Volume XIX, Number 255 8th Waxing of Pyatho 1373 ME Sunday, 1 January, 2012

Established 1914

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—AyeyawadyBridge (Pakokku), the longest of Myanmar,was inaugurated this morning with an ad-dress by Vice-President of the Republic ofthe Union of Myanmar Thiha Thura U TinAung Myint Oo.

The bridge is a rail-cum-road one,built by Special Bridge Construction Group-3 of Public Works of the Construction Min-istry.

The opening ceremony was attendedby Union Minister for Industry U Soe Thein,Union Minister at the President Office U SoeMaung, Union Minister for Rail Transporta-tion U Aung Min, Union Minister for Con-struction U Khin Maung Myint, Union Min-ister for Electric Power No. (1) U Zaw Min,Union Minister for Transport U Nyan TunAung, Union Minister for Science and Tech-nology U Aye Myint, Mandalay RegionChief Minister U Ye Myint, Magway RegionChief Minister U Phone Maw Shwe, CentralCommand Commander Maj-Gen Ye Aung,North-West Command Commander Maj-Gen Soe Lwin, Deputy Minister for HomeAffairs Brig-Gen Kyaw Zan Myint, DeputyMinister for Social Welfare, Relief and Re-settlement U Phone Swe, Deputy Ministerfor Education U Ba Shwe, Deputy Ministerfor Health Dr Win Myint, member of

(See page 8)

Ayeyawady Bridge (Pakokku),the longest of its kind in

Myanmar, put into serviceVice-President Thiha Thura

U Tin Aung Myint Oo cordially

greets local people at the

opening ceremony of

Ayeyawady Bridge (Pakokku).

MNA

Photo shows the newly-opened

Ayeyawady Bridge (Pakokku)

the longest bridge in Myanmar.

MNA

According to the historic events, Our Three MainNational Causes: Non-disintegration of the Union, Non-disintegration of national solidarity, and Perpetuation ofsovereignty is the national duty not only present generationsbut also our posterity have to safeguard. So, our governmentwill uphold this national duty.

(Excerpts from Speech of President U Thein Sein delivered atPyidaungsu Hluttaw on 30-3-2011)

National Duty

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012

PERSPECTIVESSunday, 1 January, 2012

Independence and Development

Representative U Maung Oo,Nay Pyi Taw Councilmembers, members of NayPyi Taw Development AffairsCommittee, townshipadministrators, departmentalofficials, members of socialorganizations, townseldersand locals attended theopening of Naungthinkhaand Pyidaw Aye tarred roads.

Naungthinkha Street is12 feet wide and 2961 feetlong and Pyidaw Aye Streetis 2926 feet long. Likewise,opening of Yuzana andShwechi tarred streets washeld this morning inPyinmana, attended by theUnion Minister, Nay Pyi TawDevelopment AffairsCommittee Member U MyoAung and PyinmanaTownship Amyotha HluttawRepresentative U Hmat Gyi.

Yuzana and Shwechistreets are 12 feet in widthand 7300 feet in length.

MNA

New tarred roads opened in Tatkon, PyinmanaNew tarred roads opened in Tatkon, Pyinmana

Union Minister U Thein Htaik views sale of jade lots at Mani Yadana Jade Hall.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—Mid-yearMyanma Gems Emporium 2011 continuedtoday at Mani Yadana Jade Hall here thismorning.

The hall was packed with gemsmerchants, at home and abroad, observingjade lots which will be sold out incompetitive bidding system and wanderingjewellery shops.

Patron of Emporium CentralCommittee Union Minister for Mines UThein Htaik, accompanied by CentralCommittee Secretary U Thein Swe andmembers, viewed selling of jade lots andattended to the needs.

Today, 1433 jade lots were sold out atthe emporium in which the jade lots willcontinue to be sold in competitive biddingsystem from 1 to 3 January.

MNA

Gems merchants flood into Mid-year Myanma GemsEmporium

Local and foreign gems merchants viewing jade lotsearnestly.—MNA

Union Minister at the President Office Nay Pyi Taw CouncilChairman U Thein Nyunt at opening of road in Nay Pyi Taw

Pyinmana.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—New roads were opened inNay Pyi Taw Tatkon andPyinmana this morning as a

gesture of hailing 64th

Anniversary IndependenceDay.

Union Minister at the

President Office Nay Pyi TawCouncil Chairman U TheinNyunt, Tatkon TownshipPyithu Hluttaw

Myanmar has freed herself from thecolonial yoke since 64 years ago. The 4th January1948 is the day when Myanmar people regainedindependence as a sovereign nation. On thatday designated as the Independence Day,commemorative festivities have been celebratedyearly for 64 years so that all the people adoreand value the independence of the nation.

Independence was not regained by a strokeof fortune like winning a lottery. All nationalbrethren residing in the territory of Myanmarsacrificed lives, blood and sweat in independencestruggles. They all together secured theIndependence by fighting against the colonialistsin many battles with a same vow that the entireMyanmar people must be free from enslavement.

To safeguard the Independence is the dutyof all national people living in the nation.Thus, all national people are to uphold OurThree Main National Causes: Non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegrationof national solidarity and perpetuation ofsovereignty for perpetuity of Independence ofMyanmar.

Today is the first day to enter the New Yearof 2012 after the old year was over. Hailing theNew Year, development momentum must begathered for serving the interests of the Stateand the entire people as part of efforts tosafeguard the Independence of the nation.

At present, internal armed groups havemade peace talks one after another thanks toremarkable reforms of the new government. Inconsequence, the whole nation will enjoy thepeace and prosperity with full essence ofIndependence.

In the near future, it is certain that thewhole country will achieve greater progress asthe people can emphasize their businessesenjoying fruits of Independence.

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—The Women’s Vocational TrainingSchool opened the advanced tailoring course No. 2 and thebasic domestic science course No. 3 in Myainggyingu regionof Hlaingbwe Township on 19 December, with an address byKayin State Chief Minister U Zaw Min.

The State Chief Minister attended the stake drivingceremony for 20 rural housing estates in Myainggyinguregion. He presented school uniforms and refreshments tostudents of mobile primary school and comforted patients atMyainggyingu hospital.

The State Chief Minister presented cash assistance tothe fund of Myainggyingu Basic Education High School. Healso visited rubber farm, soya bean and groundnut plantationsin the region.

In Hpa-an, he addressed the basic domestic science courseNo. 28 and the advanced tailoring course No. 25.

MNA

Training courses openedin Kayin State

Monsoon paddy harvestedwith combined harvester

AMARAPURA, 31 Dec—The monsoon paddy on 1.23 acresof model plot was harvested in Tamoksoe Village of AmarapuraTownship on 19 December.

Local authorities and departmental officials supervisedharvesting of paddy that produced 80 baskets per acre.

World brand combined harvester is worth K 9 million,and it is sold with the assistance of Mandalay Regiongovernment.—Myanma Alin

Talks on bird fluprevention held

BUDALIN, 31 Dec—An educative talk onprevention against bird flu was held at theoffice of Budalin Township LivestockBreeding and Veterinary Department on 27December.

Township level officials of thedepartment disseminated knowledge aboutoutbreaks of bird flu, control of disease andsymptoms.

They sprayed the poultry farms in Myomaward 3 insecticide.—Township LBVD

DISTRICT NEWS

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012 3

Kremlin hails positivedevelopment

in Russia’s internationalrelations in 2011

MOSCOW, 31 Dec— President Dmitry Medvedev sentNew Year greetings to a number of foreign leaders to stressthe positive developments in their bilateral relations, theKremlin website reported Friday.

Besides sending greetings to some 20 foreign leaders,including those of the US, Germany, France, China andJapan, Medvedev especially emphasized the dynamics in tieswith Kazakhstan and Belarus, calling the relations “allied.”

In a bid to strengthen regional ties, Russia, Belarus, andKazakhstan signed agreements this year to create a CommonEconomic Space and Eurasian Economic Union in addition tothe existing Customs Union and Collective Security TreatyOrganization.

“Start of the Common Economic Space from Jan 1, 2012,will open new opportunities for our ties. On agenda there istransition to the next stage of integration — creating EurasianEconomic Union,” Medvedev said.

He also mentioned that Russia’s participation in a numberof regional and global organizations such as the ShanghaiCooperation Organization (SCO), the Commonwealth ofIndependent States (CIS), BRICS, G20 and the Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation (APEC) is important to regional andglobal peace and stability.—Xinhua

Iranian navy chief says closing Hormuz Strait notIran’s intention

TEHERAN, 31 Dec—Iran’s navy chief RearAdmiral Habibollah Sayyarisaid Friday that it is not Iran’sintention to close the Straitof Hormuz although it couldreadily close it, the localsatellite Press TV reported.

“Our intention is to bringstability and security to theregion and we would like toshow everyone that we canprovide the security for theregion without resorting topowers from outside,” saidthe Iranian commander as thecountry continued itsongoing navy drill on Friday.

Sayyari said thepresence of foreign navies inthe region causes regionalinsecurity and emphasizedthat Iran does not need thepresence of non-regionalpowers, according to thereport.

The US Department ofDefence on Wednesday

warned Iran against anyattempt to block the Strait ofHormuz, which is one of theworld’s most important oilpassage.

“This is not just animportant issue for securityand stability in the region,but is an economic lifeline forcountries in the Gulf,including Iran,” Pentagon

press secretary George Littlesaid. “Interference with thetransit or passage of vesselsthrough the Strait of Hormuzwill not be tolerated.”

Little’s remarks cameafter Iran’s top officialsthreatened to seal off theimportant oil passage. Iran’sFirst Vice PresidentMohammad Reza Rahimi

said on Tuesday that Iranwill close the Strait of Hormuzif the West imposessanctions on its oil exports.

Sayyari echoed the vicepresident’s remarks onWednesday, saying that thecountry’s naval forces couldreadily block the oil route ifneeded.

In a separate statement,the Bahrain-based US FifthFleet said on Wednesdaythat “anyone who threatensto disrupt freedom ofnavigation in an internationalstrait is clearly outside thecommunity of nations. Anydisruption will not betolerated.”

Last Saturday, theIranian navy launched a 10-day exercise, dubbed Velayat90, which covers a length of2,000 km stretching from theeast of the Strait of Hormuz inthe Persian Gulf to the Gulf ofAden.—Xinhua

People carry a man to a hospital following a huge blastin southwest Pakistan’s Quetta on 30 Dec, 2011. Atleast 15 people were killed and over 20 others were

injured when a blast hit Pakistan’s southwestern city ofQuetta on Friday night, said local media and police

sources. A local separatist group BalochistanLiberation Army (BLA) later claimed the responsibilityfor the attack and said that it was a suicide bomb attack

instead of a car bomb attack.—XINHUA

15 killed in Pakistan’s Quetta city blastISLAMABAD, 31 Dec— At

least 15 people were killedand over 20 wounded after ablast hit Pakistan’s Quettacity Friday, said policesources and media reports.

The toll in the blast hasrisen to 15, Xinhua reportedDawn News citing sourcesearly Saturday.

Earlier, district inspectorgeneral Nazir Kurd of Quetta,capital city of Balochistanprovince, said 10 people werekilled and about 30 injured inthe blast which, as per initialinformation, looked as if itwas a car bomb blast.

Later, BalochistanLiberation Army, a localseparatist group, however,claimed responsibility for theattack, saying it was a suicidebomb attack instead of a carbomb attack.

The attack took place atabout 7:00 pm Fridayoutside the house of the sonof former federal ministerNaseer Mengal who hadserved as oil minister duringthe tenure of former presidentPervez Musharraf.

Mengal has also beenBalochistan’s chief minister.

An estimated 40 to 50 kg

of explosives were used inthe blast, said police, addingthat bomb disposal squadalso defused another twobombs planted near thehouse.

Shafiq Mengal, theleader’s son, however,escaped the attack. InteriorMinister Rehman Malik hasordered an inquiry into theattack.—Xinhua

Interpol chief: EU muststep up security

Military speedboats are seen during Iranian navalmaneuvers dubbed Velayat 90 on the Sea of Oman,

Iran, on 30 Dec, 2011.—XINHUA

LYON, (France), 31 De—The head of the internationalpolice agency Interpol urged European countries to checkvisitors’ passports against its database of stolen documents. Inan interview reported Friday in The Independent, InterpolSecretary-General Ronald Noble said only a few countries in theEuropean Union take advantage of its database of 15 millionsuspicious passports.

Once travelers are admitted to an EU country, the SchengenAgreement allows them to travel freely through most of Europe.“If we all say that we are going to trust one another to screenand control people coming through our borders then we shouldall have the same standard,” Noble said. Noble pointed out oneof the people involved in the 1993 bombing at the World TradeCentre in New York had entered the United States using a stolenIraqi passport.

“The lesson that should have been learnt ... is that peoplecarrying stolen travel documents, if they are not stopped, canenter your country and mastermind a horrible attack,” Noblesaid.—Internet

15 insurgents killed, 55 arrested in Afghanistan

A Palestinian militant looks over the rubble of amilitary site belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement

after an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza Strip,on 29 Dec, 2011.—XINHUA

KABUL, 31 Dec—Afghan forces, backed byNATO-led Coalition troops,have killed 15 armedinsurgents and detained 55other suspects inAfghanistan over the past 24hours, Afghan InteriorMinistry said on Saturday

morning. “Afghan NationalPolice (ANP), AfghanNational Army andinternational Coalition Forceslaunched 18 joint operationsin Kunar, Nangarhar, Kapisa,Takhar, Baghlan, Kandahar,Helmand, Wardak, Logar,Ghazni, Khost, and Herat

Provinces over the past 24hours,” the ministry said in apress release. “As a result ofthese operations, 15 armedinsurgents were killed, fourwounded and 55 others werearrested by the ANP,” it said.

The ANP alsodiscovered and confiscated12 AK-47 guns, five rocketlaunchers, three PKM machineguns, five anti-vehicle mines,1,280 kg of opium, 164 kg ofhashish, 4 kg of heroin, threeradio handsets, fivemotorbikes, seven heavybullets, two different types ofweapons and a pistol, the pressrelease added.

