Daily Features

Tournament to identify candidates for the National Championships begins Sunday The preliminary chess tournament to decide the candidates for participation in the National Championships begins next Sunday at the St Stanislaus College on Brickdam.

 Obama pulling away Wayne Brown is a well-known Trinidadian writer and columnist who now resides in Jamaica.

The First World War (1914-1918) changed the course of human history in significant ways.

A weekly column prepared by Dr. Balwant Singh’s Hospital Inc. Key ‘whole’ surgery: changing with the timesBy Dr Anirban Banerjee, MS (General & Laparoscopic Surgeon) Laparoscopy and laparoscopic surgery Laparoscopy, also known as minimal invasive or keyhole surgery is a procedure used to examine the abdominal (belly) and pelvic organs and also to remove the diseased organ from the abdomen.

‘One year’s seed equals seven years’ weed’ Any man who calls a spade a spade ought to be forced to use one regularly.

Introduction Sir Shridath Surendranath Ramphal, lawyer, foreign policy expert, international civil servant and writer, known as ‘Sonny’ to his family and friends, was born on October 3, 1928 in New Amsterdam, Berbice, to Grace and James Ramphal.

By Edwin W. Carrington Secretary-General Caribbean Community (Caricom) The name of the Honourable Sir Shridath Surendradath ‘Sonny’ Ramphal, OCC is inextricably linked to the pursuit of co-operation, development and integration in the Caribbean, the wider so-called Third World and globally.

By  P.J. Patterson Former Prime Minister of Jamaica No matter how close the sources or the length of their acquaintance, it still remains unlikely that the combination of tributes will encompass the full measure of the man. 

By Sir James Mitchell Former Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines I was a Minister of Trade, Agriculture , Labour and Tourism when I first met Sir Shridath Ramphal at a Carifta conference in Guyana in the sixties.  

By Vaughan A. Lewis, Former Prime Minister of St Lucia; Professor Emeritus, Institute of International Relations, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago It is a pleasure to be invited to write a few words on the occasion of Sonny Ramphal’s eightieth birthday, and in so doing, to celebrate the work of one who is, undoubtedly, the Caribbean Community’s most distinguished diplomatist.

By Rudy Insanally Former Foreign Minister of GuyanaI am pleased to join in this public tribute to Sir Shridath (Sonny) Ramphal on the occasion of his eightieth birthday this year.

By Rashleigh E. Jackson Former Foreign Minister of Guyana The achievements of Sir Shridath  Ramphal are legion; and he is widely respected for his enormous contribution to the promotion of understanding and agreement, regionally and internationally. 

By Denis Benn Michael Manley Professor of Public Affairs/ Public Policy, University of the West Indies, Mona Campus In the Caribbean firmament, no star shines more brightly than Shridath Ramphal’s. 

By Bryn Pollard Former Chief Parliamentary Counsel, Guyana; Former Legal Consultant, Caricom It is a privilege and most pleasurable for me to be invited to make this contribution on Sir Shridath’s attainment of his eightieth birthday and to pay a special tribute to him for his outstanding achievements over the past years.

By Ian McDonald Former CEO of the Sugar Association of the Caribbean; Caribbean novelist and poet In 1991-92 Sonny Ramphal was chairing the West Indian Commission, one of the many important lives he was living at the time.

By Dr Barton Scotland Former Senior Diplomat, Ministry of Foreign Affairs The many interviews given by Sonny Ramphal over the course of an illustrious and still very lively career, the several speeches delivered by him and the many studies in which he participated through over four decades of service to Guyana, the Caribbean and the wider international community and the causes which he has advocated and still advocates, attest to his sterling contribution and commitment to ‘goodness’ and ‘fairness’ in the global polity.

By Cedric Joseph Former Guyana High Commissioner to the United Kingdom A small state on the South American mainland, emerging from colonialism that left spurious claims to a substantial part of its territory, with a society enveloped in diversities can bear citizens of many hues, figuratively and literally. 

By Clive Lloyd Former Captain of the West Indies Cricket Team; ICC Match Referee It is always a pleasure when one is given the opportunity to say a few things about a celebrated compatriot.

By R.M. Austin Former Guyana Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China I had hardly joined the Foreign Ministry in 1973 when I was made Special Assistant to Lloyd Searwar.

Corruption – and Cabinet changes – Perception usually prevails Even as I’ll eschew classic definitions of the term, I felt an urge to offer my “three-cents” bit on the issue of corruption, so current at this time.