NEWS
Port of Spain Mayor to meet Finance Minister over Carnival $ mix-up
Mayor of Port of Spain Joel Martinez announced at the statutory meeting of the city corporation that he will be meeting with the Finance Minister to discuss they way forward on the confusion between the corporation and the National Carnival Commission (NCC). Martinez said the meeting would take place on Tuesday. “If it could bring relief to the masqueraders who would have performed their craft on Carnival Monday, in the Downtown Parade, once we could bring a speedy resolution to that, it would be my wish.” Read more here
Forex frustration
Former finance minister suggests “dollar swap” with the US Economist says country at risk of crisis by 2022 Foreign exchange woes symptom of weak energy sector T&T should do a “dollar swap” with the United States to address our ongoing foreign exchange woes, former finance minister Prof Winston Dookeran has suggested. Read more here
POLITICS
Browne: Government proactive about getting covid19 vaccines
Caricom and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne says the Serum Institute of India (SII) has said it is not in a position to accept further vaccine orders at this time. He said this is only one of the avenues the government has explored in procuring covid19 vaccines. Speaking at the Health Ministry’s media briefing on Wednesday, Browne addressed the issue of obtaining vaccines from India. Read more here
Caricom to meet on regional security
Unconscionable acts of violence in the region against women and girls, illicit trafficking of goods and people and an increase in domestic violence have prompted the need for the reconvening of a special Caricom summit on security. Caricom chairman T&T Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley indicated this at yesterday's 32nd Caricom Intersessional meeting. Read more here
BUSINESS
NBA legends invest in Trini's basketball startup – ShotTracker
In basketball it's easy to determine the winner – the team that scores the most points wins. But, explaining why a team wins with supporting statistics is more difficult. Davyeon Ross, a Trinidadian living in Kansas, is cracking this problem by intersecting his two passions, basketball and mathematics, into the revolutionary sensor-based system he co-founded, ShotTracker. Read more here
Moving from crisis to crisis
It was the former President of bpTT Norman Christie who once told a meeting of the Energy Chamber that for all of T&T’s resources and potential the major challenge the country faces is its penchant to take things to the edge before it pulls back and does what is necessary. It is something that has always stuck with me because as I thought of it he was absolutely right about the nature of the country and in many ways it is why we, as a nation, have failed to achieve anything close to our full potential. Read more here
REGIONAL
Prep-school conundrum - Ministry directive can’t compel them to scrap private face-to-face classes
Private schools will independently decide whether they will continue with face-to-face classes, dismissing the education ministry’s declaration that only exit exam students should attend in-person sessions as merely “an announcement” Read more here
Minister Walrond calls out Coalition for ‘radicalising and racialising’ budget debat
Tourism, Industry, and Commerce Minister Oneidge Walrond on Wednesday called out the coalition opposition for “radicalising and racialising” the budget debate which is supposed to be about policy. Minister Walrond said the PPP/C administration is about inclusive governance, regardless of race. Citing herself as an example, the minister noted that her family’s connection to the People’s National Congress was no secret. Growing up, the minister said it was the only philosophy she knew. Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
India was in crisis months ago. Why have its Covid cases plummeted?
Six months ago, India was in crisis. Critically ill Covid-19 patients were being turned away from hospitals. Doctors were collapsing from exhaustion. And the virus was spreading through crowded slums, home to millions of the country's poorest people. Read more here
Johnson and Johnson vaccine: FDA finds the single-shot jab safe
US regulators have found the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine is safe and effective. It paves the way for it to become the third Covid-19 vaccine to be authorised in the US, possibly within days. The vaccine would be a cost-effective alternative to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and can be stored in a refrigerator instead of a freezer. Trials found it prevented serious illness but was 66% effective overall when moderate cases were included. Read more here
25th February 2021