Author: Minivan News

Hulhumeedhoo Health Centre first to offer chemotherapy outside of Malé

Hulhumeedhoo Health Centre in Addu City has become the first place in the Maldives outside of Malé to offer chemotherapy.

Health centre officials told Sun Online that the service was launched on Sunday, and the first patient treated yesterday with medication brought with him from India.

The government has said that the introduction of chemotherapy facilities – unavailable in the country before last year – was crucial, with Maldivians with cancer having previously been forced to live abroad.

Source: Vnews, Sun Online

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Hajj corporation inaugurated, Shaheem pledges to reduce cost of pilgrimage

President Abdulla Yameen last night officially inaugurated the Maldives Hajj Corporation, with Islamic minister Dr Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed pledging to reduce the cost of the pilgrimage.

Shaheem told those in attendance at the ceremony held at Hotel Jen yesterday evening that MVR110 million (US$7.1 million) had been deposited with the corporation so far, noting that government had become more involved in the Hajj trips after the activities of some unscrupulous companies.

The state-owned Hajj Corporation was established during the presidency of Dr Mohamed Waheed in 2013, after legal wrangling over whether the Islamic Ministry should be forced to reevaluate several unsuccessful bids by private Hajj groups.

Of the 1,000 pilgrim quota afforded to the Maldives by Saudi Arabia last year, 500 were reserved by the Hajj Corporation while the rest were divided amongst Hajj groups chosen after a bidding process.

Sun Online has reported that the corporation’s quota is now filled until 2017.

Source: Haveeru, Sun Online

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Faris Maumoon appointed PPM Media Coordinator

Minister of State for Economic Development Faris Maumoon has been appointed as media coordinator for the ruling Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM).

Faris – son of former President and PPM leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom – was nominated for the role at a party meeting held yesterday evening (January 19), reports media.

The position is said to have been vacant up to now, but is mandated within the party’s regulations.

It was also reported that the party agreed to hold a meeting of its national council next year.

Source: Sun Online, Raajje.mv

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MMA announces finalists in new rufiyya note design competition

The Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) has announced the three proposals shortlisted for the competition to design the new Maldivian currency notes.

The shortlisted proposals were presented by Abdulla Nashath, Afzal Shafium, and the team of Mohamed Rassam, Hussein Shihab, and Ali Nishaf Rasheed. These three parties will present their designs on February 25.

Proposals for the new notes to be released on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Maldivian independence were evaluated by an advisory committee of 13 members comprising of representatives from various technical fields including history, art, language, and economics.

The MMA board of directors will make the final decision on which designs will be printed after considering the evaluation of the advisory committee.

After initially inviting designs for notes in September, the MMA extended the November 30 deadline for one month after concluding that the 60 submitted designs were all unsuitable for bank notes.

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Friends of Rilwan hold event to mark missing journalist’s 29th birthday

Friends and family of missing Minivan News journalist Ahmed Rilwan gathered outside Hulhumalé ferry terminal yesterday to mark his birthday.

Members of the public and supporters of the campaign to find Rilwan wrote messages of support which were attached to a mural created earlier in the five month campaign.

Messages posted on the mural included: ‘We haven’t given up on you yet’, ‘You are missed’, ‘Hoping for your safe return’, ‘Please come back, we need you’, and ‘You are late for work!!!’.

Hulhumalé terminal was the place in which Rilwan was last sighted on CCTV on August 8, shortly before eyewitnesses reported a man fitting his description being pushed into a vehicle outside of his apartment in Hulhumalé.

Rilwan’s mother Aminath Easa, told Minivan News this week that she would would never give up the search for her son, who turned 29-years-old yesterday.

“God willing, I will do everything in my power to find him, with patience, until I die. I will not stop, no matter what anyone says.”

The Maldives Police Service is continuing the search for missing Rilwan as a top priority, without “interruption or boredom”, Commissioner of Police Hussein Waheed told the press earlier this month.

“I assure Rilwan’s family in this opportunity that the police will continue the search without any interruption or boredom. I wish for Rilwan’s safe return,” he said.

“From our investigations so far, there is no evidence to suggest Rilwan is dead. Therefore, our hope is he is still safe and alive,”

Rilwan’s family has asked the Police Integrity Commission to look into potential negligence in the apparently stalled investigation into his disappearance.

