adminMicrosoft to unveil Windows 8
MICROSOFT will today unveil its new eagerly awaited operating system, Windows 8. The impending launch has already generated a lot of excitement and expectations across the globe. The latest offering is expected to underline Window’s status as the most popular desktop operating system.
Windows 8 is being touted as Microsoft’s best product ever in more than 30 years of making operating systems.
The Windows 8 launch will be in New York and will coincide with the launch of the highly anticipated tablet, the Surface RT, which is Microsoft’s first foray into personal computing.
Another Bulawayo firm shuts down
Prosper Ndlovu
BULAWAYO’s giant clothing firm Belmor Manufacturers has closed shop leaving about 300 workers stranded.
The company joins more than 85 firms that have also shut down in the city in less than a decade.
Management at Ready Wholesalers, who own Belmor Manufacturers, have since told workers to stop coming to work, saying the company was no longer viable.
A Chronicle news crew visited the company premises in Belmont yesterday morning where the visibly disappointed workers gathered to collect payslips for their outstanding salaries.
A sombre atmosphere gripped the place as workers sat helplessly on the pavement while others stood outside the gate.
A handful of others who are part of the workers’ committee sat on the chairs at the reception waiting to meet the company management.
Hospital staff allegedly flout tender procedures
Gwanda Correspondent
THREE workers from Gwanda Provincial Hospital who are also members of the Procurement and Tender Committee, are facing charges of flouting State Procurement Board tender procedures in the purchase of medical equipment and drugs.
Prisoner escapes from Mutimurefu
Walter Mswazie
A prisoner serving for a stocktheft case reportedly stole and slaughtered a goat before escaping from Mutimurefu Prison, 30km outside Masvingo Town.
The prison is located along the Masvingo-Mutare Road.
Police and prison officers have since launched a manhunt for Charles Tizirai, an A class prisoner from Zaka District, who was serving a 15-year jail sentence and was due to complete his term in June next year.
Man to hang for murder
Court Reporter
A man from the Ndolwane area of Bulilima District who brutally murdered a nine-year-old boy and burnt the body was yesterday sentenced to death.
Michael Goodluck Sivako Nleya (45) pleaded not guilty to murder, but was convicted of murder with actual intent by Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Lawrence Kamocha sitting with Mrs Isabel Mashengele and Mr Stanley Hadebe as assessors.
The court found no extenuating circumstances in the case in that he killed a defenceless child without any provocation.
The court heard that the boy was a son of Nleya’s former girlfriend, whom he accused of dumping him for another man.
Rainy season begins mid-November: Met dept
Makhosi Sibanda
THE Meteorological Services Department yesterday said the rains being experienced in Bulawayo and some parts of the country do not signal the onset of the rainy season.
The department said the rainy season is likely to start in mid-November.
Senior meteorological officer Mr Jonathan Chifuna said prior to the onset of the rainy season, it was common to have rains, but these did not indicate that the season had started.
President challenges Africa on energy
Takunda Maodza
in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
PRESIDENT Mugabe has challenged Africa to invest in the energy sector to overturn the energy deficit in many countries.
Zimsec dispatches new O-Level exam papers
Pamela Shumba
THE Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec) has dispatched new Ordinary Level examination papers to replace the ones that went missing recently amid reports that the Government is yet to take disciplinary action against the acting headmaster who lost the papers.
The acting headmaster of Sijawugwe Secondary School, which is located in the Siganda area of Bubi District in Matabeleland North Province, Mr Panganai Zimunhu (31), allegedly lost the examination papers while on his way from Bulawayo to the school.
In an interview yesterday, Zimsec chairman Professor Norman Maphosa confirmed that the 13 papers had been dispatched to the provinces ahead of the examinations, which start on Monday.
“The examination papers for the six subjects that were withdrawn by Zimsec last week have been distributed to the provinces and we have not had any problems so far,” said Prof Maphosa.
Copac conference ends in deadlock
Harare Bureau
The Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference ended in Harare yesterday with delegates failing to agree on nearly all contentious issues contained in the draft constitution produced by the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee in July.
Civil servants backtrack on strike
Chronicle Reporter
CIVIL servants who had threatened to go on strike today if their employer failed to meet them to discuss salaries and conditions of service have backtracked on their decision.