Category: News in Brief

Madaveli O’Level results investigated after students provide same answers to maths paper

Cambridge University has queried GCE O’Level mathematics papers submitted by Madaveli School in Shaviyani Atoll, after finding that all students had provided similar answers.

Haveeru reported that the school, which placed second in last years GCE O’Level examinations in the Maldives.

Director General at the Ministry of Education’s Department of Public Examination, Ahmed Shakeeb, confirmed to Haveeru that Cambridge University has questioned the department, and that a team from the ministry had been sent to the island to investigate the suspected cheating.

Shakeeb did not provide details of the investigation, but said cases involving similar answers occasionally arose.

“Such issues arise in subjects such as Fisheries Science, which includes a lot of group work. The students provide similar answers or those having similar sentences when they go on field trips and do group work. However, in such cases questions arise about whether the students have cheated or not,” Shakeeb told Haveeru.

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Fuel prices increase after tsunami and Middle Eastern instability

Petrol prices have risen Rf 0.87 and diesel by Rf 0.96 a litre on the back of growing instability in the Middle East and panicked Asian markets after Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown threat.

The State Trading Organisation (STO) raised petrol to Rf 12.67 a litre and diesel to Rf 12.61, the second increase of the year. Local retailers followed suit.

The Maldives spends 25 percent of its GDP on fuel and is among the most vulnerable countries in the world to oil price rises. A government official recently speculated that were the price of fuel to double, the Maldivian economy would “collapse within hours”.

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Dhiraagu targets broadband expansion with nationwide submarine cable system

Telecommunication group Dhiraagu has claimed that the construction of a new fibre-optic submarine cable network stretching from the north to the south of the country will help aid national development as well its profits by providing improved broadband coverage to the company’s customers.

The project was unveiled yesterday at a signing ceremony held in Male’ for a US$21.7 million contract with Japanese communications groups NEC, who will be using their existing experience of working on the country’s cable system to lay 1,017 kilometers of fibre-optics beneath the sea.

The company predicts that the so-called backbone network created through completion of the cable project is expected to be in place by April 2012, accompanied by a number of parallel service extensions such as 3G usage and backup services.

Dhiraagu’s Chief Executive Ismail Rasheed told Minivan News that he believed the significant investment outlaid by the company in order to lay the new submarine cable system would be vital in extending services beyond their current limitations.

“Although we have mobile coverage in all inhabited and resort islands, we are not able to offer the same coverage for broadband internet,” he said. “The cable will enable broadband access to the entire country.”

Rasheed claimed that with the company’s current microwave system being pushed almost to its limits by demand, Dhiraagu had been encouraged to move forward with the cable network construction to aid online developments across the Maldives for services such as education, “e-medicine” and entertainment. “The network will also us to increase service capacity and eventually, we hope, make services more affordable,” he claimed.

The cable network will encompass a number of locations in the country including Haa Dhaal atoll Kulhudhuffushi, Baa atoll Eydhafushi, Hulhumale’, Alif Dhaal atoll Dhangethi, Laamu atoll Gan, Gaaf Dhaal atoll Gahdhoo, Seenu atoll Hithadhoo and Fuvahmulah.

For its own role in the project, NEC, who previously worked with Dhiraagu to set up a fibre optic cable between the Maldives and Sri Lanka in 2006, saw off competition from a tender of seven other companies to be awarded the contract.

Dhiraagu is among a number of suppliers in the country that provide broadband and 3G service along with groups like Wataniya and Raajje Online.

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Maldivian flag at half mast in mourning for Japanese tsunami victims

President Mohamed Nasheed has ordered the Maldives national flag to be flown at half mast for three days, out of respect for the victims of the Japanese earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

Cabinet members yesterday observed a minute’s silence for the stricken country, which is one of the Maldives’ most active development partners.

The death toll is predicted to reach 10,000. Japan continues to tackle the risk of nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, after three hydrogen explosions in the last four days and another fire that broke out in reactor four yesterday.

