IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • DRC Faces Power Shortage Caused by Drought

    {The Democratic Republic of Congo’s power company says it may have to severely reduce hydroelectric production because of historically low levels in the Congo River.}

    “We fear that if we don’t have enough water, we would have to stop the turbines because they cannot function when the water is below a certain level,” said Medard Kitakani, an official of the National Electricity Company (SNEL).

    Congo is one of many African countries struggling with the effects of an extended regional drought.

    SNEL said this week that water levels in the Congo River — one of the longest and deepest in Africa — are at their lowest point in the past 100 years.

    A cut in power could have major effects on the economy, especially in the mining industries, which depend on the river for electricity.

    Kitakani told VOA French to Africa that SNEL currently produces 900 megawatts, the bulk of it coming from a hydroelectric complex near the western city of Matadi.

    Production could drop to 350 to 400 megawatts during the coming dry season if the river level falls too low, he said.

    Fishing vessels are seen docked along the Congo River in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital Kinshasa, Dec. 21, 2016. A current drought has left water levels in the Congo River at their lowest point in the past 100 years.

    Source:Voice of America

  • Stolen irrigation machine recovered, three arrested

    {Police in Kirehe District, on Thursday, recovered an irrigation machine worth over Rwf46 million, which was stolen last month.}

    The main control panel machine had been stolen from Nasho Irrigation Project II, a maize cooperative.

    It was intercepted in Kigina Sector as it was being transported to Kigali by three suspected thieves, who were also arrested.

    The District Police Commander (DPC), Supt. James Rutaremara identified the suspects as Fred Asiimwe, 37, Jean Baptist Dushimirimana, 23, and Marcel Niyomugabo, 27.

    Niyomugabo is the former security guard at Nasho maize irrigation scheme, who is currently a commercial motorcyclist in Kigali, who, together with his two accomplices, allegedly connived and stole the water pumping machine.

    “Following the theft of the equipment, we launched investigations. We later received information from residents on people they suspected to have stolen it; officers were deployed and they trailed the vehicle from Nyarubuye Sector where it had been hidden to our erected roadblock in Kigina where the vehicle was intercepted at about 2am, the machine recovered and the suspects arrested red-handed,” said the DPC.

    The vandalization and stealing of the water pumping machine has since affected the irrigation system of the ten hectare maize plantation.

    “We thank residents who facilitated the successful investigations that led to the recovery of the machine and arrest of the suspects.”

    Nasho and its environs are one of the places with generally low rains, where commercial farming largely depends on irrigation.

    Source:Police

  • Diet and global climate change

    {Eating healthier food could reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says a new study.}

    You are what you eat, as the saying goes, and while good dietary choices boost your own health, they also could improve the health care system and even benefit the planet. Healthier people mean not only less disease but also reduced greenhouse gas emissions from health care.

    As it turns out, some relatively small diet tweaks could add up to significant inroads in addressing climate change.

    That’s the finding of a new study led by UC Santa Barbara researchers, who analyzed the potential effects of healthier model diets for the United States. The results appear in the journal Climatic Change.

    “To my knowledge, this is the first time anyone has done this,” said study director David Cleveland, a research professor in UCSB’s environmental studies program and geography department. “People have looked at what effect diets have both on climate and on health, but they’ve never examined the potential to mitigate climate change through the food system and the health care system together.”

    The food system contributes about 30 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with the largest proportion coming from animal-based food. In addition, the poor quality of the standard U.S. diet — including high levels of red and processed meat and low levels of fruits and vegetables — is a major factor in a number of preventable diseases. The U.S. spends $3 trillion on health care every year — 18 percent of the gross domestic product — much of it allocated to diseases associated with poor diets.

    Cleveland and colleagues first used data from published meta-analyses that examined the effect of foods on diseases. Then, using life-cycle assessment data for the foods that changed in the healthier model diets, they analyzed the effects of the diets on greenhouse gas emissions for the food system. For the health care system, the researchers estimated the change in risk of diabetes, colorectal cancer and coronary heart disease due to the healthier diets and the subsequent effect on both health care costs and greenhouse gas emissions.

