To Brazil, Ghana must go! -gsmbizmen

One issue that has stirred up debate in national football circles of late is the decision by officials of the Black Stars to reschedule the decisive World Cup group qualifying match against contenders, the Chipolopolo of Zambia, in Kumasi. The issue is of such profound national interest that our joining the debate is sine qua non, so to speak.

Needless to reiterate that the decision by the GFA to shift the match from its original date of Sunday, September 8 to Friday, September 6 because of a contracted friendly international  match between Ghana and Japan must have sparked the debate among the fans.

The query by some of the fans, which we tend to be in some agreement with, is why the friendly against Japan seems to take precedence over the World Cup qualifier as to cede the original date of the crucial game against Zambia to it.

What is more, what is the essence of this friendly in Japan coming within the space of three days after the qualifier in Kumasi?

Won’t our players be tired and worn out from jet lag as to make the competitiveness of this game compromised with the likelihood of the Stars falling heavily to their Japanese counterparts?

Mind you, aside the hosts, Brazil, Japan were the first team to have qualified for the 2014 World Cup and, therefore, are sitting pretty easy to welcome friendlies in preparation, unlike the Stars whose fate stands threatened by the now scheduled September 6 match against the Chipolopolo.

Why the divided attention? Play and win at all cost against Zambia then emplane immediately after the match for Japan. What if the Stars fail to win against Zambia (God forbid), will there be any motivation left for the friendly against Japan?

We have no doubt at all that the FA means well in arranging for the friendly international, partly as one of the preparations for the Stars in readiness for their final round-off match for eventual qualification for the World Cup after beating Zambia, and partly as a means of raising money for a rainy day.

But as the saying goes: What is money to the grasshopper! First things first, and in this regard it is the winning of the match against Zambia which must be the first consideration before anything else.

As far as we are concerned, once the Stars qualify for the World Cup there will be several international friendlies for preparation towards the ultimate, which is why we see the forthcoming one against Japan to be out of focus.

Meanwhile, what is the immediate programme of Coach Kwasi Appiah towards preparation for the match against Zambia, knowing that most of our players are with foreign clubs currently on tours preparing for their respective leagues, some of which will kick off a few weeks before Ghana’s World Cup qualifier?

There has also been a stony silence by Coach Appiah over whether or not he will recall Michael Essien, K. P. Boateng and the Ayew Brothers for the crucial match against Zambia, since the players have indicated their return from national team holiday after reported interventions by the FA itself and, not least, the Presidential fiat by His Excellency, John Dramani Mahama.

These are matters to be resolved quickly to put the Stars’ house in perfect order for the big match against the Chipolopolo.

To Brazil, the Stars must go in 2014, willy-nilly!

First Lady receives breast cancer award -gsmbizmen

The First Lady, Mrs Lordina Dramani Mahama, has received an award at the just-ended Forum for African First Ladies Against Breast and Cervical Cancer for championing, promoting and campaigning against breast and cervical cancer.
She was also recognised and commended for the enthusiasm she has brought to the Forum of African First Ladies Against Breast and Cervical Cancer and the support she has given the forum thus far.
The Director General of the Forum for African First Ladies Against Breast and Cervical Cancer, Princess Nikki Onyeri of Nigeria, praised Mrs Mahama for the level of compassion shown towards cancer patients in the short period that she has been the First Lady of Ghana.
The forum, which attracted first ladies across Africa, was adjudged as the most attended since its inception seven years ago.
It was attended by African first ladies, ministers of health, African parliamentarians, scientists, civil society organisations and Her High Royal Highness, Infanta Cristina, Princess of Barcelona, Spain.
Mrs Mahama was involved in charity and philanthropic work long before she became Ghana’s First Lady.
She supports more than seven orphanages across Ghana, supports brilliant, needy students and was recently appointed Aids Ambassador for the Heart to Heart (H2H) campaign against AIDS and stigmatisation.

Obese women prone to diseases -gsmbizmen

Many women are very concerned about their weight, as this affects their shape. Being obese makes one shapeless and some women consider this unattractive to men, although some men also like their women big.
Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a tool used to measure obesity. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilogrammes by his or her height in metres square. People with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 kg per metre square are considered overweight. People with a BMI of 30 or more are considered obese.
One can become obese when one takes in more calories than the body is able to use. A calorie is a unit of energy in the food you eat. Your body needs this energy to function and to be active. But if you take in more energy than your body uses, you will gain weight.

