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Showing posts from August 16, 2015

Malala Yousafzai strikes gold: Highest scorer in British national exams

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Adding another feather to her cap, Malala Yousafzai, the youngest recipient of a Nobel peace prize, has now secured the highest grades possible in UK's national school exams. The 18 year old has obtained six A-grades and also four As, which are the second highest in her O-level exams. She attends the Edgbaston High School in Birmingham and has achieved particularly well in Sciences, with top A* grades in Biology, Chemistry and Physics as well as in religious studies. Ziauddin Yousafzai, Malala's father said, "My wife Toor Pekai and I are proud of Malala getting 6A*s and 4As. #education for every child," as reported in PTI. The youngest ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai recently announced a new partnership with UNICEF to support and develop education policies for the Syrian refugee children in Jordon. She even celebrated her 18th birthday in Lebanon by opening a school for Syrian refugee girls, repeating her call for world leaders to invest in &quo

Ebola still poses a serious threat

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Crisis often generates a tension between fear and compassion. Much of the reaction to Ebola in the United States last year was evidence of fear trumping compassion. We saw public health policy being guided by fear rather than by the best available science. We observed sufferers of Ebola — and even healthy individuals who simply volunteered to fight the virus — being treated not like victims or heroes but criminals and threats to the public. These attitudes broke my heart, not just for the casualties of this public attitude but also for the public itself. When we discriminate against those for whom we ought to have compassion, we lose our sense of empathy. We become callous, and our humanity is eroded. We too quickly give up on caring for people with a protracted need for help, leaving the defenseless to fend for themselves. My wife, Amber, and I, along with our two children, recently returned to Liberia — where I contracted Ebola one year ago — to visit friends and colleagues. We h

The end of polio in Africa?

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AFRICA HAS reported some genuinely good news in the battle to eradicate polio. Late last month , Nigeria passed a full year without a case of wild poliovirus. As of Aug. 11, it has been a year since the last case was detected anywhere on the continent (it was in Somalia). These anniversaries are unofficial milestones, but they point toward continued progress against polio, a scourge that once claimed hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Unfortunately, polio has shown a fierce tendency to return. Hopefully this time will be different. Nigeria’s accomplishment is impressive. The country suffered a major setback in the struggle against the disease more than a decade ago when a state governor and religious leaders in the predominantly Islamic north put into effect a year-long vaccination ban, claiming that the vaccines were contaminated by the West to spread sterility and HIV/AIDS among Muslims. This led to a wider outbreak of the virus, which is highly contagious, largely strikes

IFDC IMPLEMENTING FEED THE FUTURE AGRICULTURE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER Project

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IFDC is the institution implementing the "Feed the Future - Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer project in collaboration with Digital Green organised a 8 day workshop to train extension agents on how to facilitate, mediate, film and produce a agriculture video and disseminate to farmers in their communities. The project which aims at increasing the yields and improving the lives of farmers across the region. One of the challenges the farmers and agriculture agents face is effective communication, and with video agriculture agents will be able to use both visual and audio " video " to communicate better and effectively. At the end of the workshop agents can produce agriculture videos using farmers in various communities to further more enhance farmer to farmer learning. As the saying goes " Seeing Is Believing " The workshop kicked stated with Retika Pandey speed dating session method of introduction where participants briefly introduced themselves to

MORE FARMERS TO BENEFIT FROM THRESHERS

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MORE FARMERS TO BENEFIT FROM THRESHERS The Feed the Future - Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer (ATT) project worked with Agromite Limited to demonstrate the use of threshers at the Zebilla Bazua, Gushegu, and Northern Regions of Ghana. Approximately 330 people consisting of lead farmers, tractors operators, out-growers and service providers participated in the demonstration The second demonstration became necessary due to the positive impact the threshers had in the lives of the previous years beneficiaries. Abu Nabong, a farmer in Nwanduonu in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, for instance, was able to thresh more the 255,900 bags of maize in two communities. " I have had a 100 percent turnover increase from 30 to 60 and I hope to expand my farmer base from 150 to 225 - the livelihood of my nuclear and extended family has improved " he said. The equipment which de-husks and shells maize and also threshes soybean, saves time and labor. Traditio

ULTRA MODERN SEED LABORATORY UNIT

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USAID Ghana's Mission Director Jim Bever, the Director of USAID Economic Growth Division, Peter Trenchard, Ghana's Deputy Minister of Agriculture in charge of crops, honourable Dr Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, and the three Regional Directors of Ministry of Food and Agriculture ( MOFA) from Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions broke ground in Tamale for the construction of three new seed testing and inspection laboratories for the three regions in Northern Ghana. The Feed the Future Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer project is facilitating the construction and equipping of these laboratories to support the public sectors regulation of quality of seed produced in the three northern regions. When completed the facilities will be use international standards to ensure farmers have access to high quality seed. The laboratories will be manned by the Ghana Seed Inspection Unit ( GSIU ), a unit of MOFA directorate, which is in charge of supervising and ensuring seeds produced

