Daily Archive: Friday, January 22, 2016

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, organizer of the Oscar awards, pledged today to double its membership of women and minorities by 2020 through an ambitious affirmative action plan that includes stripping some older members of voting privileges.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – Veteran left-hander Shiv Chanderpaul has called time on his illustrious 22-year international career, eight months after being axed from the Test squad.

Members of the Inter-Religious Organisation of Guyana (IRO) paid a courtesy call on President David Granger, yesterday, at the Ministry of the Presidency, to inform him of the activities that are planned to observe ‘World Interfaith Harmony Week’, a release from GINA said.

Attorney General, Basil Williams accompanied by the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Cecil Dhurjon and the Solicitor General Sita Ramlal met with representatives of the World Bank/United Nations Mission and the State Assets Recovery Unit today at the Attorney General’s Chambers.

The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative ‘s Technical Working Group, in collaboration with the U.S.

The fifth installment of ‘Lunch Talk’ was held on January 14 at the Advancing Partners and Communities (APC) Office.

A Better Hope businessman who was held for four hours at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri on Tuesday and two pieces of jewellery valued altogether at $4m taken from him by the Customs Anti Narcotic Unit has moved to court seeking in excess of $10m in damages and a declaration that his detention was unlawful.

The Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc today rapped the Department of Culture over a probe that was to be done of the alleged misuse of state-owned steel pans.

At about 1250h. today, the police say that four men, one of whom was armed with a firearm, entered the Bank of Baroda at Mon Repos, ECD, and held up the lone female private security guard on duty and took away her .32 service revolver.

Wales estate workers and PPP/C Members of Parliament yesterday protested against the planned closure of the estate.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)  has added Guyana and several other Caribbean countries to its travel advisory asking pregnant women to avoid visiting because of the presence of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, according to its website.

Attempts to eradicate domestic violence must start with an investigation into causation, President David Granger said today, adding that it will take time to undo decades of a culture of criminal violence.

Investigations are being conducted into the circumstances surrounding the death of a so far unidentified woman, whose body was found in a canal at Zeelugt, EBE, about 2030h.

At about 2100h. last night, the police say that Glenfield Dennison, 31 years, of Cummings Lodge, ECD, was shot to his chest and left arm while on the roadway outside his premises.

The U.S. Department of State will no longer add visa pages into U.S.

JEDDAH, (Reuters) – The world’s largest Muslim body backed Saudi Arabia in its weeks-long diplomatic spat with Iran in a statement issued on Thursday night, accusing Tehran of backing terrorism and meddling in other countries’ affairs.

(Trinidad Guardian) Slaughter of the innocents. That was how Laventille residents yesterday described the double murder of two schoolboys, who were dragged from a taxi and shot dead while on their way home at Upper Picton Road.

By Shabna Rahman and Pushpa Balgobin Scores of sugar workers yesterday demonstrated in front of Public Buildings, protesting the planned closure of the Wales Sugar Estate while expressing skepticism at government’s statements that plans are in the pipeline to cushion the impact of the shuttering of the operations.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Sulieman Benn laid the foundation and Kraigg Brathwaite formalized the result as Barbados Pride brushed aside Windward Islands Volcanoes by seven wickets here yesterday to set up a meeting with Trinidad and Tobago Red Force in the final of the Regional Super50.

The government last evening used its parliamentary majority to supress an opposition motion seeking to have all Members of the National Assembly make public their tax returns to the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) over the last 10 years, while arguing that such a move would violate privacy.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Under-fire West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine says he is targeting the Twenty20 World Cup in March for a return to international cricket.

Clarence Carter, the Linden man who allegedly killed his wife, stabbed her daughter and then tried to take his own life, was charged with murder and remanded to prison yesterday.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Filipino Manny Pacquiao insists his upcoming title bout against Timothy Bradley will be the last of his prodigious career and yesterrday said he is aiming for a convincing win to help bolster his campaign for a Senate seat.

A Plaisance hairdresser died early yesterday morning when she crashed into a fence along the Goedverwagting Railway Embankment, East Coast Demerara.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Jessica Ennis-Hill will have doubts about Russian athletes even if they are cleared to compete at the 2016 Rio Games, the Olympic and world heptathlon champion said yesterday.

Dear Editor, The leaders of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) have declared that the Trade Union Recognition and Certification Board was appointed in violation of the Trade Union Recognition Act.

Speaker of the National Assembly Barton Scotland yesterday ruled against a request by opposition Member of Parliament and trade unionist Komal Chand for an urgent debate on government’s decision to close the Wales sugar estate.

Dear Editor, I am writing to register my concern over the apparent one-sided approach to the provision of housing for a single category of workers without fully consulting the public.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – A U.S. judge has approved the release pending trial of Alfredo Hawit, a former vice president of world soccer’s governing body FIFA and one of more than 40 people and entities charged in an anti-corruption sweep in the sport, his lawyer said yesterday.

The bodies of three more Guyanese were reported to have been found in Venezuelan waters after a tragic boating accident on Sunday, bringing the death toll to seven.

Dear Editor, Retired public officers are required to submit life certificates for their pensions every three months.

