1. Cabinet has agreed to the introduction into the National Assembly of:-
(i) the Estimate of Supplementary Expenditure No. 1 of 2002 which incorporates items of expenditure incurred in 2001-2002 through advances from the Contingencies Fund and the Supplementary Appropriation (2001-2002) Bill which provides for the appropriation of further sums paid and applied for the service of the Government for financial year 2001-2002 in excess of the amounts provided in the Appropriation Act 2001;
(ii) the Sex Discrimination Bill which aims inter alia at providing for the elimination of discrimination against persons on grounds of sex in line with the requirements of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and for the setting up of a Sex Discrimination Division attached to the National Human Rights Commission with power to receive complaints and make enquiries and determinations regarding alleged infringements of the Act; and
(iii) the Hindi Pracharini Sabha Bill which provides for the setting up of the Hindi Pracharini Sabha as a body corporate for the purpose of promoting and propagating the Hindi language and its literature.
_______________________________
2.Cabinet has, in the context of the implementation of the Regional Oil Spill Contingency Plan (ROSCP) developed by the Indian Ocean Commission, agreed to Mauritius making an offer to host the Regional Coordination Centre whose objectives are inter alia to develop cooperation in the region in the field of preparedness and response to oil pollution incidents which require emergency actions.
_______________________________
3.Cabinet has agreed to the Minister of Education and Scientific Research making the Private Secondary Schools Regulations 2002 to allow private secondary schools to admit in their pre-vocational stream students who have failed CPE examinations, and, in exceptional cases, to enable students of private secondary schools to repeat any of the classes of Form I to V more than once.
_______________________________
4.Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the missions of –
(i) the Minister of Agriculture, Food Technology & Natural Resources to Europe in the context of consultations between the EU and Australia/Brazil on the Sugar Regime;
(ii) the Minister of Tourism to London where he attended the World Travel Market and to Berlin where he inaugurated a major promotional campaign organized by TUI, the most important travel agency of Germany; and
(iii) the Minister of Youth and Sports to Burkina Faso from 18 to 22 November, where he participated in the 50th Ministerial Session of the “Conference des Ministres de l’Education ayant le Français en Partage”.
_______________________________
5.Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of –
(i) the Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal (CSAT) under the chairmanship of Mr Harris Dut Balgobin; and
(ii) the Mauritius Cultural Centre Trust.
_______________________________
6.Cabinet has taken note of progress made in the various administrative reform initiatives as highlighted in the 2002-2003 Action Plan “Towards the modernization of the Public Sector”.
_______________________________
7.Cabinet has taken note of activities to be organized in the context of World AIDS Day this year.
_______________________________