AMPE '' A BEAUTIFUL AFRICAN GAME ''

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Ampe is a game played long before anyone can remember,Since African history has not been put on paper and pen due to lack of formal education back in the centuries no one can really tell the exact origin of ampe. So its history remains a mystry but ampe is still the game little girls love to play when they have nothing to do...The game has been in existence for more Than 200years. African children play this game during their childhood to teen age. Some believe it originate in Ghana. Elders in the northern part of Ghana believe that people of the ashanti region developed/created ampe. They say the game was played by old women, when they had nothing doing. They form a round circle, then pick a leader to be in the middle. They jump and clap their hands at the same time and put forward their legs. If both the leader and the one she picks to begin the game put forward their right leg at the same time then the leader has lost, if she loses for the second and third then she joins the ci

AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER PROJECT IMPLEMENTED BY IFDC

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Farming is the main source of income to majority of people in the Northern region of Ghana, mostly those engaged in farming are people from rural and urban areas across the region. The Feed the Future - Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer Project in collaboration with Digital Green Went On a field visit, we paid a visit to Seidu Haruna, who is a maize and yam farmer in the East Gonja district, precisely DASHIE. Seidu Haruna is a father of one child and one wife, he has been farming for more than 10years. He grows 9 acres of maize and 1 acre of yam. IFDC is the institution implementing the "Feed the Future - Ghana Agriculture Technology Transfer Seidu Haruna has benefited a lot from the Agricultural Technology Transfer Project. And with the introduction of Digital Green concept of easy access and making of Agricultural videos, to enhance farmer to farmer communication and extension officer to farmer training. Seidu Haruna hopes for bigger harvest in the near future. Seidu

DKB " THE SAVIOUR " OF EVENTS & CEREMONIES

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The story of DKB begins in Legon, in 2005, when he tried saving a show from flopping. His addiction to comedy started in the first year when he witnessed a ”joking competition”. The audience was not convinced about the winner, whether he was good enough. DKB then decided to challenge the winner only to come up as better than the winner himself. Even though that didn't earn him the winner's prize, he realized instantly that he had a thing for comedy. From that initial career propelling performance, DKB has grown gradually into a force in Ghanaian comedy. His exploits at the Citizen Kofi Comedy show got him a well deserved endorsement from Ghana's all time King of Comedy, Kwaku Sintim Misa (KSM), and the former President of Ghana and a former AU Chairman, H.E. John Agyekum Kuffour The television awards which took place at the Accra International Conference Center last Friday turned out to be fulfilling and entertaining with DKB as the host. The award’s night was brought t

Viasat 1 Ghana Topped All Stations At Television Awards 2015

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The channel was awarded a licence from the National Communications Authority of the Republic of Ghana in December 2007 and started broadcasting on December 12, 2008 on 6 p.m. Viasat 1 has find its way into the hearts of Ghanians, with their simple and catchy evening news, which is short straight to the point and entertaining. Others programs on the station keeps viewers at they seat even when they have busy schedules. For 7/8 years now viasat 1 Ghana has taken away many awards in both Television Awards and Radio Television personality awards in Ghana. Programs they run my themselves or show on their channel has received positive views and awards. Viasat 1 Ghana​ Topped All Stations at just ended Television Awards. They have once again proven they have what it takes to be the best Television Station in Ghana. I'm so proud to be part of the family since its beginning. At the just ended Television Awards, Viasat 1 took home Outstanding Sports Show ( Football 360​ ) Outstandin

WIYAALA ON CNN AFRICAN VOICES

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Noella Wiyaala was born in Wa, Upper West Ghana as one of four sisters and raised in Tumu. She got first singing lessons from her mother, a choir singer, and she has performed ever since she was 5 years old. Her surname, which she picked for a stage name, means "the doer" in her native Sisaala language. During her late teenage years she played football as a midfielder. She has attended Takoradi Polytechnic on an art and design course. Wiyaala At a very young age, Wiyaala attracted attention as an entertainer, artist and athlete. Her Madonna/Michael Jackson inspired performances always provided much notoriety in the village. After school, she gravitated to the local music scene in Wa and was featured on local recordings as a session singer. In due course, she saved enough money to record an album of her own songs at Echo Soundz in Wa. In 2011, Wiyaala auditioned for Stars of The Future and emerged as the second runner-up. In 2012, she entered the Vodafone Icons reality show