Daily Archive: Friday, March 24, 2017

Following its Article IV consultation here earlier this month, the IMF says the local economy is expanding although growth was uneven and it urged a continuation of the sugar sector reform while attention is also paid to the risks of social dislocation.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Donald Trump suffered a stunning political setback today in a Congress controlled by his own party when Republican leaders pulled legislation to overhaul the U.S.

The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce & Industry (GCCI) today defended the recent elections for Councilors at its Annual General Meeting held at Duke Lodge on 16 March, 2017.

(Trinidad Express) A 65-year-old businesswoman was found stabbed to death at her home yesterday.

Central government remained optimistic yesterday about a renegotiation of the terms for the suspended metered parking project, while contractor Smart City Solutions (SCS) has already fired 60 wardens who had been hired for enforcement.

The Bank of Guyana (BoG) yesterday accused the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) of misleading the public on the effective purchasing rate for the US dollar, while also blaming exporters for negatively affecting currency supply by hoarding foreign currency.

-Brathwaite, Hope hit 100s BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,  CMC — Test batsman Kraigg Brathwaite carved out his 18th first class hundred to surpass 7 000 first class runs as Barbados Pride dominated leaders Guyana Jaguars on the opening day of their eighth round game here Thursday.

Scores of administrative staff, parents and students came together under the ‘Guyana Private Schools United’ platform yesterday to protest the tax on private education.

While government yesterday said that it was awaiting input from the opposition on finalizing a code of conduct for government ministers, Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo dismissed the proposals as “crap.”

Banks DIH Limited under the GT Beer Brand became the titular sponsor of the Petra Organization Futsal Championship during a simple presentation ceremony staged yesterday at its Thirst Park Boardroom.

While the two University of Guyana unions yesterday continued to protest for the start of negotiations on workers’ salaries and benefits, Vice Chancellor Professor Ivelaw Griffith has maintained that he cannot act without a decision by the University Council.

Following a series of qualifiers, the Athletic Association of Guyana (AAG) named 12 athletes to represent the Golden Arrowhead at the Flow CARIFTA Games in Curacao and the AAG’s President, Aubrey Hutson is “very optimistic” of numerous athletes returning with precious metal.

A police officer and two employees of the Ivor Bunbury Furniture Store were yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with trafficking  almost a pound of cocaine found at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).

With less than five days remaining before Guyana battles CONCACAF Gold Cup qualifier Martinique, on March 28th at the MSC ground in Linden, the Guyana Football Federation has shortlisted a 30 man provisional squad featuring 13 foreign based players.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC — West Indies batting coach Toby Radford said Thursday the regional side would try to make home advantage count in the upcoming Twenty20 series against Pakistan, as they attempted to make amends for their dismal showing last September.

Moreno Wilson, a vendor who was held with 10 pounds of cannabis earlier this year, was yesterday sentenced to 60 months in jail and fined $6.9 million.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,CMC — Even though Trinidad and Tobago are eyeing wins in both upcoming World Cup qualifiers in the space of five days, midfielder Kevan George said they will be fully concentrated on the first assignment against Panama today.

With concerns mounting over the availability of United States dollars, Dynamic Airways, which flies to New York,  yesterday began asking customers to bring their own US currency to purchase tickets or they would have to pay at a calculated rate of $250 to US$1.

BENGALURU,  (Reuters) – India have called up uncapped batsman Shreyas Iyer for the fourth and final test against Australia as cover for captain Virat Kohli who has not recovered fully from a shoulder injury.

A Queens, New York man apologized yesterday before he was sentenced to 2 to 6 years in prison for a fatal hit-and-run crash last year in Rotterdam in Schenectady County, according to timesunion.com.

KINGSTON, (Reuters) – West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell has appealed to have his one-year ban for a doping whereabouts rule violation dismissed.

A Black Bush Polder, Corentyne man was yesterday remanded over the murder of his teenaged brother last Sunday night.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – With India and Australia clashing in a winner-takes-all finale to an enthralling series, the picturesque town of Dharamsala in the Himalayan foothills could hardly have asked for a better debut as a test venue.

