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On the island of Fuvahmulah, Maldives, community members have learned to co-exist with resident tiger sharks. Rapidly becoming a premier destination for shark tourism, Fuvahmulah demonstrates a novel circumstance for how this often-polarizing industry can both bolster the local economy and strengthen shark conservation efforts. Focusing on personal storytelling, this project delivers a 5-part video series and interactive website featuring video portraitures of locals involved in and impacted by the industry. This anecdotal multimedia approach helps examine the grey areas of shark tourism while addressing ways to ensure its sustainability and longevity on the island.You can see the media created for this project here:https://miyaru.org/stories

Despite the widespread dominance of democracy across the globe and many countries undergoing regime transitions and modernization, the importance of political socialization in fostering a stable and legitimate democracy and reducing political violence in Islamic states remains largely unexplored. Political Islam and democracy appear to be developing concurrently, albeit not at the same rate and often not in harmony. Without adequate and effective political socialization of democratic values in developing democracies, particularly in South Asia, the changing political landscape provides fertile ground for Islamists to shape the cultural and political narrative, to hamper democratization, and even to fuel political violence. Since 2008, the Maldives’s young democracy has struggled to introduce the values and practices of modern Western democracy in a way that resonates with its traditional culture. This thesis explores the challenges of democratizing the Maldives’s political system, in which native socio-cultural and religious beliefs shape the country's identity as a Muslim society. Using regression analysis, the study also develops a model to predict how likely certain values are, if not properly socialized, to spark political violence going forward. Contextualizing politics in the Maldives, striving toward democracy, it is found that the legendary native religious, socio-cultural, and constitutional bearings in the Maldives remain the same. Lieutenant Colonel, Maldives National Defence Force Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.

This chapter examines the longest and most developed road in the Maldives archipelago, a fifteen-kilometre-long link road connecting four islands of the Laamu (or Haddummati) Atoll.In the planning phase, there were tensions between those who argued that the road should connect houses to the school and the mosque and those who argued that the road should connect the harbour to the market. Such appeals, bifurcated along gender lines, reflect local mobility concerns and were tied to existing political rifts between the four islands that were intensified by the appearance of a new infrastructural asset. The built road facilitates a multitude of local encounters as people travel further and more regularly, but it is also through the road that islanders encounter the global forces of capital and construction that shape their islands. The Laamu link road was a ‘gift’ from the Chinese government,constructed by the Jiangsu Transportation Engineering Group (JTEG), and amidst local mobility concerns and inter-island politics swirl rumours and hearsay of land grabs and international power struggles between China, India, the US, and Saudi Arabia. This chapter,as well as being an ethnographic exposition of Chinese infrastructure development in a South Asian archipelago, explores the road as a social experience as it crosscuts competing visions of modernity, global connectivity, and anxiety about material change on remote coral atolls in the Indian Ocean.

Le Maldive sono esposte a un’ampia gamma di fattori di rischio, come l’erosione costiera, l’innalzamento del livello delle acque, gli tsunami e altri eventi. Nel 2004 il paese è stato colpito dallo tsunami, con quasi 12.000 sfollati e 8.500 abitanti rilocalizzati in isole diverse dai luoghi di residenza. In questo contesto storico-politico, la riduzione del rischio e la resilienza dei sistemi locali rappresentano delle questioni chiave per il paese. Implementare il Sendai Framewor for Disaster Risks Reduction 2015-2030, in connessione i Sustainable Development Goals and il Paris Agreement, è una le priorità del governo. Questo lavoro prende in considerazione i casi di due isole nell'atollo di Dhaalu, Meedhoo e Rin’budhoo, dove la resilienza sociale ed economica ha prodotto due diversi modelli di sviluppo. Lo tsunami ha colpito Meedhoo in modo molto violento. Immeditamente dopo l’evento, le principali sfide per l’isola, la cui economia dipende dalla pesca, erano rappresentate dalle ridotte dimensioni e dall’erosione della linea di costa. Così, nel 2006 e 2014, sono stati avviati due imponenti progetti di land reclamation. Anche l’isola di Rin’budhoo è stata duramente colpita dallo tsunami. Ci sono state vittime e diversi danni alle infrastrutture. Tuttavia, per anni, nessun progetto di land reclamation è stato avviato. Il processo di recupero dell’isola, è partito dalla valorizzazione del patrimonio storico e culturale e dalla rinascita dell’artigianato e dell’arte orafa. Due isole, due storie di resilienza. Due to their geophysical structure, the Maldives face various natural hazards, such as coastal erosion, rising water levels, tsunamis and other climate-related disasters. In 2004, the country was affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami, with almost 12,000 displaced persons and a further 8,500 relocated inhabitants. In the context of the country’s efforts to achieve sustainable development and face climate change, disaster risk reduction and resilience capacity are key issues. The Government is working hard to implement the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risks Reduction 2015-2030, linked to Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. The paper considers the cases of two islands in Dhaalu Atoll – Meedhoo and Rin’budhoo – both affected by the tsunami, where social and economic resilience produced two different models of development. The tsunami hit Meedhoo hard. The island economy depends on fishing and the main threats are its small size and soil erosion. Thus, in 2006 a large area around the island was reclaimed and in 2014 larger reclamation projects were started. Rin’budhoo was also severly impacted by the tsunami; there were two victims and a lot of infrastructural damage, forcing many people to migrate. However, for years local government has promoted no land reclamation. The recovery of the island started from its historical and cultural heritage and the revival of traditional crafts and goldsmithery, involving young people. Two islands, two different resilience stories.

Purpose: The archipelago of the Maldives is the main source of attraction to many tourists worldwide, making tourism the largest sector of the country’s economy. However, global challenges have become increasingly visible and remote countries like Maldives is facing extreme challenges economically as well as environmentally. With the advancement of the technology, social media marketing being the worthwhile strategic positioning tool. This review article aimed to discuss global tourism industry, the practice of sustainable tourism in the Maldives, followed by the literature incorporates social media marketing in the context of tourism promotion in Maldives. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is a review paper on sustainable tourism in Maldives context, by focusing on global tourism industry, the practice of sustainable tourism in the Maldives, followed by social media marketing in the context of tourism promotion. Findings: The review of the sustainable tourism literature found that Maldives as an island are practicing and incorporated green and sustainable practices. Implications/ Originality/Value: The study provides a prodigious scope for marketing practitioners of tourism industry and provides insights on building a successful social media marketing strategy that may lead to enhance the green image and tourist’s intention to revisit.

