GNN Online Newspaper - FEB 09, 2016

Tuesday February 09, 2016

Former Health Minister arrested IN NEW YORK Bandits retreat after Security Guard puts up fight PAGE 6

PAGE 7

Speaker upbraids PPP/C MP for “De facto government” statement -as budget debates continue

Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland this afternoon scolded opposition Member of Parliament Needkumar for referring to the administration as the “De facto government.”

During Needkumar’s contribution to the budget debates on day two, he was upbraided by the Speaker who reminded Members of the Parliament (MPs) that while they have the liberty of freedom of speech, they ought to ensure they do so within the walls of responsibility.

“Freedom of speech

is enjoyed by all but it is always exercised in the four walls of rules,” the Speaker said.

Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman rose to his feet and objected to the PPP/C MP referring to the government as the “de-facto government.”

The Speaker agreed with Trotman’s sentiment that the language ought not to have been used in the House.

He asked that the statement be withdrawn.

Dr. Scotland told the MPs that they should not make statements in

the National Assembly that would attract legal action outside of the Assembly.

Neendkumar argued that there is a petition before the Court regarding the issue.

However, the Speaker said the MP should know that it is improper to raise such an issue in the House while it is before the Court.

Following the MP’s reluctance in withdrawing his statement the Speaker said “Honorable member please take your seat…If we make a mistake is it so difficult to

Dr. Barton Scotland

acknowledge an error and to simply put it right, surely it cannot, it cannot be a difficulty.”

The PPP/C MP withdrew his statement.

During Monday’s

debate the Speaker scolded another opposition MP, Cornel Damon who used the President’s name in his presentation.

This was immediately

d i s a l l o w e d .

“Honorable Member you cannot use the President’s name in the context of this debate,” he cautioned.

Government has major plans to develop Indigenous peoples Minister Valerie Gorrido-Lowe

Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples Affairs, Valerie Gorrido-Lowe stated that the Government has made several plans for the Indigenous peoples in Budget 2016.

During her presentation in the National Assembly this afternoon, she noted that more emphasis will be placed on education and job training to develop hinterland communities.

She said through the Hinterland Employment And Youth Service (HEYS),

“youths will receive $30,000 per month and ten will be saved which they will receive at the end of the course. Through collaborative training under the SKYPE, they will also be able to develop business plan where they will benefit from a startup grant of $50, 000” noting that to date, there are six villages in the program.

Additionally, sums are allocated for the design of a new dormitory in Lilendial, East Coast Demerara for students who wish to

budget and the $1.4M for the capital Budget, the hinterland is further provided for, within all five pillars of the budget. This budget offers much hope to our indigenous peoples.”

She was at the time responding to claims

by Peoples Progressive Party’s Member of Parliament; Yvonne Pearson, who stated that he Indigenous peoples of Guyana has lost all confidence in the pursue education in coalition government. the City, the school Pearson also alluded uniforms program, the to the Community hinterland scholarship program, provision of ICT hubs in Hinterland communities and schools among others.

The Minister expressed satisfaction with the allocation to the sector noting that “I must say that I am pleased with the allotment to our indigenous peoples. I am excited that at long last, the hinterland…

Is getting its fair share of the pie…besides the $776.5M allocated for the Ministry’s current

Support Officers (CSOs) who lost their jobs when the coalition government assumed office. She noted that “we cannot forget what was done the action that was taken against our young people…

Firing almost 2000 youths and women.”

To this Minister Gorrida-Lowe stated that “the YEAP (); a scheme developed by then Ministry of Amerindian Affairs came to an end at the leisure and pleasure of the then Ministry

in April 2015. And what jobs are the members referring to; the CSOs… received $30,000 per month for doing next to nothing… and campaigned for the PPP for the 2015 elections…”

The Opposition MP also questioned the Amerindian land titling projects noting that six villages are waiting to receive land titling while 32 villages are waiting extensions.

Temporary workers laid off- GuySuCo

Following a statement issued by the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) titled “Wales workers given marching orders by GuySuCo,” the

sugar corporation has explained that a number of workers who were temporary staff up to the end of the last 2015 crop was not reengaged to work for the company.

In a statement yesterday, the Union stated that “as at (Friday) February 05, 2016, no less than sixty (60) workers undertaking various tasks in the fields and

the factory were given, by officials of the Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (GuySuCo), marching orders i.e. they were told that they were no longer engaged in employ of the Estate on the ground that they were temporary workers. These workers worked previous crops at the Estate.”

In a telephone interview, Industrial Relations Officer; Deodat Sukhu stated that under the agreement with the Unions, temporary workers are laid off after three crops. He added that temporary staff is hired by the Corporation to buffer the absenteeism

at the estates.

He said “we have not put out anyone from work, save and except those persons that are temporary…the union agreement said you can be temporary up to three crops, if you work for more than three crops, you are permanent and these persons are only one or two crops old.”

He noted that “We have maintained all the temporary, the harvesting gang and the factory and cane transport. The only temporary that we didn’t give work to was the crop husbandry. This morning the spray men; able bodied men who sprays; we offer them to go cut cane; those are young men, no female… all the ladies from the weeding gang will remain at Wales and the ones from the fertilizing

gang were asked to go to Uitvlugt. We did not offer any lady other work than weeding. 19 at Uitvlugt and 20 odd at Wales.”

According to GAWU’s statement “A few of them, including young females, we understand, were told they could be further employed to cut and load canes, if they wished.”

However, Mr. Sukhu noted that “we (GuySuCo) have moved away from having female workers in this arduous work, the last person we had was five years ago, at the Wales Estate who refused to stop cutting canes even after the company put in the policy that women should not be engage in those arduous works.”

He told GNN that females are not engaged in cutting canes for several years.

