FILE PHOTO: A man carries a Union Jack themed shopping bag as he walks along an empty shopping street in Blackpool, Britain, March 9, 2021. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
Staff and supply shortages have taken their toll on the UK’s economic recovery this month, according to a closely watched survey.
The IHS Markit/CIPS Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for August hit a six-month low of 55.3, falling from 59.2 in July.
Any reading above 50 indicates growth, but the bounce-back from the pandemic is losing momentum, said researchers.
CIPS group director Duncan Brock said the figures were “a stark warning”.
He said the “abnormally large slowdown in overall activity” suggested that the accelerated levels of growth seen earlier in the summer were “not sustainable”.
“The worst shortages of staff and materials on record are mostly to blame,” he added.
1996 Osama bin Laden issues message entitled “A declaration of war against the Americans occupying the land of the two holy places”
2005 Hurricane Katrina forms over the Bahamas, later becoming a category 5 hurricane
Today in Film & TV
1933 First televised boxing match — 6-round exhibition at Broadcasting House in London between middleweights Archie Sexton and Lauri Raiteri; aired by BBC-TV
1946 “The Big Sleep” directed by Howard Hawks and starring Humphrey Bogart (Philip Marlowe) and Lauren Bacall, premieres
Today in Music
1994 Jeff Buckley releases his album “Grace”, featuring his cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”
Today in Sport
1933 First televised boxing match — 6-round exhibition at Broadcasting House in London between middleweights Archie Sexton and Lauri Raiteri; aired by BBC-TV
Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know?
World War II: last cavalry charge in history takes place at Isbushenskij, Russia; the Italian Savoia Cavalleria charges Soviet infantry
Nigeria’s external reserves could be heading toward the mid-july trough as it failed to sustain the momentum it started four weeks ago.
The figures have been on a downtrend since August 11 after what appeared like a rally turned out to be a breather from the bearish trend of the past year.
The reserves had risen from an over one-year low when the gross component touched $33.09 billion and the liquid portion estimated at $32.85 billion. Thereafter, a gradual but consistent accretion started, hitting an average of $33.45 billion on august 10 in a fleeting rally.
The figure could only regain 1.5 per cent of its losses when it started a retracement on August 11. The modest rally, which lasted for a month, had raised hope on the outlook of the country’s external reserves.
Last week, the gross reserves closed at $33.52 billion while the liquid (or available) form was $33.24 billion, bringing the average figure to $33.38 billion.
Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has distanced itself from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) drafted by the Federal Government and vehemently refused to sign the document as a commitment to ending its ongoing industrial action.
The association described the MoU as a veiled punishment for doctors, who are to bear the brunt of government’s failures.
NMA’s intervention was to end the resumed strike of the residents doctors which enters its twenty third day on Monday.
Recall that resident doctors on August 1 commenced a strike over alleged failure of the Federal Government to implement an agreement bordering on salaries and allowances.
NARD President, Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, who declined his assent owing to an undisclosed clause insisted the leadership has to get the nod of members before he could sign the document.
The Minister of Labour and Employment said at the end of the six-hour meeting that all other unions in the negotiation including the NMA and the Medical and Dental Consultants of Nigeria signed the new agreement.
Chris Ngige disclosed that the meeting did not discuss the issue of ‘No Work No Pay’ but that all parties at the meeting agreed to an out of court settlement.
The National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado on Friday, August 20, 2021 said rain was detected at the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet for the first time since records began.
The ice sheet’s summit is at an altitude of 3,216 metres above sea level and precipitation normally falls as snow.
However, on Aug. 14, temperatures hovered above freezing for about nine hours, leading to a massive melting of ice and snow.
According to the NSIDC report, a low-pressure system meeting a high-pressure system resulted in warm air and moisture being pushed over the ice sheet, leading to the temperature anomaly.
Large melting events are becoming increasingly frequent as the effects of climate change begin to be felt.
According to records, similar events took place in 1995, 2012 and 2019, and before that, drill core analyses suggest at some time in the late 19th century.
The Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria has provided solar min-grid for an uninterrupted power supply to Kalaba Community in Bayelsa State.
In a press release issued on the subject, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) said it implemented the project with technical support from Community Research and Development Centre (CREDC) in the establishment of the project.
The 8.5 kw power project was completed and commissioned recently by a representative of Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo, Executive Director of ERA/FoEN, Barrister Nosa Tokunbor.
The solar mini-grid station has been channeled to supply electricity to houses in the community, the resuscitated borehole that was hitherto dysfunctional, provision of pumping machine powered by solar, and extension of solar light to the Community Health Centre.
Over 30 households and a population of about 3,000 people are benefitting from the Photovoltaic systems as well as the community health centre, water supply and solar lights receiving power supply from the solar mini-grid.
Barr. Tokunbor, charged the beneficiaries to jealously protect and properly manage the solar-mini grid system so as to enjoy the maximum benefits especially by children who need the light source to read their books at nighttime and also enhancing women’s cooking during the nightfall.
Dr Ojo commended the Netherlands Embassy and the Kalaba community and stated that the project was in line with the Paris Agreement of 2015 to reduce carbon emissions released into the atmosphere and the urgency for energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources.