Effects of being obese

Obesity negatively impacts the health of women in many ways. Being obese increases the relative risk of  heart disease, stroke, type two diabetes, high blood pressure, breathing problems, arthritis, gallbladder disease and some cancers.
Obese women are at a higher risk of multiple cancers, including endometrial cancer, cervical cancer, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer. Women who are obese also have a higher risk of low back pain and knee osteoarthritis.
Obesity negatively affects both contraception and fertility as well. Maternal obesity is linked with higher rates of Cesarean Section as well as higher rates of high-risk obstetrical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Pregnancy outcomes are negatively affected by maternal obesity, with increased risk of neonatal mortality and malformations.
According to health experts, there seems to be an association between obesity and depression in women, though cultural factors may influence this association.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) situation and trends worldwide, at least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese.
The organisation further states that in low and lower middle income countries, including Ghana, obesity among women was approximately that double among men.
Eating too many calories or not getting enough physical activity, one’s environment and culture and genes can lead to one becoming obese
Health experts say excess body weight is not the only health risk but also the places where the body fats are stored also affect ones health.
Women with a "pear" shape are said to store fat in their hips and buttocks while women with an "apple" shape store fat around their waists. If one’s waist is more than 35 inches, one may have a higher risk of weight-related health problems.

What you can do

Regular activity can help prevent unhealthy weight gain and also help with weight loss, when combined with lower calorie intake.
Also the use of natural dietary supplements which are mostly from plants such as Aloe Vera Tea, Omega 3 and 9 supplements according to Mr Jesse Akpanglo-Nartey, a marketing executive with Forever Living Products of the United States of America, helps people lose weight naturally.
According to him, the products which include Forever Lean, which helps one not to absorb lots of calories; Aloe Vera Tea, which helps to eliminate gas in one’s system and Arctic Sea, which is made up of Omega 3 and Omega 9 supplements, help in burning fat from the body and circulatory system.
Natural supplements, he said, delivered instant results but he also advised people to exercise, saying that the difference between using natural dietary supplements and chemicals to lose weight is that unlike the others, with the natural supplement, the weight (when lost) does not come back.
Below are some of the testimonies from users of natural dietary supplements accessed from www.foevernutrilean.com
• Having started the Forever Nutri-Lean programme, it has been much easier for me to control my diet throughout the day. I have lost 20 pounds and feel much more energetic. What I like most about the programme is the exercise that is recommended, since sports are an essential part of my life.
• Thanks to Forever Nutri-Lean products. I have achieved what I have been trying to do since childhood. I have lost more than 60 pounds, and I feel wonderful, with lots of energy.
• I had many doubts when I first started the natural supplement programme. I had tried many other weight loss programmes before, yet had not obtained the results I was expecting. Having used both of Forever's programmes, I have now lost over 23 pounds, and I am very thankful to the product for helping me improve my health a great deal.
• My experience with the Forever Nutri-Lean programme is one of great success and happiness. Having started the programme five months ago, I have now lost a total of 20 pounds and feel much better than ever! It is a lifestyle change that includes following the programme and increasing the amount of exercise that I do. Now I carefully watch what I eat, and have decreased the amount of sweets that I consume. My exercise includes walking for 45 minutes, three days a week.
• Forever Nutri-Lean products and programme are really excellent because they are able to bring about changes in you that make you feel healthier and cleaner inside. Using the products, I was able to lose 15 pounds. Now I feel very happy and know that I can lose more weight.
By Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho / Daily Graphic / Ghana

University of Ghana consulted students on levies -gsmbizmen

The Vice- Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, has explained that students were consulted before the introduction of the GH¢100 levy to be paid from the 2013-2014 academic year.
During the consultation, he said, some students supported it, while others were against it, and a majority of them were indifferent to the fee which was being charged to enable the university to raise funds to complete three building projects.
The projects are the Faculty of Arts, School of Performing Arts and the School of Allied Sciences.
Addressing the press in Accra on Wednesday on a wide range of development issues in the university, Prof. Aryeetey said the university had been obliged to, as a result of its growing needs and the need to finance its projects, ask its students for help.
“So at the beginning of this academic year, we made students aware that they would be required to help, that many of these things (projects) cannot be done simply by the state nor simply from looking at the private sector, so students would have to contribute.
“In this regard, starting from February this year, soon after the council of the university had approved the fee structure for the coming year, I went round all the halls of residence to canvass the views of students on various possible measures that we could take, and one of the things I brought to the table in the discussions with students was the imposition of a levy of GH¢100 to be paid by each student for a specific purpose.”
Prof. Aryeetey said the university would need GH¢4 million to complete the first two buildings, and was therefore requiring each of the 38,000 students to contribute GHC100 towards the projects.
The process at arriving at the levy, he said, involved students leaders at every stage, from the finance committee, executive committee and the university council level.
He said the university recognised the different backgrounds the students came from and so it was its obligation to assist those who could not finance their stay in the university.
Prof. Aryeetey mentioned the students’ financial aid that supported  the students, adding that unfortunately, most students in the past did not apply to the financial aid office for support.
In response to pleas from students, he said, the university had decided that in the coming academic year, students would not need to pay all their fees at a go, and that “they can pay 50 per cent in the first semester and 50 per cent in the second semester, a major variation of the university’s policy that required all students to pay their fees in full at the beginning of the academic year”.

2013-2014 Admissions

On admissions for the 2013-2014 academic year, Prof. Aryeetey noted that the university had taken a decision to provide admission to as many students as possible without unduly burdening the university structures.

