₦airaland Forum

ndia has successfully put a satellite into orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth country to do so.
The Mangalyaan robotic probe, one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever, will soon begin work studying the Red Planet's atmosphere.
A 24-minute engine burn slowed the probe down enough to allow it to be captured by Mars' gravity.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country had achieved the "near impossible".
Speaking at the mission control centre in the southern city of Bangalore he said: "The odds were stacked against us. Of 51 missions attempted in world only 21 have succeeded. We have prevailed."
Only the US, Europe and Russia have previously sent missions to Mars, but India is the first country to succeed on its first attempt.
The latest US satellite, Maven, arrived at Mars on Monday.
US space agency Nasa congratulated its Indian counterpart, the Indian Space and Research Organization (Isro), on Wednesday's success.
"We congratulate @ISRO for its Mars arrival! @MarsOrbiter joins the missions studying the Red Planet," the agency tweeted.

At the scene: Sanjoy Majumder, Bangalore

There were some anxious moments at ground control as technicians waited for news on the orbiter
From early in the morning, there was an atmosphere of excitement and tension at the Indian Space Agency's Mission Tracking Centre in Bangalore.
Scientists, many of them women and several of them young, were seated in front of their computer monitors tracking the progress of Mangalyaan.
Giant screens above their heads fed a steady stream of data, graphics and sequence of operations. The first whoops broke out when Mangalyaan successfully fired up its liquid engine, the first in a series of critical moves to make sure that the spacecraft was able to launch into the planet's gravitational pull.
Then there was an agonising 20 minutes, when Mangalyaan disappeared behind Mars and beyond contact.
But there was no mistaking the moment, when the scientists all rose as one, cheered, clapped, hugged each other and exchanged high fives - ­ confirmation that Mangalyaan was now on an elliptical orbit around Mars.
After PM Modi's congratulations, they poured out into the open and the bright sunlight, beaming as they took in the adulation.
"Thrilled to be a part of history," one young scientist told me. "It's like hitting a golf ball from Bangalore to London and getting it into the hole in one go," deputy operations director, BN Ramkrishna said. "It's got to be that precise."

'Better than cricket'

Media caption
PM Narendra Modi: "We have dared to reach out into the unknown"

A 24-minute engine burn slowed the probe down enough to allow it to be captured by Mars' gravity
Mr Modi congratulated the scientists and said: "Today all of India should celebrate our scientists. Schools, colleges should applaud this."
"If our cricket team wins a tournament, the nation celebrates. Our scientists' achievement is greater," he said.
The total cost of the Indian mission has been put at 4.5bn rupees ($74m; £45m), which makes it one of the cheapest interplanetary space missions ever. Nasa's recent Maven mission cost $671m.
The Mangalyaan probe will now set about taking pictures of the planet and studying its atmosphere.
One key goal is to try to detect methane in the Martian air, which could be an indicator of biological activity at, or more likely just below, the surface.
Nasa has put four robot rovers on Mars since 1997 - the latest and biggest of them all, the one-tonne vehicle known as Curiosity, landed on the Red Planet in August 2012. Unlike Curiosity, the Indian probe will not land on Mars.
Mangalyaan - more formally referred to as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) - was launched from the Sriharikota spaceport on the coast of the Bay of Bengal on 5 November 2013.
ndia has successfully put a satellite into orbit around Mars, becoming the fourth country to do so.
The Mangalyaan robotic probe, one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever, will soon begin work studying the Red Planet's atmosphere.
A 24-minute engine burn slowed the probe down enough to allow it to be captured by Mars' gravity.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the country had achieved the "near impossible".
Speaking at the mission control centre in the southern city of Bangalore he said: "The odds were stacked against us. Of 51 missions attempted in world only 21 have succeeded. We have prevailed."
Only the US, Europe and Russia have previously sent missions to Mars, but India is the first country to succeed on its first attempt.
The latest US satellite, Maven, arrived at Mars on Monday.
US space agency Nasa congratulated its Indian counterpart, the Indian Space and Research Organization (Isro), on Wednesday's success.
"We congratulate @ISRO for its Mars arrival! @MarsOrbiter joins the missions studying the Red Planet," the agency tweeted.