Being a small island and low‐middle income country (LMIC) heavily dependent on global markets for sustaining its basic needs and health system, Maldives faced specific challenges during the COVID‐19 pandemic. This was reinforced through tensions between the heavily centralized healthcare delivery and a partially decentralized public health system. Using the pillars of pandemic response proposed by the World Health Organisation, this article explores the planning assumptions, resource estimations and strategies adopted to equip the health system with resources for the pandemic response. The resource need estimates based on projections for COVID‐19 identified a shortfall of medical professionals to care for patients while maintaining 55% of the workforce for regular healthcare across the atolls. The findings show that while the policy of lockdown bought time to increase hospital beds and devices, the country was unable to increase the healthcare workforce. Furthermore, as the lockdown eased, the exponential increase of cases took Maldives to the global one per capita incidence. Despite this, with cautious planning and use of resources, the country has so far managed to maintain low mortality from COVID‐19. The lessons from this experience are paramount in future pandemic response planning, not only for Maldives, but other small island LMICs.

Coral cover worldwide has been declining due to heat stress caused by climate change. Here we report the impacts of the 2015–2016 El Niño mass coral bleaching event on the coral cover of reefs located on central and northern atolls of the Maldives. We surveyed six reef sites in the Alifu Alifu (Ari) and Baa (South Maalhosmadulu) Atolls using replicate 20 m benthic photo transects at two depths per reef site. Live and recently dead coral cover identified from images differed between reef sites and depth. Recently dead corals on average made up 33% of the coral assemblage at shallow sites and 24% at deep sites. This mortality was significantly lower in massive corals than in branching corals, reaching an average of only 6% compared to 41%, respectively. The best predictors of live coral cover were depth and morphology, with a greater percentage of live coral at deep sites and in massive corals. The same predictors best described the prevalence of recently dead coral, but showed inverse trends to live coral. However, there was high variability among reef sites, which could be attributed to additional local stressors. Coral bleaching and resulting coral mortalities, such as the ones reported here, are of particular concern for small island nations like the Maldives, which are reliant on coral reefs.

This article aims at analyzing tourism development efforts in the guesthouse sector in the Maldives. In terms of method, it is a conceptual paper, which is based on a systematic literature review. The results show that tourism in the Maldives is dominated by foreign controlled resorts explaining the unequal distribution of its benefits. Entrepreneurs can focus on community guesthouses to cater for a ‘budget’ market as well as high-end tourists. The article suggests that the Madives must create CBT ventures through decentralizing to a greater number of islands/atolls and redistributing resources to decrease inequality of control and benefits.

Coral-associated fauna contributes greatly to coral reef biodiversity. Many species are obligately associated with their hosts on which they depend for food and/or refuge from predators. Their close relationship with their hosts makes them vulnerable to coral mortality. Here I report a coral-dwelling gall crab (Cryptochiridae) inhabiting a partially dead Echinopora Lamarck, 1816 coral, at Magoodhoo Island, Faafu Atoll, Maldives. Cryptochirids are thought to feed off the mucus provided by their coral host, although some questions about their feeding biology remain. This observation highlights that these crabs remain associated with a dead host, even if it can no longer provide nutrients. The strong host association makes gall crabs vulnerable to widespread habitat degradation.

Late Cretaceous sea surface temperatures (SST) are, amongst others, traditionally reconstructed by compiling oxygen isotope records of planktonic foraminifera obtained from globally distributed pelagic IODP drill cores. In contrast, the evolution of Early Cretaceous SSTs is essentially based on the organic TEX86 palaeothermometer, as oxygen-isotope data derived from well-preserved ‘glassy’ foraminifer calcite are currently lacking. In order to evaluate the extraordinary warm TEX86-derived SSTs of the Barremian to Aptian (130–123 Ma) subtropics, we present highly resolved sclerochemical profiles of pristine rudist bivalve shells from Tethyan and proto-North Atlantic shallow water carbonate platforms. An inverse correlation of seasonal ontogenetic variations in δ18Orudist and Mg/Ca ratios demonstrates the fidelity of oxygen isotopes as palaeotemperature proxy. The new data shows moderate mean annual SSTs (22–26 °C) for large parts of the Barremian and Aptian and transient warm pulses for the so-called Mid-Barremian Event and Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (reaching mean annual SSTs of 28 to 30 °C). A positive shift in mean annual oxygen-isotope values (δ18O: ≤ − 0.3‰) coupled with invariant Mg/Ca ratios at the Barremian–Aptian boundary points to a significant net loss of 16O in Tethyan shallow-marine settings. As the positive oxygen-isotope rudist shell values are recorded immediately beneath a major superregional hiatal surface, they are interpreted to be related to a major cooling phase and potential glacio-eustatic sea-level lowering. Our new sclerochemical findings are in clear contrast to open ocean SST records based on TEX86, which indicate exceptionally warm Barremian to earliest Aptian subtropical oceans and weak meridional SST gradients.

The main objective of this study is to determine the CSR disclosure and to find out the association between CSR and FP by the public companies of Maldives. This study used a mixed-method research choice and is longitudinal research. The study period was from 2014 to 2018. Data were collected from annual reports of the listed companies in MSE. The sampling technique used was judgmental sampling, and the data were analyzed from STATA 15 software by using panel data regression. The finding reveals that diversity and ROA, environment and ROE, diversity, and EPS, and when the size of the firm controlled, there exhibit significant negative relation between CSR and ROA; hence, it can conclude that there exists a significant negative relationship between CSR and FP. This study has implications for the academician and corporate world in understanding CSR and FP in developing countries like the Maldives. One of the main consequences of this study is the CSR framework adopted in this study which is not a custom-tailored instrument specific to the Maldives instead chose from another research paper. Further, the sample size was also very limited due to that generalization may not be possible in a large population. This paper spreads the understanding of the relationship between CSR and FP.

The Republic of Maldives, a remote tropical nation situated in the Arabian Sea south of India, has long held a reputation as a luxury travel destination. World-class diving, overwater bungalows, and liveaboard tours are just a few of the experiences that entice travelers from all over the world to visit the Maldives. With tourism accounting for the majority of the Maldives GDP and fishing as the second leading sector, it is economically imperative that the Maldives protect their marine resources. According to the Maldives’ Minister of Fisheries, the ocean is also “an integral part of the Maldivian identity...it is the bloodline.” Most of the 194 inhabited islands extend only 1-2 meters above sea level, putting the Maldives and its 530,000 citizens at constant risk of coastal erosion and sea level rise. As the world’s lowest-lying country, the Maldives is often likened to a global “canary in the coalmine,” with scientists predicting that it could be entirely underwater by 2100.Through the creation of the Noo Raajje program and with support from a network of organizations belonging to the Blue Prosperity Coalition, the Maldivian government has agreed to preserve at least 20% of their waters as fully protected areas. In order to gain a well-rounded understanding of how a potential zoning plan might impact Maldivians and their livelihoods, especially in a country where 71% of people rely on the ocean for their primary source of income, the marine spatial planning process will involve a high degree of stakeholder and community engagement. This is primarily accomplished through the deployment of ocean use surveys, which aim to establish a multistakeholder baseline of ocean use and relative value. Not only does this provide the modeling team drafting the proposed plans with valuable insights on how to minimize negative impacts while maximizing benefits for both people and nature, it enables the community to play an active role in an important decision making process and ideally leads to long-term success because of the level of community buy-in.In order to understand the populations of stakeholders that need to be surveyed and how best to engage with them, a strategy for the ocean use survey is needed. Through collaboration with and support from the Noo Raajje program, the Waitt Institute, the Blue Prosperity Coalition, and the McClintock lab, I have designed an operational strategy for the ocean use survey in the Maldives that will be implemented as an integral part of the marine spatial planning (MSP) process. The MSP process will be most successful with input from all communities and stakeholders who are dependent on the ocean for their well-being, so the value of this project lies in successfully engaging the Maldivian community in the development of a plan for how their ocean will be used in the future.

