Category: News in Brief

JSC appoints Commissioner and Vice Commissioner

The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has appointed Supreme Court Judge Adam Mohamed Abdullah as Commissioner and Dr Afrasheem Ali as Vice Commissioner.

Adam Abdullah was nominated in competition with the new Attorney General, Dr Ahmed Ali Sawad. Dr. Afrasheem Ali was appointed in competition with Aishath Velezinee, the President’s Member on the Commission.

JSC members now include Adam Mohamed, Dr Afrasheem, Velezinee, Shuaib Abdur Rahmaan, Lower Court Judge Abdulla Didi, High Court Judge Abdulla Ghanee, lawyer Ahmed Rasheed, Civil Service Commission (CSC) President Mohamed Fahmee Hassan, Parliament Speaker Abdulla Shahid, and Attorney General Dr Sawad.

The JSC isan independent institution charged with overseeing the judiciary, investigating complaints and taking disciplinary action.

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GMR due to pay US$78 million upfront fee in October

Chairman of the government’s privatisation Committee and Economic Development Minister Mahmood Razee has said Indian infrastructure giant GMR is due to pay US$78 million to the government by October.

The airport was formally leased to the GMR on June 29, following the company’s successful bid in consortia with Malaysia Airports Holdings, and it will begin operating the facility in November.

Speaking to newspaper Haveeru, Razee claimed GMR would take over “full operations” in Mark 2011.

“The concession agreement specifies matters that should be settled at different periods. According to the agreement, the US$78 million that should be paid as upfront should be paid before the end of October. It can change by around four days,” he told the newspaper.

Beyond the upfront fee, the GMR-MAHB bid will see the consortium paying one percent airport profit to the government and 15 percent of the fuel trade until 2014, then 10 percent of the profit and 27 percent of the fuel trade from 2015 to 2035.

The GMR group has already begun holding workshops with airport stakeholders concerning the upgrading of the airport and construction of a new terminal at a cost of $373 million.

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Palestinian and Israeli leaders meet for Obama’s peace talks

Palestinian and Israeli leaders begin direct talks in Washington today in what US President Barack Obama has described as “a moment of opportunity that may not soon come again”.

Obama intends to forge a Middle East peace agreement within a year, approaching the talks between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan’s King Abdullah II with tempered optimism.

The UK’s Guardian newspaper reported the US President as saying the task would be difficult after so many failed efforts, and that passions and mistrust ran deep. But he said that the occupation and accompanying conflict were unsustainable.

“The purpose of the talks is clear. These will be direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians,” said Obama, These negotiations are intended to resolve all final status issues. The goal is a settlement negotiated between the parties that ends the occupation which began in 1967, and results in the emergence of an independent democratic and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with a Jewish state of Israel and its other neighbours,” he said. “We are under no illusions. Passions run deep. Each side has legitimate and enduring interests. Years of mistrust will not disappear overnight …

“After all, there’s a reason that the two state solution has eluded previous generations. This is extraordinarily complex and extraordinarily difficult. But we know that the status quo is unsustainable.”

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New cemetery to be built in Hulhumale

Cabinet declared that that a new cemetery be constructed in Hulhumale, after a discussion over the lack of burial space at Male’s Aa-saharaa cemetery.

The new cemetery in Hulhumale’ will be built within four months, and will be used to bury the dead from Malé. The government will also make ferry arrangements to carry the dead to Hulhumale.

Minivan News reported in June that congestion in the cemetery had force the Male Male’ municipality council to being burying dead bodies on top of one another, by adding six feet of soil to the burial ground.

Islamic burial practices state that bodies must be buried six feet under the earth, and must not be stacked above other bodies – a logistical challenge for one of the most congested cities on the planet.

Head of Municipality Council Adam ‘Sarangu’ Manik said at the time that the council had “no other choice” because there was simply no other land in the city to bury dead bodies.

”We have to do it like this because every day one or two people need be buried there,” Adam explained.

”The soil was put on top of the graves and prepared by the former government,” he said. ”We have no other place to bury dead bodies, so we continued burying them there.”

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UK appoints new British High Commissioner to the Maldives

The UK has appointed John Rankin as British High Commissioner to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and Non-Resident British High Commissioner to the Republic of Maldives, succeeding Dr Peter Hayes in February 2011.

A statement from the High Commission said that Dr Hayes would be transferring to another diplomatic service appointment. 

