• This Day (Nigeria) aagm: Political Economy of Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria (2)

phone, but in a few cases it was easiest to respond by e-mail.
Then came a call from his Harvard collaborators informing him that one of those e-mail interviews had been with a writer who worked for a neo-Nazi website. The writer spun the news as scientific proof of genetic differences between races — without even misquoting or twisting Dr. Scherer's words.
“As a geneticist,” the 41-year-old Dr. Scherer said, “it's your worst nightmare.”
The HapMap's Tom Hudson in Montreal has had the same one. A colleague recently referred him to an Internet hate site that declared the HapMap would finally prove the biological basis of race.
“It made me queasy, because they actually name the name of my friend, my colleague in Boston. And they actually say, ‘He's going to prove us right.'
“I didn't understand what I was reading when I first read it,” Dr. Hudson said. “I never read something that was so disgusting.”
It wasn't an isolated incident.
Morris Foster, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Oklahoma and one of the HapMap's leaders, said researchers are tracking racist sites for references to the HapMap, which logs 20,000 downloads a week from its public database. They have amassed quite a collection.
Not only do the hate sites keep abreast of what HapMap information has become available (such as recent data on Japanese and Nigerians), but they anxiously await findings that will help unveil genetic traits linked to such things as crime and cognitive ability by race.
“Once it is scientifically demonstrated,” one web contributor writes, “that will be the beginning of the end for the Marxist-egalitarian argument over race. Personally, I can't wait.”
Even Western Ontario's infamous J. Philippe Rushton has seized upon modern genetics as an opportunity to make his case again, in the company of Arthur Jensen, a University of California psychology professor who argues that race determines IQ.
This month, the unpopular scholars have the lead article in the journal Psychology, Public Policy and Law, presenting 60 pages of evidence arguing that genes explain 50 per cent of the IQ differences between races, in which Asians rank higher than whites and whites higher than blacks.
(The publisher, the American Psychological Association, invited scientists to rebut the paper in the same issue.)
And yet, despite all the social hazards of modern genetics, Dr. Scherer said scientists should not “have to fear discussing their results of their research, so long as they are open-minded and listen to criticisms and comments from others, including the public.
“I always wonder what Darwin would have done in today's world.”
The ultimate test, Dr. Harpending pointed out, lies not with researchers, but with the public.
He described projects under way involving genes potentially associated with controversial behaviours such as sexual promiscuity, adultery and family abandonment.
“A number of things are coming down the pipe,” he said, “that we are going to have to figure out how to cope with as a decent and moral society.”
Carolyn Abraham is The Globe and Mail's medical reporter.
Illustration
Document GLOB000020050618e16i0004e

