EARTHQUAKE SCARE IN GHANA KEEPS MANY AWAKE ALL NITE

Hundreds of students here at the university at dawn were in a state of panic after it was rumored this dawn that an earthquake was expected to occur this morning.

The news which broke out as early last night and early this morning spread all over campus. Students came out of their rooms as they gather at open places in anticipation of the earth quake.

Millions of residents around the country also cut short their sleeps and gathered on open places and parks to escape death.

Radio Univers reporters in the news room kept answering calls from residents from all over the country who wanted to confirm the news. Here is one of the many residents who called from cape coast to confirm the news.

POVERTY AND INJUSTICE CAUSE TERRORISM

A law Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Raymond Atuguba believes extreme poverty coupled with injustice is the major cause of world terrorism.

His comments come in the wake of announcements of tighter security at airports by governments across the world.

Since Christmas day last year, security at major Airports across the world has been very tight and some countries have been blacklisted following the attempted bombing of a US airliner by a young Nigerian Man, Omar Farouk AbdulMutalab.

Dr. Raymond Atuguba says terrorism has its root in poverty and several injustices in society and any attempt to target a particular group of people instead of the real cause will not help fight it.

Dr. Atuguba is suggesting that the world tackles the issue of terrorism in a radical way.

POVERTY AND INJUSTICE CAUSE TERRORISM

A law Lecturer at the university of Ghana, Dr. Raymond Atuguba believes extreme poverty coupled with injustice is the major cause of world terrorism.

His comments come in the wake of announcements of tighter security at airports by governments across the world.Since Christmas day last year, security at major Airports across the world has been very tight and some countries have been blacklisted following the attempted bombing of a US airliner by a young Nigerian Man, Omar Farouk AbdulMutalab.

Dr. Raymond Atuguba says terrorism has its root in poverty and several injustices in society and any attempt to target a particular group of people instead of the real cause will not help fight it.

Dr. Atuguba is suggesting that the world tackles the issue of terrorism in a radical way.

NO LAW AND ORDER IN SOME YEARS TO COME IN GHANA

A Ghanaian sociologist had predicted a break down in the maintenance of law and order in the urban areas of Ghana in some few years to come if government does not move in quickly to tackle the gradual growth in the population of street children and the increase in youth unemployment.

Professor Kodjo Senah who also heads the sociology department of the University of Ghana says the presence of young people who have no jobs and continue to migrate to the urban area is putting the lives of these youth and residents in these areas at risk.

He said many of them are engaging in criminal activities and are doing any thing just to survive; a situation he believes is worrying.

Professor Senah called for an immediate end to the problem. He wanted government to support these youth by creating Jobs for them and preventing many of their colleagues from migrating to the cities.

He was delivering the last in the series of lectures at the 61^st New Year school on the university of Ghana campus on the topic: urbanization and democracy.

GNAT GETS NEW PRESIDENT

The newly elected president of the Ghana national association of teachers has told Radio Univers News that he plans on quickly strengthening the association’s structures in all schools to encourage teachers to get involved in the activities of the association.

Mr. Paul Asamanaba says one of the greatest challenges of the association is the decentralization of the operation of the association which holds the key to dealing with the high level of apathy among teachers.

Mr. Asamanaba and other executive officers were elected at the end of the association’s third Quadrennial and 50^th delegate’s congress at the university of ghana.

He also spoke of the need to build up the capacities of teachers and ensure that what they require to function properly is provided.

Death toll after attack on Togo increases

The death toll from an attack on Togo's football team as they travelled in Angola has risen from one to three.

The team bus driver was killed in Friday's attack, with the deaths of the assistant coach and a spokesman announced a day later.

Two players were among nine people injured in the attack as the team headed to the Africa Cup of Nations.

The team withdrew from the competition, which is due to start on Sunday.

The attack happened in Angola's northern province of Cabinda on Friday.

Among the nine people injured were two players, an assistant manager, physio, goalkeeping coach and another coach.

The attackers machine-gunned the vehicle after it crossed from the Republic of Congo into Angola's oil-rich territory of Cabinda.

