Local Mauritius

Bérenger criticises PM’s absence at critical time

The arrest of the minister of Health and Quality of Life, Maya Hanoomanjee, was the main topic of discussion at the Mouvement Militant Mauricien’s weekly press conference at The Link Hotel, Ebène, on Saturday. “A minister who has been arrested, charged and then released on bail should resign,” said MMM leader Paul Bérenger. “The fact [...]

25 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Health minister still in hospital

At around 6.30 pm on Thursday, the security at Apollo Bramwell Hospital was busy filtering visitors to a VIP patient in room 602 minister of Health Maya Hanoomanjee. Several high profile visitors to the minister’s room included the President Sir Anerood Jugnauth in the afternoon. He stayed for about one hour and left Apollo Bramwell [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Balise Marina holds job oriented trainings

La Balise Marine will hold a two-day registration drive on Friday and Saturday at its seat in Riviere Noire. This is to enable residents of the region to receive free training in sectors such as hotels, construction and activities related to the marina. The training will be open to people aged between 16 and 40 [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Baroness Ashton lauds island for fighting piracy

The European Union high representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, expressed her satisfaction following the signature of the Mauritius-European Union Transfer Agreement of Suspected Pirates last week. She recalled that the excellent cooperation between Mauritius and the EU in the fight against piracy has resulted in the signature of the agreement. “I [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Cycle race at Beau Plan

CRA World Events, in collaboration with the sponsor Freight and Transit PTY Ltd, will host the FTL cycle challenge at L’aventure du sucre at Beau Plan on Sunday. The cycle race will comprise two circuits – 40 and 70 kilometres. This will start at 8.30 am. The director of FTL, Cedric Lagesse, who is also [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Finance mgmt to be extended to Rodrigues

During the debate at the National Assembly on Tuesday, Rodrigues member of parliament (MP), Jean Francisco Francois quizzed the acting minister of Finance and Economic Development, Vasant Bunwaree on the need to bring amendments to legislations related to Rodrigues in order to ensure the smooth implementation of programme-based budgeting. In his reply, Bunwaree said that [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Aloe vera has green future

Aloe vera commonly known as the miracle plant, has the potential to become the future agro-industrial crop. This was stated by an officer of the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit. “Some 25 tonnes of aloe vera gel costing around Rs 1 million are currently imported annually. This excludes imports in other forms such as juice, [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Air Mauritius posts profit of 10.3 million euros in 2011

Air Mauritius held its annual general meeting of shareholders at the Grand Baie International conference centre on Thursday. The chairman, Kamal Taposeea told the board that they performed as a team despite challenges. He also lauded the national carrier’s performance for the financial year. He said, “The group posted profits of 10.3 million euros compared [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Lefranc gets 30 years for murder

Judge Saheeda Peeroo sentenced Andy Le Franc to 30 years of imprisonment at the Assize court on Thursday. He has been found guilty for the murder of Géraldine Ermio, a croupier of casino on December 16, 2008. The accused was on remand since January 5, 2009. Judge Peeroo took note of the fact that the [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Innodis Foundation finances

In the context of the food programme for Early Childhood Care and Education Authority (ECCEA) pre-schools, a donation ceremony was organised on Thursday at the seat of Municipality of Quatre Bornes. Several eminent personalities including Dr Vasant Bunwaree, minister of Education and Human Resources and Arianne Oxenham, mayor of the municipality were present for the [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Forum bridges generation gap

The Senior Citizens Council operating under the aegis of the ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions held an Intergenerational meeting between its members and students of different colleges on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee on Thursday at the Rabindranath Tagore Institute. Present on this occasion, the minister of Social Security, National [...]

22 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

5-hr Internet blackout across nation

A general disruption in Internet connection affected the island on Wednesday from 11 am to 4 pm. The connection was disrupted for another 30 minutes at 7.30 pm. Mauritius Telecom said the breakdown was due to a technical problem in one of its servers. Contacted by phone, an officer of Mauritius Telecom underlined that the [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Karaoke contest at Pointe aux Sables

Pointe aux Sables, July 20 A karaoke as well as a beauty contest will be held on July 30 at Pointe aux Sables. The event is being organised by BMB Consultant Entertainment, an event management company. The director of the company, Burty Salva said, “The competition will take place during the school holidays and aims [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Sustainable development high on government agenda

The second forum of the African Monitoring of the Environment for Sustainable Development (AMESD) based on the theme ‘Achievements and Perspectives in Support of Environmental Management’ was launched on Wednesday at the InterContinental Hotel, Balaclava. The event was attended by around 200 scientists, technicians, decision and policy makers as well as administrators at the regional [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Anglo-Mauritius celebrates anniversary

On Tuesday, Anglo-Mauritius Insurance celebrated 60 years of its existence by inaugurating an exposition at the Blue Penny Museum, Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis. The exposition pays tribute to the resilience of Mauritians in the face of natural disasters, especially cyclones. Louis Rivalland, chief executive officer (CEO) of Anglo-Mauritius expressed his joy at the promotion of [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

FTS to protest over social problems

The members of Verts Fraternels (FTS) members have announced that they will stage a demonstration on July 28 at the Company Garden, Port Louis. Speaking at a press meet held on Wednesday at the Marie Reine de la Paix social centre, Verts Fraternels president Sylvio Michel said the party members were planning to protest against [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

GTU urges for more security in primary schools

Talking to the press on Wednesday, Vinod Seegum, president of the Government Teachers Union (GTU) said that some primary school teachers were victims of verbal and physical abuse. He said the situation has been deteriorating. According to him, a school cannot continue to operate in this way where a parent can enter the school grounds [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

French artworks on display at Le Consulat Gallery

An exhibition to showcase the works of Charles Lapicque (1898-1988), a French artist considered one of the masters of modern portrayal, opened at Le Consulat Gallery, Port Louis, on Wednesday. The building previously used to house the French Embassy. The gallery has been taken over by the Caterpal Company, which consists of two associates, namely [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Mechanical harvesting system of sugarcane to be launched

The machine-operated harvest system for the sugar industry will be officially launched on Thursday in the fields of Bon Air, Triolet and Point aux Piments under the Field Operation Regrouping and Irrigation Project (FORIP). This will be done by the minister of Agro-Industry, Satish Faugoo. Around 1,200 hectares of land belonging to 500 planters comes [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily

Corporate governance key to sound business

Corporate governance is one of the key factors for a sound business environment. Governments, policy makers and industry practitioners acknowledge that governance, risk and compliance permeate all sectors and should be concern not only a handful of policy makers or corporate executives but everyone. This was stated by minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and [...]

21 Jul 2011, The Independent Daily