No fewer than 433 out of the 836 foreign-trained medical graduates who sat the qualifying examination organised by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria failed, The PUNCH has gathered. The qualifying examination was held at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital between November 22 and 23,2023. But on completion of their studies abroad, to get a licence to practise in Nigeria, they are required to pass the MDCN assessment. The examination tests the candidates’ ability to apply their basic medical sciences and clinical skills in a health care setting. In a recent interview with The PUNCH, the MDCN Registrar, Dr Tajudeen Sanusi, said the assessment examination was a global practice.

The National Land Development Agency (NALDA) has commenced crop harvest from its farm estates across the country where it recorded high yield. Harvesting, bagging and storing of rice and maize are currently underway in Niger, Nasarawa, Benue, and Oyo states. In Bauchi State, maize harvest is ongoing at the well-equipped NALDA farm estate located at Galambi. NALDA expects to harvest large metric tonnes of paddy rice from the farm, as what has already been harvested indicated. He stated that the stage is set for more expansion in the coming cropping season, including diversification into dry season production.

Bauchi State First Lady Aisha Bala Mohammed has lamented that women and girls experience various forms of violence notwithstanding the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended and various laws like the VAPP Law pledging to protect, promote, and enforce the rights of all persons. The First Lady was speaking at the flagging off of the 2023 16 Days of Activism on gender-based violence, organized by the National Human Rights Commission and Civil Society Organisations, held in her office on Monday, 27th November 2023. The First Lady said that the theme for the 2023 Activism, “INVEST TO PREVENT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS,” is reflective of the efforts and determination by all stakeholders to ensure the dignity and well-being of women, girls, and society. In separate goodwill messages, various CSOs pledged to support every initiative that will stop gender-based violence against women and girls in the state, stressing that their support will come in the form of advocacy and sensitization. They commended the First Lady for her various programs and interventions that have mitigated the violence against women and girls in the state, urging her to keep it up.

Three of the four PUNCH spacecraft will include SwRI-developed Wide Field Imagers (pictured) optimized to image the solar wind. Credit: Southwest Research InstituteOn November 17, 2023, the Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission achieved an important milestone, passing its internal system integration review and clearing the mission to start integrating its four observatories. PUNCH is a constellation of four small suitcase-sized satellites scheduled to launch in 2025 into a polar orbit formation. The Polarimeter to UNify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission achieved an important milestone, passing its internal system integration review, clearing spacecraft integration to begin in SwRI's new Spacecraft and Payload Processing Facility. In addition to leading the PUNCH science mission, SwRI will operate the four spacecraft.

We look at the Tata Punch and Hyundai i20, and see how their variants fare in terms of technology and gadgets. Why Tata Punch and Hyundai i20 are PopularTata Punch and Hyundai i20 have become popular choices among tech-savvy gadget lovers due to their blend of advanced technology and modern design. If you’re a style-conscious car buyer, you can check out our comparison of the i20 with Hyundai i20 N Line. Tata Punch Camo AdventureThis variant, priced at 700,000 INR, offers Bluetooth connectivity and automatic climate control. Our Pick for the Best Variant Among Tata Punch and Hyundai i20 for Tech-savvy Gadget LoversAmong the evaluated variants, the Tata Punch Camo Adventure Rhythm stands out as the best option for a tech-savvy gadget lover.

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Sunday, said the country was almost comatose when President Bola Tinubu came into power. He said, “The President Tinubu-led administration has been very bold and audacious. “Tinubu inherited an administration that was almost comatose. “President Tinubu has been able to do what no president has ever been able to do in the history of Nigeria. PUNCH Online reports that Tinubu took over from former President Muhammadu Buhari on May 29, 2023.

Ahead of the Edo State 2024 governorship election, the Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has made a formal announcement, expressing his desire to compete for the Peoples Democratic Party ticket in the upcoming party primaries. Shaibu made his declaration known in a televised announcement on Monday morning.