Man interrogated in Chinese businesswoman’s murder One man is in police custody after he was fingered in the foiled robbery and killing of a Chinese businesswoman Sue Di Wong on Sunday night at her restaurant at Number 57 Village in Corentyne, Berbice.

The man is being questioned by ranks and is likely to be charged, should they come up with enough

evidence against him.

The forty-four year old Chinese businesswoman was killed when two armed men entered her restaurant through an open door around 19:45 hours. The food outlet was closed for business.

The woman, her husband and two sons, were having dinner at the time of the apparent robbery attempt.

Wong’s husband and two children reportedly ran out of the building and began to raise an alarm, at which stage the armed man discharged a round that struck Sue Di Wong to her head. The two men then escaped.

The businesswoman was taken to the Skeldon Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

Keith Scott says Co-operative societies to return Cooperative Societies will soon return to the architect of community development in Guyana as the labour department is expected to undertake shortly a massive co-ops rejuvenation programme.

This is according to Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Keith Scott.

Scott, while time addressing the National Assembly yesterday during day one of the Budget debate, explained, that co-ops will now be

one of the three pillars that will underpin the development of the country. Plans are in place to reintroduce coops at the school level.

School’s thrift societies will also be re-introduced.

The department intends to ensure not only that they are reenergized, but that they are accountable and under proper management.

The Minister explained that emphasis will also be placed on the formation of co-op societies within communities’

countrywide.

This, he said will aid significantly in the community’s development.

With regard those already existing coops, he explained that there are several dysfunctional coops in several communities countrywide, these he said will be de-certified.

Meanwhile, the House was told that currently forensic audits are being done on the co-ops department following which; a plan will be developed on the way forward.

The department of Labour will be collaborating with the Ministry of Business to advance the coop’s development in the business sector, while collaboration will be forged with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission (GL&SC) to secure lands for community development.

In keeping with the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n’s manifesto promise of breathing new life into the sector while ensuring that these bodies exists within

Minister Keith Scott

the confines of the laws of Guyana; the co-ops department of the Ministry will be completely overhauled.

The intention is to create an enabling environment so that co-ops can function effectively and adhere to the laws.

C o o p e r a t i v e societies are self-

generated, voluntary and self-sufficient, democratically controlled by their members. In Guyana, co-ops are governed by the Co-operative Societies Act, and are supported by the respective regulations and policies. (GINA)

LOP’s Caution Statements:

The Leader of the Opposition is being Constructive The calls for care and caution put by the Leader of the Opposition (LOP) as the Coalition Government proceeds as announced, with the negotiations with Guyana Wind Farm Inc. (GWFI) are well justified. There is no disputing the close relationship between the current leading shareholder of GWFI, Mr. Lloyd Singh, and the AFC which was recently declared by both sides on the commissioning of the new AFC headquarters.

There is no deceit in the LOP’s statements.

True, the PPP/C administration had been working with GWFI over more than a dozen years for the realization of a Hope Beach Wind Farm, but whilst it could have been taken for granted that the concluding negotiations with a PPP/C administration would have been “at arm’s length”, the concluding negotiations between the Coalition Government and a major supporter of one component must expect to be tested. As it is said, “Forewarned is forearmed”. The LOP was putting out the warning early.

The LOP would have been deceitful if he had stayed quiet, aware as he was that the announcement by the Honorable Minister of Finance contained a major error.

GPL’s current cost of generation is only about a third of the figure which was given as US 28 cents per kWh. Additionally, there are other worrying statements in the media and in society which could easily lead to consumers of electricity paying more than they should.

Persons familiar with our electricity utility, GPL, and with wind and other renewable energy sources would share the LOP’s causes for concern even more, on reading the article on page 10 of KN of Sunday February 7, 2016. Two quotes from that article, separately and more so when combined, would justify the LOP’s alarm.

Mr. Lloyd Singh is quoted as saying, “I want the people to understand that there are three alternative sources of energy in Guyana: hydro, solar and wind.

Hydro depends on rain; solar on sun, but wind is 24hrs”. As all of us who have attempted to fly kites, know, the wind does not blow steadily but is constantly changing and for many long periods may be effectively zero.

Arrangements to ensure that the utility’s other generators compensate quickly and adequately, is a major challenge.

The usual result is that a utility like GPL should only offer to pay a “discounted avoided

cost” for energy it receives from others.

The Honorable Minister was dreadfully in error when he put the average current generation cost of GPL at US 28 cents per kWh. At the cost of fuel to GPL on Budget Day, January 29, 2016, generation cost would have been no more than US 9.5 cents per kWh, with a fuel component of about US 6.30 cents.

His figure of US 28 cents might have been true at the time of the highest oil prices of almost two years ago, or there might have been a mix-up with two other figures - the average cost of electricity delivered to customers and the average price as billed to customers.

In negotiations for an independent supply of power (a PPA with an IPP) one must ensure that one has accurate figures for the generating cost which would be avoided, if not the GPL and consumers would be paying more that they should.

Mr. Lloyd Singh tells about the PPP/C cabinet on June 9, 2014 approving (in principle) the sale of electricity to GPL at US 18 cents per

kWh. At that time the average generation cost was about US 23 cents per kWh with a fuel component of about US 20 cents. The price of US 18 cents was less than the avoided cost and was calculated to be enough to amortize the investment (good price and concessionary financing) in not much more than five years.

It was therefore an attractive price at that time for a speeded up BOOT arrangement in which the facility would have been quickly bought-down and ownership transferred to GPL within not much more than five years, at no further charge. Fuel prices and prospects are quite different today.

Allow me to restate here our PPP/C background position when considering offers for electricity generation. The priority project for secure, renewable energy for Guyana as identified since the mid 1980s, was and continues to be the realization of the Amaila Hydro, with projected costs of electricity delivered at Sophia, at about US 12 cents initially, falling to

about US 7 cents after about seven years then to about US 3 cents after about fifteen years and for the rest of its life of about 50 years, giving an arithmetic average of US 5 cents over its life.

