Friday, 1 February 2013

Russian rocket falls into sea in failed launch!


The rocket booster Zenit-3SL on the launch platform Odyssey in the Pacific (Image from yuzhnoye.com)
The rocket booster Zenit-3SL on the launch platform Odyssey in the Pacific

 Russian news agencies reported that a rocket carrying a communications satellite suffered engine trouble and plunged into the Pacific Ocean shortly after launch on Friday.

The unsuccessful launch of the Intelsat-27 satellite was one of several setbacks for Russia's space programme in recent years, including failed satellite launches and an unsuccessful mission to study the Mars moon Phobos.



The engine of the Zenit-3SL rocket, similar to the one pictured above, malfunctioned 50 seconds into flight 

The Zenit-3SL rocket carrying the satellite suffered engine failure shortly after liftoff, state-run Itar-Tass reported, citing a Russian space industry source. The rocket is a joint production of Ukrainian and Russian companies, it said.

Intelsat-27 was to provide services for media, government and other customers in the Americas and Europe, according to the website of Luxembourg-based Intelsat.

Russia is increasing space spending and plans to send a probe to the moon in 2015, but its celebrations in 2011 of the 50th anniversary of the Soviet achievement of putting the first man in space were marred by several botched satellite launches.


Culled from: Reuters




Word For the Day: "A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided."- Tony Robbins

Bollywood actor charged with homicide!




Indian movie star Salman Khan will be tried for homicide for his alleged involvement in a fatal road accident more than 10 years ago.

Salman Khan could face 10 years in jail for ‘culpable homicide’
 If convicted he faces up to 10 years in jail, says an Attorney.

   
Deepesh Mehta, Khan’s lawyer, says a magistrate on Thursday accepted an appeal by state government prosecutors that he should be charged with homicide instead of causing death by negligence, which carries a maximum of two years in jail.



One man was killed and another three were injured when Khan allegedly rammed his car into a group of homeless people sleeping on a Bombay sidewalk in September 2002.




Khan’s trial begins March 11. Indian courts are notorious for delays and a trial can take years to complete.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan (Reuters)





Word for the Day: "The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying."- Tom Hopkins

Mexico City Blast!



Firefighters at Pemex HQ in Mexico City

At least, 25 people reportedly died and scores more were injured in an explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in Mexico City Thursday.
File photo of the Pemex Executive Tower in Mexico City

The blast damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline.

 

Interior minister Miguel Ángel Osorio Chong said 80 people were injured along with the 14 dead, but told local television the death toll could still rise.
There were also reports that as many as about 30 people were trapped in the debris from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the 52-storey tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. There was no immediate cause given for the blast.

"It was an explosion, a shock, the lights went out and suddenly there was a lot of debris," employee Cristian Obele told Milenio television, adding that he had been injured in the leg. "Coworkers helped us get out of the building."
The tower, where several thousand people work, was evacuated. The main floor and the mezzanine of the auxiliary building, where the explosion occurred, were heavily damaged, along with windows as far as three floors up.
A rescue worker sits near debris outside the headquarters of state-owned oil giant Pemex in Mexico City where a powerful explosion killed at least 25 people. Photograph:Bernardo Montoya/Reuters
"We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows," said Maria Concepcion Andrade, 42, who lives on the block of Pemex building. "People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying."
Television images showed people being evacuated by office chairs, and gurneys. Most of them had injuries likely caused by falling debris. Police landed four rescue helicopters to remove the dead or injured. About a dozen tow trucks were furiously moving cars to make more landing room for the helicopters.

Paramedics wheel an injured person to a helicopter at the parking lot of the state-run oil company Pemex after an explosion in Mexico City January 31, 2013. An explosion rocked the Mexico City headquarters of state oil giant Pemex on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 80 people, Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong said on Thursday. The death toll could still rise, he told local television. The blast, which media reports said was caused by machinery exploding, occurred in the basement, emergency officials said. REUTERS/Tomas Bravo

In an earlier tweet, the company said it had evacuated the building as a precautionary measure because of a problem with the electrical system in the complex that includes the skyscraper.
Streets surrounding the building were closed as evacuees wandered around, and rescue crews loaded the injured into ambulances.

Interior department spokesman Eduardo Sanchez confirmed that an explosion in a basement garage damaged the first and second floors of the auxiliary building, which is located in a busy commercial and residential area.

