astronomer involved in the observation.

The trail of debris would be monitored over the coming weeks and months, Michael Knight of the US Naval Research Laboratory said.

The $325m (£240m) Dart mission saw the probe deliberately smashed into the asteroid, destroying the spacecraft in the process. It will be some weeks before scientists know for sure whether their experiment has worked.

However, Dr Lori Glaze, the director of planetary science at Nasa, was convinced something remarkable had been achieved by the mission.

UNESCO, Others Celebrates World Teacher’s Day

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has joined other organisations to celebrate teachers all over the world on Wednesday.

In this year’s 2022 celebration, UNESCO said “Education is key for achieving the global goals and teachers are key for achieving inclusive, quality education and a better future for all.”

World Teachers’ Day 2022 has been themed, “The Transformation of Education Begins with Teachers.”

While celebrating the impact of teachers in education across the globe, the UN agency on Twitter also said, “Here’s a big shout out to all teachers across the world – for their unwavering dedication to future generations.”

World Teachers’ day is a joint initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Education International.

The day symbolises the implementation of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of teachers, concerning the rights and responsibilities of teachers and the standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions.

It also celebrates the adoption of the UNESCO recommendation concerning the status of higher-education teaching personnel by the UNESCO General Conference in 1997.

UNESCO proclaimed October 5 as World Teachers’ Day in 1994.

UK Energy: Investor To Take On Glenmuckloch Hydro Scheme

By
Angel Gimalo
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One of Scotland’s biggest landowners has agreed a deal that will end its day-to-day involvement in plans for a £250m hydro scheme at an old coal mine.

Buccleuch said Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners (FEIP) would now seek to take forward the project at Glenmuckloch near Kirkconnel.

Planning permission for the scheme was extended earlier this year.

The project would require hundreds of workers during construction and then create up to 15 long-term jobs.

Pumped Storage Hydro (PSH) works by releasing water from a higher waterbody to a lower one, passing it through one or more turbines to generate electricity.

Map

Water is then pumped back up the hill and stored in the upper reservoir until further electricity is required.

A wind farm on the old opencast mine site is also part of the plans.

Buccleuch said it had “worked tirelessly” to give a new life to the area after the collapse of ATH Resources nearly a decade ago.

Executive chairman Benny Higgins said: “Buccleuch has long spoken of the immense potential for a PSH and windfarm project at Glenmuckloch, a project which has been wholly privately funded.

“The project could have an incredibly positive impact on local communities, and also at a national level as we face the climate crisis.

“I am delighted that we have reached a deal with Foresight, who will take the projects forward onto the next steps and, ultimately, to energy generation.”

The deal will see Buccleuch lease the site to FEIP but it will retain ownership of the land.

Corruption In Education Sector Undermining Govt Investments- Pres. Buhari

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday in Abuja said corruption in education sector continues to undermine investments, while critics downplay funding by focusing only on budgetary allocations, urging a more comprehensive re-evaluation of expenditure.

The President, who declared open the Fourth National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector at the State House, noted that measuring financing of education sector should include total education budget of each year by both federal and state budgets and other financial commitments in their totality.

The Summit was organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Office of Secretary to Government of the Federation (OSGF) and Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

“This year’s summit will mirror how corruption undermines educational policies, investments and create an unfriendly learning environment for our youths.

“Incessant strikes especially by unions in the tertiary education often imply that government is grossly underfunding education, but I must say that corruption in the education system from basic level to the tertiary level has been undermining our investment in the sector and those who go on prolonged strikes on flimsy reasons are no less complicit.

“The 1999 Constitution places a premium on education by placing it on the Concurrent List, thereby laying the responsibilities of budgeting and underwriting qualitative education on both the Federal and State Governments.

“The total education budget for each year is therefore a reflection of both federal and state budgets and should be viewed other financial commitments in their totality.

“The allocation to education in the federal budget should not be considered via allocation to the Federal Ministry of Education and also academic institutions alone, but should include allocation to the Universal Basic Education, transfers to TETFUND and refund from the Education Tax Pool Account to TETFUND,’’ he said.

President Buhari noted that the aggregate education budget in all 36 states of the Federation and that of the Federal Government, combined with the internally generated revenues of the educational institutions themselves were also subjects that require attention of critics of government funding of education.

“In line with the National Policy on Education, this administration has been implementing the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme to provide a free balanced meal per day for each child that attends public primary school in order to encourage school enrolment and facilitate accesses to universal basic education.

“To mitigate the impact of security challenges on our schools, I signed the Safe Schools Declaration ratification document in December 2019. The Federal Ministry of Education followed up and developed the Minimum Standard for Safe Schools document in 2021, all part of the Safe Schools Initiative.