Accretion rates of Holocene tropical coral reefs in three areas in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans have been quantified in 79 dated core sections in 34 reef cores from Belize, the Maldives and French Polynesia. Holocene vertical reef accretion rate averages 5.05 m/kyr and has decreased during the past 10 kyr. Accretion rates in branched and massive coral facies are statistically similar. Reef accretion rate is positively correlated with the rate of sea‐level rise, that is the degree of creation of accommodation space, and with climate as expressed in a Holocene sea surface temperature anomaly. Accommodation space is also created by subsidence, but at a rate one to two orders of magnitude lower than that created by glacio‐eustasy (0.04 to 0.16 m/kyr). Lagoonal background sedimentation in adjacent reef lagoons averages 0.89 m/kyr as measured in 72 dated core sections in 28 cores. Lagoonal carbonate sedimentation on top of underlying mangrove peat usually starts after a considerable hiatus of ca 3 kyr on average. The lagoonal background sedimentation rate increased during the Holocene, probably due to deepening. The differences between vertical reef accretion and lagoonal background sedimentation rates are a major factor in the production of the widely known saucer shapes typical of tropical reefs and carbonate platforms, that is the creation of unfilled accommodation space. Reef core recovery, used as a proxy for reef consolidation, and core depth exhibit a statistically negative correlation based on data from 326 core barrels. Recovery and marine cement abundance (average volume 8.6%) also decrease from windward to leeward core positions. These observations are presumably a result of both a decrease in the rate of sea‐level rise that is the increase in time available for submarine cementation during the Holocene and the amount of flushing of reef interstices by marine waters.

Stylasterids belong to one of the few calcifying hydroid families that are commonly found in shallow tropical coral reefs.Although these corals are accurately described from a taxonomic point of view, information about their ecology is scarce.Distichopora violacea is one of the most common stylasterids of the Indo-Pacific region; however, no information is yet availableon its distribution and abundance. To fill this gap data we gathered data during three scientific expeditions on four Maldivianatolls. In each atoll investigations were carried out at three depths, both in the ocean and in the lagoon reef, to examinedifferences in colony density and distribution. Distichopora violacea was observed in all the studied atolls; however, itsdistribution and density were not homogeneous among them. This species was more abundant in the ocean reefs than inthe lagoon ones, suggesting a strong influence of water movement. Moreover, we found a high variability in colony density inthe eastern ocean reefs that was tentatively attributed to a different topography of the reef: colonies were more abundant on thegentle slopes of Malè atolls than on the steep reefs of Felidhoo. Oceanographic features, mainly due to the seasonal monsoons,are likely to interact with the biological requirements of the species in determining the observed asymmetrical geographicaldistribution. The present investigation provides new insights on the stylasterid D. violacea and, for the first time, quantitativedata on its distribution and density that can be useful for conservation and management of this CITES regulated species.

Through the theoretical framework of the Necrocene, the age of death and extinction due to capitalist accumulation, this article tries to analyze and flesh out the current sociopolitical and ecological crisis of the Maldives archipelago as a symptom of what is to come on a planetary scale. It will analyze how knots of life play part in the ecology of the Maldives as a case study. Through the close reading and scrutiny of contemporary literature in the fields of Environmental Humanities, Extinction Studies and Political Ecology, this essay aims to engage with the pressing matter of the Anthropocene, its materialities and its imaginaries. Finally, it ambitiously provides further thought on how to approach the Necrocene as a global multifocal crisis, aiming to build up on the idea of Climate X. A través del marco teórico del Necroceno, la edad de la muerte y la extinción a raíz de la acumulación capitalista, este trabajo trata de analizar y reformular la actual crisis socio-política y ecológica usando como caso de estudio los efectos de tal crisis en las Maldivas como ejemplo sintomático de lo que está por venir en una escala planetaria. Este artículo intenta desgranar los nudos vitales que interactúan en la ecología de las Maldivas. A través del uso y escrutinio de literatura contemporánea en los campos de las Humanidades Ambientales, los Estudios de Extinción y la Ecología Política, este trabajo busca colaborar en los debates del Antropoceno, sus materialidades y sus imaginarios. Finalmente, este ensayo trata de proponer, de manera ambiciosa, ideas para afrontar el Necroceno como una crisis global y multifocal, tratando de construir futuras posibilidades a raíz de las ideas de Clima X.

The Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP) collects spatial, biological, oceanographic, and anthropogenic data on whale sharks in the South Ari Atoll Marine Protected Area (SAMPA). There is a need to develop GIS capabilities within the organization in order to further explore, visualize, and analyze data, create 2D maps, and share their findings in a more effective and efficient manner. This need is all the more important in the present time due to the push for better management of SAMPA. In my capstone, I aim to build the GIS capacity at MWSRP by creating a visualization and mapping tool to help create the communication material to contribute to the planning process for better management of SAMPA and to ensure the best conservation measures are taken for the protection of the whale sharks.

Thalassemia is inherited autosomal recessive disorders characterized by reduced rate of hemoglobin synthesis due to a defect in alpha or beta globin chain synthesis. Maldives has a beta thalassemia prevalence rate of 16-18%. Classical symptoms of beta thalassemia are common on those patients who present late for blood transfusion which is common among the south Asian countries due to resource poor situation. This case is a rare case report of commonly occurring phenomenon which has been reported less among south Asian region. Reporting this case will help health worker to manage cases accordingly. A five and half year prior diagnosed case of beta thalassemia at age of 2 years and lost to follow up presented with cough, Dyspnoea, Irritability, fatigue with classic symptom of beta thalassemia. She was managed with blood transfusion and kept on continuous follow up for transfusion and iron overload management.

Over the last few decades, the tourism industry in the Maldives has experienced exponential growth. This rise in tourism has created a new demand for reef fish and anecdotal reports indicate that exploitation of reef fish is increasing; however, currently, there is little monitoring of the reef fish fishery. This project integrated fish biomass data from underwater visual fish surveys with locations of resorts to examine correlations between fish populations and tourism development. Maps of human presence throughout the archipelago were used to classify surveyed reefs as community, resort or uninhabited. Spatial statistics and regression analysis suggest that distance to a resort has no significant impact on the amount of fish biomass found at nearby reefs. However, the breakdown of biomass by trophic level show an absence of apex predators across all sites, which likely indicates fishing pressure and resource exploitation of large-bodied species readily caught through hook and line fisheries. Additionally, a high level of herbivore biomass across all sites could be playing an important role in reef recovery. As the fishery develops and reef fish demand grows, the Maldives will need to create a management plan that allows for the recovery of apex predators, as well as protects the abundance of herbivores.

Elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) damage the internal cell components. Padina boryana, a brown alga from the Maldives, was subjected to polysaccharide extraction. The Celluclast enzyme assisted extract (PBE) and ethanol precipitation (PBP) of P. boryana were assessed against hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induced cell damage and zebra fish models. PBP which contains the majority of sulfated polysaccharides based on fucoidan, showed outstanding extracellular ROS scavenging potential against H2O2. PBP significantly declined the intracellular ROS levels, and exhibited protection against apoptosis. The study revealed PBPs’ ability to activate the Nrf2/Keap1 signaling pathway, consequently initiating downstream elements such that catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD). Further, ROS levels, lipid peroxidation values in zebrafish studies were declined with the pre-treatment of PBP. Collectively, the results obtained in the study suggest the polysaccharides from P. boryana might be a potent source of water soluble natural antioxidants that could be sustainably utilized in the industrial applications.

Energy has become an essential part of our lives, but the current energy sources we used are depleting and non-renewable. In the case of Maldives, fuel energy is expensive due to importation and high transportation cost. Besides, Atoll islands' characteristics require each island to have a power plant using fossil fuel, and the fuel storage availability is limited, making the electricity in these islands unstable and costly. Therefore, the need for cleaner and reliable resources for energy is essential in order to ensure a better future. This study aimed to determine the factors influencing solar energy acceptance by inviting people to participate in the electronic survey in the Maldives, with 119 samples collected. The result revealed that most respondents were willing to go for a solar energy source for electrification due to the current high electricity bills. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the factors for the acceptance of solar energy. The result showed that people's attitudes and current electricity bills were significantly influential in solar energy acceptance. The presumptions for policymakers are to increase the people's knowledge and awareness to elevate a positive attitude and involve the private sector to increase competition and utility in the field

This paper explores sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) among young people, identifying intersecting factors that create inequities in access to services, health-seeking behaviour, and ultimately health outcomes. Based on qualitative interviews with young people in the Maldives, it demonstrates how these intersectional experiences are contrary to what is often assumed in official data, policies, and services. Three factors were found to shape young people's experiences: marital status, gender, and urban/rural differences. Non-marital sexual activity is illegal in the Maldives, but it is somewhat expected of unmarried men, while unmarried women are stigmatised for being sexually active. Although access to SRH services is restricted for all unmarried people, young women face additional difficulties, as the risk of being exposed is much greater in small island communities. Maldivian island communities are extremely small and characterised by an inward-looking culture that exerts considerable social pressure, particularly on unmarried women. For an unmarried woman, being known to be sexually active, or worse, pregnant outside of marriage, has severe social consequences including stigma and isolation from the community, and their own family. This concern is more prevalent among rural young women, as they live in smaller communities where stigma is inescapable. The need to avoid public scrutiny and humiliation contributes to making unsafe abortion a common solution for many unintended pregnancies. Failure to acknowledge these intersecting factors in SRHR experience and access has led to inequities among an already overlooked population, shaping their experiences, knowledge, health-seeking behaviour, and health outcomes.

In recent years island communities have actively adapted in response to a complex combination of changes that has shaped life on the islands, and this has had gendered consequences. The gender ramifications of adaptation on islands are still largely neglected in adaptation policies, although they are increasingly being addressed in the scientific literature. Understanding gendered consequences is indispensable for a critical comprehension of adaptation on islands. It would help avoid the formulation of adaptation policies that tend to focus only on technical problems and solutions. Such solutions potentially run the risk of reducing island problems to only biophysical issues such as sea level rise or problems attributed to the size and isolation of the islands. This paper investigates the consequences of adaptation for the mobility of both women and men on two islands in the Maldives, a small island developing state (SIDS) that has experienced unprecedented changes in recent decades. The focus on mobility stems from the fact that it forms an integral social and cultural part of island life. Although gender and mobility are intrinsically linked, the gendered consequences of adaptation for mobility are understudied. This study used qualitative interviews to collect narratives. The results show that the adaptation interviewees describe from their living memory has only exacerbated gender inequality by influencing the mobility of men and women in different ways.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to assess the association between anxiety and depression with physical and sensory functional difficulties, among adults living in five low and middle-income countries (LMICs).Methods and findingsA secondary data analysis was undertaken using population-based disability survey data from five LMICs, including two national surveys (Guatemala, Maldives) and 3 regional/district surveys (Nepal, India, Cameroon). 19,337 participants were sampled in total (range 1,617-7,604 in individual studies). Anxiety, depression, and physical and sensory functional difficulties were assessed using the Washington Group Extended Question Set on Functioning. Age-sex adjusted logistic regression analyses were undertaken to assess the association of anxiety and depression with hearing, visual or mobility functional difficulties. The findings demonstrated an increased adjusted odds of severe depression and severe anxiety among adults with mobility, hearing and visual functional difficulties in all settings (with ORs ranging from 2.0 to 14.2) except for in relation to hearing loss in India, the Maldives and Cameroon, where no clear association was found. For all settings and types of functional difficulties, there was a stronger association with severe anxiety and depression than with moderate. Both India and Cameroon had higher reported prevalences of physical and sensory functional difficulties compared with Nepal and Guatemala, and weaker associations with anxiety and depression.ConclusionPeople with physical and sensory functional difficulties are more likely to report experiencing depression and anxiety. This evidence supports the need for ensuring a good awareness of mental health among those working with individuals with physical and sensory functional difficulties in LMICs. This implies that these practitioners must have the skills to identify anxiety and depression. Furthermore, mental health services must be available and accessible to patients with these conditions, which will likely require further programmatic scale-up in these LMIC settings.

Scrub typhus is a neglected tropical disease predominantly occurring in Asia. The causative agent is a bacterium transmitted by the larval stage of mites found in rural vegetation in endemic regions. Cases of scrub typhus frequently present as acute undifferentiated febrile illness, and without early diagnosis and treatment, the disease can develop fatal complications. We retrospectively reviewed de-identified data from a 23-year-old woman who presented to an emergency department with complaints of worsening abdominal pain. On presentation, she appeared jaundiced and toxic-looking. Other positive findings on abdominal examination were a positive Murphey’s sign, abdominal guarding and hepatosplenomegaly. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography demonstrated acalculous cholecystitis. Additional findings included eschar on the medial aspect of the left thigh with inguinal regional lymphadenopathy. Further, positive results were obtained for immunoglobulins M and G, confirming scrub typhus. The workup for other infectious causes of acute acalculous cholecystitis (AAC) detected antibodies against human herpesvirus 4 (Epstein–Barr virus), suggesting an alternative cause of AAC. Whether that represented re-activation of the Epstein–Barr virus could not be determined. As other reports have described acute acalculous cholecystitis in adult scrub typhus patients, we recommend doxycycline to treat acute acalculous cholecystitis in endemic regions while awaiting serological confirmation.

