Ethiopian Health Authority Certified Ebola Victim's Plane

By Ibe Uwaleke
THE management of ASKY Airlines said it received with great surprise the decision of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) which stopped the airlines operations to Lagos and Abuja, when the carrier had already suspended all its flights to and from Freetown, Sierra Leone, Monrovia and some other routes in West Africa.
This is coming as the director general of ASKY Airlines, Yissehak Zewoldi yesterday said the travelling restriction is currently seriously affecting passengers within the region. He urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to reconsider its position on suspending ASKY airline's operations into Nigeria.
Zewoldi said since the initial outbreak of the Ebola virus in Conakry, Guinea in February 2014 and the recent spread in Liberia and Sierra Leone, the airline had been highly concerned and taking measures to avoid further spread.
He disclosed that he had written to the director general of NCAA twice on the measures taken so far and his full commitment to closely work with all authorities, governments and organizations in the fight against the spread of this disease.
According to him ASKY is determined to keep its passengers and staff safe during this unsettling time, adding that the carrier is following the situation closely and will issue updates as the situation changes.
Meanwhile, ASKY's Country Commercial Manager (Nigeria), Bolaji Ogunwunmi said that in a bid to ameliorate the sufferings of the airline's passengers who had pre-booked their flights to Nigeria and other places where it has stopped operations, the Ethiopian Airlines had undertaken to airlift the passengers.
He reiterated that virtually all its passengers which trip had been disrupted as a result of the deadly virus had been communicated to while some other carriers which it has interline who declined to travel had been refunded.
ASKY Airlines is Ethiopian Airlines feeder airline with its hub in Lome, Togo. Since its operations about four years ago, the airline has been a dominant carrier in West and Central Africa region.
Zewoldi in a letter sent to the director-general of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Benedict Adeliyeka, dated July 28, 2014, said the airline has already started working closely with all authorities, institutions, health organizations and governments who are directly concerned.
He noted that through its local civil aviation, they are having series of meetings daily and following up with the instructions of the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the Ministry of Health to implement a number of measures both on ground and in all ASKY flights in order to prevent contamination.
He stated that the action of the Nigerian aviation regulatory body "is giving us great concern as we haven't received any notification or grace period to take operational measures".
"However, we do understand the great concern and exposure the Ebola virus is causing within the region. Permit me to seize this opportunity to let you know that we are highly concerned as about the security and wellbeing of everyone and are fully willing to cooperate with all authorities, governments, medical institutions and international organizations to prevent the wide spread".
Zewoldi listed some measures the carrier had taken as the stoppage of uplifting food and overnight in the affected destinations such as Sierra Leone, Liberia and Conakry; protection of ASKY Airlines staff to avoid direct contacts and eliminate the spread of the virus; deployment of medical teams to the airport to screen all transiting passengers; and the agreement of the local civil aviation in Lome, Togo to put in place a scanning machine at the airport just like in Conakry, Guinea.
He further disclosed that He however requested that Adeliyeka reconsiders his decision, adding that the carrier had since suspended its operations to Freetown and Monrovia until situations come under control.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian department of Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority in a certificate dated July 27, 2014, presented to the carrier stated that the aircraft ET ALN schedule operate Flight number 452 has been disinfected with Aerosol No. 333370 3333356 333363.

