Daily Archive: Friday, March 18, 2011

TOKYO,  (Reuters) – A survivor of Japan’s powerful  earthquake and tsunami was pulled from the rubble last night  eight days after the disaster, NHK reported, citing the  military.

The police are investigating a fatal accident that occurred at about 4.15 pm at Hope, ECD, and which resulted in the death of pedestrian Theron Berkshire, 14 years of Clonbrook, ECD who was said to be playing phagwah at the time.

The police are investigating a report that a female murder accused was allegedly impregnated by a policeman while in custody and the cop in question has since absconded.

The police are investigating an armed robbery that occurred at about 2.30 pm today at BEV Fisheries at Houston Estate, Georgetown, during which accountant Michael Vieira, 30 years of Houston Estate, Georgetown, and labourer Richie Sahadeo, 35 years of Better Hope South, ECD, were attacked and robbed by three men, two of whom armed with handguns.

A defect in one of the Guyana Power & Light’s (GPL) transmission lines has affected most of the circuits in Demerara, leading to a fluctuating power supply this evening.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Off spinner Muttiah  Muralitharan ignored a hamstring problem as he picked up four  wickets to propel Sri Lanka to a thumping 112-run win over New  Zealand in their final World Cup Group A match today.

DAMASCUS,  (Reuters) – Syrian security forces killed  three protesters in the southern city of Deraa today, a  resident said, in the first violent clashes to hit Syria since a  wave of uprisings swept through the Arab world.

Thirty-three countries will take part next week in the Caribbean region’s first full-scale tsunami warning exercise as part of United Nations-backed efforts to test and strengthen the region’s defences against such calamities.

Tameshwar Andy Geer and his twin brother Taijwant Anthony Geer recently completed their Masters degrees at the University of the West Indies.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Former President  Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti today, ending  seven years of exile in South Africa despite U.S.

(BBC) Jamaican officials have told a conference in London that the island’s government is looking to privatise a number of key businesses.

CHENNAI, India, (Reuters) – As if suffering from a  mystery ailment, India have developed an inexplicable tendency  to collapse in a heap and they need to recover fast and beat  West Indies in Sunday’s Group B match to secure their place in  the World Cup last eight.

KOLKATA,  (Reuters) – All-rounder Paul Stirling  cracked a 72-ball 101 as Ireland completed their World Cup  campaign on a winning note despite their group stage exit with a  six-wicket win over Netherlands today.

The West Indies Cricket Board has announced the appointment of retired Assistant Commissioner of Police of Guyana, Paul Slowe to the post of Security Manager.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Egypt’s military has begun  shipping arms over the border to Libyan rebels with Washington’s  knowledge, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

The cocaine found by Jamaican authorities on a vessel from Guyana was reportedly packed in five bags stashed in timber that was being transported in a container.

SANAA, (Reuters) – Yemen’s beleaguered president  declared a state of emergency today after gunmen including  snipers shot dead at least 25 protesters at an anti-government  rally, but denied his police forces were behind the violence.

With effect from this morning the excise tax charged on gasoline has been reduced from 30% to 20% to cushion the impact the increase in oil prices will have on domestic customers.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said today Muammar Gaddafi’s government must end violence and pull back troops from towns under attack, or face military action.

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Japanese engineers conceded today that burying a crippled nuclear plant in sand and  concrete may be a last resort to prevent a catastrophic  radiation release, the method used to seal huge leakages from  Chernobyl in 1986.

A light single-engine aircraft operated by a Seventh Day Adventist mission in Guyana crashed yesterday afternoon at the Paruima airstrip in Region 7(Cuyuni/Mazaruni).

GuySuCo’s operations came to a grinding halt two weeks ago due to persistent rainfall—a critical blow for the first crop and production, in a year the industry desperately needs a turnaround.

Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said yesterday that the Education Channel is to begin broadcasting from month-end, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

The Government Information Agency (GINA) said yesterday that it has issued an official media pass to the David Williams, who has been accused by the AFC of suspicious movements outside of the office of parliamentarian David Patterson.

Guyana will now tap a US$200,000 grant under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), after a previous pact with the World Bank was cancelled.

Bids have been advertised for repairs and maintenance of the Linden/Lethem trail and work is expected to be completed before year end.

A police officer was yesterday charged with taking a bribe from a man who wanted to forego prosecution on traffic charges.

A fire believed to have been set by a mentally-unstable man gutted an empty house on George Street, Georgetown yesterday.

The ruling PPP is closer to selecting its candidate for this year’s constitutionally due elections.

General Manager of the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) Jagnarine Singh on Wednesday said that 19,993 acres of the rice crop were threatened and 1,144 acres were affected by recent flooding.

