IOC member Shahid Ali in advisory committee from South Asian region: Three Pakistanis named in OCA standing committees

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has finalised its standing committees during an executive board meeting held in Almaty (Kazakhstan) under the chairmanship of its president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahd Al Sabah, OCA advisor Muhammad Latif Butt told Daily Times here Wednesday. “Theses committees have been formed to provide opportunities to the smaller National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and give them representation in the Asian body,” added Latif Butt, a former Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) secretary general.

Latif Butt, also a former OCA vice president, said the smaller NOCs were ignored in the past and the influential NOCs used to monopolise and take lion’s share in the standing committees. “In the new setup, due consideration has been given to all the NOCs on the principle of broad based selection, suitability, experience and technical expertise,” he added.

Latif Butt said the chairmen of the standing committees were consulted before the final selection. Sixteen members have been selected from the South Asia Zone in the OCA standing committees for the next term of 4 years 2007-2011. “India, Bangladesh and Bhutan have one representative each, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have two representatives and Pakistan, Nepal and Maldives have three members,” he said.

The existing committees include athletes, culture and education, finance, information and statistics, media, medical, rules, sports, women. The newly established committees include sports for all, sports and environment, sports and peace, anti doping, coordination, advisory.

Standing Committees:

Pakistan: Khawaja Farooq Saeed in rules committee, Mohammad Yahya in culture and education committee and Fatima Lakhani in women’s committee. Syed Shahid Ali Shah, IOC member in Pakistan has been selected in the OCA advisory committee from South Asia region.

Maldives: Zahir Naseer in the finance committee, Muhammad Mahid Shareef in sports and environment committee and Ibrahim Ismail in sports committee.

Nepal: Dhruba Bahadur Paradhan in rules committee, Rabi Rajkarnikar in sports for all committee and Puroshttam Prasad Shrestha in information and statistics committee.

Afghanistan: Anwar Jakdalak in rules committee and Mrs Sabrinia Saqieb in women’s committee.

Sri Lanka: Hemasiri Fernando in coordination committee and HU Silva in the sports and environment committee.

Bangladesh: Kutabuddin in sports and environment committee.

Bhutan: Pema Tanzin in sports for all committee.

India: Dr Manmohan Singh in medical committee.

Source: Daily Time Pakistan

Chinese senior official meets Maldives party delegation

A senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) pledged to enhance cooperation with the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party (DRP) of Maldives on Thursday.

"The CPC would like to promote exchanges with the DRP based on the principles of independence, equality, mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs," said He Yong, a member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.

He, also deputy secretary of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said Sino-Maldives relations have developed in a healthy way since the two countries forged diplomatic ties, during a meeting with a DRP delegation headed by Aneesa Ahmed, leader of the DRP parliamentary group.

Aneesa spoke highly of Maldives-China relations, expressed gratitude for China's long-term aids, and reaffirmed the adherence of Maldives to one-China policy and the support on the Tibet issue.

Source: Xinhua

Low on the Water

Two hundred inhabited islets spread over 56,000 square miles of ocean. Superb diving, coral swarming with fish. More and more luxury resorts. Is it starting to feel crowded? Welcome to the Maldives, as Mike Di Paola explores a test case in the limits of development.

The temptation is strong to reach out and touch the giant manta ray. Some of these marvelous beasts with ten- to twelve-foot wingspans appear to invite contact as they glide toward us, flapping in slow motion, then slip underneath us, just inches away. Some get so close I can see right down their gullets, where rows of gill arches fairly glow in the dark like a Halloween skeleton. We six casual snorkelers gambol with these creatures for more than two hours, enjoying both the mantas and our ironic luck: The larger group of our party, another twenty divers, had suited up more seriously for proper scuba at another site—in hopes of meeting giant rays.

We're in the southeast corner of South Malé Atoll, one of the 1,200 Maldives in the Indian Ocean, in a protected marine area called Guraidhoo Kandu. Our dinghy driver radios the main boat with news of the manta ray sighting, and the message is relayed to the dive boat, a traditional wooden dhoni pimped out with modern scuba accoutrements. The boat delivers the other divers, who quickly join us and the rays. Another tender from the main boat motors in with crew and more snorkelers. Oddly enough, the dozen or so mantas stay in the area to swim with us.

Soon a pair of sailboats from a nearby resort show up, and by now it's starting to look like a reenactment of Omaha Beach. I watch in horror as one of the sailboats slices into the school of mantas, clipping one as it plows through, and it's then that I realize the Maldives' conundrum: This watery world of unsurpassed beauty attracts more and more people to experience it; will the growing crowds eventually destroy the very thing that brings them here?

I'm aboard a luxury dive boat, the Four Seasons' 128-foot Explorer, cruising around the atolls with the Berkeley-based environmental group Seacology, an organization devoted to protecting island ecosystems and cultures. The group has a very simple and effective MO: identify an island's needs (a school, a community center, a water tank) and then help the inhabitants get what they want in exchange for an agreement to protect the local ecosystem. Seacology's members make periodic jaunts to scope out potential projects and check up on established ones—in Fiji, Sumatra, the Virgin Islands, or eighty-one other islands around the world—and they usually have the good sense to combine their work with pleasure, which is why there will be a week of underwater frolicking before they visit Kendhoo Island, in the north.

