Local Mauritius

Visiting scholar from paris talks to the independent on tagore philosophy

Tell us something about your visit to Mauritius. This is my second visit here and I was invited by the MBC. This time I am here for a talk on Tagore. Who and what inspired you to become a Tagore scholar and musician? My great-grandfather, Agornath Chattopadhyay was a follower of Rabindranath Tagore’s father, who [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Meteo forecasts summer warmer than usual

Mauritius Meteorological Services, through its annual report, has states that summer will be warmer than usual. On certain days, the temperature is likely to exceed the average by more than two degrees Celsius, says the report. Maximum temperatures may reach 35 degrees Celsius in Port Louis and in coastal areas. Cumulative summer rainfall is expected [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Breast cancer victim’s father cycles island

Mauritian born British Steve Reetooraz undertook a three-day bicycle tour in memory of his daughter Meena Reetooraz, on October 21 from Surinam, his native village. Friends and acquaintances sponsored his race. The money collected will be donated to Protection of Animals Welfare Society (PAWS) According to Meera Appadoo, committee secretary at PAWS, Reetooraz had been [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Brackish water interests CWA

As drought is persisting, the Central Water Authority (CWA) is looking for alternative means to provide potable water to the population.To that effect treating brackish water is being considered by CWA. However, it is not the CWA that will treat this water, but privatecompanies who specialise in this field. A decision will be taken in [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Tagore gave Mauritius cultural identity: Pommot

Sharmila Roy Pommot, a Rabindranath Tagore scholar and musician, is currently in Mauritius to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of the great poet. At a press meet on Tuesday at the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), Pommot said that her trip to Mauritius has been wonderful and she attended a lot of events. She also gave [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Sept tourism records drop

Tourist arrivals for the month of September decreased by 0.8 per cent compared to last year. These numbers were according to the monthly tourist statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office (CSO). Mauritius‘ main tourism market Europe registered a fall of 1.6 per cent in arrivals with 41,111 arrivals compared to 41,790 in 2010. France [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

BoM sells Rs7.30 million treasury bills

In its monthly statistical bulletin published on October 20, the Bank of Mauritius (BoM) stated that it issued Government of Mauritius Treasury Bills for a total nominal amount of Rs 3,200 million through the weekly primary auctions. Between the last auction in August 2011 and the last auction in September 2011, the weighted yields for [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Murder accused to appear in Assizes

The Nobin brothers, Rajen and Shivaji will appear at the Assize Court on Thursday before Judge Saheeda Peeroo. They are charged with the murder of Philippe Duval. The crime was committed on January 21, 2007 at Cité Bois Marchand. The police suspect jealousy. The Nobin brothers were used to go to Duval’s place in his [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Question of private tuition

The academic year 2011 is coming to an end but the debates on private tuitions and Enhancement Programme are ongoing among parliamentarians with the introduction of the Education (Amendment) Bill adopted by the Cabinet on October 14. The aim is to amend the Education Act to extend the ban on additional tuition to Standard IV, [...]

27 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Two children dead in fire, foul play suspected

Police officials suspect that there was foul play in a fire that claimed the life of Thierry Fabrice Colas and Benito Colas, both aged two, at Grand Sable on Monday morning. The victims’ mother, Daniella Prosper, 41, was also injured in the incident. Investigators are suspicious of the father’s recalling of the incident as Jacques [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

UoM bags 23 golds at sports meet

The University of Mauritius (UoM) ranked gold in the inter-tertiary institution sports competition organised from October 13 to 20 at the UoM gymnasium, Réduit. The university bagged 23 gold, 19 silver and 18 bronze medals. It was closely followed by the Mauritius Institute of Education that won 17 gold, 14 silver and 10 bronze medals. [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Haemovigilance network to be set up soon

Mauritius will soon be taking one step forward towards blood management with the setting up of a haemovigilance network. Physicians from regional hospitals and other medical staff met for a one-day workshop at Pailles on Monday to discuss the implementation of a haemovigilance network. This workshop was a joint initiative of the Ministry of Health [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

CCM invites public to give feedback on My.T package

The Competition Commission of Mauritius (CCM) has launched an investigation into Mauritius Telecom’s new product, My.T, launched on February 21. The Statement of Issues, a document that outlines the main areas of concern at the preliminary stage of the investigation has been issued to Mauritius Telecom. Following the Statement of Issues, Dr Sean Ennis, CCM [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Réduit campus opens business school

The growing demand for tertiary education has made it imperative to create more space to accommodate additional students. The construction of new university campuses is among the government’s top priorities. In the same context, a business school is currently under construction at Ebène, in collaboration with the University of Mauritius (UoM). The school is part [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

GTU to protest against amending education act

The Government Teachers’ Union (GTU) is planning to organise a mass meeting on Saturday, October 29 to challenge the amendments to the Education Act. Teachers will be mobilised at Quatre Bornes at around 10 am to express their dissatisfaction with the changes. Speaking at a press conference held on Monday at the GTU seat in [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Zimbabwe to aid Mauritius boost trade

Enterprise Mauritius and the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote exchange of information, exhibition, skill transfer and market collaboration. The MoU was signed during the buyers and sellers meet that was held in Harare from October 12 to 14. The island was represented by the minister of [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Rapists get over 20 years jail term

Judge Saheeda Peeroo of the Assizes on Monday sentenced five men, all residents of Bois Marchand and aged between 21 and 24 years, for gang raping a 26-year-old woman. “No respect was shown to a human being. They showed their wicked nature and dangerous attitude,” the judge said. The five suspects pleaded guilty at the [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Scaffolding accident claims first victim

On Monday, Vicky Djapermal, 27, succumbed to injuries he sustained in the scaffolding accident at Bramer House last week. He was admitted to the intensive care unit of Apollo Bramwell hospital on October 19. The post mortem carried out by chief police medical officer Dr Sudesh Kumar Gungadin revealed that the victim died from cerebral [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

No parliamentary questions today

The parliament will meet on Tuesday with the original agenda reduced to bare minimum with all parliamentary questions withdrawn. The House will also be spared any private notice question from the leader of the Opposition Paul Bérenger. Prime Minister Dr Navin Ramgoolam’s motion, “that all the business on today’s order paper be exempted,” will be [...]

25 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily

Bérenger confirms MSM alliance talks

Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM) leader Paul Bérenger confirmed that there were talks on an alliance between his party and Pravind Jugnauth’s Mouvement Socialiste Militant. “The remake of the MSM-MMM alliance we had in year 2000 will be confirmed in due time,” he said. Bérenger also announced his party would severe all ties with the Labour [...]

24 Oct 2011, The Independent Daily