– as Jagdeo promotes Ramotar’s Presidential qualitiesBy Sharmain CornetteThough the gathering was somewhat scanty at the National Park, with workers primarily occupying the eastern stand, the rally orchestrated by the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) to commemorate Labour Day yesterday saw speakers echoing the call to sustain the fight for the betterment of the working class.The event was graced by President of the Republic of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, who delivered the feature address.? The President pointed out that FITUG has over the years grown in reputation even as he underscored that the umbrella body which covers four unions – the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU) and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) – has consistently fought for the rights of all Guyanese and not just the working class. He amplified too that FITUG continues to demonstrate the capacity to lead the trade union movement “at this critical juncture in our history when most things are changing in the world and we too are changing here in Guyana.”? According to the President, local efforts are being directed at creating a modern economy which could satisfy the needs of our people.”A section of the gathering stands as they sing Solidarity Forever.Though he did not speak at length yesterday,Jerseys NFL Wholesale, the President hinted at the possibility of being able to speak more extensively with the workers at a later date. He however urged those in attendance to seek after information about economic recession, a state of affairs that has gripped the world.? He pointed out that today the world is faced with one of the worse economic recessions since the 1930s, which as a consequence, has caused millions of people to become unemployed.?? He speculated that there are perhaps 50 million people who have lost their jobs across the world with 10 million alone in the United States of America. He revealed further that in the United States alone, 15 million people have lost their homes or are on the verge of losing their homes because of their inability to pay their mortgages even as a massive reduction in social welfare occurs in Europe. Most of these countries today, he noted, exhibit features that Guyana once had, inclusive of a declining economy, a growing fiscal deficit and debt service figures that would by any standard make them bankrupt.? “Countries like Spain and Portugal and the others have to seek external help to get out of bankruptcy. We were there once in Guyana! We were there when 94 percent of our revenue went to service debts; we were there when our debt was seven and a half times the size of our economy.? Do you know where we are today? Our debt today stands, if you take out the Paris Club Creditors, at some 35 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and we use four percent of revenue to service our debt.”The developed countries on the other hand, President Jagdeo added, have gone in the other direction.? He pointed out that while Governments in some developed countries have been cutting finance to universities, Guyana has been increasing such funding. He revealed, too, that thousands of people are marching across Europe in retaliation to governmental moves to increase the age for pension and even freeze its availability altogether. “Thousands more are marching because their wages are frozen and their government is laying-off massive numbers like the United Kingdom. In fact, half a million people in the next three years would be laid off in the United Kingdom.”“This poses one question…If things were so bad in Guyana in the past how did we manage, without harming workers’ rights, to bring the macroeconomic fundamentals back to stability? This comes back to the nature of the Government that we head – the People Progress Party/Civic Government.”? He asserted that even from the days of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and even when the party was in opposition, to the days after it assumed power, “we have never succumbed to the IMF prescription that there should be large scale lay-off in the Public Sector. We have never ever done that.”The President further emphasised that if one was to look at wages and salaries from the time that the PPP/C assumed office,Cheap Jerseys From China, the percentage increased is in fact over 500.? According to him “those who talk about Guyana’s inflation can adjust those to US dollars inflation and you will see the massive changes there.”But although there has been a significant effort to increase wages, President Jagdeo noted that the Government yet recognises that it has a long way to go, adding that “you will never hear any PPP leader claim that we are where we want to be.” Wages and salaries, he said, must grow with the economy,Cheap Jerse

