Vol. 21 No. 40 Wednesday, 16th of July, 2014 Pages 8, Price 1.50 NFA

The College of Health Science in Asmara has graduated a total of 477 students including 163 fe-males with Bachelors Degree and Diploma for the 6th time on the 12th of July 2014.

The graduating batch comprises 174 degree graduates and 303 di-ploma-holders, while the gradat-

Ambas-sador Hana Simon has p r e s e n t e d c r e d e n t i a l s to President F r a n ç o i s Hollande, of France.

In the course of the presentation c e r e m o n y , the Eritrean Ambassador c o n v e y e d President Isa-ias Afwerki’s message of g o o d w i l l , and pointed out that Eri-trea has good understanding as regards the role France is playing towards ensur-ing stability in the Horn region. She went on to indicate that the concerned parties did not play due role pertaining to putting pressure on Ethiopia for sapping the imple-mentation of the final and binding EEBC ruling.

Ambassador Hana stated that the UN sanction on Eritrea is unjust, and expressed Eritrea’s readiness to foster relations of partnership

AmbAssAdor HAnA simon presents credentiAls to

president of frAnce

that is anchored on mutual benefit.The French President on his part

said that his country has a long-standing presence in the Horn of Africa, and that it is playing posi-tive role as regards ensuring peace as well as stability in the region. He further disclosed that it is France’s desire for the Eritrean-Ethiopian issue to obtain peaceful and legal resolution, and expressed good wish for the Eritrean Ambassador as she assumes the diplomatic re-sponsibility.

ing faculties include that of Nurs-ing, Pharmacy and Public Health, among others.

Speaking at the graduation cere-mony conducted within the premis-es of the University of Asmara, Ms. Amina Nur-Hussein, Minister of Health, said that the nation-build-ing process calls for the nurturing

college of HeAltH science grAduAtes A totAl of 477 students witH bAcHelors degree And diplomA

of a society which is equipped with knowledge and skill-knowhow. She also stated that the putting in place of various educational insti-tutions nationwide attests to such government policy, and indicated that a total of 7 health colleges and schools are making remarkable in-put regarding human resource de-velopment so as to promote health service quality.

Also speaking on the occasion, Professor Berhane Girmai, Associ-ate Dean of the College, explained that it has been working on priority basis pertaining to nurturing pro-fession and ethical virtues in the health domain with a view to pro-moting societal wellbeing.

A representative of the graduates asserted that the members of the batch would serve the people with dedication.

Mr. Tesfai Berhe, the head of the office of the coordinating commit-tee for national holidays, indicated that Eritrea Festival at the national level would be conducted from Au-gust 15 to 23 at the Expo Grounds here in the capital.

Accordingly, various programs, including cultural contests, sports and Camp of the Administrative re-

gions, among others, would feature at the Festival, in addition to the usual components of the event.

Mr. Tesfai further explained that the lifestyle of nationals in the six regions, Art contest and an assess-ment of songs, dramas, films and short stories, among others, pro-duced over the past three years would be highlighted in the course of the Festival. Besides, the camps of artists, children and the Asso-ciation of freedom fighters, as well as archives would feature at the event.

The necessary facilities are also being put in place for Festival par-ticipants from inside the country and nationals residing abroad who come home to spend their vaca-tions in the Homeland, he added.

eritreA festivAl At nAtionAl lev-el to be conducted in AsmArA

The National Confederation of Eritrean Workers (NCEW) has conducted a 3-day research in the port city of Assab towards provid-ing favorable work atmosphere and living condition, as well as wellbe-ing of workers at the work place. In the course of the research pro-gram, it was stated that the NCEW is exerting commendable effort with a view to promoting workers dignity and wellbeing.

Mr. Hamid Ibrahim, head of or-ganizational affairs at the Confed-eration, gave briefings focusing on the significance of organization

AssAb: ncew conductsreseArcHvis-à-vis rights of workers. He fur-ther called on workers to strength-en organizational capacity for still more gratifying achievements.

Likewise, Mr. Kibreab Kidane, head of Industrial Relations at the NCEW, noted the vitality of pro-viding favorable work condition as regards raising the revenue of insti-tutions and workers productivity.

Mr. Birhane Kahsai, Law ex-pert, explained that there exist a total of 183 international contract standards, and that the Eritrean government has signed such basic accords.

Students in the Central region who are engaged in the SWP on the basis of 39 stations indicated that the program entails dual advantage are namely nurturing of the culture of work and giving added impetus to national

students in central region indicate that swp entails dual advantage

development programs.They further expressed readiness

to demonstrate higher spirit of commitment for the realization of the cherished goal.

The SWP which began on July 8 is being conducted for the 18th

time involving a total of 15,000 students and 800 coordinators.

The activities within the SWP involve soil and water conservation, promotion of road traffic safety and environmental hygiene.

2Eritrea Profile, Wednesday 16th of July, 2014

Published Every Saturday & Wednesday

Managing Director Azzazi Zeremariam

Acting Editor Amanuel Mesfunamme@zena.gov.er

P.O.Box: 247Tel: 11-41-14Fax: 12-77-49

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LayoutAzieb Habtemariam

By: Yishak Yared

Since the introduction of Chris-tianity and Islam to Eritrea, the country is endowed with ancient Monasteries and Mosques that are in possession of ancient historical heritages and places of worship.

The Monasteries of Debre Bizen, Debre Sina, Hum, the Sahaba Mosque and the Shrine of Mari-am De’arit are some of the Holy places that are ancient, historical places and attract many visitors.

Most of the monasteries and shrines celebrate their special day every year at a specific time dur-ing which thousands of people from the different religions, Chris-tians and Moslems, and from all walks of life, the young, old men and women, pay pilgrimage to the monasteries.