The multisystem inflammatory syndrome in adults (MIS-A) is a novel syndrome observed during COVID-19 outbreaks. This hyper-inflammatory syndrome is seen predominantly in children and adolescents. The case of an adult from the Maldives who had asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection three weeks before presenting to the hospital with fever, rash, and shock is presented. De-identified clinical data were retrospectively collected to summarize the clinical progression and treatment during hospitalization and the six-month follow-up. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed by RT-PCR. Other laboratory findings included anemia (hemoglobin: 9.8 g/dL), leukocytosis (leukocytes: 20,900/µL), neutrophilia (neutrophils: 18,580/µL) and lymphopenia (lymphocytes: 5067/µL), and elevated inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein (34.8 mg/dL) and ferritin (2716.0 ng/dL). The electrocardiogram had low-voltage complexes, and the echocardiogram showed hypokinesia, ventricular dysfunction, and a pericardial effusion suggestive of myocardial dysfunction compromising hemodynamics and causing circulatory shock. These findings fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of MIS-A. The case was managed in the intensive care unit and required non-invasive positive pressure ventilation, inotropes, and steroids. With the new surges of COVID-19 cases, more cases of MIS-A that require the management of organ failure and long-term follow-up to recovery are anticipated. Clinicians should therefore be vigilant in identifying cases of MIS-A during the pandemic.

WOS:000685248200072; International audience; The Maldives tuna fishery landings in 2018 were 148, 000 t and accounted for nearly a quarter of the global pole-and-line tuna catch. This fishery partially relies on a network of 55 anchored fish aggregating devices (AFADs) deployed around the archipelago. About one-third of the total pole-and-line tuna catch is harvested at AFADs. Although the AFAD fishery has existed for 35 years, knowledge on the behaviour of tuna in the AFAD array is still limited, precluding the development of science-based fishery management. In this study, local ecological knowledge (LEK) of fishers was used to improve our understanding of tuna behaviour, through personal interviews of 54 pole-and-line fishers from different parts of the archipelago. Interview results suggest that during the northeast monsoon tuna are more abundant on the eastern side of the Maldives, while during the southwest monsoon they are more abundant on the western side of the Maldives. Most fishers believed that tuna tend to stay at the AFADs for 3 to 6 days and remain within 2 miles from the AFADs when they are associated. Fishers believe that strong currents is the main factor for tuna departure from AFADs, though high sea surface temperatures and stormy conditions were also thought to contribute to departures. Moderate currents are believed to be a favourable condition to form aggregations at the AFADs while other factors such as suitable temperature, prey and attractants enhance this aggregation. Fishers also believe that there are multiple schools segregated according to size and species at AFADs and that catchability is higher at dawn and in the late afternoon when the tuna occur shallower in the water column. This study is an important step towards engaging the Maldivian tuna fishers into a science-based fishery management.

International audience; Global climate change is affecting the planet's biodiversity, altering marine ecosystems and modifying species distributions. Using historical and recently collected data, changes in depth distribution of two hydrozoan taxa (Ectopleura crocea and Millepora spp.) with different life histories, ecology and geographic distributions were compared to trends in sea surface temperature (SST). Ectopleura crocea, a temperate species, used to be very common in Italian seas on shallow water artificial substrata, where it settled mainly between spring and autumn. In the Maldives, three species of the tropical hydrocoral Millepora (M. platyphylla, M. latifolia and M. tenera) were reported as common from the early 20th century until recently. Millepora underwent mass mortality during a bleaching event linked to a thermal positive anomaly caused by El Niño and lasting from April to July, 1998. Similarly, E. crocea disappeared from Italian surface waters where it was once abundant. Both the temperate and the tropical hydrozoans survived at moderate depth and recolonized shallow water habitats in recent years. These two hydrozoan examples support the depth refugia hypothesis, according to which marine organisms may shift to deeper habitats to avoid shallow water heatwaves and increased temperature variability. Return to shallow water has been possible only after acclimation such as shifting season of occurrence from summer to winter-spring (E. crocea in Italian seas) or possibly through species replacement (Millepora in the Maldives). Continued field research is needed to understand and evaluate the effect of climate change on marine species distribution.

Metadata only record Analyzing the role of gender in socio-economic development is becoming vital in the era of globalization. Gender and Development highlights the numerous dimensions of gender inequality in economic development, an essential resource for policy-planners, researchers, NGO's and women's organizations focused on women's equality in any nation. Links between gender and employment, savings, budgeting, nutrition, and technology are explored from various country perspectives.

Within the world’s oceans, regionally distinct ecological niches develop due to differences in water temperature, nutrients, food availability, predation and light intensity. This results in differences in the vertical dispersion of planktonic foraminifera on the global scale. Understanding the controls on these modern-day distributions is important when using these organisms for paleoceanographic reconstructions. As such, this study constrains modern depth habitats for the northern equatorial Indian Ocean, for 14 planktonic foraminiferal species (G. ruber, G. elongatus, G. pyramidalis, G. rubescens, T. sacculifer, G. siphonifera, G. glutinata, N. dutertrei, G. bulloides, G. ungulata, P. obliquiloculata, G. menardii, G. hexagonus, G. scitula) using stable isotopic signatures (δ18O and δ13C) and Mg/Ca ratios. We evaluate two aspects of inferred depth habitats: (1) the significance of the apparent calcification depth (ACD) calculation method/equations and (2) regional species-specific ACD controls. Through a comparison with five global, (sub)tropical studies we found the choice of applied equation and δ18Osw significant and an important consideration when comparing with the published literature. The ACDs of the surface mixed layer and thermocline species show a tight clustering between 73–109 m water depth coinciding with the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). Furthermore, the ACDs for the sub-thermocline species are positioned relative to secondary peaks in the local primary production. We surmise that food source plays a key role in the relative living depths for the majority of the investigated planktonic foraminifera within this oligotrophic environment of the Maldives and elsewhere in the tropical oceans.

Coral reefs are threatened by multiple global and local disturbances. The Maldives, already heavily hit by the 1998 mass bleaching event, are currently affected also by growing tourism and coastal development that may add to global impacts. Most of the studies investigating effects of local disturbances on coral reefs assessed the response of communities along a horizontal distance from the impact source. This study investigated the status of a Maldivian coral reef around an island where an international touristic airport has been recently (2009–2011) built, at different depths along the reef profile (5–20 m depth) and considering the change in the percentage of cover of five different non-taxonomic descriptors assessed through underwater visual surveys: hard corals, soft corals, other invertebrates, macroalgae and abiotic attributes. Eight reefs in areas not affected by any coastal development were used as controls and showed a reduction of hard coral cover and an increase of abiotic attributes (i.e. sand, rock, coral rubble) at the impacted reef. However, hard coral cover, the most widely used descriptor of coral reef health, was not sufficient on its own to detect subtle indirect effects that occurred down the reef profile. Selecting an array of descriptors and considering different depths, where corals may find a refuge from climate impacts, could guide the efforts of minimising local human pressures on coral reefs.