The speeded up, shortened BOOT for the Wind Farm was to avoid or minimize a period of conflicting competing calls to accept electricity from a Wind Farm owned by a private third party, against calls from Amaila.

As I recall, subsequent to the Cabinet’s approval of June 9, 2014, there was effectively a withdrawal by the preferred Chinese manufacturer as it ended its very attractive price and financing offer.

Consideration began of offers from other Chinese manufactures including offers for financing.

Costs were increasing.

Whilst at the beginning of financing discussions many manufacturers and financiers seem to be willing to proceed without a “Sovereign guarantee” of the loan/ investment, invariably as discussions/ negotiations proceeded they hardened their call for a “Sovereign guarantee”.

With those subsequent developments and bearing in mind that the discussions with GWFI went back to the early 2000s, when Mr. Kolader from Curacao came with a pure private sector

proposal, the PPP/C administration had began moving towards: • A different business model: an “open book” “public-privatepartnership” where the contributions, risks and rewards of each party would be explicitly stated and agreed to; • P o s s i b l y restarting with an open, worldwide call for proposals, with some reasonable recognition (and reward) for the valuable work done

by GWFI over more than a dozen years, if it were not to be the successful bidder.

The Leader of the Opposition was being constructive. A few days after the reading of the Budget he held a press conference at which he constructively critiqued the budget proposing reasonable changes to reduce increased costs which the Government might be unwittingly introducing on middle and low income earners in our country. His statements of caution and concern as the Government proceeds to conclude agreements with GWFI are similarly constructive for the purpose of achieving better for our people and county.

of the proposed ‘petting zoo’, but also the restoration of the facility’s many seating accommodations, its bandstand, and all of its fountains.

King added that “we hope to add a little variety to complement the ‘Gardens’, as we hope that it will help to generate the much-needed revenue to continue onwards with our developmental work.”

Guyana’s first petting zoo was established in the Botanical

Gardens in 2014 under the previous administration, which falls under the ThreeParks Initiative of the Protected Areas Commission (PAC) The Petting Zoo provides a friendly environment for children to admire the rich biodiversity Guyana has to offer while developing appreciation for animals. This section houses donkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs and ducks.

Samuel A A Hinds, Former Minister for Electricity and Energy.

Petting Zoo for Promenade Gardens soon

Patrons visiting the Promenade Gardens

can look forward to see petting animals as

the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) promises to establish a petting zoo there.

This is part of the Council’s plan to develop and maintain historical sites and places around the capital city.

Speaking at a recent press conference, Town Clerk Royston King said the facility will accommodate pet

animals, mostly local animals and birds.

The installation of a petting zoo there is to restore the Promenade Gardens to its former glory, and help turn it into a major tourist attraction, King said.

According to King, “the upgrade at the ‘Promenade’ on downtown Middle Street, King said, will not only see the installation

Walter Rodney CoI report to be presented at a later date The Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report will be presented at a later date, after Chairman of the Commission, Sir Richard Cheltenham, informed the Attorney General that he had run out of ink while printing the document which was supposed to be presented to President David Granger yesterday midday.

This call was made after the President had already arrived at the Ministry of the Presidency to facilitate the handing over of the report.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams said he found this

totally unacceptable for any sitting President, especially given the fact that President Granger has been more than accommodating in the past months, in granting time extensions.

He lamented the fact that some $500M was spent over a period of two years on the Commission.

“I am deeply concerned. I am even more concerned that this is a Presidential Inquiry and that the President has been asked for extensions of time and every time the President agreed. It is not an appropriate way to deal with the President of a country and I think the time

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams

has come for us to put a definitive end to this entire Commission of Inquiry... the President has bent over backwards on many occasions. It is unfair to the President and the people of Guyana to continue it... I am fed up of the entire situation,” Williams said.

Minister Williams added that he found the handling of the matter by the Commissioner surprising and unfair to the Guyanese people since he had put all arrangements in place to ensure the completion of the work of the Commission, which had been set up under the previous

administration.

“I didn’t understand what he meant [when he said that] because when they arrived I sought to ensure that they were properly ensconced and that they had all the relevant facilities. In fact, I had handed over the arrangements to Mr. [Hugh] Denbow, [the

Administrator] for him to work with them so I was actually surprised that Sir Richard was saying that,” he said.

Sir Richard had requested that the handing over be rescheduled to a time later in the day but Minister Williams indicated that this arrangement seemed uncertain. “Sir Richard was asking for any time between 16:00hrs and 18:00hrs this evening (Monday) which again sounded very iffy and I had to come to Parliament,” he said.

Efforts to contact Cheltenham for a possible date for its submission were futile.

Nagamootoo says Opposition trying to mislead the National Assembly and the Public Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo described the utterances by Opposition during the first set of presentations for the 2016 Budget debates, as “misleading”.

He was responding to claims that the coalition Government had promised to pay rice farmers between $6,000 to $7,000 for a bag of rice while in opposition.

These statements were made by Opposition Member of Parliament Irfaan Ali. According to the Government Information Agency, (GINA), Nagamootoo said, “There is no record that the Coalition had promised $6,000 or $7,000 dollars for paddy. There is no record and I think he invented the figure,

and I think he is trying to confuse people as to what is the state of the rice industry.”

He further dismissed claims about the economy “sliding” due to a fall in foreign direct investment.

Nagamootoo also cleared the air on the state of Foreign direct Investment.

“What he was trying to say is that foreign direct investment dropped to $125 million last year, which shows there was a lack of confidence or management by this new Coalition Government...

This slide had started under the PPP,” he said.

