Happy International Fact-checking Day!

Fact-checking is the lifeblood of democracies. So here's a mega transfusion for the Mauritian democracy.

Fact-checking Sithanen.

Fact-checking Subron.

Fact-checking Navin.

Fact-checking SAJ on a popular topic.

Fact-checking Pravind on the tram.

Fact-checking Arvin.

Fact-checking Berenger on two important issues.

Fact-checking playlist.

Fact-checking gem to download on your Apple device.

Sisters That Should Accompany Kreol Into Parliament

Bhojpuri which is spoken by more Mauritians than French and is used to convince voters in electoral campaigns. Mandarin and Hindi being the second and third most popular languages in the world according to Berlitz.com as well as the main languages of the countries which will have the two largest economies on Planet A for most of the remainder of the current century. And beyond.

There is basically no reason why an MP shouldn't also be able to speak in Telegu, Tamil, Marathi or Urdu in our National Assembly given that they are all languages that are spoken here. To be sure not all of them should be conferred the same status in parliament. Kreol, which is spoken by at least 170X more people in Mauritius than English should be given a place at least as important as the latter. This would mean making human translation into Kreol available during live transmissions of Parliament TV and a version of the Hansard in that language afterwards. That shouldn't require too big a staff given that most of us speak three languages fairly early in our lives or much money given that they can be redeployed in our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, embassies and at the MBC.

We should also make provision for speeches in Spanish and Arabic which are the most popular languages in about twenty countries each. And let us not forget Sanskrit about which forty years ago Briggs told AI Magazine "Among the accomplishments of the grammarians can be reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial Intelligence."

All of this can be done in two phases. The first one will take care of the first two paragraphs and the second the rest. But we should be able to make arrangements for the live translation of Parliamentary TV in Kreol and Bhojpuri almost immediately until relevant committees begin to keep minutes and lose hours.

Maha Kumbh Mela Reaches 620 Million Participants

And another 30 million are expected by its conclusion on Mahashivaratri this Wednesday. This will ensure that Kumbh Melas occupy the first four spots of Planet Earth's largest peaceful gatherings with the top three secured by Prayagraj. This year's crowd is 2.7X the one organised six years ago when it had itself doubled in size compared to the 2013 Kumbh Mela. Which means that the first billion-soul festival is a mere 3 years away if recent growth rates are maintained. 

The 2025 Kumbh Mela has obviously been the most broadcasted and now millions more know that Mauni Amavasya draws the biggest crowd – 76 million this year and that too because of the very unfortunate loss of thirty lives at the start of the day. Laurene Powell Jobs also attended the mega festival just like her late husband who turns 70 today did at Haridwar back in 1974. He no doubt hoped to see the rockstar of the only book he kept on his iPad there just like Sri Yukteswar and Lahiri Mahasaya did decades earlier.

The mind-boggling numbers aside the Kumbh Mela is above all the most profound spiritual experience many will have in their entire lives. And the fastest increase in their wisdom given the unimaginable variety of teachers that have been present during the 40-odd days of the fair. Some of these teachers have come straight from forests and caves in the Himalayas to take a dip in the river and share with the multitude what their sometimes decades-long introspections have taught them.

Finally some elated foreigners have said that India should invite the whole world to the Kumbh Mela. Given that one out of every thirteen humans would have been in Prayagraj in 2025 Yogi Adityanath better start dredging the river again soon.

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IA turns 25

On 17 December 1999 Investment Analytics started helping people have fun preparing for their finance exams including those of the prestigious CFA Program. 25 years later it is doing that even better.

Ramgoolam Appoints Toxic Bean-Counter As BoM Governor

It came as a shock to people who had voted for the Alliance of Change as they haven't forgotten how Rama Sithanen had badly messed up their livelihoods during his last stint as Minister of Finance between 2005 and 2010 with an extreme version of trickle-down economics. It was so bad that he could not be given a ticket – a first for an outgoing FM – in GE1010 and didn't take the risk of running as an independent candidate. Of course before that the then PM had to give a second Presidential term to SAJ and help get PJ elected in the 2009 by-election to prove his goodwill before sealing an alliance with the MSM so as to avoid electoral mayhem. He was also not elected in GE2014 and GE2019 and that too in two different constituencies while for GE2024 the risk was too great for Ramgoolam to give him a chance to return to parliament.

The 70-year-old Sithanen has also made a number of disturbing statements. Here's one.

And here's some more.