Only One Out of Six Enterprises Attract Bidders in Privatisation Bid

By Fasika Tadesse
Bidders swarm warehouse offer with highest bidden providing 10.1m Br
Only a warehouse, which was under a court injunction order, attracts bidders out of the six public enterprises offered for sale by the Privatisation & Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA), in its latest round tender.
The tender was announced on May 14, 2014, and remained open until 15 minutes before a financial opening was held on Tuesday, July 22, 2014. The tender involved seven companies, five of which have previously failed to attract any buyers. Bilito Siraro Farm and the warehouse of the Ethiopia Fibre Products Enterprise are up for sale for the first time.
During the financial opening, five bidders provide offers only for the warehouse of the Ethiopia Fibre Products Enterprise. No one made offers for Bahir Dar Textile S.C., Kombolcha Textile S.C., Agricultural Mechanisation Service Enterprise, Transport Construction Design S.C. and Bilito Siraro Farm.
The financial opening for the Ethiopian Mineral Development S.C is extended till July 6, 2014, following the request from the bidders, stating they could not finalise the preparation of the proposal, according to Berhane Gebremedihen, chairperson of the Evaluation Committee at PPESA.
The highest bid for the warehouse came from G Seven Trading & Industry Plc, who acquired the Ethiopia Fibre Products Enterprise in 2008 from the Agency. G Seven was established in May 2005 with an initial registered capital of 7.2 million Br. It has bought Meher Fibre Products Factory in July 2006 from PPESA. It produces jute sacks, twine and ropes from natural fibre.
G Seven come up with 10.1 million Br offer, followed by Ture Plc, who came up with 8.8 million Br. The third offer was 7.158 million Br from Ambalay Raiey Trading Plc. Dukem Textile Factory extended a very closer amount with Ambaly, by proposing 7.155 million Br. The least offer of 5.5 million Br came from Adabo Midroc Trading Plc.
The bidders, which are all local companies, came up with Certified Payment Order (CPO) or Bid Bond of 96,569 Br, along with technical proposals. Four of them proposed a payment of 30pc in advance and the remaining 70pc five days before the handover, while Ture Plc offered to pay 30pc in advance and 70pc in a year time.
The warehouse, located around Saris, occupies 650.3sqm. It lies on a plot of 2,550sqm, which also has office buildings sitting on 266sqm. In addition, it has two metal containers that cover 37sqm. The warehouse was not part of the transfer when G Seven acquired Ethiopian Fibre Products in 2008.
Hawassa Textiles was using the warehouse, when it was a public enterprise, and still use the warehouse even after it was sold to Dukem Textiles in 2011 for 37 million Br. Hawassa has utilised the warehouse for a total of 20 years. Dukem went to court in mid-May 2012, when it learned that the PPESA had floated a tender to sell the warehouse in April 2012.
Following the tender, the financial opening was meant to be held on May 21, 2012 and the warehouse got a single offer from the buyer of the Enterprise, G Seven. But the bid was not opened because of a law suit that Hawassa Textiles filed against the Agency.
"After the court reviewed the case, it ruled in the favour of the Agency earlier this year, so we offered the warehouse for sale again this year," said Wondafrashe Assefa, corporate communications head with the Agency to Fortune.
Both G Seven and Dukem Textiles participated in this round to acquire the warehouse.
The evaluation committee intends to conduct a technical evaluation in a few weeks time and the Agency's final decision on the warehouse will be announced in a month's time after the Board of the Agency gives approval, according to Wondafrash.
According to Wondafrash, the agency will float another tender for those enterprises that do not mange to attract any bidder.
Previously, the PPESA used to transfer enterprises through three different approaches. One was through lease, where a private sector company would have full use of the enterprise for a limited time by paying rent. Bahir Dar Textile Factory, one of the enterprises slated to be fully transferred to private investors this year, but with no bids, was previously leased to a Chinese company. This type of transfer, however, was abandoned two years ago, as the Agency deemed that private companies were not taking proper care of enterprises that they leased.
The Agency has so far privatised 370 units and able to collect 14 billion Br from the privatised enterprises since its establishment back in 1994. During the last fiscal year, the Agency has managed to privatise only five enterprises out of the planned 20 enterprises.
The Agency attempted to discover, through a questionnaire, why so few offers were being made, and the responses pointed towards the high prices, a source in the Agency said. It did not respond to that concern, however, claiming that it based its indicative prices on the market and did not think they were too high.
But during this year's six month performance report,Beyene Gebremeskel, director general of PPESA, cited poor promotion and a lack of interest from investors to engage in the manufacturing sector as reasons and he noticed the Agency will try to reach to the masses through more aggressive promotions.
Published on [ Vol 15 ,No 743]

ማሪያም ኢብራሒም አሜሪካ ገባች/Meriam Ibrahim, Sudanese Woman Sentenced to Die, Arrives in U.S.

Meriam Ibrahim, Sudanese Woman Sentenced to Die, Arrives in U.S.

Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese mom who was sentenced to death for refusing to renounce her Christian faith, arrived Thursday in the U.S. after an international campaign to save her. Ibrahim, 27, landed at the Manchester, New Hampshire, airport shortly after 8 p.m. ET, with her husband, Daniel Wani, and their children, Martin and Maya, on a flight from Rome, where they'd taken refuge for the past week after a month of diplomatic negotiations won her release.

Ibrahim doesn't speak English, but with tears streaming down his face, Wani, a U.S. citizen from southern Sudan, said how happy he was that he and his family were on safe ground. Members of Sudanese Evangelical Covenant Church in Manchester, which has one of the largest expatriate south Sudanese communities in the U.S., were also on hand after having spent more than a month preparing for their arrival.

