Author: Minivan News

Retailers expect prices of foodstuff to fall

Prominent retailers expect prices of foodstuff to come down in about a month following the elimination of import duties for a range of items on January 1, 2012, reports Haveeru.

Owner of BHM Traders Hussein Moosa told the newspaper that prices of coast milk, cooking oil and tea expected to arrive in a shipment later this month would be lower, adding that BHM has dropped the price of Ye Ye instant coffee yesterday.

Moosa said new prices would reflect savings from import duties or tariffs.

Owner of Lily Store ‘Malla’ Ahmed Nasir also said prices of goods imported after January 1st would be lower. He added that the shops would run out of old stocks at the end of this month.

Items with GST rate set at zero percent for which import duties have now been eliminated include rice, flour, sugar, salt, milk, cooking oil, eggs, tea, fish products, onions, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, baby food, diapers, gas, diesel and petrol.

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Ahmed Abbas appointed Concept Advisor at President’s Office

Famous cartoonist and former Amnesty International ‘prisoner of conscience’ Ahmed Abbas was appointed Concept Advisor at the President’s Office this morning at the level of State Minister.

During the post-2004 pro-democracy reform movement, Abbas was sentenced in absentia to six months imprisonment for ‘disobedience to an order’ in November 2006 and later charged with inciting violence regarding comments made to the now-defunct Minivan Daily newspaper.

Abbas was quoted in the newspaper on August 2, 2005 as saying: “What we should do to those in the Star Force [police] who beat us, is to seek them out individually and for us to act in such a manner that makes them feel that beatings result in pain, otherwise they will not be subdued.”

Abbas also sensationally sought refuge in the UN building in the capital Male’ on November 2 after being sentenced in absentia. The UN was unable to offer him sanctuary.

Abbas was one of designers of the Maldivian rufiyaa banknotes.

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Minister Aslam appointed acting head of Finance Ministry

Housing and Environment Minister Mohamed Aslam has been appointed as acting head of the Finance Ministry.

The appointment was made in the wake of Ahmed Inaz’s resignation from the post on December 29, following a covert meeting with Mulaku MP Abdulla Yamin of opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) on December 27.

The meeting, held in a car on a poorly lit side of Male’, was discovered by ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) activists who demanded Inaz’s resignation.

State Finance Minister Ahmed Naseer also resigned on December 29, for undisclosed reasons.

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Sheikh Ilyas elected to replace Dr Bari as Adhaalath scholars council chair

The religious conservative Adhaalath Party elected Sheikh Ilyas Hussein as the new chair of the party’s religious scholars council today following the resignation of Islamic Minister Dr Abdul Majeed Abdul Bari from the post last year.

Dr Bari resigned from the post in the wake of the party’s decision to sever its coalition agreement with the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Sheikh Ilyas had been vice chair of the council prior to Dr Bari’s departure. In addition to Ilyas, the party also elected Dr Mohamed Iyaz as vice chair and Sheikh Izzudeen Adnan as secretary.

While Sheikh Ilyas has a first degree in Quran, Dr Iyaz has a PhD in Shariah and Sheikh Izzudeen a first degree in Shariah.

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“Begging for medical care is at an end”: President Nasheed

The practice of “begging for prescriptions” has come to an end with the introduction of a universal health insurance scheme on January 1, President Mohamed Nasheed said today.

Free universal health insurance is one of the five core campaign pledges of the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Speaking to press during a visit to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) to observe arrangements for the free health care service, Nasheed said he expected services at the main referral hospital to improve.

He added that private clinics that agree to the terms of the ‘Aasandha’ programme could be included in the scheme.

The scheme offers treatment worth Rf100,000 a year for all Maldivian citizens with valid national identity cards and does not require registration.

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GST rises to six percent as revised import duties come into force

The General Goods and Services Tax (G-GST) passed by parliament last year rose to six percent from 3.5 percent yesterday while import duties were lowered or eliminated for a range of commodities starting on January 1, 2012.

The Tourism Goods and Services Tax (T-GST) was meanwhile raised to six percent for 2012 as stipulated in the GST Act.

Under the tax legislation approved last year, items with GST rate set at zero percent for which import duties have now been eliminated include rice, flour, sugar, salt, milk, cooking oil, eggs, tea, fish products, onions, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, baby food, diapers, gas, diesel and petrol.

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The President will not apologise for Pillay without Parliament: Zuhair

President Mohamed Nasheed will neither condemn nor apologise to the people over the statements made by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay about flogging, Press Secretary Mohamed Zuhair has said.

Zuhair explained that the comments were made before Parliament, which has not yet spoken against the comments.

He said the President would respond after “the head of the particular state body cites a valid reason to speak against Pillay’s comments.”

During her visit in November, Pillay told Parliament that flogging as a punishment for extra-marital sex was one of the most degrading punishments for women, and asked that the government issue a moratorium on the Shariah-based penalty.

According to Haveeru, Zuhair said that former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom earlier made statements similar to those of Pillay.

The demand that the President apologise for Pillay’s remarks is one of five demands made the coalition which protested in defense of Islam on Friday, December 23. Since then, the government taken steps to address the demands which include removing SAARC monuments in Addu, preventing Israeli airlines to operate flights into the Maldives, closing down brothels and places where prostitution is practiced, and reversing the decision to declare areas of inhabited islands uninhabited in order to permit the sale of alcohol.

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Universal health insurance ‘Aasandha’ service begins

The government’s universal health insurance scheme ‘Aasandha’, in a public-private partnership with Allied Insurance, began services at midnight on the new year for all Maldivian citizens with valid national identity cards.

Allied Insurance Managing Director Abdul Waheed Thaufeeq told state broadcaster MNBC One that those with expired ID cards have been given a six month period to renew their cards.

The scheme provides coverage of up to Rf100,000 annually for health services for all Maldivian nationals from hospitals and health centres operated by health corporations as well as private hospitals ADK in Male’ and IMDC in Addu City and the private operations Central Clinic and Central Medical Centre.

The scheme also covers stays in hospitals in neighbouring India and Sri Lanka on the condition that the treatment is not available in the Maldives. A claims administration centre has been established to evaluate requests for medical treatment overseas and issue referral letters.

Allied Insurance expects between 15,000 to 20,000 people to seek medical care under the scheme daily.

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Former President denies being invited to scholars symposium

Former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has denied claims by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs that he was invited to the religious scholars symposium organised by the ministry to reduce conflicts on religious issues.

In a statement yesterday, Gayoom said he “deeply regretted” the Islamic Ministry informing the media that the former President declined to participate in the two-day symposium that concluded last night.

Gayoom is a graduate of Egypt’s al-Azhar University where he finished top of his class in 1966.

Islamic Ministry Spokesperson Ahmadulla Jameel told newspaper Haveeru that a text message was sent to Gayoom’s phone on Friday night upon his return to the country after two months in Malaysia.

The other scholars were first invited through text messages before official invitation letters were sent, Jameel explained, adding that he could not say whether Gayoom received the message.

The ministry had previously corresponded with the former President from the same mobile phone number, Jameel said.

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