Just days after the announcement of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) 2016 Caribbean Cup draw, Guyana Football Federation Chief Wayne Forde said the Golden Jaguars will face off with arch-rivals Suriname in an international friendly.

A Mahaica farmer was yesterday killed in an early morning accident when he was struck by a speeding car while riding his bicycle along the Hand-en-Veldt Public Road.

Purchases of gold by the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) declined by a whopping 20.5% last year over 2014, according to information contained in the Board’s 2015 Report.

Newly appointed Minister of National Resources, Raphael Trotman has told Stabroek Business that while the 2015 announcement that ExxonMobil has discovered significant deposits of oil offshore Guyana could transform the country’s economy, he still believes that the country’s short to medium term energy ‘salvation’ lay in hydropower.

Pacesetters secured their place in the 1st division of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association, downing 2nd division unit Republic Bank Nets by a 59-44 margin in their relegation playoff on Wednesday.

BUJUMBURA, (Reuters) – Two former Burundi presidents pleaded for the United Nations Security Council yesterday to back the deployment of international troops to the African state gripped by political violence because it “runs the risk of becoming another Rwanda” Diplomats of the 15-member council arrived in Burundi’s capital Bujumbura yesterday evening for its second visit to the tiny landlocked state in less than a year, where fears of an ethnic war have also led to an economic crisis.

Dear Editor, Re the letter in your Sunday, 17th January, newspaper by the Public Relations Officer of Guyana Power and Light (GPL): Yes the rate per unit is set by Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum on Wednesday said police have arrested one of the suspects in the death of Akeem Culley, whose body was found in a North Sophia trench on Tuesday.

Dear Editor, The Guyana Cricket Board wishes to record its extreme disappointment and shock at the level that a former cricket official has descended to in his most recent letter to the media titled ‘How could our legal system embrace such an obvious illegality for five years?’

Dozens of tillage workers and planters at the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s (GuySuCo) Wales estate will be out of work immediately following the decision by government to close the West Demerara estate.

Long deprived of anything even remotely resembling a convivial environment in which to ply their trade in the conditions afforded by the dilapidated wharf at the western extreme of the Stabroek Market, the dozens of long-suffering vendors are to benefit from a new multi- million trading facility.

ADELAIDE, Australia, CMC – West Indies and Jamaica stars Andre Russell and Stafanie Taylor played minor roles but their Sydney Thunder franchises still did enough to secure spots in the men’s and women’s final of the Big Bash League here yesterday.

The Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) has once again come in for criticism from the opposition People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which says the body has failed to release critical information for the upcoming local government elections.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – The rouble maintained its slide through record lows yesterday, threatening more hardship for ordinary Russians and prompting some to stock up on dollars as the Kremlin denied the currency was collapsing.

The Ministry of Education’s Department of Culture, Youth and Sport has revealed some of the events planned for this year’s Mashramani celebrations, which will start this weekend.

Glendon Critchlow Jr., his spouse Natasha Daniels and their son Tyrique are among the many victims of a gold-mining industry that can be as cruel as it can be charitable.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Russia’s AIDS epidemic is at a dangerous tipping point after the number of people registered HIV-positive passed the 1 million mark, the country’s top AIDS specialist said yesterday, warning the rate of infection had reached record levels.

PRETORIA, (Reuters) – Alastair Cook believes the perfect end to England’s winning series in South Africa would be a strong showing from his under-performing top-order batsmen in the fourth and final test, starting today at Centurion Park.

Dear Editor, On Wednesday (Jan 20) the media carried a letter written by my friend, the very well-known Tony Vieira (not, as he sought to clarify, Anthony Vieira, Director of GuySuCo) in which he, among other things, questioned whether Mr Khemraj Tulsie does in fact exist or whether he is among the recent writers about the sugar industry and GuySuCo who use various ‘noms de plume’.

Dear Editor, I read with great interest the letter written by EB John which appeared in Wednesday’s issue of the Stabroek News under the rubric ‘We should recreate the musical agenda for Independence in 1966.’

Only one passenger out of 19 in a recently monitored water taxi was wearing a life jacket and this has prompted the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) to say it will continue to aggressively promote maritime safety.

Barbados continues to place increasing official focus on the importance of sensitizing its creative community to the importance of closing licensing deals for the protection of their intellectual property.

OKLAHOMA CITY, (Reuters) – A former Oklahoma City police officer convicted of raping four women and sexually assaulting several others while he was on duty was sentenced yesterday to 263 consecutive years in prison, the maximum allowable sentence.

Attorney-at-Law Rexford Jackson has officially been elected the Presi-dent of East Coast of Demerara heavyweight Victoria Kings when the entity staged its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Sunday, January 17th at the Victoria Community Centre.

The Government Food & Drugs/Analyst Department will be seeking to better position itself to comply with the United States’ Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) this year by moving to have its laboratories accredited so that tests carried out on foods targeting overseas markets can meet standards that obtain in the USA and in other parts of the world, according to Director of the Department Marlan Cole.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haitian President Michel Martelly said a runoff election to choose the impoverished Caribbean nation’s next leader will take place on Sunday despite opposition protests, in a sign that talks to postpone the vote had failed.