According to figures given by the Prime Minister, in 2013, the foreign direct investment was around $200 million dollars.

He added that the

period 2006 - 2012 saw more than GY$265 B flowing in the local economy yet there was not much to show for it in terms of jobs. “Where are the jobs created with the investment of 265 billion dollars?”

N a g a m o o t o o q u e s t i o n e d .

He dismissed the statements from the political opposition as merely, “a lot of bombast, trying to show that this Coalition babe, only 8 months old, was responsible for the rot, the decay of the economy that had taken place over many years of the PPP”.

He also rubbished claims made by opposition MP Nigel Dharamlall about $60 million being spent in 2015 and $200 million to be utilized this year

Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo

on the “PM’s house and other Government buildings”.

This statement was described by the top Government official as, “deception and a poor attempt at misleading the Guyanese people.”

It was made clear that the funds were allocated for the Official Residence of the Prime Minister and not where the Prime Minister currently lives, and

has been residing for a number of years. “Not a single cent has been spent on the Prime Minister’s house. That is my house where I live,” he emphasised.

According to Nagamootoo, the money is being spent on the official residence which the former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds had lived in for 23 years, and which was allowed to virtually, “rot and

go into disrepair and a dilapidated condition.”

He added that all of the Government owned buildings that are known to be falling apart, is due to the former Government’s negligence. “Therefore this cheap shot at deceiving the people is part and parcel of the Jagdeo/ PPP propaganda.”

Nagamootoo said.

(Adapted from GINA)

Final five couples selected in wedding expo contest

The final five couples vying for the top prize

in the Wedding Expo ‘Race to the altar’ have

been selected as the competition kicked off the second phase.

The top five contestants are Hamilton Holder and Karen McAllister, Clay Harris and Maelisha Kellman, Steven Persaud and Monalisa Sammy, Troy Archer and Karen Alexander and Mutola Caesar and Eldon Pile.

The Roraima Airways

event saw the contestants competing in activities ranging from mountain biking, kayaking, forest expedition and couple communication at the Arrowpoint Nature Resort.

This aspect of the competition was created to provide the judges an opportunity to examine the

interaction of the couples while they are under stressful situations.

Other activities slated for the rest of the competition are visits to the couples’ homes, media blitz and the talent segment at the Valentine’s Day Special at the Roraima Duke Lodge.

The public has an

a plea, officials said.

The extradition treaty between the United States and Guyana is in a state of flux and being renegotiated, officials said. Blackman’s attorney, Alan Nelson, declined to comment on the case, as did Eastern District Assistant United States Attorney Bradley King.

The doctor’s secretary, Eva Torres, 31, of the Bronx, was also arrested on the same narcotics conspiracy charges and appeared in court for her arraignment Monday. She also was not required to enter a plea, but was released on $50,000 bond.

In addition to his medical practice in the United States, Blackman also is currently the executive dean of academic affairs at the medical school at Georgetown American University in Guyana.

His arrest is the latest in a string of cases involving Long Island doctors charged with illegally doling out highly addictive prescription painkillers.

In Blackman’s case, Torres was stopped and searched at Kennedy Airport in December returning from visiting him in Guyana with more than 40 oxycodone prescriptions signed by him for patients, according to court papers. The papers do not say why Torres was stopped.

Agents checking the names of those for whom Blackman wrote prescriptions found that some lived in the Bronx and New Jersey, and as far away as Florida.

When Torres was arrested at her Bronx home Sunday, she told agents an unnamed person, identified only as John Doe One, would give her a list of names and Blackman would write oxycodone prescriptions without examining the recipients, the court papers said. Torres said Blackman was paid $300 for each of those prescriptions, the papers said.

After he was arrested

opportunity to vote for their favourite couple as this segment opens commenced today on the Roraima Wedding Expo Facebook page.

The winning couple will be announced at the Roraima Duke Lodge Valentine’s Day Special.

The 8th annual Wedding expo is designed to promote Guyana as a wedding destination.

The wining couple will get a $3,000,000 all-inclusive wedding.

Former PNC Health Minister, Dr. Noel Blackman, arrested in New York for reported prescription drug conspiracy scheme

Federal authorities in the United States arrested a Long Island-based, Guyanese doctor and former Minister of Health under the People’s National Congress (PNC) government, Noel Blackman, late Sunday at Kennedy Airport. They suspected he illegally prescribed vast amounts of oxycodone, 365,000 pills in 2015, in a drug-dealing enterprise spanning three states.

He was recently named by the APNU+AFC government as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation.

Agents took Dr. Blackman, 68, into custo-

dy after they ordered a Guyana-bound jet taxiing for takeoff with him aboard to return to an airport terminal.

Blackman, under investigation for several weeks, was reportedly intended on permanently leaving the United States, according to a tip agents received before they headed him off at the airport. After the plane returned to the terminal at about midnight Sunday, Blackman was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to distribute the narcotic.

Federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations also found $30,000 in cash stashed in his luggage, officials said.

According to Blackman’s prescription records checked by federal authorities, the 365,000 oxycodone pills came from 2,487 prescriptions, a marked increase from the 114 he wrote for 3,800 pills in 2014 and 63 written in 2013 for 2,100 pills.

Blackman, who had offices in Franklin Square, in Elmhurst, Queens, and in Brooklyn, was arraigned late Monday in Central Islip federal court on the charge of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.

U.S. Magistrate Anne Shields ordered Blackman held as a flight risk, pending future hearings. Black was not required to enter

at the airport, Blackman told agents that “it was possible that some of his patients were addicted to Oxycodone, and that he charged approximately $300 to see patients at his ‘pain management’ practice, and that he typically saw approximately 100 patients per day, which he estimated was about one patient every six minutes,” according to the papers.

