Daily Archive: Sunday, April 16, 2017

LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com) – “The Fate of the Furious” is roaring to a record-setting global debut over the weekend even as domestic audiences showed less enthusiasm for the latest installment in Universal’s long-running “Fast and Furious” series.

President David Granger last evening stated that the Blairmont sugar estate is among those that will be preserved, the Ministry of the Presidency reported.

(BBC) Veteran Shiv Chanderpaul shrugged off a thigh injury to hit a magnificent 182 as Lancashire totalled 470 on day two against Surrey at The Oval.

BEIRUT,  (Reuters) – The death toll from a bomb blast on a crowded Syrian bus convoy outside Aleppo reached at least 112 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said today.

Two-time defending champions the Guyana Jaguars ended day one of their ninth-round clash against the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Providence National Stadium on 204 for two with Assad Fudadin reaching his sixth first-class century, unbeaten on 113 after all-rounder Keemo Paul, playing in only his second first-class match, took career bowling figures of 6 for 28 to dismiss the Volcanoes for 95 in 28.1 overs.

In keeping with its vision to modernise Guyana’s infrastructure, KSM Investments Inc.

Look Out is a tiny village on the East Bank Essequibo, with no more than 200 residents, skirted by Grove and Naamryck.

  Sprinter Compton Caesar and triple jumper, Natricia Hooper, claimed Guyana’s first gold medals at the 2017 Flow CARIFTA Games which got off to a flying start yesterday in Curacao.

Hosts Guyana fared well on the opening day of the Caribbean Cadet and junior table tennis championship which began at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, last evening.

There has been no cause for immigration authorities to vet visiting missionaries upon their arrival here, Minister of Citizenship Winston Felix has said, in light of calls made by the Hindu community for immigrants seeking to enter Guyana for the “propagation of their religious beliefs” to be screened.

Passion Of late, there has been plenty angst expressed about taxes, and in some cases it was accompanied by an open show of concern using the democratic means of protest. 

The police on Friday re-arrested the prime suspect in the murder of political activist Courtney Crum-Ewing, less than one month after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ordered that further evidence be taken in the preliminary trial.

Undisputed Bartica Regatta Speedboat racing champion Dave Scott will seek a sixth Open category champion racer title while Jose Jardine will be going after his fourth when the 2017 Bartica Regatta opens today.

Despite FIFA and CONCACAF ruling weeks prior that the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) has the constitutional authority to amend tournaments that fall under its jurisdiction, the federation’s disciplinary committee has ruled that the GFF has no such authority.

Payments for the over $605 million in emergency drugs that were fast-tracked by Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence have been halted due to the investigation that is being undertaken by the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Board.

Team Coco’s standout, Hamza Eastman came out on top of a four-man sprint to win the feature 35-lap event of the 13th annual Universal Auto Sales and Spares multi-race programme to secure his fifth win of the season yesterday.

Introduction Last week’s column had indicated that, starting today, I would seek to draw lessons arising from global experiences with national local content requirement (LCR) regimes, which are aimed at maximizing economic benefits derived from the creation of export-oriented oil and gas extraction industries, based on significant domestic resource finds.

One of the things I’ve noticed about people in the arts field – writers, painters, architects, etc – is that they are unconventional thinkers so that although they are people who obviously operate vertically, they are also observers, in an almost horizontal manner, of mankind. 

The opening of tenders for the Sheriff Street/Mandela Avenue Project (Lots 6-7) has been postponed, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure said yesterday, adding that it was awaiting a ‘no objection’ from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) for a revised scope of works.

A chance sample-taking of “dutty water” led by an eccentric science teacher, propelled Lorna McPherson to rewarding experiences in the world of science; she is still to exit more than 50 years later and if given a chance she would do it all over again.

I am 84, I have lived through a couple of valleys of death.

The State Asset Recovery Bill (Bill) was passed in the National Assembly on Friday last after a robust debate.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – A half-century from Yannic Cariah led consistent batting down the order from Trinidad & Tobago Red Force against Leeward Islands in the Regional 4-Day Tournament yesterday.

The highly anticipated Guyana Cup Fever will run off today at the famous Port Mourant Turf Club.

In the face of Cabinet’s decision not to repeal the application of Value Added Tax (VAT) on private education fees for the current year, Director of the School of the Nations Brian O’Toole says too many unanswered questions still need to be answered, including what was the purpose of the recent consultation held with stakeholders on the issue.

In just under a year’s time, if President Castro keeps to his previously announced timetable, he will step down and cease to lead Cuba’s Council of State and Council of Ministers.

SAN FRANCISCO,  (Reuters) – The Golden State Warriors enter the NBA playoffs this weekend looking for redemption after last season’s shocking defeat in the Finals, where the team blew a 3-1 lead to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the best-of-seven series.

The Lotteries Commission is not functioning and its Chair, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman, is of the view that it should be dissolved.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Andrew Tye was a frustrated bystander for his first two seasons in the Indian Premier League but the Australia paceman grabbed his chance when it came on Friday, taking five wickets including a hat-trick to set up a first win for the Gujarat Lions.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has deliberated on the terms of conditions and remuneration of top three officers to be employed by the Public Procurement Commission (PPC).

[Barry Braithwaite, The Mighty Itanami, Vol. 1, Georgetown, Sphere Entertainment Graphics, Spectrum Creative Productions Ltd, 2017. 

SEOUL (Reuters) – A North Korean missile “blew up almost immediately” on its test launch today, the US Pacific Command said, hours before US Vice President Mike Pence was due in South Korea for talks on the North’s increasingly defiant arms programme.

