INSIGHTFEBRUARY 2011 / 24 PAGES / BILINGUAL / No 18 / FREE In the context of TION 2011» Y CELEBRA TIONAL DA « NA Solaris presents ESSAY WRITING COMPETITION, here is the NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATION EDITORIAL / PG 3 Do you enjoy writing? Passion or hobby chance to show your skills and be rewarded! in Rs. 10,000 W Theme : Win Rs. 10,000 from Solaris in Insight. essay published orld class education in Mauritius& winning – prologue or epilogue?” “W winner 15 or above. of 2000. 10,000 for aged count of MUR to all students word and residential ? Cash prize opened with maximum number is English, phone essay. 2012 : The End competition of the ? The be in correct institution, first page should educational top of the ? The essay date of birth, bold on ’s name, printed in ? Author clearly competition”. should be writing Essay Writing Competition address [email protected] essay to be “Solaris ? Send your email should 2011. of the 15 March ? The subject is for submission ? Deadline Good Luck “World class education in Mauritius – prologue or epilogue?” of the World? Restricting the growth of cities will improve quality of life L’INDIFFÉRENCE DU Just over half the world’s population now call cit- ies home. Soon some 500 cities around the world mauricien VIS-À-VIS will have more than 1m people each. Within a couple of decades, says the UN, 5 billion people will live in cities, with the most rapid rise in the number of urban dwellers coming in Asia and LES DÉrapages ? Africa. Urbanisation typically comes, in the long term, with great gains to human development: it helps to create wealth, spur innovation, encour- age freedom and improve the education of those who make it to town. PAGE 20-21 sports • University of Mauritius - Sports in our curriculum • How to train - fitness for everyone • Matthias Sindelar - The wunder- team’s paper man • Transferts : Le gros coup Torres, les petits coups au Real Est-ce possible d’imaginer les mauriciens descendre dans la rue pour protester? • Fifa/Coca-Cola World Ranking - Envisager un tel cas de figure à Maurice semble quasi-impossible. Mais pour- Japan shoot 17th as Asians Soar quoi? Le mauricien est-il indifférent ou feint-t-il l’indifférence et s’il feint l’indifférence, quelle en est la raison? the team RÉDACTEUR EN CHEF Krishna Athal SECRÉTAIRIAT Diksha Neerbun ACTUALITÉ GÉNÉRALE Aldo Amic SOCIETÉ Ryan Appadoo SANTÉ Manish Rughoo SPORTS Yudish Kutwaroo CINÉMA/SCI-TECH Nilesh Changia GRAPHISTE Yaj Gungaram PHOTOGRAPHIE Avish Ramgolam CARICATURE Kate Ah Tsang Shee Municipalitos 56th Filmfare Happy Valentine’s PROMOTION Ravish Neerunjun Commerçants Awards 2011 Day 2011 IMPRIMEUR Le Defi Plus Ltée Depuis peu (depuis toujours aussi Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol won the There are varying opinions as to the Insight Media Group Ltd, d’ailleurs), le gouvernement met best actor and actress award respec- origin of Valentine’s Day. Some ex- 8 D’Artois Street, Port Louis, Mauritius tout en oeuvre pour nettoyer nos tively for “My Name Is Khan” at the perts state that it originated from Tel (Off) : (230) 211 7771 Mob : 708 6868 rues, ruelles et autres lieu de pas- 56th Filmfare Awards 2011, which St. Valentine, a Roman who was Email : [email protected] sage des marchands dits ambulants. was ruled by small budget movie martyred for refusing to give up -------------------------------------------------------- Et pourtant, force est d’admettre “Udaan” that bagged as many as eight Christianity. He died on February Les points de vue des collaborateurs ne peuvent, en que les marchandises continuent de trophies. Karan Johar walked away 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had aucune manière, être considérés comme une prise de déambuler sur les trottoirs. with the best director award. been devoted to love lotteries. position de la rédaction de INSIGHT. PAGE 6 PAGE 13 PAGE 23 Currimjee Jeewanjee and Company Limited We strongly believe in investing in real businesses meeting real needs and adding real value... Telecommunications, Media & IT Real Estate Hospitality & Tourism Energy Commerce & Financial Services 38, Royal Street, Port Louis, Mauritius - Tel: (230) 206 6200 - Fax: (230) 240 8133 - www.currimjee.com INSIGHT // 02 ISSUE 18 // FEBRUARY 2011 Editorial KRISHNA ATHAL Editor in chief [email protected] 2012: THE END OF THE WORLD? The year 2000 came and left. If we flash back for a minute, we’ll recall that in the lead-up to 2000, chaos was predicted to envelop our computerized and electrified civilization. It was called Y2K: a simple flaw in computer software design was supposed to bring about the end of the civilized world. Power stations, telecommunications, bank accounts, billing processes were all supposed to grind to a halt or be thrown into a state of chaos. But it never happened! Instead, end-of-the-world prediction as