Everything you need to know about Mauritius: news, reviews, in-depth analysis, opinion and more
Mauritius: Indian Ocean Country with Vibrant Natural Beauty
The Arab and Malay sailors first explored Mauritius in the 10th century but it was discovered only in the 16th century by the Portuguese. In the 17th century Dutch established the first foreign settlement in Mauritius and named it in honor of Prince Maurits van Nassaau. The strategic location of Mauritius overseeing the navigation route in Indian Ocean attracted many colonial powers like France who established their control in 1715 and later on introduced sugar cane plantation with the help of African slaves. During the Napoleonic Wars British seized the Mauritius from France. British developed Mauritius into strong naval and air base and its location played vital role during World War II. Mauritius became an independent nation in 1968.
Mauritius Profile: Overview of Facts and Figures
The climate of Mauritius is tropical in nature. Winter is generally hot and humid. July is the coldest month and Feb is the hottest month. Mauritius receives plenty of precipitation between the months of Jan to March. Tropical cyclones are a common natural phenomenon of Mauritius.
Culture, Cuisine and Tradition of Mauritius:
Mauritius gives the reflection of European, Indian, Chinese and African cultures that have made Mauritian culture all the more rich and vibrant. In Mauritius one can see the representation of various cultures through churches, temples, mosques, Chinese pagodas and Buddhist temples. This multi-ethnic characteristic of Mauritius makes multi-lingual and multi-cultural land. Various festivals like Diwali, Id, and Christmas are celebrated in Mauritius.
The cuisines of Mauritius represent the preparation styles of the French, Chinese, Creole, Indian and indigenous African cuisines. The major Food in Mauritius is Camarons in hot prawns, Venison, Octopus, Gateaux piments or Chilly cakes and Dholl purri. Creole curry is a spicy cuisine served with fish, beef or chickens are popular recipe through out the country.
Mauritius Economy:
The Mauritian economy was previously dependent on sugar-based industries and later on textiles and recently financial services and tourism contribute the major part to Mauritius economy. The information and communication technology (ICT) based business process outsourcing and seafood export have emerged as important sectors in the Mauritius economy.
Tourist Attractions of Mauritius:
The beauty of Mauritius lie in the varieties of natural landscapes that ranges from magnificent waterfalls to vast expansion of coral reefs to silvery sandy beaches. The tropical forests nurtures varieties of flora and fauna on land while the vast expansion of sea remain the habitat of water species. The world-class facilities along with ample of scenic beauty makes Mauritius a front ranked tourist destination.
Port Louis: is the capital city and chief port of Mauritius. It is famous for its location between mountains that gives the panoramic view of sea and adjacent French style town. Port Louis is famous for its architectural supremacy reflected through its French styled buildings, churches and mosques.
Le Anx Cerfs: is famous for it beaches and lagoons. It is the best place in Mauritius that is known for its sunbathing, the water sports, restaurants and handicrafts.
Major Sight-seeing Places in Mauritius include:Kolkata, May 15 (IANS) Over 1,800 delegates will participate in the first SPIC-MACAY international convention on promoting Indian classical music and culture that begins here May 20.
Suva, May 15 (IANS) India will take part in a five-day meet in Fiji where local and international sugar researchers will share information on "erianthus", a sugar hybrid, the government said Wednesday.
New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Actor-producer Saif Ali Khan is treading new territories with "Go Goa Gone" - a zombie comedy, after making romance-based entertainers like "Love Aaj Kal" and "Cocktail", but he's quite sure he won't ever make a "sleazy" comedy.
Zurich, May 8 (IANS/CMC) FIFA's anti-racism task force will send three proposals to football's world governing body in a move aimed at stamping out the growing negative trend in the game.
Johannesburg, May 3 (ANI): Indian High Commissioner in South Africa Virendra Gupta has created a furore after landing a chartered jet at Waterkloof Air Force Base to carry guests for his niece's wedding.
New Delhi, April 17 (IANS) The Supreme Court Wednesday asked the CBI to wrap up its probe in the Aircel-Maxis telecom deal saying that it could not go on forever.
New Delhi, Apr. 12 (ANI): India and Mauritius have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of election management and administration.