The papers do not say that Blackman admitted to any wrongdoing. An agent, in reviewing the conversation, described what he considered Blackman’s intentions, according to court papers “This volume of patients is consistent with a doctor’s participation in a conspiracy to illegally distribute oxycodone and not with a legitimate pain management practice.” (Adapted from a Robert E. Kessler article published in the Long Island Newsday)

Bandits retreat after Security Guard puts up fight A Security Guard attached to a Georgetown location resisted an attack by four bandits.

According to the police, at about 0320h. today the guard on duty was confronted by four

men, one of whom was armed with a gun.

He resisted and a scuffle ensued with the armed man who dropped the firearm, which was retrieved by the security guard. The four men ran away.

The unlicensed 9mm. pistol with 7 rounds was handed over to the police.

Investigations are in progress.

Tragedy on Stage: Actor declared brain dead after hanging scene goes wrong

Italian actor Raphael Schumacher was declared brain dead Friday after accidentally strangling

himself on a theater stage during a hanging scene.

Schumacher, 27, was performing in a

production at the Pisa’s Teatro Lux on Jan. 30 when a medical student in the audience noticed that the rope around his neck looked to be too tight and Schumacher appeared to be in distress, according to Variety.

Pisa University Hospital doctors declared him brain dead five days after the incident. “The noose should have been fake and a harness should have caught

Waris Ahluwalia stopped resisting rigorous airport security checks a long time ago.

The well-known Sikh American designer and actor says he’s grown accustomed to multiple bag searches, invasive pat-downs and incessant swabbing. He’ll even let you massage his feet for foreign objects without protest.

After passing through two comprehensive screenings before his Aeromexico flight from Mexico City to New York City on

Monday morning, he thought he was ready to board his plane.

But security personnel thought otherwise.

“The security person said, ‘Now, will you take off your turban?’”

Ahluwalia told The Washington Post, noting that he’s unsure of whether the man was employed by the airport, the airline, or both. “I said, ‘I won’t be taking off my turban here.’

“A group of Aeromexico employees spoke among themselves in Spanish and then one guy came

back to me wearing an orange vest over a suit and said, ‘You will not be flying Aeromexico and you will need to book a flight on another airline.”

Instead of getting angry, the 41-year-old — who several years ago become the first-ever Sikh American model in a national Gap ad campaign — turned to social media, where he used his predicament to raise awareness about discriminatory airport screenings. On Instagram, he wrote: “I was told I could not

him if he fell. I cannot explain how an incident like this happened,” an actor involved with the play said.

The daily il Giornale quoted the directors as saying the scene was supposed to end with a fake pistol shot, but Schumacher apparently changed the scene without notifying them.

The news agency ANSA reported Friday that prosecutors are

investigating whether a lapse in safety procedure was to blame, with the focus on a possible stage accident rather than suicide.

Police have closed down the theater following the fatal incident, and are interviewing the cast and audience members to see if there was anything suspicious about the hanging.

In an interview with the Independent,

Schumacher’s family rejected the idea that he would take his own life, even though the actor had fallen on hard times.

“My son recently lost his father and had ended a relationship but had found his serenity again. He didn’t leave a suicide note and had no reason to kill himself,” Schumacher’s mother told the newspaper.

(Adapted from Fox News)

board my @aeromexico flight to NYC because of my turban.”

“My turban and beard represent my commitment to equality and justice,” Ahluwalia said in a statement distributed by the Sikh Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group that works on behalf of followers of the monotheistic faith, which originated in South Asia in the 15th century. “If security personnel would like to respond with bigotry and fear then I will take another flight

that’s more inclusive.”

In the United States, according to the Sikh Coalition, security agents are allowed to pat down or swab a passenger’s turban with permission.

Failing that, they can ask a passenger to step into a private area for

a secondary screening.

Ahluwalia said airports all over the world follow similar rules, but he suspects that employees working at Aeromexico’s gate hadn’t been trained to screen Sikh passengers.

(Adapted from Yahoo)

Turban-wearing Sikh actor barred from boarding plane is now refusing to fly home

Shah Rukh Khan refunds 50% losses to distributors of Dilwale

Dilwale which was produced by Red Chillies and Rohit Shetty Productions, despite featuring a star studded cast and insane promotions did not perform as expected at the box office. However, now months after its release we hear that Shah Rukh Khan, whose production Red Chillies took over the distribution of the film in India has decided to refund the individual

distributors to a certain extent for the losses incurred.

In fact back in 2001 and 2005, Shah Rukh Khan had refunded the individual distributors of his films Asoka (Eros) and Paheli (UTV), after both films underperformed at the box office. As a direct result of the actor’s 2001 film Asoka underperforming at the box office, Shah Rukh’s subsequent release Chalte Chalte was sold for a much lower price. On similar lines after the failure of Paheli, distributors of Shah Rukh’s next venture Om Shaanti Om were given first right of refusal to acquire the film.

Recently admitting Dilwale’s underperformance at a press conference Shah Rukh had said, “I don’t think the film has done as well as it should have. I am personally disappointed with that”, well now the actor has decided on reimbursing 50% of the losses incurred by the distributors.

SRK had set a domestic distribution target with a minimum guarantee (MG) of Rs. 130 cr; but since Dilwale collected around Rs. 150 cr at the India box office, the distributors share would have amounted to approx. Rs. 70 to 75 cr which meant a loss of around 55 to 60 cr cumulatively for the individual distributors pan India.

According to our reports, Shah Rukh has refunded close to Rs. 25 cr to cover up 50% loss to distributors asking them to bear the rest.

(Adapted from Bollyhungama.com)

Hondurans mobilize to wipe out Zika Armed with brooms, spades and hoes, Hondurans by the thousands took part in a day of national mobilization to try and eradicate mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, the government said.

Some 200,000 residents of this Central American nation spent Saturday ridding homes and gardens of standing water and fumigating areas suspected of harboring larvae from the virus-

carrying mosquito.