somewhat interested in speculat- Moving farther afield, we find these cruel rhythms [of suffering and the end of 1999 and the begin- a misinterpretation of the data: ing about future events and the that Buddhism has its own va- death as a part of nature]. We stand ning of 2000 is best remembered they say that it doesn’t speak of possible demise of civilization as riety of eschatology, whereby a half inside the natural world and for the stupendous displays of an end per se but of a new begin- we know it. Banking on this incli- person escapes the restraints of half outside it. We’re beasts with self- fireworks in principal cities of ning. (Refer to “Mayan Mayhem: Is nation, Slate magazine (August 7, the physical to attain an ultimate consciousness, predators with ethics, the world, many of them tel- 2012 the End of the World?”) 2009) offered a chance to “choose state of Nirvana. mortal creatures who yearn for im- evised and shared with view- your own apocalypse.” Offering 144 mortality.” ers in all nations. The spectre of Nostradamus scenarios, they asked readers to In the 21st century, we find all doomsday was a phantom. weigh in on how “the greatest of these ideas melding together. Perhaps another way to put it is Still, the Mayan calendar is not the world’s great powers,” America, It is as though something in the that humanity stands above the A decade later, where are we? the only source of current apoca- would most likely fall. human genome makes us under- rest of creation and recognizes Wars are being fought in Iraq and lyptic angst. The words of Nos- stand that all is not right with the that it is to some degree respon- Afghanistan using sophisticated tradamus also figure heavily into And let’s be realistic: not all end- human condition; we witness, sible for it, a role with which computerized weaponry. A lan- the latest prognostications. In time scenarios are completely incessantly and with glaring de- even the earliest biblical record guishing global economy is des- fact, an Internet search on “Nos- far-fetched. For example, one of tail from even remote parts of of human life agree. It reinforc- perately trying to revive itself. tradamus 2012” yields nearly 1.5 the phenomena that have been the earth, the suffering and death es a concept broached by David The Internet is an indispensable million hits. Nostradamus wrote linked to 2012 is a polar shift, and that are so much a part of life. Novak, a rabbi and professor in part of life for the majority in on religious themes; indeed, astronomers say that this could We just know that some change philosophy at the University of the Western world and even for the 2012 theme has become a certainly occur in the foresee- needs to take place for humanity Toronto. Speaking of Jewish es- a considerable number of indi- phenomenon for the New Age able future. But with our current to accomplish its rightful place in chatology, he suggests: “It might viduals in the developing world. movement and thus a religious knowledge, such an event can’t the universe. well be concerned with the final re- And we are being told about an- event. be linked to any specific date; alization of both human and divine other approaching doomsday. nor, more importantly, does it Bill Arnold of Asbury Theologi- hopes for each other.” But the 16th-century seer’s writ- portend disaster. With regard to cal Seminary, writing in the Ox- Mayan calendar ings, recorded in quatrains, or the economy, calamity could oc- ford Handbook of Eschatology, What will happen? poetry in four-line format, are cur at any time, before or after addresses this unhappiness from If we are to believe the lat- flexible enough to support any of December 2012, if a rash action the perspective of the Old Testa- Lessons of the past should help us est hype, December 21 or 23, several apocalyptic scenarios that by the government of some ma- ment prophets: “Such a conviction evaluate and temper ideas such as 2012, is when the world will re- are being put forward today. One jor power triggers a collapse of that the intrinsic depravity of the those surrounding 2012. History ally come to a climactic end. This website that provides resources the global financial system. But present world will someday be over- shows, however, that humanity time the fear has been sparked and background material for we can only speculate about the turned results in an eschatological wants to know the particulars of by an interpretation of the an- those interested in 2012 offers timing or even the results. ethic, calling upon God’s people to the event on its own terms, with- cient Mayan calendar, furthered this evaluation of Nostradamus: live faithfully to the covenant and out considering the demands by numerous books and docu- “He is best known for his book Les In a way, the 2012 hype is only the righteousness enjoined by the placed on us by our Creator.