OVER the past couple years, I have been making the statement karma knocks at every door and from then to now, I have been bombarded with calls and/or messages asking for an explanation into what I mean.

In Buddhism, karma refers to intentional thoughts, words, actions and the energy created by those thoughts, words and actions. Karma is tantamount to the common sayings life is full circle and what you sow is what you reap.

Research as well as the outcomes of daily living, show that if you perform good deeds, good will return to you, and in like manner, negative actions more than likely will produce negative returns.

Karma is best understood by linking it to your mind power, as your actions are also aligned to your energy and mind; every intended action and thought engenders pre-destined energy which is felt at every moment of our existence.

Karma is critical to our growth and development as caring and loving human beings, and also if we are to live by the philosophy treat others as you would like to be treated; acting from a place of innocent intentions, allows us to be pre-disposed to continue along those positive lines and conversely, acting from a place of harmful intentions would be detrimental to one’s continued co-existence.

Once your intention in a particular set of circumstances is that of ill-will and harm, your propensity in responding with kindness increases. The pursuit of non-harmful intentions is to ponder on whether our actions will impact positively or negatively on either ourselves and/or others and this is indeed the best place to start.

In addition to the strong spiritual connotations attached to human co-existence, we must ever be mindful that being wicked or unjust to others either through thought or action, does not reflect well on our lives. There is a price attached to every action, and though it may not be immediately visible, it is there. Too often, we are presented with individual situations which are seemingly painful to the naked eye, but as the investigation deepens, some darker things come ashore and therein lies the price.

Life was offered to each of us by the creator to live to the fullest, and along with that offer came some procedures and rules to assist with the navigation which also include the consequences of allowing negativity to be part of our journey.

Therefore, thinking before doing, as well as consideration for the well-being of our fellow man, would guarantee a less stressful journey.

Sandrine Rattan is a Communications/ Branding Consultant/ Author and President of the International Women’s Resource Network (IWRN) Contact: thecorporatesuitett@ gmail.com or intlwomensresourcenetwork@ gmail.com or contact 283-0318.

NGC said the Offer Price was determined based on the closing market price of the TTNGL Class B shares on June 2, 2017; the last trading day prior to approval of the Prospectus .

NGC reminded in his October 16, 2017 presentation of the 2016 – 2017 budget, Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, “indicated that the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago intended to make an offer for an additional sale of its shareholding in TTNGL through its nominee, NGC. The proceeds from this sale are intended to fund the Government’s Fiscal Programme.” Chairman of the NGC Group of Companies, Gerry Brooks, endorsed the share offer .

“The figures tell the story,” he said. “In 2016, TTNGL’s dividend yield was 7.14 percent — the highest dividend yield on the Trinidad and Tobago Stock Exchange .

TTNGL recorded after tax earnings of $56.9 million in Q1 (first quarter) of 2017. Earnings per share for the period were $0.37, compared to $0.20 for 2016 – an improvement of 85.0 percent. The Q1 after tax profits represents an 88.4 percent improvement when compared to the same quarter in 2016. In Q1 2016, a profit of $30.2 million was recorded.” Brooks also pointed out that these significantly improved profits were driven by improved share of profit from the underlying asset of TTNGL; Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL). PPGPL was at “an advanced stage of implementation of its full portfolio of gas processing initiatives which were being pursued to diversify and enhance its earnings on a sustainable basis,” Brooks stated .

NGC said this, coupled with a sensible cost and cash management philosophy, created a robust cash and balance sheet position which enabled TTNGL to maintain its dividend payout ratio. At TTNGL’s second annual Annual General Meeting (AGM), held at Hilton Trinidad on April 25, 2017, Brooks stated that a decision was also made to pay dividends in either US dollars or TT dollars .

Upon completion of the Offer on June 28, 2017, and assuming a fully-subscribed Offer, public investors will hold 100 percent of Class B Shares of TTNGL. NGC said this shareholding will represent a 75 percent effective ownership interest in PPGPL by citizens of TT, which amounts to 29.25 percent effective ownership interest in PPGPL. NGC’s effective ownership of PPGPL will be reduced from 63 percent to 52 percent but will still maintain control of the PPGPL board .

In a news release posted on its website yesterday, McDermott stated the project was awarded following completion of the multiphase engineering which included the prefront- end engineering design and pre-execution engineering. The contractor’s team in Houston led the engineering and execution planning, supported by its engineering centre in Chennai, India.

“McDermott will design, procure, fabricate, transport, install and commission a six-slot well-head platform and 13-mi (21-km) 26-in.

