IGIHE

Author: Théophile Niyitegeka

  • Kayonza: Anti-crime awareness in schools continues in College APEKA

    {The awareness campaign against crime in schools continued in College APEKA in Kabarondo, Kayonza District, on March 5.}

    The exercise spearheaded by Assistant Inspector of Police (AIP) Leonille Mujawamariya, the District Community Liaison Officer (DCLO) and the coordinator of Rwanda Youth Volunteers in Community Policing (RYVCP) in Kayonza, Nkurunziza Gilbert, focused on fighting abuse of drugs, child abuse, gender based violence, and human trafficking.

    AIP Mujawamariya reminded the students of the repercussion of dealing or abusing illicit drugs, citing arrest, detention, and an obstacle to their education dreams.

    “Your voice counts. Don’t seat back; report drug dealers in your communities and school, that way you will have contributed to the national efforts against psychotropic substances and preventing your fellow youth from falling victim,” AIP Mujawamariya said.

    The students were also given light on the meaning and recruitment process of the modern day slavery – human trafficking – through deceit and manipulation.

    They were also called upon to report people who employ or abuse children, which is criminal and punishable by the law.

    “Every child is supposed to be in school, given medical care and protected from any harm. You should therefore be the voice of the affected… an eye of safety and security as future leaders,” AIP Mujawamariya told the students.

    Source:Police

  • Religious participation may serve to strengthen social bonds

    {Roughly 80 percent of people around the globe identify with some type of religion, and scientists have been seriously pursuing insight into the evolutionary benefit of religious practice since the early part of this century. In a new study published in Nature Human Behaviour, Eleanor Power of the Santa Fe Institute writes that active religious participation may benefit practitioners by strengthening social bonds.}

    While some anonymized, lab-based experiments have suggested that religious behavior may increase prosocial qualities like generosity and trustworthiness, few researchers have studied this question in the context of a real community. In her study, Power analyzes how the nature of peoples’ religious practice correlates with the structure of their social support networks in two villages in South India.

    How people embody their religion in public can vary in difficulty and costliness. A single trip to attend a religious service doesn’t require much effort or money, but regular visits require greater commitment. Sacrificial offerings may not be difficult, but they are expensive. Some activities, like making a long pilgrimage or piercing the body with hooks and spears, are both physically and financially demanding.

    Community members who invest more in religious activity are viewed as being more trustworthy and generous. Consequently, these people are often sought out by others who need support. While this can create a burden, it also helps to foster more mutually supportive relationships. “Providing support to others means that one is more able to draw on support oneself,” writes Power in the new paper.

    “These religious acts make a lot of sense when you look at the social benefit,” says Power. In the South Indian communities in this study, most residents are poor, don’t have access to bank accounts, and they rely on family and friends to help with farming, home-building and other crucial tasks. “So if your religious practice influences the likelihood and strength of those relationships, you’ll be much better able to withstand the vagaries of life.”

    While some anonymized, lab-based experiments have suggested that religious behavior may increase prosocial qualities like generosity and trustworthiness, few researchers have studied this question in the context of a real community.

    Source:Science Daily

  • Water-rich history on Mars: New evidence

    {Mars may have been a wetter place than previously thought, according to research on simulated Martian meteorites conducted, in part, at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).}

    In a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, researchers found evidence that a mineral found in Martian meteorites — which had been considered as proof of an ancient dry environment on Mars — may have originally been a hydrogen-containing mineral that could indicate a more water-rich history for the Red Planet.

    Scientists at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), who led an international research team in the study, created a synthetic version of a hydrogen-containing mineral known as whitlockite.

    After shock-compression experiments on whitlockite samples that simulated the conditions of ejecting meteorites from Mars, the researchers studied their microscopic makeup with X-ray experiments at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source (ALS) and at Argonne National Laboratory’s Advanced Photon Source (APS).

    The X-ray experiments showed that whitlockite can become dehydrated from such shocks, forming merrillite, a mineral that is commonly found in Martian meteorites but does not occur naturally on Earth.