President David Granger, on Tuesday, was paid a visit by a group of primary school students from Paruima Village in Upper Mazaruni, Region Seven.

A mining assistant was yesterday remanded to prison after she was charged in a city court with being in possession of 69 rounds of ammunition that were found at her home.

Dear Editor, Something is not right with the suspension of the parking meter arrangements. 

Last week’s signing in Caracas of an agreement between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, under which the former will receive natural gas from the huge Dragón Field, will not affect Guyana’s perception of the quality of its relationship with its sister Caricom country.

The prosecution yesterday closed its case against Wesley Carlos Payne, who is on trial for the alleged rape of a nurse at the Wismar Hospital in Linden.

With the country now plagued by the persistence of food imports that transgress the Food and Drugs Act and pose possible serious health risks to consumers, the Government Analyst Food and Drugs Department (GAFDD) this week moved to have a United States-based company suspended from providing supplies to local food importers.

South Africa’s de Kock doubtful WELLINGTON,  (Reuters) – South Africa wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock is a doubt for this week’s third and final test against New Zealand after he suffered a finger injury during the eight-wicket victory over the hosts last week.

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has made an estimated $667,000 from the metered parking project, according to Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan.

Dear Editor, The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) has taken note of the letter appearing in the March 21 edition of the Guyana Times from the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo).

In a bid to improve Region 9 miners’ livelihoods, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, will be considering opening new mining lands in the Rupununi.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – FIFA needs to take care of the players when it plans the next international match calendar, the head of a key committee at soccer’s governing body told Reuters on Thursday.

Dear Editor, On the 6th March, I went to renew my driver’s licence.

As the organizing team prepares to roll out the Roraima Group of Companies’ three-day ninth Annual Wedding Expo later today, the company believes it can look back at the short history of the event with a considerable degree of satisfaction.

A simulated armed robbery, in which hostages were also taken, was conducted yesterday to test the effectiveness of the response by various agencies, including the Joint Services, to port facility emergencies.

Re-elected Chairman of the Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce Hemchand Jaichand says that the range of business-related issues facing the community poses the new executive with “a number of exacting challenges” not least of which is the need to provide responses to questions that continue to arise in relation to the future of the Skeldon sugar estate.

Dear Editor, I visited the eye clinic at GPHC on March 22.

-records 35th triple-double of the season Thunder 122, 76ers 97 (The Sports Xchange) Russell Westbrook recorded his 35th triple-double of the season to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 122-97 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – Former German soccer great Franz Beckenbauer was questioned by Swiss prosecutors on Thursday as part of their investigation into his country’s successful bid for the 2006 World Cup.

Enhancing capacity to market Guyana’s tourism product is an important preoccupation particularly in indigenous areas and on Saturday, March 11, some 25 residents of Mainstay-Whyaka, including Toshao Joel Fredericks and councillors, participated in a tourism and hospitality training exercise.

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo yesterday launched Harmony Village on the Main Street Avenue and declared that Guyana’s diversity is its beauty and  the strength of the nation.

Dear Editor, The article titled ‘Town Clerk should do the honourable things, resign -Acting Mayor Duncan’ refers (SN, March 23). 

(Reuters) – Britain’s Kell Brook will defend his IBF welterweight world title against mandatory American challenger Errol Spence Jr.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – A group of 14 nations yesterday urged Venezuela to hold elections and release political prisoners, in a joint statement that kept open the option of seeking to suspend the South American country from the Organization of American States.

Cabinet has approved a Board of Directors for the government-controlled Power Producers and Dis-tributors Incorpora-ted, which is responsible for providing operations and maintenance services for the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL).

Dear Editor, I commend Ms Sherlina Nageer and Mr Chris Persaud on their letters published in your newspaper under the captions, ‘Who gave an American missionary permission to preach in Georgetown schools?’

Bringing the market to the farm is the responsibility of the middleman in the agricultural sector.

BOGOTA,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will withdraw troops from Colombia’s side of the two countries’ border, after his soldiers set up camp in the neighbouring country, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said yesterday.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – The attacker who plowed a car through a throng of pedestrians and then stabbed a policeman outside Britain’s parliament was named yesterday as Khalid Masood, a British-born man who was once investigated by MI5 intelligence officers over concerns about violent extremism.

