1.Cabinet has taken note of the proposal of the Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity and Senior Citizen Welfare and Reform Institutions to make Regulations under the National Pensions Act, the Social Aids Act and the Unemployment Hardship Relief Act to give legal effect to the new rates of social benefits announced in the 2000/2001 Budget Speech.
_______________________________
2. Cabinet has approved that the Ministry of Training, Skills Development and Productivity would be responsible for the placement on training of unemployed graduates and HSC school leavers under the Skills Development Programme. The University of Mauritius in collaboration with the Ministry will organise a "salon de l’emploi" on 19 and 20 October with a view to establish direct contact between the unemployed graduates and prospective employers.
_______________________________
3. Cabinet has agreed that a school holiday be granted to all teaching and non-teaching staff of primary and secondary institutions on the accasion of Teachers’ Day on Thursday 5 October, 2000.
_______________________________
4. Cabinet has approved the activities to be organised on the occasion of Divali, which will be celebrated as a national festival. A cultural programme with performing artists from all components of the population will be organised at Quatre Bornes.
_______________________________
5. Cabinet has taken note of developments regarding the renewal of the Special Preferential Sugar Agreement, the initiatives of the European Commission to allow unrestricted and duty free access of products from Least Developed Countries in the EU markets, the implications of such initiatives for Member States of the Sugar Protocol, in particular Mauritius, and the action taken by the Minister of Agriculture in his capacity as the ACP Ministerial Spokesman on Sugar to sensitize his European Counterparts about our concerns over the European proposals.
_______________________________
6. Cabinet has approved the constitution of a Steering Committee, with
Mr Dev Manraj as Chairman, to look into and advise Government on the setting up of a Financial Services Authority which will act as a Regulatory Body to oversee the development of the financial sector in an orderly and harmonised way.
_______________________________
7. Cabinet has been apprised of the appointment of Professor Swaley Kasenally, as Chairman of the Central Electricity Board.
_______________________________
8. Cabinet has approved that subsidies be granted to the Mauritius Tamil Temples Federation, the Mauritius Andra Maha Sabha and the Mauritius Marathi Mandali Federation for the running of their cultural centres. The relevant legislation will be enacted to this end.
_______________________________