    “This is important for deducing how much water could have been on Mars, and whether the water was from Mars itself rather than comets or meteorites,” said Martin Kunz, a staff scientist at Berkeley Lab’s ALS who participated in X-ray studies of the shocked whitlockite samples.

    “If even a part of merrillite had been whitlockite before, it changes the water budget of Mars dramatically,” said Oliver Tschauner, a professor of research in the Department of Geoscience at UNLV who co-led the study with Christopher Adcock, an assistant research professor at UNLV.

    And because whitlockite can be dissolved in water and contains phosphorus, an essential element for life on Earth — and merrillite appears to be common to many Martian meteorites — the study could also have implications for the possibility of life on Mars.

    “The overarching question here is about water on Mars and its early history on Mars: Had there ever been an environment that enabled a generation of life on Mars?” Tschauner said.

    The pressures and temperatures generated in the shock experiments, while comparable to those of a meteorite impact, lasted for only about 100 billionths of a second, or about one-tenth to one-hundredth as long as an actual meteorite impact.

    The fact that experiments showed even partial conversion to merrillite in these lab-created conditions, a longer duration impact would likely have produced “almost full conversion” to merrillite, Tschauner said.

    He added that this latest study appears to be one of the first of its kind to detail the shock effects on synthetic whitlockite, which is rare on Earth.

    Researchers blasted the synthetic whitlockite samples with metal plates fired from a gas-pressurized gun at speeds of up to about half a mile per second, or about 1,678 miles per hour, and at pressures of up to about 363,000 times greater than the air pressure in a basketball.

    “You need a very severe impact to accelerate material fast enough to escape the gravitational pull of Mars,” Tschauner said.

    At Berkeley Lab’s ALS, researchers used an X-ray beam to study the microscopic structure of shocked whitlockite samples in a technique known as X-ray diffraction. The technique allowed researchers to differentiate between merrillite and whitlockite in the shocked samples.

    Separate X-ray experiments carried out at Argonne Lab’s APS showed that up to 36 percent of whitlockite was transformed to merrillite at the site of the metal plate’s impact with the mineral, and that shock-generated heating rather than compression may play the biggest role in whitlockite’s transformation into merrillite.

    There is also evidence that liquid water flows on Mars today, though there has not yet been scientific proof that life has ever existed on Mars. In 2013, planetary scientists reported that darkish streaks that appear on Martian slopes are likely related to periodic flows of water resulting from changing temperatures. They based their analysis on data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

    And in November 2016, NASA scientists reported that a large underground body of water ice in one region of Mars contains the equivalent of all of the water in Lake Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes. Rover explorations have also found evidence of the former abundance of water based on analysis of surface rocks.

    “The only missing link now is to prove that (merrillite) had, in fact, really been Martian whitlockite before,” Tschauner said. “We have to go back to the real meteorites and see if there had been traces of water.”

    Adcock and Tschauner are pursuing another round of studies using infrared light at the ALS to study actual Martian meteorite samples, and are also planning X-ray studies of these actual samples this year.

    Many Martian meteorites found on Earth seem to come from a period of about 150 million to 586 million years ago, and most are likely from the same region of Mars. These meteorites are essentially excavated from a depth of about a kilometer below the surface by the initial impact that sent them out into space, so they aren’t representative of the more recent geology at the surface of Mars, Tschauner explained.

    “Most of them are very similar in the rock composition as well as the minerals that are occurring, and have a similar impact age,” he said. Mars is likely to have formed about 4.6 billion years ago, about the same time as Earth and the rest of our solar system.

    Even with more detailed studies of Martian meteorites coupled with thermal imaging of Mars taken from orbiters, and rock samples analyzed by rovers traversing the planet’s surface, the best evidence of Mars’ water history would be an actual Martian rock taken from the planet and transported back to Earth, intact, for detailed studies, researchers noted.

    “It’s really important to get a rock that hasn’t been ‘kicked’” like the Martian meteorites have, said Kunz, in order to learn more about the planet’s water history.

    This view of Mars was created from about 1,000 Viking Orbiter images.

