Daily Archive: Saturday, December 6, 2014

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,CMC – Captain Vishaul Singh struck his maiden first class hundred as leaders Guyana Jaguars took command of their fourth round match in the WICB Professional Cricket League against Trinidad and Tobago Red Force here Saturday.

President Donald Ramotar observed three years in office on December 3, 2014.

President Donald Ramotar addressing the media at State House today during which he announced that general elections will be held next year.(GINA

The gathering at the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce Industry’s dinner and award ceremony on Thursday night.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh (at centre with red tie) and President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce Industry (GCCI), Lance Hinds (next to Singh in grey suit) with awardees at the Chamber’s annual dinner at the Pegasus on Thursday.

APNU today called on President Donald Ramotar to name a date for general elections, charging that his announcement this afternoon of polls next year was further evidence that the government had not been serious about dialogue.

WANA,(Reuters) – Pakistani helicopter gunships staged a predawn raid on a militant hideout today and shot dead a top al-Qaeda operative wanted for plotting to bomb the New York subway system, the military said.

(Jamaica Gleaner) COME NEXT year, the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) will mark all examination papers electronically, beginning with the January Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

Amid the political deadlock over the suspension of Parliament, President Donald Ramotar moments ago announced that elections will be held in the new year.

SANAA, (Reuters) – A U.S. journalist and a South African teacher held by al Qaeda militants in Yemen were killed during a rescue attempt by U.S.

Opposition Leader David Granger yesterday said he did not expect much from President Donald Ramotar’s planned announcement today on a way forward after his prorogation gambit failed to yield dialogue, while noting that all meaningful engagement held so far has amounted to naught.

As part of the surety for the US$100,000 bail he was granted on Monday, Chief Executive Officer of the Exec Jet Club Khamraj Lall has had to submit his pilot’s licences and has been confined to his New Jersey home with the only travel allowed being to Puerto Rico for his court hearing.

An American citizen is now in police custody after he was nabbed with just over 40 pounds of cocaine concealed among baking powder and custard powder at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

The Donald Ramotar administration was yesterday accused of misusing state resources for elections campaigning and according to Opposition Leader David Granger an official complaint will be made to the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom).

John Adams, the Aishalton resident who was allegedly slapped by a presidential guard after he criticized President Donald Ramotar and his government during a meeting held in the Region Nine community, says he is not confident about an investigation.

Days after he made his first appearance in the High Court to stand trial for the murder of his neighbour during a row over a gamecock, Mark Assing was yesterday sentenced to 66 years in prison for the crime.

The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) has joined the call for the recall of parliament, saying this should be accompanied by consensus agenda and that elections will never solve the nation’s problems.

Canadian High Com-missioner Nicole Giles on Thursday evening said that the time was ripe for diversity in Guyana’s energy profile as it would reduce reliance on imports of fossil fuels and help to guarantee the country’s energy security Giles’ remarks come at a time when there is growing concern in Georgetown about whether the grim economic situation in Venezuela will bring an end to the PetroCaribe concessional fuel programme on which Guyana has depended for many years.

Without calling his name, the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) yesterday expressed its shock and dismay at the utterances made by Attorney General Anil Nandlall in a recently circulated recorded conversation and called for “all necessary sanctions to be taken” against him.

Alleged actions bordering on criminality caused the Judicial Service Commis-sion (JSC) to suspend Magistrate Chandra Sohan on Wednesday.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Another middle order collapse hampered Trinidad and Tobago Red Force as they once again wasted a position of strength, on the opening day of their fourth round clash with leaders Guyana Jaguars here Friday.

A suspect was yesterday charged with the murder of the Sheet Anchor businessman who was found stabbed to death on Wednesday morning.

The man accused of brutally raping a 21-year-old mother of one was yesterday granted $150,000 bail when he appeared before Magistrate Clive Nurse at the Vreed-en-Hoop Magis-trate’s Court.

