1.Cabinet has been apprised that negotiations were held between His Excellency the Vice-President, the Minister of Education & Scientific Research and the Honorary Consul of Mauritius in Tamil Nadu, for the reservation of seats for Mauritian students in colleges in Tamil Nadu.
In this respect, the Government of Tamil Nadu has favourably considered our request and has issued an Order alloting 90 seats in Government Institutions for Mauritian candidates in the fields of Science, Technology and Computer Science.
The last date for submission of applications is 20 July, 2000. Due to time constraints this year, the Indian High Commission has exceptionally agreed to advertise and process all applications. The Ministry of Education & Scientific Research will handle the processing of applications as from next year.
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2.Cabinet has been apprised that as a result of the downward trend of exchange rates of major European currencies and the EURO, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has on three occasions revised the exchange rates for the importation of pharmaceutical products. These three revisions represent a fall between 4-13% in the selling price of pharmaceutical products imported from European countries including France, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Germany, depending on the currencies in which the products are paid.
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3.Cabinet has approved the grant of 2 Export Enterprise Certificates and 1 Pioneer Status Enterprise Certificate under the Industrial Expansion Act, 1993.
The implementation of the three (3) projects would create some 49 job opportunities and would entail investment amounting to around Rs17.3 million.
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4.Following the inability of the selected tenderer to supply blankets of the required standard, Cabinet has decided that the Ministry of Social Security, National Solidarity and Senior Citizens Welfare should pay a cash allowance of Rs100 in lieu thereof to each beneficiary of Social Aid, Basic Widows Pension, Basic Invalidity Pension and Basic Orphans Pension.
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5.Cabinet has agreed to the introduction into the National Assembly of the Fishermen Welfare Fund Bill which provides for the establishment of a Fishermen Welfare Fund.
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6.Cabinet has agreed to the Minister of Land Transport, Shipping and Port Development making the Merchant Shipping (Training and Certification) Regulations under the Merchant Shipping Act with a view to giving force of law to the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) of seafarers. The Prime objective of the Regulations is to ensure that seafarers undertake the relevant training programmes and are issued with the appropriate Certificates of Competency in accordance with the STCW Convention.
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7.Cabinet has taken note of the proposal of the Minister of Labour and Industrial Relations, Employment and Human Resource Development to amend the schedule to the Industrial and Vocational Training Regulations, 1994 to enable the IVTB to provide apprenticeship as -
(i) Textile and Leather products Machine Operator;
(ii) Packer hand; and
(iii) Labeller hand.
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8.With a view to better ensuring public security, Cabinet has decided that, as a matter of principle, political meetings will not be allowed on public beaches.
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9.Cabinet has taken note of the letter addressed by the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Corporate Affairs and Financial Services to the Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum protesting against the inclusion of Mauritius in the lowest of the three groups of countries that were surveyed by the Forum and on the manner in which the survey was conducted.
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10.Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Mauritius Research Council with Mr M. A. Vayid as Chairman.
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11.Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the official mission of the Minister of Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources to the ACP Ministerial Consultation on Sugar held in Cotonou, Benin, on 19 June, 2000 during the ACP-EU Meeting.
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