Dear Editor, The odd behaviour of a senior public servant towards a junior member of staff that recently went viral on social media was most disgraceful and unacceptable to say the least.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Daniel Ricciardo will again carry his nation’s hopes of a first home winner at the season-opening Grand Prix at Albert Park on Sunday and it would be a well-earned victory for the Red Bull driver after a punishing week off the track.

Two local government councillors were detained and subsequently released on bail after being questioned by the police in relation to an alleged fraud at the Mahaicony Abary Rice Development Scheme (MARDS).

The advent of an oil and gas industry will challenge Guyana to raise its safety and health game above the currently existing level since that is what will be demanded by any major foreign companies likely to be associated with the industry, going forward, a leading local safety and health official has told Stabroek Business.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – A single mom tells Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, on live television that she cannot afford to adequately feed her four kids, and he quickly changes the subject to joke about her foreign-sounding name, Joandry Smith.

(Trinidad Express) Homicide detectives believe Sharlene Somai was killed by someone she knew and maybe even loved.

KINGSTON,(Reuters) – Reigning Commonwealth Games 400 metres hurdles champion Kaliese Spencer denied on Wednesday that she “refused or evaded a drug test” and plans to legally challenge the assertion by the Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission.

Dear Editor, A post on facebook recently read: “International Women’s Day event at Theatre Guild organised by UG and UNICEF…I told them the main culprit was alcohol abuse, reduce it and you will reduce domestic abuse, suicide, noise, drunk driving, etc etc.”

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The Republican head of the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee apologized yesterday for the way he handled sensitive allegations about U.S.

Beepats, which is the authorised distributor of Brunswick Tuna has welcomed a decision by the authorities to crack down on a product which appeared to be an imitation.

Senator Kennedy ups The Election Pressure UNITED States Senator Edward Ken­nedy has joined the free and fair elections fight here in what opposition politicians and political observers see as the most important boost to the movement yet.

-the Radio set and water tank and self-reliance Gosh! Bear with me as I feel compelled to return to the issues of SARU and stolen state assets addressed herein last Friday.

DAKAR, (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An inexpensive, heat-proof vaccine could mark a turning point in expanding resistance to the diarrhoea-causing rotavirus infection across sub-Saharan Africa, medical aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres said.

In his Budget 2017 presentation to the National Assembly, Finance Minister Winston Jordan’s report of the expected performance of the agriculture sector for 2016 painted a bleak picture.

BOSTON,  (Reuters) – Three Haitian nationals sued the former mayor of their rural village yesterday, accusing him in Boston federal court of murdering, torturing and burning the homes of his political opponents.

President David Granger, last evening, attended the special dinner hosted by the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) in honour of the newly-commissioned officers, who successfully completed the Standard Officers’ Course (SOC) No.

(Prepared by the Guyana Marketing Corporation and published by Stabroek Business as a public service) The New Guyana Marketing Corporation has agreed to provide us with the above information which we will publish on a weekly basis subject to receipt.

GASCI (www.gasci.com/telephone Nº 223-6175/6) reports that session 713’s trading results showed consideration of $13,381,555 from 335,920 shares traded in 12 transactions as compared to session 712’s trading results, which showed consideration of $71,050,992 from 558,063 shares traded in 9 transactions. 

Dear Editor, Two dates to remember: March 6, 1997 and March 28, 2009; they mark the occasion of the deaths of Dr Cheddi Jagan and his wife Ms Janet Jagan.

(Reuters) – World number one Dustin Johnson continued his perfect record at the WGC-Dell Match Play on Thursday while number two Rory McIlroy was eliminated without even setting foot on the course.

A few days ago the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) issued a public statement echoing much of what the Private Sector Commission (PSC) has already had to say about the business sector’s unease over what it sees as indicators of a decline in the Guyana economy.

President David Granger, on Tuesday, was paid a visit by a group of primary school students from Paruima Village in Upper Mazaruni, Region Seven.