No more power outages for Joburg? City signs new deal

City of Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Moerane is confident that they will be able to stave off load-shedding with the signing of a milestone power purchase agreement with the privately-owned Kelvin Power Station.

The move is undoubtedly a welcomed one given the city’s power supply issues which have been ongoing for quite some time. It is expected to be a feat for both the city and Moerane, who has only been in office just last week.

Guaranteed reliable power for Joburg

City of Joburg Mayor Mpho Moerane says the deal is expected to add an extra 100MW (megawatts) from 80MW to households and businesses, bringing the total to 180MW.

“The agreement we are signing answers the questions that have been in the minds of many since we started speaking about plans to take over the supply of electricity by Eskom in Johannesburg communities. The partnership will guarantee a reliable power supply in the City,” said Moerane.

This was after the commitment Mayor Moerane made on his election day that the City of Joburg will take over the supply of electricity from Eskom to supply Soweto, Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Orange Farm, Finetown and Sandton, the mayor’s office has said.

“This event is affirmation of the City of Joburg’s promise in ensuring improved service delivery to the residents. The City’s residents have been experiencing challenges in terms of the provision of reliable electricity supply.”

City of Joburg Mayor Mpho Moerane

Gauteng Premier David Makhura says the move  paves the way to securing a reliable power supply for the country’s economic hub.

“I am very happy that Johannesburg has taken a concrete step to ensure that it enhances its own capacity to guarantee the supply of energy to the residents of the city. I think this is a tremendous achievement. What Johannesburg is doing is something we want to do in the whole province. Reliable power supply and reliable supply of clean water. Those two are fundamental basics without which you can’t do anything. What distinguishes us from significant progress is access to those two clean basic services, power and water,” Makhura said.

The premier stressed that Joburg has huge economic potential which can only be fulfilled if there is reliable electricity supply. He added that other municipalities needed to do the same and consider taking over electricity from Eskom.

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Five Nigerian students kidnapped freed after ransom paid – School

Five more students who were kidnapped by gunmen from a school in Nigeria three months ago have been released after ransoms were paid, the school administrator said.

About 150 students went missing after armed men raided the school in Kaduna state in Nigeria’s northwest in July, the 10th mass school kidnapping since December.

Such kidnappings at schools in Nigeria were first carried out by jihadist group Boko Haram, and later its offshoot Islamic State West Africa Province, but the tactic has since been adopted by criminal gangs seeking ransom, according to authorities.

The bandits have been releasing the students in batches after getting ransom payments.

Reverend John Hayab, the administrator of the Bethel Baptist High School, said after the latest release, four students remained in captivity and the school was working to ensure they were freed soon.

“No student was released for free,” he told Reuters late on Friday. He declined to say how much was paid.

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Mouni Roy and Aly Goni's music video Jodaa is a tale of love, unfaithfulness, sacrifice, and strength

'Jodaa' is a period drama set in the grandeur of a royal palace in Jaipur. ‘Jodaa’ is a story of love, disloyalty, tears, and strength, the cornerstones of every relationship. In this fictional story, Mouni will be seen playing a queen who is fighting to win her love back from another woman. But as the story unfolds, she will be seen coming out of it stronger that will stand as an inspiration to many women. It is an ode that celebrates women who love unconditionally, face hardships in life and still stand out to shine brighter and emerge stronger.

The song articulates the age-old topic of disloyalty, soulfully sung by Afsana Khan who has been lauded for her bold hit - 'Titliaan' in the recent past and is currently seen in television’s biggest reality show Big Boss 15. Mouni Roy and Aly Goni are picturized in a never-before-seen, breathtaking avatar in the music video.

Mouni Roy said, "Jodaa is a song that represents the strength of a woman above all devotion. When I first heard the song and the concept of the video, I knew that I had to do it. I feel it’s very important to give accreditation to empowering women and the story of the video brings that out very beautifully. I can’t wait for my fans and supporters to see this amazing music video directed by Jatinder Shahji. I’m excited about this great association with Aly Goni, Shah ji, and Afsana khan and waiting for it to come out in the coming week."

Jatinder Shah said, "Every relationship goes through multiple emotions and facets. With 'Jodaa' we have made a sincere effort to capture the emotional journey of a woman who goes through many hardships and yet emerges stronger and with an inspirational story. I am elated to have Mouni, Aly, Afsana, and Maninder as a part of this project and can’t wait to see the reactions of the audience and for them to embrace it."

ALSO READ: Mouni Roy looks gorgeous in bodycon embellished gown for promotions of her song 

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Armaan Kohli’s bail hearing in drug case to take place on October 13

Actor Armaan Kohli is currently under remand at Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai for his alleged involvement in a drug bust by Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB). Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan has also been sent to Arthur Road Jail as he and the other accused in a cruise drug case have been placed in judicial custody.

Armaan's next bail hearing is scheduled for October 13. The actor has been placed in Arthur Road Jail for over two months now. He was arrested by the NCB in August for possession and consumption of drugs.

The NCB had conducted a raid at his residence in Mumbai in August this year. The agency had recovered one gram of cocaine from his Andheri residence. The NCB had earlier said that they have pressed serious charges against the actor apart from the consumption of drugs.

Kohli's name surfaced in the investigation when the officials were questioning drug peddler Ajay Raju Singh. He had confessed to selling drugs to Kohli on multiple occasions and his Whatsapp chats with Kohli also reportedly verified the same.