Afghan officials oftenuse the word “insurgents”referring to Taleban. However,the insurgent group, wholaunched in May this year arebel offensive againstAfghan and NATO forces, hasnot to make comments yet.

Separately, a Talebanfighter was killed and twoinjured when Afghan armysoldiers repelled an attack onan army checkpoint in theeastern Kunar province lateon Friday, an army spokesmanin the region Shirin Agha said.

Internet

Former Mexico soldiersentenced for aiding

cartelsMEXICO CITY, 31 Dec— A former soldier in the Mexican

Army was sentenced to 25 years in prison for aiding drugcartels, the attorney general’s office said on Friday.

Reymundo Morales of the Mexican infantry was arrestedtwo years ago and found guilty of passing information todrug cartels, the attorney general’s office said in a statement.Local media said that Morales and several colleagues inuniform were passing information about security operationsto the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel, led by Joaquin ‘Shorty’Guzman, Mexico’s most-wanted man.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has said he isdetermined to root out corruption among the security forcesas they take on violent drug cartels in a battle that has left morethan 46,000 people dead since he took office in 2006. Fewofficials have been convicted for crimes to date, though earlylast month, fourteen soldiers were sentenced to jail for firingat a family group in 2007 in one of the more prominent casesof wrongdoing among the security services.—MNA/Reuters

A wounded Afghan man chats with a security man at thescene of a bomb explosion in Jalalabad, Nangarhar

province east of Kabul, Afghanistan on 29 Dec, 2011.XINHUA

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4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012

China busts counterfeit drug racketBEIJING, 31 Dec—

Chinese authorities brokeup more than 1,800 densthat made or soldcounterfeit drugs in casesthat involved 3.35 billionyuan (530 million U.S.dollars) in a two-yearcrackdown, according tothe State Food and DrugAdministration (SFDA).

During the campaign,13 government depart-ments mobilized more thanone million lawenforcement workers tocombat the sale of fakedrugs via onlineadvertising or consign-ment, seizing more than5,000 kinds of illegalproducts, said SFDAdeputy head Bian ZhenjiaThursday at a meeting.

According to Bian, theaction also targetedmalpractice during themanufacturing process aswell as selling non-pharmaceutical products asdrugs. In the operation,authorities conducted morethan 28,000 on-siteinspections in medicineproduction factories andhalted the production of 98varieties of drugs, Bian said.However, Bian noted thatproblems still exist,including rampant illegaldrug advertising and onlinesales of fake drugs,

Chinese authorities broke up more than 1,800 dens that made or sold counterfeit drugsin cases that involved 3.35 billion yuan (530 million US dollars) in a two-year

crackdown, according to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA).—INTERNET

improper manufacturing practices and outdated laws and regulations concerning drug safety.Bian said the SFDA will continue to cooperate with other government depart-ments and

step up supervision and crackdowns on the online sale of fake drugs.—Xinhua

WHO “deeply concerned” by mutated birdflu researchLONDON, 31 Dec—The

World Health Organizationissued a stern warning onFriday to scientists who haveengineered a highlypathogenic form of the deadlyH5N1 bird flu virus, sayingtheir work carries significantrisks and must be tightlycontrolled.

The United Nationshealth body said it was“deeply concerned about thepotential negativeconsequences” of work bytwo leading flu research teamswho this month said they had

Health workers carry culled poultry for disposal atGandhigram village, about 35 km (22 miles) west of

Agartala, capital of India’s northeastern state ofTripura, on 7 March, 2011.— REUTERS

found ways to make H5N1into a easily transmissableform capable of causing lethalhuman pandemics.

The work by the teams,one in The Netherlands andone in the United States, hasalready prompted anunprecedented censorshipcall from US security adviserswho fear that publishingdetails of the research couldgive potential attackers theknow-how to make abioterror weapon.

The US NationalScience Advisory Board for

Biosecurity has asked twojournals that want topublish the work to makeonly redacted versions ofstudies available, a requestto which the journal editorsand many leadingscientists object.

In its first comment onthe controversy, the WHOsaid: “While it is clear thatconducting research togain such knowledge mustcontinue, it is also clearthat certain research, andespecially that which cangenerate more dangerousforms of the virus....hasrisks.”

Reuters

Wall Street ends flat for year despite a bigvolatile year

Business

Trader Peter Frank Masiello wears “2012” glassesas he works on the main trading floor of the New

York Stock Exchange during the last trading day of2011 in New York on 30 Dec, 2011.—XINHUA

NEW YORK, 31 Dec —The US stocks fell onFriday, ending an extremelyvolatile year with little tocheer, as concerns aboutuncertainties haunting theworld economy stillweighed on the market.

After positive joblessdata on Thursday,investors cheered on theFord sales data. Fordreported on Friday that thecompany’s 2011 auto sales

hit 2 million units, the first timethat’s happened since 2007.

However, stocks stilledged down amid Europeanconcerns. Italy had a weakdebt auction and its 10-year-bond yields hit 7.07 percent.Investors were concerned thatborrowing costs in the eurozone countries will increase inthe coming year.

Meanwhile, Spain saidthat its budget deficit willsurpass prior expectations of

Hong Kong stocks close higher with lowturnover

HONG KONG, 31 Dec — Hong Kongstocks closed higher on Friday, the last tradingday of the year with the lowest turnover in thepast three years. The benchmark Hang Sengindex closed up 36.47 points, or 0.2 percent, toend at 18,434.39 points, after trading betweena day high of 18,506.27 and a day low of18,415.85 points. Turnover totaled 24.47billion HK dollars (about 3.15 billion USdollars), more than 15 percent lower than thelast trading day. The Hang Seng ChinaEnterprises Index gained 5.15 points, or 0. 05percent, to close at 9,949.73. Of the four sub-indices, the Finance and Utilities gainedground, up 0.4 and 0.97 percent respectively.Both the Properties and Commerce & Industrylost ground, dropping 0.38 and 0.02 percent.

Banking giant HSBC, which accountsfor the largest weighting of the Hang SengIndex, moved up 1.03 percent to close at 59HK dollars, whereas its local unit Hang SengBank moved down 0.22 percent to 92.15 HKdollars. Hong Kong Exchange lost 0.16percent to 124.1 HK dollars. China Mobilegained 1.2 percent to 57 HK dollars.

As for the mainland-based financialstocks, ICBC, the world’s largest bank bymarket value, lost 0.43 percent to 4.61 HKdollars. China’s second largest insurer PingAn gained 0.49 percent at 51.2 HK dollars.

6 percent of GDP, hittingaround 8 percent for 2011.

Moreover, the ChinaPurchasing Managers’Indexfor Dec rose to 48.7 from 47.7in November. However, thefigure was under 50 for secondconsecutive month, meaningthat China’s manufacturingsaw contraction. Volume hasbeen thin recently as manyinvestors enjoyed their newyear holiday.

With light volume, theCBOE VIX index, known asfear index, rose 3.31 percent to23.40. The Dow Jonesindustrial average lost 69.48points, or 0.57 percent, to12,217.56. The Standard &Poor’s 500 was down 5.42points, or 0.43 percent, to1,257.60. The NasdaqComposite Index dropped 8.59points, or 0.33 percent, to2,605.15. For the year, the Dowgained about 5.5 percent, oneof the best among all majorindexes in the world. The S&P500 ended the year almostunchanged while the Nasdaqdropped nearly 2 percent.

Internet

A pedestrian walks past an electronicpanel showing the Hang Seng Index inHong Kong, south China, on 30 Dec,

2011.—XINHUA

China LIfe, another important insurer inChina, gained 0.42 percent to 19.2 HKdollars. Both China Construction Bankand Bank of China didn’t move during thetrading day, with their shares stayed at5.42 HK dollars and 2.86 HK dollarsrespectively. Shares of Hong Kongdevelopers ended mixed during the tradingday. Hang Lung Properties lost 0.45 percentto 22.1 HK dollars. Henderson Land,another major developer in Hong Kong,rose 1.05 percent to 38.6 HK dollars, andCheung Kong Holding, a powerful HK-based developer controlled by billionaireLi Ka-shing, went down 1. 62 percent to92.4 HK dollars.—Internet

Man Suspected being infectedwith Bird Flu in ShenzhenGUANGZHOU, 31 Dec—A 39-year-old bus driver is

suspected of being infected with the hight pathogenicH5N1 virus in the southern city of Shenzhen in GuangdongProvince, local authorities said on Friday.

The man surnamed Chen was hospitalized for a feveron December 21 and tested positive for the H5N1 avianinfluenza virus in Bao'an District of Shenzhen, whichborders Hong Kong, the provincial health departmentsaid.

Chen is still in critical condition and is receivingemergency treatment, it said.

The department also said that during the previousmonth prior to his fever, he had no direct contact with thepoultry and had not traveled out of the city.

The General Administration of Quality Supervision,Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) said on December 22to suspend supplies of live poultry to Hong Kong after adead chicken was tested positive in Hong Kong for thehighly pathogenic H5N1 virus.

The AQSIQ said it would maintain close contact andwork together with the Hong Kong Special AdministrativeRegion (HKSAR) to jointly step up measures in controllingthe epidemic.—MNA/Xinhua

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012 5

Elusive snow leopards caught on cameraKABUL, 31 Dec— A remote camera in the mountains of

Afghanistan has captured a rare photograph of a snowleopard mother and her cub, a US wildlife conservationgroup says. Photographs of the elusive animals are hard tocome by, the Wildlife Conservation Society in New Yorksaid, so a picture of both a mother and her cub is all the morespecial. The image of the two animals, snapped on a craggypeak in Afghanistan’s Sarkund Valley, is the first suchphoto obtained since the WCS began work in the region,the group said in a release Friday.

The WCS has been conserving wildlife in Afghanistansince 2006 with support from the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment. Snow leopards are native to South andCentral Asia and live in rocky mountain ranges between9,800 and 18,000 feet.—Internet

Snow leopard mother andher cub in Afghanistan.

INTERNET China plans more spaceshipsand space station

BEIJING, 31 Dec— China has released its next five-yearspace plan to help it on its way to its eventual goals ofbuilding a space station and putting a man on the moon.

The white paper released Thursday says that by the endof 2016, China will launch space laboratories, mannedspaceships and ship freighters, and make technologicalpreparations for the construction of space stations.

It says the country will carry on exploring the moonusing probes, start gathering samples of the moon’s surface,and “push forward its exploration of planets, asteroids andthe sun.”

China places great emphasis on the development of itsspace industry, which is seen as a symbol of nationalprestige.—Internet

In this undated photo shows researchers installingChina’s first space station module Tiangong-1 inside

the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestChina’s Gansu Province, on the edge of the

Gobi Desert.—INTERNET

Exotic creatures found living at deep-sea vent in Indian Ocean

Camera teams haveventured deep down into theSouth-west Indian Ridge ofthe Indian Ocean to film the

ecosystems surrounding‘black smokers’, volcanic

underwater vents.INTERNET

LONDON, 31 Dec —Scientists have capturedremarkable images of lifefrom one of the mostinhospitable spots in theocean – volcanicunderwater vents –sometimes called blacksmokers.

The UK researchers,who have been surveyingthe area in the South WestIndian Ridge in the IndianOcean, found an array ofcreatures living in thesuper-heated waters,including yeti crabs, scaly-foot snails and sea

new to science, the BBCreported.

Hydrothermal ventswere first discovered in 1977.These fissures in the oceanfloor spew out fiercely hot,mineral-rich water, yetsomehow, diverseecosystems are able to thrivein these hostile conditions.

The team, from theUniversity of Southampton,was particularly interested inthe vents on the South WestIndian Ridge because thisrange is linked to the MidAtlantic Ridge and theCentral Indian Ridge, where

vent life has been welldocumented.

Using a remote-operated, underwater robotcalled Kiel 6000, from theLeibniz Institute of MarineSciences (IFM Geomar), inGermany, the team was ableto train their cameras on thevents. In the hottest habitataround the black smokers,they found snails and shrimp,as well as mussels, seacucumbers and crabs. Theythen compared these with theanimals found at vents on theneighbouring ridges.

Internetcucumbers. They believesome of the species may be

Science

Twitter index: microbloggers celebrate thelast Friday of 2011

People on microblogging site Twitterare celebrating the last Friday of 2011 andtalking about their plans for the New Year.

“Rebecca Black don’t be sad, there aremany more Friday’s in 2012,” joke Tweeps,making fun of one of 2011’s most celebratedmemes.

Microbloggers are listing their favorite“crushes” in 2011 with the first placehashtag, “#mycrushof2011.” Notsurprisingly Twitter favorites Justin Bieberand boyband One Direction are on manypeoples’ lists. Twitterers are also usingthird place hashtag“#iWantARelationship” to let their

Twitter index: microbloggers celebratethe last Friday of 2011.—INTERNET

China urges tighter Internet security after series ofdata leaks

SHANGHAI, 31 Dec—The Chinesegovernment is working with domestic Internetsearch engines like Baidu Inc and Sohu.comand financial institutions to prevent phishingattacks on unsuspecting Chinese web users.

The Ministry of Public Security said onFriday it would work with 10 Chinese searchengines to protect the website rankings offinancial institutions to lessen the chancesthat Internet users will be duped by phishingwebsites. A phishing attack occurs when theuser is persuaded to part with his or herusername and password via a fake webpagethat closely resembles the original.

Through the collaboration, the officialwebsites of several Chinese banks, such asAgricultural Bank of China and ChinaConstruction Bank will be ranked first in thesearch engine when a user searches for therelated keywords, reducing the risk of suchattacks, the Ministry said in an online circularon Friday.