New Delhi, April 1 (IANS) Actor Siddharth is a dedicated and hardworking boy, says filmmaker David Dhawan, who has worked with him on "Chashme Baddoor".
Patna, March 26 (IANS) A Bhojpuri folk singer from Bihar was honoured by the Mauritius government on the occasion of 'Bihar Diwas' celebrations in the Indian Ocean island nation, officials said Tuesday.
Kolkata, March 21 (IANS) Mauritius Thursday sought investments from Indian information technology (IT) companies, promising them special benefits.
London, Mar. 21 (ANI): Former Miss World Rosanna Davison, who is set to strip off for the Playboy magazine's US version later this year after her legendary appearance in the German edition, is planning to take her fiance to Hugh Hefner's mansion.
Port Louis, Mar 12 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said Mauritius today figures high in economic and social development indicators in Africa and has become a role model to many countries because of its economic success story.
Chandigarh, March 13 (IANS) The CBI Wednesday raided the offices of two companies here in connection with alleged kickbacks in the VVIP chopper deal.
Port Luis, March 12 (IANS) India and Mauritius have established a roadmap for consolidating and enhancing their "mutually beneficial" bilateral relations and taking them to "greater heights", Indian President Pranab Mukherjee said Tuesday.
Port Louis, Mar 12 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said Mauritius has been steadfast in its condemnation of international terrorism.
Port Louis, Mar 12 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday invited Mauritius Prime Minister Dr. Navinchandra Ramgoolam to visit India on mutually convenient dates, which could be decided through diplomatic channels.
Port Louis, Mar 12 (ANI): Asserting that India will remain a steadfast partner of Mauritius, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that both nations intuitively advocate a rule-based architecture of global governance as a bulwark against common challenges such as the threat of terrorism, tackling poverty, human rights abuse, and addressing climate change.
Port Louis, Mar 12 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee met his Mauritius counterpart President Rajkeswur Purryag in Port Louis, with an aim to enhance bilateral relations and cooperation to combat militancy and piracy.
New Delhi, Mar. 11 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee left for Mauritius on a three-day visit today during which he will be the chief guest at the National Day celebrations of that nation.
New Delhi, March 10 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee would leave for Mauritius Monday to be the chief guest at the Indian Ocean island's country's National Day celebrations March 12.
New Delhi, Mar. 10 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee will be the chief guest at the 45th Mauritius Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday.
Hyderabad, March 9 (IANS) Expanding its global footprint in executive education, Indian School of Business (ISB), one of the country's top business schools, has tied up with a leading institute of Japan to offer courses for Japanese executives.
New Delhi, March 7 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee is to pay a visit to Mauritius March 11-13 on the invitation of its Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam.
Mumbai, March 6 (IANS) Singer Shibani Kashyap, who recently tied the knot with Mumbai based actor Rajiv Roda, says he has been very lucky for her.
New Delhi, Mar 1 (IANS) Just a day after presenting the national budget, the government Friday sought to assure overseas investors that their fear of losing benefits over the Tax Residency Certificate (TRC) will be addressed during discussion on the Finance Bill in parliament.
New Delhi, Mar 1 (IANS) A day after worries over some budget proposals, notably on tax on capital gains made from investments routed through Mauritius and similar tax havens, doubts still remained, causing nervousness in the markets.
New Delhi, Feb 28 (IANS) India will implement the modified General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) aimed at checking tax avoidance by overseas investors from Apr 1, 2016, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday.
London, February 25 (ANI): Geoscientists have discovered that the islands Reunion and Mauritius, both well-known tourist destinations, are hiding a micro-continent.
Berlin, Feb 25 (IANS) Well-known tourist destinations, the Indian Ocean islands of Reunion and Mauritius, actually hide a micro-continent, say a team of researchers.
Abu Dhabi, Feb 21 (IANS/WAM) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Mauritious have held discussion to review issues of mutual interest and explore ways to strengthen cooperation in investment and trade sectors.
Chandigarh, Feb 16 (IANS) The names of two Chandigarh-based companies have emerged in the controversy around the $750 million VVIP chopper deal with Italian company Finmeccanica, which was supplying the AgustaWestland helicopters to India.