The discourse of corruption looks, therefore, like an exposition of the nation’s attempt at social, economic and political development. It is in this light that one can situate the work of Prof. Ademola Adebo on How Corruption Works in Nigeria: Institutional Failures in a Culture of Corruption from start to finish. Chapter six is on how the absence of integrity breeds corruption complex in CCB: Methods and techniques for fleeing public treasury. Chapter nine, on how public and private sector corruption collides to promote corruption in the CCB, dwells on training fraud, job completion reports, and a multiplication of fake, nebulous and bogus contracts. Regardless, we now have in our libraries a magnum opus on corruption, a reference point, where all issues of corruption are consolidated and deconstructed.

At least 18 people were killed in lightning strikes across western India’s Gujarat state during unseasonably intense storms on Sunday, officials said. Such big rainstorms are not expected in Gujarat during winter months, and fierce downpours caught many off guard. While flash floods and lightning kill dozens of people in India each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events. At least 20 people were killed during the heavy rains, with at least 18 of them due to lightning, Gujarat state authorities said in a statement late Sunday. Home minister Amit Shah said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths, in a post on social media platform X.AFP

At least 18 people were killed in lightning strikes across western India’s Gujarat state during unseasonably intense storms on Sunday, officials said. Such big rainstorms are not expected in Gujarat during winter months, and fierce downpours caught many off guard. While flash floods and lightning kill dozens of people in India each year, scientists warn that rising global temperatures are unleashing a cascade of extreme weather events. At least 20 people were killed during the heavy rains, with at least 18 of them due to lightning, Gujarat state authorities said in a statement late Sunday. Nigeria’s inflation rate hits 27.33%Nigeria’s headline inflation rate for October skyrocketed to 27.33 percent from 26.72 percent recorded in September.

I remember that as an undergraduate, education was virtually free at the tertiary level in Nigeria. It was in the spirit of such research orientation that Nigerian academics joined the rest of their counterparts around the world in establishing research academies like the Academy of Science, the Academy of Arts or Academy of Letters, the Social Science Academy and others. That was in 1984 when the Social Science Council of Nigeria (now the Social Science Academy of Nigeria) was formed. The Nigerian academies, like their counterparts across the globe, are non-profit organisations providing expert advice to the government. But it is not just the academies, education as a sector suffered fatalities at the hands of the Buhari government.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has summoned heads of aviation regulatory agencies over safety concerns in the sector. The minister said a thorough assessment of recent incidents will be carried out during the meeting. Recently, the Lagos-Abuja flight of United Nigeria Airlines was diverted to Asaba, Delta State capital, due to poor weather conditions. However, the pilot grounded the aircraft at the Asaba International Airport, and that caused some confusion among the passengers. It also revealed the concerns of several aviation stakeholders and the challenges faced by the sector regarding infrastructure, management and navigational safety, amongst others.

Instead of western liberal democracy, President Obasanjo advocated what he called “Afro democracy.” Many of Obasanjo’s past interventions have been met with ad hominem arguments. I am convinced that, subjected to the scrutiny of critical thinking, his most recent assertions on what he called western liberal democracy will be found to be logically wanting and unsustainable. The Asian country of Japan, despite its profoundly non-western culture, practices western liberal democracy. There are African countries where what Obasanjo calls western liberal democracy is practiced without shutting down their cities on every election day. The question is not whether western liberal democracy is working for Africa?

Sokoto State Governor, Dr Ahmed Sokoto, has directed the total renovation of the first residence of the late former President Shehu Shagari that was gutted by fire last week. The governor gave the directive on Saturday shortly after visiting the burnt house to assess the extent of damage. He described the inferno as catastrophic and unfortunate, noting that the burnt house was historic not only to Sokoto State but the country as a whole. “It’s like a historical monument to the upcoming generation, therefore, we’ll renovate this house,” Aliyu added. The governor was taken around the affected portion of the burnt house by some of the family members of the former President.

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