Daily Archive: Thursday, December 23, 2010

Around 8.15 last night goldsmith Gopaul, 51 years of Richmond, Essequibo Coast, and his wife were attacked and robbed by four men, one of whom was armed with a handgun.

Several persons were today taken into custody after officials of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) swooped down on a St Vincent and the Grenadines-registered vessel and seized a quantity of undeclared alcoholic beverages.

A car stolen from a taxi driver at Bare Root, ECD yesterday was found at a Bel Air workshop and three men and a juvenile are now in custody.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – A 13-year-old has smashed the  record for the highest individual score by an Indian schoolboy  with a marathon innings of 498.

(BBC) Angry Haitian mobs are reported to have killed at least 45 people in recent weeks, accusing them of spreading a cholera outbreak that has killed over 2,500 people across the country.

(BBC) The ratings agency, Standard and Poor’s, has said that the Jamaica government needs a strategy for debt reduction that takes the country beyond the next scheduled general elections.

In a statement today, the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) says it has an adequate amount of staff on the customs wharves to deal with the increased traffic for the Christmas season.

The dead man who was discovered along the Dora trail last evening was this morning identified as taxi driver Leyton Garraway.

Magistrate Chandra Sohan this morning placed activist Mark Benschop and journalist Freddie Kissoon on $1 bail on two charges.

President Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday announced a one-month bonus for the Disciplined Services which will cost $400M.

SEOUL, (Reuters) – North Korea warned today   of a “holy war” against the South using its nuclear deterrent   as South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed a “merciless   counterattack” if its territory is attacked again.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Allegations of pitch   doctoring to favour Australia’s attack for the fourth Ashes   test against England have been “funny to read”, the Melbourne   Cricket Ground’s head groundsman said yesterday.

(BBC) The cash-strapped Turks and Caicos Islands is threatening to name and shame businesses which are in arrears to the government.

Money for approved projects under Guyana’s forest preservation deal with Norway could still take some time to be released as the “partner entities” to whom the money will go are finalizing transfer agreements between them and the World Bank.

President Bharrat Jagdeo has offered sugar workers a five percent one-off pay increase which they will receive before the end of the year—an offer that he said was outside of the ongoing wage discussions involving the sugar corporation.

It has not yet been decided whether the PPP’s presidential candidate for general elections will be selected by secret ballot.

The government signed an agreement yesterday with China for delivery of two passenger ferries and as a result it plans to effect modifications to the Parika and Supenaam stellings next year.

Government says that it believes allegations of death threats against Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) President Tony James are “extremely serious” and it will fully support police investigations.

Sherry Crawford is hopeful that her son, who has not shown any sign of consciousness nine days after being chopped, will recover but “me afraid that if he pulls through he might come out mad.”

While acknowledging that the government intervention at the Mandela Landfill site was welcomed, acting Mayor Robert Williams stated that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is too cash-strapped to properly manage the site.

PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar yesterday rejected a call from the AFC for a special sitting of parliament to address the problems plaguing the sugar industry.

Dr Faith Harding, who is contesting to be the main opposition PNCR’s presidential candidate, launched the local leg of her campaign yesterday while declaring herself the most qualified of the candidates to lead the party into next year’s election.

PPP General Secretary Donald Ramotar says the threat to de-recognise the sugar union GAWU emanated from GuySuCo’s management and not from the corporation’s board and was a decision that took him by surprise.

An employee of the state-owned NCN was said to be in a serious condition after being involved in an accident at the corner of Robb and Oronoque Streets last evening.

The complement of magistrates was further increased yesterday when attorneys-at-law Leron Daly and Leslie Sobers were sworn in at a brief ceremony hosted at the Office of the Prime Minister.

An armed motorcycle bandit yesterday snatched $3 million dollars from a man who was sitting in a vehicle at Orange Walk, Bourda shortly after leaving a city bank.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday remanded to prison a Timehri gold miner accused of having 808 grams of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking.