Home Minister Umar Naseer has previously acknowledged involvement of gangs in the case, although police have refused to reveal any information to the family regarding potential theories or avenues of inquiry.

“I am not at all happy with the government’s response,” said Aminath. “I know the police are capable, they have solved cases they work on. They caught the two dangerous convicts who escaped from jail, without firing a single shot.”

“They work when their leaders tell them to. But the government hasn’t told them to find my son. The police will look for him and find him if their superiors order them to do so. I believe government officials are complicit in this case.”

For more pictures of yesterday’s event click here


Related to this story

Q&A: “With patience, until I die” – Rilwan’s mother vows to continue the search

No apparent progress in police search for Rilwan, family plans protest for Friday

MDN investigation implicates radicalised gangs in Rilwan’s disappearance

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Indian state employees granted travel concessions on trips to Maldives

India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation will provide leave travel concessions (LTC) for state employees travelling to the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal in an effort to boost regional tourism among SAARC member nations, reports The Financial Express.

State employees will require approval from the ministry in order to utilise the LTC on Air India when flying to the selected countries.

Senior government officials were reported as saying the move is expected to enhance tourism, and subsequently economic development, in the South Asian region.

“There are around two million government employees. With the extension of the LTC scheme there is bound to be greater tourist inflow and outflow with these countries,” an Indian government official is quoted as saying.

Air India currently operates 14 flights to the Maldives per week – between Malé, Trivandrum, and Bangalore – although Indian tourists make up less than four percent of the million-plus visitors to the Indian Ocean archipelago each year.

During the 18th SAARC Summit held in Nepal last November Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed the need for increased regional connectivity noting that “it is still harder to travel within our region than to Bangkok or Singapore, and more expensive to speak to each other”.

The conclusion of the summit saw the signing of the Kathmandu Declaration which called ‘Deeper Integration for Peace and Prosperity’.

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Beijing to ‘publicly shame’ unruly Chinese tourists when abroad: Washington Post

“On Friday, Chinese state media reported Beijing was taking new measures to combat a growing problem: the embarrassing behaviour of Chinese tourists when abroad,” reports the Washington Post.

“After a spate of incidents involving Chinese nationals abroad, Li Jinzao, head of China’s National Tourism Administration, was reported to have said that records would be kept of problem tourists, with tourists “ranked” on the severity of their misbehaviour. These tourists would receive messages reminding them to behave when they land at their destination. If they disobeyed, they would be punished.

Li also announced a new tactic to improve tourists’ behaviour: Public shaming. He encouraged Chinese tourists to take photos or video of bad behaviour they spot and pass it on to authorities. The evidence would then be publicised.

Over the past few years, the behaviour of some Chinese citizens when abroad has become a source of ire for the nation. Online, many stories of Chinese tourists showing a lack of civility or behaving selfishly have become viral sensations: There was the Chinese teenager who defaced a 3,500-year-old temple in Egypt, for example, and the group of Chinese tourists who washed their feet at the Louvre in Paris.”

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31-year-old critical after Malé knife attack

A 31-year-old Bangladeshi national has been left in a critical condition after being stabbed in the stomach in Malé last night (January 17), reports media.

The man had been working on the reception desk of the Inama guest house in Malé when the incident occurred.

He was taken to ADK Hospital after the attack, which is said to have occurred at aroung 11:20pm.

The prevalence of knife crime – particularly in the capital Malé – resulted in five deaths in 2014, prompting the government to amend laws covering sharp weapons, reducing the rights of suspects following arrest.

“The most important aims of this administration is to ensure the streets of Malé and the islands are safe. Today, the strongest bill required for this task has been passed,” said President Abdulla Yameen following the amendments to legislation last month.

Source: Haveeru, Raajje.mv

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China donates 150 motorcycles to Maldives police

China has donated 150 motorcycles to the Maldives Police Service in order to help improve the force’s operational capacity.

The police website revealed today that the bikes were currently being assembled by police, working alongside Chinese mechanics, after having arrived in the country a few days ago.

An official ceremony for the handing over of the vehicles will be held in the near future.

In addition to contributing over 300,000 tourists to the Maldives every year and pledging assistance in a number of major infrastructure projects, the Chinese government has also given other gifts to the Maldives in recent months.

After handing 200 waste bins and 200,000 LED lights to the Maldivian government last November, China last month gifted cultural items, which included books, ethnic costumes, musical instruments, and Chinese crafts.

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