Happy New Year 2012 !

“Cheers to New Year and another chance for us to get it right.” - Oprah Winfrey

With the beginning of each year, there will be new dreams, possibilities and hopes. Every year teach us some important lessons. Therefore it’s on our hand to learn from it and put our step forward into the New Year.

When I glimpse into 2011, I faced tons of things. This includes positive and negative scenarios as well.

When considering the positive aspects, in 2011 I started my college life. I learned how to live alone without my parents (something important). I have got some awesome new comers into my life yet sticking with me. . . .

When turning to the negative side, it is the worst year of my life. I have been through loads of problems which were difficult to solve. Some people walked away from my life and also few things caused my life to take a totally different turn, which I have never expeected even. . . .

There were so many firsts happened in my life during 2011. But overall, it was not a good year for me. Hence, I am looking forward for a better and successful year ahead. 

Wish you all a very happy New Year 2012. 

There are so many predictions about the year 2012. Let’s see how things turn out!

NIGHT FUSION - MY NEW ADDICTION !!

One night in September, a friend called and asked me to tune into Capital Radio 93.6 FM. There was an interview going on with an artist. So, for the first time I tuned into a radio channel from my phone. This is how I knew about Capital Radio 93.6 FM.

I was looking for an English show. And soon I knew about an English show which comes from Capital Radio 93.6 FM. Name of the show is Night Fusion sponsored by Wataniya. This show is hosted by an awesome RJ, RJ Bad Boy.

Night Fusion is a show which plays all the latest and hottest English songs. The show airs on every night Saturday to Thursday at 21 hours to 23 hours. Every night a topic is included in the show and participants share their views about the topic.

From Saturday to Wednesday participants can request any song they like. But Thursday is the playlist night. Bad Boy will bring on a playlist and participants have to choose a song from the list, therefore no new requests on Thursdays.

This show is mainly focused on youths in Maldives and also to those who are studying or living in abroad. Night Fusion is the best English show airing on in Maldives.

I have been listening to the show from October. And now I am a big fan of the show and a big fan of Bad Boy as well. I can say I am addicted to the show.

In order to participate in the show, you can call, text or even join to the shout box by login into www.capitalradio936.com. And also you can request any song and you can contribute topics for the show via Bad Boy’s fan page on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/rjbadboyfanpage). 

Follow Bad Boy via twitter @RJBadBoy.

Increase in expatriate workers in Maldives - A plague? (1)

Maldives is a small nation consisting of a population of 350,000 people. Recently, the population of expatriate workers has increased s to 80,000. This means 25% of the population is covered by them. Simply, for every 3 Maldivian there is one expat. Most of this foreign-born population consists of Indians and Bangladeshi. This increasing rate of expatriate workers in Maldives is much higher than the rate of some developed countries like Dubai. This hasty increase in expatriates has got a lot of problems in Maldives including social, economical and political as well. Before highlighting these problems first we should know why the expatriates appeared.

Traditionally fishery was the main occupation in the Maldives. Economy was based on fishing industry. Transformation to a modern economy was never in our ancestors mind. This is because Maldives is not blessed with many natural resources other than its beauty and rich seas. And also there was not much connection with the outside world. This narrow thinking has kept them in a ‘nut shell’ until the Maldivian economy started propelling into a modern economy from a fishing economy. This rapid change has occurred within a generation. This fast transformation of economy left a serious gap between the skill needed to operate a modern economy and the amount of nationals trained up to the required skills. In order to fill this gap expatriate workers turned up.

In addition to this, construction is one of the most important economic sectors in Maldives now. This sector has grown rapidly in recent years due to tourism sector and other developments. Contractors mostly rely on foreign labour markets (India, Bangladesh, Nepal etc). This is because number of locals engaged in these works was low. According to the information provided by Ministry of higher education employment and labour, by the year 2003, 6,502 expatriates have brought to Maldives for constructions work. Higher education and high skill levels are not required in this sector. Therefore, this is how less educated or low skilled expatriates started to appear in Maldivian economy.

Furthermore, Tourism is the most dynamic economic sector in Maldives. The country mostly depends on this sector. When tourism sector started in Maldives, there were fewer locals educated in the same field. Therefore, for this sector also there was a need of expatriates. Here the only difference compared to the other two sectors is, expatriates employed in this sector should be highly educated. Ministry of higher education employment and labour says that, by the year 2003, the amount of expatriates brought for this sector was 9,420. This is how expatriates appeared in Maldivian economy through this sector.