It appears that luck has run out for owner of the now defunct EZjet airline Sonny Ramdeo, as his several motions to change his guilty plea to wire fraud have been overturned by Judge Kenneth A Marra and he is now set for a sentencing hearing next Wednesday in a West Palm Beach Division court.

A Kitty man was yesterday fined $10,000 for assaulting his son, who tried to stop him from attacking his mother.

The victorious national men’s 7s rugby team returned home yesterday from Mexico to a heroes’ welcome, with fans and the top brass of the GRFU turning out to receive the NACRA Champions.

A passenger booked to travel to Kaikan, in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, was yesterday nabbed with a quantity of marijuana concealed in a mattress.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Dec 5, CMC – West Indies joined millions of South Africans here Friday in marking the first anniversary of the death former President and global icon Nelson Mandela.

A former soldier, who usually stages a one-man protest outside the Office of the Attorney General (AG), was yesterday invited to the Brickdam Police Station where he was questioned about illegal entry and threatening staff at the office.

Sugar workers’ union GAWU and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) remain locked in dispute over the status of the arbitration over the firing of a Skeldon estate employee.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, CMC – Rookies Roston Chase and Shai Hope struck half-centuries as Barbados Pride kept Windward Islands Volcanoes in the field for the entire opening day of their fourth round match here yesterday.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Seventeen wickets tumbled at Sabina Park here yesterday but Jamaica Franchise emerged with the honours on the opening day of their fourth round WICB Professional League clash with the luckless Leeward Islands Hurricanes.

The Mibicuri Community Developers (MCD) last week commissioned their $20M facility, which was upgraded via a grant from Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP).

The Guyana Foundation is collaborating with a second mental health researcher to arrive at an objective hypothesis about some of the pressing concerns in mental health in the country.

The father of a West Bank Demerara (WBD) teen, who has been missing since Monday, is seeking the public’s help for her safe return.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters were expected to take to the streets of New York yesterday in a third day of demonstrations against police violence, even as prosecutors said they would consider charges against an officer for the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man in November.

 Defending champions Pitbulls began their title defence in the best possible manner, recording a perfect 4-0 record when the Mackeson King of the Rim 3×3 Basketball Challenge Georgetown group-A section, continued on Thursday.

Prior to his recent recall to the West Indies team, Windwards opening batsman and leading run-scorer in this season’s WICB Professional Cricket League (PCL) four-day tournament Devon Smith was prepared to bat anywhere in the order as he focused on donning the maroon colours again.

BEIJING, (Reuters) – Chinese authorities have arrested former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang and expelled him from the ruling Communist Party, accusing him of crimes ranging from accepting bribes to leaking state secrets and setting the stage for his trial.

Dear Editor, I welcome Mr Hydar Ally’s frankness in his letter in the Stabroek News of November 20, 2014, under the caption ‘In politics two or more minorities do not make a majority.’

The inaugural Health 2000 Guyana Incorporated Girls Primary Schools Pee Wee football event continues today with nine matchups at the Ministry of Education ground on Carifesta Avenue.

FRANKFURT/LONDON/PARIS, (Reuters) – Regulators in France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg are suspending the marketing approval of 25 generic drugs due to concerns over the quality of data from clinical trials conducted by India’s GVK Biosciences, French watchdog ANSM said yesterday.

DUBAI, (Reuters) – New Zealand survived Shahid Afridi’s late onslaught to beat Pakistan by 17 runs in the second and final Twenty20 match to level the series 1-1 yesterday.

Dear Editor, The letter you published yesterday of one of my heroes, Eusi Kwayana, on Mr Nandlall’s right to privacy, reminds me that I have lately needed to explain to young Guyanese that the word and idea of integrity means being one, the same person all the time.

AMSTERDAM/NAIROBI, (Reuters) – Prosecutors dropped charges of crimes against humanity against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday, marking a failure for the International Criminal Court in the highest-profile case in its 11-year history.

