Daily Archive: Friday, March 16, 2012

Amid the cut-throat competition among regional carriers and claims  of unfair subsidies low cost carrier REDjet this evening announced it was suspending flights as of today.

(Reuters) – Australia spinner Xavier Doherty took four wickets as West Indies collapsed to a 64-run defeat in the first one-day international in Kingstown, St Vincent today.

(Jamaica Observer) Former Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke sentencing was again postponed by United States Judge Robert P Patterson in a Manhattan Federal Court today. 

Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry registered a profit of $1.3B for 2011 – up by 15% over 2010’s figure – and in the report to be presented to shareholders next month, the Bank’s Chairman says that the new parliament configuration presents a model for enhanced cooperation.

Police say that at about 1615h yesterday, ranks of a roving mobile police patrol conducted a search on a mining camp at Mowasie Backdam, Potaro.

Corruption has become the hottest topic among the top brass of the Guyana Police Force these days………….How

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The catch requirements for fishermen will soon be stricter, and this will also apply to enforcement of the permit conditions.

(Trinidad Express) State carrier Caribbean Airlines has appointed its acting chief executive Robert Corbie as chief operating officer.

(Jamaica Gleaner) United States-based Jamaican law professor, David Rowe, is projecting that the Judge will “throw the book” at convicted drug don Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

After an eight-hour search, the NYPD has canceled a New York State Amber Alert after police found a mother who snatched her non-custodial baby from Queens General Hospital, Fox News says.

JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – South African Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula called on the country’s cricket leadership to step down today, accusing them of “cover-ups.”

(Barbados Nation) How the CLICO issue will impact on Barbados’ treasury has Standard & Poor’s (S&P) worried.

(Barbados Nation) An attempt by a local gun dealer to import ten sniper rifles into Barbados has prompted a stern response from Commissioner of Police (COP) Darwin Dottin while the United States State Department has raised the red flag.

DHAKA,  (Reuters) – India’s Sachin Tendulkar became the first cricketer to score 100 international centuries during an Asia Cup one-day match against Bangladesh today.

Speaker of the National Assembly Raphael Trotman yesterday ruled that a move by the opposition for the withdrawal of a financial paper was out of order, clearing the way for the eventual approval of government’s supplementary budget spending from last year.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee yesterday said there is no need for an audit of $90M allocated to the Guyana Police Force during last year’s elections, as the ministry released spending details and sought to discredit a claim by a divisional commander that he did not receive any funds.

Design and engineering problems delayed the construction of the National Aquatic Centre, which houses Guyana’s Olympic-size swimming pool, and drove the total cost up to $581M, the Ministry of Sport disclosed yesterday.

Guyana will be looking to build on the momentum gained from their crushing fourth round victory over Barbados when they face off with Trinidad and Tobago today  in their final match of the 2011/12 West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) regional four-day competition at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – West Indies open their five-match One-Day International series against Australia here today, hoping to break a worrying trend of losses against the powerful tourists.

Despite over $1 million in cash and items being carted off right in front of their eyes by three men armed with knives, elderly watchmen performing security duties at the Mon Repos Market looked on helplessly.

By Iva Wharton With five title belts to her name, former world champion Gwendolyn O’Neil is going for her sixth title against Carlette Ewell.

Police say they are investigating the murder of Jose Ramon Valenzuela, a Venezuelan national who was found dead at a sports ground in Mabaruma, North West District on Sunday.

Government yesterday deferred a Motion on the composition of the Committee of Selection in Parliament until the outcome of a related Constitutional Motion filed in the High Court.

By Emmerson Campbell “I am predicting a victory, that is what we are going in there for, we are not going in there to lose, we’re going in there to win. 

The Food and Drug Department says that some skin lightening creams and beauty or antiseptic soaps and lotions on the local market were found to contain mercury that exceeded appropriate levels and it advises the public to stop using them immediately.

Despite having a mechanical problem which was not fully remedied, North West ferry MV Kimbia departed Georgetown for the hinterland yesterday morning, even as many passengers expressed concern over the state of the vessel.

Government approved radio licences for 11 entities last year, including Television Guyana (TVG) Channel 28, Hits and Jams Entertainment and the National Television Network (NTN), according to Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.

A Lusignan, East Coast Demerara woman died of injuries she suffered after being involved in an accident along the East Bank of Demerara on Wednesday evening.

