Category: News in Brief

Tomorrow Eid-ul-Fitr, announces Islamic Ministry

Eid-ul-Fitr will fall on September 10, tomorrow, the Islamic Ministry has announced.

Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting, and is among the biggest celebrations in Islam. It falls on the start of the tenth month of the lunar Islamic calendar, Shawwal.

It is haraam, or forbidden, to fast on the Day of Eid, although some Muslims continue to fast for another six days after the festival.

The ministry said the Eid prayers will be conducted in 21 mosques and that woman can pray in 14 mosques.

The ministry has also announced the names of mosques where the prayers will be conducted. The prayer will be held in: Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Mohamed Thakurufaan-ul-Auzam, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Mohamed Bin Abdulla, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Mohamed Shamshudeen, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Mohamed Farred-ul-Awwal, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Hassan Izzuddeen, Hukuru Misky, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Salahuddeen, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Jalaluddeen, Al-Masjidh-ul-Furuqan, Al-Masjidh-ul-Noor, Al-Masjidh-Ibrahim, Al-Masjidh-Shaheed Ali, Al-Masjidh-Bahauddeen, Al-Masjidh-Iskandar, Al-Masjidh-ul-Barubary, Al-Masjidh-Afeefuddeen, Al-Masjidh-Sabeel (Hulhule), Al-Masjidh-Salam (Villingili), Al-Masjidh-Ikhlas [Villingili], Al-Masjidh-Amani (Hulhumale’), Al-Masjidh-Sheikh Gasim Bin Althani (Hulhumale’).

Woman can take part in the Eid prayer only in the following mosques: Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Mohamed Thakurufaan-ul-Auzam, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Mohamed Bin Abdulla,Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Mohamed Farred-ul-Awwal, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Hassan Izzuddeen, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Salahuddeen, Al-Masjidh-ul-sulthan Jalaluddeen, Al-Masjidh-ul-Noor, Al-Masjidh-Ibrahim, Al-Masjidh-Shaheed Ali, Al-Masjidh-Bahauddeen, Al-Masjidh-Iskandar, Al-Masjidh-ul-Furuqan, Al-Masjidh-Salam (Villingili), Al-Masjidh-Ikhlas (Villingili), Al-Masjidh-Sheikh Gasim Bin Althani (Hulhumale’).

Eid prayers will begin at 7 30 am.

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Sri Lanka amends constitution to remove two-term limit for Presidency

Sri Lanka’s parliament has amended its constitution to lift the two-term limit for the Presidency, a move that would effectively allow the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa to govern the country indefinitely if successfully elected.

The vote was past with 161 votes, 11 seats more than the two-thirds majority required to pass the amendment, after the many of the main opposition party boycotted the debate entirely, and only 17 members from the Marxist-Nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and a Tamil minority party voted against it.

The vote, dubbed ‘the 18th Amendment’, also empowers President Rajapaksa to appoint all top judges and commissioners for independent institutions governing elections and human rights, without legal veto.

The BBC reported that critics of the amendments had described it as “an onslaught to democracy”, while a group of lawyers protesting against the move claimed it was “undemocratic” and demanded a public referendum on the matter.

Supporters of the amendment have claimed the changes will help strengthen the country damaged by 30 years of war with the LTTE.

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Islamic Foundation donates Rf111,111.11 to Pakistan relief fund

Religious NGO the Islamic Foundation of the Maldives (IFM) has donated Rf 111,111.11 (US$8646) to the Pakistan flood relief fund.

The money was handed over to the High Commissioner Akhtar Ali Sulehri in a meeting held at the High Commission of Pakistan yesterday afternoon.

IFM launched a campaign for donating money to the flood victims of Pakistan at a lecture by Sheikh Fareed held at the Artificial Beach on August 27.

The money was collected by putting up fund boxes at different locations in Male.

IFM President Ibrahim Fauzee, Vice President Mohamed Fauzee and many of its members took part in the meeting held at the Pakistani High Commission yesterday afternoon.

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Fixed lines continue to fall in the Maldives

The total number of fixed telephone lines in the Maldives (including payphones) dropped to 48,102 at the end of July from 49,415 at the end of April, reported Telecompaper.

