Kopie Si Pa Kav Reflesi

Can Mauritius Do Better Than 56th in Maths?

That's how we did in the 2009 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) survey. That puts us in the company of Thailand but a lot better than Qatar (80th) and Ghana (88th). But kind of far from the UK (28th) and Germany (16th). I think it was the only time we ever participated in this interesting exercise. Germany has used her PISA experience to improve her education system. Surely if its valuable to the exportweltmeister it will be for us too. Besides don't we pride ourselves on being quite good in the Queen of Sciences?

Speaking of mathematics there's also an important competition that we seemed to have missed since it was first organised back in... 1959. The 58th edition of the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) will take place in Rio de Janeiro between July 12 and 23. 109 countries have already confirmed their participation. Including plenty of African nations like Algeria, Botswana, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, South Africa and Tanzania. In last year's competition Thailand came out 12th. Even Syria will be in Rio. So should Mauritius. Details are at http://www.imo-official.org/.

June Happy Pistorius Gonna Pay Something

Even though Oscar might be out after a year. June is the mother of Reeva Steenkamp who was shot dead in Pistorius's bathroom on Valentine's Day last year. So today's sentencing is bringing closure to at least some members of the victim's family.

Drafting of Bill Not Exactly Difficult

Which is why the first draft of the constitution amendment bill is already ready. In fact the State Law Office has a draft person that does precisely that and getting help from Victor Glover -- the former Chief Justice and not the astronaut candidate -- surely must not hurt.

Drafting a bill is an entirely mechanical process as Victor Glover reminded us twice. The first as recently as a week when he said all that he needed are drafting instructions. So if the political sweethearts of River Walk -- Ramgoolam and Berenger -- want him to draft laws that will throw us into some kind of a plutocracy he'll happily do it. For a fee. Doesn't mean that he agrees with the consequences -- it's like the PBB of that guy from the other planet -- of what he is being asked to help draft. But he will do it. And he can do it pretty fast. The second time was about a year ago when he told us that he had pronounced the death penalty in his previous manifestation as a judge on two occasions. Despite being personally against this type of sentence. See a judge doesn't make the laws, he just applies them.

The snag of course is that a bill has to be consistent with the supreme law of the land: our constitution. Otherwise some or all of it can be declared void. Which is what two experienced lawyers are saying: if leaders start picking MPs we're not a democracy anymore and hence the word democracy has to be removed from article 1 of our constitution. And probably replaced by plutocracy
or autocracy.

Laws can be made consistent with the constitution but that doesn't make them right. Like during apartheid in South Africa.

World To Mourn Madiba for Several Days

Who died last night at 95. Listen to some wise words from Nelson Mandela: religion is a private matter and education is the most important weapon you need to lead.

ACIM Makes Serious Arguments To MPC

They rightly wanted the repo rate to go up by 15-20 basis points because

1. year-on-year inflation is already higher than it should be and soon hovering between 5% and 6%
2. inflation hits the poor harder
3. the latest household budget survey shows that economic growth of the last five years has not been inclusive

No one in her right mind can disagree with these facts. A few comments on them:

1. one former Governor likened inflation to radioactivity
2. South Africa has calculated that the inflation that hits the poor is 3% higher
3. as expected the flat tax disease has operated like a reverse Robin Hood

Furthermore even the JEC -- not exactly the source of the most progressive economic statements since dinosaurs were wiped out from the face of the earth -- asked that the repo be left unchanged. 

How can you then explain that the Financial Secretary asked for 50 basis-point cut? And that the MPC ended up lowering the key rate by 25 basis points?

Simple: there are way too many people on the MPC and at the Ministry of Finance who don't seem to understand the scope of an MPC. That's unacceptable. Because I am sure that the cost of running the MPC is nothing to be sneezed at. We should be able to count on Mr. Alan Ganoo to find that out for us. And to apply parliamentary pressure so that the MPC works for most of us.

Pistorius Shoots Model Girlfriend By Accident

Reeva Steenkamp was apparently shot four times by the double amputee paralympic champion after he mistook her for an intruder. She just wanted to surprise him for Valentine's Day. That's one version of the story.

South African police is being very cautious and professional at this stage. Just watch how this brigadier handles the press.

Party Lists Have Undermined Accountability in SA

According to The Economist which ran an interesting article on South Africa last October. The famous magazine rightly concludes that individual MPs don't worry about voters anymore: they instead bend over backwards to please party leaders who determine how far they end up from the top of the list.

Guess it too is saying that party lists are evil.

18 Miners Die Over Pay Dispute

After South African police opened fire at a striking platinum mine. The miners wanted a threefold increase in their wages to improve their poor living conditions. They were armed with machetes and charged the police when they were stopped with gunfire. The New York Times said that the miners haven't seen their situation improve 18 years after the end of apartheid.

Who Will Win The Last Two Matches?

South Africa had a good match against Mexico but was outmaneuvered by Uruguay yesterday which looks poised to advance to the next round probably with whoever wins in the France-Mexico match-up tonight.

The two teams from Group B which are likely to move to round 16 are meeting today at 15h30 with Messi getting another opportunity to dazzle one and all.

Slovenia is ahead in Group C and will clinch its ticket to the next stage if it beats the US tomorrow. England didn't look particularly strong against Tim Howard's side.

Germany began very strongly by demonstrating impressive efficiency. Just like they did four years ago. Klose scored and is only 4 goals shy of Ronaldo's record of 15 goals. Ghana style is quite artistic and that may be enough to help it accompany the Mannschaft to play beyond June 23rd.

It was great to see Kuyt score one against Danemark but let's hope for some more Eto magic soon.

We are still at square one in Group F where current World Champions Italy landed.

Brazil started slow against a surprisingly strong North Korea side maybe because they were studying a team they probably never played against. Also many of the big names have been left out of Selecao probably after what happened in Germany: Brazil had a star-studded team but they didn't seem interested to play their best football. Wouldn't be surprised to see North Korea advance to the next stage.

And finally Spain will not win all its matches in the first round this time but should still make it with the other 15 teams hoping to raise the world cup on July 11.

Tutu and Shakira Set Soweto On Fire

World Cup Essentials

Match Schedule: 1st Match is host country vs. Mexico 18h local time tomorrow while France meets Uruguay at 22h30. Messi's in action the day after before the interesting match-up between USA and England. Italy is in action on Monday while the Verde-amaleros play on Tuesday.

Wikipedia entry.