At the scene: Sanjoy Majumder, Bangalore

There were some anxious moments at ground control as technicians waited for news on the orbiter
From early in the morning, there was an atmosphere of excitement and tension at the Indian Space Agency's Mission Tracking Centre in Bangalore.
Scientists, many of them women and several of them young, were seated in front of their computer monitors tracking the progress of Mangalyaan.
Giant screens above their heads fed a steady stream of data, graphics and sequence of operations. The first whoops broke out when Mangalyaan successfully fired up its liquid engine, the first in a series of critical moves to make sure that the spacecraft was able to launch into the planet's gravitational pull.
Then there was an agonising 20 minutes, when Mangalyaan disappeared behind Mars and beyond contact.
But there was no mistaking the moment, when the scientists all rose as one, cheered, clapped, hugged each other and exchanged high fives - ­ confirmation that Mangalyaan was now on an elliptical orbit around Mars.
After PM Modi's congratulations, they poured out into the open and the bright sunlight, beaming as they took in the adulation.
"Thrilled to be a part of history," one young scientist told me. "It's like hitting a golf ball from Bangalore to London and getting it into the hole in one go," deputy operations director, BN Ramkrishna said. "It's got to be that precise."

'Better than cricket'

Media caption
PM Narendra Modi: "We have dared to reach out into the unknown"

A 24-minute engine burn slowed the probe down enough to allow it to be captured by Mars' gravity
Mr Modi congratulated the scientists and said: "Today all of India should celebrate our scientists. Schools, colleges should applaud this."
"If our cricket team wins a tournament, the nation celebrates. Our scientists' achievement is greater," he said.
The total cost of the Indian mission has been put at 4.5bn rupees ($74m; £45m), which makes it one of the cheapest interplanetary space missions ever. Nasa's recent Maven mission cost $671m.
The Mangalyaan probe will now set about taking pictures of the planet and studying its atmosphere.
One key goal is to try to detect methane in the Martian air, which could be an indicator of biological activity at, or more likely just below, the surface.
Nasa has put four robot rovers on Mars since 1997 - the latest and biggest of them all, the one-tonne vehicle known as Curiosity, landed on the Red Planet in August 2012. Unlike Curiosity, the Indian probe will not land on Mars.
Mangalyaan - more formally referred to as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) - was launched from the Sriharikota spaceport on the coast of the Bay of Bengal on 5 November 2013.

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever under
Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever under
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news

lilprinze: I don't know the use of creating more states.
They can't maintain 36 states very well it is 54 states they would maintain they just succeeded in creating 18 new ways for our politicians to loot more money.

I wonder why we have to create more administrative bottle-necks in a country were 70% of our budget is expended on recurrent expenditure

Handsomeemmy: And they refused to create state for people in Kwara south and yoruba speaking people in Kogi state.

But don't you think that it will eventually lead to division.,as people who were previously brothers will start fighting for political advantage?

The National Conference in its final report recommended the creation of 18 additional states to bring the number of states in the country to 54.

The recommendation was made by the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government jointly headed by Ike Nwachukwu and Mohammed Kumalia.

Initially, some Northern delegates kicked against moves to create additional states apart from the one proposed for the South-East which was overwhelmingly supported. But after series of consultations by the leadership of delegations, the Conference unanimously adopted the recommendation for the creation of additional 18 new states.

The newly approved states as seen on the map bellow include;
Apa from Benue,
Edu from Niger,
Kainji from Kebbi state
Katagum from Bauchi,
Savannah from Borno,
Amana from Adamawa,
Gurara f rom Kaduna,
Ghari from Kano,
Etiti from South East,
Aba from Abia,
Adada from Enugu,
Njaba from Anambra and Imo,
Oil River from Rivers state
Anioma fror Delta state,
Ogoja from Cross River State,
IJebu from Ogun State
Ose state from Edo
New Oyo State from the present Oyo State.

PREMIUM TIMES obtained a copy of the proposed map of a new Nigeria after the states proposed by the conference are created.

[quote author=ababanwoke][/quote]That's cool,just that most the pictures we see of her are actually imaginary...but this your love na "longer-throat" ;Dlove o,u no see women nearby,like queen Amina of zaria,dora akunyili,Miriam babangida...na so ur own crush carry u go across the Nile to Alexandra?na waa o

Idrismusty97: They shot it down because it crosses the Israeli airspace. Every country have the right to shoot down aircrafts that crosses it airspace. Even Turkey an Islamic nation have once shot down a Syria jet. Iran recently shot down an Israeli spy drone in its airspace.

https://www.nairaland.com/1871643/breaking-iran-shoots-down-israeli

That's is not totally true,the "Golan hight"is an occupied territory which is not recognised by either Syria or United nations.

Nctrice: OP if you had spent this time writing for a politician you would prolly have gain something more tangible than what you have now!

