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Experienced World War II - Fort Siloso Tour

Fort Siloso , A artillery fortress situated at Sentosa island in Singapore.

Built in the 1880s as part of a ring of British fortresses guarding Singapore harbour, Fort Siloso is the sole surviving coastal fort.

Entrance to Fort Siloso

Watch tower





 











It was the best Military Coastal Fort Museum Exhibit I have ever seen. Life size wax work models of soldiers were amazing. During the travel in Fortress we could hear British martial music playing and voices of Officers and sounds of soldiers' boots foot steps.        

Life size wax models

US Green Card (DV-2011) Results released - 4 winners from Maldives & 515 winners from Sri Lanka

Diversity Visa Lottery 2011 (DV-2011) Results - 4 winners from Maldives & 515 wionners from Sri Lanka
The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2011 diversity lottery. The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. Approximately 100,600 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2011 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2011 (October 1, 2010 until September 30, 2011).

Applicants registered for the DV-2011 program were selected at random from over 12.1 million qualified entries (16.5 million with derivatives) received during the 60-day application period that ran from noon on October 2, 2009, until noon, November 30, 2009. The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country. During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years. Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly. Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Only participants in the DV-2011 program who were selected for further processing have been notified. Those who have not received notification were not selected. They may try for the upcoming DV-2012 lottery if they wish. The dates for the registration period for the DV-2012 lottery program will be widely publicized during August 2010.

* The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program. The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

It is noted that this time there were 4 people from Republic of Maldives & 515 people from Sri Lanka were selected as DV 2011 winners. The highest number of winners were from Nigeria (6000 winners) & the 2nd & 3rd highest number of winners were from Bangladesh (5999 Winners) & Ethiopia (5200 winners)


Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2011: Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R. and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.

Solar Eclipse - 15th January 2010

The longest lasting annular solar eclipse of this millennium occured today. It was the longest annular eclipse until the year 3043. It is not only the longest Annular eclipse, but also the longest solar eclipse for the next ten centuries, meaning you will not see another such eclipse for the next 1,033 years A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun, causing the sun to look like an annulus (ring), blocking most of the Sun's light. An annular eclipse will appear as partial eclipse over a region thousands of kilometres wide. This is the longest annular solar eclipse of the millennium, and the longest until December 23, 3043, with a maximum length of 11 mins and 7.8 seconds. (The solar eclipse of January 4, 1992 was longer, at 11 minutes, 41 seconds, occuring in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.) It was visible as a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. It was seen as annular within a narrow stretch of 300 km width across Central Africa, Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), North Sri Lanka, parts of Burma and parts of China. The eclipse started at the Central African Republic, traverses Cameroon, Congo and Uganda, passes through Nairobi, Kenya, and enters the Indian Ocean and reaches its greatest eclipse. After that it entered Maldives, where it would be the longest on land with 10.8 minutes of viewing. This made the tiny islands of Maldives the best spot for viewing this eclipse from land. The annular Eclipse at Male', the capital city of Maldives started at 12:20:20 hrs and ended 12:30:06 hrs Maldives local time . This is also the longest duration of any city having an international airport in the eclipse track. Maldives Science Society hosted an eclipse viewing gathering for those who love eclipse viewing. MSS reserved 50 eclipse glasses for the viewers to share. Also during this time MSS demonstrated on building a pinhole projector and keept a bigger pinhole projector for all to view the eclipse at ease. At approx 13:20 Hrs, the annular solar eclipse entered India at (Trivandrum), Kerala and exits India at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu

Maldives Victory day - 3rd November

The Maldives’ Victory Day is centered on the day that a terrorist group from Sri Lanka attacked the Maldives government on November 3, 1988. They attempted to overthrow the government, but failed and fled the country, hence the celebration.