Other than economy, expatriates have appeared in our social life as well. Recently people in Male’ or people in capital islands of atolls use to accommodate children from islands in order to educate them. These children do almost all the household works. But from recent years, families are moving to developed islands. Because of this, those people were not getting locals to do those simple household works. As a result people started seeking for foreign people who would do these works. For this works, most number of females was brought. Other than the females, most of the males engaged in these works are doing it for part time.

Expatriates have appeared into our politics as well. When the number of expatriates increased rapidly, there is little percentage of people disobeying the law. Number of illegal expatriates was increasing day by day. There are around 30,000 illegal expat workers in Maldives today. These expats are working in the black market for low prices without informing to their local employer. 

To be continued . . . .

Refuse, Reuse and Recycle !!

Nuzha Naashidh
[ECOCARE Maldives]


http://ecocare.mv/

Plastic is a well known obsession which is made out of oil by a chemical process. This is light in weight and is used to make different objects. Since 1852, the discovery of plastic by Alexender Parkes, it has become an irrefutable part of human life. Plastic bags are made of a petroleum product which is known as polythene. The shopping bag which we get from the super market is a good example of plastic which almost everyone uses daily. Around 90% of grocery bags are made of plastic. This small and light object creates an huge impact on the environment and as well as its inhabitants. These impacts are being discussing from long ago, yet the usage is not affected much.

How many? Why is it an environmental hazard?

Plastic bags are very familiar with both retailers as well as the customers. This is because plastic bags are cheap to produce, easy to carry, abundant in supply etc. It is a hygienic means of carrying food and other goods. Annualy almost one hundred billion plastic bags are being used in United States of America itself. Its being thrown away on to road, garbage area, parks, waterways and beaches, due to the excess supply and low cost. As a result, our landscape gets messed. And when these bags are burned out, it produces a toxic substances leading to air pollution.

Approximately 70% of the world is covered with water. Throwing bags creates a massive impact on our marine eco system. Thrown bags can wash up to thousands and thousands of miles of coastline.

Plastic bags are non-biodegradable which remains forhundreds of years . Each year around 100,000 animals are killed due to plastic bags. Including the turtles, dolphins, whales and penguins . Mostly the death occurs due to the ingestion of bags, which they consume as their food.

As mentioned before, plastic bags are made of polythene which is a petroleum product. Petroleum is lacking its quantity by each passing day. Due to this the whole world is in search of renewable energy. This petroleum is vital for our day to day life. If the petroleum vanishes, it will nearly freeze the whole modern world. Therefore a crucial thing should not be misused in producing harmful substances.

http://ecocare.mv/

To overcome the environmental hazard-how?

One way to prevent this environmental hazard is recycling or reusing it. By doing this disposition of these bags to soil and water bodies will be reduced. Photodegradation is a chemical process used to disgrace plastic bags. But during this process appearance of small toxic forms which causes high impact on our environment. However, by reusing the plastic saves our environment from those substances. To carry out this process, a huge ground is needed where there will be no any harm to biotic life.

In addition to this, one of the simplest things each individual can do is carrying out their own bag to the market. It should be made out of a material which is not harmful to our environment and biodegradable. This can be done by keeping few folded bags, so that whenever something is needed we can acquire it. Some people feel difficult and useless to carry their own bags with them. It is important to provide awareness programs and educate those thinkers. Plus to encourage and motivate those citizens, using their own bags, which is also inspiring for others to do so.

Moreover using a substitute like liquid wood (named as arboform) can be helpful. It is a thermoplastic prepared by using natural fibers, wax and lignin (which is non toxic, rich in renewable source and can be degradable). Arboform is made by using the waste materials of paper factories. However, the carbon dioxide released due to the usage of arboform remains unaffected as it discharges the same amount of carbon dioxide which a plant leaves into the atmosphere. Arboform can be discarded like woods and before disposal it does not need any difficult process to change its chemical position.

LETS BE THE CHANGE!