Telecompaper reported that the majority of lines (35,045) were in Male, Villingili, Aarah, Hulhule and Hulhumale islands, while fixed lines on other inhabited islands numbered 11,853. 980 these were on resorts, and 224 on uninhabited islands, according to figures from the Telecommunications Authority of Maldives.

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Registered poor in Male’ quadruple, says Islamic Ministry

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has said the number of registered poor in the capital Male’ has quadrupled to 9000.

These include the wards of Hulhumale and Villingili, explained the Ministry’s Assistant Director Ahmedullah Jameel.

Haveeru reported that while Jameel was unsure of the reasons for the increase, the criteria for poverty had been amended and made “more lenient” this year.

Prior to the introduction of criteria for alms distribution there were 78,000 registered poor in 2008, Jameel said.

The Ministry will distribute over Rf2 million in alms on Wednesday.

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Sri Lankan worker’s arm crushed in concrete mixer

A Sri Lankan man working at a resort under development on Vagaaru in Shaviyani Atoll has had his arm amputated after it became caught it a concrete mixing machine, reports Haveeru.

Doctors at Kulhudhuffushi Regional Hospital in Haa Dhaal Atoll amputated the 28 year-old’s right arm up to the elbow after it was crushed in the machine.

Hospital official Mohamed Abdurrahman told Haveeru that the four-hour long operation was the only option left, as the man’s bones had been crushed.

Haveeru reported that the incident occurred place on Sunday evening while the man was washing the machine.

“We suspect he caught his shirt in the machine. That is what caused the accident. Fragments of his bones were also in it,” a co-worker told the newspaper.

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Mohammed Anil awarded Chevening scholarships by British Council

The British High Commissioner Dr Peter Hayes attended an event at The British Council and the British High Commission awarded the prestigious Chevening scholarships to Mohammed Anil from Maldives and Seshika Fernando and Guruparan Kumaravadivel from Sri Lanka.

The three scholars will take up fully-funded post-graduate studies at the University of Essex, the London School of Economics and the University of Oxford.

The scheme is funded by the UK government and is jointly run by the British High Commission and the British
Council. This year HSBC is jointly funding one of the scholarships.

British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Dr Peter Hayes said the Chevening scheme was a fabulous opportunity for Sri Lankan and Maldivian students “to take advantage of the world-class education on offer at British universities.”

“Scholars will also come back with a deeper understanding of the UK’s culture and values. We hope this
will help us maintain the long-lasting bonds of friendship that already exist between the UK and Sri Lanka and the UK and Maldives,” he said.

“Many of the key challenges facing governments today – resolving conflict, promoting economic prosperity and tackling climate change – are global in nature. We need experts in every country in the world working in their own countries and internationally to address these challenges. We hope that the Chevening scholarship programme will make an important contribution to this.”

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Independent MP Zahir Adam joins ruling MDP

Independent MP for Gahdhoo Zahir Adam has joined the ruling Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).

Speaking to Haveeru, Zahir claimed it was not him joining the ruling party, but rather the “people of my constituency [who] signed to MDP. When a person who has been approved by the people of the constituency joins the party, it is the citizens joining the party.”

the opposition Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) MP for Maafannu-West Abdulla Abdur Raheem also joined MDP in August, but later rejoined DRP after less than a day in the ruling party.

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Downturn in European market offset by increased tourism from Asia

Tourists arrivals to the Maldives, where two Sri Lankan conglomerates own or operate resorts, are recovering from recession but construction of more hotels is seen hitting room rates, reports Lanka Business Online.

Sri Lanka’s Aitken Spence and John Keells Holdings had long relied on their Maldivian resorts to compensate for lower earnings or losses in their local hotels during the island’s ethnic war.

But earnings from Maldivian hotels were hit last year owing to global recession which reduced arrivals from the main market in Western Europe.

Although arrivals from Europe are likely to be affected in the short to medium term by the region’s economic woes, CT Smith Stockbrokers said in a report they expect this to be mitigated by increased arrivals from Asia, especially China.

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