1..Cabinet has agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) being signed with the Government of the Republic of India on cooperation in the field of protection of the environment. The MoU will provide a framework for policy and technical cooperation between the two countries.
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2. Cabinet has taken note of the visit of HE Koïchiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO from 17 to 19 February 2004. During his visit he will inter alia launch the International Year for the Commemoration of the struggle against slavery and its Abolition for the Indian Ocean and the SADC sub region.
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3. Cabinet has taken note of the proposed visit of the Minister of Education and Youth of the Republic of Seychelles to Mauritius from 25 to 28 February 2004. The purpose of the visit is to explore the possibility of further cooperation between the two countries in the field of education and science, especially in the tertiary sector.
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4. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of -
(i) the mission of the Minister of Environment and National Development Unit in Nassau, Bahamas from 26 to 30 January 2004 where he attended the Inter-regional Preparatory Meeting for the Ten Year Review of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States;
(ii) the mission of the Minister of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment in Zimbabwe from 3 to 6 February 2004 where he attended the 30th Meeting of the Governing Council of the African Regional Labour Administration Centre and the High Level Forum on Labour Administration in the context of Globalisation.
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5. Cabinet has taken note of the findings and recommendations of the study on the "Prior Assessment of Marine Waters around Mauritius and Rodrigues in relation to the Fishing Aggregating Devices (FAD) Fishery Development" carried out under the International Fund for Agricultural Development of United Nations Organisation for Project Services for the Rural Diversification Programme. The study has, inter alia, recommended a monitoring, control and surveillance system for FAD fishery and the training of fishers as an indispensable component for the success of the FAD fishery programme.
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6. Cabinet has taken note of four training courses to be conducted by the Co-operative College of Malaysia under the Training Programme on Capacity Building in Co-operatives for officers of the Ministry of Commerce and Cooperatives and office bearers of Co-operative Organisations at the National Co-operative Training Centre, Terre Rouge from 23 February to 18 March 2004.
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7. Cabinet has agreed to amend the Education Regulations 1957 with a view to defining the term "grade aggregate" in order to clarify the position regarding the reckoning of Asian Languages/Arabic for admission to Form I.
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8. Cabinet has reviewed the situation following the reported case of food poisoning at Richelieu Government School and has taken note that chemical and bacteriological analysis of sample of yoghurt and stuffed bread have been carried out and that legal action would be taken against the suppliers should the tests indicate that the food supplied did not comply with the provisions of the Food Regulations.
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