The planet we live is shared with number of living creatures. A single bag which we throw can remain somewhere on the earth for around thousand years.Which can be disasterous. If each and every single individual practice simple tasks like carrying own disposable shopping bags, reusing bags, moving on substitutes can make a vast difference on plastic bag consumption. As Mahathma Gandhi said “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Learning Skills for Open Distance Learners

Learning could be defined as “the acquisition of knowledge or skill through education and experience”. As the world is changing, it is our responsibility to learn things and be informed well. There are certain barriers while learning or for a learner. It includes things like having stress, low motivation, time management problems etc. For a student of any college or school it is important to know how to tackle the barriers of learning. In this essay I will be focusing on the important skills I have learnt through ODL (Learning Skills for Open Distance Learners) and how these skills have brought a change in my academic life.

One of the most important things I learned in this module is identifying which type of a learner I am. Everyone has their own learning style and it is beneficial for a student to know about the learning style. This is because; this helps in knowing how to gain information from sources. Knowing about the learning style makes it easier to pinpoint the difficult areas. All these years I have been studying without knowing my own learning style. Now I am able to know in which way I should work in order to do the learning more effectively. This in case helps me in improving my results as well.

Goals are defined as “setting realistic, easily achievable steps in place towards fulfilling something that you want”. Goals can help a person to be focused on a particular thing he wants to achieve. Goal setting is known as the fundamental of attaining success in any endeavor. While studying it is important to set short term goals like, grades he wants to achieve in a semester or trimester. After knowing to set goals it has become easy for me to work towards my destination in achieving good results.

The next thing I learned in this module is managing stress. Stress is defined as “the normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way”. Stress can be caused due to work loads, family problems, finances, health, social relationships, friends, etc. High stress level reduces the concentration level of a person. Therefore, it is important to know how to manage stress in order to be an effective learner. By using the strategies like organizing myself, relaxing, enjoying, having a better environment to study has improved my concentration level and it helped me to reduce the stress.

In each and everything a person do, he should be motivated. This is because without motivation no one can do a task in a better way. Motivation is the desire to achieve something. A student should be well motivated towards studies in order to get good results. In ODL I have learned motivational strategies like setting goals, building positive attitudes, using active learning strategies, etc. These strategies helped me in developing a positive attitude toward my studies.

To be an efficient learner it is important to learn the above mentioned strategies. It helps in building positive attitude towards studies and also these strategies help in gaining better knowledge. Learning cannot be complete without knowing these skills. In a Chinese proverb it is said that “Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere”.

WhEn yOuh aRe goNe..!!!

http://www.google.com/

'Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. very dark, but there were stars points of light and reason...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything.'

PS. This is my favourite quote of Edward Cullen in twilight saga. This is related to me even. So I just thought of sharing it with you all. This is dedicated to someone and I do not want to mention the name, I guess he himself will know after reading it. I still love you like before...

Evaluating the new Maldivian exchange rate system..

Introduction
Globalization; a well known phenomenon throughout the world has escorted to a crucial continuance in increasing international trade (movement of goods between different countries). This gives countries like Maldives an opportunity to be exposed to goods and services in the international market. Maldives is small and an import oriented economy, where around 75% of the economy depends on imports. In order to trade, exchange of money takes place based on a particular exchange rate. Therefore an exchange rate could be defined as “the price at which the national currency is valued in relation to a foreign currency” (Latter, 1996, p.9).

Fixed exchange rate regime was the exchange rate policy used in Maldives previously. At that time the exchange rate was 12.85 Rufiyaa per US Dollar (MMA, 2011). In April 2011, there was a shift from fixed exchange rate to a managed floating exchange rate. The central bank or the MMA did not leave the exchange rate wholly to market forces. It means the MMA is having some degree of intervention into the market. With this change, now the exchange rate is authorized to fluctuate within a band. The midpoint of the band is 12.85 and there is an increase and decrease of 20 percent from 12.85. That is between 10.28 Rufiyaa and 15.42 Rufiyaa (MMA, 2011).

Exchange rate policy has been labeled as one of the most significant up-and-downs in the economies of developing countries. There are different theories used for forecasting the movement of exchange rate. However, there is not any best theory as different countries are having different economic environments. There are two discrete types of exchange rate; fixed exchange rate (“a type of exchange rate regime wherein a currency’s value is matched to the value of another single currency or to a basket of other currencies, or to another measure of value, such as gold” (Wikipedia, 2011)) and floating exchange rate (“a market-driven price for currency, whereby the exchange rate is determined entirely by the free market forces of demand and supply of currencies with no government intervention whatsoever”(articlesbase, 2007)).

