Daily Archive: Sunday, November 14, 2010

NEW YORK,  (Reuters Life!) – Energy drinks are hugely  popular, but each one could be giving you more caffeine than a  cup of coffee, a study said.

Georgetown Hospital nurse Ursula Houston of Laing Avenue was tonight stabbed in the maternity ward of the institution with a broken bottle and is now in stable condition after treatment.

Congratulations go out to Mr. Richard Francois MA (Hons), Bsc. on the completion of his Master of Arts (Honours) Degree from Middlesex University, London in the field of Marketing Communications.

The West Indies Cricket Board has announced that six players from the Sagicor High Performance Centre are in the West Indies A ‘Test’ squad to face Pakistan A in two Digicel ‘Tests’ in St Vincent.

Construction defects associated with the  Skeldon sugar factory as well as a lack of information on an environmental  impact assessment for the Amaila Falls project are two concerns which would see both projects being revisited if the AFC wins next year’s general elections.

ABU DHABI, (Reuters) – Germany’s Sebastian Vettel  became Formula One’s youngest world champion today by  winning the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee yesterday admonished members of Prison Visiting Committees (PVCs) across the country to be more proactive in executing their duties as watchdogs of the Guyana Prison Service.

(Trinidad Express) Former Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) talk-show host, Fazeer Mohammed, has moved on to One Caribbean Media’s (OCM) TV6.

Bids are being invited by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development for the construction of the Mahaica Market at Belmonte.

ARLINGTON, Texas, (Reuters) – Manny Pacquiao  cemented his place in the pantheon of boxing greats by  recording an unanimous points victory over Antonio Margarito yesterday to claim the vacant WBC super welterweight title.

Businessman Suresh Ramkissoon is offering for sale micro and mini hydroelectric power plants.

The PNCR this afternoon issued a statement saying that no surgical intervention could be done at this time on its critically ill executive Winston Murray because of the state of his vital signs including, no responses from his brain.

Fire suspected to be electrical in origin destroyed a two-flat wooden and concrete building that housed The Woodworks Factory at Plantation Caracas, Smithfield, New Amsterdam yesterday.

Introduction Sometimes around now, sometimes later, the press and the public are excited when the report of the Audit Office on the accounts of the ministries, departments and regions is tabled in the National Assembly.

As commerce threatens to overwhelm areas available for development, residents of the major communities in the Mabaruma Sub-Region in Region One nevertheless remain optimistic about what the future holds for life there.

The decomposing body of a Linden woman was discovered early yesterday morning in a yard at Christianburg.

With public campaigning already started ahead of the official call for nominations in the race among prospective presidential candidates for the main opposition PNCR,

By Oluatoyin Alleyne Less than three years ago Sandra Braithwaite spent her nights on a tomb in Le Repentir Cemetery and her days doing odd jobs or on a ‘block’ buying cocaine and being merry among ‘friends’.

Farmers who are owed more than $300 million for paddy supplied to the Mahaicony Rice Limited (MRL) since the first crop this year may be in for a longer wait.

Thirty-two-year-old Sandor Walcott continues to recover in the Georgetown Public Hospital after the ambulance he was driving collided with a truck on Thursday morning.

The PNCR says it remains unimpressed with the way the government is handling labour issues following last month’s laying off of 274 Barama workers with the closure of the company’s Land of Canaan operation.

Introduction In my two previous Sunday columns, I had developed the argument to the effect that the steep increases in remittance flows to Guyana (as well as Jamaica) reflect both criminally-inspired transfers along with transfers made by hard-working Guyanese and Jamaican emigrants living in the diaspora. 

The announcement of the formation of Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) is a welcome development (‘Company formed to promote transparency, fight corruption’ SN, November 11). 

It is not often that the Caribbean can say it is leading global thinking on an issue, but that it what happened this week when the Caribbean Tourism Organi-sation (CTO) released a detailed report on the damaging effect on tourism that the UK government’s controversial Air Passenger Duty (APD) is having.

The National Sports Commission and the Guyana Relief Council are among 11 statutory bodies that have not had their financial statements audited for more than five years, the most recent Auditor General’s report states.

What a sham! While the Venezuelan military announces it will not accept an opposition victory in the 2012 elections, thousands of people are dying in Mexico’s drug wars and Haiti is suffering from a deadly cholera epidemic, the Organization of American States – supposedly in charge of addressing the region’s biggest problems – is nowhere to be seen.

GPL customers with tampered meters have been granted a period of amnesty by the company whereby they can report the fault and receive a prepaid meter, CEO Bharrat Dindyal has said.

The revival of Trevor Rhone’s powerful drama Old Story Time by the Theatre Guild allows a timely new focus on this important Caribbean classic.  

-Rose is new three point shooting champ; Hamid retains dunk title After losing to Linden for the past two years in the Junior All-Star game, Georgetown regained the Junior All-Star title when they defeated Linden 83-67 Friday night as the Wildfire Entertainment’s All-Star Basketball Weekend commenced at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Flower arrangements make a room look fresh, airy and beautiful. Arrange a variety of floral displays to decorate every room in your home.

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – West Indies A will hope to take something from their three-match one-day series against Pakistan A when they clash in the final game today at the National Stadium here.

The government is to purchase at least a dozen garbage trucks to service the heavily populated areas and it is expected that citizens will have to shell out cash for the service.

David Khan and Kriskal Persaud with two wins each, surged into the lead of the Seven Seas-sponsored Closed National Chess Championships, which began yesterday at the Ocean Spray Hotel, Kitty.

The Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG) said the crescent for Eid ul Adha has now been sighted and therefore it will be commemorated on Wednesday.

Continued Poisons I suppose that if I were to carry out a statistical analysis of all the reasons why animals are most often presented at the clinic, and what the greatest cause of death is, the result would be poisoning.

-Second to last ICC ranked team the West Indies take on  number three ranked Sri Lanka from tomorrow very much underprepared and with a new look team and a new captain to boot As the skies opened up in Colombo over the past few days, flooding streets and the outfield at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground, the West Indies cricketers would have come to fully appreciate the age-old adage that it never rains but it  pours.

At five o’clock when many workers are on their way home, the business day gets under way for Rudolph Gravesande.

There are quite a few members of the cactus family that grow very well in Guyana, providing they are given good drainage and exposure to sunlight. 

Three members of  Guyana’s champion Twenty20 cricket team will take their skills to the United States of America for the biggest T20 series ever staged in the country scheduled for December 3-5 in Florida.

I hear the frequent chorus: “Poetry is boring,” “poetry is impossible to understand,” “poetry is irrelevant,” “poetry has no place in this computer age,” “poetry is for academics.” 

BK Western Tigers eight-team Football Festival has received support from beverage giants Banks DIH Limited.,

One of the top awardees in the President’s Youth Award Republic of Guyana (PYARG) programme Olisa Sanderson (front, left) receiving her trophy from Prime Minister Samuel Hinds yesterday afternoon when the PYARG celebrated its 12th anniversary.

Eight matches, eight winners, eights losers. That was the story of the second night of the Guinness Greatest of de Street, Futsal competition at the East Ruimveldt Community Centre Court  Friday night.

“I was asking about if anyone could assist me by asking anyone if they have any used old furniture what they don’t want.

The 2010 Seven Seas National Chess Championship began yesterday at the Ocean Spray Hotel.

Rain after the luncheon period, a relentless fight from the Rest Team players and a ‘graveyard’ Blairmont Community Centre ground pitch, contributed towards a drawn encounter between the Rest Team and Berbice in the first round of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Four-day tournament yesterday.

Roy Cummings shot a net 66 to take first day’s honours on the opening day of the Digicel Golf Classic  at the Lusignan Golf Course, East Coast Demarara.

Defending champion Ransford Goodluck bounced back into contention when he secured victory on a rain-interrupted second day of the Queensway sponsored National Rifle Shooting championships yesterday at the Timehri Rifle ranges.

Sunburst Camptown’s Devon Ford had a spectacular run against Victoria Kings as he recorded a helmet-trick to help his team into the semi-final round of the Fruta Conquerors organized Namilco Football Festival at the Tucville Playfield on Thursday night.

Dear Editor, Not diverted, not stolen, and not corrupted; there is no deception, no chicanery!

Dear Editor, In recent months, there have been several building fires around the country, resulting in the loss of property worth millions of dollars.

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi walked out of her home to rapturous cheers from thousands of supporters yesterday after the country’s military rulers released her from seven years of house arrest.

HYDERABAD, India, (Reuters) – Openers Virender Sehwag  and Gautam Gambhir gave India a flying start after the bowlers  triggered a New Zealand batting collapse on the second day of  the second test yesterday.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – Mohammed Hafeez’s half-century  guided Pakistan to 144 for two in reply to South Africa’s first innings 380 on the second day of the first test yesterday.

Dear Editor, Each day when I open the daily newspapers there is at least one article that makes me feel as if I have stepped through the looking glass and I am in a land where up is down and wrong is right.

YOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama called for surplus economies such as China to end reliance on exports for growth, but his Chinese counterpart cautioned that economic policy change would come gradually.

HAKA (Reuters) – At least three people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Bangladesh yesterday, and over 100 protesters were injured as officials evicted the leader of the opposition from the house where she had lived for 40 years.

Dear Editor, About three weeks or so ago, on October 25, Stabroek News quoted the President as saying “I don’t see any need, at this point in time, to revise it [VAT rate]… We don’t think VAT is a burden because of what it replaced.”

Obituary Professor Rawle Egbert Griffith Farley died on November 6, aged 88.

(Barbados Nation) Mia Mottley, former leader of the Barbados Labour Party, says she will not be taking part in any tainted election process to select the party’s chairman.

Last Wednesday, parents effectively shut down Golden Grove Primary on the East Coast as well as Bagotville Primary on the West Bank over lack of water in the schools, among other things.

-But Alonso favoured to take third Formula One title ABU DHABI, (Reuters) – Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel  put himself in the best possible position to claim the Formula  One title by beating his three rivals to pole position in the  Abu Dhabi Grand Prix yesterday.

(Trinidad Express) The most damning, explosive, “troublesome and vexing” of the revelations made by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in the Parliament on Friday, was that the nation’s Head of State, its first citizen, President George Maxwell Richards’ phone was among those persons whose phones were being tapped and e-mails intercepted by the Strategic Intelligence Agency (SIA), the “secret intelligence agency,“ since 2005.

YANGON, (Reuters) – Pro-democracy leader Aung San  Suu Kyi called for freedom of speech in army-ruled Myanmar today and urged thousands of supporters to stand up for their  rights and not lose heart, indicating she might pursue a  political role.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed ministers a five-point US peace plan that includes a 90-day settlement freeze, a diplomatic source said yesterday.