    To create healthier model diets, the researchers altered the standard 2,000-calorie-a-day U.S. diet, changing the sources of about half of those calories. The different model diets progressively reduced the amount of red and processed meats, with the most stringent diet eliminating them completely. Fruit and vegetable intake was doubled, and peas and beans increased to replace the meat protein removed. Refined grains were partially replaced with whole grains. Added sugar, which Cleveland noted is a known health risk, was not reduced. Neither was dairy, eggs, fish or non-red meat.

    “This means our estimates are probably very conservative, both in terms of health and climate change implications,” Cleveland said. “Just changing half of the diet and including only some of the diseases associated with diets, we found a huge effect.

    “Food has a tremendous impact on the environment,” he added. “That means that there is enormous potential for our food choices to have positive effects on our environment as well on our health and our health care costs.”

    That is exactly what the scientists found. The adoption of healthier model diets reduced the relative risk of coronary heart disease, colorectal cancer and Type 2 diabetes by 20 to 40 percent. Health care costs went down by $77 billion to $93 billion annually and direct greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 222 kilograms to 826 kilograms per person per year.

    “In the third diet — which contained no red or processed meats — there was a savings of $95 billion out of the total annual cost of $230 billion for those three diseases,” Cleveland explained. “That’s not huge compared to the $3 trillion total in health care costs, but it’s a start. Results like these can also help motivate individual and policy changes.”

    In terms of climate policy, the healthier diets could contribute up to 23 percent of the U.S. Climate Action Plan goal to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, Cleveland said. Further, the diets could generate up to 134 percent of California’s goal of reaching 1990 emission levels by 2020.

    According to Cleveland, the findings add weight to the conclusion of several other recent studies: Diet change must be part of successful climate change mitigation policies, and climate change mitigation must be included in policies to improve the food system.

    This creates an important opportunity for the University of California, Cleveland noted. “The UC Carbon Neutrality Initiative should have a major focus on climate change mitigation via the food system,” he said. “And the UC Global Food Initiative should have a major focus on the relationships among food, climate and health.”

    The food system contributes about 30 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with the largest proportion coming from animal-based food.

    Source:Science Daily

  • Rwanda, Mali Justice ministers visit Gishari Integrated Polytechnic

    {The Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye along with his Malian counterpart Mamadou Ismaila Konate, on Thursday, visited Gishari Integrated Polytechnic (GIP) where they were impressed by the school’s education aspirations.}

    The ministers were also accompanied by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Emmanuel K. Gasana.

    At GIP, they were received by its acting Principal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Dramas Gatare, who have gace them an overview of the polytechnic and courses offered.

    After touring the school departments, Minister Konate said that there is a lot that his country can adopt from GIP in creating a job creating generation.

    Minister Busingye, on his part, said: “It’s always a pleasure and a learning experience to visit RNP places; what is going on at GIP is laudable.”

    In his presentation,ACP Gatare said that as a government-based higher learning TVET institution, GIP has over the last few years made tremendous strides in achieving its objectives.

    “GIP has contributed to Rwanda’s economic development agenda by training both Rwanda National Police officers and the community in various technical and vocational skills in respect to the National Economic priority areas. Technical expertise and facilities have been shared between the RNP and Workforce Development Authority (WDA)” said ACP Gatare.

    The polytechnic has been operational since March 2013 and currently offers advanced Diploma Programs, Vocational Training courses and short vocational training courses

    The school is set to expand its infrastructures and to increase its student capacity to at least 1500 this year from the current 700.

    The face-lift, ACP Gatare said, is informed by the increasing number of students and the increase in courses.

    Source:Police

  • Newly discovered virus affects sex ratio of insect-killing wasps

    {Scientists have identified a previously unknown virus that decreases the number of female offspring of the wasps it infects, according to a PLOS Pathogens study. The virus, discovered by Gongyin Ye’s group of Zhejiang University, infects one species of a specific group of wasps known as parasitoid wasps.}

    Parasitoid wasps lay their eggs inside the bodies of the host insects. After the eggs hatch, the young wasps spend the first part of their life cycle feeding on the host insect until it dies. Many parasitoid wasps have symbiotic relationships with viruses that enable wasps to produce substances that weaken the host insect immune defense and help the wasps survive.