June 28 every year is celebrated at Debre Sina Monastery. It is said that this day (June 21 in the Gre-gorian calendar) Saint Mary has been seen by shepherd girls be-

neath a large boulder. The Church is built adjacent to and over the rock where the vision took place. To this day June 21 (Gregorian calendar) Saint Mary’s Day is cel-ebrated every year at Debre Sina Monastery.

Debre Sina Monastery is lo-

cated around 18 kilometers from Elaberet, Anseba region, on the

Our Religious Festivities: Favorite Tourism Destination

Asmara-Keren road. The area is too small to accommodate the tens of thousands of pilgrims and they are forced to camp scattered on the hill sides spending the whole night chanting religious songs and prays.

What makes the area beautiful

besides the religious festivity held there is the breath taking land-

scape and the rugged terrain to go through. Most of the pilgrims have to walk a long distance since small cars could not make through the road. The long distance to walk,

the energy that is spend to reach there, the tranquil and peace full atmosphere, (every one’s mind is focused on one and one aim and that is asking Saint Mary for some-thing that is important for the spe-

cific individual) makes the days of pilgrimage very special.

Those who go by buses reach the monastery less tired and most-ly they assume the responsibility

to receive and nourish those who come there by foot and tired of the long distance they have to walk. Such a culture, though typical Eri-trean, is what makes the pilgrim-ages to monasteries and Holy plac-es as interesting and people expect them every year.

This year, I was told by one of Harat Transportation Company employee that more that 300 buses have been assigned to transports pilgrims to Debre Sina Monastery. This is only for the company only; there are hundreds of private bus-es, Four Wheel Drive vehicles, and many more traveling by foot. This indicates that the monastery, and the other places of worship dur-ing their days of festivity, attracts hundreds of thousand pilgrims, domestic tourists. With more pub-licity these places would not only attract domestic tourists but we could take the advantage of them in the growth of our tourism in-dustry, the same that of Mecca and Saint Mary of Lourdes in France.

3Eritrea Profile, Wednesday 16th of July, 2014

Aron HidruToday’s article is a continua-

tion of the article taken from Marc Mancinis’s book entitled ‘Time Management’ (2003). The book is a considerably inspiring one.

Last Wednesday, some of the major causes of procrastination and the strategies for tackling them. What has been presented to-day is a continuation of this issue.

3. The task flow is unclear or unplanned. Disorganized plans are common grounds for procras-tination. One useful approach to attacking the problem of task flow comes from a process control sys-tem called TQM.

The TQM SolutionIn the late 1940s, W. Edwards

Deming, a statistical control ana-lyst, devised a process control sys-tem that came to be known as To-tal Quality Management (TQM). He tried to convince several U.S. companies to apply it to their as-sembly lines, but no one seemed interested. Undaunted, Deming went to Japan, where business leaders rapidly adopted his theo-ries.

Many people feel that Japan’s subsequent economic success was attributable in large measure to Deming’s system. The truth is far more complex. Japan’s cultural values had a great deal to do with its economic success—and with the ways in which Deming’s sys-tem was implemented. Still, TQM has much to offer. Indeed, the U.S. military and several American companies, seeking to compete with Asian entrepreneurs, made a virtual religion of it.

Total Quality Management (TQM) A process control system devised by W. Edwards Deming. In his book, Out of the Crisis (1982), Deming set out 14 points as essential.

Although devised for manufacturing, they are easily adapted to all business situations.

1. Create constancy of purpose by investing in the future.

2. Quality must become a philosophy of total dedication.

3. Don’t inspect bad quality out; build quality in from the start.

4. Don’t award business on price alone.

5. Improve constantly on production and service.

6. Institute training.7. Institute leadership.8. Drive out fear.9. Break down staff barriers.10. Eschew slogans or

targets.11. Eliminate numerical

quotas.12. Encourage pride of

workmanship.13. Promote education and

self-improvement.14. Transform the company

from the top down, involving everyone.

It is worth noting that the current management emphasis on the concept of “Six Sigma” is basically the disciplined systemization of many of the concepts of TQM.

Though TQM has fallen some-what out of favor, certain pro-cesses it popularized are still quite

worthwhile. Of all the TQM pro-cedures, none is more relevant to time management than flowchart-ing. TQM proponents tackle each project by visualizing its flow. Absolutely every step is plotted, often using the symbols or icons used in a flow chart.

A flow chart is a diagram that displays the step-by-step progres-sion through a procedure or sys-tem, frequently using lines con-necting the steps to indicate direc-tion or flow.

In a flow chart, we examine if there are any steps left out. If there are any steps left out, you con-template where you would insert them. You might try to apply this method to some of the items you listed earlier as awaiting action. Above all, remember that flow-charting often leads to significant savings of time that might other-wise have been spent later trying to rein in the details of a hazy or stubbornly complicated project.

4. Your goals are unclear. When you set a goal, be precise.

“Reorganize my office space” may be insufficiently clear. How would you like your office space to be organized? What specific needs are dictating your desire to reor-ganize? Are items you need daily stored in inaccessible places? Are non-current items taking up too much room? Do you need a better light source? Make general goals into specific goals by reminding yourself what it is, specifically, that makes the goal a goal.

In certain situations—especially in business—goals should be not only clear but also measurable. Saying, “Our sales will increase significantly” is less productive

and has less impact than saying, “Our goal is to increase sales by 12%.”