Relatives of employees have gathered in search of information - some trying to reach loved ones via mobile phone.
Relatives of Pemex employees wait for information of their family members outside Pemex hospital in Mexico City, 31 January 2013
The cause of the blast is under investigation,


Word for the Day: "You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself." -Seth Godin

Mozambique floods: Death toll rises to 55; 170,000 displaced in last 2 weeks Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/01/31/Mozambique floods, Death toll rises to 55, 170000 displaced in last 2-weeks!




About 30 camps have been set up to house those displaced by floods

The United Nations says the death toll from the flooding in Mozambique has risen by seven to at least 55 people.
The U.N. said Thursday that heavy rains in northern and central Mozambique have displaced 19,000 more people, raising the total number of displaced by floods the past two weeks to nearly 170,000.

A baby born on the roof of his mother's house during flooding in Guija, southern Mozambique on January 27, 2013

Residents on the roof of a house surrounded by floodwaters in Chokwe district, southern Mozambique, January 25, 2013
The Mozambican government said there is a shortage of food for flood victims in southern Mozambique. Luis Nhala, a health official, said that residents are eating food that has mixed with contaminated flood water, which is resulting in cases of diarrhea and vomiting.
Mozambican state television showed children in need of food and water. One man held an empty plate and told the camera: "Look, we are starving. The government must do something."


culled from: Fox news and Al-Jazeera.com



Word for the day: The best way out is always through- Robert Frost







Thursday, 31 January 2013

Fabulous February!


Taking this time out to give Praise to HIM WHO made it possible for me to come this far, still on my path to being all that I am destined to be, the path has not been rosy, the way full of thorns, but I know that without HIM, I definitely would not have made it..... This far.



You, who knows my beginning,
You, who created the plan
Who orchestrated my life's journey
God....... YOU are.....My God!


God of decisions, creator of answers
You, Who ordained my way through my transition,
held my position,
God......YOU are my God!

I will forever give YOU Praise,
Honour and celebrate Your NAME
God of the Past, Present.....
And WHO is to come,
God......YOU are, my God!

What ever YOU do with me....is alright
YOU have my total trust,
Glory and Honour, Dominion and Power.......
God, You are my God!

You who knows my beginning,
God.....YOU are my God.........

Have a Fabulous February Folks, Stay Blessed and Highly Favoured!


Word for the Day: 

 “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”- Michael Jordan









Wednesday, 30 January 2013

Pension fraudster remanded in prison

Nigeria:




Convicted pension thief, Mr. John Yakubu Yusufu, was yesterday, remanded in Prison custody by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, following his alleged complicity in another N300 million fraud.
Pension Scam— Former Director of Pension, Police Affairs Ministry, John Yakubu Yusufu heading to Kuje Prison over N300 million scam,
Trial Justice Adamu Bello ordered that Yusufu, a former Director of Pension in the Police Affairs Ministry, be detained at Kuje Prison, shortly after he pleaded not-guilty to a fresh four-count criminal charge preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
Yusufu had on Monday, confessed before an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice Abubakar Thalba that he connived with seven other civil servants to steal about N23 billion from Police Pension Fund.
Though he convicted the fraudster on a three-count charge, Justice Thalba, had relied on the statutory provision of section 309 of the Penal Code and sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of N750, 000 fine, a sum the accused quickly brought out from his breast pocket, paid and went home.
However, dissatisfied with the outcome of the trial, the EFCC promptly re-arrested him over fresh fraud allegations upon which the accused was docked yesterday.
In the new charge, Yusufu was said to have on or about February 14, 2012, knowingly failed to make full disclosure of his assets and liability in the Declaration of Assets Form he filled and submitted, and equally failed to declare that he owns a company known as AY-A Global Services Limited.
He was said to have used the name of the company to lodge in a fixed deposit account with the Zenith Bank, the sum of N250 million, N10 million in a fixed deposit account with the First Bank of Nigeria Plc, and another N29 million which he was said to have instructed one Danjuma Mele to lodge in his company account in the name of Jidag Technical Services Ltd with Diamond Bank.
The offence according to the EFCC, is punishable under section 27 (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment e.t.c) Act Cap E1 2004.
Yusufu begs for bail
Meanwhile, immediately he was arraigned yesterday, Yusufu, through his lead counsel, Mr Maiyaki Theodore Bala, begged the court to allow him to go home, saying he would be available to face his trial.
In his oral application for bail, Bala urged the court to exercise its discretion in favour of his client, an appeal that was vehemently opposed by counsel to the EFCC, Mr Rotimi Jacobs, SAN.
The fresh charge
Consequently, trial Justice Bello, directed the defence counsel to go and file a formal bail application, just as he remanded the accused person in Kuje Prison.
The case was subsequently adjourned till March 1 for hearing.
Two of the fresh charge against him reads: “That you John Yakubu Yusufu on or about  February 14, 2012 at Abuja, in the Abuja Judicial Division knowingly failed to make full disclosure of your assets and liability in the Declaration of Assets Form filled by you, by not declaring your interest in the N250 million you lodged in a fixed deposit account with the Zenith Bank in the name of SY-A Global Services Limited, a company in which you are the sole signatory to its account and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 27(3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, CAP E1 2004.
“That you John Yakubu Yusufu on or about February 14, 2012 at Abuja, in the Abuja Judicial Division knowingly failed to make full disclosure of your assets and liability in the Declaration of
Assets Form filled by you, by not declaring your interest in the sum of N10 million you lodged in a fixed deposit account with the First Bank of Nigeria Plc in the name of SY-A Global Services Limited, a company in which you are the sole signatory to its account and you thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 27(3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment, etc.) Act, CAP E1 2004.”
The Federal Government had already confiscated 32 choice properties that were traced to the accused person, as well as the sum of N325 million that was found in one of his accounts.
Yusufu’s property seized by FG
Among the property included two units of 3 bedroom semi detached bungalow at R2, A and B, Sunnyvale homes, Dakwo District, Abuja; two units of 3 bedroom semi-detached bungalow at M24, A and B, Sunnyvale homes, Dakwo District Abuja; four units of a 3bedroom semi-detached bungalow, managed by Daniel at Sunnyvale homes, Dakwo District, Abuja; eight units of an estate of two bedroom flats, at Gombe, GRA.
Others were: One unit Semi-detached Duplex at house 21, 4th Avenue, Gwarinpa, Abuja; four units of a 2 bedroom semi-detached duplex at Bricks city, Kubwa Road, Abuja and one unit of semi-detached Duplex, at 14B Democracy Crescent, Gaduwa, Abuja.
Yusufu was hitherto facing trial alongside a Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Atiku Abubakar Kigo and six others, Esai Dangabar, Ahmed Inuwa Wada, Mrs. Veronica Ulonma Onyegbula, Sani Habila Zira and Christian Madubuike.
EFCC had alleged that the accused persons conspired and sequentially withdrew monies from Police Pension funds in an account domiciled at First Bank of Nigeria and shared it among themselves, adding that the 3rd accused person, Inuwa Wada, collected N18 million from Unity Bank Plc, as his reward for retaining the Police Pension Account with the bank.
The commission maintained that the fraud was committed between January 2009 and June 2011. Justice Thalba had slated February 25 to continue hearing on the substantive charge against the other accused persons.
Group urges FG to probe Justice Thalba
Meantime, a civil society organization under the aegis of Anti-Corruption Network, yesterday, called for immediate probe of Justice Thalba, over the slap on the wrist sentence he handed to the convicted pension thief.
The group which was led by a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr Dino Melaye and members of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, stormed the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja yesterday, wearing black cloths with an inscription that read: “Justice Abubakar Thalba, SHAME!”
Brandishing various placards among which read, “Say No to Judicial Corruption”, “Same Justice Thalba did the Kenny Martins Fine”, “Jankara Judgment for Pension Thief,” further proceeded to the Supreme Court where they equally delivered a copy of the protest letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma Muhktar.



Court Of Hague Finds Shell Nigeria Guilty Of One Oil Spillage




A Dutch court  on Wednesday indicted Shell Nigeria of being partly liable for environmental damage and asked it to pay compensation to a Nigerian farmer. The court however rejected a bid  to have Shell’s parent company held responsible for oil damage, saying only subsidiary Shell Nigeria was responsible for one oil leak.
Four Nigerian farmers had sued Shell for polluting and destroying their farmlands and rivers.
The court “dismissed all claims against the parent companies… since pursuant to Nigerian law a parent company in principle is not obliged to prevent its subsidiaries from harming third parties abroad,” judge Henk Wien told the court.
Environmental groups had hoped that a ruling against Anglo-Dutch Shell, which is headquartered in the Netherlands, could set a precedent for global responsibility and open the door for hundreds of similar claims.

                            File photo: Damaged ecosystem from oil spill

Niger- Delta oil spillage damage

Judge Wien said that Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary must pay damages to the farmers and fishermen in one of their claims, relating to oil spills near the Niger Delta village of Ikot Ada Udo.
“Shell Nigeria has been sentenced to pay damages in one of the cases. All claims in the other four proceedings have been dismissed,” .