Flowerbud News

Month: October 2023

  • 75-year-old cat lover goes viral online for napping with cats

    Terry Laurmen, 75, has never thought he would become an online sensation by napping with shelter cats.

    The photo of him sleeping with cats in various positions at a pet shelter in Wisconsin has gone viral on the internet and helped the shelter raise over 30,000 dollars.

    Terry became a regular volunteer at the Safe Haven Pet Sanctuary about six months ago.

    “He just came along one day to the shelter and introduced himself, he said he would like to brush cats, eventually it became everyday.

    “They all know him, when he walks through the door they run over to him because they know he has the special brush and special treats.

    “They all pile on top of him and rub all over him and just love him,’’ sanctuary owner Elizabeth told the BBC.

    But grooming 20 to 30 cats can get exhausting, and the staff began snapping shots of Terry taking his daily siestas with his furry friends and shared some of them on the shelter’s facebook page.

    Unexpectedly, the post became a hit, and has been shared across the world for over 23,000 times.

    Thousands of well-wishers have shared comments and pledged thousands of dollars to the shelter in donations.

    The retired Spanish teacher, with no mobile phone or computer, still can not get his head around his newfound online fame.

    However he said he would do anything to raise money for the shelter. (Xinhua/NAN)

  • Mantu commends Secondus for “repackaging PDP into a portent political force”

    Dr. Umar Mantu, a House of Representatives aspirant in Plateau, has commended PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, for “repackaging PDP into a portent political force’’.

    Mantu, son of former deputy senate president Ibrahim Mantu, who is seeking to represent Mangu/Bokkos Federal Constituency, spoke on Monday in Bokkos, in an interactive session with PDP stakeholders in the constituency.

    “Not long ago, the PDP was virtually written off by political analysts, but the situation has changed dramatically.

    “Now, the PDP is a portent political force courted by many and envied by rival political groups.

    “Few months ago, all we heard were people defecting from the party to other political parties. Now, everyone is rushing into the PDP. It has turned into our modern Noah’s ark.

    “The PDP has attracted new members and regained the old ones that left. It has regained the leadership of the National Assembly with Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Tanimu Dogara back to the fold.

    “We started this year as an opposition party, but we now lead the legislative arm of government and the rival APC has been reduced to the opposition party.

    “Secondus has done so much for the party. He has re-positioned the PDP into a popular brand cherished by everyone. In fact, even PDP’s rivals admire and envy his leadership style,’’ Mantu, a 32-year-old lawyer, said.

    Mantu particularly lauded the PDP national and state leaderships for learning from its past mistakes and resolving to make every member a stakeholder.

    “Those defecting to the PDP had many options. There are close to 100 other options, but the defectors chose to troop to PDP because of the way its affairs are being steered,’’ he said.

    The aspirant particularly commended the PDP leadership for remaining firm and standing by its promise to be fair to everyone.

    He also commended the PDP leadership for respecting people’s wishes and carrying everyone along in decision making processes, saying that the impunity that brought the party to its knees in 2015, was no longer the trend.

    On his aspiration, Mantu said that he was consulting with stakeholders toward picking the PDP ticket in the primary election, and expressed confidence that winning the secondary election would be “much easier’’.

    “I have met with the delegates that will determine my fate in the primary election and they have promised to vote for me. I have no reason to doubt them,’’ he said.

    The aspirant also commended the national and state leaderships of the party for accommodating the interests of the youth and women, and encouraging them to vie for elective posts.

    “The PDP offers free nomination forms to women seeking elective positions and strives to encourage them to vie for its tickets. I see this as a very positive development,’’ he said.

    Mantu urged women and the youth to take full advantage of such opportunities to pursue their ambitions so as to contribute to societal growth, and cautioned them against allowing anyone to intimidate them.(NAN)

  • Lagos: Community demands U-Turn at Idi-Mangoro/Onipetesi axis

    TUNJI OLANIYI

    The Onipetesi community in Ikeja Lagos has called on both the Federal and state governments to create a “U” Turn at Idi- Mangoro/Onipetesi axis on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway for the welfare of theete people of the area. (more…)

  • Indian father slits six-year-old daughter’s throat in suicide pact

    A Kolkata family of three were found with wrists slit and throats slashed at their Tollygunge area home early on Wednesday as a result of what police suspect to be a suicide pact, Times of India reported.

