Daily Archive: Saturday, January 14, 2012

The roll-on roll-off ferries that arrived in Guyana recently were officially transferred to the Guyana Government yesterday by Chinese Ambassador Yu Wenzhe, according to the Government Information Agency.

(Barbados Nation) Police are asking the public to be vigilant and report all suspicious people and activities to the police.

(de Ware Tijd) BOXEL – Peter van Haperen, witness for de defense in the trial of Desi Bouterse, claims to know nothing about the murders that were committed in Fort Zeelandia on 8 December 1982.

(de Ware Tijd) BOXEL – No sentence will be demanded yet against the main suspect in the December murders trial Desi Bouterse.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – A hacker who goes by the  name of ‘Yama Tough’ threatened today to release next week  the full source code for Symantec    Corp’s flagship Norton Antivirus software.

(Jamaica Observer) Newly appointed Cabinet minister Robert Pickersgill wants the country to be sensitised about the importance of climate change, one of his portfolios.

New Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has said that she has heard enough grumbling about the ‘No child left behind’ policy to persuade her that there should be a countrywide consultation about the policy and whether it should remain in the school system.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Nineteen-year-old Alicia Smith was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison and pay a fine exceeding $124,000 after she was caught trying to smuggle marijuana to Panama.

(Trinidad Express) CLICO Investment Bank (CIB), a subsidiary of CL Financial, was yesterday described as a “bran tub” and a “cancer” by one of its founders, ambassador Mervyn Assam.

(Trinidad Guardian) Former minister in the Ministry of National Security Subhas Panday said during his tenure at the ministry he rejected the idea of conjugal visits for prisoners because he felt it added no value to the prisoners or society.

AMMAN (Reuters) – Qatar has proposed sending Arab troops to halt the bloodshed in Syria, where violence has raged despite the presence of Arab League monitors sent to check if an Arab peace plan is working.

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy (Reuters) – At least three people were killed and rescuers were searching for other victims after an Italian cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground and keeled over in shallow waters.

PERTH,  (Reuters) – Australia, fired by David Warner’s  180 and another fine display from their pace attack, were  closing on victory after reducing India to 88 for four in their  second innings after two days of the third test today.

President Donald Ramotar yesterday said opposition involvement in crafting the national budget will not go beyond consultations, while insisting that it is his administration’s exclusive responsibility.

A taxi driver was discovered dead in his car yesterday morning at Goedverwagting Road, Plaisance, on the East Coast Demerara—prompting the drivers’ association to urge operators to exercise more caution when picking up fares.

A 50-year-old man was yesterday charged with raping a nine-year-old girl and was placed on $200,000 bail when he appeared at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court.

President Donald Ramotar yesterday defended the decision to award controversial developer Fip Motilall the contract to build the road to Amaila Falls, saying that there were “probably” good decisions made at the time that turned out otherwise.

City Mayor Hamilton Green and acting Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green yesterday rebuffed signals by Presidential Advisor Gail Teixeira that an Interim Management Committee (IMC) should be set up to help clean garbage-coated Georgetown.

The Village Council of the Amerindian community of Isseneru, in Region Seven, has expressed concern over the continued operation of a mining company on village lands, which has disobeyed cease work orders issued by the authorities.

The man accused of shooting New York-based Guyanese Felix Alleyne, who lost one his kidneys as a result, was yesterday remanded to prison after being arraigned on an attempted murder charge.

The last defendant in the 2007 JFK Airport terror plot which snared three Guyanese was yesterday sentenced in a New York court to life imprisonment.

A septuagenarian on Thursday became Linden’s first traffic fatality for 2012; attributed to poor judgment on the part of deceased and speeding on the part of the other party involved.

Police have released a second man held for questioning in connection with the murder of pensioner Bebe Jahooral Banu, who is among five elderly women murdered over the past year for which the perpetrators remain at-large.

By Emmerson Campbell President Donald Ramotar yesterday answered an appeal for financial assistance from the Guyana Rugby Football Union (GRFU) on Monday by donating a cheque for five million dollars.

The residents of Vriesland and Vive La-Force, West Bank Demerara in Region Three are complaining of the deplorable state of their roadways and the constant flooding they endure.

NORTH SOUND, Antigua, CMC – Their bowling, spearheaded by birthday boy Gavin Tonge, set things up and their batting, led by Kieran Powell, helped Leeward Islands to a morale-boosting, eight-wicket victory over Canada in the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament yesterday.