(66-cm) subsea pipeline, using its project management and engineering team in Houston,” the company stated.

The company’s fabrication complex in Altamira, Mexico, will construct the 992- ton (900-metric ton) four-legged main pile jacket and 1,323-ton (1,200-metric ton) fourdeck topsides, with the DLV 2000 subsequently installing the platform and pipeline.

The DLV 2000 is a derrick lay vessel which is equipped with multiple cranes for construction, pipeline and deep-water installation.

The development will include four wells and will have a production capacity of about 600 MMcf/d. Gas from Angelin will flow to the Serrette platform hub via a new 21-km (13- mi) pipeline. Drilling is due to begin in third quarter in 2018, and first gas from the facility is expected in the first quarter of 2019. The Angelin project is located approximately 60 kilometres off the south east coast of Trinidad in water depth of about 65 meters and was originally discovered by the El Diablo well in 1995 and appraised by the La Novia well in 2006.

BP recently announced two significant gas discoveries offshore Trinidad with the Savannah and Macadamia exploration wells which unlocked 2 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.

In April, an incensed Roget lashed BP’s decision not to have the platform constructed in La Brea, saying, “Take your platform and go! We are not prepared to have any type of construction in an environment that is unsafe, unhealthy and void of good industrial relations practice.” McDermott International has operations in the Americas, Middle East, the Caspian Sea and the Pacific Rim.

Garcia said this in response to heavy criticism from Gopeesingh over alleged discrepancies at the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) culminating in Gopeesingh’s call for Garcia to resign.

On June 2, Arnold Piggott tendered his resignation as EFCL chairman. This as both Finance Minister Colm Imbert and Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi confirmed that an investigations has been launched into claims of wrongdoing at the EFCL. Following Piggott’s resignation, Gopeesingh called for the entire EFCL board to quit.

The three clubs advanced to the quarter-final rounds carded for this Friday.

According to Dudnath Ramkeesoon, Operations Manager of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), the other five matches which were affected by adverse weather conditions have been re-scheduled for tomorrow.

Dinsley CC beat Club Crusoe by seven wickets; Woodland trounced Savannah Boys by 10 wickets while Cunaripo Sports defeated Squadron Sports Club by eight wickets.

The match between East Zone champion Dinsley Sports and Club Crusoe was reduced to 15-oversa- side contest because of weather conditions.

Club Crusoe of Tobago was bowled out for 113 in 14.5 overs with Nashawn Lutchman (53), Selvin Duncan (19) and Kwame Thomas (14) being the main scorers.

Skipper Daniel Singh (two wickets for 11 runs) and Ravindra Singh (2/23) were the main wicket- takers.

In repl, Ravindra Singh (39) and Mark Sankar (33) shared a 78-run second wicket partnership while Rajin Deepakumar made 21 and propelled Dinsley CC to a comfortable seven-wicket win, as they made 114/3 in 13 overs.

Siddle Diaz (79 not out) and Daniel Ricketts (20 not out) sparked Woodland to an emphatic 10-wicket victory over Savannah Boys in a 13-over match. Savannah Boys mustered 106 for six in 13 overs while Woodland finished on 107 without loss in 7.5 overs.

Sunil Buchun topsored for Savannah Boys with an unbeaten 43. Philip Seepersad was the chief wicket-taker with three for 20.

At the Squadron Recreation Ground in Arouca, Cunaripo restricted Squadron Sports Club to 126/6 in 20 overs before they romped home in reply with 127/2 in 17 overs.

Randy Mahase topscored with 45 while national Under-19 player Rivaldo Ramlogan made 17. West Indies youth player Keagan Simmons took three wickets for 21 from his four overs and was supported by Valery Charles who grabbed three for 23 from four overs.

In reply, Anderson Richardson smashed 62 and piloted Cunaripo to an emphatic victory.

The winning team will take home $25,000 and the Unicomer Courts InterClub T20 Trophy.

ON JANUARY 31 the Privy Council heard the Attorney-General’s appeal against our Court of Appeal’s (CoA) unanimous ruling in my favour .

I watched the live proceedings on the Privy Council website. A judge asked the AG’s lawyer what his client’s position was on an issue pertaining to our 2000 Judicial Review Act — after all, the appeal to the Privy Council had been made by a previous AG. What did the current AG think? The lawyer was given 10 days to find out and report back, which he did .

On May 8, the Privy Council handed down its much publicised judgment, which above all represented a victory for the people of Trinidad and Tobago (and elsewhere) .

We spend too much time in this country looking for, and often inventing, personal motives to explain events and actions .

