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.

The Economic Mess is Actually Bigger

Than previously reported. Although I had forgotten to add the budget of Jeetah's Ministry I didn't include the much larger capital repayments either. So that now -- based on the same budget 2010 numbers -- we have debt servicing 82% and 80% larger than the education budgets for 2012 and 2013 respectively. It was already 38% a couple of years ago.The total debt service for these four years is a staggering Rs69.25 billion and the corresponding figure for education spending is only Rs42.62 billion -- Rs27 billion more. That's roughly 10 Midlands Dam or one LRT plus a couple of billions to spare. In case you're wondering.

Nordic Countries Offer Best Start in Life

According to a newly built index by the Economic Intelligence Unit which measures the quality of early school environment in 45 countries. Finland, Sweden and Norway take the first three places while India grabs the last one. China is ranked 42nd. Japan sits at no. 21 but would climb about 9 spots if it made its high quality program compulsory writes the EIU.

In the meantime, Singapore students are moving out of their classrooms to expand their vistas as they get ready to widen their competitive edge. Again. Dodoland of course is planning to make students do the reverse trip during the winter holidays for another dumb dose of rote learning. And get closer to the twelve-month school year. Youpi?

Mansoor Resigns, Almost

So mentioned Le Mauricien yesterday. Which is saying that the FS crossed unauthorised lines and was cut to size by someone in government. He apparently wrote a letter of resignation but was convinced by a Senior Minister to take it back.

Why on earth did the Minister persuade him? He didn't like the font used?

Looks like AM could make use of this extremely useful guide.

How Crazy Are You?

Moody's Downgrades 15 Big Banks

Because of the tail risk -- the likelihood of huge losses -- that their capital market operations exposes them to. They also got slammed for the opacity and complexity of these activities. Opacity? Hmm, this reminds me of how opaque the irrelevant stimulus package was at the beginning before rapidly becoming redundant.

Have a look at the interesting report which some claim is five years late.

Summer Starts in the Northern Hemisphere

With the Music Day. As usual. Pretty quiet here in Dodoland. Way too quiet. Sign of the bean-counting times, eh?

What Manou and Rama Agree On

That would be the crucial importance of savings for our economy. Read us. Makes kind of sense right? That's what left over after we make our purchases. The Governor's views are currently on display in the media for consumption so no need to repeat them here. What you may have forgotten are how close they are to those that Sithanen held when he became Finance Minister for the second time back in 2005. Here's what he said:

CSO is forecasting a very low savings rate of 19.5 per cent for 2005. Here again, we must be utterly concerned. Firstly, because as a nation we are consuming at a faster rate than we are producing. Secondly, because the savings rate is below the investment rate. This will exert demand pressures on prices and will have an adverse impact on the current account of the balance of payments [emphasis mine].

Which gives us a beautiful benchmark to evaluate the so-called reforms he initiated. I guess.

BOM To Cap FX Spreads

So concluded Manou Bheenick in an interview to L'Express. That's excellent news for exporters which complain of not getting good enough FX rates from their banks. It's also long overdue for the small consumers given how wide the spreads have been recently.

I am starting to like 2012.

Who Influences Our National Policies The Most?

Is it Big Business? Or maybe the World Bank? You think it's the Prime Minister and religious organisations?

Make up your mind and vote in this interesting poll from Dr Zoom. It closes in 29 days.

BOM Gone As Far As It Could

With the key repo rate given that savings haven't improved after two university buddies messed up our macroeconomic fundamentals. The bank is also making FX credit lines available essentially because cry-babies have stopped using swaps.

Listen to the post-MPC press conference. Or have a look at the slides used.