    Source:Science Daily

  • President Kagame’s Address at the special sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly

    {Good afternoon, and I wish to start by welcoming you back to Rwanda.}

    Karibuni sana. Please feel at home.

    Honourable Speaker, thank you for the invitation to address this special sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly.

    Rwanda’s commitment to the East African Community, ten years after we acceded to the treaty, is stronger than ever.

    East African Community members have worked together to significantly deepen regional integration. Much of this progress was the result of political will, responding to the needs and aspirations of our citizens.

    People move more freely than ever before and communication within the region has become more affordable and convenient. It is easier to trade and do business with each other and we are collaborating to expand energy and transportation infrastructure.

    All this has generated a good deal of excitement among our citizens and in the markets as well. East Africa is increasingly perceived as a region on the move.
    We have to continue to meet these high expectations. We therefore count on you, in the oversight role of our regional legislature, to help ensure we maintain momentum and stay on course.

    The work before you in this sitting reflects issues of concern to all East Africans, such as gender equality, protecting children from abuse, and providing appropriate reproductive healthcare.

    I also commend your work on the Polythene Materials Control Bill, among others, currently under consideration. A clean and healthy environment is a priority for all our countries. Prohibiting plastic bags is a policy that has worked well for us in Rwanda.
    Collective action and harmonised policies will help us to manage the consequences of economic growth as we work to stimulate the manufacturing sector.

    I am happy, as has been mentioned, that Rwanda has adopted Kiswahili as an official language, in line with one of the key resolutions of the East African Legislative Assembly.

    This is a logical move which brings Rwandans closer to our brothers and sisters in East Africa. More and more Rwandans are using Kiswahili and the subject is being introduced in our schools.

    I would like to take this opportunity to update you on the recently adopted decision to complete the institutional reform of the African Union and ensure that it is sustainably financed from Africa’s own resources.

    We urgently need an African Union that is fit-for-purpose. Our continent must also have a strong and unified voice that clearly communicates the aspirations and positions of Africa on the global stage.

    The reforms agreed upon will bring us much closer to this goal if they are implemented without delay.

    Of particular note for the EALA is the decision to direct more responsibility for the implementation of Africa’s common development agenda to the Regional Economic Communities.

    To that end, the Heads of State decided that the annual July summit of the African Union will be transformed into a coordination meeting with Regional Economic Communities.

    This means that greater contributions will be needed from all of you as East Africa’s legislators, both as strong advocates for the imperative of reform and as champions for closer cooperation between the East African Community and the African Union Commission.

    However, whether at the continental or the regional level, our goals will not be attained if we get lost in counterproductive divisions and prioritise narrow interests over the common good, as we keep seeing in various contexts.

    It is really about working together to advance everybody’s interests. There are two parts of this to keep in mind.

    First, when the good progress made internally by each country is aggregated, the benefits are even better for everybody in our region.

    Second, there is no disadvantage from minding each other’s business, which simply means taking our respective needs and interests seriously and indeed adopting them as common objectives.

    This is because integration is not a zero-sum game. When we work together, we are all better off. When we work against each other, everyone is worse off and a loser.

    So let’s empower our institutions to do what they are supposed to do in support of our collective prosperity. The East African Legislative Assembly clearly has an important role to play.

    Napenda kumalizia kwa kuwakaribisha tena Rwanda, na kuwatakia kila la heri katika majadiliano yenu wakati wote wa kikao hiki cha Bunge la Afrika Mashariki kinachoanza rasmi leo.

    Asanteni sana. Nashukuru.

    President Paul Kagame.

  • Governor urges university students to write and neutralize genocide ideology

    {The Governor of Southern Province, Marie Rose Mureshyankwano has said it would be shameful and saddening to see a survivor of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi joining the enemy fighting against the government of Rwanda which rescued them. }

    Mureshyankwano noted this yesterday as she attended the ceremony of celebrating the 20th anniversary of AERG-Huye Campus.

    AERG (Association des Etudiants et Eleves Rescapes du Genocide) is a body that brings together genocide survivors studying in university and secondary schools

    Addressing the university youth, Mureshyankwano commended them for continued bravery deeds but reminded them to be cautious on some people intending to destabilize the country and spreading genocide ideology.