The move comes after China urgedtighter Internet security on Wednesdayfollowing a spate of personal data leaks thatalarmed the online community and promptedcalls for tougher scrutiny of who has access

followers know that they would like to be ina relationship in 2012 (provided that certainconditions are met). “Yo Momma” jokes arespiraling out of control on the social networkas people scramble to out-tweet each other.The most popular “Yo Momma” joke circlingthe blog is, “Yo momma so fat when she saton an iPhone.. it turned into an iPad.” A photoof former NBA player Charles Barkleypurportedly starring in the fictional sequel ofthe film Precious has gone viral on Twitteralong with the term “Precious 2.”

Twitterers tweet that they are “Watching[the movie] Obsessed,” the American comedy“House Party,” the animated TV series “FamilyGuy,” and the American reality TV show“Mob Wives.” The top 10 most talked abouttopics on Twitter on 30 December at 7:30AM GMT are:

#mycrushof2011 (new)#lastfridayof2011 (new)#iWantARelationship (new)We Are Blessed To Have Jonas (new)Precious 2 (new)Watching Obsessed (new)House Party (new)Yo Momma (new)Family Guy (new)Mob Wives (new)—Internet

A man smokes as he uses a computer atan internet cafe in Hefei, Anhui

province, on 15 Sept, 2011.REUTERS

to online information.On Thursday, the Guangdong

Provincial Public Security Departmentconfirmed a technical vulnerability on thewebsite of the Division of Exit and EntryAdministrative Department of PublicSecurity for Guangdong had left the personaldata of 4.4 million users exposed.

According to Chinese media, theloophole was first reported by amicroblogger on Thursday and has beenaround since June this year.—Reuters

Microsoft set to announce LTE-based WP7 NokiaAce, HTC Radiant, Samsung Mendel at CES

WASHINGTON, 31 Dec—A wave ofWindows Phone 7 (WP7) rumors has beencircling the blogs over the last few days, themost recent of which includes details offorthcoming smartphones from Nokia, HTCand Samsung. Paul Thurrott from SuperSitefor Windows reports that “[t]hree LTE-basedWindows Phone handsets — the NokiaACE, HTC Radiant, and Samsung Mendel

Technology

built for low-end smartphones, “[s]o it’sunclear how that jives with LTE, which isobviously a high-end feature,” notesThurrot. The Verge suggests the LTE-baseddevices will run on a pre-Tango version ofWindows Phone that supports the 4Gwireless mobile communicationtechnology. The Verge also mentions thatthe HTC and Samsung LTE devices may notarrive in time for CES and may instead beannounced during Mobile World Congressin Barcelona this February.—Internet

TheNokiaLumia710 willarrive inthe USinJanuary.INTERNET

— will ship on AT&T Wireless before themiddle of 2012. The ACE is due 18 March,2012.”

The handsets are rumored to feature inMicrosoft’s final headlining keynote at theInternational Consumer Electronics Show(CES) in January, says Thurrott, although heis unsure how these LTE-based devices will fitin with Microsoft’s WP7 “Tango” mobileoperating system update, which is also rumoredto be announced during the keynote beforelaunching in early 2012. Tango is said to be

P5(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM5

6 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012

Guests and delegates attend a meeting to mark theestablishment of the eighth Council of the Chinese

People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) in Beijing,Capital of China, on 29 Dec, 2011.—XINHUA

TOKYO, 31 Dec—Four groups of independent expertswill conduct another probe into the nuclear disaster at theFukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the NHK TV channelsaid.

Four commissions, fully independent from thegovernment, will begin their investigation in January.

Along with questioning eyewitnesses and employeesif the disaster-stricken plant and its operator TEPCO, theexperts will also study the previous government’s responseto the tragedy.

Actions by then prime minister Naoto Kan and other

Expert groups to probe Fukushima n-plant disasteragain

Damaged Russian nuclearsub to take a year for

repair

A view shows Russia’s nuclear-powered submarineYekaterinburg at a Russian navy base in Murmansk

Region on 16 March, 2011. Russia said it had broughta blaze aboard a nuclear submarine under control on30 December, 2011, by partially submerging the vesselat a naval shipyard, after hours of dousing the flameswith water from helicopters and tug boats.—INTERNET

Iran to fire various home-made missiles during

naval drillsTEHERAN, 31 Dec—An

Iranian commander saidFriday that Iran’s Navy willfire various home-mademissiles during the navaldrills in the strategic Strait ofHormuz, the local satellitePress TV reported.

Deputy commander ofIran’s Navy, Rear AdmiralSeyyed Mahmoud Mousavi,

A girl on horseback chasesa boy in a traditional

activity “girls chase” inKanas, Altay Prefecture of

northwest China’sXinjiang Uygur

Autonomous Region, 30Dec, 2011. The 5th KanasIce and Snow TourismFestival has been held

here and local herdsmenperformed traditional

sports activities fortourists.—XINHUA

supreme officials will come under scrutiny.A powerful earthquake and tsunami wrecked the

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant’s cooling systems 11 March,causing meltdown at three of its reactors.

Radiation leaked into the atmosphere, soil and seawater,causing the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The first report, released Tuesday, criticised peoplewho have been involved in nuclear disaster response andthose in charge of managing and operating the nuclearpower plant for “lacking the whole-picture viewpoint innuclear disaster preparedness.”—Internet

US sells 84 F-15 jets to Saudi Arabia in dealworth 30 billion dollars

WASHINGTON, 31 Dec—The US has officiallyconfirmed selling 84 BoeingF-15 jets to Saudi Arabia,which is its main ally in theMiddle-East. The US willalso upgrade 70 existingSaudi F-15s as per theagreement.

The US Congressapproved a deal worth 60billion dollars last year,which would be covered innext 10-15 years, and thisagreement is a part of it only.

The deal wasannounced from Hawaii onThursday where thePresident, Barack Obamawas spending hisvacations. Josh Earnest,White House deputyspokesman said that thisdeal would provide

MOSCOW, 31 Dec—Repairs of the Yekaterinburg nuclearsub, damaged by fire while in dry dock near Murmansk city,will take at least a year, said a spokesman for the Zvezdochkashipyard.

The outer hull of the Yekaterinburg, a Delta-class nuclearsubmarine, caught fire Thursday during repairs when whenfuel and lubricants were set ablaze by welding in the system’snose section.

Fire safety violations during routine maintenance worksare cited as the most likely cause.

The submarine’s hydro acoustic system , defined asactive sound in water (sonar) that is used to study fish, wasdisabled by the fire and possibly will have to be replacedbefore it is brought back into service.

“According to our specialists, the repair terms will beknown as soon as the damage is assessed and when itbecomes clear whether a new hydro acoustic complex isneeded for the sub,” Zvezdochka spokesman YevgenyGladyshev said. “According to our first assessments, repairsmay take as long as one year.”

It is yet unclear at what facility the sub will be repaired.Internet

France discovers 20 cancer cases in womenwith PIP implants

PARIS, 31 Dec—Frenchhealth agency confirmed onFriday that 20 cases of cancerwere reported in women withbreast implants of a Frenchbrand.

As of Tuesday, “therewere three cases oflymphoma, 15 cases of breastadenocarcinoma, the mostcommon form of breastcancer, one case ofadenocarcinoma of the lung,and one case of acutemyeloid leukemia,” said theFrench Health ProductsSafety Agency (AFSSAPS),referring to allegedly faultyimplants produced by thePoly Implant Prothese (PIP).

But “no accountabilityhas been established to datebetween these cancers andthe wearing of PIP implants,”the agency said. The FrenchHealth Ministry last weekadvised 30,000 women to

employment opportunities toaround 50,000 Americans.

The deal has come at atime when US is having astandoff with SaudiArabia’’s bitter foe Iran overthe proposed threat by Iranto disrupt traffic through theStrait of Hormuz ifWashington imposessanctions on Teheran’’s oilexports.

The Gulf states, Israeland Saudi Arabia, which areUS’’s major allies in the

Middle East, considers Iranas a threat to the peace of theregion, BBC reports. Inaddition to this deal, the USgovernment is also planningto supply Iraq with nearly 11billion dollars of arms andtraining while Iran’’s westernflank is already spiking upwith weaponry.

Saudi Arabia is not onlyan ally of huge importance tothe US but it is also their thirdhighest source of its oil-imports. —Internet

have their PIP implantsremoved because of anincreased risk of rupture toavoid the risk of cancer thoughno conclusive evidence wasfound linking to the disease.

The recommendationcame after eight cases, mainlybreast cancer, were reportedamong women with PIPimplants.

Authorities in othercountries also advisedwomen to consult theirdoctors over the implants.

The French company PIPwas once the world’s third-largest producer of siliconeimplants which sold itsproducts to tens ofthousands of women in over65 countries and regions,mainly in South America andWestern Europe.

The company was foundto replace the medical-gradesilicone in its implants with

unauthorized material thatcaused abnormally highrupture rates of its implants.After that, its products werebanned and the company wentbankrupt in 2010. The USgovernment already raised thealarm over the company in2000.—Xinhua

Workers set up Chinese red lanterns around the Temple of Heaven for a new yearcelebration in Beijing, capital of China, 30 Dec, 2011, one day ahead of the New Year

Eve.—XINHUA

was quoted as tellingreporters Friday that thecountry’s naval units willfire different long- and short-range land-to-sea, surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles during the powerphase of the exercises,starting Saturday.

On Friday, the Iraniannavy launched the seventhday of major naval drills inthe strategic Strait ofHormuz. Last Saturday, theIranian navy launched a 10-day exercise, dubbedVelayat 90, to cover a lengthof 2,000 km stretching fromthe east of the Strait ofHormuz in the Persian Gulfto the Gulf of Aden.

On Friday, Mousavisaid that, during the powerphase of the exercises, Iran’ssubmarines will also hit thepre-determined targets,using domestically-manufactured torpedoes.Mousavi, also thespokesman for the drills,added that naval forces willalso fire shoulder-launchedmissiles and hit mock targetsof the enemy, said PressTV.—Xinhua

P6(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:33 AM6

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012 7

Padaung Than KyweMyanmar freed itself from the yoke of colonialists

on 4th January, 1948 and could restore the status of asovereign nation.

Independence Day which falls on 4th January,2012 is its 64th Anniversary. Since 3 B.C, Myanmarstood as a sovereign nation with its own monarchestablishing such monarchial states as Beikthanoe,Hanlin, Thuwunnabhumi, Tagaung, Waithali andSrikestra.

King of Bagan Anawrahta unified the scatteredregions and established the First Myanmar Kingdom.Based in Toungoo, King Bayingtnaung reunified thecountry as the second Myanmar Kingdom and KingAlaungmintaya U Aung Zeya built the third MyanmarKingdom.

Along the course of Myanmar’s history, Kachin,Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Bamar, Mon, Rakhine, Shan andother national races have lived in harmony and unitybased on Union Spirit. Through thick and thin, theyhave resided in Myanmar with mutual understandingand affection. They have moved heaven and earth forperpetuity of the state and territorial integrity of thenation maintaining fine tradition and noble attitude.Myanmar has stood tall as a sovereign nation with itsown monarch among the global countries throughoutsuccessive periods.

Geo-politically, Myanmar holds a strategicposition as it lies on the mainland Asia with long exitto ocean. In the north-west and north, it is linked withwide and vast inland areas of Asian continent. Also,it shares borders with populous nations like China andIndia and located closely with South-East Asiannations, and South and East Asian nations.

Blessed with vast areas of alluvial land, Myanmarhas temperate climate. Valuable forests cover the halfof the nation. Rice and gems are in abundance inMyanmar which is gifted with invaluable teak, crudeoil and minerals. Unfortunately, its wealth and strategicposition aroused the greed of colonialists.

In 19th century, British colonialists occupied Indiainto its empire. Then, it colonized Myanmar wagingthree aggressive wars. Myanmar lost its sovereigntyand independence due to invasion of the imperialists.To undermine national solidarity in Myanmar, Britishcolonialists exercised divide- and-rule policy byadopting three methods mentioned under—

(1) Causing geographical disunity by rulingregions of national races dividedly

(2) Causing ethnical disunity by exercisingdifferent administrative systems on diverse nationalraces and setting different rights for them.

(3) Causing conflicts of social class by raisingsycophants to smoothen the administrative mechanism.

However, Myanmar people who are naturallyimbued with spirit to sacrifice for the nation and thepeople, spirit of valuing their own nation, people,sovereignty, literature, culture, and tradition and whodo not want national integrity to be tarnished, foughtback the colonialists at the risk of life and limb.Finally, Myanmar could regain its independence andsovereignty.

Sovereignty is the lifeblood of a nation. If thesovereignty which is made of three powers namelylegislative power, executive power, and judicial power,has fallen into the hands of alien peoples and aliennations directly or indirectly, the nation is underimplicit colonization according to modern colonialism.

In the modern world, if a nation does not splititself, it will face the intentional attempts ofdismemberment. Threatening with military power ismuch popular if such attempts come in vain. Integrityof a nation is almost considered as odds and ends inthis modern world of jungle law.

Some nations are under the colonization ofuninvited alien peoples and thus cannot build up thesecurity and focus on nation-building works. Livingat own home on own land, they are being bullied by

alien peoples as they wish. Thousands of locals losttheir lives meaninglessly in the reckless bombardmentand firing. It is well to profit by these lessons.

In this power politics era, can a nation safeguard itsindependence only when it has strength of its own. Onlynationalistic fervor, patriotic spirit and unity can buildup the internal strength. Unity is a major drive forbuilding a developed nation that can keep abreast ofglobal countries.

The goal can be achieved by making best use oflessons gained from the past. This is why the governmentthat emerged in accord with the constitution has focusedon ensuring non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity and perpetuation ofsovereignty with the united strength of the nationalpeople and enabling the national brethren to live foreverin the Union in wee or woe.

In accordance with the motto ‘Internal strength liesonly within’ adopted by previous governments, thepresent government is making plans to furtherconsolidate the internal strength of the national people.In addition, Ayeyawady Myitsone hydropower projectwas halted with a view to respecting the public wishes.

Peace talks and negotiations with undergroundarmed groups are going on so as to replace sounds ofbombs and guns with peace voices. Efforts are alsobeing made to form a strong force for national defencewith the participation of all the national people.