ALSO READ: NCB recovers WhatsApp chat between actor Armaan Kohli and drug peddler Ajay Singh regarding drug purchase

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Facebook, Instagram suffer ANOTHER outage

Just days after Facebook and Instagram were down globally, users have reported experiencing a second round of outages on Friday, 8 October. However, Facebook Inc, the company which owns both social media apps, said everything was now back in order.

“Sincere apologies to anyone who wasn’t able to access our products in the last couple of hours. We fixed the issue, and everything should be back to normal now,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a brief statement.

Facebook, Instagram back online after outage

Facebook has attributed the latest outage to a configuration change, which affected its Messenger and Workplace apps in addition to Facebook and Instagram. According to online website tracker DownDetector, there was a major hike in complaints from Instagram users on Friday afternoon (Central African Time)

On Monday, all Facebook apps, including Whatsapp, could not be accessed over the web or via smartphone applications and stopped working just before 18:00 that evening. The company said the outage was caused by a wrong command.

“We’ve done extensive work hardening our systems to prevent unauthorised access, and it was interesting to see how that hardening slowed us down as we tried to recover from an outage caused not by malicious activity, but an error of our own making,” read a post published by the company on Tuesday.

Monday’s outage came exactly a day after whistleblower Frances Haugen did an explosive interview with 60 Minutes – in which she revealed that the company is aware of how its platforms are used to spread hate, violence and misinformation, and that facebook has tried to hide that evidence.

“The thing I saw at Facebook over and over again was there were conflicts of interest between what was good for the public and what was good for Facebook, and Facebook over and over again chose to optimize for its own interests, like making more money,” Haugen said on the current affairs programme.

Haugen copied thousands of internal research which would prove that the social media company is lying to the world about taking on negative content and removing off its platforms.

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New Ebola case confirmed in eastern Congo

A case of Ebola has been confirmed in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Health Minister said on Friday, five months after the end of the most recent outbreak there.

It was not immediately known if the case was related to the 2018-2020 outbreak that killed more than 2 200 people in eastern Congo, the second deadliest on record, or the flare-up that killed six this year.

A 3-year-old boy tested positive near the eastern city of Beni, one of the epicentres of the 2018-2020 outbreak, and died from the disease on Wednesday, Health Minister Jean Jacques Mbungani said in a statement.

About 100 people who may have been exposed to the virus have been identified and will be monitored to see if they develop any symptoms, he added.

An internal report from Congo’s biomedical laboratory said that three of the toddler’s neighbours in Beni’s densely-populated Butsili neighbourhood also presented symptoms consistent with Ebola last month and died, but none were tested.

Congo has recorded 11 outbreaks since the disease, which causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea, and is spread through contact with body fluids, was discovered in the equatorial forest near the Ebola River in 1976.

“Thanks to the experience acquired in managing the Ebola virus disease during previous epidemics, we are confident that the response teams … will manage to control this outbreak as soon as possible,” Mbungani said.

It is not unusual for sporadic cases to occur following a major outbreak, health experts say.

Particles of the virus can remain present in semen for months after recovery from an infection.

The disease typically kills about half of those it infects although treatments developed since the record 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa have significantly reduced death rates when cases are detected early.

Two highly effective vaccines manufactured by Merck and Johnson & Johnson have also been used to contain outbreaks since then.

The 2018-2020 outbreak, however, became as deadly as it did because the response was hampered by mistrust of medical workers by the local population as well as violence by some of the armed militia groups active in eastern Congo.

 

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Algeria in another World Cup goal feast as they beat Niger

Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani scored twice as African champions Algeria ran riot at home again in World Cup qualifying, beating Niger 6-1 in Blida on Friday.

The rout followed Algeria’s 8-0 home triumph over Djibouti last month, where Slimani scored four goals, and ensured they remained ahead of Burkina Faso in their qualifying group, albeit on goal difference.

There were also important victories for Cameroon, Egypt and the Ivory Coast as the group phase of the continental qualifiers continued.

Mahrez’s 27th minute goal had Algeria leading 1-0 at halftime but the floodgates opened after the break as the Manchester City attacker added a penalty, Slimani grabbed two goals in 10 minutes, Sofiane Feghouli contributed one and Niger added an own goal.

Algeria now have seven points from three Group A games, matched by the Burkinabe, who beat Djibouti 4-0 with Abdoul Tapsoba grabbing two in their match in Marrakech.

Mohamed Salah, who was prevented from playing for Egypt in their previous home World Cup qualifier due to Britain’s COVID-19 quarantine rules, returned to the team under new coach Carlos Queiroz as they took over at the top of Group F from Libya.

Debutant Omar Marmoush scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Libya in Alexandria as Egypt moved to seven points, one ahead of their neighbours.

Angola beat Gabon 3-1 at home in the other Group F game.

Bayern Munich striker Eric Choupo Moting scored twice as Cameroon beat Mozambique 3-1 in Douala but remain one point behind the Ivory Coast in Group D.

The Ivorians beat Malawi 3-0 in Johannesburg with Max-Alain Gradel scoring in the first half and Ibrahim Sangare and Jeremie Boga adding two more near the end of the contest.

Malawi were one of the 12 countries forced to move their home matches to neutral venues because their stadia were not approved for use in the World Cup qualifiers because of poor facilities.

The African qualifiers continue on Saturday with six more matches around the continent.

The 40 countries involved in the group phase of the qualifiers are divided into 10 groups with the winner advancing to the playoffs in match which will decide the five African representatives at Qatar 2022.

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