Daily Archive: Tuesday, December 20, 2016

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, CMC – Embattled West Indies will spend Christmas at number eight in the ICC Test team rankings.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – The prolific Virat Kohli, Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson all enhanced their burgeoning reputations in 2016 but, aided by the screams of commentator Ian Bishop to “remember the name”, the year will forever belong to Carlos Brathwaite.

Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo secured the most votes for the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) Central Committee on Sunday, placing him in pole position to contest for the post of General Secretary (GS).

With four separate problems sparking a wave of blackouts  across the city and other areas over the last week, the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) yesterday said it was doing all it could to prevent a recurrence during the upcoming holidays.

The two bandits who were fatally shot by police on Sunday night after committing a brazen robbery at Seaforth Street, Campbell-ville have been positively identified by relatives.

One of the suspects in the Corentyne money changer robbery was yesterday charged and remanded to prison when he appeared before the Chief Magistrate.

The management of Dyna-mic Airways was yesterday forced to divert one of its aircraft scheduled to travel to Venezuela to rescue over 600 passengers who were left stranded over the weekend at the Cheddi Jagan International and John F Kennedy airports.

Bish Panday, CEO of P&P Insurance Brokers and Consultants Ltd, last Friday, donated $1 million to ten charitable organisations.

The Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) yesterday said it was prepared to improve its pay hike offer after scores of workers from the Guyana Power and Light Company’s (GPL) Transmission and Distribution (T&D) Department down-ed tools and gathered outside the power company’s Main Street office yesterday to protest what they said was an unfair pay increase proposal.

A Plaisance woman was yesterday remanded to prison after she was charged with attempting to take 2.5 kilogrammes of cocaine to Canada through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – There was little festive cheer for Trinidad and Tobago Red Force as they crashed to their second straight defeat and third in four outings in the Regional Four-Day Championship here yesterday.

 CHENNAI, (Reuters) – Karun Nair made an epic unbeaten triple century to power India to their highest ever innings total against a demoralised England in the fifth and final test yesterday in Chennai, India.

A computer technician who was caught at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport trying to smuggle a quantity of cocaine to Bermuda, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined $4.1 million after he pleaded guilty to the offence in a city court.

– total of $798M owed Minister of Finance Winston Jordan yesterday said that the $500 million budgeted to pay debts owed by Homestretch Development Incorporated (HDI) for the controversial D’Urban Park project is the full and final settlement the government is willing to make.

Dear Editor, After some months abroad, I recently returned to Guyana and it was brought to my attention, and I read with interest, the report in Stabroek News of Friday, November 11, 2016 under the banner headline: ‘High Court orders TSC to review applications for teacher promotions.’

SYDNEY, Australia, CMC – Explosive West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell wants to cap a “perfect” year by helping reigning champions Sydney Thunder make a winning start to their Big Bash League title defence.

Hi-Stars and Silver Shattas secured hard-fought wins over Blueberry Hill and Net-rockers respectively when the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA)/GT Beer Football Championship continued on Sunday.

Three dancers at a popular nightclub were yesterday charged with over forged entries in their passports and overstaying their time in Guyana.

Dear Editor, Sunday Stabroek’s editorial ‘Party script’, which asserts that the election last Thursday for mayor of Georgetown was a “bad day for democracy”, did not quite identity any violations of core democratic principles and practices.

MUMBAI, India, CMC – Nine West Indies Twenty20 stars that have enriched the lucrative Indian Premier League have been retained for next season, organisers announced yesterday.

Dear Editor, For those of us who know better of the organisational relationships legally established between the Ministry of Health originally (now Ministry of Public Health) and the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, this is a plea for the incumbent Minister and colleagues to at least read the Act under which the Georgetown Hospital became incorporated.

A young woman has condemned members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) for their desultory action that resulted in the taxi driver who allegedly robbed her evading arrest yesterday morning.

 Sophia children head home from the Sophia Community Centre after receiving gifts yesterday.

Low oil prices have significantly improved the fortunes of the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) which was once a financial “troublemaker” for the government.

Western Tigers and Santos are through to the quarterfinals following wins over Flamingo and Herstelling Raiders respectively when the Stag Nations Cup continued Sunday.

Dear Editor, According to reports in the SN and KN, Michelle Baker did all the right things to obtain protection from the man who attacked her.

Opposition Chief Whip Gail Teixeira has accused the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs of being “frugal” in its provision of funds for the National Toshaos Council (NTC) despite a massive increase in the monies allocated to support local organisations.

Dear Editor, Stabroek Sports, on December 13, carried a headline ‘Gov’t committed to investing in athletes  -says Minister Henry as boxers return to hero’s welcome.’

ZURICH, (Reuters) – Former Honduras president Rafael Callejas, who later became a soccer official, was given a life ban from soccer yesterday amid the fallout from the scandal which threw FIFA into turmoil last year.

Staff of the Giftland Mall Marketing Department pose with 200 children of Sophia yesterday at the Sophia Community Centre after treating them to gifts and snacks in the spirit of Christmas.

Logos Hope, the world’s largest floating book fair, is scheduled to arrive in Guyana today, and will bring along with it knowledge, help and hope.

Dear Editor, Reference is made to Deon Abrams’ letter ‘There was no reference to Lincoln Lewis in my programme’ (SN, December 17).

Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Valerie Garrido-Lowe with children of Moruca, who she treated last weekend with gifts and other treats.

(Reuters) – The NBA All-Star voting process has been tweaked in what appears to be an effort to encourage selection of players based on form rather than reputation.

(The Sports Xchange) – Bradley Beal scored 41 points and sank six 3-pointers as the surging Washington Wizards rallied past the Los Angeles Clippers for a 117-110 win on Sunday evening.

Dear Editor, It ought to be noted by anyone who reads the newspapers that Mr Rawle Welch has been consistently hammering the Guyana Olympic Association chief K Juman-Yassin for non-performance. 

As the police work towards wrapping up their investigation into the eight-month-old murders of Good Hope, East Bank Essequibo farmers, Mohamed and Jamilla Munir, who were burnt to death in their home, a fifth suspect was on Sunday detained for questioning.

Dear Editor, I had a conversation in my head regarding ministers using taxpayers’ money to get an education.

(Reuters) – Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq hailed Asad Shafiq’s defiant century as among the “classiest” he had ever seen after the knock of 137 all but drove Pakistan to a famous victory over Australia in the first test in Brisbane yesterday.

ANKARA (Reuters) – The Russian ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov was shot in the back and killed as he gave a speech at an Ankara art gallery yesterday by an off-duty police officer who shouted “Don’t forget Aleppo” and “Allahu Akbar” as he opened fire.

The family of Faiyaz Narinedatt, who was found lying lifeless on the Number 70 Village Public Road, Corentyne on November 1 is patiently waiting on the police to have key suspect Marcus Brian Bisram returned to the country for questioning.

BOLIVAR/TACHIRA, Venezuela (Reuters) – Soldiers patrolled streets, neighbours mounted barricades and businessmen raked through damaged shops yesterday in parts of Venezuela worst hit from violence sparked by a cash shortage.

Dear Editor, Where are the voices of world leaders, world organisations, the International Criminal Court, NATO, the United Nations Security Council and all the other humanitarian organisations?

BERLIN (Reuters) – A truck ploughed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin last evening, killing 12 people and injuring 48 others in what Germany’s interior minister said looked like an attack.

Police on the West Bank Demerara are currently investigating a robbery committed on the New World Supermarket, a Chinese-owned business located at Independence Street, La Grange last Friday, allegedly by three armed bandits.

CHENNAI, (Reuters) – India batsman Karun Nair reflected on his brush with death this year after scoring a brilliant triple century against England in the fifth test yesterday.

Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan yesterday announced that she will rule next month on whether a prima facie case has been made out against the three accused in the Kaieteur News grenade attack.

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Former Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face a fifth corruption trial, a judge ruled yesterday, as charges pile up against the man seen as a front-runner to win the 2018 presidential election.

Dear Editor, I find it interesting that the moral mouthpiece of the Roman Catholic diocese of Georgetown (Guyana) has called on the political leaders of the two major parties to dialogue, when there is no effective or meaningful forum to do just that within our own church.

PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde escaped punishment and kept her job yesterday despite a conviction on negligence charges over a state payout made while she served as France’s finance minister in 2008.

By Nina L Khrushcheva MOSCOW – Donald Trump’s transition from US President-elect to taking power recalls nothing so much as a forgotten Hollywood genre: the paranoid melodrama.

(Reuters) – A relieved Australia captured Pakistan’s last two wickets to win a captivating first day-night test in Brisbane by 39 runs yesterday but the touring side won huge admiration for their dogged fourth innings resistance.

The results of the new international PISA tests of 15-year-old students should be ringing alarm bells throughout Latin America: they show that 63 per cent of Latin American students lack basic skills in math, and in some countries that figure is as high as 91 per cent.

This newspaper’s interview last Tuesday with Mr Errol Hanoman, who is serving his second stint as CEO of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), dealt with, among other things, the many seemingly intractable problems confronting the local sugar industry and the challenge of extricating ourselves from those problems.

SAO PAULO/MONTREAL (Reuters) – Brazil unveiled a probable challenge against Canadian regional and government funding for Bombardier Inc at the World Trade Organization, reviving a bitter trade feud between the Canadian jetmaker and Brazilian rival Embraer SA.

Left to right Roy Heath, England-based Guyanese writer who won the Guyana Prize for the Best Book of Fiction, with his novel work ‘The Shadow Bride’, Mr Martin Carter acclaimed Guyanese poet who won the Guyana Prize for the Best Book of Poetry with his ‘Selected Poems’ and Canada-based Guyanese writer Brian Chan who won the Guyana Prize for the Best First Book of Poetry for his ‘Thief with Leaf’ seen sitting together at the presentation ceremony at the National Cultural Centre Monday night.

Dear Editor, Over the last several years I have been making a few suggestions that I believe could help in improving the performance of the West Indies team.

An autopsy performed yesterday on the remains of poultry farm worker Krishna Surujlall, who died last Friday, two days after he was crushed by a metal silo at his workplace, revealed that he died as a result on multiple injuries to the abdomen.

(Reuters) – The relief was palpable in all of Australia’s players yesterday after they survived a huge scare to defeat Pakistan by 39 runs in the first test, but none would have felt it more than captain Steve Smith.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Thousands of people were evacuated from the last rebel-held enclave of Aleppo yesterday in return for insurgents allowing people to leave two besieged pro-government villages in nearby Idlib province.