Maldives Popular Websites Directory Launched by Ask Maldives

Male', Maldives, August 03, 2007 Askmaldives.com one of the leading travel website of Maldives have announced its new tool for web marketing, the Maldives Popular Websites. Askmaldives.com welcomes relevant websites about Maldives to be on top of the popular websites; it is an opportunity for those websites to take advantage of getting their website listed for free on the directory of popular websites about Maldives.

Ask Maldives is also looking for international tour marketing companies who are interested to meet tour operators located in the Maldives. Ask Maldives Consultancy is a marketing firm located in Maldives, the hot travel spot in the world for its breathtaking scenes from the islands with white sandy beaches and crystal clear lagoon, under water marine life, etc.

If you have relevant website about Maldives, then it's time to put some more efforts into its marketing campaigns on the internet and the opportunity offered by askmaldives.com will bring you satisfactory results.

The URL for the directory is http://maldiveswebsites.askmaldives.com/

To register your website in the directory free, please visit this link:
http://maldiveswebsites.askmaldives.com/index.php?a=join

Source: PR

Smog cloud over Asia a threat to water supply for 2bn

THEY call it the Asian Brown Cloud. Anyone who has flown over South Asia has seen it - a vast blanket of smog that covers much of the region.

It is also what colours those sunsets at the Taj Mahal. Now a group of scientists has carried out the first detailed study of the phenomenon and arrived at a troubling conclusion.

They say that it is causing Himalayan glaciers to melt, with potentially devastating consequences for more than two billion people in India, China, Bangladesh and other downstream countries.

In a study published yesterday by Nature, the British journal, they say that black soot particles in the cloud are absorbing the Sun's heat and pushing up temperatures at the same altitude as most Himalayan glaciers.

Scientists have already observed that two thirds of the 46,000 glaciers in the Himalayas are shrinking, leading to increasingly severe floods downstream and, eventually, to widespread drought.

Greenhouse gases were previously thought to be the main cause of the problem, which threatens the sources of Asia's nine main rivers - including the Indus, the Ganges and the Yangtze. But the research team from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California says that the Asian Brown Cloud - made up of gases and suspended particles known as aerosols - is just as much to blame.

"My one hope is that this finding will intensify the focus of Asian scientists and policy makers on the glacier issue," Veera-bhadran Ramanathan, who led the research, said.

"These glaciers are the source for major river systems, so at least two billion people are directly involved in this."

The cloud is an enormous plume of smoke from factories, power plants and wood or dung fires that stretches across the Indian subcontinent, into South-East Asia and over the northern Indian Ocean.

Professor Ramanathan's team examined it using three unmanned aircraft similar to those used by the US military, but fitted with 15 instruments to measure temperature, humidity and aerosol levels.

Heating

The drones were launched from the Maldives island of Hanimadhoo and carried out 18 missions over the Indian Ocean in March 2006, flying simultaneously through the cloud at different altitudes. They found that the cloud amplified the effects of solar heating on the surrounding air by 50pc.

The professor explained that some aerosols in the cloud reflected sunlight, cooling the earth beneath in a process known as "global dimming" that is also worrying climate change experts.

But there is some good news. Unlike greenhouse gases, aerosols drop to the ground after two to three weeks. Asian countries can tackle the problem quickly if they find alternatives to fuels, such as coal or diesel which account for the majority of aerosols in the air. (© The Times, London)

- Jeremy Page

Non-violent protest, They shall overcome—but perhaps not always

IT SEEMS a very long way from the grimy neo-classical buildings of downtown Belgrade to the Maldives, an Indian Ocean archipelago best known as an attractive holiday destination.

But for campaigners against Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who has ruled the 1,200 islets for nearly 30 years, the distance is not as great as it seems. Mr Gayoom's critics say they have taken heart from Serbia's October 2000 uprising, in which hundreds of thousands of people converged on the centre of the capital and forced Slobodan Milosevic to admit electoral defeat. “Comparisons can be drawn between Milosevic's Serbia and the current political situation in the Maldives.” That, at any rate, is the eager claim of an anti-Gayoom activist on an opposition website. He argues that in both cases, harsh, unaccountable rule led to miserable living standards.

The contrasts are also obvious: Milosevic was a globally infamous warmonger, whereas the politics of the islands are little known. Then take logistics: the Serbs who rose up against their leader could simply walk or drive to Belgrade; in the Maldives, many would-be rebels have to sail to their capital, Male.

For a growing community of activists and experts on the technique of non-violent action, the differences are secondary. The point, they say, is this: any authoritarian power can be shamed, discomfited, made to change course and ultimately overthrown if “people power” and shrewd tactics are combined. If this idea has had one big success, it is the “orange revolution” in Ukraine, where protests (see above) continue to be colourful.

In an electronic age, it is easy for opposition movements around the world to compare notes without help from others. But if protesters of many hues are meeting and cross-fertilising, that is in large part thanks to two groups based in Washington, DC, which help and publicise the work of non-violent campaigners. [Read more in Economist]

The visiting delegation of the Malaysian Parliamentary Delegation calls on the President

The visiting delegation of the Malaysian Parliamentary Delegation called on the President today. The Head of the Delegation was the Deputy Speaker of the Malaysian House of Representatives, Dr. Hj. Yusof Yacob.

The President extended a warm welcome to the Malaysian delegation, and said that he was extremely happy that the delegation had visited the Maldives. He also stated that this visit will further strengthen the existing friendly relations and contribute to opening new awareness for cooperation between the two countries.

The Delegation members said that their visit will enhance the ties between Malaysia and the Maldives, and in particular, between the two Parliaments. They also praised the progress the Maldives had made in developing the Tourism and Fisheries Industries as well as the natural beauty of the Maldives.

The meeting was attended by the Speaker of the People’s Majilis Mr. Ahmed Zahir, Minister at the President’s Office Ms Aneesa Ahmed, Executive Secretary to the President, Dr. Ahmed Shareef and the Deputy Minister at the President’s Office Mr. Abdulla Maseeh Mohamed.

Source: Maldives Info

Referendum to decide Maldives political system

The Indian Ocean tourist paradise of the Maldives will hold a referendum to decide the future role of its powerful presidency held by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom for the past 29 years, officials said Tuesday.

The main opposition party welcomed the move to hold a plebiscite next month on whether the presidency or a parliament should govern the country. “The referendum will give people the choice to decide whether they want to be ruled by a presidential or a parliamentary system of government,” Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) founder Mohamed Latheef said. Currently the country has an appointed body known as the Majlis which can comment on, but not change presidential legislation.

Political parties were allowed in the Maldives for the first time in June 2005 in line with reforms announced by President Gayoom who was originally elected in 1978 and is currently Asia’s longest-serving head of state. Home to around 300,000 Sunni Muslims, the Maldives has yet to hold multi-party elections and Gayoom’s opponents have accused him of clinging to power. The referendum is set to be held on August 18, Maldivian officials said.

Source: afp