Huawei Centre: Filling a Need in Telecoms Training
by Cletus Akwaya

891 words

10 June 2005

04:05 PM

All Africa

AFNWS

English

(c) 2005 AllAfrica, All Rights Reserved
Lagos, Jun 08, 2005 (This Day/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) --
After just one year of operation, Huawei Technologies' centre in Abuja is becoming a centre to reckon with in telecoms training.
uilt with an investment of about $10million, the center in the high-profile Maitama District of Abuja is filling a vital gap in the training needs of telecoms operators deploying equipment from the Chinese vending firm.
The center equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for all aspects of telecoms operations is offering training services to all the operators to which it has supplied equipment. These include MTN, Globacom, M-tel, NITEL, Starcomms, Vmobile, Oduatel, among others.
Engr. Hayatu Nasir, an Engineer and Manager at the center who conducted THISDAY round the different sections of the center last week said the center was also offering training for staff of other African countries since it was conceived to take care of Africa South of the Sahara.
Already, it has trained staff from telecoms companies from other African countries such as Rwandan -tel, TTCL Tanzania, Millicom, Ghana; MTML of Mauritius, BTC in Botswana; TKL in Kenya; Ethiopian Telecoms; Safari com Kenya; staff from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Congo have also been trained at the center among others.
Before the center came on stream, staff of the companies using Huawei equipment used to send to their staff to company's headquarters in China for training. This has since stopped as the same comprehensive training could be offered at the Nigerian Huawei center.
Facilities available at the center in Abuja include a training laboratory, three classrooms, one discussion room, a coffee room, three trainer offices each with the capacity to take 30 trainers at a time. The human resource base of the center is equally rich. There is one Manager, an Assistant Manager and 16 trainers mostly young Nigerians who have trained in China to take the challenges of managing the Nigerian center.
Nasir told THISDAY that the second batch of Nigerian trainers undergoing training in China are expected to return by end of this month to further beef up the staff strength.
In terms of training equipment the center has training equipment spanning all areas of telecoms operations. In GSM service, it offers training on BSS, RNP, NSS. The center also offers training in all aspects of CDMA network, Fixed Lines, Next Generation Network(NGN), Datacom Intelligence Network(IN). The training facilities include soft GSM switch and NGN switch. The center has a mini exchange with deliberately reduced capacity to serve the training needs. The classrooms are networked with the laboratory making it possible for trainers to simulate network problems right in the classroom linking the laboratory in which the equipment are installed.
Since inception, the center has trained staff in 67 classes comprising 560 trainees. The 500th trainee identified simply as Akin, a staff of Vmobile graduated at a simple ceremony recently at the center during which the Managing Director of the Nigerian Representative Office, John Wang presented to him a certificate of participation and a plaque.
It is not only on the center that Huawei plans to increase its investment in Nigeria.
The company will also be investing $20million to build a factory in Lagos for manufacturing of assorted range of mobile phone handsets and Cold Division Multiplication Access (CMDA) terminals. The factory will be operational some time next year.
Huawei manufactures a wide range of products for virtually all aspects of telecom operations including wireless network, fixed line, optical network, datacom network, value added services and mobile terminals.
The factory, according to the Managing Director, was in line with the Memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Nigeria's Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and the Chief Executive Officer of Huawei during a recent visit to China to bring the latest telecoms technology to Nigeria to enable the country to be at par with other countries of the world.
He said consistent with the MOU, Huawei was also discussing with the Ministry and other operators on the possibility of introducing the 3G technology in the country in the nearest future.
The company which made $300million turnover in its operations last year claimed it is not repatriating all of its profits as there is investment in social activities for the benefit of the community.
And as part of the Huawei's corporate social responsibility package in Nigeria, the company has donated a transmission equipment DWDM worth $2.7 million to Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) to boost its transmission .
The equipment, the latest technology in transmission operations has already been deployed by NITEL from Lagos to Port Harcourt.
Also, the company donated a computer laboratory to the College of Education Oro in Kwara state in January when the Communications Minister, Adebayo visited the town to commission the pilot CMDA network by NITEL in the area built by Huawei.The laboratory has been provided with internet services using the CDMA for students of the school.
Wang announced plans to mount a scholarship scheme for Nigerian students in Universities just as he said the company was partnering with one of the operators to establish a social fund to be used for some development projects for communities in the country details of which will be made known in the course of time.
Document AFNWS00020050610e16a0016h
This Day (Nigeria) - AAGM: Huawei Centre: Filling a Need in Telecoms Training.
Cletus Akwaya

890 words

8 June 2005

This Day (Nigeria)

