U.S criticizes Guyana on radio licences

– says process “lacked transparency”  – – cites heavy control over state media

Former President Bharrat Jagdeo

APRIL 23, 2013 | BY KNEWS |

The United States Government has slammed the issuance of radio licences under former President Bharrat Jagdeo.  In its latest report on human rights, which includes freedom of speech, the U.S Government said the issuance of the licences under Jagdeo “lacked transparency.”
In November 2011, the very month he was leaving the Office of the President, Jagdeo handed out ten radio licences with his friends and associates being granted 15 radio frequencies.

“In 2011 the government approved applications for 10 new radio stations, although the process was controversial, lacked transparency and contained further steps needed before the new stations could begin broadcasting,” the report on Human Rights Practices stated.    

Guyana Government indifferent to Corruption – US State Department

APRIL 23, 2013 | BY KNEWS |

Government’s apparent ineffectiveness in implementing laws that provide for criminal penalties for corruption by public officials has been highlighted by the United States of America 2012 Human Rights Report.

The report, which was released over the weekend, stated that there remains widespread public perception of corruption involving officials at all levels, including the police and the judiciary.
“The World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators assessed that government corruption was a serious problem,” the report said.
The Guyana Police Force bore the brunt of the report’s assessment, which pointed to allegations of police officers being connected to the drug underworld.
In October 2011 the Guyana Police Force’s Crime Chief submitted a report to the Minister of Home Affairs regarding allegations by a senior officer that many officers had connections to drug dealers.          

Cricket: Gayle smashes fastest Twenty20 century in history

Gayle smashes fastest Twenty20 century in history

Gayle, 31, got to his century with a free-hit from medium-pacer Ashok Dinda which went crashing into the roof of the M Chinnaswamy stadium.

BANGALORE, India, Tuesday April 23, 2013 – West Indies opener Chris Gayle has set a new record for the fastest century in the history of professional cricket playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) against Pune Warriors in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday April 23, 2013.

Gayle smashed an astonishing ton off just 30 balls, battering the Pune Warriors bowling attack in an innings that included seven dot balls, four singles, eight fours and 11 sixes at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.   

The 50th Anniversary of the University of Guyana: Reflections – Harold Drayton

The 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the University of Guyana: Reflections

Stabroek News- On April 22, 2013 – In In The Diaspora | 

By Harold Drayton

Harold A. Drayton served as the First Deputy Vice-Chancellor (1963-1964) at the University of Guyana, and as Professor and Head of the Department of Biology. He now lives in Pennsylvania
.
I thank our University for the kind invitation to contribute to the 50th Anniversary celebration of the establishment of the University of Guyana; and my very first words must be to congratulate all my countrymen and women for the unstinting support that they have given, to enable our National University to survive, and to develop, over these past five decades. Congrats are due also, to the academic, administrative and support staff of UG, without whose continuing labours, this institution would have ceased to function a long time ago. And finally, I must congratulate the students, who with your parents, have entrusted your young lives to UG for the career development for which you strive.   [Read more]

Earth Day 2013: The Face of Climate Change – Rosaliene Bacchus

Three Worlds One Vision

The Colorado River from space on March 12, 2013 – NASA Earth Observatory
Source: http://www.livescience.com

On Monday, 22 April 2013, over one billion people worldwide will take part in the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day. The theme this year is The Face of Climate Change. We are invited to take a photo and tell our story of the way in which climate change affects us and what we are doing to be part of the solution.

In my corner of Planet Earth, the Colorado River is the face of climate change. On 16 April 2013, the annual release of America’s Most Endangered Rivers ranked the Colorado River as our nation’s number one endangered river. This lifeline through the desert sustains over 40 million people in seven Western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Our water demands are so great that this mighty river dribbles…

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Guyanese Online Newsletter – April 2013

The City of Georgetown. Guyana  celebrates 201 years this month

Download it: 35- Guyanese Online Newsletter – April 2013

This monthly newsletter is published by the Guyanese Online Blog.

This 35th issue has 25 pages. It features the Budget 2013 , Guyana’s Parliament; Guyanese Associations News; Arts and Cultural News; Guest Editorials; Guyana’s Parliament and Governance; Other Guyana news; Agriculture, Business; Education ; Medical News; and Tourism. It also lists all of the Blog entries for March 2013, and those that were most popular with readers.

About 70% of our estimated 20,000+ readers live in the USA, Canada, and the UK. who want to keep up with news from Guyana. In March 2013 the Blog had a record 110,854 views, in a total of over 1,139,148 views to date. The total Blog entries are now over 2600 and growing daily. 

Guyanese women grow sorrel for export – by Tangerine Clarke

Guyanese women grow sorrel – Click image to increase font size

SENIORS BANKING – brilliant and amusing

SENIORS BANKING

Shown below, is an actual letter that was sent to a bank by an 86 year old woman. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the Times.

Dear Sir:

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month.   By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it..

I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire pension, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years.

You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally answer your telephone calls and letters, — when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.            

Francis Quamina Farrier in Boston – by Francis Farrier

FRANCIS QUAMINNA FARRIER in BOSTON

By: Francis Farrier

My week-end in Boston was like the two masks which are mounted on the front wall of a Theatre or on a Theatre programme; One a smiling mask, the other with a sad expression.

I arrived in Boston on Friday evening, April 12, 2013. It was not only very cold but rainy and wet. Even Bostonians were shivering. This was not like my previous visit to that historic American city  when it was warm are so much more welcoming weather-wise.

My friend Gus Corbin, who was the principal organizer of my visit, met me at the Bus terminal where, together with his daughter Michelle, I was driven to the Comfort Inn. Michelle Corbin played a vital role in the production, including producing the classy promotion flyers. On Saturday, Gus and I toured around the bustling downtown area of Boston, as we put in place the details for my Storytelling and Poetry reading programme for the following evening.  

Caribbean’s first gold refinery expected to earn billions for Suriname

Gold bars

Suriname produces an average of 40 tons of gold a year, but until now it has had no large scale refining capacity.

Suriname, Monday March 18, 2013 – The Government of Suriname has embarked on a joint venture with the Kaloti Group of Dubai to establish the first gold refinery in the Caribbean.

The refinery that is being built near the village of Wit Santi, close to the country’s International Airport, is expected to start operating by next year and produce as much as US$2.77 billion worth of refined gold.

On March 16,  President Desi Bouterse joined Kaloti Chairman Munir Kaloti in expressing high expectations of the facility.  The US$20 million plant should make Suriname into a “centre of excellence for the region’s gold and precious metals industry,” a joint release said.