Daily Archive: Friday, May 12, 2017

The government this evening issued a cybersecurity alert. A statement from the Ministry of the Presidency follows: The Guyana National Cybersecurity Incident Response Team (GNCIRT) confirms that a global ransomware attack is currently in progress. 

WILLEMSTAD/CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Coastguards from the Caribbean island of Curacao rescued 26 Venezuelans stranded on nearby Little Curacao today, in the latest case of migrants fleeing an economic and social crisis at home.

Former Guyana Health Minister Dr Noel Blackman was today sentenced in a New York court to 50 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release over an oxycodone conspiracy.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Britain’s National Health Service said it had suffered a major cyber attack today, disrupting hospitals all over England.

This ambulance with a sick patient travelling from the Industry Health Centre to the Georgetown Public Hospital was among the hundreds of vehicles caught in the gridlock yesterday as a result of the erection of an arch at Cummings Lodge.

QUETTA, Pakistan, (Reuters) – A bomb exploded next to a convoy of the deputy chairman of the Pakistan Senate on Friday in the violence-plagued province of Baluchistan, killing at least 25 people, officials said.

ROSEAU, Dominica,CMC – West Indies defied opener Azhar Ali’s 14th Test century and Pakistan’s attritional batting with sheer perseverance, to leave the decisive third Test at Windsor Park well poised on the second day here Thursday.

-despite Simmons, Pollard brilliance  MUMBAI, India,CMC – West Indies stars Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons both struck up tempo half-centuries but failed to prevent Mumbai Indians from a narrow seven-run loss to Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League here Thursday.

(Reuters) – Indian police arrested three people in Kanpur suspected of illegal betting on cricket matches, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Thursday, a day after the city hosted its first Indian Premier League (IPL) game of the season.

The installation of an arch at Cummings Lodge on the Rupert Craig Highway, East Coast Demerara (ECD) yesterday morning was deferred to 6 pm after it resulted in chaos for thousands of commuters, some of whom were delayed for as long as three hours.

Legitimate businesses are being made non-competitive by several foreign-owned companies in the city who are not charging Value Added Tax (VAT) on their products though they are registered to do so.

SHANGHAI, China, CMC – Reigning Olympic sprint queen Elaine Thompson will chase her second win of the new Diamond League series here when she lines up in a solid field in the women’s 100 metres here Saturday.

Action from last night in the National Junior Squash Championships at the Georgetown Club, Camp Street

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed yesterday between Guyana and the US for the Youth Empowerment Service (YES) programme in Corriverton, East La Penitence, Sophia, Lodge and East Ruimveldt which will focus on at-risk young people.

MADRID,  (Reuters) – World number one Andy Murray lost 6-3 6-3 to unseeded Borna Coric in the Madrid Open third round on Thursday as his difficult start to the claycourt season continued, while Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic eased into the quarter-finals.

The government’s White Paper on sugar which entails the closing of  the Rose Hall Estate factory saw hundreds of workers turning out again in protest yesterday.

The extension of barriers around parliament was done as a means of strengthening security, the Guyana Police Force said yesterday, in response to an article published in the Stabroek News.

The Rupununi Football Association (RFA) in partnership with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) will commence a Beginner’s Referee Course today at Lethem, Region Nine.

A Better Hope father of four yesterday appeared before the Sparendaam Magistrate’s court charged with murdering his son.

Work has restarted at the site of the collapsed base for the Indian Arrival monument at Palmyra, Berbice.

Union members present at the opening of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employee’s (NAACIE)  Delegates conference yesterday, were urged to stand in solidarity, as they protest for the rights of workers, regardless of the union or industry being affected.

Sybourne Fernandes carted off the spoils of the Flying Ace Cycle Club organized 30-mile road race on Sunday at West Coast Berbice. 

LONDON, (Reuters) – England’s formidable limited-overs squad fully deserve the ‘favourites’ tag going into next month’s Champions Trophy at home, all-rounder Moeen Ali has said.