AIWTHD

English

The Financial Times Limited. Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. All material subject to copyright. This Day (Nigeria) (c) 2005 All rights reserved
After just one year of operation, Huawei Technologies' centre in Abuja is becoming a centre to reckon with in telecoms training.
uilt with an investment of about $10million, the center in the high-profile Maitama District of Abuja is filling a vital gap in the training needs of telecoms operators deploying equipment from the Chinese vending firm.
The center equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for all aspects of telecoms operations is offering training services to all the operators to which it has supplied equipment. These include MTN, Globacom, M-tel, NITEL, Starcomms, Vmobile, Oduatel, among others.
Engr. Hayatu Nasir, an Engineer and Manager at the center who conducted THISDAY round the different sections of the center last week said the center was also offering training for staff of other African countries since it was conceived to take care of Africa South of the Sahara.
Already, it has trained staff from telecoms companies from other African countries such as Rwandan -tel, TTCL Tanzania, Millicom, Ghana; MTML of Mauritius, BTC in Botswana; TKL in Kenya; Ethiopian Telecoms; Safari com Kenya; staff from Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Congo have also been trained at the center among others.
Before the center came on stream, staff of the companies using Huawei equipment used to send to their staff to company's headquarters in China for training. This has since stopped as the same comprehensive training could be offered at the Nigerian Huawei center.
Facilities available at the center in Abuja include a training laboratory, three classrooms, one discussion room, a coffee room, three trainer offices each with the capacity to take 30 trainers at a time. The human resource base of the center is equally rich. There is one Manager, an Assistant Manager and 16 trainers mostly young Nigerians who have trained in China to take the challenges of managing the Nigerian center.
Nasir told THISDAY that the second batch of Nigerian trainers undergoing training in China are expected to return by end of this month to further beef up the staff strength.
In terms of training equipment the center has training equipment spanning all areas of telecoms operations. In GSM service, it offers training on BSS, RNP, NSS. The center also offers training in all aspects of CDMA network, Fixed Lines, Next Generation Network(NGN), Datacom Intelligence Network(IN). The training facilities include soft GSM switch and NGN switch. The center has a mini exchange with deliberately reduced capacity to serve the training needs. The classrooms are networked with the laboratory making it possible for trainers to simulate network problems right in the classroom linking the laboratory in which the equipment are installed.
Since inception, the center has trained staff in 67 classes comprising 560 trainees. The 500th trainee identified simply as Akin, a staff of Vmobile graduated at a simple ceremony recently at the center during which the Managing Director of the Nigerian Representative Office, John Wang presented to him a certificate of participation and a plaque.
It is not only on the center that Huawei plans to increase its investment in Nigeria.
The company will also be investing $20million to build a factory in Lagos for manufacturing of assorted range of mobile phone handsets and Cold Division Multiplication Access (CMDA) terminals. The factory will be operational some time next year.
Huawei manufactures a wide range of products for virtually all aspects of telecom operations including wireless network, fixed line, optical network, datacom network, value added services and mobile terminals.
The factory, according to the Managing Director, was in line with the Memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Nigeria's Minister of Communications, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and the Chief Executive Officer of Huawei during a recent visit to China to bring the latest telecoms technology to Nigeria to enable the country to be at par with other countries of the world.
He said consistent with the MOU, Huawei was also discussing with the Ministry and other operators on the possibility of introducing the 3G technology in the country in the nearest future.
The company which made $300million turnover in its operations last year claimed it is not repatriating all of its profits as there is investment in social activities for the benefit of the community.
And as part of the Huawei's corporate social responsibility package in Nigeria, the company has donated a transmission equipment DWDM worth $2.7 million to Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL) to boost its transmission .
The equipment, the latest technology in transmission operations has already been deployed by NITEL from Lagos to Port Harcourt.
Also, the company donated a computer laboratory to the College of Education Oro in Kwara state in January when the Communications Minister, Adebayo visited the town to commission the pilot CMDA network by NITEL in the area built by Huawei.The laboratory has been provided with internet services using the CDMA for students of the school.
Wang announced plans to mount a scholarship scheme for Nigerian students in Universities just as he said the company was partnering with one of the operators to establish a social fund to be used for some development projects for communities in the country details of which will be made known in the course of time.
Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media. (allafrica.com)
FTDL42822477
Document AIWTHD0020050609e16800033

