California Schools to Phase out Textbooks

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has unveiled a plan to save money by phasing out school textbooks in favor of internet aids, BBC reports. He says converting to online study will help keep pupils more up-to-date.

Gov Schwarzenegger believes internet activities such as Facebook, Twitter and downloading to iPods show that young people are the first to adopt new online technologies, and so the internet is also the best way to learn in classrooms. But it is believed the real reason Gov Schwarzenegger wants the change is money. Last year California spent $350m on textbooks and can no longer afford it.

The Maldives also spends millions of rufiyaa each year to provide school textbooks, many of which are actually not used in classrooms according to parents. Perhaps we could also think of going for I-textbooks in the future. But it is currently not feasible as most students don't have easy access to computers either at school or home.

[To read more on the California initiative click here.]

Dr. Shaheed sues Umar Naseer

Legal redressal for defamation is a necessary evil, as Foreign Minister Dr. Ahmed Shaheed would tell you. He has on Sunday filed a civil lawsuit against Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) leader Umar Naseer to recover Rf. 57,898,477 from him for alleged defamation.

Such lawsuits are the downside of unfettered freedom of expression, which in recent years has caused irreparable damage to the reputations of respected public figures. Something had to be done about it. As Shaheed's lawyer Dr. Mohamed Jameel said, one hopes this case will set a legal precedence that would be a deterrent to anyone tempted to make unsubstantiated accusations against opponents. Miadhu Daily quotes Dr. Jameel as saying, "We have to make people who make such allegations answerable and accountable. There are certain limits and boundaries stipulated in the new Constitution for freedom of expression."

Explaining how the figure of 57,898,477 was calculated Jameel said the amount included his fees as well as reparation for damages to Shaheed and his family's reputation and his future career prospects. He said this is how such are calculations are made in other countries too.

Miadhu Daily reports that Islamic Democratic Party (IDP) in early March alleged that senior government officials, including foreign minister Dr. Shaheed, accepted US $ 2 million in bribes to recognize Kosovo independence. The bribe was allegedly from Behgjet Pacolli, the leader of New Kosovo Alliance (NKA).

Back to Bicycle

The recently introduced ‘Back to Bicycle’ and ‘Walk to School’ campaigns are noble initiatives –on paper. For them to actually come to the roads certain basic issues must be addressed –issues that forced men to buy motorcycles and girls to become pillion riders in the not too distant past.

In one way, the Walk to School program is already 80% achieved even before it is launched. That’s because approximately that proportion of parents who take kids to primary schools are women and nearly all of them walk –not a problem because in most cases primary schools are within walking distance. The remaining 20% of parents are men who take their kids on motorcycles. It will be this 20% who must be persuaded to walk to school. In order to facilitate this they must be given more time off from work.

Imagine someone who works in Ghaazee building. If he has to take a kid to Taajuddin School he will need about 40 minutes for the 3-way trip. It will take a lot of persuasion to make someone do this in the mid afternoon sun, especially if that someone has a motorcycle. Further if 40 minutes of the one hour break is spent for the trip, he will need an additional half an hour for lunch.

Not long ago, most people in Male had bicycles. Girls used to ride nice looking brands of bicycles instead of riding behind someone. All this stopped mainly because of uncontrolled bicycle theft. Motorcycle thefts are relatively less common, not because they are more difficult to steal, but because they are more difficult to dispose off since they require registration and regular updating of fee payments.

Looking back on the whole thing, bicycles could have been retained on the streets if some minimum facilities were provided. For example, keeping a parking attendant or two around Huravee/Ghaazee building area and a few other strategically located places could have prevented a lot of thefts. But that was the past. How do we do it now?

Sibling Rivalry among Majududdine’s Descendants

The ongoing legal imbroglio between Yacht Tours and Maldives Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has drawn in quite a few of the descendants of Chief Justice Ibrahim Majududdine, an illustrious personage of the Meedhoo line of judges. Majududdine served during the reign of King Mohammed Imaduddine IV during the 19th Century. Many of his sons, grandsons and great grandsons held and continue to hold key positions in the legal system in Maldives.

As an interesting coincidence, Majududdine's great grand children are playing lead roles in all aspects of the Yacht Tours case. To start with, Yacht Tours owner Jabir is married to former Attorney General Dhiyana Saeed, a descendant of Majududdine. Tourism Minister Dr. Sawad is also married to a descendant of Majududdine. Chief Justice Abdullah Saeed is a direct descendant of Majududdine, and so is Attorney General Husnu Suood, who has recently stated he will play a role in the case. Prosecutor General Ahmed Muizzu is also a descendant of Majududdine, though so far there has been no role for him in the Yacht Tours case as no criminal liability has been identified so far.

