Interior Ministers of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives are attending the four-day SAARC Interior Ministers Conference in Islamabad, Pakistan.
The conference will discuss the regional security situation, terrorism, drug trafficking and other crimes.
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(0)Membership of the United Nations Human Rights Council will bring close scrutiny of the country’s human rights performance, warned foreign minister Shaheed as the Maldives takes its seat on the 47 member Council.
Speaking at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the foreign minister said it was the first time Maldives has held a seat on a UN Council, and he promised the Maldivian government was determined to use its three-year membership to promote human rights abroad and to consolidate democracy at home.
The Human Rights Council is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. The Council was created by the UN General Assembly on 15 March 2006. The Maldives has been active on the Council as an observer since 2006 through its Permanent Mission in Geneva and stood for a seat in elections earlier this year, securing 185 votes – the highest number in the history of the UN human rights body.
The Human Rights Council meets three times a year, in September, March and June. During its membership, the Maldives will focus on torture prevention, women’s rights, children’s rights, environmental rights, and the rights of persons with disabilities.
“It is therefore vital that the Maldives practises what it preaches and lives up to the highest international human rights standards as well as to its legal obligations under international human rights law,” said the foreign minister.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Abruzzo region of Italy, 50 miles east from Rome, has signed a declaration with the Maldivian government providing increased assistance for the Maldivian health sector.
Each year, the Abruzzo region will provide transplantations for ten Maldivians with Beta Thalassemia.
The Abruzzo region and the government of Maldives will also share knowledge and best practices in healthcare, Beta Thalassaemia programs and consultations on Thalassaemia projects in the Maldives.
The agreement was signed during President Nasheed’s ongoing visit to Italy.
(0)Dislikes(0)Low carbon development is both possible and economically viable, said President Nasheed in a speech at the “International Conference on Climate, Energy Environment: How to Build a New Global Deal” in Rome.
The climate issue must be understood as an economic, financial and security issue, he said. Climate change was a very real threat to humanity but there was “an organised scheme” in many developed countries against climate change.
Climate deniers were able to stop the momentum gained after Copenhagen, the President claimed, and the only way to regain the momentum was 60s style street action. “Soon after Copenhagen, sceptics started working,” he said.
“We have more than 16 islands where people have to be relocated, our fresh water is being contaminated… our ocean temperatures are rising and therefore our fish stocks are dwindling,” said the President.
The conference was organised by the Centre for American Progress, and the Institute of European Democrats and Sustainable Future Centre.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Criminal Court has started the trial of Mariyam Nazaha, 21, of Henveiru Baikandige, less than 24 hours after she allegedly stabbed her ex-husband to death Tuesday afternoon.
State prosecutor Dheebaanaz Fahmy told the court that Nazaha bought a knife around two months ago and hid it in her bedroom to murder Hassan Shahid, 34, of Machangoalhi Edhuruge. She also said Nazaha had stabbed him in the back at her house while he was leaning towards a TV rack.
Shahid died while undergoing treatment for injuries sustained from the alleged attack, and murder charges should be laid against her, the prosecutor said.
When the judge asked whether she understood the charges, Nazaha replied “yes” but said she pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor noted that the charges were based on Nazaha’s confession in the investigation and added that the police were collecting evidence. She sought a revision of the charges.
The defendant’s lawyer Ahmed Abdulla Afeef said he would respond to the charges after reviewing the documents.
(0)Dislikes(0)The High Court has ruled in favour of the Criminal Court’s acquittal of a Maldivian who allegedly claimed that there was no God and Prophet Muhammad was not a Messenger.
The Criminal Court judge earlier said the man had made the comments while drunk and therefore could not be convicted. The man’s father had given evidence against him but the High Court ruled the father’s evidence inadmissible because it was motivated by a personal grudge.
(0)Dislikes(0)The former capitals of Kaaf atoll and and Shaviyani atolls have been reinstated.
The government changed the capitals from Thulusdhoo to Maafushi (Kaafu atoll) and from Funadhoo to Milandhoo (Shaviyani atoll) on 26 October 2009.
That decision has now been reversed by the Majlis after a vote with 41 MPs for the reinstatement and 31 against.
The bill containing the reinstatement, originally presented by Funadhoo MP Ali Saleem, was passed with committee amendments.
(0)Dislikes(0)A group of Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) have raised concerns over a Dhivehi teacher who was transferred to Hiriya school, after he was found innocent in a court case concerning possession of pornographic images.
Hiriya school is an all-female secondary grade school which officially opened last year.
Director General of the Education Ministry Mohamed Saeed said that the PTAs of many schools in Male’ met with the Ministry yesterday to “express concern”.
”He worked in Dharumavantha School last year as a Dhivehi teacher and was transferred to Hiriya School along with some other teachers,” said Saeed. ”Ever since he was transferred we have received complaints from parents.”
”The teacher was suspended during the case and the court ruled that we should restore his job,” Saeed said.
He emphasised that the teacher had been found innocent, but parents remained concerned about the allegations.
