BoT clarifies fall of country’s import capacity

The Bank of Tanzania headquarters in Dar es Salaam. PHOTO|FILE 

In Summary

The IMF report shows that the import power decreased to 3.6 months in June this year, down from 4.1 months in November last year.
Going by BoT Monthly Economic Review, Tanzania’s forex reserves had gone down from $4 billion (about Sh8.6 trillion) to $3.5 billion (about Sh7.5 trillion).


Dar es Salaam. The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has faulted a report by International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the country’s import capacity has dwindled from 4 to 3.6 months due to falling foreign exchange reserves.


The IMF report shows that the import power decreased to 3.6 months in June this year, down from 4.1 months in November last year.


Going by BoT Monthly Economic Review, Tanzania’s forex reserves had gone down from $4 billion (about Sh8.6 trillion) to $3.5 billion (about Sh7.5 trillion).


But the BoT governor , Prof Benno Ndulu, criticised IMF report on the grounds that its measurement unit did not reflect the country’s import capacity.


“IMF measures our purchasing power using net international reserves as opposed to gross international reserve that is used for measuring imports,” noted Prof Ndulu in an interview yesterday.


“The reserve, which we currently have, is enough for the country to import goods and commodities for four months and two weeks,” he elaborated.


This clarification by Prof Ndulu follows a worry expressed by the ACT-Wazalendo party leader Zitto Kabwe about the IMF’s report on the matter in question. Mr Zitto noted that the situation was a manifest of worrying trend as with the fall in oil prices and high exports during the period [June], forex reserves were not supposed to shrink.


“Something wrong might be going on in our foreign reserve. I guess the government is either withdrawing some money from the reserve to protect our shilling or the money has been directed into something else,” he noted.


A University of Dar es Salaam economics lecturer, Dr Jehovaness Aikaeli, said the fall in reserves had adverse impact to the country in terms of importation. But he faulted Mr Kabwe on the argument that foreign reserves were supposed to rise due to fall in oil price and high exports during the period.


“It’s not true that the level of exports during the period would determine the level of foreign reserve,” Mr Aikaeli said, adding that its impact would be seen in future and not by the time exportation was made

Queen Elizabeth celebrating 90th birthday at Windsor Castle

WINDSOR, England -- Fate unexpectedly made her queen. Duty and endurance have made her an institution and an icon.

Queen Elizabeth II turned 90 on Thursday as Britain's oldest and longest-reigning monarch, drawing crowds of well-wishers and floods of tributes to the stamina and service of a woman who can claim to have given her name to the age.

Britain is living, Prime Minister David Cameron said, in the "modern Elizabethan Era."


IN PICTURES


Happy 90! Queen Elizabeth through the years



Photos

 

Queen Elizabeth II meets well-wishers during a walkabout to celebrate her 90th birthday in Windsor, England, Thursday April 21, 2016. (AP / Alastair Grant)

 

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip ride in an open-topped Range Rover close to Windsor Castle, as she celebrates her 90th birthday, in Berkshire, England, Thursday, April 21, 2016. (John Stillwell / Pool Photo via AP)

The queen usually spends her birthday privately, with most of the pomp and ceremony reserved for an official birthday that's marked in June. But Thursday's milestone brought an outpouring of public goodwill.

Thousands of fans greeted the queen on a tightly choreographed walkabout near her Windsor Castle home, while elsewhere her government and subjects held gun salutes, fireworks and speeches in Parliament, and televised retrospectives offered scenes from a royal life that has stretched from the Roaring '20s to the Internet age.

"Her Majesty has been steadfast -- a rock of strength for our nation, for our Commonwealth and on many occasions for the whole world," Cameron said as he led tributes in the House of Commons.

He praised the monarch's "unshakable sense of duty," pointing out that she had provided counsel to 12 British prime ministers and met a quarter of all the U.S. presidents since Independence.

Her record is all the more remarkable because she was not born to be queen. When Princess Elizabeth was born on April 21, 1926, her father was a younger son of king and not expected to reign. His older brother took the throne in 1936 as Edward VIII -- but abdicated the same year to marry his divorced American lover, Wallis Simpson.

Elizabeth's father became King George VI and, at 10, she became heir to the throne. When she was 21 -- almost five years before she became queen -- she promised the people of Britain and the Commonwealth that "my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service."

