Category: News in Brief

A’ Level pass rate 78 percent in 2011

Of the 1,515 students who sat for their A’ Level examinations this year, 78 percent passed in three subjects, the Education Ministry revealed at an award ceremony Thursday night to recognise top achievers.

This year’s top ten includes 188 students, 44 of whom were from atoll schools, with 15 students – a record number – achieving first place of the top ten. Two-thirds of the top ten achievers were female.

Four students received awards for achieving first place at international level while seven students earned A grade in more than three subjects.

The Chair of the Anti-Corruption Commission, Hassan Luthfy, was chief guest of the awarding ceremony.

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DhiFM apologises for broadcasting MNBC One live feed

Privately-owned radio station, DhiFM, has apologised for accidentally switching to a live feed of the MNBC One eight o’clock news bulletin on November 11.

Sun Online reported that Mohamed Jinah, head of news and current affairs at DhiFM, was questioned by police last Thursday after the state broadcaster lodged a complaint.

Jinah told press outside police headquarters that the radio station had apologised to MNBC CEO Mohamed Asif and explained how the incident occurred in a letter to Police Commissioner Ahmed Faseeh.

Jinah said he regretted the state broadcaster’s decision to file the complaint after Asif accepted the apology.

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Addu City Council to purchase Dhiraagu shares

Addu City Council will buy Rf 400,000 (US$26,000) worth of shares in telecoms provider Dhiraagu, reports Haveeru, following the company’s initial public offering last month.

Dhiraagu had earlier announced its intention to sell 11.4 million shares at Rf 80 (US$5.1).

“We’re completing the process of purchasing the stocks in order to gather funds for our activities. By the grace of God, it’ll be a successful investment,” Addu Mayor Abdulla ‘Soabe’ Sodiq was reported as saying in Haveeru.

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SAARC Summit reveals Indian interest in Gan: Daily Star

Addu in the south of Maldives suddenly became vibrant as all the eight heads of states and governments arrived for the Saarc Summit held on November 10 and 11, writes former Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the Maldives, Selina Mohsin, for Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper.

On July 28, 2011, the government of India provided a grant of US$5 million to Maldives for the Saarc Summit in Addu. In return, the government of Maldives officially handed over a plot of land in the capital for the Indian Mission. Simultaneously, agreements for the construction of a multi-disciplinary university and health centres and upgrading of an existing hospital in Laamu Gan in Addu Atoll were finalised with an Indian company.

Two earlier Saarc Summits were successfully hosted by Maldives in the capital Male. The necessary buildings and infrastructure were present in the capital so why was this summit held in Addu at such a great cost? Two reasons can be cited. The first was concern that opposition parties might create a disturbance during the Summit and the other was a preference by India in collaboration with Maldives to develop Addu Atoll. India has a particular interest in Gan island in Addu.

Gan’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean was identified by the British, who first established a base there during the 2nd World War as part of the Indian Ocean defenses. In 1956, the British took over Gan and developed a Royal Air Force base with a large runaway, jetties and a series of causeways connecting several islands in the Atoll, which served as a Cold War outpost. In 1976, the British pulled out. India had recently shown keen interest in Gan as a strategic location, but an attempt to establish a base there was revealed in the Indian media and halted after an outcry from the People’s Majlis of Maldives on issues of sovereignty.

After the Mumbai bombing, India began a project to network all the 7,500 km of its coastline with radar. India probably intends to include Maldives in its security grid to have a permanent presence in Gan for its surveillance aircraft and ships. Secondly, India would like a secure foothold in the Indian Ocean where the power of China is increasing. Beijing has pockets of influence around India with the Chinese built ports of Gwador in Pakistan and Hambatota in the southern coast of Sri Lanka. As 60 percent of Chinese oil imports come from Africa, China has to maintain its ability to protect its interests on this ocean route.

It is felt that India, by providing a grant for the Saarc Summit and by building facilities in Addu Atoll, will surely gain a strong presence in Gan.

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Local NGO sues BML over inability to withdraw dollars

A local NGO hosted in Naifaru of Lhaviyani Atoll has sued the Bank of Maldives, after the bank declined to issue dollars stored in the NGO’s dollar account with the bank.

Local newspaper SunFM reported that the NGO filed the suit in Naifaru Court, and claimed that the money was aid granted by foreign parties. The NGO said it was suffering major losses and an inability to function because the bank was declining to issue the dollars.

The paper reported that the NGO had requested Naifaru Court order the bank to release the money.

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Criminal Court concludes hearing in ‘dangerous criminal’ suit

The Criminal Court has concluded hearings in a case concerning Aseel Ismail, who was listed by the police as a ‘Dangerous Criminal’.

In the suit, the Prosecutor General accused Aseel of attacking a man using a knife and disturbing the peace during an unlawful assembly.

Aseel was already sentenced to eight years after the Criminal Court found him guilty of attacking a man with a machete.

The media reported that the court had scheduled to hear the victim speak, but was unable to hear from him he had since died of his injuries.

The media reported that the judge will deliver a verdict in the next hearing.

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Sleeping man attacked, robbed of Rf 200,000

Last night a group of people entered a house in Henveiru ward and attacked a middle-aged man while he was asleep in the house, before fleeing with more than Rf 200,000 (US$13,000), a laptop and a mobile phone.

Local media reported that police confirmed the incident, but gave little information about the case.

Newspaper Haveeru reported that the man was attacked with a screw driver and suffered injuries to his head.

Police are investigating the case.

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“Copenhagen Accord was not an admission of defeat”: Foreign Minister

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Naseem has delivered a keynote address in Dhaka at the Climate Vulnerable Forum organized by the Government of Bangladesh.

The forum was inaugurated by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and attended by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

“Today, conventional wisdom suggests that Copenhagen was a failure,” Naseem said. “I beg to differ. In my opinion, the Copenhagen Accord was not an admission of defeat, but the first step on the road towards a solution – a solution based on the vision laid down in the Male’ Declaration. That vision was simple: that global warming will only be halted when States realize the futility of arguing over whom should cut emissions, and begin competing to become the leaders of the new industrial revolution – a revolution based not on the finite power of coal and oil, but on the infinite power of the sun, sea and wind.”

Minister highlighted that it was the hope of President Nasheed that this year’s meeting will achieve on to remind the world of the plight of the most climate vulnerable countries and in so doing confront the  growing sense of apathy and re-energise the international community to  act.

Naseem also called for “a strong progressive message [at] COP 17 in Durban, encouraging the UNFCCC to establish a new legal framework on climate change which encourages and helps states take positive action, in other words to invest in low carbon technology, rather than only demanding that they accept negative obligations – namely to cut emissions.”

In his statement Minister also stressed on the challenges and difficulties faced by developing countries in shifting to a low carbon development pathway, and to give guidance to the international community regarding how it can best held and support that shift.

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