Author: Minivan News

Raffles to join regional and local exhibitors at Male’ Youth Vision education fair

Raffles Education Corporation has said it will be among a number of groups looking to promote their services to Maldivian students at the 2011 Youth Vision Exhibition to be hosted in Male’ between April 7 to 9.

The attendance at the event of the company, which claims to operate as one of the Asia Pacific region’s largest education providers – running 38 colleges in 14 countries – will coincide with a meeting between Raffles and the Maldivian Qualification Authority (MQA) to ensure closer regulative compliance with authorities in the country.

“Realising the need for quality abroad education for Maldivian students, Raffles has decided to participate in the major education exhibition to provide the on-site consultation for potential students and their parents,” the company stated.

Representatives from the company will join with other regional and local education suppliers like Maldives-based Cyryx College at the Youth Vision 2011 Expo in Male’s Dharubaaruge exhibition hall to detail various education opportunities available to local students.

According to Raffles, 1000 to 1500 Maldivian students are estimated to be involved in higher education courses at present, a number it believes offers significant opportunity when considering the total national population of 270,000 people.

The education supplier stated that Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Australia and Egypt were believed to be the most popular destinations for Maldivians opting to study abroad.

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Haveeru stands by Maldivian terrorist report despite Interpol denial

Haveeru has stood by a report it published claiming Interpol had confirmed that two Maldivian nationals were being sought as part of an alleged plot to attack the 2011 Cricket World Cup, despite an outright denial by the international police organisation that such an investigation has taken place.

In an article appearing on the daily newspaper’s website, Haveeru published an Interpol statement calling for corrections to a report entitled “Interpol on the hunt for two Maldivians involved in planning Cricket World Cup attack”, which the organisation alleged has “serious inaccuracies”.  The Interpol statement was followed by a response from the author of the original article standing by the claims.

Both Interpol and the Maldives’ National Security Advisor yesterday released statements that said that there had been no arrests or investigations over the involvement of any Maldivian nationals in an alleged plot to strike the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup event taking place in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

Haveeru today responded that it was committed to the highest journalistic standards in its investigative reporting and had sought to act in the public interest without compromising any potential ongoing investigations.

“However, Haveeru Daily wishes to inform those concerned that our Colombo Correspondent, who was also a Senior Defence Correspondent for a leading Sri Lankan national English weekly, stands by his report,” the paper stated.

“Due to the highly sensitive nature of the investigations carried out up to now, our writer is not in a position to reveal more intricate details of the probes due to reasons more fully enumerated hereinafter. However, as and when investigations unfold, Haveeru Daily will reveal further details of these investigations in due course.”

The original Haveeru report can be read here.

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Government moves to outlaw tinted windows in commercial vehicles

The government has reportedly moved to ban the use of materials such as Sun-X and other solar window film products that obscure viewing the inside of taxis and other commercial vessels and vehicles in the Maldives.

Haveeru has reported that the national transport authority has acted under article 45 of the constitution and now expects all vehicles that are being used for commercial reasons to be in compliance with the new regulation by April 1 2011.

Although not directly connected to any specific case, news of the announcement follows an alleged attempt by a taxi driver in Male’ this month to sexually assault a 20-year old woman in a vehicle with darkly tinted windows.

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UK High Commission auctioning painting to help Japanese tsunami victims

Bids for a painting by Deputy High Commissioner of the Maldives to the UK, Naushad Waheed, have reached £5000.00 (US$8000).

Waheed auctioned the painting, entitled ‘Kyotsu – Hachi’, in an effort to raise money for victims of the March 11 tsunami in Japan. The painting was unveiled at a lunch in London attended by members of the All Party Maldives Group, including Lord Naseby, Lord Dholakia, Karen Lumley and David Amess.

Waheed explained that the painting depicts “several common elements from the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 that devastated my country, and the recent tsunami that devastated the east coast of Japan.”

The title of the painting, he noted, represented the total sum of the numeric dates of the two tsunamis: “Interestingly both dates equal eight (26-12-2004 and 11-3-2011).” ‘Hachi’ is Japanese for the number eight.

Waheed, who is the brother of Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed Hassan, was detained by the former administration in 1999 following the publication of a cartoon in a magazine called Hukuru. Two years later he was arrested for criticism of the then-government and tried for treason, and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

He became Deputy High Commissioner to the UK in 2008.