She kept the promise, and it has struck a chord with people in Britain and around the world.

"She's such an icon and a real role model for the children of today. And I think everybody should respect her for all the years that she's given for her country," said Donna Werner, an American tourist from New Fairfield, Connecticut, who came to greet the queen in Windsor, just west of London.

Thousands lined the streets of the town carrying cakes, cards, balloons and Union Jack flags. The band of the Coldstream Guards played "Happy Birthday" and royal fans snapped cellphone photos as the queen, clad in pale green, greeted local dignitaries, townspeople and tourists.

By her side was 94-year-old Prince Philip, her husband of 69 years, with whom she has four children, eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren

Elsewhere, artillery companies fired gun salutes from sites including Hyde Park and the Tower of London, the bells of Westminster Abbey rang out in celebration and the Parliament building was being lit in the red, white and blue of the Union Jack.

There was even a tea party aboard Royal Navy flagship HMS Ocean, whose crew stood in formation to spell out "EIIR 90" -- Elizabeth II Regina, her official monogram -- on the flight deck.

In the evening, the queen was lighting the first in a chain of 1,000 commemorative beacons to blaze across Britain and around the world, before attending a private family party at the castle.

The BBC is showing a documentary that includes rare home-movie footage of the queen as a child in the 1930s and a young mother in the 1950s. In the documentary, Prince Charles watches a clip of the moment a man fired blanks while the queen was riding by in 1981, startling her horse. The prince notes that his mother is "made of strong stuff."

The 67-year-old heir to the throne also recorded a tribute to his mother for broadcast on the BBC World Service. He recited a passage from William Shakespeare's "Henry VIII" about the birth of the monarch's predecessor, Queen Elizabeth I:

"She shall be, to the happiness of England,

An aged princess; many days shall see her,

And yet no day without a deed to crown it."

The passage was apt. The first Elizabeth reigned for decades and brought stability to a fractured nation. Elizabeth II has also become a reassuring presence at home and an emblem of Britain abroad-- it's no surprise she appeared at the opening of the 2012 London Olympics alongside another icon, James Bond.

She has weathered tough years when the divorces of three of her children tarnished the monarchy. And she came back from the death of Princess Diana in a 1997 car crash, when the royal family was criticized as being out of touch with the public's grief.

Her popular grandchildren have helped bolster the family fortunes. Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011 was a 21st-century mashup of traditional monarchy and modern celebrity that brought widespread popular celebration. Their two children -- Prince George, who is almost 3, and 11-month-old Princess Charlotte -- are likely the world's most famous toddlers.

The world's media loves bachelor ex-soldier Prince Harry, who, like his brother, has thrown his weight behind numerous charities.

The queen will receive more birthday greetings on Friday, when she hosts U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama for lunch at Windsor Castle.

And there is more (much more) to come.

For four nights next month there will be a musical pageant in Windsor, involving 900 horses and some 1,500 actors, dancers and musicians, celebrating the queen's nine decades.

On June 11 comes the monarch's "official" birthday, traditionally marked by the Trooping the Color military parade. This year there will also be a service at St. Paul's Cathedral and a huge street party in the Mall outside Buckingham Palace for members of charities the queen supports. The government has even given pubs permission to stay open later on June 10 and 11, until 1 a.m. instead of the standard 11 p.m.

Not everyone in Britain has succumbed to royal-mania. The anti-monarchist group Republic published a resolutely undeferential message headed "Happy Birthday Mrs. Windsor."

"A long life is no reason for a long reign," it said.