Altaf Hoosein, the community policing group member who was stabbed on Tuesday evening, is now a patient of the High Dependency Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital.

In the fallout over the defects-plagued Skeldon sugar factory, the UK-based sugar management firm Booker Tate filed a lawsuit against the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) three months ago claiming millions for services rendered.

The Kashif and Shanghai football tournament makes a return to the place where it all started over two decades ago.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – England were blindsided by  the intensity of paceman Mitchell Johnson’s swing during their  third test defeat to Australia in Perth, but would not be  caught out again in Melbourne, batsman Kevin Pietersen warned yesterday.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Pakistan’s suspended test captain  Salman Butt will attend a hearing into spot-fixing charges in  Doha in January after the International Cricket Council rejected  his application to adjourn proceedings.

Coach of the of the Guyana national cricket team, Ravidranauth Seeram, and team captain Ramnaresh Sarwan are of the opinion that the Guyana national Twenty20 cricket team is in even better shape for the upcoming 2011 Caribbean Twenty20 than they were when the tournament was held this yea.

Guyana’s darts ace Norman Madhoo has been eliminated from the Ladbrokes.com

The local basketball arena will come alive shortly as the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) is jumping off the New Year with the hosting of their inaugural ‘Champion Club’ basketball tournament scheduled to begin on January 22.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Organisers are hoping the presence of West Indies stars Shiv Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan raises the intensity of next week’s Cricket Festival Twenty20 series.

LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The NBA champion Los   Angeles Lakers were left stunned and humiliated after being   upset 98-79 on their home court by the under-strength  Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

Linden’s ferry boat operators were found to be complying with the laws yesterday when the Guyana Police Force (GPF) Marine Division made an impromptu visit to the area using one of its newly acquired vessels.

WINDSOR, Ontario, (Reuters) – Manny Pacquiao will  fight Shane Mosley, a former champion in three divisions, on  May 7 in Las Vegas, promoter Bob Arum said Tuesday.

A minibus tout accused of stealing a woman’s cellular phone was yesterday placed on $30,000 bail when he appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry   Medvedev’s warm reception in India, including wrapping up a   stealth jet fighters deal potentially worth $35 billion,   dispels Russian fears its former Cold War ally has turned to   the West.

Two more witnesses in the Guyana Power and Light stolen transformer case on Monday testified before Magistrate Fazil Azeez at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Dear Editor, I am not surprised about recent comments made by Mr Charles Sohan in a letter titled ‘Bewildering that Hope Canal excavation has been halted because of weather,’ dated Monday, December 20 in the Stabroek News and an article in the Kaieteur News titled ‘Technical sound, feasible Hope Canal project delayed until mid-January’ dated Tuesday, December 21 which contains a number of inaccuracies.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Discarded West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has downplayed his inclusion in a 30-man squad to prepare for next year’s Cricket World Cup in India.

LONDON, (Reuters) – A year that began with doubts  over Rafael Nadal’s body and continued with worries over Roger  Federer’s head ended with both men at the peak of their powers  and promising some juicy new chapters of their rivalry in 2011.

The High Commission of Canada has announced that it will be closed to the public for the holidays.

Dear Editor, It was pleasing to read the letter from Michael De Freitas ‘Why has E-networks been allowed to extend its signal but others have not?’

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry on Monday granted $200,000 bail each to three men accused of stealing 70 chips worth $1.4M from the Princess Hotel and Casino.

HAVANA, (Reuters) – A Salvadoran man has been  convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison by a Cuban court  for his part in 1990s hotel bombings in Cuba organized by  anti-Castro groups, Cuban state media said yesterday.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Cycling in 2010 was struck by a  series of crises that threatened to wipe out most of its efforts  to fight doping, with the sport’s two biggest names involved in  scandals.

JAKARTA,  (Reuters) – Finland is aiming to set up an   scheme to produce renewable biomass energy from Indonesian   forests next year, following in the footsteps of a lauded   Norwegian agreement to tackle Indonesia’s high deforestation.

Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said government is upping its efforts to diversify the coconut industry and will invest $9M in the development of appropriate technology to bring this plan to fruition.

Hard living

Dear Editor, One would hope that the whole point of laying a synthetic athletic track is to ensure that the timings achieved will earn international recognition.

SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – The nominee to be Brazil’s  next tourism minister used more than $1,000 in state funds to  pay for a party at a hotel commonly used for sexual encounters,  a newspaper reported yesterday.

Dear Editor, It doesn’t appear to me that the strategists, revisionists, technocrats, directors and even the experts that are daily involved in the direction of West Indies cricket have properly considered the rationale in preparing the West Indies team for prestigious international tournaments, such as the World Cup.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry remanded to prison a Timehri woman accused of having 516 grams of cannabis in her possession for the purpose of trafficking.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Lendl Simmons’ local club president is irate over the flashy opener’s continued exclusion from West Indies teams and has blasted regional selectors over the issue.

An ice-cream cone

Shopping garbage

Busy Regent Street

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate approved a  landmark nuclear arms control treaty with Russia yesterday,  giving President Barack Obama a major foreign policy victory in  his drive to improve ties with Moscow and curb the spread of  atomic weapons to other nations.

Dear Editor, Dr Cheddi Jagan acted and spoke the way he did because he was the son of a sugar worker.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry granted $150,000 bail to a man accused of attempted armed robbery, when he yesterday appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Embattled West Indies off-spinner Shane Shillingford has been pulled from the Windward Islands side for next month’s Caribbean Twenty20 Championship, following his suspension from bowling in international cricket because of an illegal action.

Bridgetown, Barbados – Fast bowler Tino Best is delighted to be among the 30 players named by the West Indies Cricket Board in the preliminary squad for the ICC World Cup 2011.

Dear Editor, There is absolutely no way that GuySuCo under the PPP will ever de-recognize GAWU.

The suspension of the excavation work on the Hope Canal does not signal an attempt to abandon the project, the National Drainage & Irrigation Authority (NDIA) says.

Music to Xmas

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Brazil plans to expand a  crackdown on companies that patent products made from rare  plants and animals without adequately compensating the South  American country or its indigenous communities.

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Tuesday outlined a three-step crime plan as she admitted that crime in this country was a “challenge” for her Government.

PARIS/ABIDJAN, (Reuters) – The World Bank froze  funding to Ivory Coast yesterday and presidential claimant  Alassane Ouattara’s top aide called on world leaders to consider  force to oust incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.

The Ministry of Education says the implementation of the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) has resulted in the curbing of the drop-out rate in the early grades of secondary school.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-20s booked their berth in the CONCACAF final round qualifiers on Monday when they beat Suriname 2-1 in the return leg of their Caribbean  Football Union Group D tie at the Marvin Lee Stadium.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition accused  President Hugo Chavez yesterday of a “coup d’etat” after the  outgoing parliament gave him the power to rule by decree for 18  months and pushed through a host of new laws.

More than 620 visitors to Guyana during the festive season were treated to a traditional ‘Christmas welcome’ hosted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri on December 19 in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and the Guyana Tourism Authority.

(Go-Jamaica) There are worries that there could be a fallout in the tourist sector this winter following Tuesday  night’s attack by gunmen on a prominent all-inclusive hotel in Negril Westmoreland.

In three days, the holiday most celebrated universally will have come and gone.

Dear Editor, The Christmas season is one of expectancy among the large Guyanese population in various parts of America. 

UENOS AIRES,  (Reuters) – Former Argentine dictator  Jorge Rafael Videla, who defends the campaign of state violence  that killed thousands of people from 1976 to 1983, was jailed  for life yesterday for murder, torture and kidnapping.

Politikles

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Two new players have been named in a 14-man Combined Campuses and Colleges squad to contest next month’s Caribbean Twenty20 Championship in Antigua and Barbados.