Elizabeth Plays Own Role in 007 Clip

China Already Ahead in Medals Count

At the end of the first day. And they are still topping the charts as Day 2 draws to a close. They've got 6 gold and a total of 10 medals. The US is second and Italy is 3rd. In all 21 countries have won medals.

I watched Brazil beat Belarus a little while ago. For sure they've got some great talent like Neymar, Pato, Oscar and Thiago Silva in there but I was wondering if they would be able to beat La Roja in the next World Cup. Well Japan has beaten Spain a few days ago. And Senegal won 2-0 against Suarez's Uruguay. Let's see.

Also watched a great women volleyball match between Brazil and Turkey. The Turkish ladies put in a great fight and they were about to start the 4th set when I went to snooze (Brazil won 3-2).

Man, Olympics are great!!!

World To Pause For Billion-Rupee Ceremony

1.3 billion to be precise. Which starts in about four and a half hours in one of our planet's most exciting cities and will involve 15,000 people. The artistic director for this mega-event is none other than Danny Boyle. We shouldn't be surprise then that A.R. Rahman will be pitching in with something to rock the stadium.

And while you guess who will light the flame here's some music to get into the mood.

Balluck Still Trusting Viljoen

At least for the next little while because MK was in a mess before his arrival. Unlike Bizlall who has apparently lost confidence in the CEO's ability to turn the company around. That what Balluck explained to l'Express this morning along with some of the good initiatives -- including the setting up of a fact-finding committee into the hedging debacle -- the small shareholders of our national airline would like management to implement.

Pure common sense. Just listen to it.

It's Not The Geography, Stupid

A lot of energy is being wasted on one of our latest fantasies. That we are going to be the bridge between Asia and Africa. That we will be intercepting a lot of the flows and the business between the two continents. Between African Lions and Asian Tigers. That our geographic location gives us a competitive advantage just like Singapore.

It's an awesome strategy if you haven't looked at a map in a long time or don't have an internet connection. Because otherwise you would have known that there is a huge difference between being lost in the open seas and sitting pretty near the narrowest part of the Strait of Malacca. Maybe you are not to be blamed. As you still can't tell the difference between a weak Euro and a strong rupee. Or between rent-seeking and competitiveness.

Asia doesn't need our permission to go into Africa. Because it's already there. 

Pancreatic Cancer Gets First Woman in Space

Sally Ride died yesterday in La Jolla, California at age 61. The killer was pancreatic cancer -- the same that ruined Steve Jobs's life. Among cancer-killers it's the fourth most important. 

How you can get it? Easy. Eat a lot of red meat, smoke, lead an inactive life so that you become obese, drink a lot of soft drinks and boycott vegetables and fruits. And make sure to stress yourself as often as you can. If you do all of these with sufficient dedication we could be attending your funeral pretty soon.

Do We Know How To Manage An Airline?

If you look at the fortunes of Air Mauritius over the past few years you are likely to conclude that we don't. That would be a big mistake though because it has not always been like this. There have been some really smart people who have worked there for many many years and who still do. And who knew what managing an airline -- that includes hedging -- is all about.

Besides there are some incredible Mauritians -- sufficiently high enough in the food chain -- who could turn this baby around and make us all proud. So we need to start sending unambiguous signals that we are putting competence first again.

Meet Mr Near-Perfect Landing: Kohei Uchimura

He's already done something no one has done before: win three gymnastics world championships back to back. The New York Times says he's set to soon become the greatest who ever lived. Don't forget to watch him in London.

Ki Servis Piblik u Truv Korek?

Mwa mo bien kontan (mont bisiklet?) Passport Office. Sa desantralizasyon ek simplifaksyon bann form la finn kontribye pu fer enn ti-mirak: u gagn u paspor andan enn semen. La pos usi finn ameliore buku. Plizier zot kontwar servi sa ti masin elektronik pu imprim enn tem-kolkamani ki fer travay-la al buku pli vit. Enn pake sa bann biro-la usi erkonn. Donk li pa mal agreab al lapos. CEB usi ena bann kontwar ki furni mem nivo servis.

Mauritius Telecom so servis ti kav buku pli bon si nu kontinye kuma avan. Sa servis MyT la dapre lord pa enn cheetah kinn diizign sa. Nu servis ledikasyon piblik dan dife net: 30% zelev CPE pa pase sak lane.

Ale u tur aster. Ki u kontan, ki u pa like?

Mauritius Has 11 Athletes in London Olympics

One less than at the Beijing Olympics. You probably know the triathlete Fabienne St-Louis and the beach-volley champs Natacha Rigobert and Elodie Li Yuk Lo. And Aurelie Halbwachs who will participate in cycling events. Plus a few other athletes in swimming and track and field. Good luck to all of them and may they follow in Bruno Julie's footsteps.

South Africa has 133 athletes (3 less than in Beijing), Madagascar 7, Kenya 50 (they sent 2 less 4 years ago but had an amazing medals rank: 13). India is sending 83 people (compared to 57 in China) while China is sending 382 (vs 639 when it was the host country). That's barely bigger than the Japanese delegation (303). Russia has 443 athletes (they are always a big team). USA has probably the largest one (indeed 536).