Before embarking on the Explorer, I'd spent two days at the older of the Four Seasons' two resorts, the Kuda Huraa, to sleep off the grueling twenty hours of flying time. Although the first day passed in a jet-lagged Dramamine-tainted haze, I do recall how each staff member, from the greeter at the airport to the activities director at reception, took personal responsibility for the rain, with everyone describing the weather as "uncooperative." [Read More]

Source: Concierge

Maldivian Art Exhibition in Colombo

By Dushiyanthini Kanagasabapathipillai

Beyond the Tourists’ Eye - Issues of Identity in Maldivian Art, and exhibition of paintings by contemporary artists from the Maldives are being held at National Art Gallery in Colombo. The exhibition is organized by the High commission of the Republic of Maldives in association with National Art Gallery of Maldives. This is the first time that, Beyond the Tourists’ Eye tours abroad. There are plans to take the exhibition to New Delhi

Beyond the Tourists’ Eye - Issues of Identity in Maldivian Art was ceremonially inaugurated by Mahinda Yapa Abeywardane, Minister of Cultural Affairs on June 26th 2007, the exhibition will remain open until June 29 th 2007. The viewing hours are from 10am to 4pm. The participating artists are Ablow Arif, Afzal Shafiu Hassan, Mohamed Azzam, Nina Mohamed Manik, Mariyam Naeema Omar and Fathmath Zuhura. There are 28 paintings and installation displayed

It is hoped that taking the work of Maldivian artists to regional venues will help the artists establish themselves in these centers where the art scene is presently much livelier than in the Maldives.

Apart from the Maldivian High Commission in Colombo who will be officially assisting the NAG to organize the exhibition, the Sri Lankan artist group Theertha International Artists’ Collective will also be assisting the National Art Gallery to publicise the exhibition and Maldivian art in general. Three of Theertha members also visited the Maldives in September 2006 to study the Maldivian artist community and to assist the NAG in formulating strategies to develop the artist community and to promote their work both in the country and abroad. At the end of their visit, the group published their observations in a report – Assessment of the Dynamics of the Community of Artists in the Maldivian Community, which is available from the National Art Gallery. The exhibition Beyond the Tourists’ Eye has also been very much a response to the findings of Theertha in that the exhibition tried to reflect some of the issues that were raised in the report.

The main concern identified in the Theertha report was the overwhelming influence of the tourists’ souvenir market on Maldivian artists and their work. The negative influence of the tourist market stifled the creativity of visual artists as they primarily produced ’souvenir art’; or artifacts and objects that served as mementos for the holidays tourists spend in the Maldives. Other issues in the artist community of the Maldives that Theertha had identified in their report include;

1) the lack of representation of the complexity of life in Maldivian society,

2) a disconnection from the traditional arts and crafts of the country, and

3) a lack of exposure to critical feedback. The NAG hopes the organization of exhibitions similar to Beyond the Tourists’ Eye will encourage more artists to explore themes and issues more relevant to Maldivian culture through their art.

Theertha International Artists’ Collective extends its well wishes to the Embassy of Maldives and the National Art Gallery of Maldives for organizing the visual art exhibition, Beyond the Tourists’ Eye. This is an important step for establishing and strengthening art exchange between Sri Lanka and Maldives. This initiative is hoped to give inspiration to more future art interactions.

Source: humanityashore

Tourist Arrivals to the Maldives increased by 14.9% during January to May 2007

The tourist arrivals to the Maldives have increased by 14.9% with a total of 304,058 tourists during the period January to May 2007. For the same period in 2006 Maldives received 264,613 tourists.

Italy continues to lead the market with total 62,645 tourists capturing 20.6% share of the total arrivals to the Maldives during January to May 2007. The United Kingdom is the second generating market to the Maldives, capturing a market share of 17.5%. From January to May 2007 a total of 53,163 tourists visited the Maldives from the United Kingdom, which is an increase of 21.0% compared to the same period of 2006.

The other leading markets to the Maldives during the period of January to May 2007 include Germany with 10.8% market share, France with 8.6% market share, Japan with a market share of 4.8%, Russia with a 4.6% market share and China with 4.5% followed closely by Switzerland with a market share of 4.3%.

At end of May 2007, a total of 90 resorts and 10 hotels with a total bed capacity of 18,763 were registered with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. Out of these, 82 resorts and 10 hotels were in operation. The average number of beds in operation in resorts and hotels for the period January to May 2007 was 17,484.

With the total bed-nights of 2,380,936, during January to May 2007, the resorts and hotels in the Maldives had an average occupancy rate of 90.4%. The average duration of stay during this period was recorded to be 8.4 days.

At end of May 2007, there were a total of 124 safari vessels registered with the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation with a bed capacity of 1,679. The estimated average occupancy rate at live aboards during the first five months of 2007 is 70%.

Source: MTPB