Waiting for Other PeopleThere’s one other external

factor that might lead to pro-crastination: waiting for other people. You may be an angel of timely behavior, but your boss, your spouse, or your employee may not be. Changing someone else’s behavior is even more dif-ficult than changing your own. Here are a few ideas that may help:

• Set precise timelines and deadlines for others.

• Set false, early deadlines, to make it more probable that they’ll actually finish on time.

• Communicate your frustra-tion with their behavior, if nec-essary.

• Encourage them to use some of the strategies discussed in this article to overcome their tendency to procrastinate.5. You fear change. This is one of

the more deeply psychological rea-sons for procrastination. All living things are creatures of habit. Doing something the way you’ve always done it seems safe. Making changes sometimes courts the unexpected—and the unexpected can sometimes be unpleasant.

So fear of change is a natural, hu-man reaction. But it can also be debil-itating, encouraging procrastination and deferring changes that are useful and beneficial.

If you procrastinate because you’re in a rut—because you’re resisting change—any of the following might work for you:

Change your physical environment. Old habits cling to old places. Try a new room, a new chair, a new office, a new anything. You’ll be surprised how such a change can spark actions on duties you’re avoiding.

• Change your routines and pat-terns. Take a different route to get to work. You may be surprised at how you might feel toward a procrasti-nated obligation when you get to the office.

• Do nothing. Just walk into your home or office, sit down, and stare at the wall. You’ll soon be so bored that a change will be precisely what you want.

6. You fear failure. The most confi-dent people fear failing at something, so they put it off, sometimes forever. A good example is public speaking. People fear making a mistake in front of a large group of people because they believe that their failure will be magnified. In most surveys, the fear of a failed speech ranks higher than the fear of death.

Truman Capote once said, “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” Franklin D. Roosevelt put it more famously: “The only thing we

have to fear is fear itself.”7. You tend to overcommit. Many

people are so dedicated, ambitious, or enthusiastic that they take on far more than they should—at work, at home, or in their communities.

Different factors may drive this tendency—the inability to say no, a desire to please, or even merely the otherwise great virtues of a zest for life and a broad range of interests.

But no one can do it all—certainly not all at the same time. If, in look-ing over the list of pending tasks you composed earlier, you find one or two items you could (and should) unbur-den yourself of, it’s possible that you tend to take on too much. In the future, before volunteering to take on new commitments, take a few moments to review those commitments you’ve already made but haven’t completed. You may wish to engage in a very useful form of procrastination—put-ting off new commitments until you complete the ones still pending.

8. You’re addicted to cramming. For some people, doing something at the last minute triggers a rush of adrenaline that fuels them on. This is a dangerous habit because:

• Last-minute work increases the odds of making a mistake.

• You have no time to correct mis-takes—or sometimes even to discov-er them.

• A new, unexpected demand may come up that will stealntime from your last-minute sprint and hurt the quality of nboth tasks.

It’s hard to overcome cramming. You must convince yourselfnthat cramming is dangerous. And you must try all of the strategies men-tioned earlier—flowcharting, the measles approach, dividing and con-quering, and so on—to aid you in your efforts.

Five MinutesWhat can you accomplish in five

minutes? Sometimes,important things:• Return an e-mail.• Make an appointment.• Leave a voicemail message.• Write a page of text.• Create an agenda for a meeting.• Research a point.• Write a thank-you note.• Locate a missing source.• Ask a colleague a question you

need the answer to.• Read a short message.• Clarify something you were un-

clear about.Often, if you can promise your-

self to devote the next five minutesto a task, you’ll find that it

stretches into 10 or 15 minutes and you

accomplish more than you thought you might when you be-gan.

Procrastination: The Thief Of Time

Part III And Final

4Eritrea Profile, Wednesday 16th of July, 2014

Invitation for Bids (IFB) Eritrea

Fisheries Development ProjectDSF-08060-ER

Procurement of Marine Outboard Engines

IFB No: MMR/FDP/ICB/G/0001/20141. The Government of the State of Eritrea has received grant from IFAD toward the cost of Fisheries Development Project, and it intends to apply part of the proceeds of this credit to payments under the contract for the supply of Marine Out Board Engines, IFB No: MMR/FDP/ICB/G/0001/2014. 2. Bidding will be conducted through the International Competitive Bidding (ICB) procedures specified in IFAd’s Guideline, and are open to all bidders from Eligible Source Countries as defined in the Guidelines.3. Interested eligible bidders may obtain further information from The Ministry of Marine Resources – Fisheries Development Project, Asmara, Eritrea, Tel: 291-1-153960, Fax: 291-1-153961, Email: mofishas@gmail.com, and inspect the bidding documents at the address given below, from 8:00-11:30 AM and 14:00-17:30 PM local time, Monday through Friday..6

4. A complete set of Bidding Documents in the English language may be purchased by interested bidders on the submission of a written application to the address below and upon payment of a none refundable fee ERN 1000.00 (one thousand Eritrean Nakfa only) or equivalent, starting Thursday, July 17, 2014. Foreign bidders shall transfer the cost of Bidding Documents in USD 65.00 (sixty five US dollars only) to dz bank ag., Frankfurt, p.o.box 60265, FRANKFURT, GERMANY, SWIFT: GENODEFF for credit to Account no. DE39500604000001030 736 of Bank of Eritrea, SWIFT BOERERAI, Asmara, Eritrea, in favor of beneficiary, i.e. Marine Resources – Fisheries Development Project for further credit to our Acct.No. Fisheries Development Project 120.122.0173 maintained with them being cost of bidding documents for the procurement of fishing gears. If documents are required to be sent by courier additional USD 65.00 (sixty five US dollars only) or equivalent shall be transferred to the above account number.5. Bids must be delivered to the address below at or before 10:00 A.M. Local time (+3 GMT).. Electronic bidding will not be permitted. Late bids will be rejected. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below at 10:15 A.M. local time on September 2, 2014. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security of USD 6,000.00 (Six thousand United States Dollars) or equivalent in any other freely convertible currency.

