South Korea Reports Record High Electricity Use In First Half Of 2022

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July 11, 2022

South Korea’s electricity consumption rose to a record high in the first six months of this year.

Adding to the energy use is the scorching heat wave that’s hit the country earlier than usual with electricity usage in May and June higher than in any other month ever.

According to KEPCO and the Korea Power Exchange, electricity consumption in the first six months came to 269,432 gigawatts. up 3.9 percent from the same period last year.

It’s not just the usage that’s increased.

Energy prices in South Korea have been impacted by rising global energy prices.

The system marginal prices of energy surpassed the 15-cents-per-kilowatt mark for the first time this April an increase of one-hundred-and-65 percent from the same time last year.

The country spent 28.7 billion U.S. dollars on electricity in the first half of the year 60.7 percent higher than the same time last year and breaking the 23 billion dollar mark for the first time ever.

Energy consumption is expected to break records in the second half of this year.

The early heat wave has already pushed energy demand above the levels seen in the summer of 2018 which was the hottest summer on record.

Pres. Buhari Urges ASUU To Reconsider Its Position On the Ongoing Strike

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 11, 2022

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President Muhammadu Buhari has called on Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to reconsider their position on the prolonged strike.

Buhari who made this known on Monday in Daura, Katsina, when he received some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), legislators and political leaders at his residence expressed worry over the educational system and future development of the country.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President said the strike had already taken a toll on the psychology of parents, students and other stakeholders, throwing up many moral issues that already beg for attention.
He noted that the future of the country rests on the quality of educational institutions and education, while assuring that the government understands their position, and negotiations should continue, with students in lecture halls.

In his words, “We hope that ASUU will sympathise with the people on the prolonged strike. Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at home. Don’t hurt the next generation for goodness sake.

According to him, students from Nigerian universities will be faced with the challenge of competing with others in a highly connected and technology-driven work space, and keeping them at home only deprives them of time, skill and opportunities to be relevant on the global stage.

“Colonial type education was geared towards producing workers in government. Those jobs are no longer there. Our young people should get education to prepare them for self-employment. Now education is for the sake of education.

“Through technology we are much more efficient. We should encourage our children to get education, not only to look for government jobs,” he added.

President Buhari said resources should be channeled more into building infrastructure and operations of the health and educational sector, not to expand the bureaucracy to create job opportunities.

“By this time next year, I would have made the most out of the two terms, and the remaining months I will do my best,” the President noted.

Ever Heard Of Guiana Space Center In French Guiana?

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Angel Gimalo

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July 11, 2022

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Guiana Space Centre is a French and European spaceport located near Kourou in French Guiana.

The Space Center most commonly is known by its French name Centre Spatial Guyanais.

The location was chosen the be built in French Guiana in 1968 due to its closeness to the equator, so that the spinning earth can impart some extra velocity to the rockets for free when launched eastward, and the most important, it was an uninhabited territory to the east, more likely the lower stages of rockets and debris if something accident wise was ever to happen, would not fall on where people live.

Before its construction, in 1964 the French Government chose Kourou from 14 other sites, and When the European Space Agency came into being in 1975, the French Government offered to share the center.

Also, there are commercial launches which are bough by a non-European companies, which helps maintaining the complex, although the European Space Agency pays two-thirds of the space center’s budget.

To date, the European Space Agency has invested more than €1.6 billion in improving and developing the ground facilities at Europe’s Space Center.

The European Space Agency owns the special infrastructure built for the Ariane launchers, this includes launcher and satellite preparation buildings, launch operation facilities and a plant for making solid propellant. Honestly, the future might be similar like the launches which are being done here.

Macron Reappoints BUA Group Chairman As President, France Nigeria Business Council

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Angel Gimalo

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July 11, 2022

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Abdul Samad Rabiu, Founder and Chairman of BUA Group, one of Africa’s largest foods, mining, manufacturing and infrastructure companies, has been re-appointed as President of the France Nigeria Business Council by President Emmanuel Macron of France. This was announced at the July 2022 Meeting of the France Nigeria Business Council held in Paris.

Addressing the council, Abdul Samad Rabiu thanked members for coming and remarked that it was a personal honour for him to be a part of the France Nigeria Business Council, and also a privilege to serve as the pioneer President of the Council which was inaugurated just over a year ago and now, be reappointed as President.

He also thanked President Macron for his support and, for reappointing him as well as Jean Haas of Relais (France) as President of the Council, and Head of the Secretariat respectively.