    Police said the three are being treated at a hospital where the condition of the six-year-old child is serious. The 42-year-old man appears to have slit his daughter and 39-year-old wife’s throats before attempting suicide.

    Teenager ‘commits suicide’ over scuffle with husband

    Police believe the incident occurred at two in the morning. At 7am, the wife called her relatives crying for help.

    When the woman’s brother and cousin arrived, they tried to get an ambulance in vain due to a BJP strike in the city. They then reached police who took the family to a hospital.

    Police are probing the family’s calls records and transaction history. Internal family trouble has not been ruled out either. A relative said the man had fallen in depression after failing to secure a loan.

    The incident came as a shock to the family’s neighbours with all vouching for domestic bliss. “They (the couple) were extremely close to one another. Atish hardly even spoke to neighbours, but he was always cordial with his peers and respectful towards elders.” The woman, police claim, has not blamed her husband.

    This article originally appeared in Times of India.

    Culled from Express Tribune

  • Gas flaring: FG threatens to revoke licences of oil companies

    Gas flaring: FG threatens to revoke licences of oil companies

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, says the Federal Government will from 2019 commence the revocation of the licences of oil companies that fail to stop gas flaring in their operations in the country.

    Kachikwu made this known while speaking at the 2018 Buyers’ Forum/Stakeholders’ Engagement organised by the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) in Abuja, on Monday

    He said that the Federal Government had been locked in a battle with upstream oil companies over the issue of gas flaring.

    He noted that the Federal Government was keen on ending gas flaring, but oil companies still give lot of reasons why gas flaring cannot be ended.

    “Government wants to end flare, oil companies still give lot of reasons why flare cannot be ended.

    “ Bottom line is cash call and money. But the reality is that whether or not we deal with cash call issues, it is not an optional agenda, it is a compulsive immediate agenda.

    “ It is destructive to the populace; it is intolerable in developed country and it should not be tolerated here either,’’ he said

    He added that any oil company that could not find a way to ending its flare ought not to be producing.

    “And I have said to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), beginning from next year, we are going to get quite frantic about this and companies that cannot meet with extended periods — the issue is not how much you pay in terms of fines for gas flaring, the issue is that you would not produce.

    “ We need to begin to look at foreclosing of licences. This is very urgent.” he added

    The Minister stressed that the quest to discourage gas flaring led the Federal Government to initiate the gas flare commercialisation programme.

    He said that future renewals of oil and gas licences would involve the assessments of the gas components and gas flare rate of each company seeking renewals.

    “Some of the ones that have come recently for renewals have insisted that they are building massive gas processing plants  and we are going to follow this right through so that the supply obligation, the processing facility, the treatment of gas; their submissions  are very accurate and very aggressive,” he noted.

    On domestic supply obligation, he said that there was the need  for a critical implementation, adding that it would be extended  for both gas and crude oil.

    Kachikwu said that the country needed to move away from the point of just producing these commodities, throwing it into the vessel and shipping it out, to the point of processing as much of it locally as much as possible.

    According to him, it is only through this that the country will we be able to create more jobs, create better profit and returns on investments.

    “It will also help to achieve better pricing and address the challenges of local industries and industrialisation,’’ he said.

    The Minister disclosed that the Federal Government would launch the infrastructure revamp programme in November.

    This, he said, has the potential of attracting between 20 billion and 30 billion dollars of investments into the petroleum industry and also help address the infrastructural deficiencies in the industry.

    Also speaking, Managing Director of GACN, Mr. Morgan Okwoche, highlighted the need for optimum collaboration among industry players in the development of the gas sector.

    He called on the DPR to expedite action on the issuance/renewal of the five-year rolling Domestic Supply Obligation (DSO), volumes which will help in effective project planning. (NAN)

  • Indian Actress, Janhvi Kapoor rocks two distinct gowns

    Janhvi Kapoor might be one film old but she has already proved to be quite a fashionista. Be it ethnic or contemporary outfit, the Dhadak actor carries them off quite effortlessly. Recently, she was in Italy to attend Isha Ambani’s engagement. Donning a custom-made mirror reflective trailing gown by Manish Malhotra she looked ethereal. The deep lilac off-shoulder outfit looked gorgeous on the actor and it was difficult to look away from her.

