General T&T, Opposition Party, Politics

We need a strong opposition

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By Derren Joseph
February 01, 2012

Derren JosephRecently I ended up at a fundraiser organised by Democrats Abroad here in the UK. As one would expect, the event was to raise funds for the re-election of President Obama in this year’s US Presidential elections. Those of us in favour of campaign finance reform in Trinidad and Tobago are impressed by the relative transparency in the campaign finance process in the US, and in the UK. Foreigners are not normally allowed to donate to political parties and all contributions over a certain threshold are a matter of public record. In fact, I was only able to attend the event as a guest of my wife, who is a US citizen and a registered Democrat.
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Entertainment, General T&T, Music

The Beauties of Mozart

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 01, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeIt was a good time to be away. While my good friend Louis Lee Sing was fighting down Brian Lara (a bad fight to pick: you just don’t dump on a national hero like that); and Penny Beckles, a woman I admire politically, was being chastised for cultivating her own group of supporters (I thought every politician had a right to develop his or her own political base); and my favorite publisher, Maxie Cuffie, was lambasting Lennox Grant for trying to compromise his journalistic ability (he says that Grant failed in his duty to advance the integrity of the press), I took time out to visit Wolfgang Mozart’s residence in Salzburg, Austria.
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Culture, General T&T, Hindu, India, People's Partnership, Politics

Alternative to Crossing the Kala Pani

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By Stephen Kangal
January 29, 2011

PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar Meeting with her relatives and receiving a Gift during the visit to her inaccessible ancestral village of Bhelupur in Indian state of Bihar
PM Kamla Persad-Bissessar Meeting with her relatives and receiving a Gift during the visit to her inaccessible ancestral village of Bhelupur in Indian state of Bihar

The official visits undertaken by Prime Ministers Panday (1997) and Bissessar-Persad ( 2012) to their respective ancestral homeland villages located in North India after receiving the Pravasi Samaan Awards bring into sharp focus the truth inherent in the maxim that God works in mysterious ways His wonders to behold.
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Finance, General T&T, Politics

Let the tax debate begin

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By Raffique Shah
January 29, 2012

Raffique ShahPRESIDENT Barack Obama’s bold move to seek to apply a tax rate of 30 per cent to America’s super-rich should serve as a catalyst of sorts for Finance Minister Winston Dookeran. Dookeran said recently that his ministry would soon review the income tax regime in Trinidad and Tobago. Changes to this country’s income and corporate taxes were last made in 2006. Then, the Patrick Manning government raised the personal allowance for individuals to $60,000, and applied a fixed rate of 25 per cent tax on all chargeable incomes above that.
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General T&T, Hindu, India, People's Partnership, Politics, Race and Identity

Kamla’s Delicate Dance

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By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 26, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeQuestion: If Trinidad and Tobago were one hundred percent Hindus, would our response to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar kissing President Pratibha Patil’s toes elicit a different response? I suspect it would. But only thirty five percent of Trinidad and Tobago’s population are Hindus and therein lays the conundrum. Such a move calls for a better understanding among the population and a more sensitive response from the PM in terms of her act of piety or respect as she calls it.
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Business, General T&T, India, Media, People's Partnership, Politics

Investment or assets sale?

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By George Alleyne
January 25 2012 – newsday.co.tt

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarGovernment should state clearly the nature and extent of the planned Indian investment in Trinidad and Tobago, which it is trumpeting, and whether this relates to the setting up of entirely new businesses or whether it will be the acquisition, wholly or largely, of State-owned and other existing companies.
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General T&T, Health, Media, Opposition Party, People's Partnership, PNM, Politics

Prayers, best wishes pour in for Patrick Manning

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Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning
Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning

Prayers, best wishes pour in for Patrick Manning
POLITICIANS, both friends and rivals, yesterday expressed their shock at the stroke suffered by former Prime Minister Patrick Manning and offered their prayers for his speedy recovery.

Kamla: Spare no resources
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has advised Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan to ensure former prime minister Patrick Manning is well taken care of during his stay at the San Fernando General Hospital.
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Finance, Food, General T&T, Media, People's Partnership, Politics

Porsche questions

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Newsday Editorial
January 23, 2012 – newsday.co.tt

Minister of Food Production, Vasant BharathThere are bound to be questions and indeed raised eyebrows at the purchase of a luxury Porsche Cayenne SUV – with a showroom price tag of $925,000 – for the official use of Minister of Food Production, Vasant Bharath. Bharath defended the purchase by saying the actual price paid – after exemptions for taxes and duties – was about $400,000, which he said was comparable to the cost of other SUVs.
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General T&T, Hindu, India, People's Partnership, Politics, Race and Identity

Kamla Spoils the Bharatiya Party in Jaipur

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By Stephen Kangal
January 22, 2012

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar

It is patently clear that the staging of the tenth annual Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) pilgrimage to India by the Indian Ministry of Overseas Indians Affairs is geared and exclusively configured to exploiting and attracting for the benefit of the Indian economy the enormous wealth, political influence and entrepreneurship to be found within the 30 million Indian diaspora. Remittances alone to India amount to over US$50bn annually that is seven times T&T’s budget.
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