Book That Makes Mauritian Voters Smart As Hell Published

It's available in several locations worldwide since yesterday. The Mauritian diaspora will be able to understand GE2024 and politics in their motherland and elsewhere like never before.

GE2024 Ep1: Dernie Traizon Navin Ramgoolam

Sanjay Jagatsingh · Dernie traizon Navin Ramgoolam

Voter Survey for GE2024 Goes Live

Takes only a couple of minutes. We'd love to get your responses in this anonymous poll. And we'll publish the aggregate results.

No Electoral System Gives More Power to Voters Than the FPTP

Meet A 94-year-old Who Has A Gift For the PM

Ms. Dassyn was the first one to garland SSR when he was first elected in 1948. Now twenty-one years later she's the oldest elector in riding No.5 and on the same platform as him in Pamplemousses. They are meeting again for the inauguration of an ultra-modern hospital. So we discover on reading the chapter of Petals of Dust that starts on page 94.

The 357-bed hospital with 120,000 square feet of covered space has been meticulously planned and sports the first ICU of the island, an isolation ward among other important features and had become a necessity as a rapidly increasing population – the demographic bomb was in the midst of being defused – had reduced the beds/1,000 pax from 2.5 to 1.9 and was in line with government's promise and plan of upgrading the delivery of public health.

The 38-year-old Minister of Health who'd been in the job for two years – as well as eight in that of the General Secretary of the Labour Party – doesn't fail to give credit where it is due. He tells us that the foundation stone was laid in 1963 when Guy Forget had the portfolio while Harold Walter presided over almost all of the building work when he was in charge. There was even an arts competition. Architects, sculptors and labourers are thanked. He seemed to have had a lot of fun equipping the new gem.

The first time I went to the SSRNH I was quite impressed by the sophistication, scale of the facilities and ambiance there. Mind you this was the feeling of a boy who was probably in Standard III just waiting in the car. Many years later when I read Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first impression of Brasilia – Oscar Niemeyer designed it as an airplane – I immediately thought of my first encounter with lopital di nor. "The impression I have is that I'm arriving on a different planet." 

Suddenly, Mastering QM Becomes Fun

I've made an awesome book out of the QM pages of my much-appreciated CFA^® Level 1 Lifesaver. You can download it on your Apple device if you have access to a particpating store. I suspect people heading to university or wanting to master QM will also love it. IA is also there.

Eski Plant Plis Kan Se En Bon Stratezi Pu Moris?

ReA Se En Parti Extrem Drwat

World Celebrates Birth and Awakening of Lord Buddha

It's called Vesak and is understanbly the most important celebration any Buddhist can participate in. Hindus too celebrate Buddha's jayanti tomorrow May 22 as they consider him the 9th avatar of Vishnu. It's difficult not to consider him the successor of the previous avatar, Lord Krishna, when you take the time to carefully examine their recommendations given about twenty-five centuries apart. Especially the fundamental one that urges us to test what they prescribe. Happy Vesak Day!

Kozelidir Person of the Year 2024

Credits: News18

Anu Tiek En Palab Ki Abitie Fer Lor FPTP

The Jag! After 2016

The last time we took stock of the output there we had just finished the fifth part in our series on electoral reform. Since then we've added four more pieces in that thread and thirty-nine other posts till now. There were no articles last year though, the first time since 2016 but it's not the longest drought period on that blog. I have a good excuse. 2024 looks better with already two and both of them are in kreol. The first one was an analysis on six pledges of the LP/MMM/PMSD alliance – it uses four of our clips – and the last on why six titans of the Mauritius Labour Party are unlikely to vote for Navin Ramgoolam in 2024 or for the other two main parties for that matter.

Of course Covid-19 happened during this 7-year period which explains why we had pieces on the vaccination status and jabs to buy in 2022 after we had become less ignorant about viruses. That was also the year of the 75th anniversary of India's independence. We published one piece on the Gentle Elephant when it was Midnight on August 15 in Bharat. Two days earlier we wrote a post on faith which started with a tribute to an extraordinary actor that said goodbye during the pandemic. We also investigated who's been the longest-serving General Secretary of the MLP. 

Other pieces included celebrating the 90th anniversary of a maverick, the Pope's visit, ideas to roll back drug use, an interesting piece on transport policy, comments on the offerings in the 2019 general election, fact-checking a toxic politician, decolonisation, the Central Water Authority, the World Bank and economic miracles. Plus one on the importance of the national currency in determining the wealth of a nation and another on an infamous anniversary. And more.

That's a lot of good stuff to read don't you think?

Zistwar Kadi

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