Established 1914

Volume XVI, Number 337 11th Waning of Taboung 1370 ME Saturday, 21 March, 2009

* Development of agriculture as the base and all-round devel-opment of other sectors of the economy as well

* Proper evolution of the market-oriented economic system* Development of the economy inviting participation in terms

of technical know-how and investments from sources insidethe country and abroad

* The initiative to shape the national economy must be kept inthe hands of the State and the national peoples

* Uplift of the morale and morality of theentire nation

* Uplift of national prestige and integrity andpreservation and safeguarding of culturalheritage and national character

* Uplift of dynamism of patriotic spirit* Uplift of health, fitness and education

standards of the entire nation

* Stability of the State, community peaceand tranquillity, prevalence of law andorder

* National reconsolidation* Emergence of a new enduring State Con-

stitution* Building of a new modern developed nation

in accord with the new State Constitution

Four economic objectives Four social objectivesFour political objectives

NAY PYI TAW, 20 March—A ceremony toopen Textile Factory (Pyawbwe) of Myanma TextileIndustries under the Ministry of Industry-1 was held atthe factory in Pyawbwe Township this morning,attended by Prime Minister General Thein Sein.

First, Managing Director U Oo Thein Maungof MTI, Chairman of Yamethin District Peace andDevelopment Council U Oo Khaing and DeputySecretary-General Ms Wang Zhi Ming of TianjinProvince of the People’s Republic of China cut theribbon to open the factory.

The Prime Minister unveiled the signboard ofthe factory.

Next, the Prime Minister and party viewedfunctioning of sections at the factory and products ofMTI displayed at the factory.

At the hall of the factory, Minister for Industry-1 U Aung Thaung reported on the location and historyof the factory, the import of machines, construction ofthe factory, test-run of machines, aims for building thefactory, supply of products, requirement of rawmaterials, quality of Ngwechi-6 long staple cotton,production capacity, items of products, investmentand strength of workers.

(See page 8)

Myanmar enjoys not only food sufficiency but also surplus food

Prime Minister attends opening of Textile Factory(Pyawbwe) of Myanma Textile Industries

An aerial view of Textile Factory (Pyawbwe) of Myanma Textile Industries under the Ministry of Industry-1.—MNA

Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects running of machines at Textile Factory(Pyawbwe).—MNA

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009

Saturday, 21 March, 2009 * Oppose those relying on external elements, acting as stooges, holding negative views* Oppose those trying to jeopardize stability of the State and progress of the nation* Oppose foreign nations interfering in internal affairs of the State* Crush all internal and external destructive elements as the common enemy

People’s DesirePERSPECTIVES

Prime Minister of the Union ofMyanmar General Thein Sein paid a goodwillvisit to the Republic of Singapore on 17 Marchat the invitation of Singaporean PrimeMinister Mr. Lee Hsien Loong.

A meeting between Myanmargoodwill delegation led by Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein and Singaporeandelegation led by Prime Minister Mr. LeeHsien Loong took place at the meeting hall ofIstana Presidential Palace in Singapore on17 March.

At the meeting, Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein said that know-how andinvestment of Singapore will surely benefitboth countries as Myanmar is rich in naturalresources; and that the experiences andcooperation of Singapore can be put intomost beneficial use for the beautiful beachesand snow-capped mountain ranges ofMyanmar in the tourism sector.

The Singaporean Prime Minister saidthat Myanmar and Singapore are joininghands under the ASEAN CooperationProgramme in addition to bilateralcooperation; that the governments of the twocountries can cooperate in trade and tourismservices, and if the ancient artifacts ofMyanmar can be displayed in Singapore, thetourists will know more about Myanmar andwill visit the country.

Being ASEAN member countries,Myanmar and Singapore have maintainedfriendly ties since yore. Among the tradepartners of Myanmar, Singapore ranks inthe third position, and it is included in the toplist of Myanmar’s aquatic product importingcountries. As trade and investment betweenMyanmar and Singapore are on-going andimproving, cooperation between the twocountries is on the rise.

Therefore, we firmly believe that thegoodwill visit of Prime Minister GeneralThein Sein to Singapore will surely furtherstrengthen friendly ties and economiccooperation between the two countries.

Further promote trade andinvestment between Myanmarand Singapore

Sixth Today book storebranch opened

YANGON, 20 March—The sixth branch ofToday Book Store has been opened at Room 202 on thefirst floor of East Point Shopping Center at No. 62 onMaha Bandoola Street recently.

As special sales for Maha Thingyan Festivalperiod, all the Today book stores will sell books at 10per cent discount from 3 to 11 April.

For further information, dial 397900(extension-202).—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 20 March — Ministry of Forestryheld the opening ceremony of the coordination meetingon compilation of the fourth national level biodiversityreport, jointly organized by National Commission forEnvironmental Conservation under the Ministry ofForestry and ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, at ForestResearch Department in Yezin this morning, with anopening address by Chairman of the Commission

YANGON, 20 March—The opening of DhammaBeikman building of Mahasi Meditation Centre inBahan Township here was held along with the sharingof merits at the building this morning.

Present on the occasion were members of theSangha, Lt-Gen Myint Swe of the Ministry of Defenceand wife Daw Khin Thet Htay, Chairman of YangonDivision Peace and Development CouncilCommander of Yangon Command Brig-Gen WinMyint, Minister for Religious Affairs Brig-Gen ThuraMyint Maung, departmental officials, well-wishersand guests.

Lt-Gen Myint Swe, the commander, the ministerand the well-wishers formally opened the building.

Dhamma Beikman building of MahasiMeditation Centre opened

State Ovadacariya Abbot of Mahasi MeditationCentre Thayet Sayadaw Agga Maha Pandita AggaMaha Kammathanacariya Agga Maha SaddhammaJotikadhaja Bhaddanta Kesara invested thecongregation with Eight Precepts.

The minister supplicated on religious affairs.Lt-Gen Myint Swe and wife, the minister and thedonors offered alms to members of the Sayadaws.

The chairman of Buddha Sasana NuggahaAssociation and the initial donor presented the purposeof the donation.

Lt-Gen Myint Swe and wife the congregationlistened to the religious sermon, and shared merits.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 20March — U Nyan Win,Minister for ForeignAffairs of the Union ofMyanmar arrived backhere yesterday by air fromSri Lanka after attendingthe South Asia RegionalMinisterial Meetingwhich was held inColombo, Sri Lanka from16th to 18th March.

Minister U Nyan Winattended the meeting atthe invitation of MrRohitha Bogollagama,Minister of ForeignAffairs of the DemocraticSocialist Republic of SriLanka and Mr ShaZukang, the Under-S e c r e t a r y - G e n e r a l ,Department of Economicand Social Affairs of theUnited Nations.

The meeting focusedon the theme “FinancingStrategies for Healthcare”in respect of the UnitedNations MilleniumDevelopment Goals.

During the visit,Foreign Minister U NyanWin together with the

FM attends South Asia Regional Ministerial Meeting

ministers attending themeeting, paid a courtesycall on Mr MinhindaRajapaksa, President ofthe Democratic SocialistRepublic of Sri Lanka athis office on 17th March.

Foreign MinisterU Nyan Win also attendedthe breakfast meetinghosted by Mr RatnasiriWickramanayaka, PrimeMinister of Sri Lanka on17 March and discussed

bilateral matters.Likewise, on 16th

March 2009, ForeignMinister U Nyan Wincalled on his counterpartMr Rohitha Bogollagama,Minister of ForeignAffairs of Sri Lanka, anddiscussed matters relatedto mutual interests.

The South AsiaMinisterial Meeting wasalso attended by U Tin OoLwin, Ambassador of the

Union of Myanmar to SriLanka, U Thant Kyaw,D i r e c t o r - G e n e r a l ,InternationalOrganiza-tions and EconomicDepartment of theMinistry of ForeignAffairs and U AungKyaing, Director-General,Health PlanningDepartment of theMinistry of Health of theUnion of Myanmar.

MNA

Coordination meeting for compilation of the fourthnational level biodiversity report held

Minister for Forestry Brig-Gen Thein Aung.Afterwards, leader of the compilation of the

biodiversity reports, Rector of University of ForestryU Khin Maung Zaw discussed report on compilation ofreport and secretary of the compilation of thebiodiversity report, joint secretary of the CommissionDr San Win matters relating to report. Those whoattended the meeting also discussed. —MNA

Minister U Nyan Win attends South Asia Regional Ministerial

Meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka.—MNA

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009 3

US anti-war protesters urge endingof occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan

NEW YORK, 20 March — More than 150 US anti-war protesters on Thursday called on the Obama ad-ministration to stop occupation of Iraq and Afghani-stan, and withdraw all troops from these countries.

In the Union Square, where the protesters huddledtogether under the awning of a subway station, stay-ing out of the rain, some said that (US PresidentBarack) Obama, who had opposed the war as an Illi-nois state senator, continues some of the Bush admini-stration’s most controversial policies.