And finally Great Britain will be represented by 556 athletes. The fun begins in a little less than seven days. If you're taking the opening ceremony as yardstick.

And How Many Speak Kreol in the Air?

We know 84% of Mauritians use kreol at home. Many Mauritians speak kreol on MK too. The funny thing is that they are often spoken back in an alien language by the flying staff. Which is the right thing to do because speaking kreol -- unlike hedging -- is not one of MK's core competencies. We leave that to infinitely inferior airlines like Emirates where Mauritian passengers are routinely shown a higher level of empathy by being answered back in their home language.

All is not lost though. We just need to find out where exactly is that country where our kreol can be learned.

Spoiled Brat Wants New Toy

And that's to become President -- à la frenchie -- of Mauritius. After getting mad with us back in 2005 when we didn't give him forty-five seats. Instead of counting his blessings and setting Mauritius right. That's a ridiculous request because we know very well that we have an excellent constitution that has served us well. It's the thing that got us here, right?

Singapore wannabes should also remember that the strongman there is the Prime Minister. In any case what's the deal about changing the constitutional setup? Is that a chromosome-altering event?

The One Movie Bhansali Wished He Had Made

Hopeless Case Getting Worse

"If we get into government it's only to set the country right." Followed by "electoral reform is the topmost priority". And "I have a preference for the Labour Party". All of this while he is in alliance with the MSM and after helping SAJ to resign as President. He was also supposed to second the motion making Kailash Purryag our next President tomorrow. Now he will not.

In case you forgot, the MMM is THE party with all the right competencies. Good luck dear Militants!

Pat Delefan Rajesh Khanna

Kumsa mem ti pe dimann tayer kud nu bann kanson dan les zane swasandis. Sinema ti enn gran lwazir sa lepok la e tu seki nu ti pe truve lor lekran nu ti pe seye fer parey apre. E kuma kiken ti pe abiye inpe bien nu ti pe dir "get Rajesh Khanna". Inpe kuma tu dimunn tiapel Travolta apre. Uswa Nadia Comaneci. Rajesh Khanna inn mor zordi dan Mumbai. Seki buku dimunn konsider kom promye superstar dan Bollywood tiena swasantnev an. Antuka li pe kit buku zoli zuvenir pu nu (P.S. mamzel la ena 22-23 an ladan).

Ki Groser Enn Telefon Bizin Ete?

Lontan si u ti pe servi enn Sagem ler u truve ki enn Nokia kav fer eventielman u aste enn Nokia. Anfet probableman u renuvle enn Nokia ek enn lot Nokia parski zot pa tiena kompetiter serye. Lerla enn moman done u aste enn Blackberry Killer. Moris nu telman dan fatak ki dimunn finn aste Killer avan Blackberry parski Blackberry finn ariv bien apre.

Me pri lansman Blackberry inpe tro ser donk u atan. Amwin u envi showoff ek aste li pu repet tu dimumm komie un paye sa. Pa importan mem si u pa tro konn servi li. Apre Blackberry so pri bese vinn parey kuma enn Nokia u aste enn Curve. Wow! U pe gut u promye smartphone. Kapav gayn email dan u telefon, kapav surf lor internet. So lekran 19 sentimet kare (plis ki de fwa lekran 7.84 sentimet kare u Nokia ). Kapav mem bloge. Bye bye Nokia.

Letan sa Apple tir so iPhone. Tarrrrrrr! iPhone 4S ena enn voice asssitant ki apel Siri. Li simplifie enn ta zafer. So lekran 39.76 sentimet kare: de fwa pli gro ki pu Blackberry. Ek en plis li servi OS Apple. Buku pli simp, robis ek intwitif. Bye bye Blackberry. Samsung-li tir so Galaxy ki pe mars mari bien: finn ed Samsung vinn pli gran manifaktirye smartphone dan lemond. So lekran pli gran ek li mars ek Android. Kuma iPhone 5 pu ete?

Griye inpe pistas.

Evangelist of Effectiveness Dead at 79

Steven Covey died yesterday of complications related to a recent bicycle accident. His 7 habits of Highly Effective People is ranked #7 in Amazon.com books and is first in a few self-help sub-categories. This translates into more than 25 million copies according to the New York Times.

He also visited Mauritius: the promo video will make you feel good about our employment numbers.

Ramgoolam Rat Enn Lot Randevu Ek Listwar

Ler linn nomm Kailash Purryag kom prosin prezidan repiblik. Bon se vre ki se promye fwa li pe nomm enn travays. Rapel ki so de lot nominasyon finn swa remont lor kes savon ubien return dan laren politik pu tir so manze. Me Ramgoolam ti kav donn enn lot dimansyon prezidans sa fwa la. Si li ti nomm enn parmi sa bann morisyen la:

1. Eric Milazar -- sa vites ki morisyen pe vinn obez la pa ti move gagn enn sampyon kumsa ki kompran kiapel lavites dan redwi. En plis li pre pu pran so retret.
2. Eric Triton -- enn prezidan gagn drwa kontinye zwe lamisik. Ti va dedie enn lasam redwi pu lamizik. Dimunn ti va vinn gete.
3. Pamela Patten -- enn de nu bann lavwa prefere. Tu dimunn kontan li. Anfin, apard detrwa zimaz.
4. Chitmansing Jesseramsing -- nu ex-ambasader emerit kinn servi anba 7 prezidan amerikin ek kinn ekut lamisik ek manz popcorn en sort bann 4 zuliet Lincoln Memorial.
5. Ananda Devi -- pa enn move lide avoye enn antropolog redwi -- kav gagn bann bon biografi bann personalite ki transit laba apre.
6. Shenaz Patel -- zurnalis/ekrivin progresis ki pu kav kontinye ekrir redwi.
7. Abhimanyu Unnuth -- enn lot nu bann gran poet/ekrivin (75 liv).
8. Sobhanund Seeparsad -- zurnalis/akter mollywood/ekrivin triling e en bonis enn lavwa radiofonik. Pu bon pu diskur program sa.
9. Aline Wong -- nomm enn dimunn Zen ki bien kompran limportans kapital imin pa ti pu mal.
10. Victor Glover -- ansyen sef ziz ki deza konn baz la: linn fer 4 fwa kuma guverner zeneral par interim ek 1 fwa kuma prezidan par interim.

Ramgoolam ti kav usi fer pli fasil: les Monique Bellepeau glis dan pos prezidan trankil.

Kahneman Not The First

Non-economist to win the Economics Nobel. Everybody knows that John Nash who won the prize eight years before Kahneman is a mathematician. Who doesn't remember the award-winning movie A Beautiful Mind anyway?

Nash is not the first either. This honour could very well go to Kantorovich who snatched the prize in 1975 or to Hayek who took the Nobel home a year earlier. Which confirms that you don't necessarily have to study economics to understand how the economy works. And that having a non-economist as first-deputy governor is a pretty lame excuse for not having launched the Monetary Policy Committee. When you should have.

Speaking about Economics Nobels, here are five broad categories in which the first thirty-eight ones can be grouped into. That's useful information. Just in case you might be in the mood to get one.

Wrestling Champ Dead at 83

Dara Singh visited Mauritius once -- think it was in the 70s -- and I even got the chance to go watch him fight against one Scotsman Cameron (Jack if I remember correctly) who meticulously folded his skirt before launching the hostilities. But it was not the fight everybody talked about. Nope. THE fight to attend was between Dara Singh and Mighty Mongol. Them visiting our island got Mauritians to start practising impromptu wrestling.

Court Says Galaxy Not As Cool As iPad

So that the Cupertino-based tech mogul lost the case of design infringement it brought against the South Korean giant. Judge Birss said that the iPad's competitor doesn't "have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design. They are not as cool."

That's not going to hurt the sales of the iPad, will it?

Kuma Pyongyang TV Kav Sanz Biltin Linformasyon

Pli importan biltin linformasyon li bizin en kreol vi ki dan saem langaz 84% popilasyon kominike lakaz. Donk bizin ena enn Zurnal Televize (ZT) lor promye sen ent 19h30 ek 20h00. News ti bizin deziem pli importan biltin vi mari limportans ki angle ena dan dunya. Ti kav pas sa lor sen de ent 21h00 ek 21h30. JT en franse nu met li ent 19h00 ek 19h30 lor deziem sen.

Bann biltin pa bizin plis ki trant minit. Kav fer sa: nek ena dimann promye minis rann enn servis pa vinn fer miting lor tv tulezur.

Ek ti bizin les bann depite exprim zot en kreol dan parlman ek ena versyon Hansard en kreol usi.

Batsa lor vites.

Take Agalega, Leave DTAA Alone

Seems to have offered Mauritius according to an article published in the Times of India a little while ago. What's going on here? First policies to attract unproductive FDI are implemented for seven years. These fail miserably and we end up with a lot of debt and structural problems. Now, we're giving away our territory to save a treaty?

Scientists Say Bump in Data is Cosmic Molasses

Aka Higgs boson. After looking at data collected in the two large toys they've built in Geneva and Batavia. Which makes the standard model -- the idea that all we need to build our Universe are twelve building blocks and four fundamental forces -- a little more complete.

Two Maybelline Faces in One Movie

Who's Got The Better Voice Assistant?

iPhone 4S or Galaxy Nexus? This review shows that the latter has a better voice and is quicker for some searches. What do you think?

Proof That Reforms Have Worked

Barclays Chairman Quits Over Libor-Rigging

Days after his bank was fined GBP290 million. There is pressure for the CEO to resign too. While David Cameron announces a parliamentary inquiry into the scandal. And an insider tells us how it was done in the open.

Banksters in action? Check how Buffet ended up taking over Salomon Brothers 21 years ago.

Last Two World Cup Winners Meet in Three Hours

In the EURO 2012 Final in Kyiv. It has been a beautiful tournament with many great matches keeping fans at the edge of their seats. A few products of La Masia will be on the pitch tonight. So will the uber-cool Gigi Buffon. And the explosive Balotelli, the lead-scorer, who has one goal more than three Spanish players: Cesc, Fernando and Xabi.

I am betting for Italy to win it. But only after an exciting battle.