A team of regional journalists will be in Haiti this week on a familiarization trip and their firsthand reports are expected to contribute to a well-informed body of public opinion on developments in that country, in the wake of last year’s earthquake disaster.

At least 15 people yesterday escaped with only minor injuries after a late morning collision between a minibus and a car at Happy Acres, East Coast Demerara.

A New Amsterdam resident is counting his losses after a Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Co.

Chandranie Gobin, the Mon Repos resident who was severely chopped by another villager, is currently recovering in the female ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she is said to be in a stable condition.

The Tactical Services Unit Inspector of Police remains under close arrest as investigations continue into the shooting of the former employee of a Chateau Margot, East Coast business around 6:35 pm on Tuesday.

CHENNAI, (Reuters) – England could not overcome  their taste for cliffhangers but at least they survived another  one against West Indies yesterday to give themselves a chance  of making it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Repairs by Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) to a damaged sewerage line at the junction of Waterloo and New Market streets

President of the Guyana Amateur Powerlifting Federation  Peter Green made another appeal for financial help yesterday while highlighting the outstanding success of local powerlifters  in the Caribbean and further afield.

Following their Wednesday  2 – 1 win against the US Virgin Islands, Guyana’s boys under-14 team of Daniel Lopes and Judah Stephney yesterday lost 3 – 0 to Aruba in the North/Central America & Caribbean Pre-Qualifying (WJT) when the fourth day of  competition continued in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Dear Editor, As a result of heavy rainfall, dangerously high water levels in the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) had to be relieved through the Lama and Maduni Sluices into the Mahaica Creek to assure the safety of the conservancy dam.

More teams continue to chalk up wins in the University of Guyana (UG) Inter-Faculty Basketball Tournament, which continued yesterday with a game that saw the Faculty of Technology defeating UG’s staff team 56-53.

Dear Editor, Please permit the Guyana Agricultural Producers Association (GAPA) to respond to assertions that the Spillweir Farmers Group never receives any assistance from GAPA which appeared in the Stabroek News on Thursday, March 17, 2011.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – James Hildreth led an England Lions recovery with his second hundred of the season against Windward Islands in the WICB Regional first-class championship yesterday.

CAVE HILL, Barbados, CMC – Combined Campuses & Colleges will look to cement their place in the semi-finals, when they face Guyana in the sixth round of the WICB Regional first-class championship, starting today at the Three Ws Oval.CCC

Dear Editor, Listening to World Cup Cricket, one never ceases to be amazed at how commentators can compare records of partnerships, bowling, batting, runouts, catches, stumpings, fours, sixes, etc, with previous matches.

Dear Editor, The GT&T 10/10 Softball cricket competition continues to live up to its hype by being entertaining and exciting.

Prime Minister Samuel Hinds is advocating the setting up of a mining bank in Guyana at a juncture when, he says, high gold prices and attendant high profit margins allow miners to place some of their earnings in shares in such an institution.

Dear Editor, It now seems to be the pattern for the Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co Ltd (GT&T) to give ‘Free Talk’ to its subscribers on Diwali (which it did last year) and now Phagwah, both of which are Hindu festivals in Guyana.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Two regional players accused of marijuana possession entered not-guilty pleas when they appeared in the Port-of-Spain 10th Court yesterday.

The prices of gasoline and diesel have increased over the past two weeks at GuyOil and Texaco stations countrywide.

CAIRO, (Reuters) – Egyptians will vote on proposed  constitutional changes tomorrow in the first election in  decades in which they have not known the result in advance.

Work on the second 2000-ft phase of the runway at the Ogle International Airport is expected, weather permitting, to be completed by May this year and flights from Caribbean countries could be landing at Ogle by early next year, Chief Executive Officer of the Ogle International Airport Project Anthony Mekdeci told Stabroek Business.

Lance Corporal Germaine Laundry took to the witness stand yesterday and testified as the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the murder of schoolgirl Neesa Gopaul continued.

Every so often we are treated to political pronouncements the particular titles of which vary from one presenter to another but all of which address one or another aspect of hinterland development.

Dear Editor, It is becoming very obvious that the old timers writing Stabroek News (SN) editorials have a cognitive construct of racial prejudices which guides them.

Dear Editor, After reading your newspaper about the flooding, I was wondering whether Pradoville 2 flooded?

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Seven-time grand slam winner  Venus Williams has withdrawn from next week’s Sony Ericsson  Open in Miami with an abdominal injury, tournament organisers  said yesterday.

Remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean are poised to rise this year after stabilising during 2010, but a weaker dollar and higher inflation are reducing their purchasing power in many countries, according to the Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Invest-ment Fund (MIF).

Flood

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Barack Obama     travels to Latin America this week seeking to reassert  economic leadership in a region Washington once dominated but  where it now faces growing competition from China.