    The 21-year-old was also seen sporting another gown at the ceremony, that, we must say, was a very different pick from the shimmery lilac outfit. Styled by Tanya Ghavri, she chose a pastel-hued creation featuring colourful stripes on the bodice and floral applique work on the neckline. The attire was further accessorised with a floral headband and jhumkas. But apart from Kapoor’s cute look, what caught our attention was the pink and white sling bag that added some quirkiness to her look. A dewy make-up palette with light smokey eyes accentuated her look really well.

    Prior to this, she was spotted donning a semi-sheer black gown from Nedret Tacirouglu. The look was accessorised with a pair of matching earrings and a statement ring. We loved the pop of red that not only added some colour but also broke the monotony of her look. It was rounded out with hair styled into a wavy hairdo and a neutral make-up palette.

    Culled from The Indian Exp[ress

  • Institute launches electronic health record system for 4,000 HIV patients

    No fewer than 4000 people living with HIV are to benefit from an electronic health record system launched in the Asokoro District Hospital, by the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN).

    The Communication Manager, IHVN, Dennis Mordi who disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the health record system ensures that information of patients currently receiving care and treatment in the hospital were moved from manual to electronic systems.

    Mordi in a statement said the device would also ensure that records of patients were accessed in real-time by health care providers at the hospital.

    The statement quoted the Chief Medical Director of Asokoro District Hospital, Dr Uche Afioma, who was represented by the Head Clinical Services, Dr Chidi Nnabuchi, as saying that he was pleased with the electronic system as it would improve confidentiality.

    ”It will eliminate the issue of stigmatisation. Prior to this time, every other patient had been captured electronically except HIV positive patients. That sets them apart from other patients.

    ”With this transition, everybody is now on the electronic system and nobody can be identified as HIV positive,”
    he said.

    Nnabuchi also stated that the standardised questions on the new system will support health care providers to give the expected quality care to patients.

    Dr Patrick Dakum, Chief Executive Officer of the Institute, who was represented by the Senior Technical Adviser, Prevention Care and Treatment, Dr Anthony Okwuosah thanked the management and staff of the facility for being open to the initiative.

    ”This hospital has been a standard for others to look up too. We hope that you continue in this vein and utilize this technology to care for patients.

    ”The new system was installed in the facility with technical support by Seam Health Innovations. Staff training and hardware such as computers were given to the hospital for smooth take-off of the project,” he said.(NAN)

  • China to implement comprehensive budget performance evaluation

    BEIJING, (Xinhua) — China will reduce import tariffs on 1,585 taxable items starting Nov. 1, to serve industrial upgrading, lower corporate cost and meet domestic demand, a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided Wednesday.

    The new policy adds to a slew of tariff cuts China introduced this year, which will save an estimated total of 60 billion yuan (about 8.7 billion U.S. dollars) for firms and consumers, according to a statement released after the meeting.

    It will put the country’s overall tariff rate at 7.5 percent, down from 9.8 percent in 2017. Average tariff rates for mechanical and electrical equipment, such as construction machinery in high demand, will be lowered from 12.2 percent to 8.8 percent.

    For textiles and building materials, the average tariff rate will be cut from 11.5 per

  • China to cut import tariffs on 1,585 taxable items

    BEIJING, (Xinhua) — China will reduce import tariffs on 1,585 taxable items starting Nov. 1, to serve industrial upgrading, lower corporate cost and meet domestic demand, a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang decided Wednesday.

    The new policy adds to a slew of tariff cuts China introduced this year, which will save an estimated total of 60 billion yuan (about 8.7 billion U.S. dollars) for firms and consumers, according to a statement released after the meeting.

    It will put the country’s overall tariff rate at 7.5 percent, down from 9.8 percent in 2017. Average tariff rates for mechanical and electrical equipment, such as construction machinery in high demand, will be lowered from 12.2 percent to 8.8 percent.

    For textiles and building materials, the average tariff rate will be cut from 11.5 percent to 8.4 percent, while that for resource products and primary goods will fall from 6.6 percent to 5.4 percent.