With the attitude towards ‘Discard differences andchoose similarities’, strenuous efforts are being madefor national reconciliation and perpetual peace. As amodern, developed democratic nation can be built onlywhen people’s socio-economy improves, plans arebeing implemented earnestly to alleviate poverty andensure an enduring executive pillar.

The pensions of retired service personnel who hadto tighten their belt due to rising commodity prices havebeen increased for their convenience.

For the national people to be able to take part inbuilding a new democratic nation and for humanitarianaids, general amnesties and pardons have been granted.And more amnesties will be granted after assessment.

Moreover, in cooperation with local and foreignorganizations, private companies and INGOs, thegovernment is taking measures for swift commodityflow, local and foreign investments, transformation ofmanual farming into mechanized one, establishment ofmodern industries, rapid improvement communicationnetworks, development of road, water and air transportin line with international standards, thriving of privatebusinesses, generation and use of electricity at fullcapacity, improvement of public health standard andenabling the youths to pursue education of internationaland standard and promotion of their education.Similarly, steps are being taken to promote Myanmartourism known as smokeless industry, and as a result,more and more tourists are visiting the country.

With the foreign policy being practised in conformitywith the five principles of peaceful coexistence andtransparent work plans for democratization, the nationhas gained many benefits such as being able to deal withall nations big or small on a friendly terms and cooperatein the mutual interests, getting more foreign investmentsand more economic partner countries and improvingthe State image.

In a nutshell, today’s Myanmar is well on track fora new modern, developed democratic nation. Now isthe time when the country has possessed a properamount of sound infrastructures. Only necessary arefull internal peace and participation of all the nationalpeople in shouldering national duties conscientiously.Now is the best time to endeavour for nationaldevelopment.

Hailing the 64th Anniversary Independence Day

POEM:Independence of Myanmar

Independence or liberty

Sovereignty of Myanmar

Blood, sweat, lives

Sacrificed we for independence

With might and splendor

Valor we all have

Everywhere is amity

Tranquility rules our land

Keeping always in hearts

Love for our country

Strengthening heartiness

Inheritance we safeguard

Shining with national colors

Under our own protection

Thaung Ko Ko (Trs)

Hailing the 64th AnniversaryIndependence Day

Safeguard independence inherited fromforefathers at risk to own life

64th AnniversaryIndependence Day

Objectives

All the national people to live together

in the Union forever in weal or woe

All the national people to collectively

strive for non-disintegration of the

Union, non-disintegration of national

solidarity and perpetuation of

sovereignty

All the national people to harmoniously

make all-out efforts for development

of socio-economic life of the people,

reducing of poverty rate and ensuring

the firm and clean executive pillar in

building up a modern, developed

democratic new nation

All the national people to consciously

cooperate in promoting genuine

democratic practice and ensuring the

rule of law, national reconsolidation

and eternal peace.

*

*

*

A new modern, developed nation cannot be builtwith national disunity, unrest and violence anddestructive attacks. It can only be built with UnionSpirit, national unity, patriotism, selfless interest,thrift, hard work, discipline and respect for law.

All the national people are therefore urged to lenda helping hand with safeguarding the nation’sindependence and sovereignty and building up a newmodern, developed democratic nation with strongUnion Spirit and nationalistic spirit.

*****Translation: TKK+ST

*

P7(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM7

8 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012

(from page 1)Nay Pyi Taw Council U SawHla, departmental heads, lo-cal authorities, members ofsocial organizations, localpeople and students.

Speaking at the bridgeinauguration, the Vice-Presi-dent said Ayeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) constructionstarted 15 December, 2009and it could be opened today.So, today is a very auspiciousday for the State as well as forMandalay Region andMagway Region. It is a rail-cum-road bridge and the mainbridge is 11431 feet long.

Ayeyawady Bridge(Pakokku), the longest…

thanks to the bridge. Simi-larly, via railroad, commodi-ties can easily be transportedto the eastern regions such asMeiktila, Mandalay,Myitkyina, Lashio andTaunggyi as well as to theAyeyawady Delta such asKyangin and Hinthada.

The Vice-Presidentcontinued to say that throughthe bridge, there will emergeIndia-Myanmar-China Tri-partite Highways and east-west linking highways thatconnect ASEAN countriesvia India, Myanmar and Thai-land. So, local commodities

taking measures for ensuringeasy and smooth transport sothat agricultural products caneasily be transported from oneregion to another. With goodtransportation, all regions willbe able to communicate witheach other, therebydeveloping amity andfriendship among the nationalbrethren.

Since taking office ninemonths ago, the governmenthas focused on nation-build-ing endeavours. It is also try-ing for ensuring communitypeace and tranquility andbuilding sound economic,education, health and socialfoundations.

In the effort for makingpeace with the national race

The length of motor road ofthe bridge is 13537 feet whilethat of railroad is 20597 feet.Out of the bridges across theAyeyawady River, the bridgeopened today is the longest,said the Vice-President.

With the advent of thebridge, one can travel directlyfrom the regions on the west-ern bank of the Ayeyawadyin Chin State, Magway Re-gion, Pakokku District andSagaing Region to the regionson the eastern bank. In thepast, local people had to takemore than one hour to crossthe Ayeyawady by boat. Butnow it will take only minutes

produced from the westernpart of the Ayeyawady willflow not only to the entirenation but also to theneighbours.

The government isstriving for equalizeddevelopment of all regionsand states. Smooth transportwill contribute to theimplementation of ruraldevelopment and povertyalleviation projects. The eco-nomic growth of each regionis important for building up amodern, developed nation.Therefore, the government isgiving encouragement foragricultural development and

Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo delivers an address atopening ceremony of Ayeyawady Bridge (Pakokku).—MNA

armed groups conceived to-gether with the nation’s inde-pendence, a Union levelgroup has been formed andnegotiations are under way toachieve eternal peace. Over-all, the government is placingemphasis on State peace andstability and the rule of law.

The Vice-Presidentadded that the government iscarrying out the tasks foradopting work programmesfor rural development andpoverty alleviation to developnational economy, making re-forms for the proper evolu-tion of market economy,holding workshops so that

agriculture cannot be affecteddue to global climate changeand the people can meet theirbasic needs, laying down andimplementing work plansaccording to the resolutionspassed at the workshops.Moreover, measures arebeing taken for amending anddrafting laws for acquiringlocal and foreign investments,conducting reforms infacilitating business andmaking more cooperationwith the internationalcommunity. So, the localpeople are urged to cooper-ate with the government inthe efforts for peace and

stability and economic de-velopment.

In conclusion, the Vice-President expressed hiswishes to the local peoplefrom Pakokku District ofMagway Region and Man-dalay Region for more devel-opment and prosperity.

With regard to construc-tion of the bridge, UnionMinister for Construction UKhin Maung Myint reportedthat Ayeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) is the longestfacility of its kind inMyanmar. The rail-cum-roadbridge was built forforthcoming India-Myanmar-Thailand TripartiteHighway. Thanks to thebridge, 195 miles longPakokku-Nay Pyi Taw route,232 miles long Nay Pyi Taw-Yangon route, 119 miles longPakokku-Myingyan-Manda-lay route, 225 miles longPakokku-Gangaw-Kalayroute, 105 miles longPakokku-NyaungU-Manda-lay route and 467 miles longundergoing Pakokku-Kyangin-Pathein route willlink among them for smoothtransport by train in a shorttime.

The bridge built withintwo years was commissionedfor the ninth over-180-ft-longfacility in the time of the gov-ernment of the Republic ofthe Union of Myanmar, hesaid. Ministry of Construc-tion built 3305 under-180 feet

long bridges and 198 bridgesabove-180 feet long before1988. During the period from1988 to March 2011 in thetime of the State Peace andDevelopment Councilgovernment, the ministrybuilt 2944 under-180 feet longand 263 above-180 feet longbridges. In the presentgovernment’s time, ninebridges includingAyeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) have been con-structed. There are 6323under-180 feet long and 470above-180 feet long bridgesacross the nation now.

In Magway Region,there are 25 above-180 feetlong bridges from 1988 todate compared with 20 be-fore 1988. In Mandalay Re-gion, the bridge is the 25th

above-180 feet long bridgeand another four are underconstruction.

Thanks to the bridge, thelocal people will have easyaccess to Mandalay andSagaing regions, KachinState, Nay Pyi Taw, Shan andKayah States, Bago Region,Mon and Kayin States andYangon Region on the eastbank of Ayeyawady Riverand Sagaing Region, ChinState, AyeyawadyRegion and RakhineState through Pathein-Monywa Road on the westbank of the river by car in ashort time.

(See page 9)Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo walks on newly-inaugurated Ayeyawady Bridge

(Pakokku).—MNA

P8(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM8

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012 9

(from page 8)While building the

bridges, students fromPakokku Technological Uni-versity, observers from Na-tional Defence College,Chauk GTC and ToungooGTU and those of engineer-ing society of the nation wereallowed to observe the con-struction technology.

He thanked local authori-ties and local people for theircontributions to constructionof the bridge.

Chief Minister ofMandalay Region U YeMyint said in his address:The State is building roadslinking every corner of re-gions and states. 184-mileconcrete road, 1619-miletarred road, 813-mile gravelroad, 376-mile hard road and2165-mile earth road havebeen built in the region so far.As rivers and creeks along theroads are bridged, 39 over-180-feet-long bridges and5853 other huge and smallbridges have beenconstructed. Thus, every cor-ner of the region is accessible.There are also bridges linkingMandalay and Sagaingregions, namely AyeyawadyRiver-spanning Sagaing andYadanabon Bridges andYadana Theinga Bridgeunder construction. Todayopened Ayeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) links the regionwith Magway Region. Well-established road transporta-tion in Mandalay Regionconnects other regions andstates, reinforcing regionaldevelopment.

Mandalay Region isgeographically lying next toMagway Region. Thanks toclose geographical connec-tion, social and economic af-fairs are inseparable. Pakokkuin Magway Region is a river-side city on western bank ofAyeyawady River. It main-tains passenger and commod-ity flow with towns in Manda-lay on a daily basis.

Ayeyawady Bridge(Pakokku), the longest…

Following emergence ofAyeyawady Bridge(Pakokku), swift and smoothroad transportation and com-modity flow between Man-dalay and Magway Regionswill help develop economic,education, health and socialsectors. Plus to the two re-gions, other neighbouring re-gions and states will follow toenjoy betterment of road trans-portation.

What is significant is thatthe bridge is on TripartiteHighway of India, Myanmarand Thailand. This attachesgreat value on the bridge notonly for the two regions butfor the country. MandalayRegion overwhelmingly ap-preciates the opening of thisbridge.

The bridge is of rail-cum-road type. It connects Pakokkuwith Nay Pyi Taw-Bagan,Mandalay-Bagan andY a n g o n - P y a y - B a g a n -Pakokku railroads. As the rail-road reaches Pakokku,Gangaw and Kalay, the com-modity flow between easternand western banks ofAyeyawady River will gosmooth and low-cost, thushelping local people enjoytaste of improvements. As itwill join southern Pakokkurailroad section later, it willcover the entire railroad net-work in western bank ofAyeyawady River.

The linkage of westernand eastern banks ofAyeyawady River, both interms of railroad and motorroad, is a dream of denizens inMandalay Region that comestrue. It is to be accepted as theNew Year gift of the State.

Special thanks ofMandalay Region dwellersgo to the State for allowingthe bridge which is condu-cive to development of Man-dalay and Magway Regionsand hard work and conscien-tiousness of engineers andother staff members of PublicWorks are appreciated.

Magway RegionChief Minister U Phone MawShwe said in his speech: To-day opened rail-cum-roadAyeyawady Bridge(Pakokku), linking eastern andwestern banks of AyeyawadyRiver, is the largest bridge inMyanmar, both significantand useful. Thanks to theopening of this bridge, theregions on the western bankof Ayeyawady River, whichwas lagged behind otherregions, will be developedspeedily.

The bridge will bringabout harmonious develop-ment to each region on botheastern and western banks ofAyeyawady River.

In addition to 17 over-180-feet bridges, 3215-feetAyeyawady Bridge (Malun)will be emerged soon.

The State is implement-ing not only roads and bridgesin the region but alsoupgrading roads linking theregion with Rakhine andChin States. Magway Regionthanks the Union governmentfor enabling it to enjoy all-round developments.

The rail-cum-road bridgewill bring about higher livingstandards following low-costtransportation and economicboost.

As it links other regionsand states on eastern andwestern banks of AyeyawadyRiver, it will build up unityamong national brethren.

Special thanks go to staffmembers of the Ministries ofConstruction and of RailTransportation and also tothe local people who helpcomplete the bridgeconstruction.

On behalf of the locals,UAye Ko of Magway Regionand U Phone Kyaw ofMandalay Region spokewords of thanks that in thepast, locals had to take longtime to go to Pakokku cross-ing the Ayeyawady River bywatercrafts. Due to the natu-ral barrier and adverseweather, the people experi-enced sorrowful events, andlost lives and properties. Thelocals were very grateful toState leaders to build the long-est bridge in Myanmar withgoodwill, and vowed dura-bility of the bridge.

The Vice-President andparty cordially greeted locals.

Next, to open the bridge,they took position at arch ofthe bridge on Pakokku bankof Magway Region side.

The Union ConstructionMinister, the Union RailTransportation Minister, theUnion Minister at PresidentOffice, the Union ElectricPower-1 Minister, MagwayRegion Chief Minister UPhone Maw Shwe andMagway Region HluttawSpeaker U Ye Myint openedthe bridge on Pakokku bank.

Vice-President and partyhad a documentary photo

taken before the arch.Next, the Vice-President

unveiled stone plaque ofAyeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) and showeredscented water on it.

After that, the Vice-President and party left forLatpanchepaw bank, andthen took position designatedon Latpanchepaw bank ofMandalay Region side.

Then, the Union Con-struction Minister, the UnionRail Transportation Minis-ter, the Union Industry Min-ister, the Union TransportMinister, the MandalayRegion Chief Minister andMandalay Region HluttawSpeaker U Win Maungopened the bridge.Afterwards, the Vice-President and party tookdocumentary photo there.