Honduras, which earlier this week declared a state of emergency because of the rapidly spreading virus, now has some 4,400 confirmed cases of Zika since midDecember.

President Juan Orlando Hernandez has allocated an initial tranche of $10 million in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus.

“The data is clear: each day, the number of cases of this terrible illness

increases,” Hernandez said Saturday as the massive eradication effort got underway.

He urged his countrymen to be fully “conscious of the problem that we’re confronting.”

Hondurans are called upon “to unite against Zika, our common enemy,” he added.

Zika causes flu-like symptoms and a rash, and is so mild that it goes undetected in 70 to 80 percent of cases.

There is currently no specific treatment for Zika and no way to prevent it other than avoiding mosquito bites.

The nation’s health minister Yolani Batres said that despite the high number of Zika infections, there are so far no confirmed cases of Zika-linked microcephaly, or abnormally small heads and brains, which have been widely diagnosed in Brazil,

the country hardest hit by the outbreak.

Colombia, the country with the second-worst outbreak, has announced three deaths blamed on Zika. Colombia also has seen a sharp increase in a rare neurological condition called GuillainBarre syndrome, which can cause paralysis and even death.

Health officials in Honduras said 16 pregnant women are believed to have contracted the virus, and that officials are awaiting the results of testing on samples sent to the United States for confirmation.

(Adapted from MSN)

who may have been exposed to the virus and have a pregnant

partner to practice safe sex or abstain until their baby is born.

A pregnant woman whose male partner may have been exposed to Zika or has a history of Zika-like illness should discuss her risk of exposure with her doctor or other health care provider, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The virus, which can be transmitted sexually, is suspected of being linked to a devastating birth defect called microcephaly in the babies of women infected early in pregnancy. Babies with microcephaly have a small cranium that affects their brain development and may cause lifetime cognitive problems.

In Brazil, where

scientists reportedly have discovered Zika virus in urine and saliva samples, a top health official recommended pregnant women avoid even kissing someone who is not their regular partner, along with not sharing cutlery or dinnerware with people who appear symptomatic.

(Adapted from MSN)

CDC advises Abstinence, Safe Sex to avoid Zika

Federal health officials in the United States have issued guidelines

for preventing sexual transmission of Zika virus, advising men

Doctor gets 30 years to life for over-prescribing drugs A Southern California doctor was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison on Friday for over-prescribing drugs that caused the fatal overdose of three patients in a murder case capped by the first conviction of its kind in the United States.

The case against Dr. Hsiu Ying “Lisa” Tseng, 46, comes amid what public health officials describe as a national epidemic of drug abuse. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the trend is fueling nearly 17,000 overdose deaths annually, as well as a rise in heroin addiction.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury in October convicted Tseng, who specialized in internal medicine, of three counts of seconddegree murder in a case prosecutors said

showed she put greed above patients’ wellbeing.

She was also found guilty of 19 counts of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance and one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. Under the sentence imposed on Friday, Tseng must serve at least 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole.

She has been in custody since March 2012.

Criminally prosecuting physicians for patients’

deaths is relatively rare, with one notable case being the 2011 involuntary manslaughter conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray for giving pop star Michael Jackson a fatal dose of a surgical anesthetic to help him sleep.

At the trial, prosecutors pointed to nine overdose deaths associated with Tseng’s practice in less than three years, during which they said she had made $5 million from her clinic, dispensing potent, addictive medications to people who did not need them.

The drugs included powerful narcotics such as oxycodone, methadone and hydrocodone, and sedatives like Xanax and Valium. (Adapted from Fox News)

Revelry dominates Trinidad Carnival; no effect of reported recession Revelry, colour, splendour and tradition dominated yesterday’s parade of the bands in downtown Portof-Spain. In fact, the much talked-about recession did not appear to affect the hundreds of masqueraders who participated in the parade.

If anything, it spurred them on with renewed vigour.

Although the event got off to a slow start, several of the large bands still managed to cross the main judging point on South Quay before 1pm.

One such band was Tribe’s 2016 presentation,

“The Forbidden,” in which its scantilyclad masqueraders, accompanied by several large music trucks, danced, chipped, jumped and waved along South Quay like there was no tomorrow.

Their infectious energies were felt among the spectators, many of whom lined the streets to view the parade instead of sitting in the speciallyerected stands, opposite to Courts Furniture Store.

Tribe’s sister band, Bliss, with its presentation, “The Secret Garden,” kept the pace but spent a much shorter period

at the judging point as did The Lost Tribe’s “A Revolution of Mas.” The latter featured a powerful rhythm section which went down well with the gathering.

Legacy’s “Life,” a presentation of Big Mike and Friends, and Ronnie and Caro’s “Tears of Carnival,” also received enthusiastic responses from the audience.

Island People’s “Pantheon: Summon The Guardians,” was another crowd favourite.

Outside of the contemp orar y presentations, several bandleaders sought to

retain the traditional elements of Carnival.

These included Vintage People’s “Lipan: Warriors of the Mountain,” led by Shalima Buckreedee- Alfred and the Original Jab-Jabs “Traditional Warriors.”

Passion’s “Jubilation: A Celebration of Life,”, led

by Gerard Weekes, also revisited the concept of sailor mas. Simply Cultural’s “Minstrels: Is So Calypso Start” broke the flow of the parade with a brief musical interlude. Dressed in multi-coloured jackets, red top hats and armed with guitars, the band’s

frontline vocalists Desiree Ogiste, Gemma Blackman and Germaine Palmer, sang several calypsoes of yesteryear to reflect the portrayal.

There was also a sprinkling of individual characters during

yesterday’s parade.