Rebels who have been fighting for the region's independence later said they had carried out the attack.

The Angolan government called the incident an "act of terrorism".

Togo had been due to play their first cup game in Cabinda on Monday.

The tournament's organisers, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), said the team should have travelled by air rather than road.

GNAT BEGINS THIRD QUADRENIAL AND 50TH NATIONAL DELEGATES CONFERENCE

Members of the Ghana National Association of Teachers have gathered on the university of Ghana campus for the association’s third quadrennial and 50th national delegate's conference.

Major discussions on the agenda for the conference are starting today at the university of Ghana business auditorium and President Mills is expected to officially open the ceremony on January 5 at the National Theatre in Accra.

The conference is on the theme "Investing in people to achieve quality education by 2010. The public relations officer of GNAT, Nicholas Kodjo Akyire has been briefing Univers News about the conference.

About 750 delegates and observers and representatives of GNAT's sister-organizations including the Canadian Teachers Federation, the Nigerian Union of Teachers and the South African Democratic Teachers Union are attending the conference.

TIGHT SECURITY AT GHANA'S AIRPORT

Following the news of the attempted bombing of a US airliner on Christmas day, security has been tightened at various airports across the world.

Here in Ghana airport authorities have announced that a body screening machine is being installed to detect what travelers carry on them while boarding planes.

During the weekend, authorities of Ghana and Nigeria argued over how many hours the young man who attempted to bomb the US airliner spent in both countries.

Many Ghanaians have reacted to this development describing it as pointless and unnecessary.

BOMB ATTACKER'S STARTING POINT IS POINTLESS

Ghanaian and Nigerian authorities continue to argue over how many hours Nigerian man, Omar Farouk Abdulmutalab spent in both countries before boarding a plan to the USA.

While the Nigerian authorities claim the young man who attempted blowing up a US airliner on last year’s Christmas day spent several hours in Ghana than in Nigerian, Ghanaian officials disagree.

Ghana’s airport officials think the Nigerian government is trying to push the blame of not screening the young man properly on Ghana.

This development has however been described by some Ghanaians as pointless.

MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I have decided to start writing my autobiography in some days to come starting this year. I have selected June 5 as the day to start writing the book and ask for your prayers.

UG, KNUST AND UDS TO CHOOSE NEW VCs

Three public universities in Ghana are expected to start processes necessary to ensure that they get new vice chancellors as the current vice chancellors of these three institutions complete their terms of office later this year.

The University of Ghana and the KNUST have all advertised for the position and are expected to start receiving applications soon.

The UDS, the third institution will take the opportunity to appoint a substantive vice chancellor. The position has been vacant for some time now and has sparked many protests from students.

CONDOMS TOO LARGE FOR A MAJORITY OF INDIAN MEN

A survey of more than 1,000 men in India has concluded that condoms made according to international sizes are too large for a majority of Indian men.
The study found that more than half of the men measured had penises that were shorter than international standards for condoms.
It has led to a call for condoms of mixed sizes to be made more widely available in India.
The two-year study was carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research.
Over 1,200 volunteers from the length and breadth of the country had their penises measured precisely, down to the last millimeter.
The scientists even checked their sample was representative of India as a whole in terms of class, religion and urban and rural dwellers.

POLICE ARREST UNIVERSITY OF GHANA STUDENTS FOR DEALING IN DRUGS

The Legon police command on Saturday afternoon arrested some students of the University for engaging in some criminal activities.

The students were subsequently detained at the police station for questioning.

Although the police command did not confirm this report and its next line of action, Univers News can confirm that some of the students missed their papers that afternoon.

It is also not certain which hall these students belonged to as the police command wanted to complete investigations before coming public.

Although police is yet to confirm what kind of criminal activities these students were involved in, we understand it got to do with some hard drugs.

GENDER CENTRE AT UNIVERSITY OF GHANA AWARDS SONG WRITERS

Three music composers have been awarded prizes for their songs on women empowerment.

The songs by the three composers were performed on stage during the awards ceremony in Accra.