Rankin has also served as Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Dublin, working on the Northern Ireland peace process, and was Her Majesty’s Consul General in Boston between 2003 and 2007, the High Commission stated.

He joined the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1988 as an Assistant Legal Adviser and served as legal adviser to the UK Mission to the UN and to the UK Mission to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He has been Director, Americas in the FCO since 2008, responsible for a network of over 30 British Embassies, High Commissions and other posts in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

John has a degree in Scots Law from the University of Glasgow and a Masters Degree in International Law from McGill University, Montreal. Prior to joining the FCO he qualified and practiced as a solicitor in Scotland and was a lecturer in public law at the University of Aberdeen.

Rankin said he was “I delighted and honoured to be appointed as High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. The United Kingdom and Sri Lanka have close and long-standing links, and I look forward to furthering the partnership between our countries.”

He added that he “similarly looks forward to developing even stronger relations with the Maldives as we pursue together our common interests.”

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Man stabbed in Sea House cafe

A 24-year-old man sitting by himself in Sea House Cafe, a popular venue for both locals and tourists above the Hulhumale ferry terminal, was stabbed at midnight on Monday.

Police Sub-Inspector Ahmed Shiyam told newspaper Haveeru that a group of men came to the cafe at around 1.23am and stabbed the man in two places.

Haveeru reported an eyewitness as claiming that a group of men followed the man into the cafe and chased him outside.

“Presumably they had some sort of quarrel,” the witness told Haveeru.

Restaurant staff saw the  bleeding and sent the man to the hospital, the witness added.

Shiyam confirmed the man was discharged from ADK Hospital after treatment.

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Three men arrested for drug possession

Police have arrested three men in Seenu Atoll for possession of 21 packets of suspected narcotics, reports Haveeru.

A 23-year-old man from Hithadhoo was arrested at midnight on Tuesday with five packets of alleged drugs in possession.

The other two men were arrested with 16 packets of suspected narcotics in their possession during a police operation, Haveeru reported, both of whom have prior drug records.

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President Nasheed among RISSC’s 500 most influential Muslims

Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed has been listed among the world’s top 500 most influential Muslims in 2010, by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (RISSC) of Jordan.

Nasheed was under the category ‘Environment’, for being “one of the most environmentally conscious state leaders in the world.”

“In the earliest stages of his political career, Nasheed was imprisoned for his criticism of his country’s government and became an Amnesty Prisoner of Conscience. Today, Nasheed has [promised] to make the Maldives carbon-neutral within a decade by moving the country’s energy reliance to wind and solar power only,” the RISSC report said.

State Minister of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed was also listed under ‘Administrative’.

Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, who visited the Maldives in May to deliver a sermon at the invitation of local NGO Jamiyyathul Salaf, was listed under ‘Media’.

RISSC described Philips as “a notable convert and Islamic scholar, Philips is founder of the virtual educational institution Islamic Online University and Discover Islam, an Islamic center based in Dubai.”

The report added that “In May 2010, Philips was the subject of a letter-writing campaign in the Maldives which condemned his preaching as a promotion of religious extremism. He was subsequently banned from entering the United Kingdom.

Dr Abdul-Karim Zakir Abdul-Karim Naik, who presented a sermon the Maldives in May on invitation of the Islamic Ministry, was also listed in top 500 under ‘Preachers’. He was described as “an Indian public intellectual teaching about Islam. He hosts huge public events where he speaks on Islam, highlighting misconceptions and promoting understanding about the faith.”

RISSC also noted that in June 2010, “Dr Naik was banned from entering the United Kingdom due to ‘unaccebtable behavour’. His public statements on terrorism and Osama bin Laden have contributed to his reputation as a controversial televangelist.”

His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, tops the list of most influential Muslims.

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Malaysia airlines adds direct flights to Male’ from Kuala Lampur

Malaysian Airlines has launched daily direct flights between Male’ and Kuala Lampur, starting today.

According to the new schedule for Friday-Wednesday, Malaysian/Maldives The flight will depart from Malaysia at 9:55pm Malaysian time and will land in the Maldives at 11:05pm local time. The flight will depart from the Maldives at 11:50pm, and land in Malaysia at 7:10am Malaysian time.

The Thursday flight will depart Kuala Lampur at 11:00pm and will land in the Maldives at 12:10am local time. The flight will depart Male’ at 1:00am and will arrive in Kuala Lampur at 8:20am.

A spokesperson from the airline said the airline had decided to introduce the service because of increasing demand, notably from the Chinese tourism market.

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