“He’s not stopping anything that’s been going onwith Bush,” said a student who only gave her first nameas Putu. “When I went to visit Indonesia which is mymother’s home country, people kind of looked downupon me and made fun of our government.” Callingon the US government to remove its permanent mili-tary bases and advisers from Iraq, Debra Sweet, nationaldirector of the World Can’t Wait, the organization whichorganized the protest, an annual event since the Iraqiwar started six year ago, also urged the US governmentnot to extend the occupation in Afghanistan.”Today, theoccupation of Iraq must end,” Sweet said.—Internet

34 militants killed inAfghanistan

KABUL, 20 March—The US military said on Fridaythat Afghan and international troops had killed 34 mili-tants in Afghanistan’s province of Helmand, aflashpoint region where the Taleban control severaldistricts. The heavy clash on Thursday was in theGereshk district where a prominent anti-Taleban par-liamentarian was killed in a bomb planted by the in-surgents the same day.

The Afghan army had led a patrol of soldiers intoan area where militants were known to operate, theUS military said in a statement.

“The patrol was attacked by numerous armed mili-tants with heavy small-arms and rocket-propelled gre-nade fire,” it said.

After ensuring there were no civilians present, “thecombined element returned fire with small-arms andclose air support, killing 34 militants,” it said.

There was no way to independently verify the toll.“This engagement was yet another blow to the mili-

tants, who are quickly losing their ability to operate inHelmand Province,” a coalition spokesman said in thestatement.—Internet

UN aid for Iraq on upswing amid US troops draw down

10th Australian soldier killed in AfghanistanCANBERRA, 20 March—Prime Minister Kevin Rudd signaled Friday that Aus-

tralia will not substantially boost troop numbers in Afghanistan after a 10th Aus-tralian soldier died in the prolonged war against insurgents.

Rudd has yet to respond to a recent request from NATO for more Australiantroops to help secure elections in Afghanistan in August, and he will meet Presi-dent Barack Obama in Washington for the first time on Tuesday.—Internet

Roadside bomb kills Afghan lawmakerKANDAHAR, 20 March—A lawmaker who was a vocal Taleban critic in Afghani-

stan’s insurgency-plagued south was killed Thursday by a roadside bomb, familyand officials said. Four others died along with Dad Mohammad Khan in the explo-sion in southern Helmand Province, said his cousin, Aktar Mohammad Khan.

A parliamentarian, Khan also served as a prominent voice against the Talebanin a region where their insurgency is strongest. He fled the country during Talebanrule but returned to become Helmand’s intelligence chief after the extremistregime fell in 2001, said Shir Mohammad Akhonzada, the former governor ofHelmand.—Internet

NATO service member killed in AfghanistanKABUL, 20 March—A roadside bomb killed a NATO service member in south-

ern Afghanistan, while two days of clashes killed 33 militants, international forcessaid Friday.

The bombing happened Thursday in Helmand Province, NATO forces said ina statement that did not give further details on the incident or the service mem-ber’s nationality. The international force typically waits for national authoritiesto announce casualties.—Internet

Afghans protestagainst arrest of 16

villagers byCoalition troops KABUL, 20 March—

Hundreds of people gath-ered on Thursday in frontof local administrationbuilding in Logar prov-ince, 60 km south of theAfghan capital Kabul, todemanded the release of16 villagers from the cus-tody of internationaltroops.

According to locals, theUS-led Coalition troopstook into custody 16 per-sons from MohammadAgha district Wednesdaynight.

“The Coalition forceswith three helicopterscame to Surkhab villagein Mohammad Agha dis-trict last night and arrestedHajji Katal and Hajji ShirAgha along with 14 mem-bers of their families,” anelder from the areaAsmatullah Ahmadzaitold Xinhua.

Internet

A protestor (L) is led away by police after beingarrested for blocking street car traffic on MarketStreet during a demonstration on the sixth anni-

versary of the war in Iraq, in San Francisco,California on 19 March, 2009.—INTERNET

UNITED NATIONS, 20March—Six years afterthe US-led invasion ofIraq, American troops arepacking up for with-drawal, Iraqi forces aretaking on more securityresponsibility and theUnited Nations bolstersits role in assisting the

Baghdad governmenttransition from under oc-cupation to strike out onits own.

US President BarackObama said at CampLejuene, North Carolinaon 27 Feb: “I intend toremove all US troopsfrom Iraq by the end of2011.” However, advisorshave said the end date issubject to “conditions onthe ground.”

While the number ofUS troops is expected to

drop from the present146,000 troops to about50,000 by the end of nextyear and to zero if all goesaccording to plan, therestill will be a mammothreminder of the Americanpresence that remains incentral Baghdad, thenewly opened 700-mil-lion-US-dollar US Em-bassy compound thatspread over a 104-acreriverfront site for a staffof 1,200 people.

Internet

In this image reviewed by the US Military, aGuantanamo detainee is escorted by guards at

Camp 4 detention facility, at the US Naval Base, inGuantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 18 Nov, 2008.

INTERNET

Canadian soldiers from the NATO-led coalition run for cover after an IED (ImprovisedExplosive Device) explosion during a mission in the Taleban stronghold of Zhari district

in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on 20 March, 2009.—INTERNET

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4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009

China Unicom may joinundersea cable venture

Cuba, EU discuss further cooperation HAVANA, 20 March—Experts from Cuba and the

European Union (EU) began a forum here on Thurs-day to discuss further cooperation.

The forum, organized by the Cuban Exterior Com-merce and Foreign Investment Ministry, mainly fo-cused on food security, researches, development, com-merce, renewable energies, climate change and reduc-tion of catastrophes.

EU commissioner for Development and Humani-tarian Aid Louis Michel, who led the European del-egation, praised possibilities of cooperation betweenthe two sides after the political dialogue between theisland state and the European bloc has been strength-ened.—Xinhua

Construction for climbingworlds underway in Qinghai XINING, 20 March—The construction of the rock-

climbing field has got under way in the preparationfor the 2009 climbing world championship in China’sQinghai Province.

One of the contractors for the Bird’s Nest,Chongqing Zhongti Company, is in charge of the de-signing and construction for the rock-climbing field.

The construction is expected to finish in early June,according to the organizing committee of the 2009climbing world championship, kicking off on June30th. “The design of the artificial climbing wall forthis year’s championship is unique, combining bothethnic characteristics and state-of-art design concepts,”said Jidi Majia, vice governor of Qinghai Province,on Friday. Many ethnic groups including Tibetan, Hui,Mongolian, Tu, and Han inhabit in the province.

Xinhua

Dollar continues falling on Fed plans NEW YORK, 20 March—The dollar fell against ma-

jor currencies for a second session on Thursday, a dayafter the US Federal Reserve announced plans to pumpanother one trillion dollars into economy.

To provide greater support to mortgage lending andhousing markets, the US central bank said on Thursdaythat it would purchase up to an additional 750 billiondollars of agency mortgage-backed securities, and toincrease its purchases of agency debt this year by up to100 billion dollars. Moreover, to help improve condi-tions in private credit markets, the Fed decided to pur-chase up to 300 billion dollars of longer-term Treasurysecurities over the next six months. The quantitativeeasing moves pushed the dollar significantly loweragainst the euro, the pound, the yen and other majorcurrencies. The US currency was expected to fall fur-ther against the euro till the European Central Bank fol-lows to increase money supply, which would not hap-pen in short term according to some analysts.—Xinhua

BEIJING, 20 March—China Unicom, Taipei’sChunghwa Telecom andJapan’s KDDI Corp are re-portedly planning to spend500 million US dollars tobuild a new submarinecommunications cable inthe Asia-Pacific region.

The Commercial Times,citing unnamed Chung-hwa Telecom sources, re-ported yesterday that thethree companies were intalks with Singapore Tel-

ecommunications and itslocal rival Starhub to laythe Asia-Pacific CableNetwork 3 (APCN3).

The Taipei newspapersaid once the Singaporepartner was selected, thefour companies wouldsign a memorandum ofunderstanding on theproject as early as nextmonth. The 1,000-km un-dersea cable, whichstretches from Singaporeto Japan through Taipei is

likely to be completed by2013, according to thenewspaper. It said theAPCN3 would have alarger capacity than the 10-year-old APCN2, whichbreaks down frequently.

Yi Difei, a ChinaUnicom spokesman, how-ever refuted the report.“The discussions havebeen preliminary and therehas been no plan yet,” hesaid.

Xinhua

A police officer explains the cartoon posters of railway safety to pupils at aprimary school in Hougang Town of Leping City, east China’s Jiangxi Prov-

ince, on 19 March, 2009. —XINHUA

Visitors view energysaving and emission

reduction models of oilfactories during theChina International

Energy Saving, Emis-sion Reduction and New

Energy Science andTechnology Expo at the

Beijing ExhibitionCenter in Beijing,

capital of China, on 19March, 2009.

XINHUA

All items from Xinhua News Agency

Fall of Italian exports inJanuary worst since 1986ROME, 20 March— Italy registered a record 25.8-

percent year-on-year drop in its exports in January,national statistics bureau Istat said on Thursday.