Port Louis (Mauritius), Feb 8 (IANS) More than 100 primary school students fell ill Thursday after having lunch at their school in the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, officials said.
Kampala, Feb 8 (IANS) Sri Lankan player Niluka Karunaratne will defend his men's singles title at the Uganda International Badminton Open Championship scheduled Feb 21-24 here.
New Delhi/Mumbai, Feb 4 (IANS) The Enforcement Directorate (ED) Monday slapped Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals with a Rs.100 crore fine for alleged breaches of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). Rajasthan Royals have decided to appeal against the order.
Kolkata, Jan 29 (IANS) City-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) will be doubling its capacity by the end of the next financial year, a top official of the defence establishment said Tuesday.
London, Jan 22(ANI): Serena Williams believes his training partner, Jeremy Chardy can stun world number three Andy Murray in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Wednesday.
Nairobi, Jan 21 (IANS) Nigeria and South Africa qualified to represent Africa in the men's and women's category during the forthcoming World Wheelchair Tennis Championships scheduled for May in Turkey.
The International Association of Educators of World Peace (IAEWP) Tuesday has honoured to Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh with Life time achievement award for peace at a glittering function at the India International Centre (IIC)...................
Kochi, Jan 9 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said India sees its vast diaspora as a valuable contributor to its growth and is keen to expand the bonds further in building an inclusive and knowledge society.
New Delhi, Jan. 9 (ANI): Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Anand Sharma, who is on a two-day visit to Mauritius, had a meeting with Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam at Port Louis today.
Kochi, Jan. 9 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said the Indian diaspora has made our nation proud through the significant contributions that they have made to the development of the nations, which they have chosen to make their homes.
Kochi, Jan 9 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said India sees its vast diaspora as a valuable contributor to its growth and is keen to expand the bonds further in building an inclusive and knowledge society.
Kochi, Jan 9 (IANS) Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi Wednesday announced the winners of the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Divas awards, to be given away here later in the day by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Kochi, Jan 9 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee will undertake a one day visit of Kochi today to deliver the valedictory address at the 11th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention.
New Delhi, Jan 8 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee will undertake a one day visit of Kochi tomorrow to deliver the valedictory address at the 11th Pravasi Bhartiya Divas Convention.
Kochi, Jan. 8 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, on Tuesday said India is confident that the strong economic fundamentals, backed by sound policies, will enable it to return to a higher growth path despite domestic constraints and challenges.
Kochi, Jan 8 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday assured overseas Indians of all possible help and said they served as a bridge of friendship and cooperation between India and their adopted homes.
Kochi, Jan 8 (ANI): Asserting that as India continues to grow and its external engagement increases, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Tuesday assured that Pravasi Bharatiyas will continue to remain close to Indian hearts, as they are partners in the national effort, and serve as vital links to the outside world.
Kochi, Jan 8 (IANS) Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag Tuesday described India as a close friend of his country.
Kochi, Jan. 8 (ANI): Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will formally inaugurate the 11th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here today.
Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Jan. 7 (ANI): Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag along with his wife, Aneetah Purryag,visited Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh on Monday.
Patna/Wajidpur (Bihar), Jan.7 (ANI): Visiting Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag went over to Wajidpur, his ancestral village in Bihar, over the weekend to trace his family roots.
Kochi, Jan. 7 (ANI): The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will arrive here on Monday on a two-day visit to Kerala.
Wajidpur (Bihar), Jan 6 (IANS) Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag turned emotional Sunday as he set foot in his ancestral village in Bihar's Patna district, over a century and a half after his great-grandfather emigrated from it.
Patna, Jan 6 (IANS) Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purayag and his wife Aneetah arrived in Bihar Sunday to visit his ancestral village.
New Delhi, Jan. 5 (ANI): UPA Chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, along with Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma met Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag here on Saturday.
Patna, Jan 5 (IANS) Upbeat residents of Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purayag's ancestral village in Bihar have decided to gift him a little soil and a bushel of freshly harvested paddy when he visits them Sunday.
