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  • Surgeons in India remove world’s largest brain tumour

    Surgeons in India remove world’s largest brain tumour

    Surgeons in India, Mumbai, have removed a 1.87-kg brain tumour from a 31-year-old man, saying it to be the largest in the world.

    The surgery lasted for seven hours at the Nair Hospital.

    News of the procedure was made public recently after the hospital ensured the surgery was successful as the patient, Santlal Pal, had recovered, doctors at the facility told dpa Thursday.

    “The tumour was so big, it appeared there was another head mounted on top of the patient’s head,” Srikanth Balasubramaniam, a senior surgeon who was part of the operating team said by phone from Mumbai.

    “The surgery was challenging because of the sheer size of the tumour and because there were huge arteries going into the tumour.”

    “We checked on records that say the previous record was of removing a 1.4-kg brain tumour, also in Mumbai,” he added.

    The tumour had made Pal lose his vision and had also rendered him anaemic.

    Doctors said he should gradually regain his sight and health.

    Pal, a shopkeeper, had been living with the tumour for three years.

    He had been turned away from three hospitals who said the tumour was inoperable.

    The surgery was complicated as Pal was anaemic and needed 11 units of blood during the operation.

    “Such tumours are rare and pose quite a challenge due to blood loss. Managing the patient requires a lot of planning, team skill and monitoring,” Balasubramaniam said.

    dpa/NAN

  • Waste management: Ogun engages service of private firm

    Waste management: Ogun engages service of private firm

    Ogun State Government has engaged the service of a private firm – Solous MRF 1 Limited, to manage municipal waste across the state, as part of measures to promote clean, safe and healthy environment.

    The Commissioner for Environment, Mr Bolaji Oyeleye, made this known in statement on Thursday in Abeokuta.

    He said that the firm was hired on Feb. 12, following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two parties, which was followed by a joint technical meeting on Feb. 20.

    “The Ministry of Environment will provide all necessary technical support to ensure that the service provider achieve its mandates as stated in the MoU,” Oyeleye added.

    According to him, the firm, which specialises in waste management, recycling and conversion of waste to revisable energy, is expected to manage all levels of municipal solid waste cycle, including waste collection, processing and disposal in the state.

    The commissioner also noted that the partnership would enhance effectiveness, efficiency and optimal performance in solid waste management in the state, with the goal of creating an outstanding waste management sector.

    He explained that the partnership reiterated government’s commitment to actualising its plan for an enviable environmental and infrastructural development of the state.

    NAN

  • UN envoy sees difficult talks on Syria ceasefire deal

    UN envoy sees difficult talks on Syria ceasefire deal

    UN Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura said on Thursday he hoped the Security Council would agree on a resolution to end fighting in the besieged Syrian enclave of eastern Ghouta, but said it would not be easy.

    “I hope it will. But it’s uphill. But I hope it will. It is very urgent,” he told Reporter as he arrived at the UN in Geneva.

    Asked what would happen if there were no deal, he said: “Then we will have to push for it to take place as soon as possible because there is no alternative but a ceasefire and humanitarian access.”

    Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov had on Wednesday said that Russia was considering it real to end the crisis in Syria and to achieve a sustainable settlement process in the country.

    “We consider it absolutely real to ensure a halt to the bloodshed (through dialogue with all sides), to ensure the beginning of a sustainable settlement process, during which not only the interests of the entire Syrian people in all their diversity will be ensured.

    “However, I am convinced, it will also be possible to ensure the legitimate interests of all Syria’s neighbours and other external players,” Lavrov said.

    Read Also:  UN envoy urges Security Council to strengthen support for fight against Boko Haram

    Syria has been engulfed in a civil war since 2011, with government forces fighting numerous opposition factions and terrorist groups.

    The international community has taken a number of steps aimed at settling the crisis, including through negotiations in Geneva and Astana.

    Russia and Iran, alongside Turkey, are guarantors of the ceasefire regime in Syria.

    The Syrian National Dialogue Congress was one of the recent attempts to peacefully end the Syrian Civil War and took place in Russia’s Sochi in January.

    However, de Mistura also said that the event yielded an agreement to establish the Constitutional Commission, something which had not been achieved during the nine rounds of Geneva talks.

    He said the outcome became possible because the representatives of Syria’s government and opposition were able to meet face-to-face for the first time.

    NAN

  • Edo partners CWO on skill acquisition programme

    Edo partners CWO on skill acquisition programme

    Edo Government has said that it will partner Catholic Women Organisation (CWO) programmes to promote skill acquisition among women in the state.

    The Deputy Governor, Mr Philip Shaibu, said this when leaders of the organisation paid him a courtesy visit at Government House, Benin.

    Shaibu said that the partnership would reduce hardship and create job opportunities in the state.

    He commended the leadership of the organisation for its initiative in creating skill acquisition programmes for less privileged women among them.

    He said that the programme was in line with Gov. Godwin Obaseki’s initiative onn job creation.

    Read Also:  New libraries for Edo rural schools

    The deputy governor, however, advised the organisation to provide the names of the beneficiaries to the state government, to help support the programme.