    While studying a parasitoid wasp species known as Pteromalus puparum, Ye’s team discovered signs of a virus among products of the wasp’s transcriptome. They sequenced the viral genome and found that it belonged to a previously unknown species. The virus, dubbed PpNSRV-1 represents a novel genus of the taxonomic order Mononegavirales, making it the first virus of that genus to be found in parasitoid wasps.

    After identifying PpNSRV-1, the researchers investigated its influence on infected wasps. They compared wasps infected by PpNSRV-1 with non-infected wasps and found that the virus lengthens the lifespan of the wasps. The scientists hypothesize that this could help the virus by giving wasps more time to transmit the virus to more hosts.

    PpNSRV-1 also reduces the number of female offspring produced by the wasp. The scientists speculate that a reduced number of female offspring could also promote viral transmission. This is because both males and female wasps appear to be able to pass PpNSRV-1 to offspring, and since males can mate with multiple females, a higher ratio of males could spread the virus farther. It is first reported that the virus associated with parasitoid wasps has the key role in regulating wasp offspring sex ratio before which only bacterial symbionts such as Wolbachia are considered to be related to regulate its host wasp sex ratio.

    Much more research is needed to better understand PpNSRV-1 and its full impact on wasps. For example, while the virus may extend wasp lifespan in the lab, it may not do so in nature. Better understanding of parasitoid wasps in general is useful since their insect-killing tendencies make some of them valuable for insect control in agriculture.

    Vertical transmission of PpNSRV-1 in Pteromalus puparum wasps (A) and viral detection in field populations of Pteromalus puparum wasps (B).

    Source:Science Daily

  • Nyagatare: Youth volunteers commit to fighting injustice

    {The District Police Unit (DPU) of Nyagatare and members of Rwanda Youth Volunteers in Community Policing (RYVCP) in the district, held a meeting on March 9 and resolved, among others, to strengthen partnership in reporting injustices faced by residents in their communities.}

    The meeting chaired by the District Police Commander, Chief Supt. Johnson Sesonga, brought together all coordinators of the youth organization in all the 14 sectors of Nyagatare.

    With security being the overall focus, the meeting also resolved to ensure timely flow of information, especially on drug dealers; be the voice against unwanted pregnancies especially in schools, gender based violence, and fight the sell and use of plastic bags.

    Nyagatare, due to its strategic location coupled with porous borders, is said to be one of the major transit routes for illicit gin like Kanyanga and others like chief waragi, zebra waragi and African gin, all which are also packed in plastic bags.

    Chief Supt. Sesonga challenged the youth leaders to “be the voice” of the people who might be facing injustices and at times “feels intimidated, their issues are left unattended or given no attention by those supposed to handle them.”

    “The fight against high impact crimes such as gender based violence, trafficking of drugs, child abuse and corruption is a collective responsibility, and as an organized youth, we expect you to hold the flag,” he told the youth.

    Currently, there are about 2000 members of youth volunteers in community policing in Nyagatare.

    Source:Police

  • Brain is ten times more active than previously measured

    {A new UCLA study could change scientists’ understanding of how the brain works — and could lead to new approaches for treating neurological disorders and for developing computers that “think” more like humans.}

    The research focused on the structure and function of dendrites, which are components of neurons, the nerve cells in the brain. Neurons are large, tree-like structures made up of a body, the soma, with numerous branches called dendrites extending outward. Somas generate brief electrical pulses called “spikes” in order to connect and communicate with each other. Scientists had generally believed that the somatic spikes activate the dendrites, which passively send currents to other neurons’ somas, but this had never been directly tested before. This process is the basis for how memories are formed and stored.

    Scientists have believed that this was dendrites’ primary role.

    But the UCLA team discovered that dendrites are not just passive conduits. Their research showed that dendrites are electrically active in animals that are moving around freely, generating nearly 10 times more spikes than somas. The finding challenges the long-held belief that spikes in the soma are the primary way in which perception, learning and memory formation occur.