Trinidad and Tobago would be a far better place if only we could constantly bear in mind that the welfare of the country is far more important than our petty sentiments and prejudices .

As the Privy Council said, I had been “(asserting) a right as a citizen (to seek) the assistance of the courts in the upholding of the Constitution.” It was for me a matter of principle, not personality .

The Privy Council, commending our Appeal Court on its “impressive” 2014 judgment in the matter, supported the assertion of such a right .

This is what our Law Association said on May 9: “(T)he CoA expanded access of the citizenry to the Supreme Court to challenge what they perceive to be violations of the non-human rights provisions of the Constitution … By permitting (such) access … to persons such as Mr Dumas, whose primary concern is to act in the public interest, the CoA took a major step towards holding public officials accountable for the discharge of their public duties, no matter how high the office they may hold.” For his part, the current AG had, the Privy Council said, “sought to raise (two) new arguments which had not been presented to (the High Court) or to the CoA.” The Privy Council expressed itself “satisfied that there (was) no substance in the…arguments,” but nonetheless dealt with them briefly .

The AG first criticised the Appeal Court for overlooking the role of Parliament. He “argued that because the House had approved the nominations (made by the President), the challenge (from me) was impermissible ‘on ordinary separation of powers principles.’” The Privy Council was unimpressed: “(It) cannot lie in the hands of the House of Representatives,” it said, “to waive (constitutional) requirements … Only the courts of Trinidad and Tobago can give a binding legal judgment on the interpretation of the Constitution.” The AG’s second new argument had to do with section 38(1) of the Constitution, which says in part that “the President shall not be answerable to any court for the performance of the functions of his office or for any act done by him in the performance of those functions.” In response, the Privy Council said that “(t)he protection which the sub-section gives to the President does not prevent the courts from examining the validity of his acts,” and it quoted one of its 1995 decisions from Trinidad and Tobago to that effect .

On January 29, 2015, the President swore in a new chair of the Police Service Commission. He said then that he didn’t “believe in limited ‘donkey cart’ interpretation of (the) Constitution,” which had gone on for far too long. He must today be delighted with the broadened approach of our Appeal Court and the Privy Council .

And he must also know who alone has the legal power to interpret the Constitution .

I end by sincerely thanking my attorneys, at home and in London .

T h e late Karl H u d – son-Phillips set the ball rol l i ng, but it is they who won the match..

Those young people and those still in the employable work force now need to take the bull by the horns and learn to cut and contrive, learn to think out of the box and don’t wait for an opening from the Government or the private sector for a job but learn to make a way for themselves.

We all have some skill or talent that may be hidden or buried unbeknown to us.

I have seen documentaries about courageous young people in war-torn and impoverished countries on the African continent and South-East Asian, countries like Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, making a life for themselves in the most amazing and ingenious of ways. I sometimes wonder how our young people would cope with life and daily living in one of those countries.

DAVID MOORE Valencia

Speaking to Newsday yesterday, event organiser Andre Phillips said it was disappointing for the committee and the players.

He said the Cyd Gray Complex in Roxborough was unplayable as rain fell unabated for two days.

“It was hugely difficult and depressing, people from all over the island set their hearts on coming to enjoy this year’s Singlewicket competition, and we tried our best but we could not fight against the bad weather that continued to deteriorate so we called off the tournament before 6 pm and we had to start dismantling our things,” said Phillips. “That was our position. It is cricket and rain interferes with cricket and we were just unlucky for the first time in five consecutive years,” he continued.

Phillips said calling off the tournament was in the interest of the players’ safety.

“When we arrived to do our preliminary (inspection) the groundsmen discovered that the field was okay but there was seepage on the pitch from the heavy downfall. The groundsmen needed an extra half an hour to work on it and we were hoping to begin at 5 pm.

“Then another shower of rain came down very sharp but short and that set us back and we decided by six o’ clock the tournament could not be played in a complete way to justify the process.

We recognised the weather conditions were not improving so we called off the tournament.” Phillips said talks are underway to host the tournament at another time.

“We had dialogue with the all-rounders, both from Trinidad and Tobago, to see the possibility of their commitment to try to have the tournament again and to be played before the end of this year. We have to consider if we can host the tournament on the Cyd Gray Stadium because it is heavily used for football in June.

“We would look for a window to bring it back to Tobago if not on the Shaw Park Complex grounds sometime in the middle of September. It was a situation to see where we could accommodate everyone and the final decision was in September,” Phillips ended.

