Bank of Industry (BOI) shook off the cost pressures from pandemic lockdowns that depressed its bottom-line by 9.6 per cent in 2020 to record a post-tax profit, which jumped eight times over the previous year, according to the financials of the Abuja-based development bank seen by PREMIUM TIMES.
The comeback hung on its bumper revenue of N184.6 billion which, thanks to a much-improved net interest income that eclipsed that of the previous year by 40 per cent.
More than it did the year before, the government-controlled lender earned the bulk of its interest income from investment in debt instruments.
Standing at N107.5 billion this time, it surpassed the combined value of other contributors to that earnings category including loans & advances plus placements with financial institutions.
But for all that, the coronavirus crisis, although not widely devastating as it was in 2021, still had its reverberations across the balance sheet.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Kaduna State on Friday said its operatives seized 505.343Kg of drugs and arrested 105 suspects in June in the state.
The Commander, Kaduna state Command, Umar Adoro, disclosed this in an interview with newsmen in Kaduna.
Adoro said that the agency also dismantled 10 illicit drug joints within the period.
According to him, the joints, included Trailer Park Maraba Jos, Badarawa, Angwan Dosa, Barnawa and Standard Palace Hotel.
“Others are Sabon Tasha, Kudandan, Maraban Yakawada in Giwa, Makarfi and Hunkuyi all in Kaduna state.
He said that the drugs seized within the period included Cannabis Sativa 229.257kg; Cocaine 0.212kg; heroine 0.033kg; Tramadol 5.287kg; psychotropic substance 270.448kg and methamphetamine 0.106kg.
He said that out of 105 suspects, 99 were males while six were females.
Adoro, however, appealed to parents and guardians to be watchful of their children all the times.
He reassured Kaduna citizens of the commitment of NDLEA to rid the area of all forms of drug trafficking and drug abuse.
He therefore advised drug traffickers to engage in legitimate businesses or stand the risk of arrest and prosecution.
July 21, 1776 — Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams, took an active role in politics and became known as a prolific letter-writer.
On this day, she wrote to her husband describing reaction to the Proclamation for Independence being read out at Boston, Massachusetts:
“Last Thursday, after hearing a very good sermon, I went with the multitude into King Street to hear the Proclamation for Independence read and proclaimed.
“The troops appeared under arms, and all the inhabitants assembled there (the smallpox prevented many thousands from the country), when Colonel Crafts read from the balcony of the State House the proclamation.
“Great attention was given to every word. As soon as he ended, the cry from the balcony was, ‘God save our American states,’ and then three cheers which rent the air.
“The bells rang, the privateers fired, the forts and batteries, the cannon were discharged, the platoons followed, and every face appeared joyful.
“After dinner the King’s Arms were taken down from the State House, and every vestige of him from every place in which it appeared, and burnt in King Street.
“Thus ends royal authority in this State. And all the people shall say Amen.”
Source: Familiar Letters to John Adams and His Wife, Abigail Adams, During the Revolution, 1876.
A rare anchor “only seen a handful of times in the last 200 years” has been uncovered in a small harbour in Devon.
The anchor was found by a local history group in Turnchapel, Plymouth, is believed to date to the 1800s and to have come from a Royal Navy ship.
It appeared at the base of a harbour wall with its wooden stock attached.
Archaeologists have been excavating and said it was an “amazing opportunity… to engage people with maritime archaeology”.
Mallory Haas, Director and Maritime Archaeologist for The SHIPS Project Community Interest Company said: “Anchors of this age and style with their wooden stocks are very rare, and being able to have one that is on the foreshore is rather amazing.”
“I have only seen one other one that was in the mud on the Thames river in London.
The team hopes to find out more about the origins of the anchor
“We can approximate its age due to it being incorporated into the South harbour wall, the anchor likely dates to the early 1800s, and is English in design and is also likely Royal Navy, however we did not find any markings, like the broad arrow.”
The anchor was first spotted by the Turnchapel History Group and is thought to have been laid against the harbour wall prior to it being built, and incorporated into the harbour landscape.
Those involved now intend to make a detailed drawing of the anchor from the measurements gathered and compare it to known designs and to understand the type or size of ship it may have come from.
A new law stopping businesses in Jersey from providing customers with single-use plastic bags comes into force on Thursday.
The Single Use Plastics Law also means shops will have to charge at least 70p per reusable bag.
It aims to encourage people to take their own shopping bags and reuse them.
Deputy Inna Gardiner put forward the initial proposals and said she hoped people would “embrace this cultural change”.
The law applies to most plastic and paper bags being provided by all businesses including shops, takeaways, event organisers and marketeers with some specific exemptions.
The States said it shows they are “supporting the global reduction in carbon emissions associated with production, transportation, and disposal of bags”.
Posters have been distributed to shops and other businesses in Jersey to explain the new law and a series of factsheets are available online.