“The Safe Schools Initiative is an expression of government’s commitment to continue to work towards the protection of students, teachers and the school environments,’’ the President added.

He expressed concern on the manifestation of various forms of corruption in the education sector.

“Government and stakeholders in the educational sector are concerned about the manifestation of various forms of corruption in the education sector.

“I am aware that students in our universities for example, use different terminologies to describe different forms of corruption they experience on our campuses. There is sorting or cash for marks/grades, sex for marks, sex for grade alterations, examination malpractice, and so on.

“Sexual harassment has assumed an alarming proportion. Other forms of corruption include pay-roll padding or ghost workers, lecturers taking up full time appointments in more than one academic institution, including private institutions, lecturers writing seminar papers, projects and dissertations for students for a fee, and admission racketeering, to mention only the most glaring corrupt practices,’’ he said.

President Buhari commended the ICPC for investigating and prosecuting sexual harassment as abuse of power in educational institutions.

“I approve and encourage them to continue to do so,’’ he noted.

The President assured that the Government will continue to fund education within realistically available revenue, urging stakeholders, including the media to equally advocate for transparency in the amount generated as internally generated revenue by educational institutions and how such funds are expended.

“Corruption in the expenditure of internally generated revenue of tertiary institutions is a matter that has strangely not received the attention of stakeholders in tertiary education, including unions.

“I call on stakeholders to demand accountability in the administration of academic institutions and for unions to interrogate the bloated personnel and recurrent expenditure of their institutions. Let me also implore the Unions to work with government to put faces and identities to names on the payroll,’’ the President added.

President Buhari also said the Government will continue to guarantee access and establish minimum benchmarks for quality education.

“Due to declining resources, government cannot bear the cost of funding education alone. I task our academics to attract endowments, research and other grants to universities, polytechnics and colleges of education similar to what obtains in other countries.

“About two weeks ago, I participated in the 77th United Nations General Assembly, in New York. One of the key events was Transforming Education Summit Leaders Day, titled: Transforming Education to Transform the World: Learning to Live Together Sustainably.

“Nigeria joined other countries in committing ‘to the vision of Education for Sustainable Development and to the objectives of the Greening Education Partnership’ and building ‘education systems that foster ethical and socially responsible global citizens’ who actively contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

“That is a vision which we will continue to aspire and build,’’ President Buhari stated.

He congratulated the sole winner of 2022 Public Service Integrity Award, Superintendent Daniel Itse Amah, who rejected the sum of $200,000 to drop a case, and followed up with investigations until the culprit was prosecuted.

“I also commend the Chairman, ICPC, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Registrar of JAMB, for organizing this summit and bringing together the three arms of Government, MDAs and other stakeholders to deliberate on corruption in the educational sector of Nigeria.’’

President Buhari noted that he was pleased to have participated in each of the previous summits organized by the current Board of the ICPC, under the leadership of Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, SAN, in collaboration with the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, targeting different aspects of the administration’s commitment to fight corruption.

“From inception, this administration has consistently made the fight against corruption a cardinal pillar of its comprehensive commitments and agenda to reform the nation.

“We signed up to the Open Government Partnership and adopted the Open Government Declaration under which we committed to have robust anticorruption policies, mechanisms and practices that ensure transparency in the management of public finances and procurement, and to strengthen the rule of law.

“We have tried in the last seven years to keep faith with these commitments,’’ he added.

In his remarks, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said the education sector had steadily assumed a pariah status because of corruption that erodes values and resources, noting that education had become an enabler of corruption, instead of a tool for reforms and molding character.

According to him, “Corruption is eroding the practical purpose of education at all levels, primary, secondary and tertiary.’’

The SGF urged leaders in the education sector to emulate the JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Olarewaju Oloyede, who had provided “good example of anti-corruption leadership.’’

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, said “JAMB is without doubt one of the parastatals that has achieved what no other agency has achieved by extending the boundaries of transparency and accountability in public service.’’

He said corruption was a manifestation of educational failure in society.

In His keynote address, former Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, said perception of corruption corrodes the nation’s image among nations, adding “corruption stymies development, drains resources and weakens social contract with the people.’’

President Buhari was presented with an award of “Anti-Corruption Icon’’ by the Chairman and Board of the ICPC.

Ireland’s First Satellite Moves Closer To Launch

By
Angel Gimalo
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0

EIRSAT-1, developed by a team at UCD, is expected to launch from the ESA base in French Guiana later this year or in early 2023.

Ireland’s first satellite has moved a step closer to launch and is expected to reach space within the next few months.

EIRSAT-1, was designed, developed, built and tested at University College Dublin (UCD).

The launch window, from the European spaceport in French Guiana, is between mid-January and mid-February.