    “Dendrites make up more than 90 percent of neural tissue,” said UCLA neurophysicist Mayank Mehta, the study’s senior author. “Knowing they are much more active than the soma fundamentally changes the nature of our understanding of how the brain computes information. It may pave the way for understanding and treating neurological disorders, and for developing brain-like computers.”

    The research is reported in the March 9 issue of the journal Science.

    Scientists have generally believed that dendrites meekly sent currents they received from the cell’s synapse (the junction between two neurons) to the soma, which in turn generated an electrical impulse. Those short electrical bursts, known as somatic spikes, were thought to be at the heart of neural computation and learning. But the new study demonstrated that dendrites generate their own spikes 10 times more often than the somas.

    The researchers also found that dendrites generate large fluctuations in voltage in addition to the spikes; the spikes are binary, all-or-nothing events. The somas generated only all-or-nothing spikes, much like digital computers do. In addition to producing similar spikes, the dendrites also generated large, slowly varying voltages that were even bigger than the spikes, which suggests that the dendrites execute analog computation.

    “We found that dendrites are hybrids that do both analog and digital computations, which are therefore fundamentally different from purely digital computers, but somewhat similar to quantum computers that are analog,” said Mehta, a UCLA professor of physics and astronomy, of neurology and of neurobiology. “A fundamental belief in neuroscience has been that neurons are digital devices. They either generate a spike or not. These results show that the dendrites do not behave purely like a digital device. Dendrites do generate digital, all-or-none spikes, but they also show large analog fluctuations that are not all or none. This is a major departure from what neuroscientists have believed for about 60 years.”

    Because the dendrites are nearly 100 times larger in volume than the neuronal centers, Mehta said, the large number of dendritic spikes taking place could mean that the brain has more than 100 times the computational capacity than was previously thought.

    Recent studies in brain slices showed that dendrites can generate spikes. But it was neither clear that this could happen during natural behavior, nor how often. Measuring dendrites’ electrical activity during natural behavior has long been a challenge because they’re so delicate: In studies with laboratory rats, scientists have found that placing electrodes in the dendrites themselves while the animals were moving actually killed those cells. But the UCLA team developed a new technique that involves placing the electrodes near, rather than in, the dendrites.

    Using that approach, the scientists measured dendrites’ activity for up to four days in rats that were allowed to move freely within a large maze. Taking measurements from the posterior parietal cortex, the part of the brain that plays a key role in movement planning, the researchers found far more activity in the dendrites than in the somas — approximately five times as many spikes while the rats were sleeping, and up to 10 times as many when they were exploring.

    “Many prior models assume that learning occurs when the cell bodies of two neurons are active at the same time,” said Jason Moore, a UCLA postdoctoral researcher and the study’s first author. “Our findings indicate that learning may take place when the input neuron is active at the same time that a dendrite is active — and it could be that different parts of dendrites will be active at different times, which would suggest a lot more flexibility in how learning can occur within a single neuron.”

    Looking at the soma to understand how the brain works has provided a framework for numerous medical and scientific questions — from diagnosing and treating diseases to how to build computers. But, Mehta said, that framework was based on the understanding that the cell body makes the decisions, and that the process is digital.

    “What we found indicates that such decisions are made in the dendrites far more often than in the cell body, and that such computations are not just digital, but also analog,” Mehta said. “Due to technological difficulties, research in brain function has largely focused on the cell body. But we have discovered the secret lives of neurons, especially in the extensive neuronal branches. Our results substantially change our understanding of how neurons compute.”

    UCLA scientists discovered that dendrites (shown here in green) are not just passive conduits for electrical currents between neurons.

    Source:Science Daily

  • Convict access to media contravenes UN-Mali agreements—Mali Minister

    {The Minister of Justice and Human Rights in Mali, Mamadou Ismaïla Konaté who has been in Rwanda on a five-day visit has condemned the act of allowing Kambanda, a genocide convict jailed in Mali, to access the media saying it is against Mali’s agreements with UN in 1999.}

    In July 2015, ITV based in England talked to Jean Kambanda, former Prime Minister in the government which prepared and executed 1994 genocide against Tutsi jailed in Koulikoro prison of Mali.