The Vice-President alsounveiled the stone plaque ofthe bridge on Latpanchepawbank and then he sprinkledscented water over it and sodid the Union ministers, theMandalay Region ChiefMinister and officials. Aftergreeting locals, the Vice-President and party viewedthe bridge.

Ayeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) is located betweenNyaungU of NyaungU Dis-trict of Mandalay Region oneastern side of theAyeyawady River andPakokku of Pakokku Districtof Magway Region on

western side the river.Measurement of the main

bridge is 11,431 feet long. Mo-torway is 13,537 feet long andrailroad is 20,597 feet long.

Foundation and sub-structure of the bridge are ofRC bored pile type and bodystructure is steel truss type.The bridge can bear 75 tons ofloads per vehicle.

Approach railroad to thebridge on Pakokku bank is5420 feet long and onLatpanchepaw bank is 3746feet long, 9166 feet in total.Approach motorway to thebridge on Pakokku bank is1378 feet long and onLatpanchepaw bank is 728feet long, totaling 2106 feet.

Water clearance area ofthe bridge is 262 feet (80 m) inwidth 52 feet (16 m) in height.Myanma Railways of theMinistry of Rail Transporta-tion is implementing 13railroad projects. The ap-proach railroad ofAyeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) is one of theprojects.

Embankment of theapproach railroad on Pakokkuside is 1.71 miles long and onLatpanchepaw side is 2.30miles long. Total railroad in-cluding railroad on the mainbridge and approach road is7.91 miles long and total railtrack is 9.28 miles long. Maxi-mum bend is 3 degree.

Looking forward todevelopment of the regions onwestern side of theAyeyawady River, the projectwas implemented by connect-ing Taungdwingyi-Bagan-Myingyan Railroad alreadyopened on east bank of theAyeyawady River andKyangin-Pakokku Railroadunder construction on thewestern bank. AyeyawadyBridge (Pakokku) is 9th above-180-feet-long bridge inaugu-rated in the time of the govern-ment of the Republic of theUnion of Myanmar.

MNA

Aerial view of Ayeyawady Bridge (Pakokku).—MNA

Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo unveils stone plaque of Ayeyawady Bridge (Pakokku).—MNA

p9(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM9

10 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012

Educational staff members to focuson national policies

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—The Special RefresherCourse No. 78 for BasicEducation Teachersconcluded at CentralInstitute of Civil Service(Phaunggyi) this morning,with an address by memberof the Union Civil ServicesBoard U Khin Maung Aye.

Speaking on theoccasion, the UCSB memberstressed the need to develophuman resources of thecitizens for strengthening ofpolitical, economic anddefence might. Teachers areto participate in respectivesectors with might and mainin enhancing educationsectors to meet internationalstandards for development ofhuman resources, he said. Henoted that it is necessary to

realize child-centredteaching system for upliftingproficiency of teachers andfor escaping the studentsfrom parrot learning. Asschool textbooks are beingdistributed to the studentsfree of charge in compulsoryprimary school system,school stationery will beprovided to the students freeof charge in comingacademic year depending onbudget of the State. AsEnglish is the most usablelanguage apart from motherlanguage, it is necessary toteach students to have goodcommand English, he said.

Literacy rate hits 95.01per cent in 2011 in Myanmarwhile school enrolment raterise in 2011-2012 academicyear, he said. Educational

staff members are to focus onnational policies and tasks ofthe new government inaddition to educationalpolicies. They are toparticipate in respectivesectors for emergence of goodgovernance and cleangovernment. The teachers areto exactly abide byinstructions given by Vice-President Dr Sai Mauk Khamon his inspection tour atLashio BEHS No. 7 in ShanState on 13-12-2011. Theteachers are to carrying outbasic literacy tasks in regionsand states including borderareas as a national duty.

Later, the UCSB memberawarded outstanding traineesand cordially greeted theinstructors.

MNA

Electric Power No. 2 Ministryholds work coord meeting

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—The Ministry of ElectricPower No. 2 held the workcoordination meeting on 29and 30 December.

Union Minister forElectric Power No. 2 U KhinMaung Soe delivered anaddress. Officials of Yangon

City Electricity SupplyBoard, region/stateengineers, project directorsreported on management,financial matters, materialmanagement andengineering works.

The Union ministerstressed the need to

systematically supplyelectricity, not to cut outpower supply, declining ofunity losses, earning moreincome, systematic use ofmoney, avoiding bribes anddissemination on danger ofelectricity to the people.

MNA

YANGON, 31 Dec—U HlaTun Mitta Yeikmon (Cancer)Foundation held its 14th

annual general meeting atKandawgyi Karaweik Palacehere this morning. Patron ofthe foundation Brig-GenAbel (Retd) and ChairmanProf Dr Myo Nyunt madespeeches on the occasion.

U Hla Tun Mitta Yeikmon (Cancer)Foundation holds 14th AGM

Reports onmanagement, account andfinance were discussed anddevelopment reports of thefoundations based in Yangonand Mandalay wereexplained.

Next, Prof Dr Myo Nyuntand wife Daw Thwe ThweKyi donated 100 euros;

financial advisor U Wan Tinand JF Group, K 300,000; Dr UHla Myint Aung and wifeDaw Than Than Si andfamily, K 150,000; AssistantAdministrator U Ohn Myintand wife Daw Mya Mya Winand family, K 200,000; andDaw Khin Khin Sein,K 100,000.—MNA

Cash donated to death and injuredmembers of MFB

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—Cash was accepted for deathand injured members ofMyanmar Fire Brigade inblast of warehouse inKadoseik Ward, MingalaTaungnyunt Township.

From 29 to 31 December,Yuzana Plaza familiesdonated K 2.5 million,Eleven journal K 2million,U Shein Win-Daw Khin ChoOo and family K 1.5 million,U Thein Tun (Thein Tun

Construction) K 1,240,000,U Tin Myint (Sun TacTechnologies) and GoldYacht Co Ltd K 1 millioneach, Dr Kaung Kyaw Swe(K Future Co Ltd), SSC andMyanmar Timber Entre-preneurs AssociationK 500,000 each, families ofKyaukmyaung MarketK 402,000, SHE sanitary forthe women and a wellwisherK 300,000 each, U HlaingMin Tun-Daw Nanda Khaing

(Myanmar Maker Home Co)K 250,000, U Htay Win Aung(Timber) and Dr Tha Tun Oo(Today Media Group)K 200,000 each, Nay PyiTaw Fire Brigade membersand U Lin Htein Oo-MaDolly K 150,000 each, U YeMyint Aung-Daw Tin TinWin family K 130,000 andothers, totaling 40.

Total cash donationamounted to K 13,830,000.

MNA

LOCAL SPORTS

YANGON, 31 Dec—The basic gymnastic coachingrefresher course, organized by Myanmar GymnasticsFederation, concluded at the training gymnasium of thefederation in Kyaikkasan Grounds in Tamway Township on30 December.

Responsible persons of the federation presentedcompletion certificates to the trainees.

President of the federation U Thein Win gave a certificateof honour to trainer Miss Yan Yun Ying.—Kyemon

Basic gymnastic coachingrefresher course concludes

YANGON, 31 Dec—A ceremony to honour victoriousJudo athletes in the XXVI SEA Games was organized byMyanmar Judo Federation at Traders Hotel, here, on 28December evening.

Director-General of Sports and Physical EducationDepartment U Thaung Htaik accepted cash donations fromwellwishers.

Deputy Minister for Sports U Aye Myint Kyu presentedK 8 million to gold medalist Aye Aye Aung in 78-kilo event,

Selected Judo playerhonoured

K 1.5 million to silver medalist Thanda Lin in 70-kilo event,Yangon Region Minister for Transport U Aung Khin K 1.5million to silver medalist Zin Lin Aung in 90-kilo event,Region Minister for Planning and Economic U Than MyintK 1.5 million to silver medalist Yan Naing Soe in the 81-kiloevent and Region Minister for Social Affairs Dr Myint TheinK 1.5 million to silver medalist Thura Zaw in the 73-kilo event.Officials also awarded the respective winners.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—The inter-basic education schoolgolf tournament for 2011-2012 academic year of the Ministryof Education kicked off at Nay Pyi Taw City Golf Course on30 December.

Deputy Minister for Education U Aye Kyu, Nay PyiTaw Council member U Than Aung, Deputy Director-GeneralU Kyaw Soe of Education Planning and Training Departmentand Golf Sub-committee U Nyunt Shwe formally opened thetournament.

The players representing the respective regions andstates participated in the golf tournament.

MNA

Inter-basic educationschool golf tournament

commences

H&T Ministry concludes EnglishLanguage and ICT Course

NAY PYI TAW, 31 Dec—English Language and ICTCourse No. 3/2011 conductedby Ministry of Hotels andTourism concluded at theministry here yesterdayevening, with an address byH&T Deputy Minister U HtayAung.

The deputy ministerpresented cash awards tooutstanding trainees, anddirector-general gavecompletion certificates.

Managing directorpresented gift to Head of AsiaMaster Training School UKhin Maung Lwin.

The four-week coursewas attended by 24 traineesfor the first time, 34 for thesecond time and 24 for thethird time.

MNA

Talks on Eradication of Resistance toTB drug held

YANGON, 31 Dec— Aneducative talks on NationalTB control and eradication ofResistance to TB drug tookplace at the Health Departmentin Botahtaung Township in

Yangon Region on 27December morning.

At the event, YangonWestern District TB controlDivision leader Dr Daw SweSwe Than and Head of

Township Health DepartmentDr Ko Ko Maung gaveeducative knowledge aboutTB. And then, the patientswith TB were allocatedrefreshments.—MNA

Deputy Minister for Hotels and TourismU Htay Aung presents prize to an outstandingtrainee at English Language and ICT Course

No. 3/2011.—MNA

P10(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM10

China builds new airport on Tibet PlateauChina builds new airport on Tibet PlateauTHE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012 11

XINING, 31 Dec— Chinabegan building a new civilairport in northwesternQinghai province Friday tolink the Qinghai-TibetPlateau closer with thecountry’s inland areas.

Huatugou Airport, in theM o n g o l i a n - T i b e t a nAutonomous Prefecture ofHaixi, is one of three newregional airports to be builtin Qinghai before 2020, saidYang Yang, deputy chief ofthe provincial developmentand reform commission.

Construction of the 700-million yuan (111 millionUS dollars) airport will becompleted by the end of

Three die in blast aboard Indian shipDUBAI, 31 Dec—Three people died due to a blast in an Indian oil

tanker ‘MT Prem Divya’, owned by Mercator Limited, on Thursday.Two people went missing and one was severely injured after the

explosion which occurred during repair work being cariied out by105 workers and crew. The victims were not identified yet.

The National daily said the tanker was not carrying any oil orgas at the time of accident. Investigations are on to determine thecause of the accident, Capt Mousa Morad, the general manager ofFujairah port, was quoted as saying. The three crewmen who died hadremained on board, and their bodies were being removed yesterday.One of the injured was sent to Fujairah hospital with severe burns andfractures. Half of the 24-man crew were now staying in hotels, and theother half would remain with the ship. The repair workers had left, saidIshtiaq Ahmed Malik, the duty official of the Blue Sea ShippingAgency, which was managing the vessel.

The Prem Divya will remain in the UAE until accident-relatedissues are sorted out. The tanker had arrived in Fujairah on December27 for 10 days of “operational care”. —Internet

The New Year’s Eve Ball is tested the day before New Year’s Eve on 30 Dec, 2011 inNew York City. The cyrstal ball, which measures 12 feet and weighs 11,875 pounds,and is adorned with 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles of various sizes will descend a

tall flagpole to mark the beginning of 2012.—XINHUA

171,000 Britons caught usingphones while driving

LONDON, 31 Dec — Over 171,000 Britons were caughtthis year using mobile phones while driving, according toofficial figures.

Figures obtained from a Freedom of Information requestsaid the number of such drivers has soared since 2008, when115,900 were caught using phones behind the wheel.

More than 1.5 million younger people accessed socialnetworking websites while driving, the Daily Mail said.

The figures were revealed by motoring insurerSwiftcover.com which got these from 41 police departmentsin England and Wales. The research revealed around sevenmillion motorists spoke on their mobiles while driving in thepast year, which means less than three percent were caught.

Nearly 350 accidents — including 26 involving fatalities— were caused by drivers while they were using a mobilephone. A report by the Transport Research Laboratory foundwomen aged 17 to 29 were most likely to use a mobile phonewhile driving. For men, it was the 30 to 59 age group.

“To make sure drivers take this seriously we are increasingthe fine for the offence from 60 pounds to between 80 and 100pounds next year,” said Road Safety Minister Mike Penning.

Internet

A woman sits in a shop at the Grand Rue of Port-au-Prince,capital of Haiti, on 30 Dec, 2011.

XINHUA

Shooting kills one in centralFinland

HELSINKI, 31 Dec— A shooting incident happened incentral Finland on Friday, killing at least one person, Finnishmedia reported.

According to police, at least one person was shot deadin the incident in Kuohu area, some 17 km outside ofJyvaskyla, and a search is under way for a possible secondvictim. The emergency response centre of Central Finlandreceived a report about the shooting at about 12:30 local time(1030 GMT) on Friday. The gunman has been arrested in theafternoon. The area has been cordoned off and policemen aredoing further technical investigation about the incident.More details about the shooting are expected to be revealedlater.—Xinhua

Firecrackerinjurieshigh in

PhilippinesMANILA, 31 Dec—

Almost 200 people havealready been injured inthe Philippines duringholiday celebrations,most of them byfirecrackers, healthofficials report.

Dr. Eric Tayag, aspokesman for the healthdepartment, said 187people have been hurtby explodingfirecrackers, two byeating firecrackers andeight from being hit bystray bullets, abs-cbnNews.com reported.That is a total of 197injuries between 21 Decand 29 Dec, with NewYear’s Eve celebrationsstill to come.