Dr David McKeown, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at UCD,  was engineering manager on the project.

EIRSTAT-1 stands for Educational Irish Research Satellite 1.

It will be launched 520km (323 miles) into the sky and will orbit the Earth for about five years before being returned to UCD.

Dr McKeown said: “When neutron stars and black holes collide, lots of energy comes out, goes across the universe.

“Our satellite will be able to detect this and help us better understand what is happening.”

The satellite was designed, developed, built and tested at University College Dublin (UCD)

When it started fived years ago, Dr McKeown said the main goal of the project was to simply build the satellite.

“It is really for the students, they have been able to develop, build and test the satellite which we hope can grow the industry in Ireland.”

With being the first satellite, the Irish government has to confirm it recognises EIRSAT-1 as an Irish mission, and intends to register the satellite on the UN Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space.

Dr McKeown hopes this will have “laid the ground work” for larger satellites in the future.

Nigerian Govt Registers Two Fractional Academic Unions

By
Rhoda Onuzulike
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The Federal Government on Tuesday broke the ranks of The Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) when it registered two unions in the university system.

The unions are the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA) and the Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA).

CONUA is a union for lecturers across the nation’s universities and it is led by a lecturer at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Niyi Sunmonu. The group was established in 2018 at OAU.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, explained that the two bodies will exist alongside ASUU.

He further stated that the two associations will enjoy the rights and privileges accorded to other academic unions in the tertiary education system.

It is not clear what the implication of recognising the bodies will be on the seven month-long industrial action embarked upon by ASUU.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14.

In August, the union declared a “total and indefinite” extension of its industrial action, noting that the government has failed to satisfactorily meets its demands.

The academics are seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands.

One bone of contention for the academics is the non-payment of university revitalisation funds, which amounts to about N1.1 trillion.

But the Federal Government has said it doesn’t have the money to pay such an amount, citing low oil prices during the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Imo State Gov Allows Free Medical Care For Civil Service

By
Olasunbo Okoromi
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Gov. Hope Uzodimma of Imo has approved free medical care for workers in the state’s workforce as part of the state’s Social Health Insurance Scheme.

Uzodimma gave the approval at a town hall meeting he held with top management staff of the Imo Civil Service, in Owerri.

The governor said the gesture was part of efforts to ensure that civil servants in the state remained healthy and well positioned to carry out their duties.

He added that more than 47,000 verified workers in the state would be captured by the scheme.

Uzodima therefore, directed the state’s Ministry of Health to immediately commence the process of getting all verified workers into the free medical scheme.

He also said that workers, at both state and Local Government levels, would be receiving medical care from government owned hospitals and designated private hospitals.

The state’s Head of Service, Mr Raymond Ucheoma, commended the governor for the kindness and untiring support to the welfare of workers.

He described the gesture as “a historic landmark and one of a kind”, noting that the promise would reinvigorate workers to continue putting in their best.

Uzodimma reassured workers who were due for promotion that they would all be promoted to boost their morale.

He also said that the shortfall in the number of teachers required by the Imo State Education Management Board (SEMB) would soon be a thing of the past as government had finalised plans to engage more teachers.

The meeting was attended by Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the state.

Others are permanent secretaries, directors of ministries, chairman of the Imo Internal Revenue Service and the general manager, Imo Data Centre.

Exploring Lake Yojoa, Honduras  

By
Angel Gimalo
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Lake Yojoa is known as the largest inland natural lake that can be found within the central part of the Republic of Honduras.

With a surface area of about 79 square km (31 square mi), the entire lake lies in a depression which was formed by volcanoes, and it is surrounded by mountains.

Being one of the fastest growing destinations for visitors of Honduras and the region, the entire area offers unique bio diverse experience which is accompanied by refreshingly safe and tranquil nature.

Surrounded by the forested mountains from the Santa Bárbara National Park and the Cerro Azul Meambar National Park, Yojoa is located right between the cities of Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, and most of the time serves like a rest area for the travelers.

In addition, the region around the lake is very popular tourist resort, where fishing, duck shooting on the lake and hunting in the surrounding hills are an experience plus for the adventurers who would like to soak up extra experience.

There are more than 400 species of birds that nestle around the lake, and some 800 plants have been identified.

The local community is more than welcoming for every visitor coming here, however, since the economy is not so good, the area around the lake is threatened by deforestation, cattle ranching and development.

Honduras, being one of the main contributors to the world’s coffee market, here visitors can see plantations of coffee, and witness how one of the best coffees in the world is being produced.

In conclusion, offering quite the thrilling experience, Lake Yojoa is something that should definitely be visited in the least visited country of Central America, and that experience should be shared with the rest of the world.

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