Sunday, October 21, 2012

Detectors aim to go nose to nose with sniffer dogs



A sniffing dog at work. A sniffing dog at work.
| credits: google.com
At a binational armaments and security research centre in eastern France, Spitzer and his colleagues are working on a sensor to detect vapours of TNT and other explosives in very faint amounts, as might emanate from a bomb being smuggled through airport security. Using microscopic slivers of silicon covered with forests of even smaller tubes of titanium oxide, they aim to create a device that could supplement, perhaps even supplant, the best mobile bomb detector in the business: the sniffer dog.


But emulating the nose and brain of a trained dog is a formidable task. A bomb-sniffing device must be extremely sensitive, able to develop a signal from a relative handful of molecules. And it must be highly selective, able to distinguish an explosive from the “noise” of other compounds.
While researchers like Spitzer are making progress – and there are some vapor detectors on the market – when it comes to sensitivity and selectivity, dogs still reign supreme.


“Dogs are awesome,” said Aimee Rose, a product sales director at the sensor

NAMA boosts operations with cloud computing



Cloud computing illustration Cloud computing illustration
| credits: cloudcomputingcompaniesnow.com
The Nigerian Airspace Management Agency said it had subscribed to cloud computing through its recent deployment of the Windows Server 2012, thereby boosting its operations and cutting Information Technology cost.
NAMA’s Chief Information Officer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ogochukwu, said the agency was tasked with providing safe, efficient and economic air navigation services that would meet

Okorocha punches Governor Obi's aide over seat



Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State on Saturday punched a protocol officer who refused to allow him sit on a chair reserved for the Anambra State Governor, Mr. Peter Obi, at the 80th birthday celebration of former vice president, Chief Alex Ekwueme, in Enugu.

The incident occurred 20 minutes before most of the invited guests arrived.


SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the seater was reserved for the host Governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime and Obi. The Deputy Governor, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, represented Chime who is still out of the country.


The protocol officer, Mr. Ifeanyi Onukuba, who works with Obi, was shocked at Okorocha's action and before he could recover from it, a police officer attached to the Bomb Disposal Unit in Anambra State, Mr. Felix Alumona, pushed Okorocha when he was

Credit Suisse, UBS may cut 7,000 jobs



UBS is to cut 3,000-5,000 jobs as part of cost-saving measures to offset falling profit, while rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse may announce 1,000-2,000 cuts, Reuters reported on Sunday.
UBS plans to shed 900 jobs in Information Technology, alongside a further 2,000-4,000 layoffs in its investment bank and other central functions, the paper said.
A spokesman for UBS, scheduled to report third-quarter earnings on October 30, would not comment on the report.

Baba Alajo Somolu: A legend dies unsung



Olunaike | credits:
Popular Lagos-based thrift collector, Pa Alphaeus Olunaike, recently died at the age of 97. FOLARIN SAMSON, who traces the deceased’s foray into the banking system, writes that the man buried in his home town, Isonyin Ijebu, Ogun State on September 22 deserves  to be celebrated
There was an old folk tale about the late Pa Alphaeus Olunaike, a man popular among those living in Lagos and indeed the major part of south-west Nigeria. His name became a tool for parents to extol virtues of wisdom and intelligence and it became

N888bn enough for 2012 fuel subsidy – Okonjo-Iweala



Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
| credits: File copy

The Federal Government believes it has no compelling reason to prepare a supplementary appropriation for petroleum subsidy payments because the fund earmarked for that purpose in the 2012 budget should be enough, MARTIN AYANKOLA writes.

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said the N888bn allocated for subsidy payments in the 2012 budget should

Sheila, Tai Solarin’s widow, dies at 82



Sheila, widow of the late social critic, Tai Solarin, died on Sunday aged 82.

Sheila, who co-founded Mayflower School, Ikenne, Ogun State with her late husband, passed on around 4.30p.m.

Her two children were at her bedside when she died at the Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State.

She was reportedly hospitalised and underwent surgery for a broken hip some months ago after sustaining a fall.

More Stories in Business

Electric cables
Director-General, IITA, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga

Source : punchng[dot]com

PDP congratulates Mimiko, slams ACN



Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday congratulated Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, on his victory in the October 20, 2012 governorship election in the state.

The message, contained in a statement by the party’s National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP also congratulated the party’s candidate, Olusola Oke; the Independent National Electoral Commission and the security agencies for the peaceful conduct of the polls and urged them to learn from any observed loopholes so as to continue improving in future elections.

The party said it was happy that Mimiko of the Labour Party and not Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the Action Congress of Nigeria won.

The PDP slammed ACN for running a campaign based on “tribalism and narrow political adventurism.”

More Stories in Business

Electric cables
Director-General, IITA, Dr. Nteranya Sanginga

Source : punchng[dot]com

ACN, governorship candidate decline to congratulate Mimiko



Against expectations, the Action Congress of Nigeria and its candidate in the Ondo State October 20, 2012 governorship election, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), on Sunday declined to congratulate the winner, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.
Mimiko, who is the incumbent governor, ran on the platform of the Labour Party, and won by 260,199 while the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Olusola Oke, came second followed by Akeredolu with 143,512 votes.