The address referred to above is: Ministry of Marine Resources – Fisheries Development Project P.O.Box: 923 Street and Zip Code No: Hday 748-1 Floor-Room number: Dembe Sembel, Block “A”, Fourth Floor City: Asmara Country: Eritrea Telephone: 291-1-153960 Facsimile number: 291-1-153961 Electronic mail address: mohsfaf@gmail.com or mofishas@gmail.com

VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT VA/01/2014The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Asmara invites qualified applicants (Eritrean) for the following vacant post:

Post title: Local Security Assistant

Condition of employment: Fixed Term at ICS 6 Level

Duty Station: Asmara with frequent fried travel

Department: UNDSS

Organizational Context Under the overall guidance and supervision of the Chief Security Adviser (CSA), the Local Security Assistant assists in the implementa-tion of security operations and all matters relating to the management of safety and security for UN personnel in the country or in the region of assignment. Summary of key functions:• Assists CSA in collecting, updating and communicating infor-mation regarding the security situation in the operational area. • Assists in maintaining the Security Plan, including updating staff lists. • Supports the CSA with the assessment of Minimum Opera-tional Security Standards (MOSS) for the duty station. • Assists in reporting security incidents affecting UN staff, of-fices and assets. • Organizes and delivers training courses on security awareness and preparedness. • Assists in ensuring residential (Minimum Operating Residential Security Standards – MORSS) and office safety, and security prepared-ness. • Provides general administrative assistance to the CSA.MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education: Secondary education. University Degree desirable but not a requirement.

Experience: Six years’ experience in the military, relevant private secu-rity or preferably from the police. Prior experience with the UN system is desirable but not a requirement. Some years’ experience in a supervi-sory position is a requirement.Language requirements: Fluency in spoken and written EnglishOther Skills and Requirements: Experience in police intelligence con-sidered an asset. Good knowledge of host country security system. Solid computers skills (MS Word, Excel and PowerPoint). Possession of a valid driver’s license. Ability to travel and physically fit

Other considerations: For more details please collect the Terms of Reference from the UNDP Reception Desk. Interested applicants should submit duly filled P11 form (available at the UNDP Reception Desk, UN Office in Asmara) and a detailed CV with supporting documents. Copy of document indicating exemption from/completion of national service should be sent to UNDP Reception Desk, P.O. Box 5366, and UN of-fices, Asmara, Eritrea.UNDP will contact those who are considered Potential candidates. Clos-ing date for the application is 10 days from the date of announcement.

“UNDP is an equal opportunity employer which strives to achieve over-all balance in its staffing patterns”.

United Nations Development Programme

Invitation for Bids(RE-ADVERTISMENT)

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) invites Local Car Maintenance to indicate their interest in providing Competent Services

Bidders can obtain all necessary bid documents from the UNDP Admin office during office hours at 5, Hday Avenue (UN Compound) - Asmara.

Bid documents can be collected within 10 working days after first appears in News Papers.

Bidders shall submit copy of their renewed license.

The UNDP reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids.

UNDP OfficeTel: 151166, Fax: 151081P.O.Box 5366Asmara.

ADS

5Eritrea Profile, Wednesday 16th of July, 2014

Why Nations Fail offers case studies to illustrate these points: the economic rises and subsequent decline of the Soviet Union and the Ottoman Empire; the resistance of the tsarist Russia and the Habsburg Empire to building railroads, out of fear that they would undermine the landed aristocracy’s power and fos-ter revolution, and, especially rele-vant today, the likely future trajec-tory of Communist China, whose growth prospects appear unlimited to many Western observers, but not to Acemoglu and Robinson, who write the China’s growth “is likely to run out of steam.”

In their narrow focus on inclu-sive institutions, however, the authors ignore or dismiss other factors. I mentioned earlier the ef-fects of an area’s being landlocked or of environmental damage, fac-tors that they don’t discuss. Even within the focus on institutions, the concentration specifically on inclu-sive institutions causes the authors to give inadequate accounts of the ways that natural resources can be a curse. True, the book provides an-ecdotes of the resources curse (Si-erra Leone cursed by diamonds), and of how the curse was success-fully avoided (in Botswana). But the book doesn’t explain which re-sources especially lend themselves to the curse (diamonds yes, iron no) and why? Nor does the book show how some big resource producers like the US and Australia avoid the curse (they are democracies whose economies depend on much else be-sides resource exports), nor which other resource-dependent countries besides Sierra Leone and Botswana respectively succumbed to or over-came the curse. The chapter on sev-eral of fortune surprisingly doesn’t mention the authors’ own interest-ing findings about how the degree of reversal depends on prior and on health threats to Europeans.

Two major factors that Acemo-glu and Robinson do mention, only to dismiss them in a few sentences, are tropical diseases and tropical agricultural productivity: Tropi-

cal diseases obviously cause much suffering and high rates of infant mortality in Africa, but they are not the reason Africa is poor. Disease is largely a consequence of poverty and of governments being unable or unwilling to undertake the pub-lic health measures necessary to eradicate them … The prime deter-minant of why agricultural produc-tivity-agricultural out put per acre-is so low in many poor countries, particularly in sub-Sahara Africa, has little to do with soil quality. Rather, it is a consequence of the ownership structure of the land and the incentives that are created for farmers by the governments and in-stitutions under which they live.