Members of Red Thread and supporters including domestic violence victims and single parents yesterday issued loud calls to women Parliamentarians to be accountable to grassroots women by using the National Assembly as a forum to demand a livable income and raise other important issues.

Police Commissioner Leroy Brummell has ordered an investigation into allegations by a teenage girl who has fingered police in aiding her recent abduction.

A man was on Wednesday sentenced to death for the 2006 murder of a taxi driver, while his co-accused is currently completing a seven-year sentence after turning state’s evidence.

Justice Diana Insanally earlier this week granted an interim injunction preventing the members of The Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana (THAG) from excluding Wonderlands Tours from its membership.

The Guyana Government yesterday said that an objection by Venezuela to Georgetown’s application for an extension of its continental shelf is “deeply regrettable”.

Magistrate Judy Latchman yesterday sentenced Mark King to jail for 48 months after he finally pleaded guilty to using an ice pick in robbing a woman of her cell phone at Agricola.

While Caribbean governments are keen to welcome the billions of dollars in Chinese investments that continue to pour into the region, local businesses and private sector organizations are far from enthusiastic over what they say is the unfair competition which the growing influx of Chinese traders represent.

General Secretary of the Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), Lincoln Lewis, has told Stabroek Business that both the government and the labour movement need to pay particular attention to matters relating to safety and health and workers’ rights against the backdrop of the anticipated major overseas investments in the mining sector.

Dear Editor, Our occupation of the space outside Parliament yesterday is Red Thread’s main action to mark International Women’s Day: we organized it to coincide with the reconvening of Parliament after a break of one full month.

A twenty-two-year-old taxi driver yesterday was put on  bail in the sum of $200,000 by Magistrate Judy Latchman for allegedly robbing Saisnarine Baldeo at gunpoint of jewellery and a Blackberry cell phone.

Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday granted state appointed prosecutor, attorney Vic Puran, a three-day adjournment to respond to written submissions made by defence attorney Nigel Hughes during the treason case preliminary inquiry.

KABUL,  (Reuters) – President Hamid Karzai called yesterday for NATO troops to leave Afghan villages and confine themselves to major bases after the slaughter of 16 villagers by a U.S.

It took its own time coming but the operations of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc (BCGI) in which the Russian Aluminium giant RUSAL is the majority shareholder will finally come under close scrutiny in an arbitration exercise ordered by the Ministry of Labour.

Cabinet offered ‘no objection’ to four multi-million-dollar contracts for the construction and rehabilitation of the Amaila Falls access road, months after axing contractor Fip Motilall from the project.

Dear Editor, The raison d’être of a University is always a quest for enlightenment and its purpose is always the creation of epiphanies in people’s minds. 

BEIRUT/LONDON,  (Reuters) – “I’ve been a walking heartache; I’ve made a mess of me” – the first words of a country music lament which, it seems, Syria’s president e-mailed to his wife as his army shelled the rebellious city of Homs last month.

The Guyana Map

Sahijan cough syrup, ice cream made from bitter melon (karila) and pomegranate hair grower were some of the main attractions at the Region Four Department of Education’s Science, Technology and Mathematics Fair for Schools within Georgetown.

Dear Editor, In an article which appeared in Stabroek News of March 13, Residents of New Hope, EBD have expressed grave concerns about design flaws and failure of the Contractor to complete on schedule the revetment works on the New Hope river defence.

Kurt English scored 31 points to lead the Patriots Basketball Club past the Knights Basketball Club when the two teams met in the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association League last weekend at the Burnham Hard Courts.

(Reuters) – Pop star Rihanna called her recent musical collaboration with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown “innocent,” after critics and fans split on the duo working together three years after Brown assaulted the pop star.

Dear Editor, I find it odd that the Guyana Times which prides itself in being the “Beacon of Truth” would place me at some media consultation in Linden by a group calling itself the Independent Media Association of Guyana, when in fact I was never a part of any such meeting and or consultation in mind, body or soul.

Sudden Obsession The issue of the value of the Guyana dollar versus other currencies keeps popping up lately in conversations at socials and on the street. 

The creation of alternative sources of energy was the focus of students and teachers of Hope Secondary School who attended the Region Four Department of Education’s Science, Mathematics and technology Fair held at the Diamond Secondary School on March 13 and 14.

DHAKA,  (Reuters) – Half-centuries by captain Misbah-ul-Haq and Umar Akmal and a lively spell of bowling from paceman Aizaz Cheema helped Pakistan to a six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the Asia Cup yesterday.

