NEWS
Cybersecurity professional: Report cyberattacks
Cybersecurity professionals said it is necessary for businesses to report incidents of cyber attacks. Ricky Duman director of pre-sales engineering at Digital Era Group said international companies that have not properly disclosed incidents of cyberattacks ran into problems and were even sued. He was speaking at Amcham's HSSE conference, held at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain on Tuesday. “Not every business does it,” he said. “They should, but they don’t.” Read more here
Business groups: Volunteer soldiers should’ve come sooner to combat crime
While business groups are happy that the 100 Volunteer Defence Force members have been called out by the President for 123 days, they believe this move should have come sooner to help combat the upsurge in crime. Yesterday, the official proclamation from President Christine Kangaloo said the move is to strengthen the Defence Force’s capability to help police during the pre-Christmas season into Carnival 2024. It came into effect on Monday and runs until February 29 next year. Following the President’s proclamation, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley issued a statement saying there would be “operational adjustments to respond to the violent cohort of the national population”. Commenting on the move, Greater Tunapuna Chamber of Industry and Commerce president Ramon Gregorio said the President’s proclamation is a much-needed short-term measure to bring some level of comfort to citizens and businesses across the country. Read more here
POLITICS
PM demands action after murder spree:
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley is committing to increase the state’s efforts against crime, which he said is now “ridiculous.” In a post to his Facebook page on Tuesday morning, Dr Rowley condemned the levels of crime currently plaguing the country.“Notwithstanding the persistent efforts of the various state machinery, the selection of violence as a way of life, the love affair and glamorization of firearms and the wanton disregard for human life in Trinidad and Tobago has now gone beyond concerning to the ridiculous,” he said. He said the persisting violence will not be tolerated and the government will increase efforts to “hunt and disarm” criminals. Read more here
Duke agrees with Gypsy on need to develop Tobago Carnival
Progressive Democratic Patriots leader Watson Duke says National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Winston "Gypsy" Peters had a valid point when he said the recently concluded Tobago Carnival was missing key aspects and that collaboration between the NCC and Tobago House of Assembly is vital for enhancing the Carnival’s product. Speaking during a media conference at the PDP headquarters in Scarborough yesterday, Duke said the THA must show how Tobago has benefitted from the $12 million budget allocation for this year’s Carnival celebrations. He said he believes the THA must also rethink the way it hosts Carnival. Tobago's 2023 Carnival celebration, which ran from October 27-29, was commended for some of its improvements but criticised for some aspects by Peters, who was on the island for the festivities. In particular, Peters said he believed if the Carnival wanted to become bigger and better, it needed to devise a blueprint in a greater collaboration with the NCC to take it to that level. Duke agreed with this sentiment yesterday, saying, “If we are going to have plenty small Carnival then so be it, but (for) the big Carnival we have to appeal to Trinidad and that’s where Gypsy comes in. Like him, or hate him, or love him, or leave him, without Trinidad, the Tuesday mas is a buss. Read more here
BUSINESS
NGC signs gas sales contracts with CNC, N2000
The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd (NGC) has completed negotiations with Proman for the execution of a gas sales contract (GSC) for Caribbean Nitrogen Company Ltd (CNC) and Nitrogen (2000) Unlimited (N2000). The agreements were signed at NGC’s head office in Point Lisas on October 20. In a release, NGC said this agreement marks the culmination of many months of negotiations. "These GSCs are welcome news for TT’s petrochemical sector, as they will support production at critical ammonia facilities on the Point Lisas Industrial Estate (PLIE)," it said. Read more here
Brydens to list on JSE
Just days after celebrating its 100th anniversary, AS Bryden & Sons Holdings Ltd is due to embark on a new phase of its development when it is listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) later this month. Last Friday, the Brydens group marked its 100th Anniversary with a special celebration for its employees. Decked out in anniversary polos, Brydens’ staff got together at the company’s San Juan compound to ring in the centennial milestone with food, drink and prizes. Yesterday, an executive of the company confirmed that the group is due to be listed on the JSE on November 10. In accordance with the listing requirements of the JSE, Brydens published an abridged statement, outlining the full name of the company, its registered office, the name of its auditors (Ernst & Young), its bankers (Scotiabank) and its JSE sponsoring member (NCB Capital Markets). Read more here
REGIONAL
Guyana approaches ICJ to schedule oral hearings ahead of Venezuela’s December 3 referendum
The following is the full statement from the Government of Guyana and background on the issue at hand: “ONE week ago, the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana issued a statement denouncing the aggressive new measures taken by Venezuela in furtherance of its groundless and unlawful territorial claim to Guyana’s Essequibo region. These new measures included a purported national referendum to ratify the Venezuelan government’s apparent decision to withdraw from the present judicial proceedings in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and proceed unilaterally to incorporate the Essequibo region into its own national territory as an integral part of Venezuela. Guyana properly characterised this naked threat of territorial aggression as: “Nothing less than the annexation of Guyana’s territory, in blatant violation of the most fundamental rules of the UN Charter, the OAS Charter and general international law.” Read more here
INTERNATIONAL
NR Narayana Murthy: Why Indians are debating a 70-hour work week
How many hours should a person work in a week? That's the question being asked in India over the past few days after software billionaire NR Narayana Murthy - the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - said that young people should be ready to work 70 hours a week to help the country's development. "India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world," he said on a podcast recently. "Unless we improve our work productivity... we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress." "So, therefore, my request is that our youngsters must say, 'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week'," he added. Read more here
1st November 2023