Author: Mohamed Reehaan

After an eight-year hiatus, the first Inter-School Singing Competition was announced by the Public Service Media (PSM). Recently, PSM announced that telecom and internet service provider Dhiraagu has partnered with the state media to launch the singing competition. A total of 32 schools will present 270 students under six different age categories in the 2023 event. Schools from Greater Male’ region and other atolls will take part. Speaking about the partnership, the Assistant Manager, Brand, Naya Shareef said that it was a great joy for Dhiraagu to be partnering up with PSM to bring the first inter-school singing competition after…

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined Bunny Holdings (BVI) Limited; one of the entities that make up the Soneva brand, for initiating coral propagation and restoration in Soneva Fushi without prior Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). EPA has said that it has verified the initiative was launched without conducting the EIA. The authority said they confirmed this based on the communication and documents exchanged between it and Soneva Fushi. Under the Penalty and Liability Regulation of EPA, BVI was fined with MVR 20,000 on Monday, last week. EPA demanded the hotelier company to pay the fine within 30 days from…

The Maldives government announced significant progress made towards facilitating visa-free travel for Maldivians to European Union (EU) states. The announcement was made in a joint statement issued following the fourth session of meetings between EU’s senior officials and the Maldivian government. As per the statement, the discussions between the parties focused on the island nation’s request for visa-free travel for Maldivian locals in visiting Eu member states. The statement also highlighted that the request will be considered during the next visa list review among the 26 European member states. However, the specific date for the review was not disclosed. Maldivians…

Tourist arrivals from both India and Russia have exceeded 100,000 from each market, as of 13th June 2023. According to the Ministry of Tourism in their latest statistics, the annual tourist arrival total as of the review date reached 857,444 which is a 14.2% increment compared to the same period last year. In 2022, the total tourist arrivals for the same period stood at 751,029. Top 10 Markets (13th June) India: 101,348 Russia: 100,593 UK: 76,148 Germany: 63,021 Italy: 62,078 China: 51,846 USA: 35,301 France: 29,748 Switzerland: 19,468 South Korea: 16,179 While tourist arrivals in annual terms observed a modest…

The Maldives government has increased disability allowances to MVR6,000. Prior to this move, the government was providing MVR 2,000 as financial assistance for individuals with special needs. According to the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services, different categories have been created to determine the increase allowance based on specific needs. This is the first revision of the disability allowance since its introduction 12 years back. At a press conference held at the President’s Office, the National Social Protection Agency (NSPA) said that President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has made the decision to provide an additional MVR1,000 on top of the…

The cumulative total of state expenditures reached MVR18.9 billion as of 01st June 2023, reports the Ministry of Finance. On the other hand, revenues inclusive of grants in annual terms hit MVR 14.1 billion by the same date. So far, 69% of the budget was spent on recurrent needs and 31% on capital needs. From the revenue composition, 76% was earned from tax sources and 24% from non-tax sources. The overall balance for the period is a deficit of MVR4.9 billion. The total tax revenues by the review date stood at MVR10.7 billion, and non-tax revenues at MVR3.2 billion. In…

The Ministry of Economic Development announced that the contractor financing the reclamation of Giraavaru lagoon will be granted Noonu atoll’s Dhigufalhu lagoon and Dhekenanfaru; an uninhabited island in the same atoll, on a 99-year lease as repayment. Under the large-scale reclamation efforts, 120 hectares of land will be reclaimed from Giraavaru lagoon. The ministry also said that the project will be completed during July 2023. In response to an RTI by local online news ‘Mihaaru’, the ministry said that the reclamation project of Giraavaru was to allocated a minimum of 2,000 plots of land. The reclamation project was contracted to…

The Ministry of Islamic Affairs has reopened the opportunity for low-income citizens to register for financial support. The Ministry on Sunday, 11th June, said that individuals who wished to register in the low-income or poor category can apply for it from Sunday until 22nd June. Individuals who wish to register can submit forms between 09:00hrs and 12:00hrs on weekdays. The opportunity is currently opened for citizens residing only in Male’ City, Vilimale’, and Hulhumale’. Additionally, the ministry said that those who received Zakat in 2023 and have not experienced any changes to their income are not required to re-register. However,…

The Maldives and the government of Seychelles have signed agreements to initiate aviation cooperation and waive on-arrival visas. The two countries signed four key agreements on Monday, June 12, amid the ongoing official visit by Seychelles President Wavel Ramkalawan. Announcing the signing of the agreements, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid said that under the newly signed Air Services Agreement, direct air transportation will be launched between the two countries. “The Air Services Agreement signed between the Maldives and Seychelles today, will allow direct flights between the Maldives and Seychelles, improve connectivity and increase people-to-people ties and boost tourist…

The Ministry of Finance has reported that the highest expenditure of the state, recorded for 2023 was allocated to road construction. According to the ministry, the government allocated MVR 578 million for road construction and redevelopment initiatives. The statistics released by the ministry confirmed that MVR 4.6 billion has been already spent on the Public Sector Investment Program (PSIP). The allocated budget for PSIP this year is MVR 8.5 billion, and as of now, 54% of the PSIP budget has already been utilized. PSIP Breakdown Water and Sanitation Projects: MVR 553 million Land Reclamation: MVR 540 million Regional Ports Development:…