INDIAN WELLS, California, (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer each needed three sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Wednesday while Rafa Nadal advanced with a comfortable victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Aubrey Roberts believes that a good case exists for the creation of a more amicable relationship between bees and humans.

(Reuters) – Dwight Howard, the face of the Orlando Magic franchise, will stay with the team for at least another season rather than test the free agent market later this year, the six-time National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star said yesterday.

Dear Editor, I would like to draw to your attention the behaviour of some of the conductors on the minibuses.

The Ministry of  Natural Resources and the Environment on Wednesday opened a two-day workshop aimed at finding ways to include payments for sustaining eco-system services into the national Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) systems, as part of  its efforts to manage and sustain Guyana’s natural resources.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – British police and support staff must prove their fitness in annual tests or have their pay docked after a survey found 64 percent were overweight, obese or morbidly obese, a review concluded yesterday.

(Reuters) – AB de Villiers guided his side to a 68-run first innings lead after Mark Gillespie had ripped the heart out of South Africa’s batting line-up with a five-wicket haul on the second day of the second test at Seddon Park in Hamilton last night.

Dear Editor, This year is designated International Year for Co-operatives by the United Nations.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – London Olympic chiefs unveiled the first furnished apartments at the athletes’ village yesterday, including extendable beds for taller sportsmen and boldly coloured sports-themed duvets.

For 24-year-old Kerry Woolford next month’s fourth annual Wedding Expo staged by the Roraima Group of Companies at its Duke Lodge Hotel in Kingston provides an opportunity to broaden a client base that took off after her first time participation in the event last year.

Cabinet offered ‘no objection’ to four multi-million-dollar contracts for the construction and rehabilitation of the Amaila Falls access road, months after axing contractor Fip Motilall from the project.

BEIRUT – Syrian forces pressed their military offensive in the northern province of Idlib, driving 1,000 refugees across the Turkish border as the bloody revolt against President Bashar al-Assad entered a second year with no sign of political solution.

BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – Argentina will take legal action against any companies involved in oil exploration off the disputed Falkland Islands as part of a drive to pressure Britain into sovereignty talks, the foreign minister said yesterday.

(Reuters) – Australia wicketkeeper Brad Haddin is returning home from the West Indies for personal reasons with New South Wales wicketkeeper Peter Nevill being called in as a replacement, Cricket Australia said on Friday.

Having traditionally looked to tourism as the island’s major money earner for decades, Barbados is beginning to advocate greater reliance be placed on agriculture both as an economic resource and as a provider of jobs.

Dear Editor, As a more than ‘casual’ sports person, I’ve made it my duty over the past two decades and more to read the local newspapers daily.

(Reuters) – The Chicago Bulls overcame the absence of league MVP Derrick Rose to earn a 106-102 win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday with third-string point guard John Lucas III scoring 24 points to emerge as an unlikely game winner.

Two men are in custody after they were caught by police shortly after allegedly committing a knife point robbery in Kitty.

Dear Editor, Alissa Trotz has been a brilliant scholar and I assume enjoys a successful professional career.

Irrigation by wind

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 451’s trading results showed consideration of $4,665,636 from 181,176 shares traded in 9 transactions as compared to session 450 which showed consideration of $10,287,390 from 252,008 shares traded in 13 transactions. 

The guarded language of the communiqué emanating from the 23rd Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government, held last week, provides little insight into the deliberations in Paramaribo, following a few weeks of intense criticism of the state of the Community.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Experts believe up to 100 undetectable performance-enhancing drugs similar to the banned blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) have been designed, German doping specialist Mario Thevis said yesterday.

(Reuters) – English Premier League chairman Dave Richards tried to explain yesterday his comments about soccer’s world governing body FIFA “stealing” the game from the British, saying he had not meant to cause offence.

(Barbados Nation) The blind woman who will make history next week when she becomes the first female President of the Senate says she is “humbled and blessed” by the honour.

Those thoughts were prompted by two events – or sets of events.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – Mexico has yielded to Brazilian pressure to slash auto sales to the southern giant, fixing an export quota for the next three years to save a decade-old trade agreement between Latin America’s two dominant economies.

Boy like you get a big contract

(Trinidad Express) A 24-seater bus transporting strike breakers out of Trinidad Cement Ltd’s (TCL) Claxton Bay factory was struck by a boulder yesterday, in an incident described by the company as “an act of terrorism”.