The Maldives is an island country in the Indian ocean consisting on 19 atolls made up of more than 2,000 coral islands southwest of Sri Lanka. The Maldives islands were colonized more the 800 years ago and became a self-governing British protectorate in 1887 and achieved independence in 1965. Maldives is one of the world’s poorest countries, but that is slowly changing because of the increasing number of tourists that make the Maldives their vacation destination. Maldives has a very small population of around 370,000.
History of the Maldives’ Victory Day
Since 1965, the Maldives have been independent and free from foreign rule. However, the coup attempt in the Maldives in November 1988 was one of the most perilous times in the country’s history. Many people were caught in the crossfire and many lives were lost. The act of treason was committed by a few treacherous Maldivians who threatened the country’s independence. Called on by the government of the Maldives, India provided swift and decisive aid to supress the coup. It is said that eight soldiers and eleven civilians died on that day.

Maldives holds world's first underwater Cabinet meeting

President of Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, Vice President Dr Mohamed Waheed and 11 cabinet ministers donned scuba gear and submerged 4 meters below the surface of sea to hold the world's first underwater cabinet meeting, in a bid to push for a stronger climate change agreement in the upcoming climate summit in Copenhagen.

“We are trying to send our message to let the world know what is happening and what will happen to the Maldives if climate change isn't checked” said President Nasheed, speaking to the press as soon as he resurfaced from underwater.

“What we are trying to make people realize is that the Maldives is a frontline state. This is not merely an issue for the Maldives but for the world. If we can't save the Maldives today, you can't save the rest of the world tomorrow”, said President Nasheed further.

During the 30-minute meeting held in the turquoise lagoon off Girifushi Island, with a backdrop of corals, the President, the Vice President and eleven other Cabinet ministers signed a resolution calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.

President Nasheed and the ministers used a waterproof pencils to sign the declaration, 'SOS from the frontline', printed on a white plastic slate, to be presented before the landmark UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

“Climate change is happening and it threatens the rights and security of everyone on Earth” the SOS message said. The SOS, endorsed by the cabinet, further called for people to “unite in global effort to halt further temperature rises, by slashing carbon dioxide emissions to a safe level of 350 parts per million”.

The Maldives is calling for an agreement at Copenhagen that will help reduce carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere to no more than 350 part per million. This would require a 40 per cent global reduction in green house gas emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels.

When asked what would happen if Copenhagen fails, the President said that “we are all going to die”. However, he said the Maldives would be the first country to adopt any amicable climate agreement that comes through Copenhagen.

In March this year President Nasheed announced that the Maldives would be the first country in the world to go carbon neutral, and the Maldives would achieve the target by 2020.

President Nasheed, who is an influential voice on climate change, is a certified open water diver, while other ministers took diving lessons recent weeks.

After the dive, signed wet suits of the President and the ministers will be auctioned on www.protectmaldives.com.mv to raise funds for coral reef protection in the Maldives.

Wushu at Maldives

Wushu Federation Maldives invites young boys & girls for WUSHU training - Classes will be started in 1st week of October at Male' social centre - for more information call 7787750 / 7894400 / 7501396
http://www.wushumaldives.org

WUSHU Introduced to Maldives

Wushu, Literally means Martial(Wu) Art (Shu) was sucessfully introduced to Republic of Maldives by Sri lanka Wushu Federation (www.wushu.lk). Initially "Sanshou" will be trained at "Maldives Wushu Federation" (www.wushumaldives.org) & later "Taolu" will be trained

Lions Vs Tigers

Lions Vs Tigers

Sri Lankan Civil War is what we call the ongoing conflict in Sri Lanka, since 23rd July 1983.The on-and-off civil war is between the Sri Lankan government and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, is a separatist armed organization which fights for the creation of an independent state named Tamil Eelam in the north and the east of Sri Lanka.Named as world's deadliest group of guerrilla fighters, LTTE has caused significant danger to the population, environment and the economy of Sri Lanka.Nearly 100,000 people have been officially listed as killed in the war since 1983. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is an organization banned as a terrorist organization in 32 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada and the member nations of the European Union.