Hill is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s theatre luminaries. He has written numerous plays including Square Peg (1949); The Ping-Pong (1950); Dilemma (1953); Wey-Wey (1957); Strictly Matrimony (1959); Whistling Charlie and the Monster (1964); Dance Bongo (1965) and What Price a Slave (1970). His numerous accolades include the Hummingbird Gold Medal in 1973; the Barnard Hewitt Award in 1985 from the American Theatre Association and the Bertram Joseph Award for Shakespeare studies from Queens College of the City University of New York in 1985.

Directed by Belinda Barnes, artistic director of the National Theatre Arts Company and Arthur Lewis, this fully staged large-scale production is performed in collaboration with the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s Academy (UTT ) for the Performing Arts. The production features the National Steel Symphony Orchestra (NSSO) and the National Philharmonic Orchestra, under the musical direction of Akua Leith, artistic director of NSSO. Written in 1954, Man Better Man is a folk musical that tells the story of a young man who resorts to obeah to win acclaim and gain the notice from the woman he loves. Aided by comedy, kalindas, and calypso, Man Better Man weaves a story of superstition and stickfighting, village-life, heroism, and the pursuit of love.

Admission is free, however, tickets must be collected at NAPA box office, 119 Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain, from noon to 6pm daily while stocks last.

There is a limit of two tickets per person. For more info: 271- 2894.

Even the iguanas in my backyard ended up being stolen and I would look out my window and see boys or young men pelting them down from the trees in order to sell them. I hear they fetch a good price. What chance would my avocados or limes or provisions have? How would I protect them? Now that unemployment is rampant in Trinidad with businesses and even government closing doors, who knows what might happen? GISL is gone, with perhaps CNMG to follow, so the time seems ripe to go back to our roots. Gardening would use both our labour and our ingenuity and would encourage new business ventures. Cocoa as we know full well in Trinidad could be king.

But how does one provide incentives to those who love the soil, but who do not want to labour in the hot sun, spray for pests and do all the backbreaking work, only to have some thief reap the rewards? There must be a solution, with things getting tough by the minute.

Becoming reconnected to the soil and the environment might well be a good cure for idleness, and vandalism. It would certainly help those who now see their resources dwindling. We need to think through ways to protect the entrepreneur who is seeking to grow food and develop resources.

After all, successive governments have been trying for over a decade to find ways to create new industries.

We could start a trade in bush medicines. All those brews that our mothers concocted, starting with aloes, could make a fortune.

Everyone in Europe now knows the medicinal value of the aloe plant and, of course, coconut oil is one of the new miracle ingredients that the savvy shopper across Europe has on her health food list. Some websites even claim that coconut oil taken regularly will cure cancer.

Think of the possibilities if some enterprising producer could package fever bush, for example, and really make it a commercial product. Has anyone tried exporting soursop drinks? The latest is that the soursop has huge medicinal advantages. But how do you stop thieves? There may be a solution in community watches, but if you live in Toco or elsewhere out in the country, where neighbours are few, then that may not yield results. Perhaps the local councillors might use some of that labour force that is costing taxpayers so much money and establish a form of community watch. I can already hear the cynics. Who will watch the watchers? In this day of high technology, would it be possible to establish a network that would set off alarms in local police stations when thieves attempt to infiltrate private property? After all, hackers seem to be pretty powerful and able to intrude even as one uses a computer. Perhaps we could develop some form of new spyware? But, the real issue is, who wants to make gardens? We seem to have lost the art.

A recent article noted that young children spend little time outdoors. They play with iPads and electronic games and entertain themselves via social media.

Across the developed world children increasingly no longer know what boredom means, or indeed, what it is to use their imaginations.

Many often lack fresh air because entertainment is indoors on a computer. This leads to a growing disengagement with the environment.

So, I want to propose a new initiative. A sponsored garden competition and festival to attract schools, children and young people to getting back to the grassroots — literally. It could even be tied to a food fair.

People might then learn to respect and appreciate the interconnections between plant life and the waters of the world, animal life and human survival. We may even see some small decrease in crime, since gardening is very time intensive and leaves little room for idleness and waywardness.

Perhaps some newspaper editor might take up my suggestion and offer a prize to the young for the best garden and a showcasing of their produce, which might even include sales.

Given the rise in food prices, a small vegetable garden could help sustain a family. It would also mean that the Ministry of Education would be supported in its drive to introduce sugar-free foods and encourage healthy eating among the young. We would then see a decrease in obesity, a disease that is fast becoming an epidemic.

P e r – h a p s these are fanciful notions.

But they m i g h t b e a r s o m e fruit