These sweeping statements, which will astonish any one knowl-edgeable, about the subjects, brush off two entire fields of science, tropical medicine and agricultural science. As I summarized above, the well-known facts of tropical biology, geology, and climatology saddle tropical counties with much bigger problems than temperate countries.

A second weakness involves the historical origins of what Mcemo-glu and Robinson identify as inclu-sive economic and political institu-tions, with their consequences for wealth. Some countries, such as Britain and Japan, have such insti-tutions, while other countries, such as Ethiopia and the Congo, don’t. To explain why, the authors give a just-so story of each country’s his-tory, which ends by concluding that that story explains why that country either did or didn’t develop institu-tions. For instance, Britain adopted inclusive institutions, we are told, as a result of the Glorious Revolu-tion of 1688 and preceding events; and Japan reformed its institutions after 1868; but Ethiopia remained absolutist. Acemoglu and Robin-son’s view of history is that small effects at critical junctures have long-lasting effects, so it’s hard to make predictions. While they don’t say splicitly, this view sug-gests that good institutions should

have cropped up randomly around the world, depending on who hap-pened to decide what at some par-ticular place and time.

But it’s obvious that good insti-tutions, and the wealth and power that they spawned, did not crop up randomly. For instance, all West-ern European countries ended up richer and with better institutions than any tropical African country. Big underlying differences led to this divergence of outcomes. Eu-rope has had a long history (of up to nine thousand years) of agri-culture based on the world’s most productive crops and domestic animals, both of which were do-mesticated in and introduced to Europe from the Fertile Crescent, the crescent-shaped region run-ning from the Persian Gulf through southeastern Turkey to Upper-Egypt. Agriculture in tropical Africa is only between 1,800 and 5,000 years old and based on less productive domesticated crops and imported animals. As a result, Eu-rope has had up to four thousand year’s experience of government, complex institutions, and grow-ing national industries, compared to a few countries or less for all of sub-Sahara Africa. Europe has glaciated fertile soils, reliable sum-mer rainfall, and a few tropical dis-eases. Within Europe, Britain had the further advantages of being an island rarely at risk from foreign armies, and of fronting on the At-lantic Ocean, which became open after 1492 to overseas trade.

It should be no surprise that countries with those advantages ended up rich and with good insti-tutions, while countries with those disadvantages didn’t. The chain of causation leading slowly from pro-ductive agriculture to government, state formation, complex institu-

tions, and wealth involved agri-culturally driven population explo-sions and accumulations of food surpluses, leading in turn to the need for centralized decision-mak-ing in societies much to populous for decision-making by face-to-face discussions involving all citi-zens, and the possibility of using the food surpluses to support kings and their bureaucrats. This process unfolded independently, beginning around 3400 BC, in many differ-ent parts of the ancient world with productive agriculture, including the Fertile Crescent, Egypt, China, the Indus Valley, Crete, the Valley of Mexico, the Andes, and Polyne-sian Hawaii.

The remaining weakness is the authors’ resort to assertion unsup-ported or contradicted by facts. An example is their attempt to expand their focus on institutions in order to explain the origins of agricul-ture. All humans were originally hunter/gatherers who independent-ly became farmers in only about nine small areas scattered around the world. A century of research by botanists and archeologists has shown that what made those ar-eas exceptional was their wealth of wild plant and animal species suitable for domestication (such as wild wheat and corn).

While the usual pattern was for nomadic hunter/gatherers to be-come sedentary farmers, there were exceptions: some nomadic hunter/gatherers initially became nomadic farmers (Mexico and lowland New Guinea) while others never became farmers (Aboriginal Australia); some sedentary hunter/gatherers became sedentary farm-ers (the Fertile Crescent) while others never became farmers (Pa-cific Northwest Indians); and some sedentary farmers reverted to being

What Makes Countries Rich Or Poor?

Part IV & Final

nomadic hunter/gatherers (south Sweden about four thousand years ago).

My overall assessment of the au-thors’ argument that inclusive insti-tutions, while not the overwhelm-ing determinant of prosperity that they claim, are an important factor. Perhaps they provide 50 percent of the explanation for national differ-ences in prosperity. That’s enough to establish such institutions as one of the major forces in the modern world. Why Nations Fail offers an excellent way for any interested reader to learn about them and their consequences. Whereas most writing by academic economists is incomprehensive to the lay pub-lic, Acemoglu and Robinson have written this book so that it can be understood and enjoyed by all of us who aren’t economists.

Why Nations Fail should be re-quired reading for politicians and anyone concerned with economic development. The authors’ dis-cussions of what can and can’t be done today to improve conditions in poor countries are thought-pro-voking and will stimulate debate. Donors and international agencies try to “engineer prosperity” either by foreign aid or by urging poor countries to adopt good economic policies. But there is widespread disappointment with the results of these well-intentioned efforts. Ac-emoglu and Robinson pithily diag-nose the cause of these disappoint-ing outcomes in their final chapter: “Attempting to engineer prosperity without confronting the root cause of the problems-extractive institu-tions and the politics that keeps them in place-is unlikely to bear fruit.”

By: Jared DiamondSource: DIGEST, January

2014

6Eritrea Profile, Wednesday 16th of July, 2014

Daniel Semere

The Lesson For Eritrea

When Eritrea got its indepen-dence in 1991, the challenge of development was immense almost in every sector. One advantage of gaining its independence late can be the opportunity it gives to learn from the development experience of other countries that had the same colonial history. It has been proved that building a stable, in-dependent and developed nation is by no means an easy task. In fact many countries have been relegated back to the status they had during colonialism because of the wrong strategies of develop-ment they have taken after inde-pendence. We have seen that more than its severe economic situation, the wrong development strategies has also resulted in the violation of political sovereignty, social in-justice and turmoil. Not to repeat this sad experience therefore, Eri-trea should learn from history and follow a strategy that will ensure a development with economic and socio-political stability and inde-pendence. So it needs a social-economic and political order that would promote justice and equal-ity among its citizens.