Tayag urged familieswith young children tostop using firecrackers. Hesaid avoiding largefirecrackers is not asolution since mostinjuries are caused by thesmall ones known aspiccolos.

Internet

Firefighters try toextinguish the fire in the

Torres del Paine NationalParke, in Patagonia area,Chile, on 30 Dec, 2011.

Chile’s PresidentSebastian Pinera on

Friday declaredMagallanes Region as thedisaster area, which was

affected by anuncontrolled fire in the

Torres del Paine NationalParke, in Chilean

Patagonia, since threedays ago.XINHUA

Mechanics work on the vehicles from Mc Rae team in the Dakar Village, located atthe Apostadero Naval de Mar del Plata, property used by the organization of the

Dakar 2012 Argentina-Chile-Peru for checks of cars participating in the Rally, inMar del Plata City, 400 km from Buenos Aires City, capital of Argentina, on 29 Dec,

2011. The Dakar 2012 Argentina-Chile-Peru will begin on 1 Jan, 2012. —XINHUA

2013, and the airport will startoperation in June 2014, Yangsaid.

Huatugou Airport willhave a 3,600-meter-longrunway and will handleflights to the provincialcapital of Xining, the citiesof Golmud and Delingha inQinghai, the city ofDunhuang in neighbouringGansu Province, and Korla inXinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion. By 2020, the airportwill handle 90,000 passengertrips annually.

The airport, at an altitudeof 2,945 meters, is located ina resource-rich region at thejuncture of Qinghai and

Xinjiang. It is close to a majorcrude oil production base.

“The new airport willprovide stronger logisticsupport for exploiting naturalresources,” said ChengZhuzu, executive vicepresident of China WestAirport Group. “It will helpexpand the air traffic networkon the Qinghai-TibetPlateau.”

Two more regionalairports, one in Haixi’s cityof Delingha and the other inDawo town of the Tibetanautonomous prefecture ofGolog, will be operationalby 2020, Cheng said.

Xinhua

BANGKOK, 31 Dec—A total of 34 peoplewere killed and 501 others were injured inroad accidents on Thursday, the first day ofthe government’s campaign “SevenDangerous Days” of the New Yearcelebration, Bangkok Post online reportedon Friday. The Road Accident Preventionand Reduction Centre under Ministry ofInterior said on Friday that there were 427road accidents on Thursday, leaving 34people dead and 501 others injured.

The number of road accidents increased8.65 percent, 41.67 percent for the death tollrose and 17.88 percent for injury.

MNA/Xinhua

34 die in road accidentsin first day in

Thailand’s New Year

P11 (1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM11

12 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012

CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV KOTA TABAH VOY NO (469)

Consignees of cargo carried on MV KOTA TABAHVOY NO (469) are hereby notified that the vessel willbe arriving on 1.1.2012 and cargo will be dischargedinto the premises of A.W.P.T where it will lie at theconsignee’s risk and expenses and subject to the byelawsand conditions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 amto 11:20 am and 12 noon to 4 pm to Claims Day nowdeclared as the third day after final discharge of cargofrom the Vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted afterthe Claims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENTMYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: M/S ADVANCE CONTAINERLINES

Phone No: 256908/378316/376797

CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV SINAR BIMA VOY NO (105)Consignees of cargo carried on MV SINAR BIMA

VOY NO (105) are hereby notified that the vessel willbe arriving on 1.1.2012 and cargo will be dischargedinto the premises of A.W.P.T where it will lie at theconsignee’s risk and expenses and subject to the byelawsand conditions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 amto 11:20 am and 12 noon to 4 pm to Claims Day nowdeclared as the third day after final discharge of cargofrom the Vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted afterthe Claims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENTMYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: M/S SAMUDERA SHIPPINGLINES

Phone No: 256908/378316/376797

Champion of the Miss Hungary beauty competition2011 Marianna Bertok (C), runner-up Evelin Beres (L)

and second runner-up Nora Keseru (R) attend theaward ceremony in Budapest, Hungary, on 29 Dec,

2011. Miss Hungary, the national beauty contest, has ahistory tracing back to 1929. —XINHUA

Recently uncovered in a military museum near Moscow, the laser tank can blindpilots and weapons systems by dazzling optical and electronic mechanisms in the

battle.—XINHUA

Venezuela offers free removal offaulty breast implants

CARACAS, 31 Dec — Venezuela’s govern-ment has offered to pay for the removal ofbreast implants feared to be at risk of rupture.The authorities would cover the cost of thesurgery for Venezuelan women but would notpay for replacement implants, Health MinisterEugenia Sader said. Ms Sader said many im-plants made by French firm Poly ImplantProthese (PIP) had been imported illegally.

The French authorities have recom-mended that 30,000 French women have the

PIP implants removed as a precaution.TheFrench government, which stresses that thereis no evidence of a cancer link, has said it willcover the cost. The implants were banned inseveral countries last year after they werefound to contain industrial grade siliconefiller, making them more liable to split. TheFrench authorities have opened a criminalinvestigation into the company which wentinto administration in 2010.

Ms Sader said that patients who wereworried could go to hospital for a check-upand have surgery to remove the implants ifthey wished.The Venezuelan governmentwould not, however, pay for new implants,the state news agency AVN quoted her assaying. The health minister said that a signifi-cant number of PIP implants had been broughtinto Venezuela without the proper authoriza-tion. “They were implanted illegally and nowthose patients are at risk,” she said.

InternetVenezuelan Vera Aulestia is among women who had PIP implants.— INTERNET

Four Arrested in robbery ofCanadian poker champion

LONG GUEUIL, 31 Dec — Four people have been arrestedin the beating and robbery of professional poker championJonathan Duhamel. Police say two men and one womanwere charged Wednesday in connection with the case and afourth person was arrested and questioned.

Duhamel's World Series of Poker championship braceletand a high-end Rolex watch were stolen, along with cash,during a home invasion and robbery on 21 December.Duhamel was badly beaten and tied up during the attack inLongueuil, just south of Montreal.Police were able to tracethe poker star's Rolex to a community south of Quebec City.The bracelet has not been found.— Internet

145m euroTitanic hoard togo up for auction

VIRGINIA, 31 Dec — Theowner of the largest trove ofartefacts salvaged from theTitanic is putting the vastcollection up for auction nextyear — the 100th anniver-sary of the world's mostfamous shipwreck.

More than 5,500 items,including fine china, ship fit-tings and portions of hull thatwere recovered from theocean liner, have an esti-mated value of 145m euroand will be sold as a singlelot.

The Titanic treasureswere amassed during seventrips to the wreck, which restsabout two-and-a-half milesbelow the ocean surface inthe North Atlantic.

An international team ledby oceanographer RobertBallard located the wreck-age in 1985, about 400 milesoff Newfoundland, Canada.The auction is scheduled forApril 1 by Guernsey's, a NewYork City auction house, butthe results of the auction willnot be announced until April15, the date the Titanic sankon its maiden voyage afterstriking an iceberg a centuryago.— Internet

Hacked Stratfor security think tank keeps site offline

Participants in thehacktivist group Anony-

mous are using Twitter toprovide more detail about

the attack.— INTERNET

NEW YORK, 31 Dec —Hacked US security firmStratfor has told its subscrib-ers that it may take a week oreven longer to restore itswebsite. The site went offlineon 24 December. Hackershave posted credit card de-tails, email addresses, phonenumbers and encrypted pass-words which they said weretaken during the attack.Stratfor has said it will payfor a credit card fraud protec-tion service for memberswhose payment details mighthave been compromised bythe breach.

Tweets posted on ac-counts linked to the hacktivistgroup Anonymous said thatthe US Department of Defence,

the defence firm LockheedMartin and Bank of Americawere among Stratfor's clients.A recent message posted by@YourAnonNews added thatother parties affected by thehack included Google, Ameri-can Express, Coca-Cola,Boeing, Sony, Microsoft andthe mining group BHPBilliton.

An email from Stratfor toits subscribers said: "At ourexpense, we have taken meas-ures to provide our memberswhose credit card informa-tion may have been compro-mised with access to CSID, aleading provider of globalidentity protection and frauddetection solutions and tech-nologies. "We have arrangedto provide one year of CSID'scoverage to such members atno cost. "As part of our ongo-ing investigation, we havealso decided to delay thelaunching of our website un-til a thorough review and ad-justment by outside expertscan be completed." The iden-tity theft prevention service

Identity Finder has carriedout its own analysis of detailsposted online about hackedclients whose names fell be-tween A and M. It suggestedthat the attack netted:

* 9,651 unexpired creditcard numbers

* 47,680 unique emailaddresses

* 25,680 unique tele-phone numbers

* 44,188 encrypted pass-words of which roughlyhalf could be "easilycracked"

This list is expected togrow if the hackers publishdetails of the N to Z list.

Internet

Orangutans ‘could video chat’between zoos via iPads

The zoo keepers want tobuild reinforced tablets

so they can let theorangutans play withouthuman help.— INTERNET

LONDON, 31 Dec —Orangutans at a Milwaukeezoo could soon be video-call-ing their primate friends viatablet computers. The hairytech fans have been playingwith iPads since they werefirst introduced to them inMay. Conservationist RichardZimmerman said the next stepwould be to provide wi-fi ac-cess -- meaning the apes couldwatch orangutans in otherzoos. He hopes the experi-ment will raise awareness andfunds to support the wild ani-mals facing extinction.

Mr Zimmerman, from theUS-based charity OrangutanOutreach, said he had wantedto give the device to the ani-mals ever since it was

launched back in January2010. "The original idea cameliterally when Steve Jobs gavehis opening presentation in-troducing the iPad," he said."Independently, one of oursupporters in Milwaukee wasat the zoo showing theorangutan his iPad, and theywere fascinated by it.

Internet

UK police treat Bidve murderas hate crime

LONDON, 31 Dec — TheBritish police are yet tocharge five people arrestedin connection with a 23-year-old Indian student's murderin Manchester earlier this

week, but they are treating itas a hate crime. Anuj Bidve,a graduate student at Lan-caster University, was shotdead while holidaying atSalford in Manchester dur-ing the Christmas break on26 December.

"We have not establisheda clear motive for the sense-less murder; and there is nodefinitive evidence pointingto it being racially moti-vated.

However, we are treat-ing this as a hate crime basedon growing perceptionswithin the community that itwas motivated by hate,'' saidSalford divisional com-mander chief superintendentKevin Mulligan.

He said the police havepursued every possible lineof inquiry to identify thoseresponsible for the crime. A20-year-old man — the fifthto be arrested in connectionwith the killing — is beingquestioned on suspicion ofmurder.

Internet

P12(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM12

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012 13

Parentsbound youngkids with tape

Police in Arizona saidthey arrested two parents afterpictures appeared online oftheir children bound at thewrists and ankles with ducttape.

The Coconino CountySheriff’s Office said FrankieAlmuina, 20, and KaylaAlmuina, 19, of Ash Fork, werearrested after someone sawthe pictures of their children,ages 2 and 10 months, onFacebook and reported themto a child abuse hotline, The(Flagstaff) Arizona Daily Sunreported Friday. Deputiessaid the pictures depicted thechildren with their wrists,ankles and mouths boundwith duct tape, and one of thepictures depicted a child hungupside down from an exercisemachine.

The parents werecharged with Class 2 felonychild abuse and taken to theCoconino County DetentionFacility. The children, whowere not injured, were releasedinto the care of relatives.

A Swedish woman says she found her wedding ring — missing since1995 — wrapped around a carrot she pulled out of the family vegetable patch.

Lena Pahlsson lost the ring she designed after leaving it on the kitchencounter of her Mora home during her annual Christmas baking session,Swedish newspaper, The Local reported Friday.

Lena and husband Ola searched behind appliances and beneath floorboards during a kitchen renovation to no avail, the paper said.

Lena found the ring in October growing around a small carrot she nearlythrew out because of its size.

“Our daughter Anna was at home at the time and she heard an almightyscream from the garden,” Ola told The Local.

Ola said he thinks the ring may have ended up in the family’s compostablefood bin, which would have been spread over the vegetable patch. Anothertheory involves the family’s sheep, which is sometimes fed kitchen scraps.

“Maybe it had been eaten by the sheep and then ended up in the manurethat we then spread over the vegetable patch,” Ola said.

The Pahlssons are keeping the ring in a safe place until they can haveit re-sized to fit Lena’s finger, which has grown larger since 1995.

Lost ring found growing aroundcarrot

Police in Florida said theyarrested an injured manaccused of stealing anambulance while it was on acall to drive himself to thehospital. Tampa police saidmedical personnel fromambulance #41, whichbelongs to TranscareAmbulance Co, were in a homeon a call shortly before 10:30

Injured man stole ambulance

Organizers toss confetti from a windowduring the annual “air worthiness test”in Times Square during preparations forNew Years Eve celebrations in New York

on 29 Dec, 2011.

NewsAlbum

Fireworks show is seen during the opening ceremony of the firstZhangbei ice and snow festival in Zhangbei County of north China’s

Hebei Province, on 30 Dec, 2011. The first Zhangbei ice and snowfestival kicked off here on Friday. The festival is scheduled to openuntil on 10 March, 2012 and a series of ice and snow related games

and events will be held during the festival.

pm Thursday when they hearda vehicle’s engine start andlooked outside to see a mandrive away in the ambulance,the Tampa Bay Tribunereported Friday.

Police tracked the vehiclevia its GPS system andstopped the ambulance atNorth Tampa Street and East26th Avenue. The man, Hubert

Lee Credit, 39, was arrested oncharges of auto burglary andgrand theft auto. “I got beatup by four guys,” a policereport quotes Credit as saying.“I saw the ambulance and Iwas going to drive myself tothe hospital.”

Credit was treated for apuncture wound to the headat Tampa General Hospital.

Salman, SRK vie for bestactor award!