The plunge is the biggest since 1986, Istat said in areport. However, the 24.1-percent tumble in importsresulted in improved trade deficit of 3.585 billioneuros, compared with the deficit of 4.105 billion eurosrecorded in January 2008. In December last year, Ita-ly’s exports fell 5.9 percent and imports 1.5 percent.

Meanwhile, Italy’s trade with its European Unionpartners in January this year saw a 22.9-percent dropin exports over the same period last year, and its im-ports were down 24.3 percent. This resulted in a tradesurplus of 404 million euros.

Tourists visit

the Summer

Palace in

Beijing, on

19 March,

2009.

XINHUA

AIG unit sues Countrywide for “huge losses” LOS ANGELES, 20 March—A unit of US insurance giant AIG on Thursday

sued Countrywide Financial in the Los Angeles federal court, alleging that themortgage lender caused the insurer “huge losses” as a result of its lending poli-cies.

AIG’s United Guaranty Mortgage Indemnity Co. says in its complaint thatCountrywide “abandoned its own underwriting guidelines to boost its market shareand then misrepresented the quality of its loans so that United Guaranty wouldprovide insurance coverage for them.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified punitive damages, cancellation of the insurancepolicies, United Guaranty’s payments on the policies and losses and legal fees.

AIG has received more than 170 billion dollars in bailout money from the USgovernment, which bought an 80 percent stake in the company last year in aneffort to solve the country’s subprime mortgage crisis. The US housing crisis isconsidered the direct reason for the current global economic recession.

Xinhua

Xinhua

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009 5

I had goose pimples out of joy and excitement

when I arrived back at Myawady via Maesot. I felt

extremely happy and excited with the thought I was

getting to my home village at the foot of Mt. Zwegabin.

At the time, I longed very much to see my father who

was still at the refugee camp in the neighbouring

country, my younger sister who was in a third country,

and my elder brother who stuck to armed struggle line

in the border areas. However, the feeling of longing to

see them was under the overwhelming influence of

the thought of eventual reunion with my mother and

youngest sister in the village.

The refugee camps I had stayed in for about a

couple of decades are in fact merely the camps in the

neighbouring country where so many anti-

government groups are resorting to all possible means

to meddle in the internal affairs. Bluntly, the refugee

camps are just a modern lucrative business being

jointly run by political expatriates deceiving and

forcing artless local Kayin nationals like me

through a variety of ways to get to border areas,

KNU insurgents and anti-government groups

under various names. The greater the number of

the refugees, the more money they can make. So,

political opportunists in complicity with certain

western media are levelling a wide range of

groundless accusations such as human rights violation

and forced relocation of many villages, with the ill

intention of pushing local people of Kayin State,

who lead a peaceful life, to border areas. Our whole

life in the so-called refugee camps for Kayin nationals

was a constant battle against poverty, fear and worries,

with the dim hope of proceeding to a third country.

Those who know our daily hardships best are none

other than we refugees ourselves.

I must admit that on behalf of the entire

Kayin nationals I feel bitterly ashamed of the

Mt. Zwegabin bears witnessSaw Nay Myo

conditions that a large number of Kayin nationals

in refugee camps in the border areas are being

exploited for international funds. It is common

knowledge that KNU leaders, who are shouting very

loud in their objective of creating a prosperous future

of the entire Kayin nationals, lead a life of luxury in the

neighbouring country, spending the funds meant for

the refugee camps. Moreover, they used force to stop

Kayin national refugees from returning home. What is

the most abhorrent is that many organizations

under various names and political opportunists,

like human traffickers, brazenly charge refugees to

stay in refugee camps and go to the third country.

Today, in the refugee camps, the number of bogus

refugees with the hope of going to the US, Australia,

Britain, Norway and Canada is growing, thus

culminating in an apparent increase in sex trade and

smuggling of narcotic drugs. The members of many

families have to stay separately in the refugee camps

due to the accommodation schedules. They do not

know where and when they can meet each other, and

are leading a miserable life with heavy heart in a new

atmosphere in a foreign country.

They are now desperate to return to the motherland,

and make contact with their family members in the

refugee camps, but they are in no position to do so.

They are in an absolute fix because of too many

oppressions and restrictions. Everyone who has been

to the refugee camps knows well that.

Who is to be held responsible for the condition

that many local people leading a peaceful life in

villages have been reduced to real refugees since

they arrived at the camps?

The West bloc and certain foreign media are

inventing stories and accusing the government of

violating human rights and that have made local

people refugees. In reality, the issue of refugee

camps has arisen because of KNU and political

opportunists who seek international funds, not

because of political affairs in Myanmar.

In other words, the refugee camps in border

areas are merely the places where political

opportunists, renegades and national traitors have

been exploiting Kayin national people under the

pretext of humanitarianism for their gains, not

the places where Kayin people in need are being

rescued and taken care of.

The nation that receives refugee camps in border

areas continues to face problems one after another.

And the refugee camps serve as the bases of criminals,

human traffickers and terrorists.

Kayin nationals have stayed in the border areas

of Thailand as refugees for long. So, in Thailand,

Kayin nationals are called refugee people, and that

makes me feel ashamed myself and provokes a

blazing fury from me.

I wonder if there will arise a refugee people

that has never existed in the world.

Mt. Zwegabin knows that Kayin State has

Kayin national race, not refugee people.

The majority of Kayin nationals want to live a

peaceful life in their native places, instead of going

to refugee camps. If they plan to go abroad to seek

jobs or to study, they want to leave the nation

officially so that they will not be in disgrace. The

hope of we ex-refugees is to establish an atmosphere

where we can stand with dignity in border areas as in

other peaceful areas.

I solemnly pledge in front of Mt. Zwegabin that

when I get to my native village where peace has been

restored, my mother, my younger sister and I will do

our bit in the tasks for stability, peace and development

of Kayin State and to put an end to the refugee camps.

Translation: MS

*******

It is common knowledge that KNU leaders,who are shouting very loud in their objectiveof creating a prosperous future of the entireKayin nationals, lead a life of luxury in theneighbouring country, spending the fundsmeant for the refugee camps.

The majority of Kayin nationals want to live a peacefullife in their native places, instead of going to refugeecamps.

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6 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009

NAY PYI TAW, 20 March—Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein and goodwill delegation members,accompanied by Acting Minister of Labour Mr GanKim Yong of Singapore visited Maritime PortAuthority of Singapore at Singapore Port on 17March evening.

They were welcomed by Assistant ChiefExecutive Captain Khong Shen Ping and officials ofMaritime Port Authority of Singapore.

At the Board Room on the 21st floor of thebuilding, the Assistant Chief Executive introducedMPA members to the Prime Minister and party andexplained the aims and objectives of the MPA,acceptance and inspection of containers, future plans,tasks of MPA and training courses.

This was followed by a question and answersession.

Next, Prime Minister General Thein Sein andparty viewed placements of containers at the port,unloading of containers from the container carriersand functions of the heavy machinery.

MNA

Prime Minister and party visit MaritimePort Authority of Singapore

NAY PYI TAW, 20 March—The Myanmardelegation led by Prime Minister General Thein Seinvisited Singapore National Orchid Garden, SingaporeCivil Defence Force (SCDF) and Center for RemoteImaging, Sensing and Processing in National Universityof Singapore on 18 March.

Prime Minister General Thein Sein and partytogether with Acting Minister of Labour Mr. Gan KimYong and Singaporean Ambassador to Myanmar Mr.Robert Chua Hian Kong arrived at National OrchidGarden in Singapore and the Prime Minister planted anorchid plant at the garden.

Prime Minister General Thein Sein signed thevisitors’ book and viewed various kinds of orchids andthriving orchid plants.

The Myanmar delegation led by Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein proceeded to Singapore Civil

Prime Minister General Thein Sein anddelegation members tour Singapore

Defence Force (SCDF). SCDF Commission James Tanpresented emergency rescue missions of SCDF with theuse of visual aids.

Director Mr. Yazid Abdullah of TrainingDepartment of SCDF presented emergency rescue worksfor vessels, aircraft and natural disasters, academicmatters of Civil Defence Academy, rescue works forterrorist attacks, handling of suspicious explosivedevices, use of protective gear against germs andmeasures being taken for security of the people with theuse of visual aids.

Officials of SCDF answered the queries raisedby the Prime Minister and Myanmar delegation members.

Next, the Prime Minister and party observedpractical demonstrations of Harmat Control Vehicle,Light Fire Attack Vehicle, Station with Immediate FirstAid Treatment, Personal Decontamination Vehicle and

equipments used in rescue missions.In the afternoon, the Myanmar delegation led

by Prime Minister General Thein Sein visitedCentre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processingin National University of Singapore where Principalof NUS Tan Eng Chye extended greetings at BoardRoom.

Director Mr. Kwoh Leong Keong presentedmatters on sending data through satellite and conductingresearch on occurrence of Tsunami and Cyclone Nargiswith the use of visual aids.

Next, the Prime Minister unveiled the photo ofYangon taken from Satellite and viewed it.