Maturity index (MI), based on nematode life strategies, has been proposed in 1990 to assess the possible variations of the terrestrial and freshwater nematode assemblages induced by anthropogenic activities. It was subsequently applied also to marine ecosystems and, even if comparatively not yet very popular, it offers a good method to assess the ecological quality in relation to a wide range of anthropogenic drivers. However, few data are available on its response to physical stress, a key factor especially in the coastal areas. In this study, marine nematode genera from two study cases carried out in Maldives are used to test both MI and life strategy traits (i.e., c-p classes) for detecting the effects of physical disturbance. The results confirm that nematodes are well adapted to physical stress showing a general high rate of recovery. C-p scaling and MI did not seem to be appropriate for revealing this disturbance type probably because there are no empirical evidences on the life strategy of several genera, and a possible differential response to various disturbance types may be hypothesized.

Background: Patterns of refractive errors have never been reported in Maldives. This study aims to dissect astigmatism and provide a general view in context of this island country. Methods: A clinic based cross sectional study was designed with 277 patients, aged ≥3.5 years and with a primary astigmatism of ≥−1.00 diopters (D). They underwent complete eye examination and a vector analysis was done. Results: Mean age was 28.58 (SD 19.15) years. Astigmatic magnitude depended on age (p 0.05). Severity of visual impairment after refractive correction was very less, with only 2.2% having visual acuity ≤6/60. Mean spherical, spherical equivalent and astigmatic refraction were −1.35 (SD 2.94 D), −2.40 (SD 3.04) and −2.12 (SD 1.11 D), respectively. Between fellow eyes, refractive and corneal astigmatism highly correlated (0.83 and 0.73). Fifty eyes (18.1%) had an astigmatic error of ≥−3.00 D which peaked in the second and third decades of life (p

Background Anemia remains a major public health challenge with high prevalence among women in South and Southeast Asian countries. Reductions in anemia rates have been stalled, despite the implementation of different maternal health and nutrition programs. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with anemia among women of reproductive age in seven selected South and Southeast Asian countries. Methods This cross-sectional analysis utilized data from the most recent demographic and health surveys from seven selected South and Southeast Asian countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, and Timor-Leste) between 2011 and 2016. This study included 726,164 women of reproductive age. Multiple logistic regression was performed to assess the factors associated with anemia among women for each country separately. Results The combined prevalence of anemia was 52.5%, ranged from 22.7% in Timor-Leste to 63% in the Maldives. Results from multiple logistic regression suggest that likelihood of anemia is significantly higher among younger women (15-24 years), women with primary or no education, women from the poorest wealth quintile, women without toilet facilities and improved water sources, underweight women, and women with more than one children born in last five years in most of the countries. Conclusions The prevalence of anemia is high among women of reproductive age in the seven selected South and Southeast Asian countries. The results of this study suggest that various household, environmental and individual factors contribute to the increased likelihood of anemia. Evidence-based, multidisciplinary policies and programs targeting mothers' health and nutrition status, in addition to scaling-up women's education and socioeconomic status, are warranted to combat anemia.

In this report, we aimed to analyze the prevalence of undernutrition and associated factors among children under 5 years of age in Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives. A total of 800 children (under 5 years old) and their mothers were selected for this study. Data was collected by using a pretested questionnaire and anthropometric measurements were taken from the hospital record book. Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression were used to find the association between nutritional status and determinants. The distribution of height for age and weight for age in surveyed children in Maldives was skewed to the left compared with the WHO standard. The prevalence of undernutrition based on underweight (10.75%), stunting (13.5%), and wasting (9.60%) was estimated to be 23.85% among children. Child age, gender and mother's education were significantly associated with undernutrition ( P

L’Union européenne a récemment conclu avec Madagascar, Maurice, les Seychelles et Singapour, et négocie actuellement avec l’Indonésie, des accords de libre-échange. La mise en oeuvre de ces accords préférentiels implique une intégration économique progressive accompagnée d’une convergence normative et réglementaire plus ou moins développée. Cette mise à niveau est exigeante car il s’agit d’adopter des normes et standards et de respecter des règles précises dans le domaine des investissements, de la concurrence, ou encore de la normalisation et de la certification. L’acquis européen (législation, jurisprudence de l’UE et accords internationaux notamment) dans ces domaines évoluant régulièrement il s’agit, pour ces économies insulaires, de s’adapter à un environnement juridique en perpétuelle mutation, même s’il ne s’agit pas d’incorporer, à l’instar des pays candidats à l’adhésion, l’ensemble de l’acquis dans leurs législations. Cet article analyse les mutations liées à la mise en place de ces Intégrations régionales économiques que sont les zones de libre-échange. Il met également en lumière les freins et les résistances à ces transformations en étudiant le cas des Comores, des Maldives et du Sri Lanka., The European Union has recently concluded free trade agreements with Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Singapore and is currently negotiating another one with Indonesia. The implementation of these preferential agreements implies a gradual economic integration accompanied by a more or less developed regulatory and normative convergence. This upgrade is demanding because it involves adopting norms and standards and respecting specific rules in the field of investment, competition or standardization and certification. As the European acquis (legislation, EU case-law and international agreements in particular) in these areas is constantly evolving, the islands’ economies have to adapt to a changing legal environment, even if, contrary to the accession candidates, they don’t have to incorporate the full acquis into their legislations. This article analyses the changes related to the implementation of the regional economic integrations that are the free trade zones. It also highlights the brakes and resistance to these transformations by studying the case of the Comoros, the Maldives and Sri Lanka., Iles de l’océan Indien, Union européenne, pouvoir normatif, libre-échange, Indian Ocean Islands, European Union, normative power, Free-trade, Carnets de recherches Océan Indien, 01

International audience; Coral reefs are degrading worldwide, but little information exists on their previous conditions for most regions of the world. Since 1989, we have been studying the Maldives, collecting data before, during and after the bleaching and mass mortality event of 1998. As early as 1999, many newly settled colonies were recorded. Recruits shifted from a dominance of massive and encrusting corals in the early stages of recolonisation towards a dominance of Acropora and Pocillopora by 2009. Coral cover, which dropped to less than 10% after the bleaching, returned to pre-bleaching values of around 50% by 2013. The 2004 tsunami had comparatively little effect. In 2014, the coral community was similar to that existing before the bleaching. According to descriptors and metrics adopted, recovery of Maldivian coral reefs took between 6 and 15 years, or may even be considered unachieved, as there are species that had not come back yet.