Why choose a floating exchange rate? 
In theory, a floating exchange rate allows an automatic balance of payment amendments. For example, if a country is having a balance of payment deficit then the depreciation of currency should take place. As depreciation leads to making exports cheap and imports more expensive, accordingly demand for home goods will increase and demand for foreign goods will decrease following a decrease in balance of payment deficit. Conversely, to abolish the balance of payment surplus currency should be appreciated.

In addition to this, floating exchange rate permits the monetary authorities more freedom to use interest rate as a monetary tool to manage domestic economy. This helps to protect the domestic economy from world economic fluctuations. For example, in 1992 UK moved to a floating exchange rate system and this allowed a high cut in interest rate. As a result UK was able to come out of a prolonged recession (Tutor2u, n.d).

Moreover, floating exchange rate is a more accurate reflection of the value of the currency. It will reduce the trading of domestic currency in the black market comparing with times when the currency was fixed too high. For example, introducing exchange rate in Seychelles in the year 2008 resolved the black market exchange (IMF,2011).

Other than these, floating exchange rate lowers the foreign exchange reserves. When the exchange rate is fixed, a country will have to hold large amounts of foreign currency. This is done in order to defend the fixed rate. These reserves have a high opportunity cost on the economy. For example, reserves can be used in giving subsidies.

Why avoid floating exchange rate? 
According to the J curve effect, automatic balancing of balance of payment depends on the elasticity of goods which a country imports. For example, Maldives is depending on imports. Therefore the price elasticity of demand for imports is very low; people do not have an alternative. So no matter how expensive foreign goods are they consume imported goods causing a deficit in current account and also it creates a high inflation in domestic economy.

A floating exchange rate can worsen the inflation. If a country is having a high inflation rate compared with others, this in turn reduces the export of that country. For example, in Maldives it now costs more than before to produce a can of tuna. Therefore the trading partners of Maldives may turn to other countries which produce tuna that are cheaper with low rates of inflation. Loss of competitiveness worsens the current account balance.

Furthermore, floating exchange rate creates uncertainty for the businesses and it might reduce the domestic investment and the foreign investment (Foreign Direct Investment). For example, a business about to invest in building a yacht, under a fixed rate, the investor knows exactly how much it will cost in Rufiyaa because the rate is fixed. In contrast, under a floating system the price will change daily so that the final cost would be much higher than previously expected. This will discourage the investors.

A look back on the Maldivian Exchange rate 
According to MMA, Maldives joined International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1978 (n.d). With the support and help from IMF, on 1st July 1981 Maldives Monetary Authority (MMA) came into existence (MMA, n.d). The main duties of MMA were to check the availability of money, providing the money supply and to adjust the value of money. Therefore the exchange rates were fixed by the MMA from that year itself. Exchange rate was there even before the existence of MMA. The following graph (figure 1.1) shows an overview of the exchange rates in Maldives from 1960 to 2008.

 
Source: International Financial Statistics (IFS) of IMF
 Comparison
According to Meltzer, till august 1971 Japan sustained a fixed exchange rate. After the collapse of Bretton Woods system, in 1985 and also due to a high inflation in the economy, Japan adopted a managed market economy where there is some degree of interference by the central bank (n.d). This change in exchange rate brought a vast improvement in Japanese economy. These improvements include a stable economic growth, decline in inflation and low unemployment (Meltzer, n.d).

After the introduction of Australian currency, they maintained it under the Bretton Woods system. It is a fixed exchange rate done by using the Dollar standards (Wikipedia, 2011). With the breakdown of Bretton Woods system, Australia moved from a fixed exchange rate to a floating exchange rate in 1983 (Wikipedia, 2011). This change brought positive economic effects into the economy. The positive effects include appreciation of Australian Dollar and an increase in economic growth.

Seychelles maintained a fixed exchange rate till 2008. According to IMF, Seychelles was facing numerous economic problems like balance of payment debt crisis, decrease in living standard, decrease in economic growth, black market exchange and so on (2011). Therefore with the help and suggestions by the IMF, Seychelles shifted its fixed exchange rate system to a floating exchange rate system (IMF, 2011). This intern caused several progresses in Seychelles economy. The progresses include resolution of black market exchange, improved economic growth, improved balance of payment and so on (IMF, 2011).