When we talk about develop-ment in Eritrea, first and foremost it is a matter of providing the ba-sic necessities of life (food secu-rity and shelter) and provision of welfare service (roads, clean wa-ter, electricity, health, education) to the large rural population that

has been neglected by successive colonial master. But in order to do this there is a need for a stable po-litical situation and independence to carryout priorities and also a progressive gradual economic growth to be able to invest on those priorities. The experience of many countries attests that a stable political situation cannot be built without a just economic or-der that redistribute the resource and opportunity of the nation fairly among the majority of the citizen.

The National Charter of Eritrea stipulates that the economic order Eritrea is endeavoring to achieve is one that will enable the better-ment of the life of the majority. To do this development strategy should be based on the concept of social justice that would narrow the gap between poor and rich, center and periphery, and also en-sure the participation of majority in the economy. Agriculture can be the one sector that has a deci-sive role in achieving this vision.

According to some sources 70% - 80% of Eritrean people lead a life based on agriculture. Hence, this should be the base for the policy of social justice. In Eritrea, one of the most important issues that so-cial justice tries to address is the issue of food security. As in else-where this is a big problem and Eritrea has been suffering from shortage of food and sometimes hunger. The main problem is that Eritrea has not been able to pro-duce enough food to feed its peo-ple. The immediate victims have been much of the rural people.

It seems that there is no choice

but to develop the agriculture in order to achieve self-sufficiency in food. This is not impossible. The main problem of agriculture in Eritrea has been the issue of rain which is often erratic. How-ever, with the various schemes of water and soil conservation proj-ects like building dams and wells, there is a big chance of extending irrigation system. The 1200 km of sea coast line with a capacity of fishing 80,000 tons annually haven’t been exploited in fishing. The issue of skilled manpower is being addressed through establish-ing agriculture colleges. This can have a profound effect in food se-curity to the mass population and hence would mean contributing in a big part to social justice. Along with putting enough emphasis on agriculture the government will

be able to reach to the population in creating opportunity. If the eco-nomic wellbeing of the rural peo-ple is attained then it would have a tremendous effect in the overall economy. Moreover, attention on agriculture would mean securing the employment for much of the people and hence social stability.

Eritrea is a poor country with an agrarian economy. The indus-trial sector is almost non-existent. However, it has a potential in ag-riculture and agriculture based industries. It thus is natural that Eritrea should use agriculture as a base for economic growth. Be-sides creating employment, the potential of agriculture to contrib-ute in the economy through export and industrialization is fairly great in Eritrea. It is known that during the Italian colonialism Eritrea was exporting thousands of tons of food supply only to Middle East. The country also has a potential of exporting grains, fruits, fish, and cash crops. However, the tra-ditional farming method had been the main problem to realize this potential. With the current trend of attention in agriculture that is witnessed in the form of building different dams and wells and the attempt of mechanization, there is a big chance that Eritrea could ex-port food. There is however, the need to extend the area of culti-vation especially in the vast plain area like the western lowlands. Intensive method of farming should also be used, along with ir-rigation. And much of the people should be involved in this.

Besides the effect agriculture can have in the social and eco-nomic sectors it can also have a big part in the political programs. It has been repeatedly seen how dependency and aid has put the sovereignty of many, mainly in Africa, to gamble. One way through which this happened is the inability of these nations to be self-sufficient and self-reliant to feed themselves. Therefore, securing food sufficiency through agriculture is one big guarantee of sovereignty and independence.

Through the process of devel-oping agriculture in various areas of the rural Eritrea, the institution of the government could be able to reach them. It’ has been stated that government institutions have a great homogenizing factor in nation building. Therefore, pro-moting agriculture in a way can play great role in the task of na-tion building.

Finally therefore, due to the special place agriculture has in the society, economy and politi-cal security and independence of the nation, Eritrean develop-ment should be based on it. Food production should be boosted through strengthening the present agricultural development tasks like extending irrigation system, mechanization, using fertilizers. This should go beyond food se-curity to food export to generate income. The principle of social justice and self-reliance can be supported by agriculture, as it is the way forward for Eritrea’s de-velopment.

Agriculture:For Stability, Independence,

And DevelopmentPart V And Final

7Eritrea Profile, Wednesday 16th of July, 2014

These days most men are not as decent as they used to be in the good old days; they cheat, lie and take their girls for granted. Once the girl shows them that she cares about them then they get this idea that she won’t go anywhere. To be honest they are kind of right.The girls of this generation prefer the indecent men to those who re-spect, cherish and love them.I am saying this because I have been a first-hand witness to these kinds of situations; actually not only a witness but I have been one of those girls. I used to wonder why most of the ladies of the 21st cen-tury could not appreciate the kind hearted, caring men while they had them.I also used to wonder why they would leave those kinds of men for those who neither ap-preciate nor treat them the way they deserve to be treated. A friend once told me that he had read,in a study made by an American pro-fessor, that the decent guy doesn’t get the girl; the other guy does.

My cousin Senay is a guy to die for. He is smart, cute, and has the heart of an angel. Yet, every girl he dates ends up hurting him. He pulls their chair for them and opens the door for them for God’s sake!! “You are too nice,” they would say to him when they are about to leave. I really don’t see how that is bad; because I believe a reasonable person would think

“Too nice” is a good thing. If a guy is all of that then what more can one ask for???

