NYSC DG Commissions Project At Nasarawa Camp

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October 5, 2022

The price of 24 karat per tola gold witnessed a decrease of Rs150 on Wednesday and was sold at Rs148,300 against its sale at Rs148,450 the previous day.

The price of 10 gram 24 karat also decreased by Rs129 and was sold at Rs127,143 against Rs127,272; whereas that of 10 gram 22 karat went down to Rs116,548 against its sale at Rs116,666, All Sindh Sarafa Jewellers Association reported.

The price of per tola and ten gram silver remained constant at Rs1620 and Rs1,388.88 respectively.

The price of gold in international market increased by $5 and was sold at $1709 against its sale at $$1704, the association reported.

WTD 2022: Work In Progress For New Salary Structure Says NUT

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October 5, 2022

The Nigeria Union of Teachers says work is in progress towards the implementation of the new salary scale for teachers.

The Union’s Secretary-General, Dr Mike Ike-Ene, made this known in Abuja while speaking to Journalists on the occasion of 2022 World Teachers’ Day.

Ike-Ene also disclosed that the new teachers’ retirement age from 60-65years and 35-40years of service had attained 90percent implementation.

He also called on state governors owing teachers salary arrears to use their remaining months in office to pay off the arrears.

According to Ike-Ene, “many state governors owe primary school teachers and secondary schools months of salary arrears, many of these teachers have lamented over the inability and irregularities of the state to pay their salaries as and when due following the current economic situation in the country”

“Some state governments owe primary school teachers a backlog of salaries ranging from four to 18 months,“ he added.

The NUT Sec-Gen, commended state governors who had been committed to paying teachers’ salaries as and when due.

Meanwhile, the the Kwara State Government declared Wednesday, a work-free day for teachers in all primary and secondary schools across the state.

World Teachers’ Day is celebrated on 5th of October every year to appreciate teachers across the world

The theme of this Year’s celebration is ‘Teachers at the heart of education recovery.’

New Crew Of Astronauts Bound For International Space Station

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October 5, 2022

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

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October 5, 2022

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

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October 5, 2022

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

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October 5, 2022

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

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October 5, 2022

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

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October 5, 2022

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

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October 5, 2022