He also observed acquiring data through satelliteat Satellite Control Room and greeted the principal andofficials.

MNA

Prime Minister General Thein Sein observes acquiring data through satellite at Centre for Remote Imaging, Sensing and Processingin National University of Singapore.—MNA

Prime Minister General Thein Sein meets with officials concerned of Maritime Port Authorityof Singapore at Singapore Port.—MNA

21-3-09 NL 2/14/32, 4:49 PM6

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009 7

Prime Minister General Thein Sein meetsMyanmar Ambassador to Singapore, embassy staff

YANGON, 20 March—Organized by MyanmarProfessionals Education Centre (MPEC), the talks onlearning methods and opportunities for softwareengineering will be held at Myanmar Info-Tech inHline Township from 9 am to 12 noon on 22 March.

U Zaw Moe Tun (Myanmar InformationTechnology), U Tun Khaing (Interga Systems) and UYe Yint Win (Big Soft Business Information Systems)will give the talks.

Those wishing to attend the talks may contactTel: 668779, 668259 and 650124.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 20 March—The State Peaceand Development Council has confirmed theappointment of Rector Professor Dr. Myo Win ofUniversity of Dental Medicine (Yangon) of theMedical Science Department under the Ministry ofHealth on expiry of the one-year probationaryperiod.—MNA

Talks on softwareengineering 22 March

MYANMAR GAZETTE

NAY PYI TAW, 20March—Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein metwith the ambassador andwife, and staff families ofMyanmar embassy inSingapore, the Republicof Singapore on 18 March.

Myanmar am-bassador U Win Myint andwife Daw Khin Win Myintand staff familieswelcomed the PrimeMinister and party andpaid respects to them.

In meeting withthe embassy staff, thePrime Minister explaineddevelopments ofMyanmar, livingconditions of theMyanmar people enjoyingadequate rice and highyields of crops despite theglobal financial crisis,continued implementationof the seven-step RoadMap of the State tillsuccessful completionafter the fourth step ofwriting the constitutionand peace and stability anddevelopment of the Statethanks to the cooperativeefforts of the government,the people and theTatmadaw. Next, he

stressed the need for theembassy staff to respectrules, regulations and lawsof the host country, toshoulder their duties inaccord with the diplomaticcode of conduct and towork for furtherpromotion of amicableand friendly relationsbetween the two countries.Next, the Prime Minister

greeted the staff andpresented gifts to them.

The ambassadorhosted a luncheon to thePrime Minister and party.After that, Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein anddelegation members wentto Changi Airport in amotorcade at 1 pm.

Acting Ministerof Labour Mr Gan Kim

Yong, SingaporeanAmbassador to MyanmarMr Robert Chua HianKong, MyanmarAmbassador to SingaporeU Win Myint and stafffamilies saw off theMyanmar delegation at theairport.

Prime MinisterGeneral Thein Sein anddelegation membersarrived back here at 4pm.

Minister forCommerce Brig-Gen TinNaing Thein, member of

the goodwill delegation,during the visit, receivedIndian origion merchantsled by President ofSingapore IndianChamber of Commerceand Industry (SCCI) MrVijay Iyergar at MarinaMandarin Hotel at 8.30 pmon 17 March. Togetherwith the minister wereDeputy Director GeneralU Myo Oo of Directorateof Trade. They discussedsale of beans and pulsesand timber, monetaryaffairs and requiredamounts of beans andpulses and rice.

Similarly, Minis-ter for Forestry Brig-GenThein Aung, member ofthe goodwill delegation,during the visit, receivedDeputy Minister forForestry of the Republicof Indonesia Dr Boen MPurnama, DirectorGeneral Dr Ir TachrirFathori, Adviser to theminister Dr Hadi SPasaribu and DeputyDirector Mr MochammadAsari at Borobudur Hotelon 16 March.

During themeeting, they discussedmatters related to theforestry sector ofMyanmar, export of teakand timber, technicalknow-how exchange forgrowing of teak, exchangeof visits of governmentaland private experts in

UMFCCI President U Win Myint and President of Singapore Indian

Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr Vijay Iyergar exchange gifts.

MNA

Prime Minister General Thein Sein presents gifts to the ambassador and wife and stafffamilies of Myanmar embassy in Singapore.

MNA

forestry, exchange oftechnique in producingfinished wood products,implementation of theMoU signed betweenIndonesia and Myanmarin 1994 and cooperationin academic matters ofuniversities and schools offorestry.

L i k e w i s e ,member of the delegationPresident of the Union ofMyanmar Federation ofChambers of Commerceand Industry U Win Myintand 11 Myanmarentrepreneurs and DeputyDirector-General U MyoOo met Singaporean entre-preneurs led by ChiefExecutive Mr PhillipOvermyer of SingaporeInternational Chambers ofCommerce at the office ofSICC on 17 March.They discussed mattersrelated to investmentoppor-tunities and items ofcommodities to be traded.

U M F C C IPresident U Win Myint andparty also met President ofSingapore Indian Chamberof Commerce and Industry(SCCI) Mr Vijay Iyergarand Vice President ofSingapore ChineseChambers of CommerceMr Tam Back Huat andbusiness entrepreneurs attheir respective offices.They discussed tradematters.

MNA

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8 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009

Prime Minister General Thein Sein inspects products of Myanma Textile Industrieson display.—MNA

Managing Director U Oo Thein Maung, Yamethin District PDCChairman U Oo Khaing and Ms Wang Zhi Ming open Textile Factory

(Pyawbwe).— MNA

(from page 1)After hearing the

reports, the PrimeMinister said that asindividual requirementsof the people are food,clothing and shelter,Myanmar has achievednot only food sufficiencybut also surplus food.Myanmar has favourableclimate and naturalresources such as woodand bamboo, he added.One should not worryabout the shelter needbecause constructionmaterials such as bricks,sand, granite and cementare available in the

Myanmar enjoys not onlyfood sufficiency…

country, he said. He notedthat cotton yield was lowin the past and the rawmaterials had to beimported. But qualityspecies like Ngwe-chi-6cotton is being grown nowadequately. As a resulttextile factories have beenbuilt fulfilling theclothing need,earningmore income and cuttingcosts thereby increasingincome in the operatingratio. He called forpractising thriftymeasures, supervision forquality control, taking firepreventive measures andraising for security

awareness.Advisor Mr Ding

of Tianjin UniversalMachinery Import &Export Corporation(TUMIEC) presentedgifts to the PrimeMinister.

Next, the PrimeMinister gave the fruitbasket to the techniciansof the PRC.

The PrimeMinister and party,together with Chinesetechnicians posed for adocumentary photo.

Also present onthe occasion were Maj-Gen Ohn Myint and Maj-Gen Min Aung Hlaing of

the Ministry of Defence,Chairman of MandalayDivision Peace andDevelopment CouncilCommander of CentralCommand Maj-Gen TinNgwe, ministers, deputyministers, the director-general of theGovernment Office anddepartmental heads, localauthorities, departmentalofficials, socialorganizations, staff of thefactory and local people.

Textile Factory(Pyawbwe) was built at acost of K 7,223.080million and US$ 9.8million, totallingK 7,288.740 million.

The factory willproduce 3.455 millionpound of 1/32 type thread,0.577 million pound of 1/21 type thread withoutspinning stick and 1.440million pound of 1/32combing type threadyearly. The machines areinstalled with autolevelers for better yearneveness.

The factory isoperating the running-testof 1/60 cotton thread bypurchasing qualityNgwechi-6 long cotton. Inthe future, the factory willproduce 1/80 and 1/100cotton threads.

MNA

As individual require-ments of the people are food,clothing and shelter,Myanmar has achieved notonly food sufficiency but alsosurplus food. Myanmar hasfavourable climate andnatural resources such aswood and bamboo. Oneshould not worry about theshelter need becauseconstruction materials suchas bricks, sand, granite andcement are available in thecountry.

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009 9

Lt-Gen Myint Swe holds meeting with departmentalheads of Yangon Division

YANGON, 20 March—Thevisiting Chinese delegation led by Chiefof General Staff General Chen Bingde ofthe People’s Liberation Army of thePeople’s Republic of China this morningleft Yangon by air.

The delegation members were seenoff at Yangon International Airport by

Chinese delegation concludes visitChairman of Yangon Division Peace andDevelopment Council Commander ofYangon Command Brig-Gen Win Myint,senior military officers, Chinese Ambassadorto Myanmar Mr Ye Dabo, Chinese MilitaryAttaché Senior Colonel Gao Tiejun,Myanmar Military Attache to China ColTint Wai and officials.—MNA

Managing Director of MADB inspectsbank branches in Magway Div

YANGON, 20 March—ManagingDirector U Tin Lwan of MyanmaAgricultural Development Bank,accompanied by Magway Division in-charge Deputy General Manager U KhinMaung Lwin and Magway DivisionManager Daw Khin Aye Myint,

inspected Pauk and Gangaw bankbranches on 16 March, Htilin andPakokku bank branches on 17 Marchand Myaing bank branch on 18 March.In meeting with staff, the managingdirector gave instructions on bankingservices.—MNA

YANGON, 20March—Lt-Gen MyintSwe of the Ministry ofDefence met withdepartmental heads andstaff of Yangon Divisionat the hall of YangonDivision Peace andDevelopment Council,here, yesterday afternoon.