From recent years, Maldives is having indiscipline fiscal policy. This got worsen after the tsunami in 2004. According to IMF (2009), due to the tsunami, government expenditure increased to 60 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 2008. The global recession was mid- 2008. This lead to weakening the balance of payment as the tourism industry was hard hit because of the global recession. At the same time world oil prices increased causing an increase in inflation in the economy. In order to overcome these economic problems, change in exchange rate occurred.

Procedure
A survey form was given to locals who have some idea about the exchange rate. In order to get accurate and valid results, it was important to select the people having knowledge about the topic. Some options were given in survey form and also they were being asked to write their own views, if they had any. For further information refer to appendixes of this document.

Result
In this survey around 25 people were asked about their views. Results are done based on their views, whether they are in favor of the change or not. The results are shown below in figure1.2.



DiscussionsMundell-Fleming model argues that an economy cannot simultaneously maintain a fixed exchange rate, free capital movement, and an independent monetary policy. It can choose any two for control, and leave third to the market forces. As for examples, recently most of the countries started moving from a fixed exchange rate to a floating exchange rate. Most major currencies are having a floating policy including US dollar, Yen and Euro.

In favor of the changeInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) has admired the decision of floating the exchange rate in Maldives. “Today’s bold step by the authorities represents an important move toward restoring external sustainability” (IMF, n.d). “IMF staff support this decision made by the authorities. We remain in close contact and are ready to offer any technical assistance that they may request” (IMF,n.d). Therefore it is argued that IMF would not guide a country in a wrong path.

Floating exchange rate gives more accurate value of Rufiyaa than in fixed exchange rate. This is because in floating system, value of Rufiyaa is determined by the market forces of demand and supply. Due to the artificial fixed exchange rate of Maldives, economic development minister argued that “we do not really know, based on the breadth of the economy, what the value of the Maldivian Rufiyaa is right now” (Robinson, 2011).According to finance minister Ahmed Inaz, the reason for this modification is to form government policy in such a way to increase the value of Rufiyaa and to bring down the exchange rate to Rufiyaa 10 (Robinson, 2011).

Also Floating exchange rate will overcome the Dollar shortage crisis. This is because the rate will stabilize at the point where the supply equals demand. Therefore market will not leave any gap. Maldivians have been facing Dollar shortage problems from recent years. This happened because of the excess amount of Rufiyaa in the market than that of the amount of Dollar. Therefore, people will be having more Rufiyaa to demand for Dollar. As a result demand for Dollar increased causing a shortage. According to Ahmed Shiyam Mohamed(chairman of Suntravels) shortage of Dollar in Maldives is not due to low foreign income into the country, but it is due to the excess 300 billion Rufiyaa which was printed by the government from 2004 to 2009(Latheef, 2011).

Against the change 

Due to floating exchange rate, Rufiyaa has been devalued, at least in the short-term. As a result import price increases. Therefore the floatation adds both imported inflation and domestic inflation to general price level. For example, three months ago a can of Enfalac (baby milk) 900g was for 275 Rufiyaa, but now the price is 325 Rufiyaa. Therefore there will be a huge impact on the general public due to this inflation.

In theory, a floating exchange rate solves the foreign exchange shortage problems, but it actually depends on several factors. For instance, Maldives is not having any legislation to control foreign exchange (MMA, 2011). There is no restriction on imports of capital goods for both locals and foreigners. Everyone is free to import. And also locals are liberated to maintain their foreign currency accounts anywhere they want. In this case, what Maldives get as foreign income will not be available in the market, creating a shortage.

A floating exchange rate resolves the black market exchange. However, this cannot be applicable in all the situations. In Maldives there was a Dollar shortage. Due to this black market exchange was active. In order to do this floatation government did not inject any amount of extra Dollar into the market. It means government did float the demand, but not the supply. As a result the black market exchange still continues.

Conclusion
As mentioned before, exchange rate is labeled as the most significant up and downs in the economies of developing countries. Without fiscal stability, financial stability and monetary stability, no exchange rate system can function well in the economy. Therefore, for a country like Maldives it is important to smooth the progress of more efficient functioning of the market. This can be done by a good law enforcement strategy and also by reducing the dependence on Dollars. At the same time it is important to think about the long run rather than thinking about the short run. An economic policy cannot show its effect within few days. Therefore it needs strong support from all parties in the economy.