‘Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. ‘Francis Bacon

I will be attending the ‘Eighth Annual Meeting of the Science and Technology in Society Minister’s Forum’ which is being held in Kyoto, Japan from the 2nd to 6th of October 2011. I will seize this opportunity to meet some noble prize winners in view of future collaboration.

‘Press Conference on UNIVERSIADE 2011’

A press conference was held at The Link Hotel Ebéne to launch the ‘UNIVERSIADE 2011’ (An Inter Tertiary Institutions Sports Competition).  It is being organised by my Ministry and the Tertiary Education Commission in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The practice of sport is considered to be important in the overall development of the psyche and character of any individual. It is therefore essential that the capacity to develop physical, intellectual and moral qualities through sports be guaranteed within the educational system. This competition will also provide another platform to expose students to an arena in which all persons are treated fairly, regardless of their background or social standing.

‘ The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit. ‘

‘COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ON THE THEMATIC: HUMAN RESOURCES IN MAURITIUS’

 

 

 Some time back, I requested the Mauritius Research Council to coordinate and set up five national research groups around five themes of utmost significance to Mauritian society:  Water Resources, Traffic Logistics, Positive Energy Buildings, Quality of Food and Human Resources.  I wish to thank the MRC for having earnestly materialized this initiative. The main reason behind the setting up of these research groups was to have our local researchers and academics join hands with practitioners and decision makers in their respective fields in order to enable a holistic understanding of the challenges facing each thematic group, identify priority research projects and carry out such research whose findings can ultimately define policy. In a sense therefore, it would be the research community’s contribution in addressing these five topical problematic issues. There are lots to expect from our human resources but also many obstacles to overcome.  I am sure today’s workshop will enlighten further.  I would like to ask the participants to make the most of the workshop and I wish them fruitful discussions.