Author: Minivan News

IGMH to introduce triage system to prioritise urgent medical care

The Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH), the main referral hospital in the Maldives, has announced the introduction of a triage system to prioritise emergency treatment for patients who require urgent care.

In a press statement today, the government hospital explained that patients at the waiting room would have their vitals checked to determine urgency of treatment.

Under the new system, a team of doctors and nurses will check the patient’s blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen levels in two minutes and those requiring immediate treatment would be rushed to the emergency room.

The system was changed as patients who do not require urgent medical attention were being treated at the emergency room.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives Red Crescent gains membership of IFRC

The Maldives Red Crescent (MRC) has been recognised by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as the 187th National Society of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement today.

According to a message by MRC Secretary General Rasheeda Ali, the awarding of the full membership of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) will take place on November 23 during the IFRC’s 18th General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.

“On this momentous occasion, I wish to express my sincere appreciation and thank all MRC volunteers, members and staff for their valuable contribution towards this significant achievement,” reads the message.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Parliament deadlock continues

A third consecutive week of parliamentary sittings have been cancelled over an ongoing dispute over the attendance of Independent MP Ismail Abdul Hameed, who was convicted of corruption on August 29.

The last sitting on October 24 was cancelled after heated arguments between opposition and ruling party MPs over the Kaashidhoo MP’s right to participate in sittings until he exhausted the appeal process.

The High Court has since upheld the Criminal Court verdict.

Meanwhile a statement put out by the secretariat on Sunday explained that this week first sitting yesterday was called off as Speaker Abdulla Shahid’s efforts to resolve the dispute through discussions among parliamentary group leaders have been so far been unsuccessful.

The statement noted that according to article 74 of the constitution, “Any question concerning the qualifications or removal, or vacating of seats, of a member of the People’s Majlis shall be determined by the Supreme Court.”

The Supreme Court meanwhile concluded hearings today on a case filed by a private party over Hameed’s seat. According to the Majlis secretariat, Speaker Shahid has written to the Chief Justice requesting the case be expedited so that sittings could go ahead.

According to local media reports, the Supreme Court today heard from third parties who had entered into the case.

The statement however noted that committee meetings, where legislation is reviewed and stakeholders are consulted, have been taking place.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

India not worried about Chinese presence in Indian Ocean: Economic Times

India on Tuesday indicated that it was not too worried over China’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean region, after Beijing opened a new embassy in the Maldives ahead of last week’s SAARC summit in the island nation, reports the Economic Times.

“Defence Minister A.K. Antony told reporters that such efforts by China in the region cannot be prevented, but the only cause for worry was Beijing building military infrastructure along India’s borders and expansion of its defence capabilities.

“‘How can you prevent any country from establishing an embassy or furthering relations with any other country in the world,’ Antony asked, when his response was sought on Beijing setting up its embassy in the Maldives last week.

“We are also establishing embassies and building relations with every country. It is a natural process,” he said.

However, “China is expanding its military capabilities and building military infrastructure along the borders with us. We know that…we are aware of that, and we are concerned about that,” Antony said.

Read more

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Maldives has seen nothing like Addu’s SAARC Summit: BBC

The Maldives has seen nothing before like the SAARC Summit in Addu, writes Charlie Haviland for BBC News.

“Every so often ordinary vehicles, including the buses that ferry the journalists around, have to pull into the tiny country lanes and wait while fleets of black Maldivian limousines carrying VVIPs pass by.

“They move back and forth along the road which, at 14km, is the longest in the entire Maldives archipelago, spanning four southerly islands via causeways.

A stringent security regime has been set up to protect the top officials.

“Appropriately, the tiny host nation has chosen “Building Bridges” as the theme for this 17th conference of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was founded in 1985 grouping Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and admitted Afghanistan in 2005.

The chosen theme reflects a desire that the boundaries so evident in the region should start to dissolve and that transport, communication and trade linkages should thrive.

The historically tense relationship between India and Pakistan has been the focus of strong interest here.

Their two prime ministers, Manmohan Singh and Yusuf Raza Gilani, had warm words for each other after their bilateral talks on the summit’s sidelines at a luxury island resort, which took place in a luxury thatched hut above a white sandy shore.

The building of confidence is the theme of the moment, three years after the relationship plunged to rock-bottom after the Mumbai attacks in which 166 people were killed.

The Indian foreign secretary said the two neighbouring, nuclear-armed rivals would be moving to implement easier trade and travel measures, agreed in July.

Full story

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

India and Pakistan steal show at SAARC: The Nation

Addu city’s resorts have probably never seen so many suits in its equatorial climate before – and probably never will, unless a convention of undertakers comes to town, writes Rameeza Majid Nizami for The Nation.

“As harried delegations tried to squeeze in hurried meeting after meeting to obtain maximum benefit from the event, the feeling remained that all eyes on SAARC were in fact on the two most powerful countries there, India and Pakistan. This time around, I got an opportunity to observe the difference between the work ethic and style of the two regional powers, which I will attempt to describe here. After all, Pakistanis are masters of reverse engineering – when we see something that works well we believe in paying the compliment of ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’. And there is no doubt the Indian side at SAARC were the perfect example of doing something simple, well.

“The Indian approach to their work is meticulous. From the diplomats, to the journalists, planning, setting modest, achievable goals and securing equally modest wins through burning good old-fashioned foot leather is the strategy of their success. The speech of the Prime Minister appeared to have been written to portray an image of a humble billionaire and benevolent sugar-daddy.

“Pakistan, by comparison, was to put it in an analogy, the prettiest girl at the party in the dowdy dress and unflattering accent. Exhibiting tremendous potential and receiving the kind of attention reserved for someone genuinely important, whose relevance is expected to continue to increase, Pakistan was observed with keen interest. Trying to deal with every subject under the sun, the Pakistani delivery at SAARC lacked focus, simply because, through the best of intentions, it tried to deal with too much.”

Full story

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

Scheduled flights commence to Fuvahmulah airport

Scheduled flights commenced to the newly-built Fuvahmulah airport today after the airport operating license was granted.

According to state broadcaster MNBC One, scheduled flights from Island Aviation will travel to the atoll island four days a week. A return ticket from Male’ to Fuvahmulah costs Rf3,194 with the fuel surcharge.

An Island Aviation test flight landed in the 1,200-meter runway on October 31.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

MJA condemns arrest of journalists in airport

The Maldives Journalist Association (MJA) has strongly condemned the arrest of journalists that covered Wednesday night’s attempt by opposition parties to take down banners depicting Christian imagery at the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

In a press statement, MJA said the arrested reporters were carrying press passes but had their cameras and phones taken from them before being taken to the police detention island of Dhoonidhoo.

The press NGO said it considered the “unacceptable” arrest an attempt by police to “obstruct the work of journalists and intimidate them,” calling on the authorities to provide protection for reporters covering such incidents.

The statement however noted that the journalists were released shortly after being taken into custody after the association intervened and spoke to police.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)

President and First Lady host state banquet for SAARC leaders

President Mohamed Nasheed and First Lady Laila Ali hosted a state banquet last night for visiting Heads of State and Government for the SAARC summit in the island of Hulhumeedhoo in Addu City.

The President meanwhile unveiled the Afghanistan SAARC monument before the ceremonial dinner.

The SAARC summit concluded today with a closing session at the Equatorial Convention Centre (ECC) in Hithadhoo.

Likes(0)Dislikes(0)