League leaders Medeama have been paired against Berekum Chelsea in what is tagged by most pundits as the top liner amongst the other parings in the fourth round of the MTN FA Cup competition.
The drawn held on Tuesday, handed the yellow and mauve’s a big game at their famous T&A Park at Tarkwa against Berekum Chelsea, who are all title contenders for the ongoing Ghanaian Glo Premier League.
The winner of the game involving Asante Kotoko and Weavers FC will also come face-to-face with Rainbow FC to battle for supremacy.
No game will travel into extra-time as penalties will be used to determine the outcome should any game end in a draw after regulation time.
Round of 16 draw
Amidaus Professionals vrs Guan United
Since the inception of the Free Maternal Healthcare Policy in 2008 to help achieve the Millennium Development Goal 5 by 2015, access to Ante-Natal Care and Post Natal Care has been increased in the country. The introduction of the policy has also seen access to supervised and skilled deliveries enhanced.
However, with the introduction of free maternal health care in Ghana, 75 women a week still die during childbirth. 32 maternal deaths were recorded last year in the Upper East Region. Since the beginning of this year, 11 maternal deaths have been recorded.
This is as a result of anaemia in pregnancy, hypertension, severe malaria haemorrhage, unsafe abortion and many more. Some of the challenges that confront safe maternal delivery in the region include limited facilities, inadequate health staff, poor road network and lack of reliable transport system.
In order to help address the challenges of maternal health care delivery in the region, the Social Enterprise Development Foundation (SEND-Ghana) has organized a one-day stakeholders’ workshop to seek strategies and solutions from National Health Insurance Scheme in the region so as to improve on the implementation process of the free maternal health care.
Mr. Alagskomah Asakeya Noble, Vice Chairman of Coalition of NGOs in Health in the Upper East Region called for the provision of adequate ambulances by the Municipal and District Assemblies and Ghana Health Service for the smooth running of health care in the region.
He was of the conviction that if health facilities are improved, more health professionals trained, road network improved, the role of Traditional Birth Assistants redefined and their capacities built, Ghana would find herself in a good position to attain the MDG 5 which seeks to improve maternal health by 2015.
Mr. Eugene Yibour, Upper East Regional Programme Officer of SEND-Ghana disclosed that a similar programme was organized last year to enhance mutual trust, respect, transparency and accountability among stakeholders in the operations of the NHIS and general health care delivery in the region with particular reference to maternal health.
The Deputy Director, Clinical Care for the region Dr. Ernest Opoku hinted that 45 midwives are being trained in the region to help address maternal issues.
Four persons sustained gunshot wounds in a robbery attack on a Zebilla-Kumasi bound DAF bus at the Tilli forest on the Bolga-Bawku road.
In a report by DCOP Bright Oduro, Regional Police Commander, at 6:35pm on March 25, 2013, the Nangode Police Post received a distress call of a highway robbery attack on a passenger bus and dashed to the scene but the robbers fled into the bush on seeing the police.
The 54-seater DAF bus with registration number GW 7029-Q driven by Mohammed Toffik was travelling from Zebilla to Kumasi with passengers on board.
On reaching the Tilli forest, the report stated that two armed men believed to be of Fulani descent and spoke Moshi and French were wielding AK 47 assault rifle each at gun point and ordered the driver to stop which he obliged.
The robbers, according to the report began firing indiscriminately shattering the front and back glasses of the bus.
Three additional robbers who appeared from the bush positioned themselves strategically whiles two entered the bus and made away with monies totaling Ghc1, 104.00 and two mobile phones from the passengers within ten minutes.
In the cause of the sporadic firing, four persons sustained various degrees of gunshot wounds and were rushed to the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital where they were admitted for treatment and later discharged the following day.
The Police Command has indicated efforts are being made to arrest the robbers for questioning. Meanwhile, more Police personnel have been deployed to nearby communities to ensure security of the local people.
Though the leaderships of the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) have directed their members to suspend their strike following their meeting with President John Mahama, the Upper East Regional Chairman of the National Association of Graduate Teachers is not enthused about the outcome of the meeting.
Mr. John Brown Chiravirasaid the grievances outlined by teachers should have been addressed by now saying the institutions responsible to address their grievances have refused to do so.