Mortgage fraud conspiracy convict, Ed Ahmad is to begin his two-year sentence on September 1st this year.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Vinicius Junior, the latest soccer sensation from Brazil, joined up with the Flamengo first team squad for the first time on Thursday ahead of an expected big-money move to Real Madrid.

(The Sports Xchange) The Boston Celtics cruised to a 123-101 blowout of the Washington Wizards in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals on Wednesday.

Witness for the prosecution, Dirk Bess said that he saw the entire shooting of Ashok Raghoo and his wife, but was never able to make out the shooter during the ordeal which lasted less than two minutes.

The New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation (NewGPC) has refuted claims made by Minister Volda Lawrence that it had in 2016 supplied expired or nearly expired drugs to the Ministry of Public Health.

When the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) stages the annual Caribbean School Boys and Juniors Boxing Championship this weekend, local conglomerate, Banks DIH Limited will be in its corner.

 – will face Ajax Amsterdam (Reuters) – Manchester United survived a fraught finale, featuring an ugly brawl and a red card for each side, to draw 1-1 at home to Celta Vigo and reach the Europa League final on Thursday.

Representatives from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) were in Guyana on a special mission with the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) from May 9 to yesterday.

Dear Editor, We, the undersigned, students of the University of Guyana’s Environmen-tal Economics class of 2017, hereby seek space in your newspaper to request clarification on whether a feasibility study was done on the proposed on-shore facility at Crab Island. 

Against the backdrop of a low-key meeting between high level government and private sector officials on Thursday May 4, following a protracted interlude of iciness and harsh words on both sides, former president of the Private Sector Commission (PSC) Gerald Gouveia has told the Stabroek Business that differences between the state and the business community were likely to persist to the detriment of the Guyana economy unless a reliable mechanism was found to ensure that “the door to dialogue and discourse” between the two sides was kept open “even in the face of differences and verbal hostilities.”

Berbice unit Monedderlust FC and Topp XX are the two teams which will be relegated from the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Stag Beer Elite League at the end of second season.

The announcement of the launch by the University of Guyana of its School of Business, Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) from next semester has attracted high praise from two local chief executive officers (CEOs), both of whom say that the initiative points to a long overdue move to help respond to the challenge of skills shortages facing the private sector.

Dear Editor, The White Paper on Sugar, as presented by the Minister of Agriculture, Noel Holder on Monday in parliament, is a non-paper.

  Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Dr.

Den Amstel and Young Achievers sealed their semi-final berths in the annual West Demerara Football Association (WDFA)/Josiah Memorial Championship on Wednesday at the Den Amstel ground.

(Gracenote) – Results from the Madrid Open Women’s Singles Quarterfinal matches on Thursday 8-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) 6-4 6-0 14-Kristina Mladenovic (France) beat Sorana Cirstea (Romania) 6-4 6-4 Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) beat Kiki Bertens (Netherlands) 6-3 6-3 3-Simona Halep (Romania) beat CoCo Vandeweghe (U.S.)

Dar Editor, In testimony yesterday before the US Senate Intelligence Committee’s hearings on the firing of FBI Director James Comey and possible Russian interference in last November’s American elections, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Mike Pompeo said that the current unrest and political situation in Venezuela present a threat to the countries of South America.

Guyanese yesterday turned out at the National Cultural Centre (NCC) to celebrate Social Cohesion Day 2017.

First Instalment During the course of a recent food handling forum executed by the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department (GAFDD) and contributed to by various other state agencies, the Stabroek Business met and spoke with food vendors, including small operators whose businesses are modest and underdeveloped.

President David Granger yesterday attended the funeral service of Norman Chapman at the Mackenzie Sports Club Ground in Linden.

Dear Editor, I have long been concerned about the lack of consideration shown by successive administrations for the impact that infrastructure work has on the lives of the general population, but, the closure of the East Coast highway to facilitate the installation of an arch at the eastern entrance to Georgetown really takes the cake.