NEW DELHI, 31 Dec—Bollywood friends-turned-foes, Salman Khan and ShahRukh Khan are in the race tofor the best male actor trophyat the Zee Cine Awards to beheld in Macau next month.Salman has been nominatedfor his performance inblockbuster Bodyguard,while Shah Rukh has got twonominations in the samecategory, thanks to RA.Oneand Don 2: The King Is Back.

Other actors vying forthe title include HrithikRoshan for Zindagi Na MilegiDobara, Ajay Devgn forSingham and Ranbir Kapoorfor Rockstar. Amongst theleading ladies, the battle forthe best actor award is onbetween Vidya Balan (TheDirty Picture), PriyankaChopra (7 Khoon Maaf),Kareena Kapoor(Bodyguard), Kangna Ranaut(Tanu Weds Manu) andKatrina Kaif (Zindagi Na

Shah Rukh Khan

Milegi Dobara). Thecontenders in the best filmcategory are Don 2,Bodyguard, Rockstar,Singham, The Dirty Pictureand Zindagi Na MilegiDobara.

The trophy for the bestdirector of 2011 will be chosenfrom among Farhan Akhtar(Don 2), Imtiaz Ali (Rockstar),Milan Luthria (The DirtyPicture), Rohit Shetty(Singham), Siddique(Bodyguard) and ZoyaAkhtar (Zindagi Na MilegiDobara). The awards will bechosen by film enthusiastsfrom across the globe. Theviewers can send in theirvotes for their favouritenominees, and 12 luckywinners chosen from amongstthose who send in their voteswill also be flown in to Macauto witness the live ceremony,21 Jan next year.

The star-studdedextravaganza, to be hostedby Shah Rukh and Priyanka,will be telecast on TV on 5 Feb, 2012.—Internet

Salman Khan

Pitt named Top Money-Making Star of 2011GROTON, 31 Dec—Hollywood actor Brad Pitt has been voted the Top

Money-Making Star of 2011 in Quigley Publishing Company’s 80th annual pollof Motion Picture Exhibitors. This is Pitt’s sixth appearance in the poll, but hisfirst win. Exhibitors felt Pitt was responsible for more traffic to theaters than anyother Hollywood star based on his performances this year in “Moneyball,” “TheTree of Life” and “Happy Feet Two.” The Quigley Poll is an annual survey ofmotion-picture theater owners and film buyers, which asks them to vote for the10 stars they believe generated the most box-office revenue for their theatersduring the year.

George Clooney placed second this year based on his work in “The Idesof March” and “The Descendants.” Johnny Depp, last year’s winner, made itto No 3 this year with roles in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and“The Rum Diary.” Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in “J Edgar,” is No 4, and MattDamon, who appeared in “Contagion,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Margaret”and “We Bought a Zoo” is No. 5. Rounding out the Top 10 are Sandra Bullock,Bradley Cooper, Robert Downey, Jr, Meryl Streep and Ben Stiller. Exhibitors werealso asked to name the Stars of Tomorrow for 2011: one actor and one actresswho they feel will be Top Money-Makers in the years to come. The 2011 winnersare Rooney Mara, who played Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl with the DragonTattoo,” and Jonah Hill, who had a breakthrough performance in “Moneyball”and starred in “The Sitter.”—Internet

Actor Brad Pitt attends a press conferenceat Haneda International Airport as he

and his family leave Tokyo, Japan on 10November, 2011. They were in Tokyo for

the Japanese premiere of Pitt’s movie“Moneyball”.—INTERNET

Deschanel,Gordon-Levitt

post NewYear’s Eve

duetLOS ANGELES, 31 Dec—

Zooey Deschanel and JosephGordon-Levitt are curiousabout your New Year’s Eveplans. The two actors performa duet in a video posted thisweek on YouTube, musicallyasking, “What are you doingNew Year’s Eve?” She playsukulele and he plays guitar inthe two-minute video of the1947 jazz song. Deschanel callsher “(500) Days of Summer”co-star “simply the best” in anote accompanying the video.

The two actors don’treveal their New Year’s Eve

Zooey Deschanel, right,and actor Joseph Gordon-

Levitt arrive at theHamilton Behind theCamera Awards in

Los Angeles.—INTERNET

plans in the clip, but they willbe celebrating together in2012. Both are nominated forGolden Globe Awards: she foractress in a TV comedy for“New Girl,” and he for his leadrole in the film “50/50.”

Internet

Singer, actress Kaye Stevensdies in Florida

THE VILLAGES, 31 Dec—Singer and actress KayeStevens, who performed withthe Rat Pack and was a frequentguest on Johnny Carson’s“The Tonight Show,” has diedat a central Florida hospital.She was 79.

Close friend GerrySchweitzer confirmed thatStevens died Wednesday atthe Villages Hospital north ofOrlando following a battle withbreast cancer and blood clots.

Stevens, a longtime SouthFlorida resident, performed withRat Pack members includingFrank Sinatra, Dean Martin,Sammy Davis Jr and JoeyBishop. She also sang solo atvenues like Caesar’s Palace inLas Vegas and the Plaza Hotel’s

Persian Room in New York City.During the Vietnam War era,Stevens performed forAmerican soldiers in the warzone with Bob Hope’s USOtour.—Internet

In this 6 Jan, 1967 filephoto, Sammy Davis Jr

and Kaye Stevens performon a TV show.

INTERNET

P13 (1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM13

14 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012

Bellamy double secures Liverpool victorySubstitute Steven Gerrard scores in Reds' fourth home

win of the season

Bolton and Chelsea agree Cahill feeBoss Coyle confirms that price is set for highly-rated

Bolton defender

Al Wasl coach DiegoMaradona fined 1,900 euros

for verbal abuse

Messi named ambassador ofhis native town Rosario

Arsenal close to securingHenry return

Gerrard made his second appearance asa substitute since recovering from an

ankle injury.

LONDON, 31 Dec — Liverpool 3 New-castle 1.Two fearsome strikes from CraigBellamy saw Liverpool claim fifth place inthe Barclays Premier League after theirfourth home victory of the season at Anfield.Newcastle took the lead in the 25th minutewhen Yohan Cabaye's headed flick wasdiverted into the net via Daniel Agger'sshoulder. But the hosts were level fourminutes later when Charlie Adam'sdangerous cross was partially cleared intothe path of Bellamy, whose powerful 15-yard strike was too much for Newcastlekeeper Tim Krul.

Former Magpie Bellamy added his sec-ond, via a slight deflection off DannySimpson, in the 67th minute but only abrilliant diving goal-line clearance fromMartin Skrtel prevented the prolific Demba

Ba from scoring his 15th goal of the season.And Steven Gerrard, brought on as a 59thminute substitute — his second appearanceoff the bench since recovering from an ankleinfection — produced a deft finish from atight angle 12 minutes from time.—Internet

Cahill has become a defensive regularfor Bolton.

LONDON, 31 Dec — Bolton Wanderershave agreed a fee with Chelsea for highly-rated defender Gary Cahill. The 26-year-old former Aston Villa player has impressedin his 127 Barclays Premier League ap-pearance for Bolton and he has won sevenEngland caps, including one goal againstBulgaria. Bolton boss Owen Coyle said:"There has been a fee agreed between theclubs and we have now given Gary's repre-sentatives permission to speak to Chelsea.

"That is where we are with it. We obvi-ously have a game [against Wolves on NewYear's Eve]. "I have said to Gary that he hasto be focused on giving everything for Bol-ton Wanderers, because he knows BoltonWanderers has been terrific for him just asmuch as Gary has been for us." Cahill, whojoined Bolton in a £5m move from Aston

Villa in January 2008, is out of contract at theend of the season.— Internet

International Sports

Al Wasl coach DiegoMaradona

ABU DHABI, 31 Dec —AlWasl coach Diego Maradonahas been fined 1,900 eurosby the United Arab EmiratesFootball Association for ver-bally abusing Al Ain'sCosmin Olaroiu. A discipli-nary committee within theorganization ruled againstthe Argentine after he ex-pressed his contempt at themanner of Al Ain's celebra-tions following their 1-0 vic-tory over his team in No-vember. Maradona, 51,called his opposite number

"rude", before adding "heshould learn some manners."

Olaroiu responded to thecriticism with a number ofjibes, using Maradona'smuch-publicized use of ille-gal substances against himwhile also poking fun at hisdress sense. "Maradonadoesn't always have a clearmind because of his life. Idon't take drugs. My life isclear. I don't do anything …Who is Maradona as acoach?" the Romaniantrainer said, according to TheGuardian. "He should respecthis work and should nevercome to matches wearingshort pants." In his time inthe UAE, Maradona has criti-cized referees for being bi-ased against Al Wasl, as wellas kicking a supporter whointruded on a photo opportu-nity.— Internet

Beckham’s departure couldpull Lampard to Galaxy

Argentine soccer starLionel Messi

BUENOS AIRES, 31 Dec —Argentine soccer star LionelMessi on Friday was named"Rosario's ambassador in theworld" during a ceremony inhis native town, about 300kilometer from BuenosAires. "It's very nice thattourists come to visit theplace where I was born," saidMessi, 24, who currentlyvisits Argentina for Christ-mas holidays. Messi said "it'sa great pride" to receive thisdistinction.

"I want to thank forthis acknowledgement in

LONDON, 31 Dec — Arse-nal legend Thierry Henry willmove back to the Emirateson a two-month loan pro-vided the Gunners can agreean insurance deal with hiscurrent club, New York RedBulls. The French striker isArsenal's all-time topgoalscorer and his 174 Pre-mier League goals put himthird on the all-time list.Gunners boss ArseneWenger said the deal wouldsuit the 34-year-old, who willgain match fitness ahead ofthe resumption of the MajorLeague Soccer season in theUSA in March. And he saidit would provide cover withMarouane Chamakh andGervinho set to participatein the Africa Cup of Nationsin January.

"It was my idea. He washappy about it, but it was myidea," said Wenger. "We aredoing it because Gervinho

Henry scored 226 timesfor Arsenal, 174 of themin the Premier League

and Chamakh go to the Afri-can Nations Cup and to coverfor two months is ideal."He isstill class and has quality. Hestill has pace. It can only bepositive, because he hasexceptional talent."He is ex-perienced, he is quality, andcan help the players on andoff the pitch." Wenger con-firmed the club was currentlyin negotiations to cover theinsurance requirements ofMajor League Soccer and saidthe deal could not beofficially confirmed until anagreement was reached.

Internet

Spain captainCorretja

hopeful on Nadalfor Davis

BARCELONA, 31 Dec —New Spain captain AlexCorretja is hopeful thatRafael Nadal will be avail-able to the Davis Cup cham-pions despite the second-ranked Spaniard announcinghe won’t compete in the eventin 2012. Corretja saidWednesday that neitherNadal nor David Ferrer havetold him personally they willbe unavailable for the five-time winners, so the newlyappointed captain plans tospeak to the pair at the Aus-tralian Open to see if theycould play certain matchups.

“My obligation as cap-tain is to speak to all of theplayers and the coaches. Notone player has personallytold me that they will notplay,” Corretja said fromBarcelona’s Olympic Sta-dium. “If some players saythey need time to rest, I canonly respect that and try toput together the best teampossible for each series.”Nadal and fifth-ranked Ferrerindicated after beating Ar-gentina in the final earlier thismonth that they would beunavailable with 2012 beingan Olympic year, which hascompressed the calendar.Doubles players FelicianoLopez and FernandoVerdasco also said they maynot be ready to step in soregularly, either.—Internet

Rosario, my home, the placewhere I was born, where mypeople lives, my family andwhich certainly will be myplace of residence when Iretire from soccer," he said.Rosario is currently fightingto host 2019 Pan-AmericanGames.

Internet

LONDON, 31 Dec — TheLos Angeles Galaxy willmake Chelsea and Englandmidfielder Frank Lampard itsprimary target if DavidBeckham leaves the club, adecision that could be madein the next 48 hours. Beckhamis poised to make the call onhis future once his currentGalaxy deal expires on thelast day of 2011. He’d eitherreturn for at least a year orjoin French side Paris Saint-Germain.

If he departs, attention inL.A. would immediately turnto Lampard, who has beenfrustrated at being forced toplay a restricted role at Chel-sea this season. New Chelseamanager Andre Villas-Boashas regularly left the formerrunner-up in the World Foot-ball of the year award on thesubstitutes’ bench, casting hisfuture at the West Londonclub into doubt.

It remains to be seenwhether Lampard would beprepared to move during theJanuary transfer window, es-pecially with next summer’sEuropean Championshipsfast approaching. However,sources close to the 33-year-old confirmed he was stronglyinterested in followingBeckham’s route and sam-pling life in California, andone potential obstacle wasremoved recently when histelevision host fiancéeChristine Bleakley left her jobas presenter of BBC’s “TheOne Show.”

Reports in England claimBeckham and Lampard spoketo one another about a possi-ble move to America, andthat Beckham encouraged hisfriend and former interna-tional colleague to take theplunge. Such a move couldonly occur if Beckham de-parts, however. —Internet

Manchester United 2-3 Blackburn: Yakubudouble and Hanley winner sees visitors stun Old

Trafford despite Berbatov brace

MANCHESTER, 31 Dec — ManchesterUnited was left stunned by Blackburn Roversas two goals from Yakubu and a late winnerfrom Grant Hanley handed Steve Kean’s sidea 3-2 victory that ruined Sir Alex Ferguson’s70th birthday celebrations at Old Trafford.

Dimitar Berbatov pulled United levelwith two goals after Yakubu had sent Roversinto a shock two-goal lead, but the home sidefailed to turn the screw and Hanley tookadvantage of some questionable goalkeepingfrom David De Gea to secure three points.

Wayne Rooney was once again left onthe Manchester United bench, with Berbatovand Javier Hernandez preferred in attack.

Rafael made his first start after injury as amakeshift central midfielder alongside ParkJi-Sung, with Nani and Danny Welbeck outwide. Phil Jones partnered Michael Carrick incentral defense.

Ruben Rochina and Radosav Petroviccame into the Blackburn midfield with DavidDunn and Junior Hoilett out injured. MarkBunn continued in goal as Paul Robinsonremains sidelined with a calf problem.