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President grants clemency to reggae artist sentenced to 10 years imprisonment

President Mohamed Nasheed has granted clemency to famous Maldivian reggae artist Haisham Mohamed, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after one gram of cannabis was found inside his bag and his urine was found to test positive to THC, the drug’s active ingredient.

Local radio station SunFM quoted Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Service [DPRS] Director General Mohamed Rasheed saying that if persons released under parole committed an offense, the person would have to serve the annulled sentence and the punishment for the second offence as well.

Haisham, of Maafannu Loha, was arrested with a bag containing the illegal narcotics while in a resort to perform a live music show and was sentenced last year September.

The Criminal Court convicted Haisham under Article 4 [a][1] of the Drug Act after he tested positive for cannabis, an illegal substance under the Act. Haisham received five years for using the drug and five years for possession.

The judge ruled that according to witness statements, evidence, and Haisham’s own confession, he owned the bag containing illegal narcotics with which he was found.

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Cambridge invalidates Milandhoo maths results

Cambridge University has decided not to grade the O’Level mathematics papers for Milandhoo on Shaviyani Atoll, because the exam was conducted in breach of rules and regulations for examinations, reports Haveeru.

The university initially raised concerns over the similarity of students’ answers in the exam, witout

Director General of the Department of Public Examinations, Ahmed Shakeeb, said the 38 students who did the exam would receive no grade in the O-Level maths exam.

Deputy Principal of Milandhoo School Ahmed Anwar told Haveeru that the Education Ministry had yet to officially inform the school that the students marks had been invalidated.

Milandhoo ranked second in last year’s O-Level exams.

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Bangladeshi arrested for alleged rape attempt of 13 year-old girl

Police have arrested a Bangladeshi man who allegedly attempted to rape a 13 year-old girl in Eydhafushi, Baa Atoll.

Police Lance Corporal Abdul Majeed Moosa told Minivan News that police were called about the incident this morning at 2:30am.

”He was been arrested early this morning,” Moosa said. ”We can’t give more information as the investigation has not been concluded yet.”

The Bangladeshi man was 22 years-old, he added.

Local newspaper Haveeru reported that the Bangladeshi man entered the girl’s room at midnight while she was asleep and attempted to rape her.

According to Haveeru she bit his finger and he left. The man was naked when he entered the girl’s house, Haveeru reported according to sources.

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Addu “tailor-made for the lazy tropical cyclist”: UK Telegraph

Once described as a place of “harrowing tranquillity” where “grown men weep with sheer geographical frustration”, Addu is now a secret speck of heaven, tailor-made for the lazy tropical cyclist, writes Nigel Tisdall in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper.

“Spared the worst ravages of the bleaching that has dulled the coral in other parts of the Maldives, the seabed here is bejewelled with flashes of blue, green and purple. As the sun gains strength, the lagoon surrounding me fills with an immense calm. It is 82F (28C) and you know it’s going to be another classic day of clear blue skies, sensational snorkelling trips, siestas on the daybed, then dinner on the beach with rows of candles decorating the sand.

“So far, so very high-end Maldives – except that down here in Addu, the southernmost atoll in this 500-mile island chain, the holiday experience is refreshingly different. Traditionally, a trip to the Maldives has meant flying into the capital, Malé, then bouncing onwards as fast as possible to one of almost a hundred small and luxurious lily-pads that ceaselessly vie with one another to offer the most indulgent experiences.

“Some islands are so small you can walk round them in 10 minutes, others proffer ridiculously OTT amenities such as an underwater restaurant, pretentious afternoon teas and wine cellars with bottles costing up to £38,000. Invariably there is a niggling fear that a week in the Maldives, however much you are in love, could well leave you feeling trapped, bored and overcharged.”

Full story

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JSC appoints five judges to High Court bench

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed five judges to the High Court bench. The five took their oaths of office last night.

The five were Shuaib Hussein Zakariyya, Dr Azmiraldha Zahir, Abdurauf Ibrahim, Abbas Shareef and Ali Sameer.

The appointment of the judges had been previously scheduled however right before the five were about to take the oath and officially commence work, Criminal Court Judge Abdul Baary Yousuf filed a case in the Civil Court claiming that there was discrimination between men and woman in the appointment.

Judge Baary’s case, which was later taken to the Supreme Court, ended up as a void complaint after the court ruled that Judge Baary had left the town without informing the Supreme Court.

The High Court has said on its website that the five new judges have taken the oath of office last night.

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