    “You have heard of genocide ideology lingering in some regions, and seen online publications trivializing genocide. I request you to resist such people. You are educated and have to write neutralizing their falsehoods .I hope we will defeat them by doing so,” she said.

    “It would be sad to see a child who survived the genocide against Tutsi identified among supporters of the enemy fighting against the government that rescued or appear among people abusing the government that stopped genocide. It would be scandalous but I hope it can’t happen among you,” she added.

    The coordinator of AERG-Huye Campus, Ernestus Iragena said that they are comprised of 1300 members in 39 sub-organizations putting emphasis on striving for self and country’s development in general.

    “We draw much attention on striving for excellence, remembering the loved ones and supporting up each other. We hold annual charities and donate to aged genocide survivals .We also join Huye residents in various development activities,” he said.

    The Deputy Vice-Chancellor in charge of Institutional Advancement, Ambassador Dr. Charles Murigande urged AERG to be characterized by bravery deeds and becoming good role models.

    “We celebrate today the bravery of children, the life of genocide survivors and resilience of Rwandans. The act was a replication of good deeds of their parents who formed AVEGA in 1995,” he said.

    AERG was founded on 20 October 1996 at the former National University of Rwanda by 12 student genocide survivors.

    Officials joined students to celebrate the 20th anniversary of AERG-Huye Campus yesterday.

  • 8th RPSA Annual Symposium to focus on Technology in Healthcare System

    {Rwanda Pharmaceutical Students Association (RPSA) is organizing annual symposium slated for 17th-18th March 2017. This year’s inspiring theme is: “Navigating through a technological Healthcare system.”}

    Rwanda Pharmaceutical Students Association is a youth-led organization, which champions efforts to help young people, and communities, make informed and responsible decisions on their health as well as social and economic standards of living through pharmacy practice.

    RPSA International Pharmaceutical Symposium is an event held annually by pharmacy students, bringing together recent graduates, pharmacy professionals and all healthcare professionals to contribute and address issues facing healthcare in particular.

    The symposium happening for its 8th time will be held at Galileo Hotel in Huye District.

    Participants will convene to exchange ideas on how to incorporate technology for an improved healthcare service delivery.

    Side events will be a top innovation in this upcoming symposium where participants will choose an event to be part of for deep discussions on the topics of interest.This will undoubtedly enhance discussions, networking and interaction among participants.

    Written by Fabrice Humura

  • Kagame calls for deepening of EAC integration

    {President Paul Kagame has called upon EAC member states to work together to realize the benefits that come with integration, noting that Rwanda has been committed to the East African Community and ten years after acceding to the treaty is stronger than ever. He commended EAC members for working together and called for further deepening of regional integration.}

    Kagame has made the remarks today as he officially opened the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) which will be sitting in Rwanda up to 17th March 2017.

    The event has been attended by various leaders including the EAC Secretary General Liberat Mfumukeko among other top officials from the government of Rwanda.

    “Much of this progress was the result of political will, responding to the needs and aspirations of our citizens. People move more freely than ever before and communication within the region has become more affordable and convenient. It is easier to trade and do business with each other and we are collaborating to expand energy and transportation infrastructure,” he said.

    Kagame has said that East Africa is increasingly perceived as a region on the move and called upon member states to keep the pace to meet the high expectations.

    He talked of the recently approved reforms that are expected to boost integration.

    “We urgently need an African Union that is fit-for-purpose. Our continent must have a strong and unified voice that communicates the aspirations and positions of Africa on the global stage,” he said.

    “Our goals will not be attained if we get lost in counterproductive divisions and prioritize narrow interests over common good. It is really about working together to advance everybody’s interests. When the good progress made internally by each country is aggregated, the benefits are even better for everybody. There is no disadvantage from taking our respective needs and interests seriously and adopting them as common objectives,” he added.

    Kagame urged member states to empower ‘our institutions to do what they are supposed to do in support of our collective prosperity.’