JetBlue Will Pay for Your College

by Susan Dutca

JetBlue is helping higher education dreams take flight by offering to pay their student-employees' entire tuition bill. College tuition reimbursement is a recent trend by employer-sponsored programs, but this company is allowing their employees to soar through college by paying it all up front.
Some other employer-sponsored college degree programs - like the Starbucks College Achievement Plan - offer to reimburse students once they've earned their degree, help cover a portion of courses costs, or other discounts. The JetBlue Scholars program is offering to pay for employees' associate's degrees. Students wishing to earn a bachelor's degree and who have earned at least 15 college credits will have to pay $3,500 for capstone courses on their own or through scholarships. JetBlue is partnering with Thomas Edison State University - an online, public university in New Jersey to offer the aforementioned degrees. Since its debut in August, 400 JetBlue employees have applied for the program and each student receives in-person coaching and mentorship from one of six JetBlue’s success coaches. Roughly 1,000 of its 18,000 employees are anticipated to participate in the program annually.
Students are able to use their job skills, knowledge, and experience and apply them as learning credits. Though it may not feel like the typical college experience, it is particularly convenient for adults, employees, and nontraditional students. To help those who have been out of school for a while, the coaches "apply to Thomas Edison Sate on behalf of the students" and monitor their credit transfers, provide the different degree options, and create a course schedule for the students. The online program runs through three platforms, including StraighterLine, Sophia Learning, and Study.com.
Is it too good to be true? One professor thinks this initiative is just a way to make the headlines and isn't so much about what's in the student's best interest but rather, it "is being set up on terms favorable for the company." Nonetheless, it's likely that more companies will follow in Starbucks' and JetBlue's footsteps. Other large corporations such as Pizza Hut, Anthem Insurance, and Fiat Chrysler have also jumped on this initiative.
You can pay for any college costs with scholarships. Whether you owe $3,500 or $35,000 there are easy to large dollar scholarships to help reduce your overall cost of attending college. Take JetBlue's advice (and ours) and help foot the rest of your bill with scholarships.
And remember, there’s no need to rely on expensive student loan options to pay for your college education. For more information on finding free scholarship money for college, conduct aScholarships.com free college scholarship search today, then apply and win! It’s that easy!

African American Scholarships

African American scholarships are abundant, as are African American grants. A college education isn't confined to a textbook or how much extra credit you can receive for completing side projects or doing research for a professor. A post-secondary education allows students to step outside their comfort zone and to develop new relationships. Much can be learned from someone who is not of your background and culture. This experience can be as valuable as the academic knowledge, career preparation, and training you had in mind when you enrolled. This is one of the reasons why colleges offer financial aidpackages designed to fill campuses with students of different cultures, economic backgrounds and life experiences. Like other minority groups, African American students can benefit from this search for diversity. Many scholarships are available for minority students, and there are particular ones for African American students seeking a postsecondary degree.

Why Rich Men Marry Kikuyu Women Only-Shocking

After Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore married a Kikuyu lady, several women from other tribes took to social media to pour their frustrations, while others called Wambui Kamiru a “gold digger”. But there are underlying factors that make Kikuyu women attractive to rich men.

They don’t play hard to get when they are sure a man is rich.
Kikuyu women play smart, unlike Kisii, Kamba, Luhya,Luo and Kalenjin women. Instead of playing hard to get, they play smart. Once they spot the opportunity, they make sure they behave-even faking some behaviours that attract rich men-so as to bait the man.These women know what they want, they can go miles pleasing the man until they get what they want.
They know where the rich guys spend their time
Unlike other women who spend their time at Muthurwa market, gikomba,taj mall,Rongai and Kawangware chewing sugarcane..Kikuyu women spend time at Sankara, Villa Rosa Kempinksi and posh areas where the rich guys are found mostly.
While other tribes like Luhya, Kisii, Luo, Maasai and Kamba love Nigerian movies, Kikuyu women know what kind of movies rich men watch. If the man invites such a lady to his house, she will choose and carry the best movies for him, thus attracting the attention of the guy.
Kikuyu women always attend events where CEOs and top leadership are in attendance.They mingle and exchange contacts, when other tribes are attending Gor Mahia match at City Stadium.
Kikuyu men are beautiful and modern
What makes Kikuyu women more attractive to wealth men is their ability to equip themselves with latest fashion trends in the world. They know clothes that are attractive to rich men, and actually spend money buying the same.
You will also agree with me that no tribe in Kenya beats the Kikuyu in terms of beauty. And am sure you are aware beauty acts as a magnet between a thirst man and a willing woman. Even an ugly Kikuyu woman will try hard, even bleach, to ensure she is attractive to a rich guy.
They know how to treat women-before marriage
Before she is married, you won’t know the true character of a Kikuyu woman. She will make sure you know all her strengths, but also make sure she hides her insecurities. The man will end up thinking he is marrying an angel…
She rarely tells her competitors she is dating a rich man.
One stupid things women from other tribes do is revealing to other women the kind of a man she is dating. Kikuyu women don’t make such mistake because she knows the man can leave her for her friends. Who knew Wambui Kamiru was dating bob Collymore?

