Fergie and Josh Duhamel enjoy honeymoon in Maldives

Newlywed Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie has been relaxing on her Maldives honeymoon, canoeing and pottering about with husband Josh Duhamel.

Fergie, 33, and actor Josh, 36, tied the knot in Malibu on 10 January before jetting off to their secluded £10,000-a week suite at the One And Only Reethi Rah hotel.

A fan who chatted to Fergie at Los Angeles airport said: ‘She told me the wedding was amazing.’

On arriving at the hotel the singer headed straight to the spa for a massage, no doubt tired after the long flight and one-hour boat transfer to the island.

Josh and Fergie shunned the hotel restaurant in favour of a private barbecue served by their own butler at their villa. Fergie nibbled at grilled crayfish, before succumbing to a late-night attack of the munchies and ordering pasta from room service at 2am.

She was feeling more energetic the next day, grabbing a paddle as the couple took a canoe out
on the water. Josh seemed happy to let her take the strain while he merrily took snaps for the family album.

The two had been dating for four years before getting hitched, having met when The Black Eyed Peas appeared in an episode of Josh’s hit TV show Las Vegas. The romantic LA wedding had an all-white theme with Fergie – real name Stacy Ann Ferguson – and Josh exchanging vows under magnolia trees. There was tight security, with guests receiving details of the venue at the last minute.

Fergie’s mother Terri Jackson let slip some of the details, however. ‘Kid Rock was there, with Will.i.am rapping,’ she said. ‘It was an amazing show. It would cost you a fortune to see a show like that.

Quick - grab your copy of Now magazine dated 2 February 2009 to see the photos of Fergie and Josh Duhamel on honeymooon - out now!

Source: nowmagazine.co.uk

Maldives is competing in the “New 7 Wonders of Nature” Campaign

The Maldives archipelago has been nominated for the New 7 Wonders of Nature campaign. This campaign is a process in which seven natural wonders of the world are chosen by people through a global poll which will be declared in the year 2011.



The campaign is being organized by the Swiss based New7Wonders Foundation after their success in organizing the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. 261 qualified national and multinational nominees are now competing to make it to the top 77.

Please vote for Maldives by visiting www.visitmaldives.com or www.new7wonders.com. Voting continues from January 7th until July 7th 2009 to determine the top 77 in each of the seven competing categories. The New7Wonders Panel of Experts will select the 21 finalists from the top 77 nominees.

We would like to call all Maldivians, fans and well wishers of Maldives to join our effort to make Maldives as one of the Natural Wonders of the World.

Source: visitmaldives.com

Sri Lankan Construction Industrialists invited to Maldives Construction Fair 2009

Maldivies Construction Fair 2009 (MCF 2009) is scheduled to be held in Male, Maldives from 20th to 22nd April 2009 and press conference was held at Hotel Taj Samudra by the Maldives Association of Construction Industry to invite Sri Lankan Construction Industrialists to participate at this Fair.

It was indicated that last year 80 percent of the participants at MCF 2008 were Sri Lankan Construction Industrialists. But this year already various other countries also have booked their places at the MCF 2009 and Sri Lankan Industrialists would thus cover only about 60 percent

At the press briefing Mohamed Ali Janah, President, Maldives Associatin of Construction Industry said that in the Maldives the 30 years of one-man show of the Government is now over and the country now heads towards an era of the people and the private sector as even the Airports and the Ports in Maldives are be privatized.

He said that Maldives is a country that imports everything, even, sand is imported and now as the entire gamut of industry such as construction industry is widely open to the private sector their country has opened the opportunities for other countries to engage in industries in an equal, transparent and competitive manner.

The country’s main industry is the tourist industry and the private sector is now invited to participate in constructing more than 64 tourist resorts which would be US $ 30 to 40 million investments. There are plans to build 10 more airports and several ports. Thus there would be a tremendous amount of construction work in the Maldives.