The composition of the three winning songs was part of a project initiated by the centre for gender studies and advocacy here at the University of Ghana.

The project was to organize a competition on songs that promote issues of women. The centre says it wants to work with musicians and media people to challenge them to reflect more on the lyrics of their songs.

HELP AGE INTERNATIONAL AMBASSADOR ON OLD AGE ISSUE

An international ambassador for the help age international has described as unfortunate the perception among many Ghanaians that the issue of old age concerns only the elderly in society.

Professor Araba Apt who is also the president of the help age Ghana says the issue of ageing is rather an issue that should concern the youth since they have the opportunity now to plan their future properly.

She tells Univers News that many elderly people have suffered in their retirement simply because they did not plan for their future while they were young.

Professor Apt who was speaking to Univers News after addressing a seminar on old age on campus wants people to have a complete perception about old age and all that is associated with it.

Meanwhile Ghana would in some months to come chair an international meeting being organized by the UN to integrate older people into society.

This meeting is part of efforts by the UN to draft a policy aimed at getting the elderly in society involved in developmental issues in their countries.

40 Percent of Police Officers in Ghana work 24 hours-a-Day

Over 40 percent of police officers in Ghana are said to be working beyond the required 8hours per day working hours, a situation which has affected their efficiency.

According to the Inspector General of Police, these officers work for nearly 24hours a day, which make s it difficult for them to have enough rest and refresh their minds.

Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye says this coupled with other issues such as lack of accommodation facilities as well as training has gone a long way to derail the work of the police service.

The IGP said this when he faced the public account committee of Parliament this morning to answer some questions regarding the state of the police service and how it is being managed.

The public hearing is on the Auditor General’s report on some key institutions and sectors.

The public hearing would focus on reports on business registration in the country, the Ghana Police residential accommodation, management of human resources for effective primary health delivery, accountability arrangements in solid waste management and public servants housing loan scheme.

World Water Week convenes in Stockholm

NEW YORK, USA, 17 August 2009 – Global leaders and policy makers are gathering in Stockholm, Sweden this week to discuss water-related challenges.

University of Ghana Students Hack into Computers

Reports reaching Univers News have it that some individuals have hacked into the computerised registration process of the Mensah Sarbah hall here at the University of Ghana.

These individuals we understand have manipulated the system which has resulted in the allocation of 17 beds illegally to some continuing students.
Officials of the hall detected the act last Monday when some continuing students were about to be allocated beds.

It is not clear yet who really is behind the act, but management of the hall has announced plans of arresting any continuing student who has been allocated bed.

Mensah Sarbah hall is the only hall of residence that has computerised its registration process which enables officials of the hall to conduct the registration exercise online.

This new development has forced the hall management to reverse to the manual system of registering as well as the allocation of beds to students.

University of Ghana Extends Registration Period for Continuing Students For 2009/10 Academic Year

The University of Ghana has extended the registration period for continuing students for this academic year from Monday August 17 to Friday August 21.

A statement issued by the university’s acting director of academic affairs noted that there would be no further extension after this new deadline.

Many continuing students have complained about the difficulties they are facing regarding the registration process particularly with the payment of fees and the subsequent notification of the university by the banks.

As it stands now, continuing students now have the leisure of going through the registration process until Friday after which those who are unable to register would have to defer their courses of study for the academic year.

The university had in an earlier statement indicated that there would be no penalties for students who fail to register before a stipulated deadline for registration. The statement noted that all students with special needs would have to channel their grievances through the SRC to the university.

Maths Camp For Junior and Senior High School Students Opens

Hundreds of junior and senior high school students have gathered at Lashibi for a mathematics camp which is currently underway.

The two week event which started last week is aimed at placing emphasis on the importance of mathematics and why students have to develop interest in the subject.

The residential camp which is being organised by Megasa Mathematics academy founded by Ghanaian mathematician, Professor S.E. Anku involves an intensive morning, afternoon and evening sessions.

Participants are being taken through various topics covering mathematics concepts, practical activities and problem solving.

The event would end next week.