The France Nigeria Business Council brings together the top businesses in Nigeria and France with a goal of improving business relations between Nigeria and France whilst ensuring routine cooperation that will bring about immense economic benefits for both countries.

French members of the council include the Global Chief Executives of Total Energies, Dassault, Axens, Accor, CMA, amongst others and on the Nigerian side, Dr Mike Adenuga of Globacom & Conoil, Jim Ovia of Zenith Bank, Gilbert Chagoury of Chagoury Group, Aliko Dangote of Dangote Group, Tony Elumelu of UBA, Heirs Holdings and Tony Elumelu Foundation, Dr. Herbert Wigwe of Access Bank Group, Dr. Philip Mshelbila of NLNG, Sen. Daisy Danjuma of Sapetro and May & Baker, and Abdul Samad Rabiu of BUA Group & the Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa) who is the current president.

Speaking further, Abdul Samad Rabiu praised the progress that has been made by the France Nigeria Business Council since its inauguration and the commitment of members – despite slow global recovery, in pushing forward with various partnerships.

These include plans by some of Nigeria’s biggest banks to set up subsidiaries in France, and BUA’s partnership with Axens of France to build a 200,000bpd refinery in Akwa Ibom, Nigeria amongst other key projects by members.

Abdul Samad also encouraged members of this council to keep seeking for partnership opportunities, whilst planning, working together and adding value to each other so that successes already being created can be escalated for the mutual economic benefit of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy and, France – a global economic leader.

It is also expected that Rabiu’s current tenure will see the creation of working sub-committees and sectoral groups to enhance the council’s effectiveness.

Once Upon A Time – July 11 – 1900 – Charlotte Cooper Becomes 1st female Olympic Tennis Champion

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Angel Gimalo

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July 11, 2022

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1405 Chinese fleet commander Zheng He sets sail on his first major expedition, to the Spice Islands, leading 208 vessels, including 62 treasure ships with 27,800 sailors

1533 Pope Clement VII excommunicates England’s King Henry VIII

1818 English poet John Keats writes “In the Cottage Where Burns is Born”, “Lines Written in the Highlands”, and “Gadfly”

1877 Kate Edger becomes New Zealand’s first woman graduate and first woman in the British Empire to earn a Bachelor of Arts

1944 Franklin Roosevelt announces that he will run for a fourth term as President of the United States

1995 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men are massacred when Bosnian Serbs overrun the UN ‘safe haven’ of Srebrenica

Historical Events Today
Today in Film & TV
1967 “The Newlywed Game” premieres in the US on ABC TV

2013 “Orange Is the New Black” premieres on Netflix starring Taylor Schilling, first series to be nominated for comedy and drama Emmy awards

Today in Music
1969 David Bowie releases the single “Space Oddity” 9 days before Apollo 11 lands on the moon

Today in Sport
1900 Charlotte Cooper beats Hélène Prévost to become the 1st female Olympic tennis champion and the 1st individual female Olympic champion in any sport

1960 “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is first published by J. B. Lippincott & Co.

2015 Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán escapes from Altiplano maximum-security prison west of Mexico City via a specially constructed 1.5 km tunnel from his cell to a nearby house

Famous Weddings
1867 Businesswoman Hetty Green (32) weds Edward Henry Green

1877 Scientist and inventor Alexander Graham Bell (30) weds Mabel Hubbard (19) at the Hubbard estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts

1895 Accused spy Mata Hari (18) weds Dutch colonial army Captain Rudolph MacLeod in Amsterdam

NDLEA boss urges youths to shun Drug abuse

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Cleopatra Okohai

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July 11, 2022

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Mrs. Archie-Abia Ibinabo, Commander, Idiroko Borderland Special Area Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, has cautioned youths against drug abuse, charging them to live a meaningful life.

Ibinabo gave the advice in an interview with the Newsmen on Sunday in Idiroko, Ogun.

She admonished the youths to shun abuse of drugs and illicit drug trafficking and to channel their energies toward profitable engagements to fulfill their dreams.

According to her, abuse of drugs will lead to addiction and the destruction of their dreams.

She, however, called for concerted efforts to engage the youths in different skills and create employment opportunities for them to be able to withstand the pressure.

Ibinabo lamented that there was so much disconnect in the society, noting that there was a need to go back to the old method of engaging the youths in the system ‘’because they are the generation we are living now.’’

“On our part, we have started a football club in Idiroko axis so that we can bring the youths out of the streets and channel their energies towards profitable engagement.