”They said they did not like a man who had allegations of this kind against him to face the students everyday,” he said. ”Because of this issue he has not started working at the school but he remains officially registered as a teacher at Hiriya.”
He said that the PTAs were trying to prevent the teacher from working at the school.
Ahmed Riyaz, President of Hiriya School PTA, told Minivan News that parents were concerned that pornographic pictures of the teacher had been exposed “and everybody knows that”, despite the court ruling he was innocent.
”Courts do not always punish criminals,” claimed Riyaz. ”The court ruled that the pictures were not produced or leaked by [the teacher] – we do not know from the ruling whether it was him in the picture,” he added.
Riyaz said that as the school contained “a mixture of disciplined and undisciplined students”, there might be students “who would tease him by [spreading] the pictures and consequently get punished for it, which might disrupt the education of the student.”
Riyaz claimed Permanent Secretary for the Education Ministry Amand Ali “is the only one who is pressuring the school to have this teacher in Hiriya. She had sent letters to the Hiriya school principal demanding the teacher be allowed to work.”
He further alleged the Dhivehi teacher was transferred because he was “embarrassed to face students at Dharumavantha School,” and “does not have the qualifications to be a secondary grade Dhivehi teacher.”
(0)Dislikes(1)At 2:30pm, the stage was set.
Two judges with mark sheets in hand made the rounds. Outside, three stations created for live cooking, were used each turn by three chefs from those who signed up for the live cooking demonstration.
Abdul Alim, who moments earlier had been manning the hotplate in the main restaurant, was sautéing a beef steak for his dish ‘sealed beef & roasted vegetable in paprika sauce.’
Meanwhile, a beaming Ali Abdul Rahman turns to a second batch for the live cooking demonstration.
“This is a rare chance for me – I’ve always wanted to participate in a culinary exhibition,” said the chef of 12 years of experience, 11 of which have been spent at Bandos Island Resort and Spa, the scene of the staff cooking competition held this week.
Rahman’s dish was ‘chicken with vegetable pad thai’, chosen as he wanted “a different taste, from a different country.”
Minutes later, Ali was all work, as he set about preparing a pad thai in 45 minutes. But later it would be chef Jayantha Amarasiri would walk away with the gold medal for his ‘beef fantasy’, a delicious prune and cheese-stuffed beef roulade, Cajun marinated beef steak with stir fried meatballs accompanied by mashed potato wrapped in spinach and a vegetable kebab.
Open to all staff at the resort, it was the second such annual exhibition held at Bandos. A range of categories including live cooking, dress the cake, authentic cuisine, vegetable and fruit carving gave the 27 participating chefs the chance to show off their skills.
“We want to motivate our chefs, and improve their culinary skills,” explained Ismail Shareef, Food and Beverage Director of Bandos Island Resort.
With special emphasis on encouraging the chefs to do well at competitions, Bandos recently participated in the Singapore Expo.
“This is also in preparation of Hotel Asia week that will be held later this year”, Ismail said.
The two judges presiding at the event were Chef Tyrell Wasalathathrie, executive chef at Water’s Edge in Colombo, and Chef Ishaq Salih, Executive Chef at the Royal Island Resort.
Name your cake
Inside the orchid room where all the pre-prepared items like the cold desserts and appetisers were laid out, ‘dressing the cake’ was in full swing.
Judge Tyrell wandered by and asked participant Wasantha Kumara – who was putting pink marzipan strips on his cake – what its name was.
“You should have a name for your cakes, by the time you finish them,” he said to the participants.
“It’s ‘pinkie bed’” piped in Abdulla Faiz – and sure enough, his cake was rectangular in size, with a pink drape over it, and even a pink head board. You couldn’t decide if it enticed you to eat it, or sleep in it.
Abdulla, an old hand on the exhibition circuit, had won a bronze in the Singapore Expo this year in a team event.
His work was fast and neat, and it was not much of a surprise when a couple of hours later, the first prize sign was displayed next to ‘pinkie bed’.
Honing Maldivian talent
The judges took each dish to task after the live cooking demonstration.
“You had a lovely marination going on, but the meat is so over-cooked that that one can’t taste it anymore,” said Judge Ishaq after a quick taste of a beef slice.
Judge Tyrell cut marks for sloppy presentation on some dessert dishes.
“They had enough time to do this, so the visuals should be balanced and neater than this,” he said, pointing to a sauce that was slanting to one side of the dish, next to a strategically-placed slice of cheese cake.
Ali Didi, an 18 year veteran of the field, said tips from the judges were invaluable for improving.
Like others, Ali also has a passion for participating in culinary exhibitions. He has won a silver and bronze in hot cooking on two separate occasions at the Hotel Asia exhibition.
The management of Bandos has plans to give more opportunities for Ali and his colleagues to indulge in this passion.
“Next year we’d like to expand this to holding an inter-resort culinary exhibition,” says Ismail. He says he looks forward to a day when more Maldivians will participate in international culinary exhibitions.
That day seems not far off, suggests Bandos proprietor Mohamed Waheed Deen: “with the right support Maldivians can achieve great heights in the culinary field.”
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