An Indian expatriate was found dead in his living quarters in the industrial island of Thilafushi last night (May 26), local media reports.
The apparent suicide was reported to police around 9:40 pm after the Indian national was discovered by his co-workers. The man appears to have hung himself, local media said.
According to the co-workers, the man had been missing for two days.
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(0)The Transport Authority of Maldives (TAM) and Maldivian Red Crescent (MRC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing to provide first aid training to local taxi drivers.
The agreement was signed by the Minister of Transport and Communication Ameen Ibrahim and Secretary General of Maldivian Red Crescent Abdul Razzaq Ibrahim today (May 27).
Speaking at the event, Transport Minister Ameen highlighted the importance of such a programme and said that drivers serving the public must be equipped with the necessary skills to face an emergency, reported local media Sun Online.
Ameen noted the recent difficulties faced by taxi drivers due to the newly enacted taxi regulation and thanked the drivers for their support in its implementation, Sun Online reported.
According to Razzaq, drivers will often be the first to arrive at an accident site and that the first aid programme is an important step towards public safety.
The MRC also stated that they aim to train more than 800 taxi drivers before October 2014.
Last month, taxi drivers in Malé staged a protest against what they regard as “strict” and unfair new regulations which were to be implemented.
Key concerns raised by participants included the issue of ‘taxi-top’ vacancy signs, and not having similar legislation for all land transport, including lorries and pickups.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Criminal Court has sentenced a fourth man to a prison sentence for stealing a ‘Bettina Barty’ brand lotion bottles in 2012.
Ibrahim Ali of Noonu Atoll Velidhoo Goabilige was sentenced to two years and six months in jail due to his previous record of theft.
The court had previously sentenced three other men in separate cases for stealing lotion bottles.
On April 7, Hussein Fazeel of Pink Dream in Malé received a two and a half year term for stealing ten ‘Enchanteur’ brand lotion bottle and Mohamed Rasheed of Fuvahmulah Island was sentenced to one year for stealing a ‘Bettina Barty’ lotion bottle on April 28.
In February, Ali Rasheed of Haa Dhaal Hanimadhoo Island was sentenced to four and a half years for stealing three lotion bottles. Rasheed also had been convicted of theft four times previously.
(0)Dislikes(0)Opposition Maldivian Democratic Party MP elect ‘Reeko’ Moosa Manik has announced he will contest for the position of parliamentary deputy speaker.
Members of the 18th People’s Majlis are to be sworn in tomorrow.
Moosa said he has held discussions with parties in the ruling coalition Jumhooree Party (JP) and the Progressive Party of the Maldives on the matter.
Meanwhile, MDP’s acting president Mohamed Nasheed has announced the MDP will back Jumhooree Party (JP) leader Gasim Ibrahim for the position of Speaker.
The JP and PPM are at loggerheads over the speakership issue. The PPM has said the coalition will fall apart should Gasim decide to contest, though Gasim said he will not withdraw his name.
(0)Dislikes(0)The South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR) group has added its voice to the international concern over the government’s moves to reintroduce the death penalty.
“SAHR is deeply concerned with the adoption of this new regulation and calls upon the Government of the Maldives to respect international human rights law and to retain the moratorium on the use of the death penalty, especially in cases that involve minors, and to abolish the practice altogether,” read the group’s statement.
Recalling reasons cited by the Home Minister Umar Naseer for the decision, SAHR said that it did not believe there could be any justification for the use of the death penalty, particularly against children.
According to the recently published regulations, implementation of death penalty can be delayed if the convict is underage till he or she is 18-years-old and if the convict is pregnant, until she gives birth and the child is two-years-old.
SAHR, which describes itself as a network of human rights defenders, was established in 2000 by civil society leaders from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
(0)Dislikes(0)Chief Judge Abdula Mohamed has today presided over the hearing of Maldives Development Alliance (MDA) leader MP Ahmed ‘Sun’ Shiyam, after taking over the case last week.
Abdula Mohamed responded to the points taken by MP Shiyam’s attorneys, who said they had no witnesses that they would like to call after the prosecution had produced five witnesses, including the officer who detected the bottle and other customs officials, reported Haveeru.
Abdulla took over Shiyam’s alcohol-smuggling trial after the defendant had requested the change – suggesting that Judge Aziz’s “hand gestures and facial expressions” had indicated a personal grudge against him in the first hearing.
Shiyam was charged with smuggling and possession of alcohol in March 2012 after customs officers at Ibrahim Nasir International Airport (INIA) discovered a bottle of alcohol in his luggage.
Prior to the recent change, the trial has experienced multiple delays, with today’s hearing only the second to be completed.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Minister of Health and Gender Dr Mariyam Shakeela has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Executive Board of World Health Organisation (WHO).
This appointment took place at a meeting of the WHO Executive Board following the World Health Assembly in Geneva today (May 26), and will be the first time the Maldives has received this title, local media Sun Online reported.
The WHO Executive Board is composed of 34 persons who are technically qualified in the field of health, each designated by a member state who has been elected to serve by the World Health Assembly.
Member states are elected for three-year terms, and Maldives was elected in 2012.
(0)Dislikes(0)Hussain Humam – found guilty for murdering parliament member Dr Afrasheem Ali – has appealed his death sentence at the High Court.
While local media has confirmed the appeal, it is still unclear if the the case was accepted by the High Court.
The Criminal Court sentenced Human to death on January 16, 2014 , having found him guilty for the crime of intentional murder, stating that it was proven beyond doubt that Humam assaulted Dr Afrasheem with a sharp object and intentionally killed him.
The appeal has come just before the 90 day appeal period for lower court rulings – excluding public holidays – was about to end.
Dr Afrasheem – then MP for Ungoofaaru Constituency and a moderate Islamic Scholar – was found brutally murdered at the his apartment building on the night of October 1, 2012.
Shortly after Human’s sentencing, Home Minister Umar Naseer announced plans to reintroduce the death sentence after an unofficial sixty year moratorium on the practice.
The regulation, published late last month, are set to apply retroactively to all pending death sentences.
(0)Dislikes(0)A nine-month-old baby boy was able to have a life saving heart surgery after his family created a Facebook appeal for donations to fly him to India for treatment.
Akiyal’s father Farhan, an engineer from the Maldives, decided to make a Facebook page after the family was unable to able to get any funding in Maldives for the operation, reported the Deccan Chronicle.
After launching the Facebook campaign back in July 2013, and undergoing three open heart operations, Farhan has announced that Akiyal has now recovered and they will be returning to the Maldives in a few days.
Akiyal was born with a rare heart condition known as double outlet right ventricle (DORV), a condition in which the blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart, is located in the wrong place.
“It was a complex surgery in the sense that the child was born with one side of the heart not developed, undeveloped left pumping chamber and a large hole in the heart along with a blockage of the artery going to the lung. He required a complex repair job, which wasn’t being done in the Maldives,” says the child’s doctor, Adil Sadiq, Head Cardiothoracic Surgeon at Sakra World Hospital in Karnataka.
Farhan told the Deccan Chronicle, “It was not possible to get funds in the Maldives, so my family and I decided to go online and ask for help from the social media. We went ahead with creating a Facebook page for our son.”
“We promoted the page by paying five dollars, which implied that 20,000 Facebook users would see the page,” says Farhan.
“The money that we used to promote the page time and again was less than 100 dollars, but we were able to raise Rs 8 lakh over the course of the year,” adds Farhan.
According to the article, the Facebook page received donations from anonymous altruists in Sri Lanka, Belgium, Maldives and Bangalore.
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