Some gift shop owners in Koforidua have accused
some pastors for preaching against the celebration of the Saint Valentine’s Day,
regretting that this has resulted in low sales of gift items.
Speaking to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in an interview on Friday, Ms Edith
Adjei, a trader, said for some time now, some pastors in the country have been
preaching against the celebration of Valentine’s Day which had reduced the
interest of most people in the celebration, as compare to previous
years.
She said, valentine period used to be her reaping time but for
some time now, she had been experiencing low sales with this year’s being the
worse of all.
Ms Adjei also attributed the low sales this year to the
economic hardships Ghanaians are going through with the falling of the
cedi.
Ms Adjei said, this year she filled the shop with parcels of gift
with the anticipation of selling them, but as at the time of the visit, only few
items had been sold.
Another shop owner who only gave her name as Afua,
said she went for a loan from the bank to fill her shop with the anticipation
that this year’s celebration would be a bumper harvest for her, but her
expectation had been dashed.
Mr Foster Agbobada, of Unlimited Powers of
God stationery shop said due to the depreciation of the cedi, prizes of items
had gone up therefore people are not patronizing, as compare to last
year.
He expressed the hope that since some people make their shopping in
the evenings, he was expecting to make some sales before the close of the
day.
Some people GNA spoke to even had forgotten the today was a
Valentine day.
According Mr Jonathan Ofosu, a businessman, the day was
not important to him as compared to Christmas, New Year, and Easter.
Some
of the gifts at the shops such as hampers ranged from GHC45.00 to GHC98.00,
boxes of chocolate also ranged ranged from GHC15.00, GHC17.00 and GHC 25.0
ACKACHIE FEDELIX ACKON
Saturday, 15 February 2014
Friday, 11 October 2013
New Music Video: ‘Boys Abr3′ (Alkayida) By Guru Featuring Nkansah Lil Win
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The video features popular comic actor Kwadjo Nkansah aka Lil Win who plays the main character. The actor gives a comedy touch to the video mixed with several moves of the the controversial Alkayida dance.
They do it nice in a style that should extend the song’s life span on rural-urban platforms.
The video was directed by Xbills Ebenezer of XPress Philms.
It is the kind of video that best explains a song’s theme. Plus, there couldn't have been any better character to play sidekick than Lil Win – a huge local comedy poster boy
Man Cuts Off His Penis And Throws To Dogs
A 30-year-old man, Ejike is lying in critical condition in a private hospital in Nkpor near Onitsha after cutting off his manhood with a knife.
According to the information, Ejike, from Nkwelle Uke community in Idemili South Local Government Area of the state, used to be a luxurious bus conductor in Onitsha until he returned to the village recently.
He visited the village shrine and invoked the spirit of the deity before taking away kola nuts, offered to the gods, and starting from that moment his behavior had become strange.
It was learnt that last weekend, Ejike took a knife, cut off his penis and scrotum, and a strange dog suddenly appeared and ran away with his genitals.
Family members were said to have rushed him to the hospital immediately.
Yesterday Ejike was visited by journalists in the hospital, his private parts were completely bandaged while a catheter was fixed from the region where he passes urine.
The man refused to talk to the reporter and was mad when his sister arrived with his aged father.
He blurted out, saying he took the action in protest so that the family would know that he was not joking when he said he would cut his penis.
A lot of visitors in the hospital also said he had threatened to cut off his manhood in the past because his penis had disappointed him several times.
But the elder sister is sure that he acted under the influence of evil forces.
The Chief Medical Director, Crown Hospital Nkpor, Dr. Eddy Emegoaku confirmed that Ejike’s case was critical but declined further comments on his medical condition.
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
African China - The Man Who Has 168 Kids From Different Women
Ghanaian-Born Actress Stars In Brad Pitt’s ‘World War Z
Amankwah stars alongside Brad Pitt, who plays lead, David Morse, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Ludi Boeken and Matthew Fox.A known stage drama name, her credits include 24 Hour Plays, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Six Characters In Search of an Author, and Sacrifice. She also played the lead role of Annabella ‘Tis Pity She’s A Whore for the Globe Theatre. She has recently been seen in Tamba Tamba for Tiata Fahodzi, and is a member of the Imaginarium In-House Repertory Company. Amankwah is currently playing Shenzi in the West End production of The Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. Released in June this year, World War Z is a British-American movie directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Max Brooks. It is the story of a former United Nations investigator who must travel the world to find a way to stop a zombie-like pandemic. Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment secured the film rights in 2007 and Forster was approached to direct. In 2009, Carnahan was hired to rewrite the script to the film. Filming began in July 2011 in Malta on an estimated $125 million budget, before moving to Glasgow in August 2011 and Budapest in October 2011. Originally set for a December 2012 release, the production suffered some setbacks. In June 2012, the film’s release date was pushed back and the crew returned to its Budapest location for seven weeks of additional shooting. Photo Credit: Amankwah’s image via her UK-based agency Sainou. |
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Saturday, 23 March 2013
MATERIAL HANDLING SYSTEM
Material handling systems provide
transportation and storage of materials, components and assemblies. Material
handling activities start with unloading of goods from materials from delivery
transportation, the goods then pass into storage, onto machining, assembly,
testing, storage, packaging and finally loading into transport. Each of these
stages of the production
Process
requires a slightly different design of handling equipment.