We can’t deny the fact that we all wish to find our Stefan, the sweet brother, when we watch vam-pire diaries, the series; right? To speak for myself, he is the reason I watch it. Yet when Stefan comes into our lives we play around with him and decide that he is boring, thus, we jump into Damon’s arms, the prick brother. I mean that is what Elena did, which by the way proves me right.What is funny is, afterditching such a big hearted person and after finding a self-ish, stubborn onewe say that we have found the perfect one. With time though,we realize that we are being mistreated, and hence we complainsaying that guys are jerks. Girls I am sorry, but I do not blame the boys I blame you. Why did you leave the nice guy in the first place?You ordered a jerk and that is what you got on your plate. What is sad is that the nice ones are very rare and unbe-lievably hard to find; trust me.It gets worse though; as a result of the actions of the girls who are blinded by popularity, cuteness and the shimmery possessions of men,the nice guys are decid-ing that being a jerk is much bet-teras they believe that it will at least earn them the girl. Some of my friends are those nice, sweet

guys and they have come to me many times with their hearts bro-ken.They would tell me that they would find girls only if they be-came jerks and I would reply, “If you become jerks only to attract the insensitive girls then what happens to me and the few girls who are in search for guys like you? Just be who you are and a girl, who knows you are just what she needs, will come along one day.”As a matter of fact a few days ago I met a friend. He is such a nice guy that I like him very much (as a friend!!). Anyways he was dating this girl during sum-mer and he was so pleased. I was happy for him and hoped that it would last long. Unfortunately, when we met last week he told me that she had broken up with him.

What Is It With Girls And Indecent Boys These Days?

She had no cause; the first min-ute everything was perfect and the next she just decided to end things. Shetold him that she just wanted to be friends.Now how messed up is that??? Although it has been almost five months since she broke up with him the guy is still very devastated. He even ut-tered the words I always dread to hear; he said he would rather be indecent than the person he is now. I don’t know how the girl felt exactly, but she decide to be the guy’s girlfriend after thinking it through for three months, so if she did not have feelings for him why did she decide to date him in the first place? I am not saying that she should have loved him. I am just saying that deciding to be his girlfriend after thinking about

it for three whole months and ditching him after a three weeks relationship is just…cruel and so 21st century (which is the century where relationships have become meaningless and where people have becomeunbearably selfish). I said to him,“Life is like a book; the girl is just a chapter in it and there will be another chapter with a better ending.” You know what he said to me? He said,“Even mums like the troublesome son better than the cool one.”That might have some truth in it.I wanted to convince him that not all girls were like that; unbeliev-ably, I couldn’t. I mean how could I when I couldn’t even believe it myself? I really hope I am wrong but you can’t disagree with the studies made by intellectuals with PhDs and this thing with girls and indecent guys has been subjected to studies many times.

So girls a little advice from someone who let go of Stefan thinking Damon was right for her, only to end up alone realizing that Stefan was the one. If you find a guy who pulls your chair for you, opens the door for you, and tells you that he would rather stay with you until your curfew than hang out with his friends then hold on tight. He might lack some quali-ties, but hey nobody is perfect. A ride with Damon will be fun and you will enjoy it but when it is over you will not want to take it again. However, a ride with Stefan is a ride of a lifetime; you might want to leave it at first but once you have tried the other rides you will want to go back to it and take it again and again...Moreover, all of you sweet, decent, pleasant men out there, be yourselves; do not change for anyone. Trust me you will be the ones ending up with the perfect girls.

Milen Dawit

A ride of a lifetime

8Eritrea Profile, Wednesday 16th of July, 2014

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the international body has a “moral responsibility” to help Haiti end a devastating chol-era epidemic, which was allegedly brought to the Caribbean country by UN peacekeepers.

Ban made the remarks on Mon-day ahead of a visit to Haiti, dur-ing which he is scheduled to meet families affected by cholera.

The epidemic was allegedly brought to Haiti by UN peace-keepers in 2010. According to scientific studies, the UN peace-keepers from Nepal, who were deployed to the country in the aftermath of a devastating earth-quake, introduced the disease into the impoverished country.

Over 700,000 people are esti-mated to have been infected by the disease, which has killed more than 8,000.

Despite Ban’s comments, the UN has continuously denied any responsibility over the outbreak and has so far failed to offer an apology or compensation for the epidemic.

During his visit to Haiti, Ban is to focus on getting donors to contribute USD 2.2 billion to a 10-year cholera elimination cam-paign. In addition, Ban is to meet

LG Display has unveiled two unique TV panels, one capable of being rolled up like paper and a transparent one offering 30 percent transmittance.

The company unveiled the 18-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) television panels on Thurs-day.

The rollable panel, which makes it installable on curved surfaces, sports a high-definition class reso-lution of 1,200x810 with almost one million megapixels. The panel can be rolled up to a radius of three centimeters.

What has apparently enabled the company to develop the products has been its application of thinner, lighter, and more flexible OLED technology.

“LG Display pioneered the OLED TV market and is now lead-ing the next-generation applied OLED technology,” In-Byung

An international team of re-searchers have developed the world’s first vaccine with great effectiveness against the tropical disease dengue fever.

The newly developed vaccine can work effectively as the re-search results show it can protect more than 50 percent of children against the mosquito-borne virus, the scientists claim.

During large-scale trials, over 6000 children aged between two and 14 years old have been treated by the vaccine tested by the researchers from five centers across Asia, reported in the Lan-

Risk of developing many cases of Alzheimer’s could be averted by improving people’s lifestyle habits, a new study has suggested.

A team of researchers at the Uni-versity of Cambridge demonstrates the strong evidence of an associa-tion of seven risk factors with Al-zheimer’s disease.