This exhibition is held for the 4th consecutive year. There would be opportunities for interior design, architecture, building construction and engineering and the exhibition provides a common arena for the business community to exhibit their services and products.

Imran Hassan, Director, South Asia Exhibition Services who are part of the organizers of the Exhibition said that the choice of holding a construction fair in the Maldives continues to be the best choice as the Maldives was chosen as the "Indian Ocean’s Leading Destination’ at the World Travel Awards 2008.

Last year about 80 percent of the participants for the exhibition was from Sri Lanka. Mr Hassan told that this year as the competition is very high with the development activities in the Maldives, the Sri Lankan participation would come down to around 60 percent as other international construction industrialists have already booked in their places.

Source: asiantribune.com

Sri Lanka Galle Face group to build resort on Maldive island

Sri Lanka's Galle Face Hotels Group plans to build a 100-room luxury resort hotel on an atoll in the Maldivian archipelago, a senior official said.

Lakshman Sirimanne, group director, corporate development of the Galle Face Hotel group, said construction work on the resort on Gaafu Atoll, south of the capital Male, is about to begin.

"We have obtained all necessary approvals and completed the surveys of the island," he said.

"We're now in the process of fencing the land and building the quarters required for construction workers."

He said it was not possible to immediately reveal the group's investment in the project.

The Galle Face Hotel group is also putting in place the necessary ancillaries such as desalination units and sewerage units, as well as backfilling the island and dredging for a small jetty.

The company hopes to complete construction of the 200-bed resort by end-December 2009 and get into operation early next year, Sirimanne said.

A new subsidiary company of the Galle Face Hotel group has been incorporated in the Maldive islands.

The new hotel is sited on an uninhabited island which also has a domestic airport.and airport buildings.

The new Maldivian president Mohamed Nasheed, during his recent visit to Sri Lanka, announced that the Galle Face Hotel group was embarking on the project and also made a request for the airport to be modernized.

The Galle Face group started on the project after winning the bid for the island when it was put up for bids by the Maldivian government, which is focusing on developing the Gaafu Atoll.

Gaafu Atoll (also named Huvadhoo Atoll) is touted by surfers as having some of the best waves in the Maldives. It is also known to be good for scuba diving, snorkeling and sailing.

It is among the outer atolls of the Maldives and promoted as a surfing attraction without crowds as they are further away and harder to get to than the North and South Male Atolls

Source: .lankabusinessonline.com

India steps up defence ties with Maldives Mauritius

As part of its policy to further bolster military ties with Indian Ocean Region (IOR) countries and counter Chinese strategic moves in the region, India is stepping up the defence engagement with Maldives as well as Mauritius.

Defence minister A K Antony held talks with his counterpart from Maldives, Ameen Faisal, on Tuesday about the various steps which can be taken to boost defence cooperation between the two countries.

Almost simultaneously, a delegation from Mauritius held talks with an Indian Navy team to ascertain Mauritius' hydrographic requirements for 2009 as well assistance in setting up the requisite infrastructure there. "The delegation later left for Dehradun to hold talks with chief hydrographer Rear Admiral B R Rao there," said an official.

India has given military aid to both Maldives and Mauritius over the years since it sees itself as a major stakeholder in the security and stability of the IOR region.

In April 2006, for instance, then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee had visited Male to "transfer" INS Tillanchang, a 260-tonne fast-attack craft designed for fast and covert operations against smugglers, gun-runners and terrorists, to Maldives.

The military package also included Rs 6 crore for training, material and technical assistance. Moreover, an Indian Navy survey ship, INS Darshak, conducted a hydrographic survey in the waters around Maldives.

The Rajiv Gandhi government in November 1988 had rushed paratroopers and naval warships to Maldives under Operation Cactus to thwart the coup attempt against the then Abdul Gayoom government. More recently, it had deployed two ships and four aircraft to Maldives after the killer tsunami struck in end-2004.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com