South Asia continues to carry the greatest share and number of wasted children worldwide. Understanding the determinants of wasting is important as policymakers renew efforts to tackle this persistent public health and development problem. Using data from national surveys in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan, this analysis explores factors associated with wasting among children aged 0 to 59 months (n = 252,797). We conducted multivariate mixed logistic regression and backwards stepwise methods to identify parsimonious models for each country separately (all p values

Background Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are a group of complex neurodevelopmental disorders. The prevalence of ASD in many South Asian countries is still unknown. The aim of this study was to systematically review available epidemiological studies of ASD in this region to identify gaps in our current knowledge. Methods We searched, collected and evaluated articles published between January 1962 and July 2016 which reported the prevalence of ASD in eight South Asian countries. The search was conducted in line with the PRISMA guidelines. Results We identified six articles from Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka which met our predefined inclusion criteria. The reported prevalence of ASD in South Asia ranged from 0.09% in India to 1.07% in Sri Lanka that indicates up to one in 93 children have ASD in this region. Alarmingly high prevalence (3%) was reported in Dhaka city. Study sample sizes ranged from 374 in Sri Lanka to 18,480 in India. The age range varied between 1 and 30 years. No studies were found which reported the prevalence of ASD in Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan. This review identifies methodological differences in case definition, screening instruments and diagnostic criteria among reported three countries which make it very difficult to compare the studies. Conclusions Our study is an attempt at understanding the scale of the problem and scarcity of information regarding ASD in the South Asia. This study will contribute to the evidence base needed to design further research and make policy decisions on addressing this issue in this region. Knowing the prevalence of ASD in South Asia is vital to ensure the effective allocation of resources and services.

El asunto de sostenibilidad ha entrado con mucha fuerza en muchos territorios insulares y las Maldivas es un ejemplo de ello. Las características demográficas de las islas de las Maldivas, hacen que dicha República pertenezca a los países más vulnerables y menos "protegidos" del mundo. El objetivo principal de este trabajo de fin de Máster consiste en analizar y determinar si la actividad turística que se practica en las islas de Maldivas es sostenible y con ello, viable a largo plazo. Para ello, se han investigado los impactos, tanto positivos como negativos, que el turismo genera en cuanto a las tres dimensiones de la sostenibilidad de las Maldivas. L'assumpte de sostenibilitat ha entrat amb molta força en molts territoris insulars i les Maldives és un exemple d'això. Les característiques demogràfiques de les illes de les Maldives, fan que aquesta República pertanyi als països més vulnerables i menys "protegits" del món. L'objectiu principal d'aquest treball de fi de màster consisteix a analitzar i determinar si l'activitat turística que es practica a les illes de les Maldives és sostenible i amb això, viable a llarg termini. Per a això, s'han investigat els impactes, tant positius com negatius, que el turisme genera pel que fa a les tres dimensions de la sostenibilitat de les Maldives. The issue of sustainability has entered very forcefully in many island territories and the Maldives is an example of this. The demographic characteristics of the Maldives islands make the Republic of Maldives one of the most vulnerable and "least defensible" countries worldwide. The main objective of this thesis is to analyze and determine if the tourism, practiced in the Maldives islands, is sustainable and viable in the long term. To that end, the positive and negative impacts, that the touristic activity generates regarding the three dimensions of the sustainability of the islands, has been thoroughly investigated.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact to psychological contract on the organisational commitment of public sector employees in Maldives. The research draws a sample of 100 respondents from ministry of Youth and Sports, Maldives, using simple random probability sampling technique. A Likert-Scale with 1-5 rating was used to obtain. The Questionnaire distributed included five variables to measure the Psychological Contract construct. These are ‘trust, ‘mutual obligation’, ‘perceived fairness’, and ‘length of contract’. The dependent variable was organizational commitment (affective commitment), which is measured using ‘sense of belonging to the organization’, pride in organization membership’, and meaning associated with the work’. The data collected was processed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 22.0 for windows. The correlation analysis shows that the dimensions of psychological contract have positive correlation with affective commitment. The main results indicate that psychological contract dimension such as fulfillment of mutual obligations, perceived fairness and length of contract has a positive and significant impact on affective commitment. However this study found that psychological contract dimension, trust in employer has a positive correlation although it does not have a significant impact on affective commitment. implications and suggestion for future researches are discussed.

Part 2: Assessment of ICT enabled Smart Initiatives; International audience; This paper profiles the research activities that have been published on e-government adoption in the context of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. Our analysis includes variables such as the years of publication, journals most often publishing papers on e-government adoption, countries in which the research activity was conducted, the authors most active in the subject area, keywords analysis, methodological analysis, technology and respondents contexts, analysis of theories or models used and analysis of limitations and future research directions extracted from 48 research papers that were extracted from Scopus database using some key terminologies related to e-government, adoption and eight SAARC countries. This is the first study that has comprehensively examined the analysis of e-government adoption literature in these eight countries’ context. The results of this research provide some promising lines of inquiry that have been largely neglected along with those that have received a much larger attention.

A new species from the subfamily Comesomatinae is described from the back-reef platforms of the central part of the Maldivian archipelago.Paracomesoma susannaesp. nov. is characterized by a large-sized body, very long cephalic sensilla (72–91 µm long), lateral differentiation of punctuations, and, in the males, 19–22 minute precloacal supplements, relatively short spicules (2.3–2.9 anal body diameter) and a hook-like structure in the distal end of the gubernaculum.Paracomesoma susannaesp. nov. is the only species so far described of the genus which appears to have such a low ratio of the outer labial and cephalic sensilla (about 0.02). An emended diagnosis ofP. paralongispiculumis proposed, along with an updated and modified key to all the valid species of the genusParacomesoma.

Tourism policies in countries are often driven not only by economic agenda, but they are also shaped by socio-cultural factors. Islamic countries have had different approaches to seaside tourism development. Since the 1970's and the opening to tourism, the Maldives have been developing strategies to contain tourists to private islands and minimize the contact with locals, whom would live on different islands. Tourism has long since been established as a ‘luxury’ destination, housing some of the world's most expensive resorts and top brands, while entertaining little to none middle and low-budget tourists. This situation has changed with the recent laws allowing operation of guesthouses in local islands other than the capital city of Male’ and the island situated next to the international airport, some parts of the country have experienced a boom in guesthouse tourism. Opportunities for a variety of local business ventures (such as watersports providers, hostels and food outlets) opened up creating more community involvement, which contrasts greatly with the past tourism organisation. More and more guesthouses are opening in different islands and atolls of the Maldives, providing cheaper holidaying options and a more “authentic” experience compared to the one-island one-resort concept. This situation, by its novelty, creates new opportunities and challenges in the socio-cultural context of the Maldives and remains debated.