The family transferred planes in Philadelphia, where Mayor Michael Nutter gave her a small reproduction of the Liberty Bell, saying, "Meriam Ibrahim is a world freedom fighter," according to The Associated Press. While in Rome, Ibrahim — who gave birth to Maya while she was in a Sudanese prison — was blessed by Pope Francis, who praised her "courageous witness to faith."

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የኡጋንዳ አረቄ መርዝ ነው። ማስከር ብቻ ሳይሆን አይን አጥፎቶ ይገላል

የኡጋንዳ አረቄ መርዝ ነው። ማስከር ብቻ ሳይሆን አይን አጥፎቶ ይገላል

Ethiopian Airlines addresses Ebola Outbreak in Some Parts of West Africa

PRESS RELEASE

The safety and well-being of its customers and staff always come first for Ethiopian. Though Ebola has not been declared an epidemic and no travel ban has been issued, Ethiopian has taken the lead in taking extraordinary precautions in connection with the outbreak of the disease in some parts of West Africa.
It should be known that Ebola is transmitted through the contact of body fluids of an ailing person. During the incubation phase (1-21 days) the person infected with the virus is well enough to travel and cannot transmit the disease. When the symptoms do come after the incubation phase, the infected person is too weak to travel and becomes bedridden.
Even though the chances of being infected on-board are close to nil, Ethiopian has already implemented the following extraordinary measures to ensure to the maximum extent the safety of its customers and staff:

• Frontline staff of Ethiopian both on-ground at airports and on-board have and are being continuously given information on the disease, its mode of transmission and how keep safe;
• More specifically, staff have been sensitized and trained so that they avoid coming into contact with bodily fluids while doing their work;
• Stringent and specific surveillance is being carried out regarding all flights from West Africa at Addis Ababa airport.
• Ethiopian is continuously monitoring updates from the World Health Organization and other international and national bodies on the disease, its spread and recommended safety measures.

Ethiopian will continue to closely monitor the situation and implement recommended measures with a view to ensure at all times the safety of its customers and staff.
About Ethiopian
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its operations in the past close to seven decades, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.
Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 82 international destinations across five continents.
Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.
Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers: Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.
For more information about this press release, please contact:
Manager PR & Publications
Ethiopian Airlines
Tel: (251-1) 517-84-07
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የ3 ሚሊዮኑ ጫማ Top 10 Most Expensive Shoes in the World

Top 10 Most Expensive Shoes in the World
MEN	WOMEN
Air Jordan Silver Shoe Price: $60,000 Diamond studded sneakers Price: $50,000 Men’s dress shoes from the house of Testoni Price - $38,000 Nike Air Zoom Kobe 1 Price: $30,000 Gold running shoes Price: $24,000 Louis Vuitton men shoe Price: $10,000	10. Stuart Weitzman Diamond Dream Stilettos Price tag: $ 500,000 9. Original Ruby Slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” Price tag: $612000 8. Stuart Weitzman’s “Retro Rose” Pumps Price tag: $1,000,000 7. Stuart Weitzman’s “Marilyn Monroe” Shoes 6. Stuart Weitzman “Platinum Guild” Stilettos Price tag: $1,090,000 5. Stuart Weitzman’s “Ruby Slippers” Price tag: $1,600,000 4. Stuart Weitzman’s “Tanzanite Heels” Price tag: $2,000,000 . Stuart Weitzman’s “Cinderella Slippers” Price tag: $2,000,000 . Stuart Weitzman’s “Rita Hayworth” Heels Price tag: $3,000,000 1. House of Harry Winston’s “Ruby Slippers” Price tag: $3,000,000The fascination of footwear designers with “The Wizard of Oz” continues over decades. Celebrated jewellery designer Harry Winston’s son Robert in 1989 wished to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the classic movie in his own ostentatious fashion with a recreation of the hallowed “Ruby Slippers”. A painstaking two months was spent in carefully crafting a pair of shoes that out of four thousand and six hundred rubies and fifty carats of diamonds. After about sixty days, the opulent heels, glittering in all their glory, were unveiled at the House of Harry Winston, accompanied by a price tag of no less than three million- the most expensive shoes in the world!

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Ahmed Legas Released two new Amharic videos

Enjoy the Ahmed Lagas two new Amharic Video releases