Also present at themeeting were Chairman ofYangon Division PDCCommander of YangonCommand Brig-Gen WinMyint, the Vice-Chairman

of Yangon CityDevelopment Committeethe Vice-Mayor, thecommander of YangonDivision Police Force andofficials.

At 4 p.m., Lt-GenMyint Swe, accompaniedby the commander, thevice-mayor and officials,heard the reports on tasksof the Cleaning Port Areaand DisciplineEnforcement WorkCommittee reported by themanaging director of

Myanma Port Authority.The commander and thevice-mayor gavesupplementary reports.Next, Lt-Gen Myint Swegave necessaryinstructions.

Afterwards, Lt-Gen Myint Swe inspectedBotahtaung Jetty,Lanmadaw Jetty (1) and(2), Phonegyi Road Jetty,Hledan Jetty, Lanthit Jettyand Wardan Jetty and leftnecessary instructions.

MNA

1. To work hard together with the people toaccomplish the State’s seven-step RoadMap in building a peaceful, modern anddeveloped nation

2. To uphold Our Three Main NationalCauses as the national policy at risk tolife

3. To crush, in cooperation with the people,internal and external subversive elementsthat are disrupting stability, peace anddevelopment of the nation

4. To build a strong and patriotic modernTatmadaw capable of safeguarding thesovereignty and territorial integrity ofthe nation

Objectives of the64th Anniversary

Armed Forces Day

Lt-Gen Myint Swe of Ministry of Defence inspects Lanthit Jetty inYangon. —MNA

Commander Brig-Gen Win Myint sees off Chief of General Staff GeneralChen Bingde of the People’s Liberation Army of the PRC.— MNA

Prime Minister General Thein Sein presents fruit basket to Chinese technicians.(News on page-1)—MNA

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10 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009

NAY PYI TAW, 20 March—A ceremony tomark the successful completion of the free medicaltreatment to eye patients in Monywa District was heldin Pale, Monywa District, on 18 March.

It was attended by Chairman of SagaingDivision Peace and Development Council Commanderof North-West Command Maj-Gen Myint Soe,Minister for Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan,departmental officials, eye specialists, members ofsocial organizations and local people totaling over1500 from 61 villages in three village-tracts.

First, Commander Maj-Gen Myint Soe, MinisterBrig-Gen Kyaw Hsan and officials concerned presentedeyeglasses to patients who received eye surgery.

Afterwards, the commander and the ministerdelivered addresses. Next, Commander Maj-GenMyint Soe donated K 1 million; Minister Brig-GenKyaw Hsan and wife K 1 million and Shwe TaungCompany K 2 million to the funds of the People'sHospital in Pale. Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan andwife Daw Kyi Kyi Win donated K 500,000 to thefunds for renovation of Hsinmyatshin Pagoda in Paleand K 200,000 to Buddha Vihara Sasana Beikman, K500,000 to construction of a library in KyaukpyakanVillage in Mintaingpin Village-tract, Daw Nwe NewSoe of Gano Excel Myanmar Co donated K 10 millionto the funds of the station hospital in Watkya Villageand K 1 million to the People's Hospital in Pale.

On behalf of local people in Watkya Villageand eye patients, two townselders spoke words ofthanks.

After the ceremony, the commander and theminister cordially greeted the local people.

Eye patients regain eyesight due to cooperative efforts

People are to continue to cooperate with the governmentin building a peaceful, modern and developed nation

Speaking on the occasion, the commander saidthanks to the cooperative efforts of officials concerned,government employees, social organizations and the

people, measures for bringing eyesight to eye patientsin Monywa District met with success. The commanderstressed the need for active cooperation of the entirepeople with the government in implementing the tasksfor the regional development and the seven-step RoadMap.

In his speech at the meeting, Brig-Gen KyawHsan said it was the auspicious day for the local peopleas local eye patients regained eyesight. He thanked theeye specialists and staff of the Ministry of Health,townselders, members of social organizations andlocal authority for their cooperation in providing freemedical services to the eye patients. The governmenthas been making efforts for all-round development ofthe State, and the people have enjoyed the fruits ofdevelopment in the health sector. Besides, in accordancewith the guidance of the Head of State, authoritiesconcerned have been making arrangements forproviding health care to the people across the country.

While the government has been implementingthe seven-step Road Map step by step to build apeaceful, modern and developed nation, the entirenational people are to continue to cooperate with thegovernment.

At the same time, the entire people are to guardagainst the danger posed by the destructive elementsand organizations within and without.

The minister also urged the local people tomaintain the country's sustainable development whichhad been achieved due to the infrastructures builtacross the country.

Today's contribution to the funds of the People'sHospital in Pale amounted to K 5 million and K 10million to the station hospital in Watkya Village.

MNA

Commander Maj-Gen Myint Soe presents eyeglasses to patients who received eye surgeries.MNA

Commander Maj-Gen Myint Soe and Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan greet local people at theceremony to give free medical treatment to eye patients in Monywa District, Sagaing Division.

MNA

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009 11

(from page 16)The implemen-

tation of Nancho Projectis aimed at generatinghydropower fromNancho Creek that flowsinto Paunglaung River foradding its electricity tothe volume of annualpower generation ofPaunglaung HydropowerPlant and for fulfilling thepower consumption of the

Implementing Nancho Hydropower Project in Nay Pyi Taw PyinmanaArticle & Photos: Khin Maung Than (Sethmu)

Heavy machinery being used in construction of a tunnel at NanchoHydropower Project.

Engineers and skilled workers constructing water intake tunnel.

A water intake tunnel seen at rocky mountain.

nation.Nancho Creek

that originates at the bor-der of Kayin and Kayahstates flows intoPaunglaung River. Nearthe confluence, SaluCreek, HsaungtaungCreek and Sayit Creekalso flow into the river. Ilearned facts aboutNancho HydropowerProject explained by As-sistant Director U LinNaing Aye (Construc-

tion-1) and made a fieldtrip to the project site to-gether with Staff OfficerU Thet Tun.

A power stationwas built on HsaungtaungCreek installed with 60kilowatts generating ca-pacity to supply electric-ity to the project area andstaff quarters. The dam tobe constructed at theproject is the reinforced

concrete EVE (Overflow)type.

Salu Creek is flow-ing across the 7,330 feetlong and 15.5 feet diam-eters water intake tunnelthat links the intake struc-ture and the water controllake. Two water intake tun-nels will be connected witha 15.5 feet diameters and384 feet long aqueduct lay-ing along a bridge acrossSalu Creek. The bridge willbe supported by two con-

crete posts. The construc-tion of the bridge is not toblock the flow of water inSalu Creek and to con-serve the natural beauty.

At present, thetemporary dyke, the con-duits and the water controllake are under construc-tion. The target was set tocomplete the project bythe year 2010 and to yearlygenerate 152 million kilo-

watt hours.Nancho Hydro-

power Plant will be 140feet long, 89 feet wide and98 feet high. The powerplant will be equippedwith two 20-megawattvertical Francis brand tur-bines to generate 40 mega-watts.

The power plantwill supply electricity tothe power grid of the na-tion through a power sta-tion that measures 248 feet

by 141 feet.Staff Officer U

Thet Tun explained that atotal of 23 civil engineers,two mechanical engineersand two electrical engi-neers together with 35 civilworkers, 10 mechanical

workers and 120 otherskillful workers are striv-ing for timely completionof the project.

Upon completion,Nancho HydropowerProject will add itshydropower to the annual

electricity volume ofPaunglaung HydropowerPlant for fulfilling thepower consumption of theState and the people.

*****Translation: TTAKyemon: 16-3-2009

SCIENCE DAILY,20 March — As anyparent knows, childrenlove sweet-tasting foods.Now, new research fromthe University of

Liking sweets makes sense for kidsWashington and the MonellCenter indicates that thisheightened liking forsweetness has a biologicalbasis and is related tochildren's high growth rate.

"The relationshipbetween sweet preferenceand growth makes intuitivesense because when growthis rapid, caloric demandsincrease. Children areprogrammed to like sweettaste because it fills abiological need by pushingthem towards energysources," said Monellgeneticist Danielle Reed,

PhD, one of the studyauthors.

Across cultures,children prefer higherlevels of sweetness in theirfoods as compared toadults, a pattern thatdeclines duringadolescence. To explore thebiological underpinningsof this shift, Reed andUniversity of Washingtonresearcher Susan Coldwell,PhD, looked at sweetpreference and biologicalmeasures of growth andphysical maturation in 143children between the agesof 11 and 15.

Internet

BERLIN, 20 March — Newevidence by researchers at the Centrefor Addiction and Mental Health(CAMH) and researchers in Germanyshows that drinking alcohol is thegreatest risk factor for acetaldehyde-related cancer. Heavy drinkers maybe at increased risk due to exposurefrom multiple sources.