After almost 20 years of fighting and failing three times at peace talks, including the time when Indian Army operated a peacekeeping force from 1987 to 1990, another cease-fire agreement was declared in December 2001. This was followed by a ceasefire agreement signed with international intercession in 2002.

By the end of 2005 conflict between LTTE & the SL Government began to rise until the government launched a number of major military attacks against the LTTE beginning in July 2006. The Sri Lankan military forces were successful in driving the LTTE out of the entire Eastern province of the island.

In 2007, Sri Lanka Military forced extended their attacks to the north of the country. The withdrawal from the ceasefire agreement was formally announced on
2nd January 2008. The Sri Lankan Government pointed out that the LTTE violated the agreement over 10,000 times.

Since then, the Sri Lankan Government took control over almost the entire territory previously controlled by the Tamil Tigers, including their capital Kilinochchi, main military base Mullaitivu and the entire A9 highway.

The fate of civilians trapped in the 'no-fire zone' became a major concern for the international community at this stage of war. On 22nd April 2009, the UN Security Council has called on Tamil Tiger rebels to lay down their arms and let the UN help evacuate civilians from the war zone.

On 17th May 2009, the Sri Lankan Army reported that all civilians had escaped from the warzone, freeing up the military to finish off the rebel forces and leading the Honorable President Mahinda Rajapakshe to declare military victory.

Sri Lankan troops raced to clear the last LTTE pockets of resistance.As the last LTTE strong-points collapsed, Sri Lankan troops killed 70 rebels attempting to escape by boat. Several Important LTTE commanders committed suicide. Upon hearing news of the Sri Lankan victory, people celebrated all around the country. After 26 years of fighting the separatists, the war had been won by the Sri Lankan Government.

The LTTE finally admitted defeat on 17th May 2009, with the rebels' chief of international relations, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, stating on the website that "This battle has reached its bitter end ... We have decided to silence our guns. Our only regrets are for the lives lost and that we could not hold out for longer"

Today, 18th May 2009 The Sri Lanka Army forces confirmed, the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was shot dead in the morning.

Some nice sceneries

These are the scenes around the Maldives Airport sea area. You may see the different colours of sea water in this photos. The Video shows a recording done in deep sea while I was in Submarine tour.

Turning back to the Year 2008

The year 2008 passed with lots of surprises,wonders, hapineses & tragedies & victories. For the whole 2008 I was in Maldives. Now Im familier with the Maldives culture & the society. I feel it's like my own country now. Here the people are peacefull & religious. Now I can understand their language (Dhivehi) also, but still can't write & talk (-: In maldives The major change in 2008 was the political change. A new democratic government was set by ending the 30 years of earlier president control. In US also a new democratic president Mr. Barac Obama was elected in the year 2008.

In Srilanka the war was going on as usual during the 2008 whole year & I hope by the end of 2009 Sri Lanka's main hope for peace will be with its people . The Inflation in srilanka is going up due to cost of war & people used to invest their money in the black market & there were instances that they lost their money also. The best example is "the multi-million rupee ‘Sakvithi’ scam that About 5000 investors defrauded of Rs. 900 million "

The Global Economy was badly affected by the US cash crunch & financial crisis & due to that major businesses in US such as Ford, General Mortors etc are in need of additional financial backups to operate their businesses.The impacts of this Financial Crisis is becoming an impoverished nation.

In sri lanka aslo a leading credit card company (Golden Key) had misused public funds & got caught by the regulatory authorities & now is being questioned. The world economic crisis will affect to other countries also. Since there are more & more lay-offs in US companies, Europians are moving to gulf & middle east region for their jobs & the same time Asians loose their opportunities in the gulf region.

