Igihe

Author: b_igi_adm1n

  • Qatar Airways Spreads Wings to Rwanda

    Effective March 21 Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, will begin daily flights to Rwanda’s Kigali International Airport on.

    Joining the airline’s aggressively expanding route map, Kigali is the third destination launched by the carrier so far this year and latest to the African continent.

    Operating via Entebbe, Kigali becomes Qatar Airways’ 17th route in Africa, joining its ever-growing global network that currently spans 112 destinations. Further expansion is planned across East Africa during 2012 with new services to Mombasa, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro.

    Qatar Airways already has a successful operation to neighbouring capital cities of Entebbe, Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

    Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “We are pleased to be reinforcing our presence in Africa with the addition of scheduled flights to Rwanda, allowing us to further expand our business on the African continent.”

    Rwanda is fast emerging as a growing economic centre, forming strong trade links with Europe and the Far East, thanks largely to its rich mineral resources.

    For passengers travelling on Qatar Airways, they will have convenient access to Rwanda via the airline’s strategically positioned Doha hub, and expansive global route network.

    The launch of Qatar Airways in Rwanda will give business travellers and tourists alike with daily flights to Doha and beyond. Key markets include Hong Kong, Thailand, India, China, the United States and United Kingdom, all served by Qatar Airways.

    Added Al Baker: “There is clearly demand and huge potential to and from Rwanda, one of many underserved markets across Africa. As a network global carrier we are able to fulfill the needs of the travelling public from such markets and for those wanting to travel there from destinations we serve around the world.”

    The exposure of Rwanda to the world through the airline’s global network will enable the country to attract more tourists, with several attractions focusing on wildlife and natural scenic beauty.

    At the recent ITB Berlin, the world’s largest travel show held in the German capital, Rwandan dancers performed traditional pieces for visitors on Qatar Airways’ exhibition stand to showcase and promote the new Kigali route.

    Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 106 aircraft to 112 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America.

    During 2012, Qatar Airways launches 14 new routes from Doha, namely Baku, Tbilisi, Kigali, Perth, Zagreb, Gassim, Helsinki, Belgrade, Erbil, Baghdad, Yangon, Mombasa, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro.

  • Ethiopia Attacks Terrorist Camps in Eritrea

    IGIHE has reliably learnt that Ethiopian troops have launched attacks inside Eritrea accusing their suspicious neighbour of training “subversive groups” that were planning to carry out attacks inside Ethiopia.

    The two countries have had fragile relations which fought a border war from 1998 to 2000.The two countries signed a peace treaty but tensions between them have remained high ever since.

    Several Eritreans have reportedly been killed in the attacks and others captured during the attack on three camps.

    Eritrea has remained non committal to the incidence.

    The attack was launched Thursday night and it is the first attack by Ethiopian troops inside Eritrean territory since the end of the war, in which some 80,000 people died.

    Ethiopia accuses its neighbor of backing Ethiopian rebels who staged a January raid in the northern Afar region that killed five Western tourists.

    Ethiopian government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said Eritrea is harbouring “hit-and-run terrorists”.

  • NUR Graduates Denied Jobs

    Having only Testimonial letter might not enable graduates from the National University of Rwanda (NUR) get employed yet their academic transcripts have been delayed.

    Employers allegedly reject such testimonials and insist on authentic academic transcripts and certificates.

    Dr. Christopher Kayumba the NUR publicist was quoted by the national broadcaster saying that the NUR cannot make any comments in the event that the testimonial letters are still valid.

    NUR argues that the testimonial letters have no deadline.

    The Public service commission has also been quoted saying that students have the right to apply for jobs provided they have testimonials confirming completion of studies at their respective institutions of learning.

    Angelina Muganza the Executive Secretary of the Public Service Commission says every student has the right to apply for jobs, as long as documents presented indicate that they have completed their studies and consequently passed.

  • Police FC Leads Premier League

    Police FC has once again moved to lead the premier league after beating rivals Etencielles FC at Umuganda stadium in Rubavu district.

    Laudit Mavugo yesterday scored one of the fastest goals of the season in the first minute. Etencielles FC tried to push harder but was repeatedly denied any chances of penetrating the Police FC Defence.

    Police FC coach Goran Kuponivic said, “It was a difficult game but we are happy to have picked a win here. We have a massive game coming up (with APR FC) and so that’s where the focus of the team is.”

    Meanwhile Police FC leads the league on the same points as Mukura but with goal advantage. Mukura drew 0-0 with Rayon Sport at Huye.

