Daily Archive: Sunday, August 15, 2010

—PPP claims popularity ‘never been so high While the ruling party is maintaining its cool about its support ahead of next year’s elections, opposition parties admit that they are contending with “disenchantment” among prospective voters who they hope will cast their ballots for change.

President Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent pledge of some US$30M over the next three years to purchase laptops for 90,000 poor families has attracted a lot of scepticism, including the suggestion that it is an election campaign gimmick.

Was wanted man, ‘Cobra,’ part of the gang that unleashed a barrage of gunfire during the robbery at Plaisance two weeks ago, which left two men dead?

The three fishermen who were found after being missing for two weeks are expected to be reunited with their relatives today.

—Archaeologist Mark Plew Archaeologists have been making groundbreaking discoveries in Guyana in recent years, including unearthing the remains of a whale, a giant porpoise and a rock fish, all of which could be about 10,000 years old. 

-charged with traffic offences Magistrate Haymant Ramdhani has issued an arrest warrant for former High Court judge Justice Jainarayan Singh Jr over traffic offences.

—David Hinds The AFC’s rejection of potential electoral partnership with the PNCR ignores changes in both the main opposition party and the political landscape, according to WPA Executive and coalition advocate Professor David Hinds.

By Marlon Munroe Guyana men’s kumite team failed to advance to today’s final of the 11th International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) Pan American championships which ends today at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

-new faces highlight BMX categories By Floyd Christie The racing tactics used by Warren ‘Forty’ McKay to triumph in the 35-lap invitation race at yesterday’s ‘Teach Them Young’ cycle race meet around the inner circle of the National Park was questioned upon completion of the event.

The Young Achievers volleyball team continued to dominate the ongoing True Champions Volleyball Tournament (TCVT) playing unbeaten yesterday at the Rollers Volleyball Court in New Amsterdam.

Team Guyana ended day one of the Goodwill Games Swimming Championships, currently underway in Suriname, with a gold medal and three silver medals yesterday.

TORONTO, (Reuters) – Briton Andy Murray cleared a  major hurdle in his Toronto Masters title defence brushing aside world number one Rafa Nadal 6-3 6-4 yesterday to storm into the final.

SOUTHAMPTON, England, CMC – West Indies all-rounder Kieron Pollard has been sent to hospital for scans after being struck in the face while playing for Somerset in the Friends Provident Twenty20 final against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl yesterday.

KOHLER, Wisconsin, (Reuters) – American Nick Watney  broke free of the chasing pack to open up a three-stroke lead  after the third round of the U.S.

Former three-time national men’s singles table tennis champion Colin France will be in the thick of things when the Guyana Darts Association in partnership with Granny’s Hangout Bar of Better Hope stages an Open tournament.

PR exercise Last week I pointed out that official US stress-testing of its biggest banks seemed to have ‘worked’ because a large measure of confidence has been restored in the banking system.

SINGAPORE, (Reuters) – The inaugural Youth Olympic Games officially opened in Singapore yesterday with a ceremony  on the world’s largest floating stage and an extravagant firework display.

Thirty-two persons who graduated from the National Volunteer Teachers’ Programme last Friday will be deployed to eight hinterland and riverain schools and communities for a one-year period, commencing from the new school year in September, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.

ContinuedIntroduction Last week I wrote that the Government of Guyana through the instrumentality of President Jagdeo was about to enter the tourism sector as a major investor while simultaneously getting out of a major lucrative investment in the telecommunication sector from which it, or rather the increasingly infamous NICIL, received some $3,458,000,000 in dividends.

Cabinet has approved a $95.36M contract for repairs to sections of the East Bank Public Road from La Penitence to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timerhi.

Nothing can compare with the beauty and warmth of life at home.

By Sham Samaroo Everything seems to be coming up roses for United States of America’s Lennox Cush in 2010.

—crime chief The case involving the forgery of a will was properly investigated and all the evidence was in the prosecution’s file, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said, days after a magistrate accused the police of investigating the matter poorly.

There is a cauldron in the middle of the nation.  Today, it is a brooding presence that simmers restlessly.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela is investigating the  shooting of a Hong Kong player during a game at the women’s  Baseball World Cup and will issue a revised schedule yesterday for the 11 international teams taking part.

Rockel Gladstone, of Kimbia, Berbice River, left yesterday morning to undergo a kidney transplant operation in India that it is expected to end years of pain and suffering she has endured.

Part 2 The advice to consumers from the Pharmacy Council continues: “8.

Bikers gave George-towners a foretaste of the skills which will be on display at the Bikerfest today in the National Park, when they went through their paces on the capital’s streets yesterday.