“We should be determined to involve them as this would make them have a sense of belonging and prevent them from going into crime,” she said.

Two Petroleum Training Institute Students Die in Delta Farm Explosion

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Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 11, 2022

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Two students of the Petroleum Training Institute, Effurun, have been confirmed dead in the explosion that rocked Matrix Energy Tank Farm at Ifiekporo, Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State.

The two students identified as Omare Sunny of the Mechanical Engineering Department and Godstime Chuks of the Petroleum Engineering Department were working as interns in the facility and were on duty when the explosion occurred last Friday night.

Confirming the death of the PTI students in a signed press statement made available to journalists in Warri, the President of the institution’s Students Union Government, Comrade Esharedoro Efe, faulted the management of the oil firm for insisting that there was no casualties recorded in the Friday night fire at the company’s gas depot facility.

While revealing that the incident claimed three lives on the spot, with two of them being PTI students working as interns in the facility who were also on duty when the explosion occurred, the statement affirmed that the deceased students were National Diploma graduates, and were undergoing their mandatory one-year industrial training exercise in the company until their demise.

The PTI SUG, therefore, urged the management of Matrix Energy Tank Farm to debunk what it described as the company’s “misguided information” that no casualty was recorded from the explosion that occurred on July 8, 2022, and reach out to the family of the deceased students within 24 hours.

The statement, which was also copied to the Delta State Government, the Department of State Services, and the PTI management, among others, read partly, “Our attention has been drawn to a communique from Matrix Energy Limited stating that no casualty was recorded from the explosion that occurred on the 8th of July, 2022.

“It is on record that two National Diploma graduates of the Petroleum Training Institute, who were undergoing their Industrial Training by name Comr. Omare Sunny and Comr. Godstime Chuks from Mechanical Engineering Department and Petroleum Engineering Department respectively lost their lives to the cold hands of death due to that explosion. Such information is misguided, inhuman, unfair and evil.

“We frown at this occurrence and blame the management for not putting all necessary safety precautions in place which however, has led to the death of two young and vibrant students preparing for Higher National Diploma at their early prime.

“It is based on this, we are calling on the management of Matrix Energy Limited to as a matter of urgency debunk that information as it is capable of causing chaos in the students community and as such reach out to the family of the deceased with immediate effect.

“Failure to do this within the next 24hours, we shall be left with no other option than to mobilise our students in full force to shut down all forms of operations in that company.

“While hoping that justice will be served, we call on all concerned students both past and present to remain calm and not panic as we will be engaging the PTI National Alumni and relevant stakeholders to also swing into full action soonest.

“Until the right thing is done and justice is served nothing shall discourage us”.

Meanwhile, News correspondent has gathered that the remains of five persons were recovered from a river in the aftermath of the explosion that rocked the Matrix Energy Tank Farm.

The lifeless bodies were reportedly recovered by local divers on Sunday afternoon along the Warri river bank.

The discovery of the dead bodies was coming a day after a delegation of the Delta State Government claimed that no life was lost to the inferno.

The government delegation however certified 12 persons injured in the incident and were admitted at the Ogiame Ikenwoli Hospital, Ubeji for treatment while Fred Olumoro, the Matrix Group Head of Safety, hinted that the recovered bodies drowned while fleeing for safety from the fire outbreak.

WHO launches new guidelines on Tuberculosis care, support

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Cleopatra Okohai

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July 11, 2022

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The World Health Organisation has announced the launch of a new operational handbook and updated guidelines on tuberculosis care and support.

The WHO said the launch of the operational handbook and updated guidelines is to enhance the well-being of tuberculosis patients and improve treatment outcomes.

According to the global health organisation, the operational handbook provides information on the implementation guidance on health education, counselling, and palliative care, as well as, social support, treatment administration options, and digital adherence technologies.

The Director of WHO’s Global tuberculosis Programme, Dr. Tereza Kasaeva said, “It is vital that all people suffering from TB should receive adequate care and support through their pathway to cure, to enable them to complete their treatment and have positive outcomes.

“This new guidance from WHO puts the people with tuberculosis at the heart of the response and represents an important step forward to ensure all those in need attain the highest standard of tuberculosis care.”

The WHO stated that the new WHO Operational Handbook on Tuberculosis, Module 4: Treatment – Tuberculosis Care and Support is to help in the implementation of WHO recommendations by the Member States, technical partners, and others who partake in providing care to tuberculosis patients.