Acetaldehyde is ubiquitous indaily life in Ontario. Widely presentin the environment, it is inhaled fromthe air and tobacco smoke, ingestedfrom alcohol and foods, and producedin the human body during the

‘Hangover chemical’may be overlooked risk

factor for cancer

metabolism of alcoholic beverages.Research indicates that this organicchemical plays a significant role inthe development of certain types ofcancers (especially of the upperdigestive tract), and it is currentlyclassified as possibly carcinogenicby the International Agency forResearch on Cancer of the WorldHealth Organization.

Internet

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12 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009

CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV SIRI BHUM VOY NO (-)

Consignees of cargo carried on MV SIRI BHUMVOY NO (-) are hereby notified that the vessel will bearriving on 21.3.2009 and cargo will be discharged intothe premises of M.I.P where it will lie at the consignee’srisk and expenses and subject to the byelaws and condi-tions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 amto 11:20 am and 12 noon to 4 pm up 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 REGIONAL CONTAINERLINES

Phone No: 256908/378316/376797

Official survey:Beijingers spend70 minutes daily

on roadBEIJING, 20 March —

Daily commuting takesBeijingers 70 minutes onaverage, which is 16 min-utes more than 20 yearsago, according to an offi-cial survey released onThursday.

The Beijing StatisticsBureau surveyed 1,500local residents to deter-mine the commutingtime.

The survey showed thattravel time has extended,either because people livefurther from theirworkplace or becausetraffic is heavier.

Beijing’s rush hour traf-fic is among the heaviestin the world’s biggest cit-ies, as the number of peo-ple who commute by carhas increased.

Internet

Thailand to host firstAsian Martial Arts GamesBANGKOK, 20 March—Thailand will host the first

“Asian Martial Arts Games” during 25 April to 3 May,2009 in Bangkok.

The sporting event is set up by the Olympic Coun-cil of Asia (OCA), in which around 1,372 athletes from41 nations throughout Asia will participate in, accord-ing to a news report by the website of the government’sPublic Relation.

There will be nine different kinds of martial artsnamely Muai, Kickboxing, Kurash, Jujitsu, Judo,Karatedo, Wushu and Kungfu, Pencak Silat andTaekwondo for competing 112 gold medals.

The competition will be organized at three Bang-kok’s venues namely, Indoor Stadium Huamark of theSports Authority of Thailand, Nimibutr GymnasiumSupachalasai National Stadium, Bangkok YouthCenter (Thai-Japanese) Stadium, while another onewill be held at Sports School in Suphan Buri Prov-ince.

The opening and closing ceremony will take placeat Indoor Stadium Huamak on 25 April and 3 May,respectively. The motto of the 1st Asian Martial ArtsGames 2009 is “The Game of Spirits-The Land ofSmiles” and the mascot is Hanuman who is the legen-dary King Ape from Ramayana epic. —Internet

Yao tops forbes list again, but Ziyi catches up

BEIJING, 20 March— Social expecta-tions that men must get married is forc-ing homosexual males into heterosexualmarriages and exposing married womento HIV infection, a Chinese expertwarned on Thursday.

Zhang Beichuan, professor from theQingdao University, said the fact thatgay men are often forced into hetero-sexual marriages boosts the risk of HIVinfection among other social groups inthe country.

“The stigma and discriminationagainst homosexuals in Chinese societyhave prevented gay men from reveal-ing their sexual orientation or takingHIV/AIDS tests and treatments, hold-ing back the efforts to curb the disease,”Zhang told Xinhua Thursday by phone.

Zhang and his team conducted a sur-vey in nine major cities includingShanghai, Nanjing, Harbin, Chengdu,Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Xian, Wuhan

BEIJING, 20 March—Forbes Chinaunveiled its 2009 list of the Chinese ce-lebrity rankings on Tuesday night, withNBA star Yao Ming on top for the sixthstraight year.

Yao holds a safe lead with the mostfrequent media exposure and a pre-taxincome of 357 million yuan (about 51million US dollars), the highest amongthe 100 celebrities. Actress Zhang Ziyileads the female front-runners and takesthe second spot on the list. Coming upnext are NBA player Yi Jianlian andOlympic champion diver Guo Jingjing.

The injury-plagued athlete Liu Xiang,who was placed second in 2007 and2008, fell to the fifth place. Since itsinception in 2004, the Forbes’ Top 100Chinese celebrity List has ranked actors,filmmakers, musicians, writers and ath-letes born on the Chinese mainland ac-cording to their press coverage, web hitsand commercial value in the previousyear. The list is updated in March everyyear.

GENEVA, 20 March—A sustained process of financial deregulation led to anexpanding cycle of optimism and risk-taking that is at the root of the current glo-bal crisis, a new UN report said on Thursday.

History indicates that financial systems are intrinsically unstable and prone toboom and bust cycles, and need to be regulated, said the report, titled “The GlobalEconomic Crisis: Systemic Failures and Multilateral Remedies” and released bythe UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

According to the report, strongly needed reforms to national and internationalfinancial systems should be carefully designed so that they are not limited to spe-cific investment instruments. Instead, regulations should focus on controlling the“mechanism” that leads to crises, the report pointed out. According to the report,resolving the current crisis and avoiding its recurrence has implications beyondthe realm of banking and financial regulation, going to the heart of the question ofhow to revive and extend multilateralism in a globalizing world.—Internet

From left to right, Yao Ming, ZhangZiyi, Yi Jianlian, Guo Jingjing and

Liu Xiang.—INTERNET

Top Ten Chinese Celebrities on thisyear’s Forbes list are as below:

1 Yao Ming, athlete 2 Zhang Ziyi, actress 3 Yi Jianlian, athlete 4 Guo Jingjing, athlete 5 Liu Xiang, athlete 6 Jet Li , actor 7 Zhao Wei, actress 8 Fan Bingbing, actress 9 Zhou Xun, actress 10 Li Bingbing, actress

Internet

Expert warns Chinese society’s demand for marriagemay be helping the spread of AIDS

Financial

deregulation

root of

current

crisis

and Chongqing in 2006. It shows thatabout 94.8 percent of the 2,250 homo-sexual males polled have had sex withother men in the past six months, and 20.7percent have already married women.The survey targeted what it perceived asthe most sexually active group among ho-mosexuals.

With the help of local gay communi-ties, the survey organizers went to urbanbars and public bath houses which gaymen often visit. Before filling out theanonymous questionnaires, the respond-ents were asked to confirm that they hadhad sexual experience with other males.The median age of the respondents is 26.

“In western countries, only a fractionof homosexuals would get into hetero-sexual marriages. But in China, about 70to 80 percent of gay men had the inten-tion of marrying a woman sooner orlater,” Zhang added.

Internet

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009 13

NEWS ALBUMTop medic looks to take on “binge drinking”

Britain’s chief doctor isexpected to advise the gov-ernment on Monday tosharply raise the price of al-cohol to try to combat soar-ing levels of so-called“binge drinking,” especiallyamong young people.

In a report, chief medicalofficer Liam Donaldson isexpected to recommend thatthe government set a mini-mum price of 50 pence perunit of alcohol sold, whichwould nearly double theprice of some discount beerand wine.

The advice, whichwould be non-binding on

the government, follows con-sistent evidence that Britainhas a worsening problemwith teenage drinking andwith “binge drinking” in gen-eral — when vast quantitiesare consumed in a short spaceof time.

A customer poses for thecamera with a pint of beerin a public house in Leeds,

northern England.

A cow lookalike billy goatnamed ‘Ushika’ is on

display at Yume Bokujyo,or Dream stock farm, in

Narita, east of Tokyo,Japan. The name of thethree-month old goat is

translated from the Japa-nese “Are you a cow? ”

Traffic jams could increase risk of heart attack

Cambodia to ask UN to list 1,400-year-oldtemple as world heritage site

Cambodia will ask UN to list the Sambo Prey Kuktemple, which was built from 615 AD to 650 AD, located inthe Kompong Thom province, as a world heritage site,Khmer-language daily newspaper the Rasmei Kampucheareported on Monday.

“We are preparing the proposal for UN to register thetemple, which was built during the rule of Khmer KingIsanverman I, with the Committee of World Heritage,” thenewspaper quoted Som Sokhun, secretary of state at theMinistry of Culture and Fine Arts, as saying.

The government has to organize a master plan for devel-opment and conservation of the temple, he said.

People’s risks of having aheart attack would be threetimes higher when they arecaught by traffic jam for onehour, according to a Germanstudy published on the Ameri-can Heart Associa-tion’swebsite..

Females, elderly males,patients who were unem-ployed, and those with a his-tory of angina were the mostaffected by traffic jams, saidthe study led by Annette Pe-

ters, from the Institute of Epi-demiology, Helmholtz ZentrumMuchen, Germany.

“One potential factor couldbe the exhaust air coming fromother cars,” Peters said. “But wecan’t exclude the synergy be-tween stress and air pollutionthat could tip the balance.”

