Kwara state Local Government Service Commission has organised a training on ICT for Pension Desk Officers in the state's local government councils for proper capturing of data of pensioners in the council.

The commission organised the training as it gave the each of the officers who are 32 from the 16 councils of the state a desk top and iron cabinet for collation and keeping of the data.

The state's Executive Secretary of Local Government Staff Pension Board, Afolabi Salami said the training was conceived in order to produce, at a glance, all the relevant information on both the serving and retired workers of the councils.

Salami commended the Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Kayode Yusuf for the programme which he noted is the first to be organised for the officers.

He stated:"This is the first time any board is organising this type of programme. As at now, we can't readily get information on our pensioners and this will no doubt affect our prompt processing of their pensions and entitlements.

"We have not been getting the needed results from the desk officers hence the need to change the methods of their data collation. This is computer age and we can't afford to stay behind. In some cases we are getting lopsided information from them and it is not too good for us while planning."

Salami disclosed the need to liaise with the chairmen of the councils towards assisting in providing conducive environment for the trained desks' officers to flourish.

Some of the participants thanked the organisers of the training for exposing them to modern techniques of information storage as they promised to use the acquired skill for the advancement of their respective councils.

Climate change shrinking global economy-Report

The Climate Vulnerability Monitor, a report compiled by Spanish non-profit organisation DARA since 2010 said climate change shrunk the global gross domestic productby (GDP) 1.6 per cent. The figure was calculated by adding the harmful effects of climate change to the problems of the carbon-based economy, such as air pollution.

Previous studies, such as the 2006 Stern Review, concluded that climate change would not become a net cost for decades. But they had not considered climate's impact on productivity. As the temperature increases, people work less well. "It has been assumed that a hotter living and working environment is nothing to worry about," says Tord Kjellstrom of Umea University in Sweden. "But the 5 billion people living in the hot parts of this planet are already constrained by heat."

Climate change now costs more than the emissions cuts that are needed to tackle global warmingMovie Camera. Such cuts would cost 0.5 per cent of global GDP, whereas the cost of climate change will be 3.2 per cent of GDP by 2030. If the claims stand up, it boosts the case for urgent action, says Cameron Hepburn of the London School of Economics. "Caps on emissions should be much tighter, and carbon prices much higher, than they are now."