Month: May 2013

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature A Village Odyssey

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‘Guyanese Finding Roots in India’ by Parsram S. Thakur; Overview of the book by Vake Parsram. By Petamber Persaud – Dr Parsram S. Thakur, Psychology Emeritus Professor from the United States, and more recently Director of University of Guyana Berbice Campus, has recently revised his book “Guyanese finding roots in India”. The book has been revised with a few more families that were originally left out. Dr Thakur has visited India several times, and among those times, with the help of the Immigration Pass (1912) of his grandfather, Ball Mukund,…

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Decision-making authority after someone has passed

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By Richard Kistnen, Esq. I have been approached a number of times in recent weeks by individuals wanting to learn more about what mechanisms are available to settle the affairs of someone who has passed.  Consequently, I wanted to take the opportunity to gloss over how a person can obtain the authority to wind down an estate of a deceased person. This topic falls under the larger umbrella of estate planning.  Wills, trusts, insurance policies, changes to title – these are all devices the law has created that a person…

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A tribute to ‘Papa’ Crosby

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Dr. Basdeo Mangru, York College, City University of New York It is customary during historic occasions, like the 175th Anniversary of the presence of East Indians in the Caribbean, to extol their manifold contributions to the development of the region. While suitable memorials are being erected in Guyana in commemoration of [Indian] Arrival Day we tend to overlook the contributions of ‘forgotten heroes’ who dedicated almost their entire lives to the upliftment of the most exploited group of workers, the indentured Indians, who toiled for nearly 80 years under the…

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Star of the week: Carlotta Mohamed – An aspiring journalist

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Carlotta Mohamed will soon be a 2013 York College Graduate with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Journalism. Born in Georgetown, Guyana on July 12, 1990 and raised in Richmond Hill, New York, since she was six years old, Carlotta hopes to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. Carlotta already has some experience in the media field. She did a four-month internship at the Queens Chronicle where she covered issues relating to politics, arts and entertainment, education, crime, and local neighbourhood news. She said: “Growing up, writing was always a…

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Granger urges more citizen participation in electoral politics

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Opposition Leader and A Partnership for National Unity Chairman, Brigadier (retired) David Granger has called for greater citizens’ representation in Caribbean electoral politics. He made this call while participating in a two-day regional forum on “strengthening regulation of political parties and political financing systems in the Caribbean”. The forum, sponsored by the Organisation of American States and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, brought together representatives from government and opposition parties from 14 Caricom states in Bridgetown, Barbados May 8-9. Granger, reacting to the “Draft Model Law on…

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Persaud wrongfully accused of U.S. visa fraud

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Tulsie Persaud also called Ajay Jaikaran, 33, of Lot 4 Cemetery Road, Triumph Village, East Coast Demerara, who was arrested a week ago as a suspect in a major U.S. visa scam has been cleared of the charges which were read to him. There was no evidence against Persaud when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Tuesday last, since the person whom he was accused of conning confirmed that he was not the person who collected the money. As such, the man told the court that he did…

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Guyana lauded for progress in HIV/AIDS fight

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As the countdown to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) continues, Guyana is being lauded for its remarkable progress in fighting HIV/AIDS. Guyana/Suriname United Nations HIV/AIDS programme coordinator, Dr Roberto Luiz Brant Campos, said Guyana is on track for the achievement of goal six of the MDGs, which seeks to combat HIV/AIDS by 2015. He pointed to the outstanding feat of Guyana in decreasing its HIV prevalence in pregnant women in the last 10 years from 2.6 to 0.9 per cent. This was achieved through the ‘prevention of…

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Ghost of the Kabaka

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Satiricus believes in giving Jack his jacket and in the case of the Kabaka, giving the man his khaki jodhpurs he liked to wear when he rode around on his (high) horse. Why were all these people denying him the Lambo Prize? Satiricus had just finished his dinner – foo-foo soup – and he was relaxing in his Berbice Chair. He became philosophical at times like this…was it the foo- foo? So, not surprisingly (to his wife) he fell asleep. And started to dream. It was night and it was…

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The story of privatisation: Part II

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In our issue two weeks ago (week ending May 5th), we gave a background to the privatisation drive that was initiated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) back in 1989 under the then People’s National Congress (PNC) regime of President Desmond Hoyte. The rationale for privatisation was that the performance of the enterprises would be improved; employment increased; government would not have to subsidise them and in fact could collect taxes from income and profits; market forces would be strengthened in the economy; and a domestic capital market could be…

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UG signs agreement with Ohio University for further collaboration

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The University of Guyana Centre for Communication Studies (UGCCS) and Ohio University Scripps College of Communication on Friday signed an activity agreement to build on their existing relations. CCS Director Carolyn Walcott said the partnership is significant as it takes the relationship the UGCCS enjoys with Ohio University to a new level. “About three or four years ago, the University of Guyana Centre for Communication Studies signed a three-year agreement with the Ohio University for the strengthening of journalism and mass communication in Guyana. That was a very successful project…

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