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA,  (Reuters) – Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s combative testimony before a federal judge this week did little to dismantle the graft case against him and improve his chances of securing a new term in office.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Donald Trump yesterday ran into resistance for calling ousted FBI chief James Comey a “showboat,” an attack that was swiftly contradicted by top U.S.

By Jorge Familiar Jorge Familiar is World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean As Latin America and the Caribbean begins to emerge from six years of economic slowdown, including two of recession, it is essential to find ways to nurture and strengthen this budding recovery.

The eight-man Trinidadian boxing team will be looking to land some serious blows during the three-day Caribbean School Boys and Juniors Championship and return to the Twin Island Republic with silverware.

The Bureau of Statistics will soon undertake two major surveys, one of which would help with “finally understanding” the rate of unemployment regionally and nationally.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 720’s trading results showed

According to Thorstein Veblen’s theory, conspicuous consumption can be described as “tangible evidence of the cost of one’s apparel, indicating ability to spend freely on clothes”.

GASCI Summary of Financials Session 720 May 8, 2017

In an address to the nation on Tuesday night, St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr.

Dear Editor, The Guyana Independence Anniversary Celebration Committee (New York) wishes to respond to an article titled `Diaspora groups fight over NY independence celebrations’ that was published in the Guyana Chronicle on May 9, 2017.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police believe a love affair gone sour led to the murder of a woman and the suicide of her lover in Bristol Village, Mayaro, on Wednesday.

ROSEAU, Dominica,  CMC – In-form batsman Roston Chase says West Indies will be looking to cash in on the seemingly run-friendly Windsor Park track as they look to make a positive response to Pakistan, on Friday’s day three of the decisive third Test here.

LIMA, (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition is asking other Latin American countries to pressure President Nicolas Maduro’s government into implementing a “democratic agenda,” opposition leader Julio Borges said yesterday.

Trump supporters: ‘Lock her up!’ Two setting-the-scene, background points relevant to my lead issue: (1) I myself was a teacher in the public school system for eleven years before editing and producing educational supplementary readers for the Ministry of Education long before current efforts.

Gold Prices for the three-day period ending  Thursday May 11, 2017

(Prepared by the Guyana Marketing Corporation and published by Stabroek Business as a public service)

Dear Editor, I see there is a new system to remove all the buses from the Stabroek Market area to another location whenever there’s parliament in session.

BARCELONA,  (Reuters) – Triple Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton said on Thursday he expects to be back up to speed in Spain this weekend after struggling for pace in Russia.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – CIA Director Mike Pompeo said yesterday there are large caches of weapons in Venezuela and a risk of them falling into the wrong hands as the country grapples with economic crisis and street protests.

  BOKEO, Laos,  (Reuters) – Kongkaew Vonusak smiles when he recalls the arrival of Chinese investors in his tranquil village in northern Laos in 2014.

President David Granger says he is deeply saddened at the death of Tchaiko Kwayana, the wife of Eusi Kwayana, who he said tirelessly fought for the rights of the African community and the Guyanese nation.

Bilateral trade and economic relations between Guyana and Brazil characterized by exchange visits by delegations from the two countries have always been a fairly reliable barometer of the timbre of relations between them.

We note with a measure of relief the fact that just when it seemed that relations between government and the private sector were set to go completely off the rails, representatives of the two sides managed to sit down together last week at an encouragingly high level to engage on an agenda which included a number of long-standing and important issues.

First Lady,  Sandra Granger on Wednesday received a courtesy call from members of the Guyana Youth and Student Movement (GYSM), the youth arm of the People’s National Congress Reform at State House.

At the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Johannesburg in March this year, 170 delegates held discussions on how to foster entrepreneurship and scale up new businesses while acknowledging that too many people sit on the periphery of the formal economy in many countries.

The Preliminary Inquiry (PI) into the murder charge against Anand Narine and Darrol Compton, the two men accused of killing Babita Sarjou six years ago, continued yesterday, with the court having to reschedule the slated Skype evidence session.

The severe traffic jam after the Rupert Craig Highway was closed to facilitate work on an arch at Cummings Lodge.