The third annual Berbice Football Association (BFA) organised Cheddi and Janet Jagan Memorial knockout football tournament gets underway today with a double header at the Number Five Village Playfield (Zeelust) at 2pm.

Oscar Wilde is reported to have said that the man who could call a spade a spade should be compelled to use one, for it is the only thing for which he is fitted. 

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts, (Reuters) – Power forward Karl Malone and small forward Scottie Pippen were among 10 inductees into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday.

Dancers practising their acrobatics yesterday at the National Park in preparation for their performance at the Bikerfest today (Photo by Jules Gibson)

SUKKUR, Pakistan (Reuters) – United Nations aid agencies have provided assistance to hundreds of thousands of victims of Pakistan’s worst floods in decades but relief operations have yet to reach an estimated six million people.

-Alexander The PPP/C administration has been dubbed “involuntary disciples” of Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham by University of Guyana Registrar and Chairman of the Burnham Foundation Vincent Alexander.

Costume designing came into focus once again when the Theatre Guild of Guyana held a workshop on the subject recently. 

The final of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Super Eight knockout competition will wrap up tonight with the final and third place showdown set to be contested at the Georgetown Football Club (GFC) Ground from 6pm.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan prosecutors are investigating opposition newspaper El Nacional after it published a front-page photograph of corpses piled up at a morgue in the capital Caracas, the government said yesterday.

Police seek gangsters for Tredegar Park massacre (Jamaica Observer) The shock and horror of the savagery unleashed by marauding gunmen on Tredegar Park, Spanish Town, St Catherine early yesterday morning was still vividly displayed on the faces of residents at mid-morning.

Dear Editor, Reading Henry Jeffrey’s letter in SN of August 13 (‘A unitary opposition slate is a critical component if government is to be captured and governance transformed’), one is tempted to recall the sage who wrote: “The learned are beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Allyson Felix, dripping with world championship gold but  twice a runner-up in the Olympics, looks set to double her options at the 2012 Games after completing a the 400m/200m Diamond League double yesterday.

Roadside campsite: A homeless person has set up camp under a tree at the side of Aubrey Barker Street in South Ruimveldt.

No, the topic is not about ‘stray dogs’ that roam our cities and rural roadways.

KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has asked US President Barack Obama to review how the war in Afghanistan is being conducted as civilian deaths continue to rise, Karzai’s office said yesterday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia plans to discuss after Oct. 1 whether to extend a grain export ban into next year, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov told Reuters, after a severe drought ruined vast tracts of the country’s grain crop.

By Dr Sabujan Sainudeen, MD (Consultant Radiologist) The ultrasound scan is one of the most widely used and most valuable diagnostic tools in modern medicine.

Dear Editor, Another August is here again, a time of much significance especially for Guyanese of African descent, with its inspiring theme of ‘emancipation.’

PANAMA CITY, Fla (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama yesterday backed off remarks that appeared to endorse a proposed Muslim cultural centre near the site of the Sept.

A disconsolate driver negotiates his way through the bush on Thomas Lands outside Camp Ayanganna after a minibus shunted his vehicle into a trench.

Reaching out to senior citizens: Ten final year Social Work and Sociology students of the University of Guyana were at the St Thomas Moore Home in Lamaha Street, Kitty yesterday where residents were provided with lunch and hampers of toiletries.

(Trinidad Express) Trinidad and Tobago is about to sign an agreement with Venezuela to begin exploiting hydrocarbon reserves located between the two countries.

MASON, Ohio, (Reuters) – Former world number one Andy  Roddick said a virus was to blame for his recent fitness  problems but expects to be back in good shape for the U.S.

CARACAS (Reuters) – A thawing of relations with neighbour Colombia is unlikely to give Hugo Chávez a boost ahead of legislative polls next month, and the bombastic Venezuelan leader could well ramp up his rhetoric again.

WORCESTER, England, (Reuters) – Zulqarnain Haider,  one of Pakistan’s few successes in the test defeat to England  last week, has a chipped finger and will see a specialist on Tuesday to see if he can play again in the series.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jazz singer Abbey Lincoln, whose career spanned six decades and included acting, composing and participation in the US civil rights movement, died yesterday at age 80, The New York Times reported.

(Trinidad Express) In an effort to “pursue vigorously any wrongdoing” in state agencies, a five-member team of forensic auditors has been mandated to investigate several of them simultaneously, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan announced on Friday.

Dear Editor, Charity is a hub for many economic activities on the Essequibo Coast.

All the discussions about grand coalitions among opposition parties might be a little premature.

-Chief Sea Defence Officer Chief River and Sea Defence Officer Geoffrey Vaughn has said that there was no breach of the sea dam at Herstelling, East Bank Demerara during the spring tides experienced recently.