Well am not seeking for patronage from any interest group

In our series of letters from African journalists, writer and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks at the online battle hotting up ahead of next year's elections in Nigeria.
When it comes to providing work for idle minds, the devil seems to have a particular fondness for Nigerian youths, especially around election times.
Most elections conducted in Nigeria over the past decades have been characterised by thuggery.
Politicians turn to the country's pool of unemployed millions to recruit young people who will aid their democratic ambitions.
These youths are then trained and empowered to manipulate the electoral climate.
Their job description includes anything from intimidating political opponents to seizing ballot boxes and clobbering uncooperative electoral officers.
But times are definitely changing.
Rather than supplying them with machetes, missiles and matches, Nigerian politicians are now arming their hirelings with laptops, smart phones and internet connections.
Political thuggery has gone digital.
As Nigeria gears up for the 2015 general elections, squads of young people are being recruited across the nation to storm cyberspace: To harass, intimidate and persecute their employer's opponents or those with views that oppose his ambitions.

The Niger Delta militants grew out of the remnants of young men armed by campaigning politicians
For many Nigerian youths, being an "internet warrior" is a full-time job.
Some work from home; others work from an office - many work round the clock.
I spoke to a 28-year-old chemistry graduate who patrols the online war front for one of Nigeria's popular politicians.
Every morning, he gets dressed and embarks on a 20-minute drive to work, where he sits in an office with dozens of other young people on the same mission as himself.
With a burst of laughter, he summarised his job description in three words: "Distort public opinion".
He and his colleagues have about 10 different pseudonyms each for news websites and blogs, but fewer for Facebook and Twitter.
They bombard articles about their politician with positive comments, and blast those of his opponents with negative posts.

In the past, ballot boxes were sometimes seized by youths trying to manipulate the vote
"I usually use corruption and ethnicity to attack," he said.
Some months ago, he was engaged in the exact opposite: Maligning his current employer.
At the time, he was working in an enemy camp, but the pay and conditions were not as favourable as those offered him now.
"They had promised us jobs," he said, "but when the time came, they offered all the positions to people from their constituency."
No broken bones
Another young man told me that certain online platforms, especially newspapers, block any comments his team members post in support of their candidate.
Others allow support for his principal, and disallow negativity from enemy camps.
It all depends on whose payroll the newspaper's online editor has been signed.
These internet warriors, while not stealing ballot boxes or bullying electoral officers, are manipulating the electoral climate.
Public opinion is being rigged.
At this rate, the forthcoming elections will be full of many surprises, especially for those who depend on online forums to gauge Nigerians' sentiments on any issue.
Meanwhile, the multitude of Nigerians who actually go out to stand in the rain or sun for hours to vote on election day, often do not have internet connections in their shacks.
Being an internet warrior certainly comes across as a more acceptable form of thuggery than ripping shirts and hurling stones in the streets.
Brain instead of brawn. No bones broken, no limbs amputated, no blood shed, no lives lost.
Broken promises
The pseudonymous adversaries may even be best friends.
At the close of business, they shut their laptops and meet at the pepper-soup joint down the road for a stout, the day's vicious tasks safely behind their screens.

Many voters in Nigeria will not have access to the internet
But what will become of all these recruits when the 2015 battles have been lost or won?
Despite the promises that may have been made to them, not all will be given better jobs or government appointments.
The Niger Delta oil militants who terrorised southern Nigeria a few years ago were reported to be thugs used during election campaigning who suddenly found themselves jobless - but adequately armed after the ballots had been cast.
Some of the Boko Haram insurgents currently terrorising the north were also born out of a similarly expired campaign contract.
Increased armed robberies, kidnappings and assassinations in different parts of Nigeria after elections have also been linked to youths with weapons who find an alternative use for them.
I wonder what these armies of young Nigerians will do with their laptops, smart phones and internet connections after the 2015 electoral battle - which many politicians view as Armageddon - is over:bbc

ababanwoke: She reminds me of my crush,the great. Egyptian queen who has beauty and power"CLEOPATRA" her elaborate hair do too

Have u ever seen CLEOPATRA,as in do u know wt she looks like ,so how can u crush on her?