BERLIN, (Reuters) – The reform communist Left party took power in a German state yesterday for the first time since reunification, ending a quarter century of conservative rule in Thuringia and raising the chance of a left-wing threat to Angela Merkel in the next federal vote.

Sonia Noel has been trending on social media and from the buzz, it appears that she is well on the way to closing 2014 with a bang.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Analysis of India squad before the four-test series against Australia, which starts in Adelaide on Tuesday: INDIA TOP ORDER India will have the flamboyant Shikhar Dhawan and the relatively calm Murali Vijay to see off the new ball against Australia’s fiery pace attack.

Dear Editor, The rehabilitation of the Anna Regina market is a good initiative by the Solid Waste Management Committee to get the roadside vendors off both streets, running from east to west going to Mainstay Lake.

The masquerade bands on the streets and the smells in the air; the holidays are the best time of the year!

SHANGHAI, (Reuters) – It will take more than the abrupt cancellation of a high-speed train deal with Mexico to derail China Railway Construction Corp’s ambitions to become a global force in transport projects and take on the likes of Siemens, Alstom and Bombardier.

Dear Editor,   I refer to the reprint of a Swedish article which appeared in Kaieteur News of December 4, captioned ‘The Gold Rush is leaving wounds that never heal,’ and in which remarks made allegedly by me about the local mining sector were quoted.

SYDNEY, (Reuters) – The death of Phillip Hughes will inevitably cast a long shadow over Australia’s delayed series against India when it finally gets underway next week at the former test batsman’s last home ground, Adelaide Oval.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) said yesterday it had launched an investigation into allegations of doping and cover-ups among Russian track and field competitors made by a German TV documentary.

Dear Editor, Please permit me the opportunity to publicly extend congratulations to the Guyana National 7’s Rugby Team dubbed the ‘Green Machine,’ for winning their seventh NACRA title, defeating Mexico in Mexico; what an achievement for all of Guyana.

Hi Everyone, the pièce de résistance at Christmas is the ham – a very large cut of meat, cured, cooked and glazed to glistening perfection.

Dear Editor An opinion survey conducted by the North American Caribbean Teachers Association (NACTA) last week found a significant percentage of voters upset with the parties over their handling of the no-confidence motion and the proroguing of parliament.

Old Fort overcame a four-goal deficit to draw 4-4 with the National u-19 setup in their men’s divisional encounter when the Diamond Mineral Water International Indoor Hockey Festival commenced on Thursday at the National Gymnasium.

Dear Editor, Legal officers in Guyana and the Eastern Caribbean are debating whether or not it is right for magistrates to commit accused persons for trial by merely looking at statements taken by police and they are also looking at decisions by grand juries in the United States.

When it comes to reggae, dancehall, soca and chutney, we Guyanese tend to pride ourselves on our link to the Caribbean; none of these genres might have originated here but we sure do take them and make them seem so.

Benjamin Mekdeci brushed aside Alec Melville in straights sets during their Category-A fixture when the 2014 Farfan and Mendes Junior Squash Christmas tourney commenced on Thursday at the Georgetown Club Squash Courts.

MELBOURNE, Australia, , CMC – West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has been signed by Melbourne Renegades to contest the Aussie Big Bash League starting here later this month.

By Mark McGowan with photos by Arian Browne Stanley Greaves is not your typical artist.

Dear Editor,   Friday, December 5, 1919 was a very important day in Guyanese history.

It’s hard to write about fashion every week when you are based in a region that has a struggling fashion industry.

In 1965, in front of a capacity crowd at the Cambridge Union, the novelist James Baldwin and the eminent American Conservative William F Buckley debated the motion that “The American Dream is at the Expense of the American Negro.”

Over 50 children in the paediatric ward at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) were yesterday amazed by the visit from Santa Claus, and several other cartoon characters, including SpongeBob, Dora, Mickey Mouse and Cinderella, compliments of Courts.