Breaking News: Monkey Steals Bus While Driver Slept In India

An Indian bus company said a joyriding monkey got behind the wheel of a bus while the driver was napping and crashed it into two parked buses. The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation said the bus driver was taking a nap while parked at a station in Bareilly about a half an hour before his scheduled departure when a monkey climbed into the bus and managed to start the engine.

The driver woke up and moved to chase the monkey away, but it shifted the bus into second gear while fleeing out the window. “The driver managed to regain control of the bus but not before it hit two other parked buses,” SK Sharma, a regional manager for the bus company, told the Times of India. Sharma said the company has had monkey troubles in the past.

“Monkeys have become a regular menace at bus stations and workshops, where they often fiddle with vehicles undergoing repair. They have also damaged CCTV cameras at stations. Three years back we had taken the help of municipal authorities to get rid of them but they have returned,” Sharma said. Sharma said the bus company is in talks with local officials about hiring trappers to relocate the monkeys.

Tech: Russian Scientists Develop Quadcopter That Can Be Controlled By Thoughts

Thanks to the hard work of a few Russian scientists, everyone might soon be able to use the power of telekinesis.

They’ve created a special quadcopter that doesn’t need external controls as it can be operated with the power of thought. The user needs to put on a special helmet that can read human thoughts and translate them into machine-readable instructions, telling the copter how high and far to fly.

The project was financed by Russia’s Foundation for Advanced Research, an organisation that supports research programs in the interest of national defense. Neurobotics, a Zelenograd-based company, worked on the copter’s design for many years before developing a successful prototype. “Commands, or ‘conditions’ as we call them, are generated by the sensors on the head of an operator,” Neurobotics director Vladimir Konyshev explained. “The person thinks about certain actions at right moments which the system then recognises and identifies.”

One of the most notable features of the technology is that it allows the user to multitask. “It is important that the demonstrator who controls the copter can do something else at the same time,” he added. “Only then we can talk about a technology that can be used for military purposes.” So the scientists who are currently testing the device are able to control it while going about other activities simultaneously.

According to Vitaliy Davidov of the Fund of Perspective Research Development of the Russian Federation, the technology is important because it has many other applications apart from controlling drones or copters. “The possibilities for usage of the neurointerface are also very interesting and does not have to be exclusively used for the copter,” he said.

Breaking News: Sokoto proposes over N161b budget, Kebbi N107b, Taraba N68.8b

Three of the 36 Nigerian states - Sokoto, Taraba and Kebbi have joined those that had presented their budget proposals for the 2016 fiscal year.

N161B FOR SOKOTO

Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto has proposed a budget of over N161 billion for the 2016 fiscal year to the state assembly.

The state Commissioner of Information, Alhaji Abdulkadir Jeli Abubakar III told journalists on Wednesday after the state weekly executive council meeting chaired by the governor, that over N50 billion  was for recurrent expenditure while capital expenditure stood at over N110 billion.

His Finance counterpart, Saidu Umar described it as a 'balanced budget' saying every aspect captured in the proposal was backed by appropriate revenue and expenditure lines.

According to him, "education has to top the proposal in view of the declaration of state of emergency on the sector."

He said a committee to revitalise the sector in terms of funding had been set up in addition to other supportive measures to adequately fund the sector.

Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Suleiman Usman said the proposed budget reflected the hope and aspirations of the people of Sokoto State saying, "It is a budget of hope, aspirations and change for optimum service, transformation and responsive governance."

TARABA PROPOSES N68.8B BUDGET

Taraba State Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku on Wednesday presented to the State House of Assembly a budget of N68.8 billion for the fiscal year 2016.

Ishaku who called the appropriation bill "The Rescue Budget" said it was prepared bearing in mind "the realities of times.

 "We can only spend what we have; our projections are conservative and based on what we feel are more certain to accrue within the 2016 fiscal period."

A breakdown of the rescue budget has recurrent expenditure of N42.7 billion, representing 62.10 percent, and a capital expenditure of N26 billion, representing 37.90 percent of the budget.

The governor is expecting fiscal projections from the traditional revenues of the federal statutory allocations of N35.8 billion, Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) of N5.3 billion, Value Added Tax (VAT) of N8.6 billion, Aids and Grants N5.3 billion, proposed internal loan of N12 billion and external loan draw down of N1.4 billion.

He listed his priority areas as agriculture, health and peace.

Housing and urban development carried the lion share of N4.8 billion, followed by skills and knowledge enhancement programme with N3.4 billion and governance with N3.4 billion.

Agriculture carried N2.3 billion, health N2.9 billion while roads construction and transportation carried N2.4 billion.

Moreover, poverty alleviation got N100 million, youth empowerment N235.8 million, private sector N297 million, gender empowerment N350 million and airways N500 million.

The governor said he had directed that a strategic framework for the implementation of his rescue agenda manifesto be developed between now and the end of February 2016, to serve as the basis for the annual budgets of the state from now to 2019.

The Deputy Speaker Muhammed Gwampo said "the appropriation bill will be speedily deliberated upon and put into law in the soonest possible time, so that we shall not delay the governor in his agenda of rescuing Taraba state."

KEBBI PROPOSES N107B BUDGET

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has presented a budget of N107 billion to the State House of Assembly for the 2016 fiscal year.

The budget tagged '’Bring back Kebbi State on track’’ with   N73 billion for capital expenditure and N34 billion for recurrent expenditure.

The highest allocation of N16.4 billion was to education sector followed by agriculture with N12.5 billion while the health sector got N3.9 billion.

Governor Bagudu decried the level of decay in the education sector, saying the  immediate past administration allocated only N3 billion to the sector “which is currently characterised by poor infrastructure like furniture and lack of enough motivated teachers in schools.”

In his response after the presentation, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Samaila Abdulmumin Kamba promised that the House would expedite action on the budget for rapid development of the state.