(Reuters) – Afghanistan wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad has been provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance, the International CricketCouncil (ICC) has said.

Bus operators and taxi drivers are calling on the Georgetown City Council to fix the deplorable roads around the Stabroek Market square and its environs which they say continue get worse every day.

KABUL (Reuters) – Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai accused his successor yesterday of committing treason by allowing the US military to drop the largest conventional bomb ever used in combat during an operation against Islamic State militants in Afghanistan.

The Green Ibis may appear black in poor light, but they have glossy green bodies and pale green legs and bill.

BEIRUT (Reuters) – A bomb blast hit a bus convoy waiting to cross into government-held Aleppo in Syria yesterday, killing dozens of people evacuated from two Shi’ite villages the day before in a deal between warring sides.

Rotary Club of Demerara donated kites to the children of Help and Shelter and the St Ann’s Orphanage in celebration of Easter.

BANGALORE, India, CMC – Kieron Pollard joined the 7000-run club with a stunning Man-of-the-Match half-century, trumping a brilliant hat-trick from fellow Trinidadian Samuel Badree to propel Mumbai Indians to a rollicking four-wicket victory over Chris Gayle’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League here Friday.

Elite chess grandmaster Wesley So won the exacting 2017 US Championship recently and in so doing, extended his victories and draws to 67 tournament games.

Have you heard about the ‘afterburner effect’? Do you know what it is and how to use it?

SOUTHAMPTON, England, CMC – Former Barbados and West Indies fast bowler Fidel Edwards was once again found his fitness thrust under the microscope after limping out of Hampshire’s second County Championship game of the new season against Middlesex on day one here Friday.

The Guyana Manufactur-ing and Services Association (GMSA) last week elected a new executive when it held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) for fiscal year 2017-2018.

ROME (Reuters) – Emma Morano, who at 117 was believed to be the world’s oldest person, died yesterday, swearing to the end on her diet of two raw eggs a day.

The Arts Forum in collaboration with Castellani House on Tuesday launched a new exhibition, titled ‘Ganga Ship 1917: the long journey,’ to mark the centenary of the end of Indian Indentureship in Guiana.

HOVE, England, CMC — Young Barbadian seamer Jofra Archer made a sensational start to the new English County Championship season when he grabbed a career-best seven-wicket haul to help Sussex limit Kent on the opening day here Friday.

HAVANA (Reuters) – A United Nations expert said on Friday she hoped her visit to Cuba would open the door to a more intense dialogue on human rights and praised the country’s social welfare system for reducing Cubans’ vulnerability to human trafficking.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis, leading the world’s Roman Catholics into Easter, urged them yesterday not to ignore the plight of immigrants, the poor and other vulnerable people.

Dear Editor, Clearly unmoved by fifteen thousand signatories and the heartfelt arguments, pleas and entreaties of hundreds of parents and students at the Government-Parents-Adminis-trators VAT on Education consultation, Cabinet’s subsequent announcement of no review of VAT on education until 2018 has effectively killed any further meaningful discussion on this issue.

With Easter comes a rainbow of colours in the garden. Flowers are blooming gloriously.

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turks vote in a hotly contested referendum today that could place sweeping new powers in the hands of President Tayyip Erdogan and herald the most radical change to the country’s political system in its modern history.

Dear Editor, I have noted many advertisements put out by the M&CC regarding public consultations with respect to the garbage situation. 

“You think it easy? Let me tell you, the force stinks and if you don’t get a head on you shoulder it will destroy you, tek wah I telling you,” she said forcefully, her face contorting in the process.

FALMOUTH, Trelawny, CMC – West Indies Cricket Board’s President’s XI head coach, Graeme West, said Thursday it was important those players on the fringe of West Indies selection used the three-day tour game against Pakistan to remind selectors of their credentials.

VIENNA (Reuters) – South American trade bloc Mercosur plans to sign a trade agreement with the European Union this year, the president of Argentina, which holds the rotating presidency of Mercosur, said in an interview published yesterday.

Richard Ramirez Ramkissoon, the labourer whose partially decomposed body was found floating at Orangestein, Parika, East Bank Essequibo foreshore on Tuesday, died from drowning and as a result of blunt trauma to his head.

DOLLOW, SOMALIA (Reuters) – As the village wells dried up and her livestock died in the scorched scrubland of southern Somalia, Abdir Hussein had one last chance to save her family from starvation: the beauty of her 14-year-old daughter, Zeinab.

Two persons are now in police custody after they were allegedly found with two illegal firearms and matching rounds on Thursday.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The chief bodyguard to the eldest son of jailed Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was killed in the northern coastal state of Sinaloa.

Dear Editor, I have noted that Alister Charlie, a constituency MP for Region 9 has taken me to task, in the letter columns, for responding to him at the recently held constitutional reform symposium.

BERKELEY, CALIF (Reuters) – A melee erupted on Saturday in a Berkeley, California park where supporters and opponents of President Donald Trump were holding competing rallies, resulting in at least 13 arrests as police struggled to keep the two camps separate.

While the title of this recipe describes it as breakfast bread, it really works great for brunch and afternoon tea too.

KOLKATA, India, CMC – Sunil Narine excelled with a cameo at the top of the order as Kolkata Knight Riders chased down a challenging total to beat Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets in the Indian Premier League here Thursday.

A former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education under the PPP/C administration, Mr Hydar Ally, had a letter published in this newspaper on Good Friday.

With less than two weeks until the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) elections, the Chairman of its Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) branch, Gregory Gaspar has moved to the High Court to have the Executive Council suspended until financial records can be presented.