New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) India and Mauritius, which share "strong synergies and complementarities" between their economies, need to explore the full potential of their economic relations, President Pranab Mukherjee has said.
New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) India and Mauritius, the strategically located Indian Ocean island nation, Friday decided to intensify counter-piracy cooperation and explored ways to scale up bilateral trade and investment.
New Delhi, Jan 4 (ANI): President of the Republic of Mauritius, Rajkeswur Purryag, met President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Friday.
New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS) Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag Thursday began a week-long visit to India that will see the two countries scaling up their bilateral ties across the spectrum including trade, investment and cultural ties.
New Delhi, Jan 3 (ANI): President of Republic of Mauritius, Rajkeswur Purryag, arrived here on Thursday on a seven-day state visit to India.
New Delhi, Jan 3 (ANI): President of Republic of Mauritius, Rajkeswur Purryag, arrived here on Thursday on a seven-day state visit to India.
New York, Jan. 3 (ANI): Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was forced to borrow millions from his former wife Anne Sinclair to pay his legal fees, is currently holidaying at a five-star resort in Mauritius with new girlfriend Myriam Aouffir.
New Delhi, Jan 3 (ANI): President of Republic of Mauritius, Rajkeswur Purryag, will be paying a seven-day state visit to India beginning on Thursday.
Gaya, Dec 31 (IANS) Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag will visit his ancestral village in Bihar Jan 6 in search of his roots, an official said Monday.
New Delhi, Dec 31 (IANS) Imparting fresh momentum to its African diplomacy, India is readying to roll out the red carpet for Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag later this week, the first visit by a foreign leader to India in 2013.
Tirupati, Dec 27 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday called for exploring the antiquity of Telugu language and civilization and for making every effort for its healthy growth and development.
Tirupati, Dec. 27 (ANI): President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday called upon all stakeholders to provide greater exposure to Indian languages so that the creativity embedded in Indian literature is spread across the world.
New Delhi, Dec 27 (IANS) The hybrid life of migrant Indians, their longing to connect to their homeland and their histories have been translating themselves into narrative photo-essays in veteran photographer Pablo Bartholomew's lens for the last two years.
Jalpaiguri (West Bengal), Dec 16 (ANI): Jalpaiguri in West Bengal hosted a night of cultural festivities on Saturday and invited talents from SAARC countries like Bangladesh and Maldives to strengthen cultural cooperation between all the members of the South Asian region.
Chennai, Dec 6 (IANS) India's Credit Analysis & Research Ltd (CARE Ratings) will soon start operations in a joint venture with headquarters in Portugal.
New Delhi, Dec 3 (IANS) On a day the BJP released its manifesto for the Gujarat assembly polls Dec 13 and 17, the Congress Monday smelt a rat in a gas exploration project in the Krishna-Godavari basin and said Chief Minister Narendra Modi should clarify.
Port Louis, Dec 2 (IANS/WAM) Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Chandra Ram Ghulam and UAE's Ambassador Eisa Abdullah Al Basha Al Nuaimi have discussed ways to boost bilateral relations.
New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) The union sports ministry has ties with eight countries, including China, for cooperation in the field of sports.
Patna, Nov 27 (IANS) A Mauritius information centre that will operate as a resource centre to help Mauritians of Indian origin, most of them from Bihar, trace their roots will soon come up here.
New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) In preparation for the 2013 Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) at Kochi in Kerala, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi will go on a seven-day visit to the Gulf nations, beginning Saturday, to meet representatives of the nearly six-million Indian diaspora there.
New Delhi, Nov 7 (IANS) Virtually approving the CBI's line of probe into suspected wrongdoing in the Aircel-Maxis telecom deal, the Supreme Court Wednesday said the allegations levelled by the investigators appeared to be correct.
Gurgaon, Nov 2 (IANS) India Friday pitched for more robust "cooperative regionalism" among countries which share the Indian Ocean, a new theatre of maritime competition, and lauded the inclusion of the US as a sixth dialogue partner of the 20-member regional organisation.
Gurgaon, Nov 2 (IANS) Against the backdrop of the Indian Ocean emerging as a new theatre of maritime competition, India Friday pitched for more robust "cooperative regionalism" among 20 countries along its rim in the area of maritime security. The US joined the 20-member regional body as its sixth dialogue partner.