    Jean Kambanda was handed life sentence for genocide crimes.

    Talking to ITV, he said they were facing powerful opponents that they could do nothing to stop genocide. He explained that the arms he had released were meant for self-defense not killing Tutsi. Similar act had occurred in 2004 when BBC journalist, Venuste Nshimiyimana was allowed by ICTR to talk to inmates for media dissemination.

    Such acts awakened the Ministry of Justice, organizations protecting interests of genocide survivors and Rwandans in general to question Mali and ICTR’s spirit of doing so.

    Talking to the media, Mamadou has criticized such acts and pledged immediate action against the matter.

    “The matter of a convict given space in the media is not allowed. This violated the prison’s rights and our agreements with UN. There are wrong acts that must stop,” he said.

    Mali agreements with UN on 12th February 1999 restrict a convict from ICTR to be given space in the media to neither deny their crimes nor allow them to spread hatred which was also used during the preparation of 1994 genocide against Tutsi.

    “I will act beginning tomorrow as I arrive in Bamako. I will (not later than next Friday) send a letter to the leader of Koulikoro prison where 16 Rwandans are jailed, prohibiting Rwandans, Mali inmates to talk to outsiders through the media,” he said.

    Jean Kambanda interview with ITV in July 2015.

  • Selfish interests bog railway construction, EALA told

    {The efforts and rate at which the implementation of the construction of the East African railway line are far from encouraging, Dr James Ndahiro representing Rwanda in the East African legislative Assembly (EALA) has observed, noting that every country is only considering self-interests. }

    He has made the observation today in EALA –Kigali sitting discussing a report on the project of building a railway line connecting EAC.

    Dr Ndahiro gave an example that it costs $1800 to transport a container from China to Dar es Salaam but takes $5200 from Dar to Kigali which demonstrates huge costs in regional trade.

    Dr Ndahiro said that in the seventies and eighties es, the region had an operating trains that would carry 80% of cross-border merchandise.

    “In the past, the railway connected the North and Southern Africa but the lines were damaged by Africans themselves,” he said.

    “We have to seek ways of building and supervising our activities. The railway is not a huge thing because people who built it before were few, used our own people and executed it within a short time,” said Ndahiro.

    “ It is nowadays taking us ten years thinking about a project, designing how it will be like, requesting loans everywhere where one comes to make a study plan while another comes to take measurements…”he said.

    He explained that Africans have potential to build their infrastructures if they take strategic measures and work together.

    “Why the delays yet the project of joint infrastructures was agreed. It seems every country is not doing enough to realize the fruition of this project. Is this the regional integration we want? There are several things to achieve together. Can the ministers’ council analyze the cause of this dragging and return to tell us what is happening?” he suggested.

    Dr James Ndahiro representing Rwanda in the East African legislative Assembly.

  • Park Geun-hye fired as court upholds impeachment

    {Constitutional Court unanimously rules to formally remove impeached President Park Geun-hye from office.}

    South Korea’s top court has ruled to formally end impeached President Park Geun-hye’s rule.

    Eight judges from the Constitutional Court assembled on Friday to issue a verdict to remove Park from office over a corruption scandal.

    The ruling sparked protests from hundreds of her supporters, two of whom were killed in clashes with police outside the court.

    It marks the first time a South Korean president has been ousted before the end of their term since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

    In contrast, tens of thousands of South Koreans occupied a square in front of an old palace in the capital to celebrate Park’s ousting.

    The ruling opens Park, who no longer has immunity as a president, up to possible criminal proceedings – prosecutors have already named her a criminal suspect.

    It also marks the first time a South Korean president has been ousted before the end of their term since democracy replaced dictatorship in the late 1980s.

    Election law now requires a snap poll to be held within 60 days.

    Park, 65, has been accused of colluding with a friend, Choi Soon-sil, and a former presidential aide, both of whom have been on trial, to pressure big businesses to donate to two foundations set up to back her policy initiatives.