Company Briefs
704 words

8 June 2005

Business Times Singapore

STBT

English

(c) 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Dragon issues 4m new shares sold to Keppel
DRAGON Land announced yesterday that it has obtained approval from the Singapore Exchange to list today 4.081 million new ordinary shares that it had allotted and issued to Keppel Land. The in-principle approval was granted on Monday. Keppel Land bought the shares at US$0.062 per piece on May 12 after it exercised its subscription rights.
Keppel Land had been entitled to a call option to subscribe for more shares to enable it to maintain its 24.9 per cent shareholding in Dragon Land after the latter granted share options to its employees to subscribe for 48.277 million shares.
Dragon Land also said yesterday that SGX has given its approval in principle for up to 4.788 million new Dragon Land shares to be listed. These are shares that Dragon Land is required to issue to Keppel Land if the latter exercise its rights to buy more shares under the same call option.
Boustead unit bags $9.5m in contracts
BOUSTEAD Singapore's 90 per cent owned, UK-based subsidiary has secured contracts worth $9.5 million in West Africa and the UK.
The contracts will require the subsidiary, Boustead International Heaters, to design and supply a hot oil heater to West African site of a leading multinational oil and gas company. Boustead International will also have to design and supply a reboiler heater to a UK site of an engineering, procurement and construction company.
The contracts are expected to have a positive material impact on the profitability and earnings per share of Boustead for the current financial year. They are not expected to have any material impact on the net asset value per share of the company.
LifeBrandz acquires Thai company
LIFESTYLE and entertainment development and management company LifeBrandz said yesterday that it has acquired ThaiNutri Co for US$70,000. LifeBrandz paid for 71,000 ThaiNutri shares at 10 Thai baht each last Wednesday using 'internal resources'.
LifeBrandz said it made the acquisition 'for the purpose of engaging in the registration and importing of health, beauty, personal care and lifestyle products for the Thailand market.
The acquisition is 'not expected to have any material impact on the earnings per share and the net tangible assets per share of the company for most recently completed financial year,' said LifeBrandz.
SM Summit buys into China disc plant
CD and DVD manufacturer and service provider SM Summit Holdings will acquire Advance Technology Investment for US$1.65 million cash. As a result, Summit will own the 49 per cent stake ATI has in an optical disc manufacturing plant, Shanghai Huade Photoelectron Science & Technology Co. ATI is an investment holding company currently owned by China National Textile Import and Export Corporation.
CSE snags $9m Nigerian contracts
SYSTEMS integrator CSE Global announced yesterday that its Singapore-based and US-based subsidiaries have been awarded one contract each in Nigeria, totalling about $9 million. Both contracts are for the Agbami oil field project off Nigeria and are expected to impact CSE's net profit for this year and next year.
CSE's US-based subsidiary, W-Industries, is contracted to provide, install and commission the Hydraulic Power Units and Subsea Control System Master Control stations.
Transtel Engineering, the Singapore-based subsidiary, will do design, detailed engineering, procurement, system integration, testing and commissioning of a telecommunications network (navigation and communication systems) for the Agbami floating, production, storage and offloading vessel.
AIM's Q1 net profit inches up to $3.4m
ADVANCED Integrated Manufacturing Corp yesterday announced that its net profit increased 3 per cent to $3.4 million for the first quarter, up from $3.3 million a year ago.
Turnover for the electronic manufacturing services provider rose 21.3 per cent to $15.7 million from $12.9 million.
The company said that its improved performance was driven mainly by its foray into full turnkey projects in PCBAs for micro-HDD. More orders were also received from a customer in the medical/life and analytical sciences industry.
Earnings per share (based on weighted average post-invitation shares) was 0.52 cents compared with 0.50 cents for the same quarter last financial year.
Document STBT000020050607e16800012

China's Huawei says has invested 10 mln usd in Nigeria's telecom sector so far
194 words

6 June 2005

Xinhua Financial Network (XFN) News

XIFINN

English

(c) 2005 Xinhua Financial Network, Ltd. All rights reserved
LAGOS (XFN-ASIA) - China's Huawei Technologies has invested 10 mln usd in Nigeria's telecommunications sector since it began operations in the country six years ago, its managing director has said.
Huawei managing director John Wang told reporters in Abuja yesterday that that the money was spent on the installation of training equipment at a center it set up in the country.
He said during the graduation ceremony of 500 trainees from the center that since the equipment used by telecom operators were manufactured by Huawei, the company decided to set up the centre to train personnel for the growing industry.
"This will help Nigeria to save the huge amount spent on foreign exchange to send personnel abroad for training," he said.
Wang said the trainees were drawn from existing telecom firms such as South Africa's MTN, state-run NITEL, private firms V-Mobile and Reltel.
He said the company will soon start the production of telephone handsets in Nigeria as part of the liberalisation of the sector which commenced in 1999.
joa/nb/rc/ap
Document XIFINN0020050606e1660008i
Nigeria industry: Huawei Technologies to help deploy wireless network
133 words

3 June 2005

Economist Intelligence Unit - ViewsWire

EIUCP

ViewsWire

4

Number 301

English

(C) 2005 The Economist Intelligence Unit Ltd.
COUNTRY BRIEFING
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT
The communications ministry and China's leading