Laughing on his private jet - the £93m pastor accused of exploiting British worshippers




Plenty to smile about;
Preacher David Oyedepo of the Winners Chapel
movement aboard one
of his private jets. He also owns a Rolls Royce Phantom

 A church run by a controversial multi-millionaire African preacher has been accused of ‘cynical exploitation’ after its British branch received £16.7 million in donations from followers who were told that God would give them riches in return.


Followers are ferried in double-decker shuttle buses to the church, handed slips inviting them to make debit card payments, and are even told obeying the ministry’s teachings will make them

Headies 2012: List of Winners






Best Vocal Performance (Male) - Wande Coal - Private Trips
Best Vocal Performance (Female) - Tiwa Savage - Love Me Love Me Love Me
Best Collaboration - Sound Sultan ft Excel and Flavour - Orobo
Revelation of the Year - Wizkid
Recording of the Year - Brymo - Ara

Jonathan congratulates Mimiko



President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday congratulated Governor Olusegun Mimiko on his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President also commended the dutiful, patriotic and law-abiding electorate of the state as well as the INEC personnel and security agencies who ensured that the elections were peacefully and successfully.

2015: Sanusi faults rotational presidency



By Taye Obateru, Jos

…Tasks Gowon biography
Governor of the  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has disagreed with advocates of a return of power to the Northern part of the country in 2015 saying leadership should no longer be based on ethnic or regional considerations.

Address election problems, NGOs urge INEC



Mr Ezenwa Nwanga, the Chairman, Partners for Electoral Reforms, has called on INEC to address some of the country’s perennial election problems such as late arrival of voting materials.

Nwanga also suggested in Akure that some electoral units be split into two or three to allow the presiding officers cope with the large number of voters on the queue.

He spoke at a meeting between INEC officials and domestic observers under the aegis of the Nigeria Civil Society Election Situation Rooms.

Mimiko wins Ondo governorship election



Mimiko-2010

Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Rahman Mimiko, has won the October 20, 2012 governorship election in the state.

According to the summary figures declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Chief Returning Officer for the election, Prof. Biyi Daramola of Federal University of Technology, Akure, in a live telecast at the state office of the agency, Mimiko scored a total of 260 199 votes.

Daramola, who read the results for five minutes, said Mimiko was followed by Mr. Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party, with 155961 votes; and Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the Action Congress of Nigeria, with 143512 votes.

More details later.

More Stories in Ondo decides 2012

Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu

Source : punchng[dot]com

Yobe Desert Rollers ready for Africa Hockey Championship



Damaturu – Alhaji Sani Fema, Chairman, Yobe Sports Commission, has assured Nigerians that the Yobe Desert Rollers hockey team was prepared to win the forthcoming African Men Hockey Club Championship in Zimbabwe.

Fema gave the assurance on Saturday in Damaturu in an interview on the team’s readiness for the championship which will hold in December in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Mimiko leads



LP’s Mimiko being accredited for the election LP’s Mimiko being accredited for the election
| credits:
Results of some polling units announced so far by the Independent National Electoral Commission have shown that the Labour Party candidate, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, is leading.
Mimiko polled 348 votes at his Ondo Ward 7 Unit 20, while the PDP and the ACN scored 18 and 16 respectively.

2015: Sanusi faults rotational presidency



By Taye Obateru, Jos

…Tasks Gowon biography
Governor of the  Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has disagreed with advocates of a return of power to the Northern part of the country in 2015 saying leadership should no longer be based on ethnic or regional considerations.

‘Keret House’: world’s narrowest abode opens doors in Warsaw



Etgar Keret, the celebrated Israeli author, on Friday unveiled Keret House billed as the world’s narrowest abode and destined to become a home away from home for artists in an area of the Polish capital that was the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.

Bank customers make panic withdrawals in Ondo State



Bank customers make panic withdrawals in Ondo State

Less than 24hrs to the governorship election in Ondo State, commercial activities in Akure, the state capital, and major towns across the state, intensified as people made a last-minute rush to stock their homes with household needs.

Checks by our correspondent on some hotels in Akure, Ondo, Owo, and Okitipupa showed an increase in bookings by lodgers.

The investigation showed that a cross-section of the lodgers included security operatives, independent election monitors, Independent National Electoral Commission employees, journalists, among other groups of lodgers.

Some popular hotels in Akure, which included Flourish Hotel and Suites, Bliss World Hotels and Suites, RafTeju Hotel and Ade Super Hotel, witnessed increase in patronage.

Meanwhile, banks within the three senatorial districts of Ondo witnessed increased activities with customers thronging their halls to make last-minute transactions.

Findings showed that some of the banks witnessed massive cash withdrawals from politicians, even as some banks informed their customers that they would close at 3 pm on Friday.

The tempo of buying and selling in popular markets across the state with people visiting markets to stock household needs such as food, drinks, kerosene and petrol.

Most filling stations in Akure were closed; along the Oyemekun-Ilesa Garage road, a few that had fuel sold above the N97 official pump price.


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