44chux: A typical shoemaker goes to shop and works from 8-t0-5 to make a paltry NGN1,500 and is content coz he makes shoes for lower middle & lower class folks. You would think such a person would be looking for a way to upgrade right?
Well u would be wrong.
Give him capital to upgrade his biz and improve quality, he runs to the village ( Ngwa) with the funds to start his building.
Pay him NGN200 above market rates and he treats ur job as urgent if u can stay around. But pay him 2times the price and book to collect it at future date, and u will have to make trouble b4 u get ur goods. Agree 4 bulk purchase from him and pay him in advance, and next day he dosent come to shop coz he has a handover from hosting his whole street on palm-wine and 33-beer

This can't be true,if so pple wd not be coming all the way from Cameroon,ivory coast,gabon,Ghana And the rest to patronise Aba-made...an even if that is the case,its is not peculiar to Aba,..I gave a tailor asoebi for my friends wedding,as am typing,the wedding has come gone more,than 4months am yet to collect my clothing here in lagos.

Abagworo: People make mistakes in correlation of GDP with standard of living or wealth. Aba has a higher consumption per capita than lagos. It is only 2nd to Port-Harcourt. What it means is that when you divide consumption of goods or cash flow in Aba by the resident population it is higher than Lagos even though Lagos economy is way bigger. Imo State has the highest GDP in Southeast according to one of the sources posted but has way much lower consumption per capita than Anambra or Abia.

On point,end of story+end of discussion=Honda Accord...I owe u one

Kachisbarbie: Are you minding that one...my husband specifically told me that if they are to go by population ratio, Aba generates more CASH REVENUE than Lagos. Lagos moves a lot of money, but they tend to be more learned...than the average Aba man, who prefers to make cash transactions.
-he said the kinda millions an average Aba trader brings for deposit @various times in a day, they spend hours 'bundle counting' it, bc to count am one by one dey hard sef. Then we can imagine how much the big customers like Tonimas are capable of moving

Very on point dear,am sure if it was a political decision,u can bet no state in the south-east wud have been chosen for "CBN's CASHLESS POLICY",but it was based purely on economics of scale,two states out of five states were chosen,from the east,(Abia an anambra)two out of six from south-west(ogun an oyo)one out of six* from south-south(rivers states)an one from 19northern states*(Kano),so who said we no try for East? :

Cyber-café no de reign again(sorry,you u are oyibo..u wnt understand pidgin)cyber-café is no more envoque,try selling pure water or baba ijegbu the surest one is Ebola-killer hand sanitizer

egift: How can you give an award without saying what he did to deserve it. Or is Mr. Ayo sowing a seed for another Jet

My dear most of these awards normally come in disguise for political and financial Favours popularly known as "brown-envelope" ...singing..I love naija,I no go lie o

But must every meeting end with a show*

merieam16: space booker









I hail thee

An you no be space u book,na airline-tickets you booked ; naija peeps booking and buying "spacecraft" since 1814

iwakolewa: It happens to me 8 out of 10 times,when I eat fish,I just like head of fish sometimes I try a morsel of eba or fufu,and sometimes if it's not too painful, I just leave it there and before I even remember,its gone

Gone ke,gone to were u will soon bcome a "supplier/born-Collector ahh !!!singing...in Spanish.."the born shall rise again

MadCow1: Indeed quality is a process and Aba manufacturers have been known to pay little attention to this..

Remember that what these manufacturers are looking for is patronage from middle to upper class Nigerians who have money to spend on top products. The trick to getting top dollar for your product is making it top quality. Nigerian dress makers have started keying into this mentality and have started doing great clothes and some have even strutted their works on international catwalks in Milan, paris, London and New York.

I still believe that quality is the key problem with most made in Nigeria goods.

I don't think wt u perceive as lack of quality is deliberately done with the intension to cheat..Wt these guys need are modern tool and equipment,and that is the only edge the Chinese and Italians have got over them.from the pictures you can see that most of their jobs are manual labour.thas is were government and investors come in

kel4soft: Who is talking about China?

We not talkin of China but u must have bought China products at one point or the other,so wt are we talking about?

MadCow1: I have always been of the opinion that quality would naturally attract patronage..

If the product is good, you don't need government policies to attract consumers as they would always buy the best value for their monies most especially if the price is right.

I wish them well and will wait for them to hit international standards before purchasing.