Several bands also jumped to soca hits from last year’s Carnival season. (Adapted from the Trinidad Newsday)

- a monopoly the opposition calls a form of media censorship.

In Chavez’s day, the media turned into an ideological battleground.

The bulk of media outlets were owned by conservatives, long part of Venezuela’s ruling elite, and their hostility towards Chavez was plain for all to see.

Chavez made changes on

the broadcast side - both regulatory and related to ownership - and Maduro has continued that trend with print outlets. But one thing the new president cannot change is himself. He lacks Chavez’ charisma and he is just not as media savvy as his predecessor. (Al Jazeera)

Stop the press: Venezuela’s media war; shortage of paper to print There are big political changes under way in Venezuela. For the first time since late President Hugo Chavez ushered in a socialist revolution 17 years ago, the rightwing opposition is now in control of the national assembly.

That would be front page news in Caracas - but there is a shortage of paper on which to print it.

This week, 86 newspapers announced they were out of stock and wouldn’t be printing news.

Most Venezuelan newspapers used to receive steady supplies of newsprint from abroad.

But for over a year, the Maduro government has centralised all paper imports and are in control of the distribution of newsprint

Jamaica’s Police want political meetings held in enclosed areas following deadly shootout Head of the St James Division, Jamaica, Senior Superintendent Steve McGregor, yesterday expressed that public meetings are easier to manage from a policing perspective when they are held in enclosed areas, as it increases the screening capabilities of the police.

His statement comes after the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) mass rally in Sam Sharpe Square, St James on Sunday turned deadly. “There was a

strong presence of the security forces at the meeting. All exits and entrances were manned,” McGregor noted.

He also said that several men were observed at the meeting in masks and warned the public against doing so at public meetings as the police will not be tolerating this practice as it is often the modus operandi of criminals.

The St James Police late Monday affirmed that the murder/shooting

incident was attributed to gang violence within the Flanker area of the parish.

According to the police’s Corporate Communications Unit (CCU), heads of the police division said there is no evidence to suggest the incident was politically motivated. The findings were disclosed at a press conference early Monday.

The dead men have been identified as 22-year-

old Javin Campbell, otherwise called ‘Sparta’ of Flanker, St James who is a known affiliate of the Sparta Gang and Nicholas Irving, otherwise called ‘Chow’

who is a known affiliate of the Rebel Gang.

Both gangs have been feuding in Flanker for some time, CCU said in a release. Six other people, including four

women, were also injured in the incident.

“We (the JCF) are encouraging all Jamaicans to be peaceful throughout this political season as we all have a constitutional right to choose our political directorate,” stated Assistant Commissioner of Police Winchroy Budhoo, commander for Area One, under which St James falls.

(Jamaican Observer)

11 year-old boys found guilty of murdering 8-year-old neighbour’s daughter court documents showed on Saturday.

Benjamin Tiller was found guilty early last week of first-degree murder in the October slaying of McKayla Dyer in a trailer park in White Pine, a small town about 42 miles (68 km) east of Knoxville, An 11-year-old girl with a shotgun in according to a court Tennessee boy has a fight over puppies, order from Tuesday. been found guilty of and will spend the “Mr. Tiller is in fatally shooting an rest of his childhood desperate need of 8-year-old neighbour in state custody, help, and our society has a great need for

Mr. Tiller to receive it,” Judge Dennis “Will” Roach wrote in ordering Tiller placed into the custody of the Department of Children’s Services until he turns 19.

The October incident stems from a chat Tiller was having with three girls who were outside the window of his mobile home in October, authorities and court documents said.

A Pink Panther-wannabe struck in a jewelry heist like no other, swapping out a multi-thousand dollar jewel for a fake at a Georgia jewelry store for the first time in the shop’s 80-year history.

A man who identified himself as Mike Lynch came to D. Geller & Son in Smyrna, Georgia

to look at jewelry on Monday. He worked with one of the store’s sales associates, looking at 2-carat emerald cut diamonds.

But the man did not buy anything and left, returning around closing time at 7 p.m. to look at a few more diamonds. He stepped

to flag him down, but the man made off with the precious stone.

Store officials believe the man may be working with an accomplice and could be tied to a theft attempt at a jeweler in Virginia during December 2015.

(Adapted from MSN)

Almost every top official in a remote South Texas city was arrested Thursday under a detailed federal indictment that accuses them of taking bribes from contractors and sending city workers to help an illegal gambling operator nicknamed “Mr. T.” Crystal City’s mayor, city manager, mayor pro tempore, one of three current councilmen and a former councilman were all arrested under an indictment obtained by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Antonio, a spokesman for the

U.S. attorney said.

A second councilman is already charged in a separate case with smuggling Mexican immigrants. That leaves just one councilman not facing federal charges in Crystal City, a town of about 7,100 people about 50 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

Once billed as the “Spinach Capital of the World,” Crystal City’s logo features a cartoon of Popeye, and a spinach festival with a cook-off and a beauty pageant draws tens of thousands of people each year. But in recent months, the

Tiller asked one of them if he could see her new puppies, but Dyer, a third-grader who attended school with Tiller, refused, authorities said.

Then the boy retrieved his father’s 12-gauge shotgun, shot the girl in the chest from the window, and then threw the weapon outside by the girl’s body, authorities said.

According to the court documents,

posted online by local media, Tiller had been trained in firearm safety and had gone hunting with his grandfather and father.

After being blocked from the puppies, Tiller returned with the shotgun and the victim laughed at him, doubting the firearms were real, the documents said.

(Adapted from MSN)

Bandit replaced diamond worth $28K with fake at jewelry store heist out and said he was going to smoke. When sales professionals went back to the area he was sitting at, they inspected the tray and the diamond had been taken.

The man had swapped out a diamond worth $28,000 with a fake cubic zirconia and left.