United’s unorthodox team selection didnot seem to hinder the club early on, as itcontinued to move forward at will in much thesame way as it had done in its two consecutive5-0 victories over Fulham and Wigan Athletic.

The lack of resistance provided by theBlackburn midfield did not help matters butKean’s back four was considerably moreresolute, and Bunn remained untestedthrough the opening 15 minutes.

The adventurous play of Jones andCarrick from defense, combined with the veryattacking selection of players in the Unitedmidfield, sometimes left the defendingchampions short of numbers as Blackburnlooked to counterattack.—Internet

P14(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM14

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 1 January, 2012 15

R/489 Printed and published by the New Light of Myanmar press in Nay Pyi Taw, the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information.

DISTRICT NEWS

Weather Map of Myanmar and Neighbouring Areas

Weather forecast for1st January, 2012

Oversea Transmission* News* Towards a Peaceful and

Disciplined DemocraticNew Nation (Industry)

* News* Fotune of Human

Correlated with AstroScience (January)

* News* Royal Reward Resort

Hotel (Pyin Oo Lwin)* News* Youth & Career “Video

Editor, Producer,Filmmaker” (Part- 1 )

* News* Dance of Alchemist* Myanmar Traditional

Identity (The Sphinx andThe Monoushia ofMyanmar)

* News* A Fountain of Joy for

Every visitor, HninzigonHome for the Aged

* News* A Fever of Korean

Excitement (Part-2)* Myanmar Movies

“Touching Bonds”

7:00 am 1. Paritta by Hilly Region

Missionary Sayadaw7:30 am 2. Morning News7:40 am 3. Nice and Sweet Song8:35 am 4. International News11:00 am 5. Martial Song11:30 am 6. TV Drama Series12:20 pm 7. Myanmar Movie2:20 pm 8. (64)th Anniversary Independence News2:55 pm 9. International News4:15 pm10. Dance Of National Races7:00 pm11. TV Drama Series8:00 pm12. News13. Documentary14. Cartoon Series15. TV Drama Series

(1-1-12 09:30 am ~2-1-12 09:30 am) MST

MYANMARINTERNATIONAL

MYANMAR TV

(1-1-2012) (Sunday)

Focus Myanmar TV Programme

Temperature (°C/°F) For Tomorrow Sr.

No. Regions/States

Maximum Minimum Forecast Percent

1 Kachin 29/84 10/50 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

2 Kayah 27/81 12/54 Partly cloudy

3 Kayin 36/97 19/66 Partly cloudy

4 Chin 21/70 05/40 Partly cloudy

5 Upper Sagaing 28/82 13/55 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

6 Lower Sagaing 30/86 16/61 Partly cloudy

7 Taninthayi 35/95 18/64 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

8 Bago 32/90 19/66 Partly cloudy

9 Magway 31/88 18/64 Partly cloudy

10 Mandalay 30/86 17/63 Partly cloudy

11 Mon 35/95 21/70 Partly cloudy

12 Yangon 35/95 20/68 Partly cloudy

13 Rakhine 31/88 19/66 Partly cloudy

14 Southern Shan 25/77 12/54 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

15 Northern Shan 28/82 08/46 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

16 Eastern Shan 26/79 13/55 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

17 Ayeyawady 33/91 20/68 Partly cloudy

18 Neighbouring Nay Pyi Taw 33/91 17/63 Partly cloudy

19 Neighbouring Yangon 35/95 20/68 Partly cloudy

20 Neighbouring Mandalay 30/86 17/63 Partly cloudy

Summary of

observations at

09:30 hr MST on

today

During the past (24) hours, weather has been partly cloudy in the whole country. Night

temperatures were (5°C) to (6°C) above December averages temperatures in Yangon

Region, Southern Shan and Rakhine States, (3°C) to (4°C) above December averages

temperatures in Lower Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Bago and Ayeyawady Regions,

Eastern Shan, Kayah and Mon States and about December averages temperatures in the

remaining Regions and States. The significant night temperature were Hakha (5°C), Putao

and Katha (6°C) each and Mogok (7°C).

Bay

Inference Weather is partly cloudy in the Andaman sea and Bay of Bengal.

State of the Sea Strong Easterly wind with moderate to rough seas are likely at time off and along Myanmar

Coasts. Surface wind speed in squalls may reach (35) to (40) mph.

Outlook for sub-

sequent two days Likelihood of isolated rain in the Southern Myanmar Areas.

Murphy applied for an engineering position at anIrish firm based in Dublin. An American applied for thesame job and both applicants having the samequalifications were asked to take a test by the Departmentmanager. Upon completion of the test both men onlymissed one of the questions. The manager went toMurphy and said.Manager: “Thank you for your interest, but we’ve

decided to give the American the job”Murphy: “And why would you be doing that? We

both got nine questions correct. This beingIreland and me being Irish I should get thejob!”

Manager: “We have made our decisions not on thecorrect answers, but on the question youmissed.”

Murphy: “And just how would one incorrect answerbe better than the other?”

Manager: “Simple, the American put down onquestion #5, “I don’t know.”, You putdown “Neither do I.”

NLM-ner Joke

The work qualification test

One day at a busy airport, the passengers on acommercial airliner are seated waiting for the pilot toshow up so they can get under way.

The pilot and copilot finally appear in the rear of theplane and begin walking up to the cockpit through thecenter aisle. Both appear to be blind; the pilot is usinga white cane, bumping into passengers right and left ashe stumbles down the aisle. The copilot is using a guidedog. Both have their eyes covered with sunglasses.

At first, the passengers do not react thinking that itmust be some sort of practical joke. After a few minutesthough, the engines start revving, and the airplanebegins moving down the runway.

The passengers look at each other with someuneasiness. They start whispering among themselvesand look desperately to the stewardesses for reassurance.

Yet, the plane starts accelerating rapidly, and peoplebegin panicking. Some passengers are praying, and asthe plane gets closer and closer to the end of the runway,the voices are becoming more and more hysterical.

When the plane has less than twenty feet of runwayleft, there is a sudden change in the pitch of the shoutsas everyone screams at once. At the very last moment,the plane lifts off and is airborne.

Up in the cockpit, the copilot breathes a sigh ofrelief and tells the pilot: “You know, one of these daysthe passengers aren’t going to scream, and we aren’tgoing to know when to take off!”

Are the pilots flying blind?

Djokovic downs Federer in Abu Dhabi exhibition

ABU DHABI, 31 Dec —Top-ranked Novak Djokovic sweptaside Roger Federer 6-2, 6-1 on Friday and will play DavidFerrer in the final of the World Tennis Championshipexhibition. The fifth-ranked Ferrer defeated second-rankedRafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the other semifinal. Nadal, who wonthe tournament the past two years, was nursing a sore shoulderand never seriously challenged his fellow Spaniard.Nadalsaid his shoulder “felt OK, not perfect” since injuring it inNovember, but he still planned to play at the season-openingATP tournament in Doha next week.

Nadal announced on Thursday that after the AustralianOpen, he’ll rest his shoulder for several weeks in February.“I

knew before coming here that I was not ready to win a matchagainst David Ferrer, not to win a match against Djokovic orFederer,” Nadal said. “But I am ready to spend hours on courtwithout risk of injury. That is the most important thing. I needthis transition, hours of practice. If I am here, I will probablyhave a better feeling for Doha.” Djokovic showed plenty of thedominant play that helped him win three Grand Slam titles andamass a 70-6 record last season. The 24-year-old Serb twicebroke No. 3 Federer in the first set and ran off nine games in arow in a one-sided affair that lasted only 44 minutes.—Internet

Serbia'sNovak

Djokovicreturns the

ball toRoger

Federerfrom

Switzerland.

David Ferrerof Spain hitsa return toRafael Na-

dal of Spainduring theirMubadala

WorldTennis Cha-mpionship

match.

PEKHON, 31 Dec—As a gesture of hailing the 64thAnniversary Independence Day, Seintalay new tarredroad was inaugurated in Nyaunggon Ward of PekhonTownship on 29 December.

The repaved road, 1610 feet long and 12 feet wide,was constructed at a cost of K 7,860,000 by TownshipDevelopment Affairs Committee and K 1,020,000 by thelocal people.

Township IPRD

Pekhon gets new repaved road

Ayeyawady Region emphasizesenvironmental conservation

NYAUNGDON, 31 Dec—Local authorities in AyeyawadyRegion inspected teak and eucalyptus plantations grownon a manageable scale last year in townships of the regionon 27 December.

They gave instructions on emphasis to be placed onenvironmental conservation.

Myanma Alin

SHWEDAUNG, 31 Dec—Forest Department handed overfive-acre village plantation to five villages from fourvillage-tracts of Shwedaung Township on 15 December.

Local authorities explained establishment of ruralhousing plan. Later, officials handed over documentsrelated to village plantations to the administrators ofvillage-tracts.

Township IPRD

Village plantations handed over

P15(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM15

POEM:

Sunday, 1 January, 20128th Waxing of Pyatho 1373 ME

Union A&I Minister inspects farmsin Dagon Myothit Township (East)YANGON, 31 Dec—Union

Minister for Agriculture andIrrigation U Myint Hlaingvisited 10,000-acre modelmechanized farm in DagonMyothit in Yangon Regionthis morning.

He heard reportssubmitted by officials of IBTCGroup of Companies andInternational Sun Moon StarAgriculture Co Ltd on sowingFilipino hybrid paddy strainson 500-acre land, collectinghybrid paddy strains,reclaiming land and recruitingskilled workers for Dagon(East) Hybrid SeedProduction Projects.

Managing Director UKyaw Win of MyanmaAgriculture Servicesubmitted a report.

The Union minister saidthat Dagon Myothit

mechanized farming systemagricultural special zone10,000-acre farm is a pilotproject of mechanized farmingsystem and production ofPalethwal hybrid paddy

strain is a technical stepforward. He then urgedentrepreneurs, experts andworkers to work cooperativelyas much invested in theproject.

The Union ministerinspected F1 24-acre of 50-day Palethwal hybrid paddyfield and production ofhybrid paddy strains and leftnecessary instructions.

On arrival at SpecialZone (1), he inspected farmsof Dagon InternationalCompany.

Dagon International,Green Asia, Hsinshweli and

Myint Zeya Family Agro-based Company areproducing Palethwal paddystrains in the Dagon Myothit10,000-acre special zone thissummer.—MNA

Significant night temperature(31-12-2011)

Haka (5°C)Putao (6°C)Katha (6°C)Mogok (7°C)

Union Minister for Agriculture andIrrigation U Myint Hlaing at farm of Myint

Zeya Family Agro-based Company inDagon Myothit Township (East).

MNA

Macheda set for QPR,unlikely to join Wigan,

according to agentMANCHESTER, 31 Dec—Manchester United striker

Federico Macheda is 95 per cent certain to join QueensPark Rangers on loan in January, according to his agent.

The Italian has made just six appearances in Sir AlexFerguson’s first team this season and has been linked witha move to Wigan in the January transfer window.

But Macheda’s representative, Giovanni Bia,believes the current possibilities are either for a loanswitch to QPR until the end of the season or to stay atUnited.

Bia told skysports.com: “There was nothing concretewith Wigan. The club closer to Macheda is QPR.

“I think at 95 per cent that Macheda will go toLondon, because he needs to play, and this is the onlysuggestion of a transfer to date.

“He’ll go on a simple loan for six months, because SirAlex Ferguson believes in him and wants to take him backto United at the end of the season.

“The other five per cent of chance is that Machedastays in Manchester.”

Internet

LONDON, 31 Dec—Tottenham have joined Barcelonain the race to sign Brescia midfielder Omar El Kaddouri.

The 21-year-old, touted as one of the hottest youngprospects in Italy, has already been scouted by Barca bossPep Guardiola. But Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is alsokeen to strengthen his squad in January as he looks to keepup with Manchester City and Manchester United at the topof the Premier League.

Reports from Spain suggest that Barcelona andTottenham could fight it out for the 21-year-old’s signaturewhen the transfer window re-opens next month.

The midfielder, who was born in Belgium to Moroccanparents, is valued at £2.9m.—Internet

Spurs join Barca in hunt forBelgian youngsterTransfer Update

Brescia midfielder Omar El Kaddouri attracting attentionfrom European giants.

YANGON, 31 Dec—Blazon Department Store donatedover 10000 pieces of various sizes of clothes and otherutensils to fire victims of Kutohseik Ward in MingalaTaungnyunt Township this afternoon.

The wellwisher presented the donations to the cashand relief aid accepting group in Pathein Nyunt Ward ofMingala Taungnyunt Township.—MNA

Blazon donates clothes tofire victims

MOMEIK, 31 Dec—Momeik Timber Extraction Regionof Myanma Timber Enterprise organized the fire preventivemeasures and fire drill in Hawnan Ward of Momeik on 23December.

Officials of MTE and Township Fire ServicesDepartment gave talks on danger of fire. Later, staff practisedfire drill in groups.—Myanma Alin

Danger of fire talked

Safeguard independence inheritedfrom forefathers at risk to own life

(Padaung Than Kywe)

Independenceof Myanmar

Thaung Ko Ko (Trs)

Hailing the 64th Anniversary Independence Day

A new modern, developed nation cannot be built with nationaldisunity, unrest and violence and destructive attacks. It can only be builtwith Union Spirit, national unity, patriotism, selfless interest, thrift, hardwork, discipline and respect for law.

All the national people are therefore urged to lend a helping handwith safeguarding the nation’s independence and sovereignty and buildingup a new modern, developed democratic nation with strong Union Spiritand nationalistic spirit.

Independence or libertySovereignty of MyanmarBlood, sweat, livesSacrificed we forindependence

PAGE 5

Al Wasl coachDiego

Maradona fined1,900 euros forverbal abuse

PAGE 14PAGE 7PAGE 7

Elusivesnow

leopardscaught on

camera

P16(1).pmd 1/1/2012, 9:03 AM16