Guyana remains a peaceful and safe destination for tourists, Minister of Tourism and Telecommunication Cathy Hughes says.

Dear Editor, Please allow me to express my disappointment with the recent advisory coming out of the Guyana Police Force about the police in plain clothes and unmarked vehicles not being authorized to stop vehicles.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Lleyton Hewitt bade an emotional farewell under the Australian Open floodlights yesterday as David Ferrer snuffed out any chance of fairytale final flourish from the local hero.

The “red flags” that have been raised in the areas of labour relations and occupational safety and health in the mining sector are concerns that cannot be overlooked.

The trial of the five men accused of the robbery of Land Court Judge Nicola Pierre and her family was adjourned yesterday due to the absence of Special Prosecutor Nigel Hughes.

Antigua is abolishing personal income tax (PIT) from April. A release from the Office of the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda yesterday noted that the PIT was introduced by the now Opposition United Progressive Party upon coming into office in 2004 and placed a tax of 8% on persons earning an income above $3500 and 15% on persons earning an income above $25, 000.

(The Sports Xchange) – DeMar DeRozan scored 34 points to lead the Toronto Raptors to a 115-109 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, the home team extending their winning streak to a season-best six games.

Dear Editor, There have been allegations that the credentials of the acting CEO of GPL are not appropriate for the post he holds.

LONDON, (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin probably approved a 2006 Russian intelligence operation to murder ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko with radioactive polonium-210 in London, a British inquiry concluded on Thursday, prompting a row with Moscow.

Jermaine Rowe, a pastry vendor, was yesterday remanded to prison after he appeared before a city court on a charge of cannabis trafficking.

(A World Bank Feature) ______________________________ A coral gardening project thrives in Bali, Indonesia.

PRETORIA, (Reuters) – South Africa captain AB de Villiers believes his team need to bolster their coaching staff to climb out of the spiral of decline that has cost them their number-one world ranking.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Will Smith and Spike Lee may be shunning the Oscars party next month but while the absence from the contest of actors of color for a second year has sparked hand-wringing in Hollywood, few other celebrities plan to follow their lead.

Guyana will open their 2016 Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Futsal Championships today against Curacao in Havana Cuba.

Dear Editor, I have seen in the media where Dr Jagdeo was addressing the sugar workers in Wales, misleading the people that the coalition is deliberately creating hardship for the PPP supporters.

(Trinidad Express) The deadly H1N1 (swine flu) virus has claimed another victim.

STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) – The four former members of Swedish band ABBA, whose catchy tunes still have fans dancing around the world decades after their release, reunited – albeit very briefly – for the opening of a new restaurant-entertainment venture in Stockholm.

Pole attack: This utility pole fell on a car on Hadfield Street yesterday near to Austin Street.

SAN SALVADOR, (Reuters) – William Hernandez, tired and aching, had just finished a 24-hour shift as a coroner examining more than a dozen corpses in the capital of El Salvador, victims of gang warfare that has made the Central American country one of the most violent in the world.

(The Sports Xchange) – Milwaukee Bucks head coach Jason Kidd is expected to return to the bench next week sufficiently recovered from hip surgery.

A man who admitted to assaulting a seven-year-old boy, during what he claimed was playing around, was on Wednesday ordered to pay $15,000 in compensation to the child’s family.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 651’s trading results showed consideration of $7,007,008 from 77,841 shares traded in 20 transactions as compared to session 650’s trading results, which showed consideration of $3,807,182 from 35,868 shares traded in 12 transactions.

Dear Editor, Politicians make promises that they hardly keep; that is the essence of politics.

(Reuters) – Kobe Bryant may be struggling through the final season of his illustrious career but the Los Angeles Lakers great was still the top choice to be a starter at next month’s All-Star Game, the NBA said yesterday.

The news that Sarah Palin has endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican nomination to run for the presidency of the United States of America has been met by general derision in most quarters.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The positions of 384 sugar workers employed by the Chinese-owned PanCaribbean Sugar Company were made redundant yesterday.

Dear Editor, There are these not infrequent public waltzes, or dramas, or spectacles between the Chambers of the DPP and the GPF.

At 34, Sharon Gittens appears preoccupied with finding her place in the world of local fashion design where, so often, talent is held in harness as much by lack of opportunity as by what she believes is the high cost of staying in the race for the attention of a modest market.

Politikles

The Princess International Group of Companies is the latest corporate body to support President David Granger’s ‘Boats, Buses and Bicycles’ (Three Bs) initiative and has pledged to donate a bus for school children, GINA said yesterday.

Anything remotely resembling accurate monitoring and measurement of growth in Guyana’s small business sector has not been possible over the years since no reliable mechanism exists for so doing.

Annual walk: Guyana Defence Force soldiers in their annual walk yesterday.

 Just one anniversary IdeaAgain disregarding my preference for staying away from certain “hot” issues that attract current national attention from the more qualified, I nevertheless, feel obliged to repeat my own perspectives on matters related to capital punishment.

 Business Cartoon

Gold Prices for the three day period ending Thursday, January 21, 2016