Heads of teacher associations after their meeting with the President over their unresolved grievances which led to a one week strike, heeded to the President’s plea on them to return to the classroom whiles negotiations continue.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chiravira says the decision to suspend the strike was a respect to the President’s appeal but called on teachers to remain confident in their leadership to continue to push for the interest.
Our checks in most schools in the Bolgatanga Municipality showed that though the strike was officially suspended on Wednesday, only a handful of teachers reported but were not teaching. Pupils and students still closed early in the morning as they did when the strike was on.
The meeting chaired by the FIFA President, Joseph Sepp Blatter, was the Executive Committee’s first meeting of the year at the home of FIFA in Zurich, lasting for two days.
Racism and discrimination at a point became the focal point of the meeting that amounted to Sepp Blatter clearly showing his displeasure about the rampant occurrences regarding racism and discrimination.
“Racism and discrimination are such scourges in society, and therefore in our sport, that we need to take concrete actions and do more than we have done in the past to eradicate them from football. We shall work on education and prevention on the one hand, and on disciplinary sanctions on the other” stated FIFA President.
A number of reports were given on the upcoming FIFA competitions and events and the following decisions were arrived at:
Considering the FIFA Confederations Cup slated in Brazil this year, the executive noted with great satisfaction that the tournament has already been a popular success, with 75% of tickets already sold.
On the goal-line technology, it was agreed that two systems will be selected by 2 April, 2013.
In the case of World Cup Qualifiers for the African zone, the dates for Group F games was re-scheduled to allow Nigeria arrive in Brazil on time for the FIFA Confederations Cup, instead of 7 and 14 June, 2013 it has been postponed to 5 and 12 June, 2013.
Based on new guarantees received from the Costa Rican public authorities as well as the report received from CONCACAF, the executive re-appointed Costa Rica as hosts of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup-2014 tournament.
Also, the preliminary draw for the 2018-FIFA World Cup in Russia will take place in Saint Petersburg on 24 or 25 July, 2015 while the match schedule of the Women’s World Cup in Canada-2015, which will see 24 teams participating, was provisionally approved.
Iraq has been granted the approval upon their request to resume playing international friendly games at home, while the 2013 Ballon d’ Or will take place in Zurich on the 13 January, 2014.
Again, following a request from the Jordan Football Association, the executive decided to donate USD 200,000 worth of football equipment and kits to Syrian refugees living in a camp at the border between Syria and Jordan.
The Club World Cup competition to be hosted in Morocco and the Beach Soccer World Cup all in the year 2013 saw their match schedules approved.
The next meeting of the FIFA Executive Committee will be held in Mauritius on Tuesday, 28 May 2013.
Any Apple watch would face competition, but most current smart watches rely on smartphone pairing over Bluetooth to get data and notifications.
Any Apple watch would face competition, but most current smart watches rely on smartphone pairing over Bluetooth to get data and notifications.
Apple, as the reports go, is working on a “smart watch,” although the secretive company won’t say anything about it, of course.
So, after months of speculation, what does its chief rival in the mobile world do?
Announce that it definitely is working on a smart watch.
Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business, said as much during an interview in South Korea, where the company is based. And he said it’s not a knee-jerk reaction to Apple’s rumored plans.
“We’ve been preparing the watch product for so long,” Lee told Bloomberg. “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.”
He did not give any details on when the watch may be released, what features it will have or how much it will cost.
With its Galaxy S line of smartphones, Samsung has become the first competitor to provide a real challenge to the dominant iPhone. While Apple’s iconic phone remains the single-most popular mobile device — the release of the iPhone 5 led to a record sales quarter and was the most popular of the 75 million devices running Apple’s iOS system that were sold in those three months — Samsung moved into a solid second place with its Galaxy S III.
The S III outsold the iPhone 4S during the third quarter of last year before the iPhone 5’s release, and the company announced last week that the Galaxy S4 is on its way.
Now the companies seem poised to go head-to-head again in what appears to be an emerging market — wearable tech.
Nike’s fitness-oriented FuelBand has led the charge. But few new products have captured the imagination of the tech-minded such as Google Glass, an eyewear-like headset that offers augmented-reality images as well as basic smartphone-like features. The device is due later this year and has started popping up on the faces of field testers.