By: Attorney Gail S. Seeram, [email protected]The U.S. Department of State will be accepting applications for the 2013 Diversity Visa Lottery programme from October 4,Wholesale Jerseys, 2011 to November 5, 2011.? Each year, the Diversity Visa Lottery programme makes 55,000 permanent resident visas available to people from eligible countries who meet the strict requirements.? Of the 55,000 immigrant visas, 5,000 are allocated for use under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), thereby making only 50,000 permanent resident visas available on an annual basis.The Department of State chooses the winners of the Diversity Visa Lottery programme randomly through a computer-generated lottery drawing.? Anyone selected under the Diversity Visa Lottery programme will be notified directly by the U.S. Department of State through the mail.Applicants can check the status of their application to see if they are a winner by visiting www.dvlottery.state.gov.? If the winner is granted permanent residency, s/he will be authorized to live and work in the United States along with spouse and children under age 21.? There are four basic entry requirements for the Diversity Visa Lottery programme.Native of Eligible Country: Applicants must be a native of an eligible country.? Natives from the following countries are not eligible to apply because they sent more than 50,000 immigrants to the United States during the past five years: Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada,Cheap Jerseys From China, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan,Cheap Jerseys Online, Philippines, Peru, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.If you were born in a country whose natives are ineligible but your spouse was born in a country whose natives are eligible, you can claim your spouse’s country of birth—provided that both you and your spouse are on the selected entry, are issued visas, and enter the United States simultaneously.Second, if you were born in a country whose natives are ineligible,Wholesale Jerseys From China, but neither of your parents was born there or resided there at the time of your birth, you may claim nativity in one of your parents’ countries of birth if it is a country whose natives qualify.Education or Work Experience: Applicants must have either a high school education or its equivalent (completion of a 12-year course of elementary and secondary education) or two years of work experience within the past five years in an occupation requiring at least two years of training or experience to perform.Photograph: Recent photographs of the applicant and his family (spouse and unmarried children under age 21) must be submitted with their application.? Note, a group or family photo will not be accepted.? Separate digital passport style photos of each family member must be submitted with the Diversity Visa Lottery application.? Since the application is submitted on-line,Wholesale Soccer Jerseys, the digital photos are also required to be submitted on-line.Thereby, the photos can be produced by taking a new digital image or using a digital scanner to scan the photos.? If a new digital image is submitted,NHL Jerseys Authentic, it must be in JPEG format, have a maximum file size of 240 KB, have a resolution of 600 pixels high by 600 pixels wide, and have color depth of 24-bit colour.If a scan photo is submitted, it must be scanned at a resolution of 300 dpi, it must be in JPEG format, have a maximum file size of 240 KB, have a resolution of 600 by 600 pixels, and have a color depth of 24-bit color.? Note, this is the most cumbersome part of the process because if your photo does not meet these specific requirements, your application will not be accepted on-line.Application: The Diversity Visa Lottery application is accessible only at www.dvlottery.state.gov and must be submitted on-line.? Note, when your application and photo have been accepted on-line, a confirmation screen will appear and this should be printed for your records.Starting May 1, 2012, you will be able to check the status on your 2013 visa lottery entry by visiting www.dvlottery.state.gov and select Entrant Status Check.

By way of a Michael Jackson look-a-like and sing-a-like competition,Wholesale Jerseys From China, Guyana joined the rest of the world in celebrating the life of the legendary entertainer.Just minutes after a stirring memorial service was concluded at the famous Staples Center in Los Angeles, USA,Wholesale Cheap Jerseys, Guyanese packed City Hall in the capital city where both the young and old paid homage to the late entertainer extraordinaire in song and dance.Look-a-like winner St. Paul Rodney popularly known as 'Lyrics Visa' doing his thing. At the end of two hours, those in attendance were taken back almost three decades to the time when Jackson rocked the world with his all time best selling album,Wholesale China Jerseys, Thriller.In costumes made famous with the launch of that album,Wholesale NFL Jerseys China, several young men replicated Jackson’s dance moves to the appreciation of the large audience.Decked out in Jackson’s famous Billy Jean costume,Wholesale Hockey Jerseys 2018, with white shirt and trousers cut above the ankle, not to mention the lily-white socks, youngsters tried to outdo each other for the coveted first prize of a computer, compliments of the Mark Benschop Foundation.In the end the audience was unanimous in their choice of St. Paul Rodney,Jerseys China, popularly known as ‘Lyrics Visa’ as the winner. Rodney displayed some vintage moves made famous by the ‘king of pop’ to the envy of the other competitors, who took home $5000 each for their efforts.The organiser, Benschop, in brief remarks to the audience before the start of the competition, said that despite all the controversies surrounding the life of Michael Jackson, he was “the greatest human being to walk the earth in our lifetime.”Throughout the programme images of the now dead legend flashed on a big screen and judging from the audience response no one can doubt that Jackson impacted the lives of many Guyanese.