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Cabinet holds moment of silence for Japan quake victims

President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet today at the beginning of the cabinet meeting held a minute of silence for victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

”Japan has had a close relationships with the Maldivian for a long time,” said the President before the minute of silence, according to the President’s Office. ”All the Maldivians are today sharing this grief of Japan, many citizens of Japan are today faced with physical and health issues.”

”Japan has assisted the Maldives in exporting Maldivian fish, provided equipment for the former Television Maldives (TVM), have conducted many training sessions, helped construct hundreds of schools, assisted in providing electricity to the islands, provide flour constantly, and provided assistance in the sports field and the customs laboratory,” said President Nasheed.

Japan was also responsible for building the sea wall around Male’, which protected the capital from the impact of the 2004 tsunami, and has also built many of the city’s roads.

The President said the moment of silence was a symbol representing the grief of many Maldivians at the natural disaster in Japan.

The President’s Office has recently said that it will provide Japan with 1,800 cases of Maldivian tuna – amounting to 86,400 cans – as ”emergency disaster supplies” for victims of the earthquake and tsunami that has ravaged the country and its infrastructure. Authorities predict that the death toll could reach as high as 10,000.

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LDC transition progress needs upgrading, says Maldives representative to UN

The Maldives Mission to the United Nations in New York has hosted a meeting to discuss the need to assist countries such as the Maldives in graduating from Least Developed Country (LDC) status.

The Maldives was graduated to middle income under the UN’s definitions at the beginning of this year, depriving it of a number of financial concessions and eligibility for some donor aid.

The existing process of transition was underdeveloped, claimed Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the UN Ghafoor Mohamed, particularly the repeal of all special financial and technical assistance.

The Maldives has a profitable tourism industry and a GDP of over US$1 billion, however a generous taxation system and the relative isolation of this industry from the country’s economy – particularly its banking sector – has limited the benefit for ordinary Maldivians. The government has been steadily reforming the taxation of the tourism sector and has recently introduced a tourism goods and services tax and business profit tax.

Sixty delegates from various UN missions attended the meeting.

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Mauritius awards Nasheed country’s highest honour

Mauritius has awarded Maldivian President Mohamed Nasheed one of the country’s highest honours, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Star and the Key of the Indian Ocean (GCSK).

President of Mauritius Sir Anerood Jugnauth presented Nasheed with the award over the weekend.

Among the few foreign dignitaries who has been conferred the award are Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela, and Former President of Guyana Cheddi Jagan, the President’s Office noted.

Nasheed was in the country to attend Mauritus’s National Day celebrations. During his visit, Nasheed met with Prime Minister of Mauritius Dr Navinchandra Ramgoolam and discussed the creation of a body representing Indian Ocean countries to collectively promote development cooperation and common interests at the world stage.

Nasheed also discussed security cooperation, including joint economic zone surveillance.

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Budget halted for Shaviyani Atoll council pending court order

The budget for the Shaviyani Atoll council has been frozen by the national office of the upper-north region until a court decides where the council secretariat should be established, reports Haveeru.

Assets belonging to the Atoll Office and Atoll House will be placed under the care of the police and national office until a court orders the transfer of the assets to another party, the Finance Ministry noted according to Haveeru.

In response, the council passed a resolution requesting the assets be transferred to the council, after passing a resolution to transfer the secretariat from Milandhoo to to Funadhoo.

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Maldivian bone-marrow transplant patient recovering in Italy

The first Maldivian Thalassaemia patient to be treated under and agreement between Italy and the Maldives is recovering following a bone-marrow transplant operation.

Haveeru reported that a second patient has now arrived in Italy and is awaiting treatment. The risky procedure is one of the only potential cures for Thalassaemia, a genetic blood disorder common in the Maldivan population.

Italy, which is a world leader in the procedure, has agreed to treat 10 Maldivian patients.

Under the agreement made between the governments of Maldives and Italy on January 23, bone marrow transplants of 10 patients are to be conducted in Italy.

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