Therefore, material handling is simply
defined as the movement, storage, control and protection of materials, goods
and products throughout the process of manufacturing, distribution, consumption
and disposal. The material handling industry manufactures and distributes the
equipment and services required to implement material handling systems.
Material handling systems have been mainly
categorised as follows
v Bulk material
handling systems
v Engineered
material handling systems
v Industrial truck
material handling systems
v Storage material
handling systems
Two material
handling systems belonging to each category are as follows
Bulk
material handling system
v Conveyor belts
v Bucket elevators
Industrial
truck material handling system
v Forklift
v Pallet jack
Storage material handling system
v Shelves
v Pallet
racks
Engineered material handling systems
v Automated
guided vehicles
v Automated
storage and retrieval system
Looking at their names application and
uses, parts, operation and diagrams and pictures.
Bulk material handling systems
v Conveyor
belts
The conveyor belt is mainly used in the
manufacturing, food processing and heavy industries for transporting industrial
and agricultural materials, such as grain, coal, ores, etc. In large quantities
of material, or in packaged form.
It is also used in conveyor transport such
as moving sidewalks or escalators,
as well as on many manufacturing assembly lines
The
conveyor belt is made up of the following parts.
·
Two pulleys
·
Conveyor
belt
The conveyor belt
operates by powering one or both of the pulley. It consists of two or more pulleys
with a continuous loop of material i.e. the conveyor belt that rotates about
them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material
on the belt forward s. By doing this, the belt and the material on the belt
moves. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley
is called the idler. Material flowing over the belt may be weighed in transit
using a beltweigher.
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Figure 1:
Belt conveyor Figure
2: Two pulleys been
Driven by a belt
v Bucket
elevators
They are used for hauling flowable bulk materials
vertically. It is mainly used for carrying difficult materials at slow speed.
Bucket elevators can elevate a variety of bulk materials from light to heavy
and from fine to large lumps in the various industries and manufacturing firms.
Bucket
elevators consist of the following parts:
·
Bucket
·
Belt
·
Pulley
·
Electric motor
·
Discharge chute
OPERATION
Bucket
elevators are of two types, the vertical depends entirely on the action of
centrifugal force to get the material into the discharge chute and runs at
speeds relatively high. Inclined elevators with buckets spaced apart or set
close together have discharge chute set partly under the head pulley. Since
they don't depend entirely on the centrifugal force to put the material into
the chute, the speed may be relatively lower. They pick up their load from a
boot, a pit, or a pile of material at the foot pulley. The Bucket is set close
to the belt with little or no clearance between them. It has top and down
pulleys. The top pulley is driven by an electric motor .A diverter at the top
of the elevator allows the grain to be sent to the chosen bin.

Figure 3: Bucket elevator
Industrial truck material
handling system
v Forklift
Forklift is a powered industrial truck used to lift
and transport materials
PARTS
·
Truck frame
·
Counterweight
·
Cab
·
Overhead Guard
·
Power source
·
Tilt cylinders
·
Mast
·
Carriage
·
Attachments
·
Tires
·
Load back rest
OPERATIONS
Forklifts
derive their power from two intertwining mechanisms: a pair of hydraulic
cylinders and a pair of roller chain pulleys. The lift handle is wired to an electrical
air pump at the base of the machine. When pressed, the handle activates the air
pump, which draws in outside air through a filter and forces it into a tube
leading to both hydraulic cylinders.
Air
enters the bottom of the cylinder through a special "one way" valve
that allows gases to enter without leaking back out. This pressure, applied across the area of the
piston head, results in a net upward force. This upward push causes the piston
to move up, which increases the volume of the gas and decreases the pressure.
This automatically leads to a physical equilibrium where, at a given lift
height, the force from the gas equals the downward force of the forklift's
load.
To move the
load higher, the operator pushes the handle forward. This signals the machine
to pump more air into the cylinders. To lower the load, the operator pulls the
handle back, which triggers a special valve to gently release gas from the
cylinder. Forklift can be controlled by turning the steering wheel, the wheels
on the rear axle turn back and forth.
The lifting
controls consist of two levers one for lifting the fork up and down as well as
one for tilting the load back and forth. The tilting functionality, however, is
slightly different. At the base of the masts are two pairs of additional
hydraulic cylinders that attach to the base of the vehicle. When the
"tilt" handle is moved forward, air is pumped into the chamber. This
increase in pressure pushes the piston head and causes the masts to "lean
away" from the vehicle's body.