The Kebbi State Government has commenced the distribution of 40,000 economic tree seedlings to the public across the 21 Local Government Areas to improve afforestation in the state.
Gov. Atiku Bagudu made this known at the flag-off of distribution of the tree seedlings at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, on Thursday, August 19, 2021.
He said the aim was to enhance afforestation, check desertification and make the environment habitable.
The economic tree seedlings distributed included orange, mango, date, moringa, cashew, pawpaw, guava, banana, among others.
Bagudu, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Umar Babale-Yauri, said the government would continue to empower farmers and other residents to improve their income.
“This is personally targeted at boosting both the environment as well as the economy of our farmers.“We don’t only plant trees, we also look at our environment to make it habitable and combat desertification at the same time.
“It is the conviction of the state government that we have to empower our farmers, not only in terms of agricultural inputs, but also in other areas that can give the farmers a source of capital income,” he said.
Bagudu commended the ministry for nurturing the economic trees distributed to the public.
“This shows how committed the staff of the ministry are, and shows that youths have been put into the ministry.
“That is why we are seeing new innovations which are very good to the government and the people of the state,” the governor said.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural resources, Malam Hayatu Bawa, said: “We have about 40,000 of these trees here that are meant for the general public.
“We would try to be just in distributing them and we would distribute the seedlings to local government areas across the state; targeting the identified farmers.
“This will help us to control desertification, knowing fully well that the desertification is one of our major environmental challenges, not only in Kebbi State, but across Nigeria.
“We are losing 3.5 per cent of our land to desertification every year. And the distribution of the seedlings is one way to contain this problem.
”Bawa commended the governor for supporting the ministry and disclosed plans to commence massive tree planting across the state, to reinforce the afforestation system.
“We want to roll out much afforestation in the state and we are also trying to improve our forest reserves.
“We have 20 forest reserves in the state. Some of these forest reserves are being attacked by the people to make charcoal, we are trying to prevent this from continuing,” he said.
The commissioner, however, appealed to the state government to allow the ministry to recruit forest rangers, to replace those who retired.
China will plant 36,000 square kilometres of new forest a year – more than the total area of Belgium – from this year to 2025 as it bids to combat climate change and better protect natural habitats, a senior forestry official.
Tree planting has been at the heart of China’s environmental efforts for decades and is a major part of plans to bring carbon emissions down to net zero by 2060.
China aims to raise its overall forest coverage rate to 24.1% by the end of 2025 from 23.04% at the end of last year, according to its forest and grassland five-year plan published this week.
The plan warned that China’s forest and grass resources were inadequate, especially in drought-prone regions in the north and west.
A professor of Medicine, Dr. Michael Asuzu has warned Nigerians against using petrol, kerosene, or engine oil to stop bleeding, noting that they are ineffective.
According to Asuzu, rather than applying petrol, kerosene, or engine oil on injuries to stop bleeding, what should be considered is the tying of a tight rope on the upper part of the body with the injury to stop the flow of blood through the veins to the wound.
Asuzu, who is a professor at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, said those applying kerosene, petrol, or engine oils to a bleeding wound or burn are wasting their time because those items don’t have any mechanism to stop the bleeding.
According to him, such practice is a futile attempt to mimic the old traditional way of treating injuries when edible oils are used to stop bleeding.
Azusu said people wrongly assume that petrol or other motor oil can be used in place of palm oil in treating such accidents.
Speaking with in an interview, Asuzu said, “In traditional medicine, if you have burns, you soften banana or plantain leaves with oil on it. You sterilise it over the fire and put it on the wound.
“Dressing the injury with some oil on it eases out the pain and facilitates healing.
“It is the supposition that petrol is like palm oil or any of these natural oils you use to reduce inflammation or reactions. That is the thought they have in their head but that is not the correct oil for it.”
The health expert said that petrol is not oil as it has ingredients that are alien to the natural ingredients in edible oils.
Instead of engaging in such unhelpful practice, he advised that to stop bleeding on wounds, “tie a tight rope on the upper part of the body that is bleeding.
“This stops blood from flowing through the veins and arteries that to that wound. If it is not a major wound, you put pressure on the blood vessel, once your hand is there long enough, it will clog but such a person should be taken to hospital immediately after that.”
A seething rage is trailing last week’s directive of President Muhammadu Buhari to a committee to reclaim old grazing routes, with Nigerians kicking against the move and warning that the move could court a civil war.
This new move is coming three months after the Southern states have commenced signing laws prohibiting open grazing in the 17 states of the region following their meeting in Asaba, Delta State, on May 11 and some days to the September take-off of the anti-grazing laws in the Southern states.
This, notwithstanding, the Federal Government has continued to tinker with the unpopular policy as it frantically repackages the failed 2017 Rural Grazing Area (RUGA) policy.
It was repackaged as the 2019-2028 National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) in 2019 as a child of circumstances due to RUGA’s widespread rejection. Two years after the introduction of NLTP, the package is currently described as the Livestock Intervention Programme (LIP), and part of it is reclaiming the old grazing routes
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
