MAURITIUS Thursday, December 3, 2009

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NEWSNOW PEOPLE

Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam met the former French president Jacques Chirac yesterday in Paris. Mr Chirac is a long standing friend of Mauritius and has paid numerous visits to the country, both officially and during his frequent holidays at the Royal Palm Hotel. Mr Chirac played a key role for the countrys access to European Development Funds through his personal intervention and has always paid an attentive ear to the countrys requests. During the meeting, Mr Chirac said he considers Mauritius a wonderful country with an exceptional environment and a welcoming and warm population. Dr Ramgoolam stopped in Paris on his way back from the bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of

PM stops in Paris to see an old friend

Government Meeting in Trinidad and Tobago. His mission was seens as particularly successful for the country as the island is to host the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2015. The prime minister said Mauritius was chosen because of the important role it played in finding a solution to the case of Sri Lanka, which was supposed to host the CHOGM in 2013. But the civil war there became a source of division for the holding of the summit in that country. Dr Ramgoolam contributed significantly to finding a solution with the support of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, South African President Jacob Zuma and the secretary general of the Commonwealth Kamalesh Sharma.

May the force be with you...

It is rare to find adults who believe in angles and spirits, let alone talk about them with conviction. By Tj Hussain
In fact, we adults normally ask children to grow up and think like adults at a very young age. Well, almost all of us. One of the exceptions to that norm is Michelin Van Zijl, who is always radiating with positive energy. Just being in the same room with this lady will energize you. Michelin was born to a Mauritian mother and South African father and spent the early part of her life in Durban. In her teens, she moved to Johannesburg to start her professional career. She worked in the administration departments of banks for a number of years, became bored with her routines and went into retail banking in the finance and insurance sections for a year before moving back. What changed her direction in life was a conference she attended in Las Vegas a few years ago. On her return to South Africa, she started learning more about hypnosis and was soon studying in the advanced stages. For me it was always about healing and helping people feel better, using quantum hypnosis and other methods. But once I got to that stage, I wanted to do a little bit more. The next step turned out to be psychology. She is a professional Reiki Master, Life Coach, Kinesiologist and Hypnotherapist. When I come across someone who is depressed, I simply transfer my energy to that person. Sometimes, I dont even have to do it; it just happens naturally. Shopping centres are such depression-ridden places; I get very exhausted in them. Peoples bodies absorb my positive energies. Since there are so many people draining it out of me, I rapidly lose my strength. She asks me to put my hand on the table, palm facing up. She places her palm above mine with about one centimetre space between and says, Can you feel the heat? Even before she said that, I could feel intense heat and energy all over my palm. She explains that this is how the healing occurs using the energy from her body. She explains the concept of how every person has an aura like a force-field surrounding their body. She only knows how to use it for healing people, she says. She tells me how she uses simple techniques to help people feel better. Prescribing healthy living activities is part of her medication. People often hold on to negative feelings such as anger for so long that it starts growing inside them and actually turns into something physical. You have to let go of things that wont benefit you, things that cause pain and frus-

The trade deficit has been cut by 8% over the third quarter compared to the previous quarter and is 13.6% lower than the same period last year. Total exports for the three months ending September 2009 stood at Rs16.2 billion against imports of Rs28.9 billion. This resulted in a trade deficit of Rs12.701 billion, when compared to deficits of Rs13.784 billion for the second quarter of 2009 and Rs16.113 billion for the corresponding quarter of 2008. Based on past trends and actual data for 2009 till September, total exports for the year 2009 are expected to be about Rs63 billion, against imports of Rs116 billion. The trade deficit would be around Rs53 billion. Total export proceeds for the third quarter of 2009, including domestic exports, amounted to Rs16.2 billion, an increase of 10.2% compared to the previous quarter but a decrease of the same percentage, that is 10.2%, compared to the corresponding quarter of 2008. Domestic exports, which accounted for 76.5% of

Trade deficit cut by 13% this year

total exports, went up by 13% from Rs10.9 billion in the previous quarter to Rs12.4 billion in the third quarter of 2009. For the third quarter of 2009 re-exports stood at Rs2.7 billion, an improvement of 4.1% compared to the previous quarter but lower by 28.3% as regard to the corresponding quarter of 2008 respectively. This shows that the Freeport sector is still suffering from the decline in global trade; the fall in reexports is attributable to a decrease in re-exports of cellular phones. Total exports for the first nine months of 2009 reached Rs45.2 billion, showing a drop of 6.1% over the first nine months of 2008. Total imports for the third quarter of 2009 reached Rs28.9 billion, an increase of 1.5% over the previous quarter but a decrease of 15.4% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2008. Total imports for the first nine months of 2009 amounted to Rs82.8 billion, a drop of 14.5% compared to the corresponding nine months of 2008.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Budget debate resumes today
The Budget debate will resume this morning at the National Assembly after a 24-hour recess. According to our information, there will be no sitting either on Friday or Saturday, as initially planned. Suren Dayal, government Chief Whip, confirmed the information to NEWSNOW yesterday afternoon. After todays sitting, Parliament will resume on Monday morning with the latest speakers remaining on the list. Today, Suren Dayal will kick off after the traditional Private Notice Question (PNQ) of the Leader of the Opposition. Other MPs on todays list are Mrs Leela Devi Dookun Lochoomun, Rama Valayden, Shawkatally Soodhun, Sam lauthan, Arvin Boolell, Dr Rashid Beebeejaun and Pravind Jugnauth. I have to thank all my colleagues as, up to now, the sessions have gone very smoothly. Both whips of the opposition, Shawkatally Soodhun of the MSM and Rajesh Bhagwan of the MMM, have been very cooperative, said Mr. Dayal. As per tentative planning, Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam is due to take the floor on Monday, followed by Minister of Finance Rama Sithanen for his summing up. Once this stage is over, the Committee of Supplies for each department and ministry will take over until the Budget is approved at third reading.

GSuren Dayal