No sir,quality is not a "destination", but quality is "a process".
we cant wait untill everything aligns perfectly,its one step at a time,just tink of the fact that Japanese products used to be regarded as inferior,later they became a standard for quality,then, later the Taiwanese,then the Chinese..today u know how far...china is the factory of the word.who know maybe aba is next in line?

iwonbaoko: Why must it come to this ? Abia and Anambra doing well is good news but they are not the only ones different parts of the country have their own advantages whether it be water in Cross River Akwa Ibom Rivers and Ondo, Palm Oil in Edo Cattle from the Nort etc there are opportunities ALL OVER Nigeria. As of today the truth is that Abia and Anambra are still very much behind Non oil states like Ogun Oyo,Kano,Kaduna,Edo,Osun ,Benue and Osun in terms of GDP. As a matter of fact in the SE Imo state is way ahead of Anambra state and Abia in terms of economic output and is quite capable of competing with Lagos so I don't agree that Abia or Anambra are in any way bigger economies than those states listed above

I font totally agree that anambra an Abia are behind,..remember when CBN was implementing their "cashless society programme",those two states were among the pioneer states only after lagos,based on what the then CBN governors described as "States with the highest volume of daily cash transaction" in the country,so how do you reconcile that?

glitest: Hmm!

Hmm? Warming up to attack? ahh ,am sorry o,na play o

kel4soft: I have a special tailor that makes my clothes for me at Aba. Those guys are genius. I can make close to 15 clothes at once there ranging from shirts to my etibo. But, for now I don't patronise their shoes and jeans cos they are still way below standard, that may change soonest if this topic is anything to go by.

Their shoes an jeans are better than China by far

arresa: It is impossible, no country on the surface of the earth moves million shoes a day.

Its impossible only in ur mind bro.,the shoes are sold mostly to neighbouring countries an even less in Nigeria..I recall when there was problem of BAKKASSI BOYs in Aba,several trader coming from neborin countries complained bitterly of the disruption in their trade volume,I had the news on BBC's network on africa programme and somtin near that 1million was mention ...then not to talk of now

Those guys are extremely talented! All they need is a little push by way of :
*provision of modern and automated shoe-making technique as against their current manual labour. :

*they may not need government money but they sure need infrastructure like constant electricity,a place like Aba needs an "independent power project" :

*they need a serious "REBRANDING"...they need a brand consultant to change the negative image that pple have as regards made-in-Aba products,..they can organise something like "Aba-fashion-week,Aba-trade-fair an so on. :

*laise and woo investors like MARK AN SPENCER,WRANGLER an other notable garments makers to set up an use Aba as a regional-hub for export...that is what they are are doing in places like Cambodia,Burma,Thailand and Indonesia :
.
and all this does not require a rocket science but "a responsible government",which Abia currently lacks.

I have a cousin that goes to buy aba-made shirts and pants,I just coudnt belif the ingenuity and creativity...the products,the finishing can stand the very best in the world.

Our major problem with maths has to do with "bad tutors",in all my years of hard labour in school,i couldn't learn a tin in maths,when I came out of school,I met a friend who tot me maths in less than two months(wt I cudnt do in school hard labour)
*this happened because the person tot me as"a friend"and not as"a teacher-master"
*i culd relate to him freely and express myself without fear of prejudice..which often the case in our "consentration Camp" also known as schools. :

That is the highest form of pain.I believe that god allows it for two reasons:
#for u to know that ,if u can go through the pain of losing a dear one,then you sure can go through anything in life
#secondly,death makes you realise that we we are equal before God..."death levels"all.reach,poor,high,low,black,white,all will taste date.

Jhayeahsam01: u must be bloody lier... wen did mtn started operation in Nigeria?

Are u new on NLwhich kind question be dis?infact that year small...na since 1814 dem don de rob us :

macklef: I agree with ur analysis, sentiments will ruin d quality of the show, thats what made eyo be among the top 5 then. We all know eyo could not sing well, he was always on probation,
Because he had people who always voted for him, he was there till d last day. Even manned 3rd, where ochuko and yetunde were far better than him.
If its let out to the public its not good.

Ochuko yes,Yetundenoway!

glitest: Thank goodness his wife is all grown up now( I hope she acts like it too), i do remember a while back, when she was notorious for been a party woman, with an uncontrollable spending habit.
Congratulations on his family.... 17 years of marriage isn't easy.

Her spendin habit,..you dey follow her for back wen she de go shopping?

Hemanwel: Chai!!
Being a while I watched my team (Milan) play.
With our new style of attacking football,I have no doubt that Juve's defense will not be able to curtail us.So,it's gon' be:
AC MILAN 3 vs 1 JUVENTUS.

Yes we are back to take our rightful place in Italy and Europe,but Pipo inzagi steal needs to walk on our defence,having been a great stricker himself,it seems he is more attack minded as a coach as well...he needs to balance it.Forza rosennerri

ginajet: don't know who to support

Plz,dear support Milan,we do ladies well