The bleaching event of 1998 caused widespread mortality on coral reefs in the Maldives. Nearly 10 years after the coral mass mortality, the state of Maldivian reefs was evaluated paying specific attention to three ecological stages, linked to the 3D structure of the coral community: young (high living hard coral cover), mature (a balance between living coral cover and loose sediment), and regressive (high amount of rubble and sand). The relative importance of three biogeomorphological descriptors (living hard corals; rubble and sand; coralline algae on rock) in the reef flat (2–7 m depth) and in the slope (7–18 m) of three reefscapes related to wave exposure was assessed. The role of wave energy in shaping ecological stages is different in the reef flat (early stages are found in low energy conditions) and in the slope (early stages are associated with high energy sites).

Deeper intraregional financial integration is prominent on Asian policymakers’ agenda. This paper takes stock of Asia’s progress toward that objective, analyzing recent trends in cross-border portfolio investment and bank claims. Then, it investigates the drivers of financial integration by estimating a gravity model of bilateral financial asset holdings on a large sample of source and destination countries worldwide, focusing in particular on the role of regulation and institutions. The paper concludes that financial integration in Asia could be enhanced through policies that lower informational frictions, continue to buttress trade integration and capital market development, remove restrictions to foreign flows and bank penetration, and promote a common regulatory framework.

On December 26th 2004, a earthquake west of Sumatra generated a devastating tsunami. Hundreds of thousands of people fell victim. Economic losses were greatest in those countries dependant on tourism. The impact in the Maldives on persons and things was modest. Immediately following the event and notwithstanding the lack of scientific data, the mass media gave catastrophic reports on the state of coral reefs in the area. This paper reports on the first survey on coral reefs in the Maldives after the Tsunami. Ocean walls, passes, inner reefs, and shoals in the North and South Malé atolls, were surveyed two weeks after the event. Significant damage was recorded in the passes in the South Malé atoll. Our observations showed that the damage was more or less extensive depending on latitude and topography. Sri Lanka may have broken the wave’s rush, reducing the extent of the impact on northern atolls. The water’s acceleration inside the passes was so intense as to cause reef collapses. The observed damage represents a minimum fraction of the entire coral reef system. Tourist perception of the area seems unchanged. These data may be used to disseminate correct information about the state of Maldives coral reefs, which would be useful in relaunching local economy

La mondialisation, reflet de l’époque moderne, a comme double spécificité par rapport aux autres époques de l’Histoire humaine, d’être « un accélérateur de développement » (référence à la vitesse des évolutions) et, en confrontant la diversité du monde à elle-même, un « révélateur de particularismes » (référence aux jeux d’échelles spatiales, du local au global, puis de nouveau au local). Au-delà, ce court texte cherchera à montrer que ses effets sont à la fois divers et variés : ils ne se ressemblent pas d’une île à l’autre et malgré le « mouvement mondial », les facteurs locaux (configuration territoriale, histoire humaine, fondements culturels et religieux) jouent un rôle de premier plan dans le devenir des territoires insulaires, et ce plus que jamais. La finalité de cette réflexion sera donc de mettre à l’épreuve l’équation trop souvent assénée « mondialisation = uniformisation », et d’inviter à porter un autre regard sur la mondialisation. About effects of globalization on territorial dynamics of small island states. The recent phenomena of globalization has two major effects. At first, it plays the role of a development accelerator as it makes evolutions more rapid than they were in the past. On a second hand, it reveals distinctive identities because of the spatial scale variations it authorizes in local life from local to global dynamics. This text shows diverse effects of globalization considered through international tourism. These effects vary from one island to another in spite of the worldwide process globalization produces. The local identities play a major role in the evolution of small island states through varied ways such as religion, territorial characteristics, human history. Thus, purpose of this contribution is to show that globalization can be a way of promotion of regional/national distinctive identities and not, as commonly said, a factor of standardization.

Tropical tuna fisheries are among the largest worldwide, with some having significant bycatch issues. However, pole-and-line tuna fisheries are widely believed to have low bycatch rates, although these have rarely been quantified. The Maldives has an important pole-and-line fishery, targeting skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis). In the Maldives, 106 pole-and-line tuna fishing days were observed between August 2014 and November 2015. During 161 fishing events, tuna catches amounted to 147 t: 72% by weight was skipjack, 25% yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) and 3% other tunas. Bycatch (all non-tuna species caught plus all tuna discards) amounted to 951 kg (0.65% of total tuna catch). Most of the bycatch (95%) was utilized, and some bycatch was released alive, so dead discards were particularly low (0.02% of total tuna catch, or 22 kg per 100 t). Rainbow runner (Elagatis bipinnulata) and dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) together constituted 93% of the bycatch. Live releases included small numbers of silky sharks (Carcharhinus falciformis) and seabirds (noddies, Anous tenuirostris and A. stolidus). Pole-and-line tuna fishing was conducted on free schools and schools associated with various objects (Maldivian anchored fish aggregating devices [aFADs], drifting FADs from western Indian Ocean purse seine fisheries, other drifting objects and seamounts). Free school catches typically included a high proportion of large skipjack and significantly less bycatch. Associated schools produced more variable tuna catches and higher bycatch rates. Fishing trips in the south had significantly lower bycatch rates than those in the north. This study is the first to quantify bycatch rates in the Maldives pole-and-line tuna fishery and the influence of school association on catch composition. Ratio estimator methods suggest roughly 552.6 t of bycatch and 27.9 t of discards are caught annually in the fishery (based on 2015 national catch), much less than other Indian Ocean tuna fisheries, e.g. gillnet, purse-seine, and longline.

Südasien gilt seit Jahrzehnten als Region chronischer Instabilität und wirtschaftlicher Desintegration. Trotz der zahlreichen Konflikte zwischen ihnen hat sich in den letzten Jahren aber auch eine sicherheitspolitische Zusammenarbeit zwischen Indien und seinen Nachbarn entwickelt. Die Hauptursachen hierfür sind die gewandelte indische Außenpolitik gegenüber den Anrainerstaaten und eine zunehmende Angleichung der jeweiligen nationalen Bedrohungsperzeptionen. Die sicherheitspolitischen Herausforderungen werden heute in nahezu allen Staaten eher in den verschiedenen innenpolitischen Konflikten und weniger in äußeren Bedrohungen gesehen. Damit haben sich neue Handlungsmöglichkeiten für eine sicherheitspolitische Zusammenarbeit eröffnet, die lange Zeit undenkbar waren. Indien und die Nachbarn teilen in zunehmendem Maß die Vorstellung, dass Sicherheit heute gemeinsam durch Kooperation gewonnen werden soll und nicht länger durch Konfrontation erreicht werden kann. Die verschiedenen Formen der bilateralen Zusammenarbeit bilden den Ausgangspunkt für eine regionale Sicherheitsarchitektur, die aufgrund der politischen Konstellationen in Südasien eher ein informelles Netzwerk bleibt und kaum Ansatzpunkte für eine weitergehende Institutionalisierung aufweist. (Autorenreferat)