The research was presentedat the American Heart Associ-ation’s 49th Annual Conferenceon Cardiovascular Disease inFlorida.

Woman snatchesback her purseAn elderly woman in Aus-

tralia took her handbag back froma thief who had driven into a pil-lar after snatching it from her.

Police said the womangrabbed her bag from the passen-ger seat as the thief tried to re-start his car after ramming it intoa pillar, The Sydney Daily Tel-egraph reported on Sunday.

An elderly man who was withthe woman suffered minor inju-ries from trying to hold open thecar door. The incident occurredin the town of Narrabundah.Police were searching for the sus-pect.

MOSCOW, 20 March— Russia and the United Stateshave a good chance to end their divisive dispute overmissile defences in Europe, a Foreign Ministry offi-cial said on Thursday.

President Barack Obama’s apparent willingness toreconsider plans to base elements of a missile defencesystem in Poland and the Czech Republic provides a“window of opportunity,” spokesman AndreiNesterenko said.

“Results of our first contacts with representativesof Obama’s administration look encouraging,”Nesterenko told reporters. “There is a shared under-standing that we have a new chance in our relationsthat mustn’t be missed.”—Internet

HAVANA, 20 March —The Cuban government onThursday agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties withCosta Rica, after Costa Rican President Oscar Ariasannounced the decision on Wednesday.

Cuba’s decision is “in accord with its call for in-tegrity and unity with the brotherly people of LatinAmerica and the Caribbean,” the Foreign Ministry saidin a statement.

The restoration of the ties should be based on “therespect for international law and the principles of theUnited Nations Charter, such as sovereignty, equal-ity, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the respect forterritorial integrity and self-determination, and thenon-interference into the internal affairs of otherstates,” the statement said.

San Jose and Havana suspended ties on 9 Sept,1961 after Costa Rica took a unilateral decision.

Internet

NUKU’ALOFA, 20 March— A strong 7.9-magnitudeearthquake struck Friday near Tonga, generating a tsu-nami with the potential of striking coastlines in theSouth Pacific, officials said. There were no immedi-ate reports of damage.

The quake struck about 130 miles (200 kilometres)south-southeast of the Tongan capital of Nuku’Alofaat a depth of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), the US Geo-logical Survey said.

Police in the Tongan capital, Nuku’alofa, said therewere no immediate reports of injury or damage.

The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centerissued a tsunami warning for Tonga and neighbouringislands, and reported that sea level readings confirmedthat a potentially destructive tsunami wave was gen-erated by the quake.—Internet

MANILA, 20 March— An earthquake measuring 4.9on the Richter scale jolted the northern PhilippinesFriday morning, the United States Geological Serv-ice reported.

The quake was recorded at 07:19 am local time(23:19 GMT Thursday), and the epicenter was 145km east northeast of Laoag, Luzon, or 445 km north-northeast of Manila at a depth of 116.7 km, accordingto the report.

No casualty or damage has been reported.The Philippines is regularly hit by earthquakes, and

most of them are low in magnitude and cause littledamage.

The Southeast Asian country is part of the so-calledPacific Ring of Fire, a string of islands on the PacificOcean rim that were formed by the eruptions of un-dersea volcanoes.—Internet

LONDON, 20 March—BAA, one of the world’s lead-ing airport company groups, has been ordered by theBritish regulator to break up and sell off three of theseven airports it currently owns in the United King-dom.

The Competition Commission confirmed the break-up of the airport operator BAA and ordered the sale ofGatwick and Stansted.

In a final report, published on Thursday, of a two-year investigation, the commission told BAA that itmust also sell either Edinburgh or Glasgow airport,which means the group must sell three of the sevenairports it manages.

The regulator ordered the airports to be sold withintwo years and in sequence, starting with Gatwick, fol-lowed by Stansted, and finally either Edinburgh orGlasgow to ensure what the regulator said was “anorderly sale process.”—Internet

Russia voices hope for endingmissile defence rift

Cuba agrees to restore diplomaticties with Costa Rica

People look at an eruption of an underwatervolcano in Hunga Ha’apai, Tonga on 18 March,2009. The eruption is only 34 nautical miles offthe coast of Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa. Picture

taken on 18 March, 2009. —INTERNET

Strong quake near Tongaprompts tsunami warning

Light quake jolts N Philippines

BAA ordered to sell three airports

The doctor looks at the conjoinedtwins waiting for a thorough exami-nation in the intensive care unit at theChildren’s Hospital of Hunan Prov-ince in Changsha, capital of central-south China’s Hunan Province. Thetwins born on March 16 in XinhuaCounty of the province weigh 4.8 kilo-grams and are connected by abdomen.Doctors of the Children’s Hospital ofHunan Province would give them athorough examination and find a way to do the separation surgery.

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14 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009

S P O R T S

PARIS ,20 March — Shay Given rescued Manches-ter City’s faltering European dreams on Thursday whenhe pulled off two stunning penalty shootout saves toput his team into the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.Big-spending City surrendered a 2-0 first leg, last 16 leadagainst Danish outsiders Aalborg in the last six min-utes of normal time in the return tie.

Given then held his nerve to save from ThomasAugustinussen and former Sheffield United strikerLuton Shelton while Ched Evans, Elano, ShaunWright-Phillips and Richard Dunne were all success-ful with their spotkicks for Mark Hughes’s side.Citycould have wrapped the tie up with eight minutes ofnormal time remaining in Denmark when Robinho hada fierce drive come back off the crossbar.

Two minutes later, Shelton gave the Danes hopewhen he stabbed home a right-wing cross. Then, inthe last minute, Evans was penalised for handball andMichael Jakobsen coolly stroked home the penalty.”It’sa great relief,” said Irish international Given. “The tieshould have been dead and buried after the first leg,but we did it the hard way.—Internet

PARIS ,20 March – France coach RaymondDomenech on Thursday left out-of-form captainPatrick Vieria out of his squad for the crucial WorldCup double header against Lithuania.

Domenech awarded a first call-up to the Frenchleague’s top scorer, Andre-Pierre Gignac, who looksto be promised some action in either Les Bleus matchin Kaunas on March 28 or the Stade de France en-counter on April 1.

While Gignac’s inclusion has won the Toulouse for-ward wide plaudits, the pre-selection questions onwhether Vieria would be called up are nowanswered.Vieira only recently returned to action forInter after a spell on the sidelines with an Achilles ten-don problem.

But it appears the Frenchman’s bitter Euro 2008experience, which was said to prey heavily on the squadprior to their early exit from the tournament, has leftits mark on Domenech.Asked whether Vieira’s forcedexit from last summer’s tournament was a factor,Domenech said it had certainly proved helpful as anexperience.

“We must learn from all experiences. And you haveto go on and improve on them each time,” said theFrench coach.”I’ve had a talk with Pat (Vieira). Heknows he’s not in top form, he hasn’t played much.”Theday he comes back, he will regain the captain’s arm-band from Thierry Henry.”—Internet

LONDON,20 March — Hull boss Phil Brown escapeda touchline ban but was fined 2,500 pounds after ad-mitting improper conduct in relation to a touchline rowwith Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear during the clubs’FA Cup clash in January.

Kinnear was also charged with improper conductbut his hearing with the FA’s disciplinary committeehas been postponed as he is currently recovering fromheart surgery.—Internet

PALM HARBOR, 20 March – After a late start to theyear, Jim Furyk might be getting up to speed.

Furyk made two long birdie putts and was equallythrilled with a 10-foot par save on his final hole Thurs-day, which gave him a 6-under 65 in the TransitionsChampionship. It was the first time he has held theoutright lead since his last PGA Tour victory 20months ago.”Something I can try to build on,” Furyksaid.

Stephen Ames was one shot behind after a 66 on aCopperhead Course that was demanding as ever, butone he enjoys far more than the Blue Monster lastweek at Doral that favors the big hitters.The group at67 included Kenny Perry, who sandwiched birdies onthe tough 16th and 18th holes around his only bogeyon the round. The 48-year-old Perry is playing hiseighth event of the year and is worn out. Innisbrook isnot exactly a working vacation.—Internet

INDIAN WELLS, 20 March— Russian teenagerAnastasia Pavlyuchenkovabooked her first WTA Toursemi-final berth Thursday,ousting seventh-seededAgnieszka Radwanska atthe Indian Wells hardcourttournament.

The 17-year-old fromSamara, now based inFrance, beat Poland’sRadwanska 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 to set up a meeting withdefending champion AnaIvanovic of Serbia.

Internet

BERLIN ,20 March —Former Germany goal-keeper and captain OliverKahn looks set to benamed as the new teammanager of Schalke 04after a lengthy meetingwith club officials onThursday.