Deputy Gardiner added: “I never thought we would see this come into effect so soon after breaking temperature records.
“I hope islanders embrace this cultural change and maybe even have a favourite bag they use every time they go to the shops.
“This is one way everybody in Jersey can show they want to protect the environment and do something to reduce global emissions.”
If traders have non-compliant single use bags still in stock, they can continue to use these for the next six months.
They may be asked to prove the bags were delivered prior to the law coming in and traders failing to comply with the new law may be fined up to £1,000.
Four college students have kayaked 200 miles (321km) to raise awareness of water pollution.
The team of water sports enthusiasts from Gloucestershire began their 9-day challenge to kayak the length of the River Thames on 13 July.
They reached their final destination in Canvey Island, Essex, on 21 July.
Stuart Williams, head of outdoor at Cirencester College, accompanied the group. He said: “The students proved themselves. They nailed it.”
The idea was a collaborative effort which came to fruition after several years of planning, he said.
Mr Williams, who developed a passion after studying environmental sciences, said he wanted “to pass those values on to the students I teach.”
“Having seen a few things in the media we wanted to support this and raise awareness. I feel like we’ve regressed a bit”, he added.
The group travelled in five kayaks from the source of the Thames near Coates in Cirencester.
Their journey began on foot, carrying the kayaks for the first 11 miles (17.7km).
As they kayaked the remaining 189 miles (304.1km) along the river, the students collected water samples to work out which sections of the Thames are the most polluted.
The samples will be tested for traces of nitrate and phosphorus, two substances that show up in high levels if water is polluted.
The US and Europe are remodelling their plans to bring rock samples back from Mars, for study in Earth laboratories.
They hope to simplify the process, cut risk and cost using helicopters instead of a British-built “fetch rover”.
Airbus UK engineers, who have been developing the concept for years, have been expressing disappointment, at the Farnborough International Airshow 2022.
Also at the Hampshire show, Italian aerospace giant Leonardo signed a €55m (£46m) deal for key mission hardware.
Its trade stand exhibited an actual-size model of a robotic arm – complete with “shoulder”, “elbow” and “wrist” – it will now deliver to US space agency Nasa by November 2025.
South Korea’s newly developed 4.5-generation fighter, the KF-21 roars into the air, for its first test flight.
It took off at 3:40 PM from Sacheon airport located in the south of the country and flew for around 30 minutes at 400 kilometers per hour.
The flight came more than 20 years after the country officially announced that it will develop its own “advanced fighter jet” and 6 years after actual development began by Korea Aircraft Industries, or KAI in 2015.
With that, South Korea is edging closer to becoming the eighth country in the world to have developed its own supersonic fighter jet.
So far, countries including the U.S., Russia, China, Japan, France, Sweden and the European consortium comprised of UK, Germany, Italy and Spain have developed such aircraft.
For the next four years, more prototypes will be put test flown.
“Until 2026, we will test the aircraft by putting prototypes through around 2-thousand flights. Manufacturing will begin from 2026, and a total of 120 aircraft will be given to the South Korean Air Force by 2032.”
Developing the KF-21 is a key part of South Korea’s project that’s aimed at replacing its fleet of ageing F-4s and F-5s.
It was designed to fly at a top speed of 1.8 times the speed of sound and is capable of carrying four medium-range air-to-air missiles called the ‘Meteor’, that has a combat range of 200 kilometers and can fly at Mach 4.5.
The War in the Pacific National Historical Park is a protected historical area which was established in 1978 in honor of those who participated in the World War II, and it is located in Apra Harbor , within the unincorporated and organized territory of the United States of America, Guam.
There are various sites that comprise this historic and interestingly big park, and it is scattered across the island in seven units.
As it honors the bravery, courage and great sacrifice of the people who were part of the big Pacific Theater of World War II, it also shows how the life of the ordinary citizens were affected by the great conflicts between the Allies and the Axis Powers.
There were tens of thousands of Americans and Japanese soldiers who died during the assault on Guam, and the visitors of the island nowadays, who enjoy in the warm climate, sandy beaches, and turquoise waters are able to see guns and other structures erected to defend the island by both Japanese and American forces.
Guam was captured by the Japanese forces in 1941, and later in 1944 liberated by the US Army, which uncovered and left plenty of gun emplacements, trenches and caves.
On the former battlefields there were not only soldiers of the USA and Japan, however, there were soldiers from Australia, Canada, China, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the Soviet Union, who were fighting in order not just for this part of the planet to be free, however, the entire world.
Nonetheless, the tourists that are visiting the small island, are having the opportunity to learn about the events that lead to the outbreak of the Pacific War, the Battle of Guam and the role the Mariana Islands that played in helping to end the World War II, and the people who were caught in the middle, in whose waters the battles were fought.
An interesting and impressive site which deserves to be well known so that nobody will forget the war that took so many lives in order not to be repeated again.
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