    He also urged the organisation to set up a monitoring team to ensure that the beneficiaries would not lavish the set up funds.

    Earlier, the group leader, Dr Christiana Omorede, who led the group, said the organisation had collaborated with the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) to enhance the training of women in the state.

    Omorede said that NDE would be training about 80 members of the CWO on cosmetology.

    She said that the group was committed to poverty reduction through the skill acquisition programme as it would add value to the lives of the less privileged in the state.

    NAN

     

  • NCDMB initiative on science subjects among Niger Delta students

    NCDMB initiative on science subjects among Niger Delta students

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) on Thursday commenced an initiative to promote the study of science subjects among students of secondary schools in Niger Delta region.

    Idowu Adejumo, Chief Operating Officer, Osk Leverages and Vie Logistique, consultants to NCDMB, told the Newsmen in Yenagoa that the project aimed to produce indigenous leaders in the oil and gas sector.

    Adejumo said that NCDMB planned to fill the skills technical gap in the nation’s oil and gas by sensitising science students to the career prospects in the sector across the nine Niger Delta states.

    According to him, about 500 students in the Senior Secondary School two, drawn from over 200 schools, are participating in the maiden career talks.

    The theme is Bridging the local content gap in Nigeria’s Industrial Sector: Science, Technology and Engineering to the rescue.

    Read Also:  NCDMB trains 500 Niger Delta students on oil, gas

    Adejumo said the facilitator of the career talks, Osk Leverages and Vie Logistique, was working with state ministries of education in Ondo, Edo, Delta, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Imo, Rivers and Bayelsa.

    According to Adejumo, the talks are anchored by Victor Ekasa, an experienced facilitator, a senior Safety Engineer with over 15 years experience in the oil and gas sector.

    The talks had been held in six states of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Cross River, Abia and Imo.

    He explained that the students were encouraged to consider careers in sciences, engineering, and technology towards building local capacity and reduce the number of expatriates in the country.

    “The current management of the NCDMB, under the Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Wabote, is supporting the move to catch the engineers young.

    “Two best participating students in each of the state are to go home with a branded mini laptop as a way to encourage them.

    “The industrial growth of any nation is anchored on science, engineering and technology and all efforts must be put in place to encourage the new generation to take up the challenge for national growth.

    “We need more Nigerian engineers to man the very technical aspects of oil and gas operations. Nigerians have the capacity to compete favourably and this programme will help us build new set of engineers, scientists and technologists.

    “The grand finale of the science career talks, sponsored by NCDMB, will hold in Yenagoa, Bayelsa on Feb. 27 and we expect them to be adequately motivated to choose careers in Engineering Sciences,” Adejumo said.

    NAN

     

  • S. Africa court finds finance minister violated constitution

    S. Africa court finds finance minister violated constitution

    A South African court held that Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba violated the constitution in statements he made about his decision to revoke his approval of a company’s bid to open a private airport immigration facility.

    The judgment is the latest legal blow to a senior South African government official and came with new President Cyril Ramaphosa considering a cabinet reshuffle after replacing scandal-plagued predecessor Jacob Zuma on Feb. 14.

    Handed down in December, the judgment only came to public light on Tuesday.

    Gigaba, whose job security under Ramaphosa is unclear, said he would challenge the decision.

    The judgment was issued after an application by Fireblade Aviation, a company owned by the wealthy Oppenheimer family, seeking to compel Gigaba to stick to his decision while home affairs minister to allow the firm to operate an immigration service for wealthy VIPs at Johannesburg’s main airport.

    Read Also:  Court jails man 60 years for child defilement

    The court ruling reversed Gigaba’s decision to revoke his approval, saying that the minister had lied in having “denied ever having approved the application”.

    “By telling a deliberate untruth on facts central to the decision of this case, the minister has committed a breach of the constitution so serious that I would characterise it as a violation,” the ruling read.

    Speaking to the media in Cape Town ahead of his budget speech to parliament, Gigaba said: “My lawyers are studying the judgment and we will respond to it in due time.

    “It’s important to highlight that the decision of the court is being challenged.”

    The Democratic Alliance, the official opposition party, said that based on the judgment, it had filed a complaint against Gigaba with the Public Protector, South Africa’s constitutionally-mandated anti-graft watchdog.

    NAN

     

  • Suicide attacker targets U.S. embassy in Montenegro

    Suicide attacker targets U.S. embassy in Montenegro

    An attacker threw an explosive device at the U.S. embassy in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica on Thursday morning and subsequently blew himself up with another bomb, the Montenegrin government said.

    Both devices were probably hand grenades, the first thrown into the embassy yard and the second, who killed the attacker in the street outside, the government, said on Twitter.

    According to the government, the blasts occurred at 1.30 a.m. (23:30 GMT), adding that the police are investigating the incident.

    An embassy spokesman, Jeff Adler, told the Vijesti news website that it was checking the security status of its staff and cooperating with police to identify the attacker.

    Read Also: Djokovic weds Jelena in private ceremony in Montenegro

    The embassy also posted an alert on its website advising U.S. citizens of “an active security situation” and to avoid the embassy until further notice and “employ security practices”.

