● <B>LACK OF EVIDENCE IN VARMA?S CASE. </B> The Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) has recommended that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) dismiss the case against Yatin Varma for lack of evidence. There was no evidence proving that The MP had acted against Articles 7 and 10 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (Poca). The ICAC believes that it was more a matter of ethics than of corruption when Yatin Varma sought a job in several parastatal bodies. The DPP will be the one to make the final decision.

● <B> NO SQUATTERS ALLOWED. </B> The government will not allow any squatters on State lands. ?The state wants to help those people but they need to help themselves first,? said the minister of Lands and Housing, Asraf Dulull, irritated by some squatters? attitudes. To show its inflexibility on the situation, six persons were arrested in Belle-Mare because they were living on a plot of land where there is a project for a school. Those squatters hope that the State will end up giving them a plot of land. But the minister made it clear: ?There is no question of legalising illegality. We want to establish discipline and a sense of responsibility with these families.?

● <B> MAURITIUS SEEN AS MORE CORRUPT. </B> The perception that Mauritius is corrupt is increasing. The latest report of Transparency International (TI) has downgraded the country to the 53rd rank out of a total of 180 countries. Mauritius is fourth compared to other African countries with a score of 4.7 ? the more the country gets close to the maximum score of 10, the more perception of corruption there is. According to the TI report, ?Mauritius has undergone a significant deterioration in the perception of corruption.? The chairman of Transparency Mauritius, Jacques de Navacelle, regrets that ?Mauritius is among the countries where the situation has worsened?.