    He said that a great job awaits EALA parliamentarians during their sitting in Rwanda because they will discuss broader issues regarding the entire region including gender equality, protecting children from violence and reproductive health.

    Kagame commended them for the draft law regarding the ban of polyethylene bags in the region saying it has been possible in Rwanda.

    The speaker of EALA, Daniel Fred Kidega has said that time has come for EAC to maximize the use of its potential to address challenges.

    The speaker of EALA, Daniel Fred Kidega ,President Paul Kagame and Senate President, Hon Bernard Makuza.

  • Rwanda Catholic Church completes Rwf 8 billion hotel

    {Kigali Archdiocese under the Catholic Church in Rwanda has completed St Famille Hotel Ltd at a cost of Rwf 8 billion for construction activities in four years. }

    The manager of St Famille Hotel Ltd, Father Bernardin Banituze has told IGIHE that the hotel will launch activities in June 2017.

    “It will be operational from June 2017 after all preparations are done. It is the first high standard hotel of Catholic Church in Rwanda, completed at a cost of Rwf 8 billion. The church has other facilities in Butare and Kibuye dioceses,” he said.

    Father Banituze explained that part of the money used for construction activities was a loan from Rwanda Development Bank ‘BRD’ and the rest contributed by Kigali Archdiocese.

    “The hotel has 68 rooms, conference halls where the largest one accommodates 500 people. It has a modern swimming pool, restaurants, a very exciting bar and shop rooms,” said Banituze.

    He explained that the hotel has neither space for night clubs nor will it let condoms which are against Catholic Church teachings.

    He however said it is a leisure place accommodating honest people with good intentions.

    St Famille Hotel Ltd was completed at a cost of Rwf 8 billion.

  • Globe and Mail story on downing Habyarimana plane false—CNLG

    {The National Commission for the Fight Against Genocide (CNLG) has labeled as false a story published by Canada-based news medium, The Globe and Mail which recently published an article entitled ‘Seized weapon sheds light on mystery of Rwandan genocide.’ }

    CNLG has claimed that the story doesn’t match with known history.

    The article in question was published on 24th February 2017 and reads thus; ‘a confidential report by the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, obtained by The Globe and Mail, documents a Soviet-made surface-to-air missile launcher that was seized by Congolese forces from a Rwandan rebel group last August.’

    According to The Globe and Mail, the newly obtained UN report says the seized missile launcher has a number of “convergence points” – including a similar serial number – to the missiles that shot down the airplane of then-president Juvénal Habyarimana in 1994, igniting the start of the genocide.

    The evidence, including the serial numbers and manufacturing dates, suggests that the seized missile launcher is “similar to those of the two missiles fired at the plane,” the report says.

    The story purports that the rebel group had seized the missile launcher from a militia backed by the Rwandan military in a battle in 1998 in an eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

    The statement signed by the executive secretary of CNLG, Dr Bizimana Jean Damascene indicates that writers of The Globe and Mail should be aware that Missile attributed to the report of Monusco in September 2016 should not be linked to the shooting down of Habyarimana plane on 6th April 1994.

    CNLG says that two reports quoted in the story describe the said missiles as SAM-7s while investigations done by French nationals indicate that the airplane was shot by SAM-16s Missile.

    “This brings into question whether there are no political forces behind Globe and Mail editorial policy pushing for the publication of false stories,” reads the statement in part.

    “Truth is an important aspect of our history and survivors of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi and Rwandans in general. We request Globe and Mail to closely scrutinize facts and assess whether such false publications do not tantamount to trivializing one of the biggest crimes that happened in the 20th century,” reads the statement.

  • Kagame to give a lecture at Harvard University

    {President Paul Kagame will this week give a lecture at Havard University’s Centre for International Development (CID) on 10th March 2017, to be hosted by Ricardo Hausmann, the CID Director and attended by Harvard students and various experts. }

    CID works with the aim of promoting understandings of global development challenges to address hunger.

    President Kagame last year gave a lecture to students of Harvard Institute of Politics, in Boston City.

    President Kagame last year gave a lecture to students of Harvard Institute of Politics, in Boston City.