Trump and Clinton win New York primaries

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, front-runners in the race to be the US presidential candidates for the Republican and Democratic parties, have secured comfortable victories in the crucial New York primary election.

Mrs Clinton, after beating Bernie Sanders, said her victory for the Democratic nomination was in sight.

Mr Trump looked set to take nearly all the 95 Republican delegates at stake.

He said his nearest rival Ted Cruz was “just about mathematically eliminated”.

With more than 98% of the results in, Mr Trump is leading with just over 60% of the vote while Mrs Clinton has just under 58%.

US networks projected that Mr Trump had won in his home state barely seconds after the polls closed at 21:00 EDT (01:00 GMT).

Speaking at Trump Tower in Manhattan, he said: “I have to say to the people that know me the best – the people of New York – when they give us this kind of a vote it’s just incredible.”

He said he was going to get more delegates than “anyone projected even in their wildest imaginations”.

Third-placed John Kasich picked up three delegates in New York.

Donald Trump needed a commanding victory, and he got it. Although the results in the state’s 29 congressional districts – which allocate three convention delegates apiece – have yet to be finalised, it appears likely that Mr Trump will claim the lion’s share of the 95 delegates at play.

Perhaps even more importantly, however, is the new, restrained Donald Trump on the campaign trail in the past few days. Gone are the incendiary tweets bashing his opponents (and their spouses). Instead on Tuesday night the candidate gave a short speech hammering home his economic message, emphasising his delegate and vote lead, and laying the groundwork to argue that he should be the party’s nominee even if he doesn’t win the 1,237 delegates necessary to claim the nomination outright.

Mr Trump recently brought in several experienced political hands to manage his campaign after a turbulent few weeks. If this new demeanour is part of the change they have inspired, Mr Trump could prove to be a more formidable opponent not just at the ballot box in upcoming primaries but in the contest to win over those in the party still deeply suspicious of his candidacy.

“Tomorrow, we go back to work,” Mr Trump said during his victory speech. It was a very un-Trump-like line – and something that should have his opponents very concerned.

Mrs Clinton told supporters her campaign for the nomination was “in the home stretch and victory is in sight”.

“New Yorkers, you’ve always had my back and I’ve always tried to have yours,” she said. “Today together we did it again and I am deeply, deeply grateful.”

It had been a fierce campaign in the state, with Mrs Clinton – a former New York senator – and Mr Sanders – born in Brooklyn – using their local ties to attract voters.

The Democratic campaign has turned increasingly negative, with Mrs Clinton and Mr Sanders trading barbs about their qualifications.

But following the latest result in the race for the Democratic nomination, Mrs Clinton said there was “much more that unites us than divides us”.

Kenyan Tribes Whose Women are Good in Bed

There is nothing disappointing to a man when you realize that your woman is boring in bed. Though there are several tribes in Kenya whose women are horrible in bed, there are some 5 tribes that set the record in bed.

 Luo Women
Luo women have cut a niche for themselves. These women are the undisputed queens of bedroom matters. Once you have a Luo woman, even for 30 minutes, you will never desire to have another tribe.
But one disappointing thing about the tribe is that even if you satisfy her today, she will steal cheat tomorrow.
Luo women scream a lot during the act-even the neighbor will notice something is happening.
Kamba Women
We all agree that more than 50 % of Kamba women cheat even in marriage. The main reason why they cheat is that their men are weak in bed.
A Kamba lady has so much fat in her body (tell me if you have ever met a skinny Kamba lady unless she is emaciated) which makes demand a man day in day out. It is rare for a Kamba lady to stay for a week without asking for it.If the husband is not around, she will get it elsewhere.
Kamba women know all the styles and they will always make the man happy, even make him empty his pocket even without being asked for money.
Luhya women
Just like Luo women, Luhya women are very good in bed. You can experiment if you wish.
Taita Women
Taita women are not only beautiful, but also extremely sweet. If she gives you once, you will come begging again