Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas is Dead

Lagos businessman, Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas, is dead. Aged 79, he held the traditional titles of the Asoju Oba of Lagos, Babasuwa of Ijebu-Remo and Odofin of Ife, was until his death the Chancellor of the Lagos State University and Chairman of CFAO Nigeria Limited.
 
He was a sports enthusiasts and sponsor of the popular annual Asoju Oba Table Tennis Championship.
Okoya-Thomas was born in Lagos on June 8, 1935 to late Hussam Okoya-Thomas (the first Baba Adinni of Furabay Mosque, Olowogbowo, Lagos and the first local staff of CFAO, who served the company for 52 years) and late Alhaja Suwebat Okoya-Thomas (née Gbajabiamila, Otun Iya Adinni of Idita Mosque).
He had his elementary education at Princess School, Lagos, between 1942 and 1946.
 
He subsequently proceeded to Baptist Academy for his high school education and left Baptist Academic in 1956 as the best graduating student.

5 Star*****Gunners/ Arsenal

Watch the Highlights

The win over Manchester City has certainly been Arsenals best team performance of the season. The team worked as a unit, conceded possession as part of an actual game plan but were clinical with their limited chances.The press as usual tried to paint the victory, giving reasons, excuses and some praising the team for the effort and the coaching staff for respecting their opponent with their tactics.

On this occasion, against Aston Villa it seams the team is really proving pundits wrong. It was certainly a better measure than the scoreline, which failed to reflect a Mesut Ozil strike wrongly ruled out for offside in the build-up and two more occasions when Arsenal were unlucky to hit the woodwork rather than add to their tally.
With Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil back in the mix, Arsenal's attack constantly stretched their back line.

All in all it was the type of performance Arsenal fans  wants to see at the Emirate against a lower opposition for. A proper old fashioned thrashing.
See the performance of the 5*****star Gunners. How the 5 star gunners destroyed the Villans

Players Ratings

Ospina – 7
He was solid today. He was rarely challenged but kept his concentration and his distribution was decent.

Bellerin – 8
A very good game by the young Spaniard. He was composed on the ball and was defensively solid. He took his goal very well as well with a cool side foot outside the box.

Mertesacker – 8
Composed performance by the captain. Never looked in trouble at all.

Koscielny – 7.5
Similar to Mertesacker but there were moments where he tried to dribble out of our own box when defending and was dispossessed by Villa.

Monreal – 8
Another quality performance by Nacho. He was defensively strong and added a lot to our offence with his overlap and passing.

Coquelin – 8
He was extremely solid in the middle. Won plenty of tackles and his passing was good enough to aid us on the counter attack.

Ramsey – 6
Lost the ball a lot for me, especially in the second half. He’s just come back from injury and is clearly lacking sharpness.

Walcott – 7
Although he scored a very nice goal, he didn’t get involved enough in the play for me. There were opportunities for him to really hurt Villa but he never made the right choice.

Cazorla – 8
His consistency since the beginning of December has been outstanding. He is just the perfect midfielder at the moment. He presses, he can turn extremely quickly, he can dribble, he can pass, he can score and so on.

Özil – 8.5 (MOTM)
He was brilliant today. His passing was superb and he hurt Villa constantly with his runs from the left. His assist for Giroud’s goal was class and he took his goal extremely well. It’s good to have him back.

Giroud – 7.5
Overall, it was a good striker performance. He scored early on (although he almost lost control of the ball) and he applied a lot of pressure to Villa’s back line. They tried to play a high line against him and failed.

Subs:
Rosicky – 7
He added a bit of zip and that allowed us to really hurt Villa. He turns so quickly which allows us to counter effectively.

Akpom – 6
Decent appearance for him. Won the penalty and did use his pace effectively on the counter. A lot of refinement needed but promising stuff.

Flamini – N/A
Came on late and didn’t really have enough to do for a rating.

India trying to build six Stealth Submarines

Japan May Build Six Stealth Submarines for India.

For years China has excelled at antagonizing Japan. Now Tokyo may have the chance to extract some revenge.

According to Indian news outlets, the Narendra Modi government has approached Japan about building it six stealth submarines.

“New Delhi has forwarded ‘a proposal’ to Tokyo to ‘consider the 

possibility’ of making its latest diesel-electric Soryu-class submarines in India,” Times of India reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.

New Delhi’s Project-75-India to acquire six advanced diesel-electric submarines will be worth more than Rs 50,000 crore ($8 billion), and likely much more. France’s DCNS, Germany’s HDW, Russia’s Rosoboronexport and Spain’s Navantia are all expected to compete for the contract. Since the submarines will be built in India, foreign companies that wish to compete for the contract are expected to form a joint venture with an Indian shipyard.

(Recommended: 5 Chinese Weapons of War Japan Should Fear) 

India’s proposal comes at a time when New Delhi and Tokyo have been steadily strengthening ties under the leadership of Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Modi and Abe, both nationalistic leaders seeking to expand their respective countries’ regional profiles, are seen as enjoying a close relationship, which could help Tokyo’s chances in the competition. That being said, France, Germany and Russia have all built submarines for India in the past, TOI noted.

The proposal also comes at a time when Japan is seeking to break into the global arms market following the lifting of a decades-old, self-imposed ban on selling weaponry abroad. Since the ban was rescinded, Japan has already discussedselling India ShinMaywa US-2i sea-and-rescue amphibious planes.

Tokyo is especially keen on breaking into the global submarine market, which is currently dominated by countries like Russia, France and Germany. Defense analysts believe Tokyo’s Soryu-class submarines will be a highly competitive alternative to their Russian, French and German counterparts. As frequent TNI contributor Robert Farley noted last September:

“At 4,200 tons submerged, the Soryu-class is considerably larger than either the [German] Type 214, [French] Scorpene, or improved [Russian] Kilo, and can carry a much heavier weapons load. This size also makes them quieter and longer-ranged than the other boats on the market. At current price expectations of around $500 million, the Soryus are not wildly more expensive than the other boats.”

Already, Japan has been engaged in intense discussions with Australia over the latter’s program to purchase 12 diesel-electric submarines. Winning the Project-75-India contract would be a further boon to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, which manufacture the Soryu-class subs.

Still, don’t expect to see India’s Navy operating Japanese subs anytime soon. India isn’t expected to tender a winner for two years, and it will be at least another 7-8 years after that before the first subs start rolling off the assembly line. Given India’s notoriously cumbersome defense acquisition bureaucracy, these timetables should be viewed as the best case scenario.

Japanese maglev train travel at speeds of 311 mph

Japan just built a train that goes 300 miles per hour. Watch it in action.

The fastest train the United States is the Acela Express, which travels between Washington DC and Boston at speeds as high as 150 miles per hour (though the average speed is lower than that). Trains are a lot faster elsewhere in the world, especially in Europe and Asia. One of the fastest commercial trains in the world is the Shanghai Maglev Train, which travels up to 268 miles per hour.

Japan is looking to surpass China with a new train that can go more than 310 miles per hour. Passengers got an opportunity to ride the new train this week:

What's being tested this week is the first section of a longer route that is slated to be finished in 2027. The Daily Mail reports that "When completed in 2027, their exceptional speed capacity will cut the travel time by half, linking Tokyo's Shinagawa Station with Nagoya in about 40 minutes, a journey which currently takes approximately 80 minutes."

Could technology like this come to the United States? Amtrak released a proposal in 2010 that could allow trains to carry passengers from Washington to New York in as little 96 minutes, and from New York to Boston in just 84 minutes. But building the system would cost $117 billion and the project won't be finished until 2040 at the earliest.