By Karen Abrams The ease of doing business index ranks economies from 1 to 181, with first place being the best.

TRIPOLI/UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – The United  Nations authorised military strikes to curb Libyan leader  Muammar Gaddafi, hours after he threatened to storm the rebel  bastion of Benghazi overnight, showing “no mercy, no pity”.

Dear Editor, Are we going to squabble over who is to fix Georgetown and its problems or would the government take the initiative and do something tangible for the business community, the workers and denizens of the city, and indeed all and sundry including the visitors and tourists; or like Emperor Nero, will they fiddle while Rome burns?

CHENNAI, (Reuters) – Australia’s bid to prolong  their unbeaten World Cup run and Pakistan’s ambitions to top  Group A will ensure no punches are pulled in Colombo tomorrow  even though both sides have booked quarter-final places.

Nationals of Jamaica and Guyana will soon have to be in possession of a visa, when visiting the Dutch/French-controlled St.Maarten,

By Clinton Urling Last week I wrote about the high interest rate spreads, excess liquidity and the unduly expensive credit that private commercial banks offer to Guyana’s private sector businesses.

TOKYO, (Reuters) – Japanese engineers raced to  restore a power cable to a quake-ravaged nuclear power plant today in the hope of restarting pumps needed to pour cold water  on overheating fuel rods and avert a catastrophic release of  radiation.

The Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) is inviting the public to its ‘Walk for Water Walk-a-Thon’ tomorrow in honour of World Water Day.

Dear Editor, With reference to Mr Jermaine Cockfield’s letter captioned, ‘Royal Challengers were knocked out of GT&T 10/10 competition unfairly’ (SN, March 2) first of all we must bring to the captain’s attention the fact that the fitness of the ground for play comes directly under the umpires who are the sole authority on play.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib  Akhtar will retire from international cricket after the World  Cup, closing one of the most colourful careers in the sport.

Dear Editor, As aptly said by Dr Martin Luther King Jr, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” 

(Reuters) – Pakistan pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar will  retire from international cricket after the World Cup, closing  one of the most colourful careers in the sport.

PHOENIX, (Reuters Life!)- Immigrants detained in  the United States lack adequate access to legal representation  and medical care, while the system itself is over reliant on  detention, a human rights report released yesterday found.

Hyundai/Guytrac said a team of its most senior technicians is currently conducting training for Guyana and Latin American countries.

Official neglect of interior airstrips, many of which serve strategically important hinterland townships or are, in various ways, critical to Guyana’s economic growth, social progress and territorial security, has become a serious but little talked-about national issue.

The Brass, Aluminum and Cast Iron Foundry (BACIF) celebrates its 51st year of service to Guyana’s manufacturing sector with numerous absorbing stories to tell about its critical role in keeping the wheels of industry turning through difficult years and, in the process, making a largely unsung but vital contribution to Guyana’s economy.

Acting Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary-General, Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite has said that the aviation taxes were a burden on the Caribbean region’s development and already a decline in arrivals from the UK has been noted.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Bangladesh fans will pray for  one more upset win from their team tomorrow to prolong their  World Cup campaign when they take on mighty South Africa in a  must-win Group B match in Dhaka.

MANAMA, (Reuters) – The leader of Bahrain’s largest  opposition group has urged Saudi Arabia to withdraw its forces  and called for a U.N.

Dear Editor, The formation of male and female affairs bureaux is a step in the right direction because they should address some of the issues affecting both genders whether old or young.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Three Pakistan cricketers,  accused of taking bribes to fix parts of a test match in England  last year, told police the incidents were coincidental or bad  luck, a London court heard yesterday.

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil has closed a legal  loophole used by foreigners to buy farm land, a change of rules  that is fueling uncertainty among agricultural investors in one  of the world’s leading food exporters.

People

YAMADA/RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan,  (Reuters) – – A week  after their lives were turned upside down by the biggest  recorded earthquake in Japan’s history, many survivors are too  shocked to contemplate the future.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 399’s trading results showed consideration of $7,671,846 from 438,783 shares traded in 21 transactions as compared to session 398 which showed consideration of $6,327,661 from 140,489 shares traded in 8 transactions. 

At Guyana’s elections time just who raises the spectre of race first?

The Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has said its plans for Culture Fest 2011 are advancing.

‘Reculer pour mieux sauter’ – the French maxim means ‘to take a step back in order to jump better’ or, in other words, to retreat in order to achieve a stronger position – was supposed to be a favoured tactic of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Dear Editor, Why is Guyana dependent upon foreign suppliers for school rulers?

(Barbados Nation) Government has applied to the High Court in a bid to have CLICO International Life Insurance placed under judicial management.