“It provides practical guidance on how to put in place the recommended treatment options at the scale needed to achieve national and global impact and emphasises the interventions recommended to improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes,” it said.

The UN health body further added that The WHO Consolidated Guidelines on Tuberculosis, Module 4: Treatment – Tuberculosis Care and Support includes all present-day WHO recommendations on care and support for individuals living with tuberculosis, with the intent to enlighten health care professionals in the Member States on how to achieve better treatment outcomes and improve the quality of life of individuals being treated for tuberculosis.

“This encompasses guidance on the implementation of interventions that enable treatment adherence including through social support, treatment administration options, and digital adherence technologies.

“Importantly, for the first time in WHO operational guidance, two important chapters are included on health education and counselling, and palliative care. Information is provided on different aspects of care and support for all tuberculosis patients, including children and adolescents, people living with HIV, and comorbidities and discusses the management of tuberculosis during health emergencies.

“The updated guidelines and supporting operational handbook are designed for use by national tuberculosis programmes, or their equivalents in Ministries of Health, policymakers and technical organizations working on tuberculosis and infectious diseases in public and private sectors and the community.

“These documents aim to facilitate uptake of WHO policy in the field and thus improve the overall quality of tuberculosis services,” the global health organisation said.

UN says World population growth slowing, to reach 8 billion by year’s end

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Cleopatra Okohai

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July 11, 2022

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The global population is continuing to increase but growth is becoming slower, according to a new UN report released to mark World Population Day on Monday.

“In 2020, the growth rate of the global population fell under one per cent per year for the first time since 1950,” the report notes.

Despite the regional differences, John Wilmoth, director of the UN’s Population Division, sees opportunities in this development for developing countries.

Alongside fighting poverty and hunger, there could be benefits in education, because fewer children mean more attention per child.

“When the average family size goes down, it becomes possible for both families and societies to invest more in each child and to raise the quality of the education and develop the human capital of the population,” Wilmoth told dpa.

At the same time, lower birth rates mean an ageing population overall and a larger proportion of people being at an age where they need assistance.

This will also be affected by an increase in life expectancy from 72.8 in 2019 to 77.2 in 2050, the UN estimates.

More and more high-income countries will slip into negative population trends like Japan has already done today.

To maintain a stable growth rate, countries like Germany would need to rely on migration.

Despite the slowdown in growth, the UN expects the world’s population to pass the eight billion mark before the end of the year – probably around November 15.

By 2030, researchers predict around 8.5 billion people, then a peak of around 10.4 billion in 2080.

Numbers are expected to remain at that level until around 2100.

Wilmoth warned that projections for developments 80 years from now should be taken with a grain of salt.

“For the next 30 or 40 years, we know pretty well what’s going to happen with the population of individual countries and globally.

But beyond that, you’re starting to look at two or three generations out into the future.

In that timeframe, there’s a lot more uncertainty,” he said.

Gov. Wike Troll As Son Graduate From UK Amidst ASUU Strike

By

Rhoda Onuzulike

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July 11, 2022

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Some Nigerians on social media, Monday, expressed displeasure over the graduation of the first son of the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, from a university in the United Kingdom amidst the lingering strike action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

The academic activities in public universities in Nigeria have been shut down for close to 147 days.

ASUU had on February 14, 2022, announced the commencement of industrial action following the failure of the government to meet some lingering demands of the union.

But the first son of Gov. Nyesom Wike, who also happens to be a former Minister of State for Education under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, graduated with a second-class upper degree in law from the University of Exeter, United Kingdom.

Commenting on the development on social media, a Facebook user, Remi Mowo, said, “Rubbing salt on injuries? They refused to develop the education sector in Nigeria and why? Their wards are schooling abroad. ASUU can be on strike forever. They do not care. Wike was also a former education minister.”

Another Facebook user, Chika Okwuolisa, said, “Their sons and daughters will keep graduating overseas while students in Nigeria haven’t seen the four walls of their classrooms in more than six months due to strike. How low and insensitive can we get in this country?”

Similarly, another Facebook user, Chris Ughanze, said, “Congratulations to the graduating son. However, ASUU strike has entered five months and some lecturers and students are campaigning for the All Progressives Congress/Peoples Democratic Party to remain in power. They have destroyed our education, healthcare system and economy and have treasuries stashed abroad where their own children and caprices are made beneficiaries of the loot.

“There is a limit to which one could endure cruelty and disservice of leaders enthroned to serve.

ASUU embarked on strike in 2013 during Wike’s tenure as supervising minister of the ministry of education.