  • New Issue of The ServiceMag is Out

    The 9th issue of the ServiceMag came out in Rwanda this week. It is targeted at the business community and offers many educative articles for managers, employees and customers.

    Service delivery is still an issue and as says the Prime Minister “We want these things that lag us behind to change. Our desire is that this issue of customer care can be put to rest; we are singling out the banks, hotels, restaurants, shops, the private sector, ministerial offices all the way to the cell level.”

    This new issue offers more than 30 different articles and features how far Rwanda has come in improving service delivery and customer care in both public and private institutions.

    The cover story on the entry of South Africa Airways into Rwanda’s airspace describes how this will change the game plan in the aviation sector.

    Also in this issue, Rwanda Development Boards’ Chief Operating Officer, Clare Akamanzi tackles the issues of customer care in Rwanda and gives more insight on business climate in Rwanda.

    The ServiceMag is a high quality free, educative quarterly magazine published in English, French and Kinyarwanda. It is a 5000 copy print and online magazine distributed to over 300 organizations in Kigali and upcountry.

    The online version can be read on www.theservicemag.com or downloaded on http://issuu.com/theservicemag/docs/tsm_issue_9

    The ServiceMag has been publishing for two years now and has recently added a new section on Women Entrepreneurship that has drawn a great interest from readers especially among the youth.

  • Village Kitchen to Eradicate Malnutrition

    Aimed at eradicating malnutrition from Huye District, on Tuesday, the kitchen for the village initiative was officially launched in Kigoma sector.

    The joint action between the district and World Vision-a nongovernmental organisation that supports the long program of President of Rwanda to get rid of malnutrition.

    The program consists of teaching parents, especially those who have malnourished children in the village, the way they can cook a balanced diet from their harvests such as soya, sweet potatoes, green vegetables etc.

    At the beginning, World Vision, the main partner in this activity, offers the food to support this programme.

    Kigoma sector where the “Village kitchen” was officially launched in Huye district has 13 children suffering from malnutrition out of 147 found in the district.
    Huye district has the target of eradicating malnutrition by June 2012.

  • All Provinces To Be Tested For Brucellosis Disease

    Dr. Otto Muhinda the Director of Veterinary Services at the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has said a campaign aimed at testing for Brucellosis in all the four Provinces in the country is starting soon.

    Brucellosis is a highly contagious disease common in cattle known for causing miscarriages. The disease is caused by the brucella abortus bacteria. it is highly contagious and can be transimitted to humans.

    Between the month of October 2011 and January 2012, about 1,652 cattle were tested for brucellosis in Kigali and results indicated that 167 animals were diagnosed positive with the disease.

    An estimated Frw 167 million has been lost by livestock farmers due to Brucellosis.

    Humans also suffer from this disease usually contracted from drinking unsterillised milk or meat from livestock affected and can also contract the bacterial disease if they get into contact with secretions from affected animals.

    In Humans Brucellosis is a disease starts with flu-like symptoms. Complications may include arthritis, heart disease and brain damage.

    Other patients exhibit fever, fatigue, and nocturnal sweating, several also presented with other concurrent localized forms of brucellosis, such as hepatitis, arthritis, or pleural effusion.

    Also Brucellosis causes acute genitourinary complications leading to enlargement of testis in males.

    Apart from killing the already infected animals, “We are sensitising the population about the disease. We shall also prevent it through vaccination,” he said.

  • New Stone Age Humans Identified

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    Fossils found in China in 1970’s and 1980’s have been subjected to intense scrutiny by Australian and Chinese scientists who say the fossils might represent unknown people. They have stopped short of calling them a new species.

    The scientists believe they have identified a new group of Stone Age people, dubbed the Red Deer Cave people, who lived alongside modern humans in China as recently as 11,000 years ago.

    The fossils were discovered in the 1970s and 1980s but have only recently been subjected to intense scrutiny.

    Professor Darren Curnoe from the University of New South Wales was one of the team leaders that looked at the remains.

    “We’ve discovered a new population of prehistoric humans whose skulls are an unusual mosaic of primitive features, like those we see in our ancestors of hundreds of thousands of years ago, some modern traits, which are similar features to what we see in living humans, as well as some unusual features,” he said.

    He says the Red Deer Cave people are anatomically unique in the human evolutionary tree.

    “They have rounded brain cases but their brow ridges are quite prominent, their skull bones are quite thick, their faces are short and quite flat and they’re tucked under the frontal part of the brains – they’re modern characteristics,” he said.

    “But they have a broad nose, the jaws jut very forward of the face and they lack a human-like chin.