One week after becoming winner of the GT&T Bollywood Jingle & Song competition, 25-year-old Gail Ann Singh called ‘Priya’ of Port Mourant, Corentyne said she is being treated like a celebrity.

Norton Street, Lodge residents say that emergency repair works to their street, carried out by the Public Works Ministry on Tuesday, were not done properly, and they are threatening to resume protesting until the authorities act.

In 2003, the Kenyan Government announced universal and free education and parents from around the country rushed with their children’s birth certificates in an effort to get them enrolled in school.

Dear Editor, As part of the run up to the 2011 election, Stabroek News invited the political parties to submit weekly columns in the Sunday Stabroek. 

The En-compass project hosted a workshop aimed at safeguarding the cultural heritage of the Makushi people at the Bina Hill Institute at Annai, North Rupununi, in December.

Giftland Officemax became the first corporate entity this year to throw its support behind the Guyana National football team after signing a $4.25 million-dollar contract with the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) as the team prepares for the third round of the  CONCACAF 2014 World Cup Qualifiers against Mexico, Costa Rica and El Salvador from June 8 – October 16.

Hi Everyone, Ever wonder why you love the Coca Cola in one country but can’t stand the taste of it elsewhere?

YANGON, (Reuters) – Myanmar freed at least 200  political prisoners yesterday in an amnesty that prompted the  United States to upgrade diplomatic relations as one of the  world’s most reclusive states opens up after half a century of  authoritarian rule.

MIAMI,  (Reuters) – Ousted former FIFA vice-president Jack Warner said  yesterday he had documented evidence to back his claim that he was gifted World Cup television rights in return for FIFA votes and accused the organisation of being “disingenuous and dishonest”.

Dear Editor, Article 146 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Guyana provides for the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens and is the supreme law of the land and directs: “Except with his consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to hold opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference and freedom from interference with his correspondence.”

Ten persons, including an eight-month-old baby, escaped with only their lives early Thursday morning when a fire, suspected to be electrical in origin, gutted their two-storey Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara home.

 (Reuters) – The Memphis Grizzlies snapped a three-game losing streak with a 94-83 mauling of the New York Knicks at the FedExForum on Thursday.

NAIROBI,  (Reuters) – Kenya’s top judge called  yesterday for his deputy to be suspended while she is  investigated for threatening a shopping mall security guard with  a pistol.

With a week gone of the two-week deadline given by Education Minister Priya Manickchand to Region Three’s administrative and education officials to have the pond in front of the Nismes Primary School filled, works are yet to start.

The Scene Cartoon

Dear Editor, Construction of the shelter for the homeless at Onverwagt for which Venezuela donated the money, started over one year ago, and contractors have changed. 

Twenty-five years ago, though he had not yet experienced Mashramani, Rudy Grant sat down and wrote the now iconic “Mash in Guyana”, which remains the only song that is played around Guyana’s February 23 celebration every year, while calypso and soca songs come and go.

Dear Editor, The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has recently launched its Competition Rules 2012-2013.Chapter

The Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) will host its annual awards ceremony tonight for the most outstanding athletes during 2011 at the Young Men’s Christian Association Building (YMCA) from 19:00hrs.

LIMA,  (Reuters) – Dutch citizen Joran Van der  Sloot was sentenced to 28 years in prison by a Peruvian court yesterday for killing a woman in Lima in 2010, exactly five years  since 18-year-old Alabama native Natalee Holloway disappeared  after spending time with him.

The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) is launching a documentary short, titled “Holding back the Sea,” aimed at teaching the public about the importance of restoring and protecting mangroves.

(Trinidad Express) Former finance minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira on Thursday gave an “emotional and expressive” account of the reasons behind her decision to break a CLICO Investment Bank (CIB) fixed deposit weeks before a billion dollar bailout of CL Financial was brokered.

PERTH,  (Reuters) – David Warner surprised even himself with his scoring rate as he smashed the quickest ever century by a test opener in a match against India  yesterday.

In tribute to Sonia Noel’s 15th year in fashion, the executive of Guyana Fashion Weekend (GFW) will host an event at the Duke Lodge, Kingston, on January 19, featuring 15 models in a 15-minute fashion capsule.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Standard & Poor’s  stripped France of its top AAA rating yesterday and carried out  a mass downgrade of half the nations in the euro zone, a move  that may complicate European efforts to solve a two-year old  debt crisis. 

Dear Editor, So Parliament met yesterday!  I wonder what the state of affairs around Parliament Building was – on all sides east, west, north and south.