Research university

The first thing, he said, the authorities were doing was to make the University of Ghana a research university, and that as a research university, the institution would focus more and more on the problems that gravitated against the enhancement of the economy.
“Effectively we are looking for solutions to the problems of Ghana, that is what research is going to allow us to do. We believe that the functions that we performed for the nation over the last 65 years are such that we need to move on to another level, largely because there are other institutions that are capable of filling whichever gaps we leave behind.”

Collegiate system

In pursuit of that research agenda, he said, the university was being restructured by breaking it into four different colleges to make it much more effective and efficient.
The four colleges are the current College of Health Sciences, which is being restructured, the College of Basic Applied Sciences (an aggregation of the existing Faculty of Science, College of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences and Faculty of Engineering Sciences), the College of Humanities (an aggregation of the current Faculty of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Law and the Business School) and the new College of Education, designed to bring improved teaching methods and new technology into the way people are prepared for a teaching career at the basic, secondary and tertiary levels.
“The four colleges should make it easier to take decisions on academic programmes, reach students and make students reach a larger breadth of programmes. So in decentralising, we wish to make it easier for our researchers to do research, we wish to make it easier for our lecturers to teach and we wish to make it easier for our students to have access to more programmes of academic nature”.
Prof. Aryeetey added that apart from having the colleges in place, the university believed that its research should have a clearer focus so instead of doing everything,  “we should focus on distinct areas that would add to the university stature.”
“We have decided to focus our research on four areas; malaria, food production and food processing, climate change adaptation and establishment of a centre of excellence for policy monitoring and evaluation.”
He said as Ghana introduced new initiatives in social protection and other areas, it  was important that a lot of studies were done into the impact of those polices on the intended beneficiaries.
As part of the process of becoming a research university, Prof. Aryeetey indicated that the university was restructuring its PhD programmes by moving from a less formalised way of conducting PhD research to a much more structured way found in many universities

Geological Survey inaugurates drilling rig -gsmbizmen

he Geological Survey Department of Ghana has inaugurated a GHC 1.2 million multipurpose drilling rig to help locate ore 2,600 metres beneath the earth.
The drilling rig would, thus, help the country to derive maximum benefits from its natural resources.
The machine, which is also used for drilling bore-holes, can be used for foundation investigation to check for water levels and where bedrocks are located in the earth.
At the inauguration in Accra yesterday, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, said the machine would help the country to manage its own natural resources.
He indicated that foreigners would no longer come into the country with their machinery to fetch for natural resources.
Alhaji Fuseini urged the Geological Survey Department to use the machine for its intended purpose and  promised to work hand-in-hand with the department to help maintain it.
The Director of Geological Survey Department, Mr John Agyei Duodu, promised to put the machine to its rightful use for the benefit of the country.
He appealed to the minister for funds to be able to maintain the machine to ensure that it lasts.

Minister calls for promotion of African renaissance -gsmbizmen

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Ms Hannah Serwaa Tetteh, has stressed that the African private sector, in partnership with the state, has a uniquely important role in fostering the African Renaissance.
In a speech delivered on her behalf at the 8th Ghana-Africa Business Awards ceremony which took place in Accra, Ms Tetteh observed that several African countries were experiencing a fairly robust economic growth thanks to a resurgent private sector, adding that six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world, which included Ghana, were in Africa.
The foreign minister was emphatic that Africa could not afford to ignore the potential dynamic effects of greater intra-African trade and collaborative intra-African manufacturing as the vehicle for the achievement of the much proclaimed African Renaissance.
The Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Burkina Faso, His Excellency Sini Pierre Sanou, delivered a goodwill message on behalf of other African diplomats.

The awards scheme was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration by Top Brass Ghana, as part of the celebration of Africa Day in Ghana. It seeks to honour Ghana-based enterprises, including those with African origins which promote trade, investment and other economic relations between Ghana and sister African countries as envisaged under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

SIC introduces first e-insurance service

SIC Insurance Company Ltd has introduced an on-line service to facilitate convenient purchase and renewal of insurance policies by customers.

The SIC e-insurance service, a first of its kind in the country will allow customers to buy and renew their insurance policy anytime and on any day, without having to visit any SIC office or agent in person.

Mrs. Doris Awo Nkani, the Managing Director of SIC Insurance, who outdoored the service said customers of the company can also use the service to initiate claims.

“All you need is internet accessibility from any location. You can access this service by going onto our corporate website...to create an account,” she said, indicating both motor and travel insurance could be bought using the service.

Customers can also generate an invoice number with which they can use to make payments.

Describing the service as the biggest innovation in the insurance market in Ghana, Mrs. Nkani noted that SIC Company would continue to explore various ways that would bring comfort to customers and entrench its leadership in the insurance industry.

“Here the goal is to be fluid in innovation and not sticking to the old ways. Demographic and technological changes in today’s world demand that we meet the broad needs of our clients in more comfortable ways," said Mrs Nkani.

Board Chairman of SIC Insurance, Mr. Max Cobbina, explained that the world is fast evolving into a cashless society “and so this is our contribution for the country to take its share and embrace such innovations that ensures adequate customer satisfaction.”