Category: News in Brief

Police celebrate 78th Anniversary

Police last night held a special function at Dharubaaruge to mark its 78th Anniversary.

President Mohamed Nasheed, Commissioner of Police Ahmed Faseeh and ministers were present at the special function.

Commissioner Faseeh pledged to control the gang violence in the Maldives if concerned authorities cooperated with the police.

Expressing concern at the number of juveniles involving in crimes, Faseeh called on parents to cooperate more with police in reforming the juveniles committing crimes.

President Nasheed also addressed the people at the function.

Nasheed urged businessman not to reject teenagers from employment for having a criminal record on their police report.

Instead he called on businessmen to give them the opportunity to work “for the sake of the nation.”

He also said that he did not wish to have “even a single Maldivian behind the bars.”

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Man in a critical condition after assault with metal bar in Villingili

A man is undergoing treatment at the Indira Gandi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) after he was assaulted and suffered a deep head injury, reports Haveeru.

According to Haveeru, attackers used metal bars and such other objects to assault him.

Police have arrested two men in connection with the case, according to Haveeru.

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Ferry prices of Villingili and Hulhumale’ rises

The MTCC has announced that its ferry prices will be increased next month, reported SunFM.

SunFM reported that the Villingili ferry will cost Rf5 per ticket and Hulhumale’ ferry will cost Rf8 per ticket, starting from the 15th of next month.

Currently Villingili feryy costs Rf3 per ticket and Hulhumale’ ferry Rf5 per ticket.

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MAAS to celebrate 50th anniversary of first man in space

The Maldives Association for the Advancement of Science (MAAS) is hosting an event this evening (April 12) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first many in space.

“Fifty years ago a Russian by the name of Yuri Gagarin became the first human to escape the confines of Earth’s atmosphere and to enter into orbit around the Earth in space,” MAAS said in a statement.

“Human spaceflight became a reality 50 years ago with the launch of a bell-shaped capsule called ‘Vostok 1’ on April 12th, 1961. The capsule was carrying Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who took his place in history as the first human to leave the bounds of Earth and enter outer space.”

“MAAS will join the Global Astronomy Month’s global ‘Yuri’s Night’ celebrations with a local event to mark the occasion of this landmark human achievement. There will be electronic down-tempo music played live by a group of local musicians and the movie First Orbit will be screened as part of its global premier. MAAS invites everyone to join in the celebration.”

‘Yuri’s Night’ in the Maldives will take place at Seahouse in Male’ from 8:00pm to 11:00pm, April 12.

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Fixed peg can only be maintain by no deficit monetisation: Lanka Business Online

The currency peg allowed the Maldives to have some of the highest living standards in South Asia by preventing excessive deficit spending, reports Lanka Business Online.

“Currency debasement and inflation are key to expanding the state at the expense of the larger society.

The Maldives also started active open market operations recently, ostensibly to mop up excess liquidity, but it can make it almost impossible to maintain a peg.

A well functioning open market operations system automatically sterilises interventions by a central bank (dollars sales by the monetary authority) with injections of local money forcing a balance of payments crisis, even in the absence of excessive deficit spending.

In 1997 many East Asian nations which had good fiscal management ran into currency crises due to sterilized interventions by central banks.

A fixed peg can only be maintained with unsterilized interventions and no deficit monetisation.

One of the triggers of Maldives current troubles was a large increase in the salaries of state workers. However the archipelago was also hit by a tsunami in 2004 and also suffered a downturn in tourism, a key source of state revenue, amid a global recession.”

Read more

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MDP wins Kela after election repoll

The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) has won four of the five seats of Kela Island Council while the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) has secured Kela’s two seats on the Haa Alif Atoll Council, after the Elections Commission repeated the election process.

The re-poll was ordered by the High Court which ruled that the original vote on February 5 was invalid, with public anger erupting after election officials turned away those who turned up to vote after the deadline.

Successful MDP candidates for Kela included Ali Shareef, Abdulla Zubair, Haulath Mahira and Hassan Mamdooh while Adam Asad was elected on a DRP ticket.

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Air tickets rise in price as rufiya falls

Several air ticket agencies in Male’ have raised the price of tickets in response to the government’s decision to authorise the trade of dollars at up to Rf15.42.

Haveeru reported that Villa Travels, the local agent for Malaysia Airlines and Indian Airlines, had increased its dollar exchange rate to Rf15.42, increasing the cost of a Male-Trivandrum ticket by Rf740.16 (US$60).

Galaxy Enterprises, which sells Sri Lankan Airlines tickets, last week announced it was suspending sale of tickets because of the dollar shortage.

Mac Air Services, the agent for budget airline Mihin Lanka, told Haveeru that ticket prices would remain unchanged as they had not been based on the official exchange rate of Rf12.85.

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Parliament approves amendments to Pension Act

Parliament today passed amendments proposed by government to the Pension Act of 2009 to delay the inclusion of expatriate workers in the retirement pension scheme by at least three years.

The amendment bill was passed with 70 votes in favour and one against. Once ratified, the legislation would mandate the Pension Administration Office to formulate rules within one year for expatriate workers to join the retirement pension scheme.

Meanwhile at today’s sitting, an amendment proposed by minority opposition People’s Alliance (PA) MP Ahmed Nazim to exempt MPs from the scheme however did not pass after 41 MPs voted against it, 29 voted in favour and five abstained.

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President relaxes exchange rate crackdown

The government has relaxed a blackmarket crackdown on the illegal exchange of dollars into rufiya, announcing today that the currency could be traded at a rate within 20 percent of the pegged 12.85 to the dollar.

The announcement effectively defangs the police crackdown by allowing trade of the rufiya up to Rf15.42, at a time when the supply of dollars sits below demand and banks are refusing to exchange the local currency.

Haveeru reported that President Nasheed had sent a letter to MMA Governor Fazeel Najeeb requesting he announce the new exchange rate. The government has criticised Najeeb for not addressing the dollar shortage and for lack of response to requests for advice and assistance, and has requested the MDP parliamentary group to press for his dismissal.

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