Two-hundred apprentices started the first day of studies in the Oil & Gas Institute in Mazar- Sharif on Sunday.

Last Sunday, 850 further apprentices or shagerdis were officially enrolled in five institutes in Kabul. The 1,050 students around the country were accepted to the vocational institutes after successfully passing the entry exams on March 19th 2015. More than 950 apprentices in Kabul and over 300 in Mazar-e Sharif from Afghanistan’s Ostad-Shagerdi or traditional apprenticeship system took the entry test for admissions to five pilot institutes.

The TVET programme financed by the German Government promotes technical and vocational education and training in Afghanistan aimed at establishing a sustainable formal vocational school system. The goal is to help as many young Afghans as possible acquire skills that will improve their chances of finding a job and earning a regular and decent income for their families.

Germany’s supports in the adoption of apprentices in the TVET institutes includes renovation work for workshops and classrooms, furniture, tools, equipment, apprenticeship training packages (consisting of a school bag, notebooks, pens, pencils, rulers etc.), and teaching and learning materials.

Lone Survivor (2013) Director: Peter Berg Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Eric Bana Based on the 2007 book of the same name by Marcus Luttrell, it is the story of failed U.S. Navy SEAL counter-insurgent mission Operation Red Wings in the mountains of Kunar, who go there to neutralize Ahmad Shahd, a dangerous Al Qaeda leader. All of them except Luttrell are killed. Luttrell survives because of a generous Afghan family. The film received two Academy Award nominations.

Buzkashi Boys (2012) Director: Sam French Starring: Fawad Mohammadi, Jawanmard Paiz, Wali Talash A feature film that was nominated for Academy Awards in 2012 tells the story of the fascinating but dangerous game of Buzkashi in Afganisthan. Filmed entirely on location in Kabul by a group of Afghan and international filmmakers, the film revolves around two best friends – a street urchin and a blacksmith’s son – who dream of becoming champion horsemen in the game of Buzkashi.

The Kite Runner (2007) Director: Marc Forster Starring: Khalid Abdalla, Zekeria Ebrahimi, Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada, Homayoun Ershadi Adopted from a best-selling novel of the same name by Khaled Hosseini, this film tells the story of Amir, a boy from a posh locality of Kabul, who is torn apart by the guilt of betraying his friend Hassan, son of his family servant. The story traces the tumultuous events from the fall of monarchy to Soviet military intervention, the exodus of Afghan refugees to Pakistan, followed by the Taliban regime.

According to the Telegraph, Balkh is the fifteenth oldest city in the world.

What is now northern Afghanistan, Balkh was an ancient city and center of Zoroastrianism.

The ancient city of Balkh was renamed Bactra under the Greek, giving its name to Bactria. Balkh is considered to be the first city to which the Indo-Iranian tribes moved from North of Amu Darya, between 2000-1500BC. Some scholars believe it was from Balkh that different waves of Indo-Iranians spread to north-east Iran and Seistan region, where they became today’s Persians, Tajik-Persian, Pashtuns and Baloch people of the region.

In succeeding centuries the city fell to various nomadic invaders, including the Turks and Kushāns, until it was decisively taken by the Arabs in the 8th century.The Arabs had described Balkh as the “Mother of Cities” due to its antiquity.

The Government of Japan will provide a total amount of USD3,500,000 of assistance to Afghanistan through United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for its comprehensive counter narcotics program to respond to the urgent needs of tackling narcotics related issues in Afghanistan.

The Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan (FAIDA), which works within the framework of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has awarded a grant to Afghanistan’s Insurance Personnel Association (AIPA).

AIPA is a recently established association of Afghanistan’s insurance companies which works towards building the capacity of insurance professionals and raises awareness about insurance.

Run by the Afghan Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, Salam Telecom Company has planned to install 16 new antennas in central Maidan Wardak province.

According to Pajhwok Afghan News (PAN), the antennas will cost 70mn AFN and will help expand telecommunication services in the province.

The new services will also provide internet facilities to the users.