    “Their brains were moderate in size and the frontal part of the brain, what we call the frontal lobe, was quite modern-looking, but the posterior parts are quite primitive-looking, and they also had very large molar teeth.”

    He says the Red Deer people would have shared the land with modern-looking people as farming was starting in China as recently as 14,000 years ago.

    “One of the sites of the human remains are dated to around 14,500 years ago and the other site 11,500 years ago,” he said.

    “And at this time in China there were very modern-looking people who were living immediately to the east and to the south of this population … and these modern humans were in fact beginning the early stages of farming, so there were economic transitions that were going on.”

    The scientists have called the group the Red Deer Cave People after one of the main sites where they come from, Maludong, which literally means Red Deer Cave.

    But they have stopped short of claiming the discovery of a new species.

    “At this stage we’ve actually been quite reluctant to classify them, that is to place them into a species, whether it be Homo sapiens or something else,” Professor Curnoe said.

    “In the study of human evolution, there’s a major ongoing controversy, or an open question if you like, about just how we actually define our own species Homo sapiens, biologically.

    “They are a human-like group, technically we call them hominids. They’re clearly a population that’s quite closely related to humans and possibly closely related also to the Neanderthals.”

    There has been one unsuccessful attempt to extract DNA from the remains, and Professor Curnoe says they are trying again.

    “If we could extract ancient DNA from these fossils, that would really be a wonderful thing because it would allow us to really decisively test some of these ideas that we’ve developed, hypotheses that we’ve developed directly from the bones themselves,” he said.

    “We’ve actually expanded our collaboration to work with a couple of international ancient DNA laboratory specialist groups who have been very successful in amplifying ancient DNA.”
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    Source: PLos One

  • Airtel Adjusts to Green Technology

    Bharti Airtel Limited has regiserted significant milestones in its endeavor to build a ‘green’ environment friendly mobile network aimed at reducing its carbon footprint in Africa.

    Airtel is currently established in Rwanda where they are also constructing their Home. A lot of technical activities are ongoing. However, they haven’t announced when they will officially launch their services.

    The Company says in the last one year, it has reduced telecom sites running solely on diesel by more than 50% by overcoming the challenge of lack of grid connectivity through use of innovative models such as Hybrid Battery Bank.

    By 2013, the Company aims at completely eradicating dependence on diesel to power its network. This means no telecom site of the company will rely solely on diesel power 24 hours a day.

    Hybrid Battery Banks collect the excess energy produced by the diesel powered generator in a battery that powers the site once the generator in switched off reducing the use of diesel by up to 14 hours a day.

    Close to 60% of Bharti Airtel’s telecom sites in Africa are now powered using the Hybrid model resulting in major reduction in emissions and also operating costs for the company.

    The telecom giant is targeting over 70% of all its sites to be powered by the Hybrid model by end of 2013. Airtel is also working on the use of solar and wind power to power its telecom sites.

    Eben Albertyn, Chief Technical Officer, Bharti Airtel, saiys,“Our first priority is to reduce the number of sites that are completely reliant on diesel generators by connecting the sites to electricity grid in areas where this option is feasible.

    Where it is not, alternative forms of power supply are explored including Hybrid Battery Banks and solar/wind power. This is our part in conserving the environment”.

    Bharti Airtel said that it has already made significant strides in using solar panels to power sites in select markets. Over the last two months, 105 solar sites have already been set up in Niger reducing the use of diesel generators from 24 hours a day to a meager 3 to 4 hours.

  • Conference Explores Ways of Promoting business in Africa

    President Paul Kagame has said the private sector is the engine for the country’s economic progress. He made the remarks at a high-level meeting of international parliamentarians today in Kigali.

    The three-day conference is aimed at exploring ways of promoting business friendly environment in Africa. It has attracted over 200 participants including; MPs, business leaders and development partners.

    Countries are expected to discuss how to improve their ranking in international evaluations, notably in the global Doing Business report.

    The conference is supported by the African Development Bank, Belgium, the World Bank, the International Financial Corporation, and the International Monetary Fund.

    The Parliamentary Network provides a platform for parliamentarians from over 140 countries to advocate for increased accountability and transparency in international financial institutions and multilateral development financing. It was established in 2000.

    Key speakers at the conference include President Paul Kagame; Kamal Alkheshen, Sector Operations Vice President, AfDB; Obiageli Ezekwesili, the WB Vice President for Africa; and Arnold Ekpe, the President of ECOBANK.

    Others include Alain Destexhe, MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Network; Roger Nord, Deputy Director, IMF’s Africa Department; and Aliko Dangote, CEO, DANGOTE Group.