Four foreigners carrying 240 bottles of alcohol were captured by police on Friday night near the T-Jetty area in Malé.
They were caught loading nine cases of alcohol into a van registered to Lily Enterprises.
The van and the alcohol are now under police custody and the foreigners are under arrest.
Police would not give any details as the case is still under investigation.
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(0)The infamously brutal Times restaurant critic AA Gill has visited the Maldives, describing it in the major UK newspaper as a “Disneyland of extinction”.
Staying at the Reethi Rah resort, Gill questioned the “holiday-island tropical assumption that people who do lots and lots of nervy, shouty business in the First World need to go to the Third World and listen to birdsong and panpipes to stop.”
He described the resort as having a “spookily ethereal quality, as if it’s hiding something.”
“Perhaps, underneath it, a James Bond villain is building a space rocket. Maybe it’s the set for a huge, elaborate reality porno movie,” Gill wrote in the Times.
He also marvelled at the economy of the Maldives: “Before the international hotels came, the Maldives’ main industries were dried tuna, exported to Sri Lanka, and the RAF base on the island of Gan.”
“Sushi and bombs isn’t exactly the green option, and there is nothing else for the Maldives to do except make coconut matting, so it has to be tourism,” he wrote.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed marked the occasion of the Prophet’s (PBUH) birthday and spoke of the history of Shari’ah law in the Maldives during his weekly radio address on the Voice of Maldives.
President Nasheed said Shari’ah law has a unique position in the Maldives, as it’s among the few countries that have practised Islamic law uninterrupted for a long period of time.
“Since the conversion to Islam about 900 years ago, the Maldives has continuously practised Shari’ah,” said President Nasheed.
He said other Muslim countries have practised limited Shari’ah, like Egypt, who adopted the Napoleonic Code after Napoleon’s invasion, and Malaysia, adopting English common law.
The president also mentioned the importance of Islamic scholars who served as chief justices in the Maldives. Historically, they have been the highest authority of Islam, and ensured the continuity of the practise of Shari’ah.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Nasheed will deliver a presidential address tomorrow at the People’s Majlis.
The president’s address will be delivered at 10:00am tomorrow, marking the first parliamentary session for this year.
President Nasheed declared 1 March a public holiday last week to commemorate the first sitting of the year of the People’s Majlis.
The presidential address will be webcast live via the President’s Office website
(0)Dislikes(0)Vice President of the DRP Umar Naseer has told the Asian Tribune the Maldivian government has been trying to intimidate the opposition “ever since they took office”.
Naseer said he had been arrested twice, tear gassed three times and summoned by police five times “under President Mohamed Nasheed’s regime”.
“This is all in response to our peaceful protest against government policies,” he said.
Naseer was summoned to police headquarters for questioning week after CCTV footage emerged of him shaking the gates of MNDF headquarters during a protest on 28 January.
(0)Dislikes(0)President Mohamed Nasheed has appointed Ali Rasheed as managing director of Waste Management Corporation Limited (WMC).
The company was established in December 2008 as government companies with one hundred percent government shares. Their objective is to manage and strengthen the waste management system in the country.
The WMC’s main services are waste collection, disposal of waste in environmentally friendly and sustainable manner, and recycling.
(0)Dislikes(0)The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) has promoted two officers to the rank of Brigadier General, reports Miadhu.
Principal Director of Millitary Liaison Colonel Abdullah Shamaal and Principal Director of Intelligence Colonel Ahmed Nilaam were promoted in a special ceremony conducted by the Minister of Defence Ameen Faisal.
(0)Dislikes(0)Banyan Tree Holdings, which owns the Banyan Tree resort in Maldvies, has turned a US$3 million profit in the final quarter of 2009 on the back of $7 million losses in the same period of 2008.
The company reported revenue growth from hotels in China and the Maldives, and particularly strong growth hotels and resorts in Thailand.
Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings Ho Kwon Ping, said he was “cautiously optimistic of a better performance in 2010, with the global economy off to an earlier start than expected.”
(0)Dislikes(0)Ahmed Thasmeen Ali will officially take leadership of the DRP on 20 April, reports Miadhu.
Former DRP Leader Maumoon Abdul Gayoom will also officially relinquishing the office and assume the title of honorary leader.
There will also be a ceremony to induct the new deputy leaders, including Ali Waheed, Ibrahim Shareef, Ilham Ahmed and Umar Naseer, and President and Vice President of the women’s branch Dunya Maumoon and Rozina Adam.
Ahmed Mahloof and Ghassan Maumoon were elected as President and Vice President of the Youth Branch.
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