In a bid to stabilize the Afghani currency the Central Bank of Afghanistan (Da Afghanistan Bank-DAB) announced injecting up to USD 100mn cash into the market.

The Bank dispatches USD 50mn weekly to the market and getting Afghani in exchange in order to keep the Afghani stable.

The Afghani currency is currently standing at 57.90 AFN against the US dollar.

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy Kabul has announced the open application season for three U.S. government-sponsored academic exchange opportunities for qualified Afghans during the 2016-17 academic year.

Beginning April 1, 2015, applications will be accepted for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, and the Afghan Junior Faculty Development Program. These Fulbright-affiliated programs provide non-degree academic study and related professional experience in the United States.

Applications must be submitted no later than June 1, 2015. Program and application information can be found on the Embassy’s website: http://kabul.usembassy.gov/educational_exchange.html. Please note that application procedures have been updated since last year; please refer to the Embassy’s website for details.

At a time when many Afghans are worrying about diminishing markets for their products, Storai Staniza, 23, is experiencing enormous demand for her jewelry work — only a month after graduating from the Turquoise Mountain Institute.

Her early success is due to a natural spirit for entrepreneurism encouraged at the Institute. While still studying, Storai set up her own company, ZYB Design. Starting out from a small studio at home, Storai produced and photographed her jewelry designs and posted them on her Facebook page (www.facebook.com/ZYBDesign).

Her unique, innovative designs earned over 1,000 likes for her page within a short period. Storai’s reputation spread mostly by word of mouth. “I created many pieces for my family and friends to wear and when people ask about them, they direct them to me,” she says.

Thousands of Afghan students and their families will be receiving dates in the coming months from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

The donation of 54 metric tons of dried dates was officially announced to WFP at a ceremony in Kabul. The dates are not only a healthy snack for school children and their families, but are also a gift to help poor households celebrate the holy month of Ramadan.

The Afghan Senate has approved a law that regulates wedding prices in the country. The “Wedding Law” was passed by the House of Representatives last year when a number of Afghan youths had complained about the soaring wedding costs.

Millions of Afghans have remained single due to high wedding expenses. Traditionally, the groom’s family has to bear the burden of high cost of wedding. And, on top of that, the bride’s family asks for a large sum of money in what is known as “Walwar” or “Toyana”. The bride demands big wedding ceremonies in lavish wedding halls from the boys’ family, regardless of their financial status.

In 2012, Afghanistan’s Ministry of Justice began the process of drafting legislation to ban unnecessary wedding demands, such as engagement parties, birthdays, henna night, and restricts the number of invitees to 500. It will also ultimately ban the Walwar or Toyana.

Afghan government officials conferred on finalizing the agenda for the upcoming North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit that is due to be held in Wales, United Kingdom on September 4-5.

The main part of the agenda would be proposing a new set of recommendations to increase aid for Afghanistan.

Australia’s major telecommunications company, Telstra Corporation Limited, has announced its forthcoming acquisition of the Silicon Valley-based Internet video company, Ooyala. 

The acquisition is pertinent to Telstra’s long-term goals of becoming a leading global company. Telstra’s Chief Executive Officer, David Thodey, claimed, “Telstra‘s global customer relationships, our established presence in Asia and proven integration capabilities, combined with our expertise in online video and investment in Foxtel provide us a unique opportunity to succeed in this growth market.”

The European Union (EU) has earmarked 95mn Euro for salary payments to the Afghan National Police (ANP), a core part of the Afghan security forces that have taken up many operational duties as the foreign troops are schedule to withdraw.

At today’s Media Meeting, Afghan-German Cooperation and Mediothek in Kabul brought together experts from government, civil society, the media and international bodies to discuss what the media has achieved so far in Afghanistan and the challenges the press face in reporting on corruption. In the last decade, Afghanistan has seen both a media revolution – with numerous new media outlets operating – and a sharp rise in corruption. Afghanistan is still one of the world’s most corrupt nations, and graft affects society on all levels. However, by taking government and the international community to task on the issue, the country’s new media outlets have paved a way for a more open dialogue on corruption.