Author: straightnewsng.com

A 96-year-old Indian woman has set a record by scoring 98 marks out of 100 in the literacy exam in southern state of Kerala, officials said. The Kerala State literacy mission conducts equivalency examination in different grades for people who could not get proper schooling. After the results were declared on Wednesday, Karthyayani Amma was felicitated by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday. Amma, who hails from Cheeped in Alapuzha district north of Kerala state’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, has never attended any school. She is said to have been inspired by her daughter, who recently finished the literacy mission’s course,…

Walid Soliman scored two VAR penalties to give Egypt’s Al Ahly a 3-1 first-leg win over Esperance in the African Champions League final in Alexandria. A report from BBC SPORTS said it was the first time VAR was used in a Champions League final and referee Mehdi Charef watched replays before awarding the spot kicks. Amr Elsolia scored the other goal for the hosts while Youcef Belaili converted a penalty for Esperance. The Egyptian club are aiming to win their ninth continental title. Tunisian side Esperance have won the title twice but they lost 1-0 at home to Ahly in…

Some Nigerians have reacted to the tweets by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former President, who wrote “I have noticed the desperation of the ‘lifeless one’ to identify with anyone that has ‘Obasanjo’ in their names, even after they said I am no longer relevant.” Obasanjo, who in his Twitter handle on Friday, appeared to have made veiled reference to President Muhammadu Buahri as lifeless one, further tweeted “I won’t be surprised if they take pictures with my ancestors, since this govt. is known for identifying with dead people.” Recall that some months ago President Donald Trump was quoted to have…

Two years after graduation, Yusuf, President Muhammadu Buhari’s son, has joined thousands of other Nigerian graduates to participate in the one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Yusuf who graduated from the University of Surrey, United Kingdom is serving at the Kubwa orientation camp in Abuja. Zahra Indimi, his sister, stated this in a picture post she made on her Instagram showing him putting on his NYSC kit. He joins the scheme 11 months after he had a bike accident in Abuja that left him with a head injury. Following the accident that happened on September 16, he received initial…

In its nine month period which ended September 30, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc has recorded N122.2 billion Gross earnings, showing improvement in top and bottom-lines. In its unaudited financial statements, the bank’s earnings showed 12 per cent increase against N109.5 billion recorded same period last year. The net interest income rose from N46.9 billion to N49.4 billion in 2018 while credit impairment charges rose from N5.9 billion to N7.3 billion in 2018. Profit before tax improved by 14 per cent to N14.9 billion, from N13 billion, just as profit after tax increased by 18 per cent to N14.7 billion,…

The Central Bank of Nigeria has fixed N5 billion minimum capital requirement for the Payment Service Banks in the country. A circular to all stakeholders on the guidelines for licensing and regulation of the PSBs, also gave N500,000 as non-refundable application fee, N2 million non-refundable licensing fee and N1million change of name fee. In the circular released Thursday, it stated that the CBN might vary the requirements from time to time. “Promoters should note that in compliance with Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, the investment of the share capital deposit shall be subject to availability of investment instruments. Upon…

In 649 days in the office, US President Donald Trump’s torrent of words has climbed to 6,429 adjudged as false or misleading claims. In the first nine months of his presidency, President Trump made 1,318 false or misleading claims, an average of five a day. But in the seven weeks leading up the midterm elections, the president made 1,419 false or misleading claims — an average of 30 a day. That adds up to a total of 6,420 claims through Oct. 30, the 649th day of his presidency, according to The Fact Checker’s database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every…

The United States Government and Committee for Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, Thursday, flayed the use of maximum force by security agents against members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN. The condemnations came as Nigeria Police Force arraigned 130 arrested members of the sect before an Abuja Chief Magistrate Court sitting at Wuse, Zone 2, Abuja. This is even as Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector-General of Police, described the IMN as a non-Islamic organisation. Amnesty International had on Wednesday, also criticised the use of maximum force on the sect members by the military and police, which it claimed led to…

President Muhammadu Buhari, Thursday, said his administration was poised to continue the implementation of policies to make the economy better. Speaking at an audience with Mr Jesper Kamp, the new Ambassador of the Kingdom of Denmark to Nigeria, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, President Buhari said Nigeria welcomed further strengthening of relations with countries, especially in the areas of agriculture and trade. He told the Danish ambassador that he was pleased as the relations between Nigeria and Denmark had remained strong, noting that in the economic sphere, there was still some more work to do. He said: ‘‘The Nigerian economy…

The suspended Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Prof. Usman Yusuf, is alleged to have paid N508 million to consultants without due process. The Chairman of NHIS, Mrs. Enyatu Ifenne, while appearing before the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the crisis rocking the agency on Thursday, also alleged that Prof Yusuf awarded contracts worth millions of naira without approval. Ifenne equally accused the executive secretary of misappropriation of funds and sundry acts of financial recklessness. She told the ad-hoc committee that from the time the governing board was constituted till the suspension of the executive secretary, there were allegations of award…