Figure 4: Forklift
v Pallet
jack
Pallet jack is a tool used to lift and move pallet
PARTS
·
Wheels
·
Fork
·
Hydraulic jack
OPERATIONS
The front wheels are mounted inside the end of the
forks, and as the hydraulic jack is raised, the forks are separated vertically
from the front wheels, forcing the load upward until it clears the floor.

Figure 5 manual pallet
jack
STORAGE
MATERIAL HANDLING SYSTEM
v Shelves
APPLICATION
·
Home
·
Business
·
Stores
USES
Shelves are mainly used
to hold items of value that are being displayed, stored, or offered for sale.
DESCRIPTION
Shelves are normally made of strong
materials such as wood, bamboo or steel, though shelves can be made of glass or
plastic for light-weight objects. It is moulded either in
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rectangular form or in a squared form and attached to a wall or vertical surface
Figure 6: Shelve
v Pallet
racks
APPLICATIONS
·
Home
·
Business
·
Stores
USES
Pallet racks are material
handling storage aid system designed to store materials on pallets.
PARTS
·
Load beams
·
Upright frames
·
Diagonal brace and horizontal brace
·
Pallet support
·
Shims
·
Wire decking
·
Footplate
·
Row spacers
·
Guard rails
·
Wall ties
·
Column protectors
OPERATION
The metal skate wheels
contain an anti-backup device which keeps the pallets moving towards the
picking position. Additional wheels are
been added for more pallet support and
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the centre lines of the skate wheels are increased for heavier loads.
Figure7:
Pallet rack
v Automated
guided vehicle (AGV)
Automated guided vehicles are mobile robot that
follows markers or wires in the floor, or uses vision or lasers.
They
are mostly used in industrial applications to move materials around a
manufacturing facility or a warehouse. They can tow objects behind them in
trailers to which they can autonomously attach. The trailers can be used to
move raw materials or finished product. The AGV can also store objects on a bed
and can also be used for transporting materials such as food and medicine. AGVs
are commonly used to transport raw materials such as paper, steel, rubber,
metal, and plastic. This includes transporting materials from receiving to the
warehouse, and delivering materials directly to production lines.
Parts of
the automated guided vehicle includes
• Lasers
• Guide
tape
• Laser
target navigator
• Gyroscopic
navigator
• Steering
control
• Wire
• Robot
The AGV
operates by using a wired sensor which is placed on the bottom of the robot and
is placed facing the ground. A slot is cut in the ground and a wire is placed
approximately 1 inch below the ground. The sensor detects the radio frequency
being transmitted from the wire and follows it. It makes use of tape for the
guide path. It is fitted with the appropriate guide sensor to follow the path
of the tape. The AGV carries a laser transmitter and receiver on a rotating
turret. The laser is sent off then received again the angle and distance are
automatically calculated and stored into the AGV’s memory. The AGV has
reflector map stored in memory and can correct its position based on errors
between the expected and received measurements. It can then navigate to a
destination target using the constantly updating position. It makes use of modulated laser light which
gives greater range and accuracy over pulsed laser systems. Transponders are
embedded in the floor of the work place. The AGV uses these transponders to
verify that the vehicle is on course. It has a gyroscope which enable it to be
able to detect the slightest change in the direction of the vehicle and
corrects it in order to keep the AGV on its path.
The AGV uses differential speed control. In this
method there are two sets of wheels being driven. Each set is connected to a
common drive train. These drive trains are driven at different speeds in order
to turn or the same speed to allow the AGV to go forwards and or backwards.
Steered wheel control enables the governor to tow.
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Figure: 8 Automated guided vehicle Figure: 9 A unit load vehicle for
Steel plates
v Automated
storage and retrieval system (ASRS or AS/RS)
Automated storage and retrieval system is mainly
made up of a variety of computer-controlled methods for automatically placing
and retrieving loads from specific storage locations.
Automated storage and retrieval system are mainly used in applications
where there is high volume of loads being moved into and out of storage. It can
be used with standard loads.
It parts
includes.
• Trays
• Chains
or driver
• Storage
machine
• Retrieval
machines
• Shuttles
• Storage
cabinet
OPERATION
Items are
placed on trays or hang from bars, which are attached to chains or drives in
order to move up and down. The shuttles that make up the system travel between
fixed storage shelves to deposit or retrieve a requested load. The shuttle move
along the ground to telescope up to the necessary height to reach the load, and
can store or retrieve loads that are several positions deep in the shelving.
Stations are provided to precisely position inbound and outbound loads for
pickup and delivery by the crane.
When a tray
is requested, either by entering a tray number in the built in control pad or
by requesting a part through software, an extractor travels vertically between
the two columns of trays and pulls the requested tray from its location and
brings it to an access point. The operator then picks or replenishes stock and
the tray is returned to its home upon confirmation.

Figure :10 Automated storage and retrieval system
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