Donation of Books – Green Chemistry: a young science

UoM’s young scientist, Ackmez Mudhoo, lecturer at the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, donated this Friday 28 October three books to the University of Mauritius. The books regrouping articles from other international scientists have been published by the author himself. Mr Mudhoo and his co-editors aimed through this endeavour to share knowledge on Green Chemistry, a relatively young science, and how it can be used to foster safer and more sustainable practices and products which embody environmental stewardship.

His latest publication is entitled ‘A Handbook on Applications of Ultrasound – Sonochemistry for Sustainability’. Prof Morgan, Vice-Chancellor of the University, thanked Ackmez Mudhoo for his donation and has entrusted these three books to the UoM library. The library, he says, “is a storehouse of knowledge where all staff and students can benefit of this knowledge and participate in the progress of further knowledge”.

UoM Student Krishna Athal honoured at IYPF 2011

Krishna Athal, FLM student of University of Mauritius and Editor in Chief of INSIGHT, represented Mauritius in the 6^th International Youth Peace Festival 2011, at the start of this month in Chandigarh, India.

After giving level-headed performance, Krishna Athal has topped in this grand congregation. He has been officially appointed as Head of Communication for IYPF, and given the “Award of Honour” in the valedictory ceremony, by Dr Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Lok Sabha of India.

Latest discoveries on the Dodo

Recent discoveries of a scientific team shed more light on the dodo’s ecosystem and its living conditions some 4000 years ago. Their research revealed that the dodos and other species in the island were very resilient to climate change despite facing extreme conditions and severe droughts during the Mid-Holocene period. Excavations were conducted on a site in Mare aux Songes, where fossils of the extinct birds and other species were discovered and further investigation were carried out by the research team. It should be noted that together with other eminent scientists, coming from multidisciplinary backgrounds, two of UoM scholars, F B Vincent Florens and M H Anwar Janoo, have also contributed to the research that led to the publication of an article in the Holocene, a high impact and peer-reviewed journal dedicated to research on environmental change over the last 11500 years.

Their findings have been reported in an article “Mid-Holocene (4200 kyr BP) mass mortalities in Mauritius (Mascarenes): Insular vertebrates resilient to climatic extremes but vulnerable to human impact”. This study has also been cited in an article published on Smithsonian Science website- http://smithsonianscience.org/2011/09/dodo-bird-was-a-resilient-island-survivor-before-the-arrival-of-humans/

Training Programmes for the Mauritius Police Force

The University of Mauritius (UoM) and the Mauritius Police Force (MPF) propose to collaborate to offer tailor-made courses in the context of the current Police Reform Programme under the National Policing Strategic Framework. A Memorandum of Understanding was thus signed on Friday 30 September 2011 in the Council & Senate Room of the University in the presence of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr T. Seerungen. A number of training programmes have been identified and for which funding has already been approved by the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Defense, Home Affairs and External Communications.

Lancement de la 2e édition du Diksioner Morisien

Le lundi 12 septembre 2011, la créolistique mauricienne a sans doute vécu l’un de ses moments les plus historiques, après celui du 25 mai 2011, lorsque le Ministre de l’éducation et des ressources humaines, le Dr Vasant Bunwaree, avait officiellement lancé le document Lortograf Kreol Morisien, reconnaissant par la même, le Kreol Morisien comme langue écrite, dotée d’une orthographie officielle.Ce 12 septembre, l’événement avait une charge symbolique encore plus forte, car c’est le Premier Ministre, l’Hon. Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam, GCSK, FRCP, qui s’est déplacé en personne, accompagné de plusieurs ministres (Éducation et ressources humaines, Enseignement supérieur, Arts et culture, Intégration sociale, Famille et égalité de genre, Industrie et coopérative), de PPS et autre députés, pour le lancement de la seconde édition du Diksioner Morisien (du Dr Arnaud Carpooran), premier dictionnaire créole unilingue, parvenue à une forme aboutie.

Corporate Governance and Performance for SMEs

The Faculty of Law and Management hosted a talk on Corporate Governance and Performance for Small and Medium Enterprises on Monday 26 September 2011 at the R Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre of the University. The talk was delivered by Assoc. Prof. Stuart Murrin Locke, University of Waikato, New Zealand, who also acts as External Examiner for the Faculty.

Drawing from extensive research on the SME sector in New Zealand, Prof. Locke argued that without a well articulated Corporate Governance structure and system, SMEs will be at greater risk of failure in a context of openness and increasing competition. He also made a strong case for the professionalization of the SME sector. The talk was attended by academics, students and representatives of the SMEDA (Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority).

Assoc. Prof. Dharam Gokhool, FLM

Developing Coaching Skills

Following a bidding exercise, a team of UoM consultants led by Mr I.Vencatachellum, from the Faculty of Law and Management, were awarded a contract for running a management development programme – ‘Developing coaching skills’ – for 75 Mauritius Telecom managers and executives. A launching ceremony was held on 20 June 2011 at the MT Tower where the two partners formalized the agreement. Under this CCRC led project, five batches of fifteen participants have been trained since 19 July 2011 and ending on 19 August 2011. During this period the participants undertook 24 hrs of training on coaching skills over three full days in a customised setting at the University of Mauritius International Business School, MIBS.

Scholarly Communication Ecosystem at the University

The University of Mauritius has been involved in a variety of exciting project-based activities to explore the scholarly communication ecosystem at the University and to discuss strategic issues governing research management process since the beginning of the 2011 calendar. These initiatives fall under the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme (SCAP), a joint project of the Universities of Cape Town (UCT), Botswana (UB), Namibia (UNAM) and Mauritius (UoM); and this consortium is coordinated in Cape Town.

Since the UoM SCAP site visit, involving a workshop and meetings with participants of the Faculty of Science (FoS), in end of May 2011, there have been several interesting developments in the project. Following its launch, the SCAP Workshop was successful in building initial relationships with many FoS academics, and has also been successful in triggering an examination of the general UoM academic communication background, with a special focus on the Faculty of Science.