Legendary music promoter Cyril Shaw passed away yesterday at a home for the elderly in Berbice, where he was being taken care of while being treated for Alzheimer’s.

(Trinidad Guardian) NEW YORK—A Queens judge sentenced three members of a  Richmond Hill family to serve a combined 418 years in jail for a brazen immigration and real-estate scam.

The Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) has said the mobile unit of its National Weights and Measures Programme will start verification exercises shortly, even as it plans to find new ways of meeting stakeholders’ needs and safeguarding consumers this year.

Dear Editor, In your edition of January 6, Mr Roshan Khan complained about a truck causing hardship in his area over the last few weeks (‘Lorry parked in Light Street offensive to residents’).

Liquid Vibes, a new nightclub at 29 Sheriff Street has launched an ‘I saw the flyer’ promotion.

NORTH SOUND, Antigua,  CMC – An unbroken, opening stand between Dwayne Smith and captain Kirk Edwards raced Barbados to an emphatic 10-wicket victory over the Netherlands in a low-scoring affair in the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament on Thursday.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – President Barack Obama  asked Congress yesterday for broad powers to overhaul the U.S. 

(Jamaica Observer) Two men have been charged by detectives in Westmoreland for the December 27 murder of a man and injury of three others during a Jamaica Labour Party rally in Savanna la Mar.

The management of BOSAI Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc. (BMGGI) is optimistic that the company will complete at least one of two dust collectors to be installed on kilns 13 and 14 in the bauxite plant to significantly reduce the dust emitted into the Linden community and its environs.

John Percival’s brilliant all-round performance spearheaded Courtland All Stars to a 74-run victory over Chesney in the continuation of the 2011 New Building Society Second Division 40-Over cricket competition in Berbice on Thursday at the Chesney ground.

Dear Editor, In 1987, the semi-underground Baha´i Institute for Higher Education was formed by some concerned academics to give young Baha´is in Iran their only chance for a university-level education.

The Break the Silence, Say No to Domestic Violence Group – Sukree Boodram, Dianne Madray, Stella Ramsaroop and Varshnie Singh will be among the 2012 honorees when the Guyanese American Cultural Foundation of Central Florida (GACFCF) hosts its 8th annual Republic Ball on Saturday, February 25.

OTTAWA, (Reuters) – The Canadian government,  bowing to the power of Twitter and Facebook, announced yesterday  it would end a ban on posting early election results before  polls close across the country.

Lately, I have been reading about men around the world who are taking some dramatic steps to fight for women’s rights.

Politikles

(Trinidad Express) A pipeline project which aims to export natural gas from Trinidad and Tobago to other Caribbean islands has found new investors.

(Reuters) – A federal judge in Houston said a team of  attorneys representing Allen Stanford, who is accused of running  a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, must stay on the case despite their  request to withdraw.

By Timothy Austin Moviegoers struggled to find a truly entertaining feature film in 2011. While

Dear Editor, On January 10, the Central Housing and Planning Authority (CH&PA) and the PPP suffered a great loss when the stalwart Dr Moti Lall died in his sleep.

The release of video footage that appears to show four US Marines urinating on the corpses of Agfhan fighters has been greeted around the world with outrage.

Construction work ongoing at the corner of

The Normal Singh Memorial Turf Club in collaboration with the Winner’s Circle Pools Hall and Bar will run off a horse race meet on January 29 at No.

(Trinidad Express) The final day of the fourth evidence hearing of the Commission of Enquiry into the collapse of CL Financial and the Hindu Credit Union descended into “harsh exchanges” between ambassador Mervyn Assam and two members of the inner bar—Queen’s Counsel Bankim Thanki and Martin Daly, SC.

(Trinidad Express) A 58-year-old Port of Spain man is dead and two of his friends injured after they were ambushed by two gunmen while attending a wake near their homes in East Dry River on Thursday night.

(Trinidad Express) Three bodies, believed to be those of three missing Chaguanas fishermen, were found floating in Port of Spain waters yesterday.

(Trinidad Express) CLICO Investment Bank (CIB), a subsidiary of CL Financial, was yesterday described as a “bran tub” and a “cancer” by one of its founders, ambassador Mervyn Assam.

(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday India’s largest private company, Reliance, plans to invest $1 billion in Trinidad and Tobago.

(Trinidad Express) The Police Service Commission (PSC) has requested a face-to-face session with Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs before deciding on his fate.