Then there is Pebble, the smartwatch that raked in about $8 million on Kickstarter and has begun shipping to backers.
But will there be a market for these devices outside of early-adopter technophiles and loyalists who will scoop up any new product their favorite company creates? Early signs say the public might need a little more information first.
According to an unscientific survey of users by mobile deals site BuyVia, 26% of respondents said they were interested in buying a rumored iWatch, 38% said they were not interested and more than a third, 36%, said they weren’t sure. (The survey was conducted before Samsung confirmed it’s in the game as well.)
The top five features respondents said they’d like to see in a watch were e-mail and texting, phone calls, GPS, Wi-Fi and weather updates.
“While consumers are seemingly divided about their desire to own the rumored Apple iWatch, it’s fascinating that the most desired features for the watch mirror popular iPhone capabilities,” said BuyVia CEO Norman Fong.
“It’s as though consumers are only interested in a watch that offers everything the smartphone does, only in a more convenient ‘package.’ What they seem to crave is a way to more easily access iPhone features everywhere they go.”
Real Tamale United will be in action at the Tamale Stadium for the first time since October 2012 following a six-match home ban.
The Tamale side, bottom of the Glo Premier League standings will return to the grounds as they welcome King Faisal in their match-day-19 fixture on Wednesday.
Following crowd troubles in their meeting with Aduana Stars last year, RTU were banned from its home venue for six (6) matches and additionally, fined GH¢5,000.00 for its supporters’ attack on an assistant referee.
Yahaya Mohammed could be on the move from Amidaus Professionals to Asante Kotoko if the latter secure the ticket to the group phase in their Caf Champions League campaign.
According to A1radio sources, negotiations are underway between both parties to ascertain how a deal can be reached to see the return of the former OJC Nice player to his mother club should they advance in the inter-club competition of the continent.
The 25-year-old was sent on a season-long loan to the Tema-based club at the beginning of the season following his lack of commitment to the club as stated by Asante Kotoko officials at the time.
He has since been instrumental in Amidaus Professionals’ superb display this season which earned him a place in Coach Kwesi Appiah’s list for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa only for injury to rule him out.
Speaking to A1radio, Mohammed affirmed that last month, Alhaji Baba Gado confronted him with the news that Dr. K.K Sarpong, Kotoko CEO has spoken to him regarding his possible return to Kotoko to help in their Champions League campaign.
“Alhaji last told me Dr. K.K Sarpong called to tell him he wants me to come back and help them in their Champions League participation,” said Mohammed.
He also revealed that the Kotoko coach, Mas-Ud Dramani has constantly been in touch with him insisting he needs his services.
“As for coach Mas-Ud Didi Dramani he always calls to advice me and also insisting he wants me to come and play for him,” he added.
When asked if he is willing to return to Kotoko should any deal be agreed on, the leading scorer of the 2012-13 season of the Ghana Premier League, said he had a running contract with Kotoko so as a professional player he will go and honour the rest of the contract.
Former Asante Kotoko player Prince Poley has sent a word of caution to his former club ahead of their Caf Champions League clash against JSM Bejaia at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium.
Kumasi Asante Kotoko two weeks ago took Algeria by storm when they secured a vital away point against JSM Bejaia making it the first time in 23 years a Ghanaian side has secured a point in the North African country.
Poley thinks the Asante Kotoko lads should not be complacent about the result acquired from Algeria because the North Africans are found of surprises when it comes to competitions like this.
“They should not think because of the away result they can easily walk over them because the north Africans do not give credence to either playing away or home, they can win anywhere,” he told Sunyani-based Moonlite FM.
“Guarding against goal should be their utmost priority.”
He was quick to add that in an effort to psyche the players up ahead of the game, he will join hands with other former players to visit the team in camp to show their support.
“By the end of the week, we the old players will pay the team a visit and share with them some words of encouragement,” he revealed.
The winner of the return leg will lock horns with either Esperance or Premier de Agosto depending on the outcome of their game.
League leaders Medeama have been paired against Berekum Chelsea in what is tagged by most pundits as the top liner amongst the other parings in the fourth round of the MTN FA Cup competition.