Gurgaon, Nov. 2 (ANI): External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Friday said India has worked closely with her Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IORARC) partners to further deepen and consolidate the cooperation in pursuit of the shared objectives.
New Delhi, Nov 1 (IANS) With demands for affordable education for wards of overseas Indians growing, India has revived the idea of a university to cater to this need, with Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi giving a pledge at the mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) in Mauritius.
Bangalore, Oct 31 (IANS) GE Capital of the American conglomerate General Electric (GE) will invest Rs.125 crore ($24 million) for a minority stake in the research arm of the country's biotech major Biocon Ltd., according to an official announcement.
Nagpur, Oct 29 (IANS) BJP president Nitin Gadkari Monday termed the corruption charges levelled against him "a conspiracy by the Congress" and also blamed the media for acting as that party's "agents".
Gurgaon, Oct 28 (IANS) In the scrambled alphabet of global geopolitics bristling with new power clubs such as BRICS and IBSA, the IOR-ARC, a 19-member grouping of Indian Ocean littoral states, will be brainstorming to find a new acronym that captures more pithily and imaginatively the growing importance of this strategic resource-rich region.
Flic en Flac (Mauritius), Oct 27 (IANS) Viewing Mauritius as a gateway to engage the African continent, India organised here a major round table on business, focusing on foreign investments.
Gurgaon, Oct 26 (IANS) Delegates from over 19 countries will be attending the Indian Ocean Rim - Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) meet here from Oct 29 to Nov 2, a government official said Friday.
New Delhi, Oct 22 (IANS) With piracy becoming a growing trans-national security threat, ministers from 19 littoral countries of the Indian Ocean will gather here for an annual meeting later next month to map out new pathways of economic and security cooperation.
Hyderabad, Oct 18 (IANS) The African Union got the thumbs up for their pro-active role in biodiversity conservation at the ongoing UN biodiversity conference and was selected for the "Busy Bee Award" 2012 while Canada was slammed and given the "Dodo Award" for contributing to biodiversity loss.
New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Mauritius President Rajkeswur Purryag will be the chief guest at the 11th overseas Indians meet to be held at Kochi in January next, Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi said here Tuesday.
Dubai, Oct 15 (IANS) Reliance Capital will now expand further in small towns to sell its bouquet of mutual fund schemes, as part of an aggressive strategy to widen its reach in a market seen more than doubling to $365 billion by 2020, a top official said Monday.
Dubai, Oct 14 (IANS) India's mutual fund market will touch $385 billion by 2020 thanks to recent regulatory changes and a gradual change in household saving pattern, a top official in Reliance Capital has said.
Dubai, Oct 14 (IANS) India's mutual fund market will touch $365 billion by 2020 thanks to recent regulatory changes and a gradual change in household saving pattern, a top official in Reliance Capital has said.
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) The Supreme court Friday declined to grant bail to YSR Congress leader Jaganmohan Reddy, who is in custody in a case of his alleged disproportionate assets.
New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS) India will frame rules on tax evasion in the next 20 days after examining recommendations of the expert panel which submitted its final report on the controversial General Anti-Avoidance Rules (GAAR) Monday.
Shimla, Sep 29 (IANS) Mauritius has targeted India as one of the major growth markets in tourism and is keen to work closely with India, its high commissioner to India Arye Juggessuer said here Saturday.
Johannesburg, Sep 24 (IANS) One was from Italy, another from Thailand and yet another from Russia... Twenty scholars from across the world were honoured at the World Hindi Conference here Monday for being torchbearers of the language.
Johannesburg, Sep.23 (ANI): Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur and South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan jointly inaugurated the Ninth World Hindi Conference here on Saturday.
Washington, Sep 21 (IANS) With India and other emerging economies set to spends trillions of dollars to build infrastructure, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hoping that they would chose America as their partner.
Mumbai, Sept 18 (ANI): Krish Shanghvi, the eight-year old from Mumbai recently became the youngest skydiver on the planet, when he jumped off a plane from an altitude of 10,000 feet in Mozzel Bay, South Africa.