A sales associates tried

Almost every top official in Texas City arrested in federal corruption case

town has been in the news for turmoil at City Hall and allegations of misuse of public money.

“What happened is nothing to celebrate.

It’s something sad that happened to us,” said the remaining councilman,

Joel Barajas, on Thursday.

“By all means, we need to move forward.”

The indictment accuses the town’s leadership of using their positions “to enrich themselves by soliciting and accepting payments and other

things of value.” Also charged was Ngoc Tri Nguyen, alleged to be an operator of illegal gambling rooms, who was nicknamed “Mr. T.” Crystal City Mayor Ricardo Lopez took $6,000 from Nguyen

to buy a vehicle, the indictment alleges. In return, he allegedly waived some taxes for Nguyen and had employees close competing casinos that violate state law but exist informally throughout South Texas.

Lopez allegedly told city employees inspecting Nguyen’s property to “make it easy.”

Residents interviewed Thursday said the arrests are painful but necessary.

(Adapted from Foxnewslatino)

South Africa farmers devastated

by El Nino drought It is being described as the worst drought to have hit South Africa in 20 years.

Five out of the country’s nine provinces have been declared disaster zones as dry conditions triggered by the El Nino weather pattern continue to devastate the country.

The drought is costing South African farmers more than an estimated $600m in lost crops.

While the government says it will be spending $19m on assisting farmers, it also suggested that farmers should start adapting to changing weather patterns.

“We can’t continue relying only on dry agriculture,” Senzeni Zokwana, South Africa’s minister of agriculture, said. “We need to put more funding so that we

can build our capacity to put most of our production on irrigation which will mean new dams, which will mean new infrastructure.”

Al Jazeera weather presenter Richard Angwin says El Nino, which strictly refers to the surface warming of the eastern and central Pacific Basin, has had a knock-on effect across

much of the world.

This phenomenon was particularly strong in 2015.

On Sunday, Bheki Cele, South Africa’s deputy minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries told the Reuters news agency the drought was still not a national disaster.

“As we are experiencing this kind of drought, for some reason God

has been kind and late rains did come, and we think the six million tonnes (of maize) we were looking to import - we have downgraded that to four,” he said.

“The only hope is that

rains continue - if they do we might be out of the woods,” Cele said, adding: “We will not declare a national disaster.”

(Adapted from Al Jazeera)

declared dead the day before and had spent 15 hours in the morgue at a temperature of about -12 degrees Celsius (10.4 F).

After finding the child alive, the crematorium notified his father and the baby was taken to a hospital intensive care unit.

“It’s the first time

I’ve seen this. It’s a true miracle,” said a doctor at the Pan’an hospital where the infant was born prematurely in January.

The child spent 23 days in an incubator and was then taken home by his father, who wanted him there for the start of the Lunar New Year which began Monday.

But the baby’s condition worsened a few days after returning home.

He was declared dead

on February 4 after a doctor decided his heart had stopped beating.

Before the baby was sent to the morgue, his father had wrapped him in two layers of clothing and a thick bag which may have saved his life. However, doctors are cautious about his chances of recovery. (MSN)

Washington Post, Kimi is the fifth person to be hurt in an accidental shooting

by a toddler since Jan. 1. Also this year, at least four toddlers have accidentally shot

themselves.

“Dead” Chinese baby awakes just before cremation

A Chinese baby boy who was declared dead

and spent the night in a morgue showed signs

of life just as he was about to be cremated, local TV reported.

Workers at the crematorium in Pan’an in the eastern province of Zhejiang were preparing to cremate the baby on Friday when he suddenly starting moaning, provincial television reported.

The boy had been

A nine-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the head by her threeyear-old little brother over the weekend, authorities say.

Police in Alabama say Irondale third grader Kimi Reylander was critically wounded Saturday before being rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Kimi was reportedly shot after her brother found their greatgrandfather’s gun on a nightstand in his home.

“It appears to be a tragic accident,” Irondale Police

Chief Ken Atkinson told AL.com. Upon hearing the gunshot, the great-grandfather, Joel Watson, ran to the bedroom.

“I came in and when I came in the door, my son came out and said she had been shot,” he told WIAT. Watson said he left the firearm out without knowing his great-grandchildren were coming to visit.

Atkinson called the incident another sad lesson in firearm safety and urged gun owners to keep their weapons out of sight at all times.

A GoFundMe page

has been set up to help cover funeral expenses.

It can be found here.

According to the

3 year-old boy accidentally kills 9 year-old shoots Sister with Great-Grandfather’s Pistol

(MSN)

Tuesday February 09, 2016

Narsingh Deonarine hails Chanderpaul’s intellect, humility

T&T Red Steel batsman, Guyanese Narsingh Deonarine, has praised the recently retired Shiv Chanderpaul as a cricketer with great intellect and humility, and who was always willing to help younger players.

The 41-year-old

Chanderpaul announced his retirement from international cricket two weeks ago following a stellar 164-Test career which yielded 11 867 runs. Deonarine, who like Chanderpaul is Guyanese, said the veteran left-hander

had had a profound impact on his career.

“Sometimes I would sit and talk to Shiv about cricket and he makes the game sound very easy and simple. The way he talks about batting and the manner in which he analysed how bowlers would

try and attack a batsman showed his intellect,” said Deonarine, also a left-hander.

“Simple things like when a fast bowler is swinging the ball in both directions, how to negate this threat.

The first thing he said to us young batsmen

is always play for the ball coming back in because once the ball comes back in there is a greater chance of getting out.

“If the ball swings away there is no major threat once we played tight and close to our bodies since the ball will miss the

bat. It is simple things like that he was able to work out quickly.”

Deonarine was fortunate enough to play alongside Chanderpaul, having managed 18 Tests and 31 OneDay Internationals for West Indies.

(Trinidad Guardian