They noted diabetes, midlife hy-pertension, midlife obesity, physi-cal inactivity, depression, smoking and low educational attainment as the main risk factors for the dis-ease, according to the study report published in the journal The Lancet Neurology.

“By reducing the relative risk from each of these factors by 10 per-cent, it should be possible to slash global prevalence of Alzheimer’s in 2050 by 8.5 per cent, preventing nine million cases,” said the study

The UK’s information commis-sioner has called for better fund-ing for the country’s data regulator amid a record number of cases.

Ahead of the release of the In-formation Commissioner’s Office (ICO) annual report, Christopher Graham said the body needed “stronger powers”.

In the past year, the ICO issued £1.97m in penalties to companies found to breach data protection rules.

The report highlighted a high number of incidents involving lo-cal government.

“In particular, the disclosure of personal data in error,” the report read.

In one example, a probation of-ficer pleaded guilty to revealing the new address of a domestic vio-lence victim to the alleged perpe-trator. The officer was fined £150, and had to pay £280 in costs.

The ICO said it resolved 15,492 data protection complaints in the

last financial year - a 10% rise on the previous 12 months. The num-ber of calls to its advice helpline rose by more than 15%.

The ICO secured 12 criminal convictions and two cautions for the unlawful obtaining or disclos-ing of personal data.

In another incident, the ICO intervened when Staffordshire Police ran a Twitter campaign naming people charged with drink driving.

“Whilst releasing some details of people charged with criminal offences is acceptable,” the ICO ruled, “using a hashtag ‘#drink-drivers’ is potentially misleading as it implies guilt.”

The ICO in the past has been criticised for both being too le-nient, and not thorough enough, when investigating companies.

The ICO was described as “sad-ly lacking” by privacy campaign-ers when it dropped a 2010 inves-tigation into Google’s scooping

up of personal information from wi-fi networks when taking pic-tures for its Street View product.

The ICO dropped its investiga-tion after receiving reassurances from Google - only to re-open it in 2012 after US regulators found wrongdoing on Google’s part.

In that year’s annual report, it admitted it had not issued a single fine to any firm. However, new powers granted in January 2012 made it easier for the ICO to fine large amounts.

In this year’s report, the high-est number of complaints relate to nuisance calls. Over the 12 months, 161,720 complaints were made - 46% of which related to automated calls.

Nuisance calls were once again a major driver of complaints, the ICO said

Haiti’s President Michel Martelly and lawmakers in the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as meet with leaders from United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The UN secretary general will also launch a “total sanitation campaign” with Haiti’s Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe in a bid to improve sanitation and hygiene in the nation’s rural areas.

Ban’s visit comes just months after some 1,500 Haitians launched a lawsuit against the UN, seeking compensation for the victims of the cholera outbreak. The class-action lawsuit, filed in a US federal court in New York City in March, demands compen-sation for the deaths and illnesses caused by cholera.

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that causes severe diar-rhea and can lead to dehydration and death.

Kang, LG Display’s senior vice president and head of the R&D Center, said in a statement. “We are confident that by 2017, we will suc-cessfully develop an Ultra HD flex-ible and transparent OLED panel of more than 60 inches, which will have transmittance of more than 40 percent and a curvature radius of 100R, thereby leading the future display market.”

Jeremy White, product editor of Wired magazine, said, “Being able to curve screens around complex retail display units or using the transparency to have the screen en-velop the product itself on a stand would certainly be eye-catching.

leader Carol Brayne, a professor of public health at the University of Cambridge.

“Simply tackling physical in-activity, for example, will reduce levels of obesity, hypertension and diabetes, and prevent some people from developing dementia,” Brayne also noted.

Researchers found that the largest proportion of cases of Alzheimer’s in the US, UK and the rest of Eu-rope could be attributed to physical inactivity.

Alzheimer’s is an age-related brain condition that experts suspect

is influenced by both genes and the environment.

Alzheimer’s disease plays havoc with the metabolism of brain cells, causing them to stop working and lose connections with each other, and eventually, their death.

This gradual deterioration is what leads to memory failure, difficulty with daily tasks, personality chang-es, and other features of the brain-wasting disease.

The two hallmarks of Alzheim-er’s disease are deposits of tau pro-tein (which clog up the insides of brain cells) and plaques of amyloid protein (which clog up the spaces between brain cells)

According to World Health Or-ganization, some 35 million people are afflicted with the disease, while 115 million people are anticipated to get afflicted by 2050.

cet journal.“Given that dengue is a major

public health problem in most

Asian countries the finding has the potential to have a huge impact on public health,” said Lead author Dr Maria Rosario Capeding, from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in the Philippines.

“A 56% reduction, though mod-erate, can translate into a huge benefit for countries plagued by the disease,” she also noted.

There are currently no treat-ments to prevent dengue fever which annually affects more than one million people.

Though the vaccine is only 56% effective which is much lower than normal targets, it is the best

we have so far, said Professor Martin Hibberd of the London School of Hygiene and Topical Medicine.

Dengue fever which is a mos-quito-borne tropical disease is caused by the dengue virus with the symptoms of fever, head-ache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles.

Dengue has become a global problem since the Second World War and is endemic in more than 110 countries from wealthy Sin-gapore to the poorest Cambodia.

World’s First Dengue Vaccine To Hit Market

Company Unveils Rollable, Transparent TV Panels

Lifestyle Changes Can Halve Alzheimer’s Risk

Record Number Of Data Complaints Made To ICO

UN Responsible To Tackle Cholera Epidemic In Haiti: Ban

Cholera victims visit a clinic in Haiti. (File photo)