    The smallest former Yugoslav republic with just 620,000 inhabitants and the last to split from Serbia, in 2006, Montenegro joined NATO in 2017, severing traditionally close ties with Russia.

    On the day of parliamentary elections in October 2016, the authorities arrested a group of people it accused of planning a coup in conspiracy with Russia.

    Moscow dismissed the allegations as absurd and counter-accused the Podgorica government of inventing the plot in order to alienate Russia.

    NAN

  • More than 6bn people live in corrupt countries, study shows

    More than 6bn people live in corrupt countries, study shows

    More than six billion people live in countries that are corrupt, Transparency International said in a report on Wednesday.

    More than two-thirds of countries received a poor corruption score in study released on Wednesday, leaving most of the world’s population living in a country characterised as corrupt.

    The global average score of the Corruption Perceptions Index ( CDI ) 2017 by Transparency International was just 43 and 69 per cent of all countries scored less than 50, with 100 being the best possible score.

    “This means over six billion people live in countries that are corrupt,” Transparency International said in a brochure accompanying the release of the report.

    The report also said its findings are “disturbing” and that the majority of governments are moving “too slowly” on tackling corruption.

    The analysis used factors such as freedom of the press, freedom of speech and the freedom of organisations to operate and influence public policy transparently.

    The CDI then ranked 180 countries and territories from 1 to 100 based on perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and businesspeople: A score of zero is “highly corrupt” and 100 is “very clean.”

    No country got a perfect score but New Zealand tops the list as the “cleanest” country – meaning its citizens perceived little corruption, with a score of 89, followed by Denmark at 88.

    Scandinavian countries enjoy high scores in the top 10 rankings.

    Germany placed 12, behind Singapore but ahead of Australia, Iceland and the U.S.

    Syria, South Sudan and Somalia scored the lowest.

    Transparency International said their results show countries that have low civil liberties also tend to score high for corruption and that corruption is linked to “shrinking space for civil society.”

    Countries that experience the worst corruption also have the least protection for press and non-governmental organizations, the group said.

    dpa/NAN

  • Bauchi approves purchase of 60 buses at N1.38bn

    Bauchi approves purchase of 60 buses at N1.38bn

    Bauchi State Executive Council on Wednesday approved the purchase of 60 buses at N1.38 billion to boost its Mass Transit Company, operators of “Yankari Express” and other agencies.

    Alhaji Ali Ali, the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Gov. Mohammed Abubakar, said this in Bauchi while addressing newsmen on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting, presided over by the governor.

    Ali explained that the 18-seater, 2015 model buses would be supplied by Transfiguration Integrated Resource Ltd on loan.

    He further explained that 30 buses out of the figure would be allocated to the state-owned Mass Transist Company, operators of Yankari Express, to enable the company to boost its fleet.

    Ali said that 20 buses would be allocated to the 20 Local Governments in the state while the remaining 10 buses would be retained by the government.

    Read Also:  Bauchi gets 19 commissioners

    He said that the loan would be repaid in three years through an “irrevocable standing order of N190 million monthly and would be deducted at source.

    Ali said that the exco also approved for the state government to access credit facilities of N8 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the bank’s Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.

    He said that the state House of Assembly had earlier approved the loan while the EXCO, during its Wednesday’s meeting, approved the loan to improve agricultural activities in the state.

    The special adviser said that the state government would access the loan through United Bank for Africa (UBA) and would be used to encourage rice, fish and agro-allied production in the state.

    He said that government had started accessing the credit facilities since 2016 when it introduced its ANCHOR Farmers Borrowers’ Programme.

    NAN

     

  • CAF Champions League: MFM FC beat AS Bamako to reach 2nd round

    CAF Champions League: MFM FC beat AS Bamako to reach 2nd round

    MFM FC of Lagos on Wednesday booked their way to the second round of the CAF Champions League with a 1-0 win over AS Bamako of Mali in Lagos.

    The Olukoya boys got the needed point after securing the win and going through with a 2-1 aggregate.

    The Fidelis Ilechukwu-tutored team had played 1-1 away at Bamako giving them the needed edge for the second leg at the newly refurbished Soccer Temple, Agege Stadium.

    A flick header by Akuneto Chijioke after a sublime pass from the new wnderkid, 16-year-old Lawal Abayomi settled the score in the second half after a resolute defensive tactics of the Scorpions from Mali.

    Speaking after the match, Ilechukwu commended his young side, adding that he missed the services of four of his regulars who were unavailable for the match due to registration hitches.

    The regulars who were not available are Sikiru Olatunbosun, Akila Jesse, Shola Brossa and Waheed Akanni.

    Ilechukwu said that he would continue to push harder to make the team formidable for the opposition in the next round of the tournament.

    “The boys have proved themselves beyond reasonable doubt that they are up to the task. I am happy for the team playing at their capacity.

    “The team can only get better and by God’s grace we will not let our fans down and the loving government of Lagos State led by Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode.

    “I am also impressed with the leader of the team’s attitude and good command of the game, he always speaks my mind as a player.

    “The introduction of Abayomi is key to the team because he approached me with confidence and promised to give a good account of himself and he did not disappoint,’’ he said.

    NAN