The Yacht Tours drama is being enacted against the backdrop of the approaching appointment of the first Chief Justice of Maldives under the new Constitution. Some possible choices for the prestigious post include, Husnu Suood, Abdullah Saeed, Muizzu and Dhiyana. Other possible choices among the descendants include Hassan Saeed and Munavvar. Of course there are very strong contenders, who are not related to Majududdine, for example Justice Ahmed Faiz Hussain and Shaheen Hameed.

In the meanwhile the Yacht tours case appears to be hotting up. Minivan News reports that when Suood was asked about the inordinate delay in resolving the dispute he laid the responsibility squarely on the doorstep of Abdullah Saeed. "When the Chief Justice does his duty, then it will be solved," he said. Strong words indeed.

On his part Abdullah Saeed isn't backing down either. "We can't hold a stick to them [Civil Court] and tell them to speed it up," he retorted. "I don't accept the attorney general can make such statements. It amounts to undue influence over the courts." He explained the case was in the Civil Court's jurisdiction and the Supreme Court only had a supervisory role over that court.

Beauty Health Body Light Parlor Busted

The Police have arrested 5 women working in 'Beauty Health Body Light' massage parlor and charged them with prostitution yesterday. The five women, all Thai nationals, were aged between 33 and 41.

According to police sources, the five have confessed to providing 'indecent' favors in exchange for monetary incentives. The police also found in their possession a large quantity of cash and money transfer slips, which they believe to be the proceeds from prostitution.

Massage parlors had been legal in the Maldives since Ms. A**** F*** was licensed by Ministry of Health in 1998 to operate an aroma therapy and masseur training center on the recommendation of a VVIP politician. Ms. A had been a colleague of the politician when he was working as a teacher in Aminiya School in the 1970s before entering politics.

Massage parlors were de-licensed two years back following sustained pressure from Umar Naseer and his Islamic Democratic Party. However, they continue to operate under various guises.

Need for Managing the Expatriate Labor Force

Going by media reports, it appears as if most Maldivians believe that the 80,839 expatriate workers in the Maldives are an ‘issue’ or a ‘problem’ that needs to be solved, perhaps by repatriating them. However, as Human Rights Commission of the Maldives has said in its statement issued on 10th March, expatriate workers make a valuable contribution without which the Maldivian economy will be severely crippled. Thus, what is needed is not repatriation but solving the administrative, regulatory and law enforcement issues related to the expatriate labor force, some of which are:
Administrative issues:
At the end of 2008 there were 80,839 expatriates, up 10,075 from the70,764 at the beginning of the year. In addition, there were approximately 20,000 illegal immigrants according to the Human Resources Ministry. Recently on June 1st, the Ministry has started a registration program for them.
Law and order issues:
In some cases expatriates have been the victims of law and order issues, while in other cases they have been the perpetrators. Here are a few examples from this year:
-Eight persons were arrested on 19 February 2009 on charges of prostitution.
-Two expatriate waiters in a restaurant were arrested on 21 Feb on charges of credit card fraud worth Rf. 700,000.
-A Bangladeshi worker was found strangulated in Thilafushi on 16 April
-Two expatriates were arrested on 21 April with several cases of illegal Vodka.
-Four expatriate workers were arrested in Hulhudhoo, Addu Atoll, on 23 May for group violence.
-A Bangladeshi migrant was found badly battered and murdered on Hulhumale Beach on 1st June. Another Bangladeshi was arrested as a suspect in the case.
Exploitation and human rights violation:
- An expatriate worker fell to death from a demolition site on 11 February.
-A large number of expatriates organized a strike on 15 February saying their salaries were not paid.
-Employees of a prominent construction company organized a protest on 13 April saying their salaries were not paid.

One More Coincidence of the Titanic

The sinking of the great ship Titanic has been associated with an eerie series of coincidences that is still continuing. The latest in this series is the death on Sunday of Millvina Dean, the last surviving Titanic passenger. She died exactly on the 98th Anniversary of the launching of Titanic on 31 May 1911. When Millvina died she had just entered the 98th year of her life.

Some 14 years before the RMS Titanic struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912, a novel written by Morgan Robertson had described another ocean liner, which set sail from Southampton on her maiden voyage. She struck an iceberg and sunk with a heavy loss of life, since there were not enough life boats on board. The name of the vessel in Robertson's novel, Futility, was Titan.

The similarity between the two ships didn't end with the names. Titan and Titanic were approximately the same size, were capable of attaining the same speed, and both were capable of carrying approximately 3,000 people. Both ships were described as "unsinkable" and both ships went down in the same area of the North Atlantic.

William Thomas Stead, a journalist, wrote a short story in 1892 that resembled the Titanic disaster. Stead was also a spiritualist who had received messages through mediums urging him not to set foot on the Titanic. He ignored the warnings and was one of Titanic's 2,223 passengers who died on the fateful voyage.