    She is also accused of soliciting bribes from the head of the Samsung Group for government favours including the backing of a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that was seen to support the succession of control over the country’s largest “chaebol” conglomerate.

    Park has denied any wrongdoing, but apologised for putting trust in her friend.

    Park’s action had “seriously impaired the spirit of … democracy and the rule of law,” said constitutional court chief justice Lee Jung-Mi. “President Park Geun-hye … has been dismissed.”

    Prosecutors have arrested and indicted a slew of high-profile figures over the scandal, including Park’s confidante Choi Soon-sil, top Park administration officials and Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong.

    But Park has avoided a direct investigation thanks to a law that gives a sitting president immunity from prosecution for most of alleged crimes.

    Since she’s now no longer in power, prosecutors can summon, question and possibly arrest her.

    Park will not vacate the official residence of the president of South Korea, the Blue House, on Friday as her aides are preparing for her return to her private home in southern Seoul.

    She was not planning any statement on Friday, the Blue House said.

    “That’s been one of the uncertainties today because we are in unchartered territory,” Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride, reporting from Seoul, said.

    “It was thought in one stage that the ruling would mean she would have to leave immediately but that doesn’t seem to be the case. She is there for this evening and we expect her to leave sometime over the weekend.”

    Park’s parliamentary impeachment in December came after weeks of Saturday rallies that drew millions who wanted her resignation.

    Overwhelmed by the biggest rallies in decades, the voices of Park supporters were largely ignored. But they have recently regrouped and staged fierce pro-Park rallies.

    In anticipation of the ruling, Park supporters, many of them dressed in army-style fatigues and wearing red berets, and those who want Park gone began showing up around the Constitutional Court building.

    A big television screen was set up near the court so that people could watch the verdict live. Hundreds of police also began preparing for the protests, putting on helmets with visors and black, hard plastic breastplates and shin guards.

    Some of Park’s supporters reacted with anger after the ruling, shouting and hitting police officers and reporters with plastic flag poles and steel ladders, and climbing on police buses. Anti-Park protesters celebrated by marching in the streets near the Blue House, carrying flags, signs and an effigy of Park dressed in prison clothes and tied up with rope.

    The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said two people died while protesting Park’s removal. An official from the Seoul National University Hospital said that a man in his 70s, believed to be a Park supporter, died from head wounds after falling from the top of a police bus.

    An official from the Kangbuk Samsung Hospital in Seoul said another man brought from the pro-Park rally died shortly after receiving CPR at the hospital. The hospital official could not immediately confirm the cause of death.

    Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn has led the government as acting leader since Park’s impeachment and he will continue to do so until South Korea elects a new president by May.

    He called on Park’s supporters and opponents to put their differences aside to prevent deeper division.

    “It is time to accept, and close the conflict and confrontation we have suffered,” Hwang said in a televised speech on Friday.

    People on both sides had previously threatened not to accept a Constitutional Court decision.

    One of Park’s lawyers told the court last month that there will be “a rebellion and blood will drench the asphalt” if Park is booted from office.

    Park’s critics want to see her appear on TV while dressed in prison garb, handcuffed and bound like others involved in the scandal. But some analysts worry that could create a backlash by conservatives.

    Jean Lee, a journalist and global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Korea centre, told Al Jazeera there is a sense of fear among Park supporters that this decision will be a security threat.

    “There is a lot of fear by the older generation, the old guard. There’s fear it’s made [the country] more vulnerable,” Lee said.

    Even after the election, imprisoning Park could still be a burden for a new government, which must pursue national unity to overcome security, economic and other problems, said Chung Jin-young, a professor at Kyung Hee University. Others say it will not be difficult.

    Liberal Moon Jae-in, who lost to Park in the 2012 election, currently enjoys a comfortable lead in opinion surveys.

    Pre-verdict surveys showed that 70 to 80 percent of South Koreans wanted the court to approve Park’s impeachment. But there have been worries that Park’s ouster would further polarise the country and cause violence.

    Source:Al Jazeera