Also should pay our deepest sympthy & sad good bye to Mr. Athur C Clerk-A great scientist who lived in & served Srilanka through out his life, Mr Premasiri Kemadasa-great musician & the breave soldiers in Armed forces & others who served the best in their life for a great Sri lanka & left us in the year 2008

A Political change in Maldives

Yesterday the second round of the Maldives presidential election was held & today morning the provisional result were released by ending a 30 years of earlier president's government. Mr. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom (DR Party) was the president in Maldives for past 30 years. The results of the second round of the presidential elections held in Male' on Tuesday (28th Oct) showed that the "Maldives Democratic Party" (MDP) alliance's candidate Mr. Mohamed Nasheed ( Anni )had emerged as the clear winner of the election.

Went to "Kuda Bandos"

Last saturday went to "Kuda Bandos" for a Team building exercise. Its a nice island coverred by some trees & bushes.

Check out my Slide Show!

After the Exam....

Exam was held in "Immadhudee school" on June 9th & 10th. Did FR & PM well. Majority of the applicants were Maldivians. So exam pressure is over & im back to office. Doing the paractices as usual. Have to balance the studies, the job & the practices. All are going on according to a planed time table

Yesterday evening went to "Vilangili" island . Though its not much comercialised,its also a residential island. I saw a Branch of "Bank of Maldives" & a Police station. Some constructions are going on in that island. I felt that this will become a another Male' by another 4 , 5 years time

Two weeks back Maldives won the championship of SAFF football tournament. Srilanka, India, Butan & Maldives were the semi finals & final was Maldives & India. Finally Maldives won the match,they played well.

To selebrate that victory, Maldive Governmet published a holiday also. That shows how much they love Foot Ball

New year day - 14th April 08

Today is Sinhala & Tamil New year day. But in maldives it's just a normal day. This is the first time i was away from home for the new year.

Now im almost 4 months in Maldives. My practices also going on well. Its so hard to find time for my studies. the exam will be on 1st week of June 08.

45 minutes in a Submarine

Day before yesterday got a chance to go on a Submarine. It was a public holiday for Maldives. So around 4PM got in to a Dhoni boat to go to the submarine located at the mid of the sea. Though it was a rainy day the deep see was so silence. Took some rare photographs as well as some videos

Great experience - Sea journey

Today is the 6th year anniversary of this company. It was celebrated on the mid of the sea. Around 5.30PM we got in to the yacht "sultans 001" . It was a great experience for me, because this is the first time I travelled by yacht. Around 7.30 PM returned to Male' by yacht "006" .

Another day of me

Today is 3rd March 08. Day today office work was done as usual. Around 7 PM  went to ground & practiced

Almost two months at Maldives

Now I have been almost two month at Maldives. I'm staying in Male' . This is a ovel shape small island, a really nice country surrounded by a see. All the island can be visited by one day. For last one & half month there was no any proper rain. Its so hot even in night also. I used to have head bath two times per day. Most of the foods were prepared with some extract of fish. Finding fresh vegetables & vegetarian foods sre bit difficult. I could find a good place for my practices.Its a ground located at the other end of the island. In the Maldives majority is Muslims. They speak a language called "Dhivehi" which is similar to a mixture of Sinhala, Hindi, Tamil & some other asian languages.The official currency is "Rufia" . Here only Fiday is a holiday. 6 working days per week. Friday, the holiday I use for my studies & as usual do Wing Chun practices in evening.It helps me in various ways on developing body as well as mind. It gives me a good self confidence.

Good bye to Sri Lanka / Landed to Maldives

Today is 30th December 2007. Getting ready to start a new life. Around 3 am I came to Katunaika International Airpoort with my parents & relations. I was expecting lot of new things. this was my 1st air journey. At 5 am I was on board in "Mihin lanka" & around 6 am landed to Maldives. All were new to me(Language, people, Environment). This was the 1st time I was leaving my home for a long period. I was at Maldives airport with my heavy luggage for around 45 minutes & around 7 am I reached to Male', the commercial city of Maldives.