“Kahn is a good typewith a huge capacity forwork,” said Schalke chair-man Clemens Toenniesafter their three-hourmeeting.”We knocked thedetails off quickly, a con-cept has been discussedand we have a totalaggreement.”We willspeak again in two tothree weeks again by tel-ephone,” added Toennies,who will now consultSchalke’s executive com-mittee.—Internet

MUNICH, 20 March —Both Bayern Munich bossUli Hoeness and defenderPhilipp Lahm admit theywould prefer to avoidEnglish clubs Liverpooland Manchester Unitedwhen the quarter-finaldraw of the ChampionsLeague is made on Friday.

“I would prefer it if wedidn’t get Liverpool, be-cause at the moment theyare very, very strong,”said Bayern team man-ager Hoeness with all fourEnglish clubs through tothe last eight.”I wouldalso like it if we play ourfirst match away and thencome back to Munich forthe second leg.”

Internet

Gignac earns first France call-up

Manchester City’s Robinho (R) challenges AalborgBK’s Kasper Risgaard (L) during their UEFA Cupround of 16 second leg soccer match in Aalborg,

Denmark. —INTERNET

Shootout king Given savesCity’s European dream

Hull City manager Brownescapes ban

Hull boss

Phil Brown,

escaped a

touchline ban

but was fined

2,500

pounds.

INTERNET

Furyk takes his first lead innearly 20 months

Federer books semi-finalclash with Murray

Switzerland’s RogerFederer celebrates matchpoint against opponentFernando Gonzalez atthe Indian Wells TennisGarden in California on 18 March. INTERNET

INDIAN WELLS, 20March — World numbertwo Roger Federer battledpast Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) on Thursdayto book a semi-final meet-ing with Andy Murray atthe Indian Wells hardcourttennis tournament.

World number fourMurray spoiled IvanLjubicic’s 30th birthdaycelebrations with a 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) victory over theCroatian.Federer, playinghis first tournament sincelosing a five-set final toRafael Nadal at the Aus-tralian Open, looked to becruising when he took a 4-1 lead in the second set.

Internet

Pavlyuchenkova bookssemi-final date with Ivanovic

AnastasiaPavlyuchenkova ofRussia hits a returnagainst Agnieszka

Radwanska of Polandduring the quarterfinalsat the Indian Wells WTA

tennis tournament inIndian Wells, Califor-

nia.—INTERNET

King Kahn set for Schalkemanager role

Former Germany

goalkeeper and captain

Oliver Kahn, looks set

to be named as the new

team manager of

Schalke 04 after meet-

ing with club offi-

cials.—INTERNET

We want to miss Liverpool andMan Utd, admit Lahm

Both Bayern Munichboss Uli Hoeness and

defender Philipp Lahm,admit they would preferto avoid English clubs

Liverpool and Manches-ter United when the

quarter-final draw ofthe Champions League

is made on Friday.INTERNET

21-3-09 NL 2/14/32, 4:49 PM14

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Saturday, 21 March, 2009 15

WEATHER

Summary of observations recorded at 09:30 hrMST: During the past 24 hours, rain or thundershowershave been isolated in Kachin , Chin, Mon and KayinStates, Mandalay, Magway and Taninthayi Divisions,weather has been partly cloudy in the remaining Statesand Divisions. Day temperatures were (3˚C) to (4˚C) aboveMarch average temperatures in Kachin State, Bago andTaninthayi Divisions and about March average tempera-tures in the remaining States and Divisions. The signifi-cant day temperature was Thayawady (40°C). The Note-worthy amounts of rainfalls recorded were Nyaung Oo(0.91) inch and Myeik (0.47) inch.

Maximum temperature on 19-3-2009 was 97°F.Minimum temperature on 20-3-2009 was 72°F. Rela-tive humidity at (09:30) hours MST on 20-3-2009 was71%. Total sunshine hours on 19-3-2009 was (7.9) hrsapprox.

Rainfall on 20-3-2009 was (Nil) at Mingaladon,Kaba-Aye and Central Yangon. Total rainfall since 1-1-2009 was (Nil) at Mingaladon, Kaba-Aye and 0.04 inchat Central Yangon. Maximum wind speed at Yangon(Kaba-Aye) was (5) mph from Soutwest at (16:30) hoursMST on 19-3-2009.

Bay inference: Weather is partly cloudy in theAndaman Sea and Southeast Bay and generally fair else-where in the Bay of Bengal.

Forecast valid until evening of 21st March 2009:Rain or thundershowers are likely to be isolated in Kachin,Mon and Kayin States, Taninthayi Division and weatherwill be partly cloudy in the remaining States and Divi-sions. Degree of certainty is (60%).

State of the sea: Seas will be slight to moderate inMyanmar waters.

Outlook for subsequent two days: Likelihood ofcontinuation of isolated rain or thundershowers in theSouthern Myanmar areas.

Forecast for Nay Pyi Taw and neighbouring areafor 21-3-2009: Partly cloudy.

Forecast for Yangon and neighbouring areafor 21-3-2009: Partly cloudy.

Forecast for Mandalay and neighbouring areafor 21-3-2009: Partly cloudy.

Weather outlook for forth weekend of March2009: During the coming weekend, possibility of iso-lated light rain in Yangon Division weather will be partlycloudy in Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay Division.

Friday, 20 March, 2009

Saturday, 21 MarchView on today

7:00 am 1. mc\;k∑n\;Sraeta\Bura;Âk;fmc\;k∑n\;Sraeta\Bura;Âk;fmc\;k∑n\;Sraeta\Bura;Âk;fmc\;k∑n\;Sraeta\Bura;Âk;fmc\;k∑n\;Sraeta\Bura;Âk;f

prit\tra;eta\prit\tra;eta\prit\tra;eta\prit\tra;eta\prit\tra;eta\7:25 am 2. To be healthy exercise7:30 am 3. Morning news7:40 am 4. Nice and sweet song7:50 am 5. kb¥apn\;√y¥a√\kb¥apn\;√y¥a√\kb¥apn\;√y¥a√\kb¥apn\;√y¥a√\kb¥apn\;√y¥a√\8:05 am 6. Ak“poic\p∑´Ak“poic\p∑´Ak“poic\p∑´Ak“poic\p∑´Ak“poic\p∑´8:15 am 7. (64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>

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8:30 am 8. International news8:40 am 9. {Âka;vHp\q;NMw√pc\}{Âka;vHp\q;NMw√pc\}{Âka;vHp\q;NMw√pc\}{Âka;vHp\q;NMw√pc\}{Âka;vHp\q;NMw√pc\}

8:45 am10. {eK¥ac\;km\;eB;kr∑akel;}{eK¥ac\;km\;eB;kr∑akel;}{eK¥ac\;km\;eB;kr∑akel;}{eK¥ac\;km\;eB;kr∑akel;}{eK¥ac\;km\;eB;kr∑akel;}

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8:50 am11. Musical programme11:00 am 1. Martial Song11:10 am 2. (64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>(64)Ns\e�mak\tp\meta\en>

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11:25 am 3. Round up of the week’s

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5:15 pm 7. Songs to uphold

National Spirit5:30 pm 8. {Am¥oi;Nc\.m¥oi;}{Am¥oi;Nc\.m¥oi;}{Am¥oi;Nc\.m¥oi;}{Am¥oi;Nc\.m¥oi;}{Am¥oi;Nc\.m¥oi;}

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Local Transmission

* Signature Tune* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights* Let’s Utilize waste products as Fuel* Dainty Hill resort of Loi-Mwe* Hundred Fruits from a common Stem, our Union

“Shan State”* Progressive Images of Rakhine State* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights

Europe/ North America Transmission

* Signature Tune* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights* Road to Mingun* King of all fruits* Hundred Fruits from a common Stem, our Union

“Rakhine State”* Kanbawza Thardi Museum* A Brief Account of Bagan* Pleasant Taunggyi (Part-1)* Myanmar Modern Song* A Leisure Day in Ngapali* Hundred Fruits from a common Stem, our Union

“Shan State”* Progressive Images of Rakhine State* Cruise along Yangon River...Feel Enchanting

Scenes with Pleasure* Pleasant Taunggyi (Part-2)* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights

Website: www.mrtv3.net.mm

MRTV-3Programme Schedule(21.3.2009) (Saturday)

Transmissions

Local - (09:00am ~ 10:00am) MSTEurope - (15:30pm ~ 23:30pm) MSTNorth America - (23:30pm ~ 07:30am) MST

Times

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gu%\�poAsAs√\gu%\�poAsAs√\gu%\�poAsAs√\gu%\�poAsAs√\gu%\�poAsAs√\6:00 pm12. Evening news6:30 pm13. Weather report6:35 pm14. {qa;ekac\;miKc\}{qa;ekac\;miKc\}{qa;ekac\;miKc\}{qa;ekac\;miKc\}{qa;ekac\;miKc\}

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8:00 pm15. News16. International news17. Weather report18. Niuc\cM�Ka;zat\lm\;t∑´Niuc\cM�Ka;zat\lm\;t∑´Niuc\cM�Ka;zat\lm\;t∑´Niuc\cM�Ka;zat\lm\;t∑´Niuc\cM�Ka;zat\lm\;t∑´

{Âkmμamun\tiuc\;}{Âkmμamun\tiuc\;}{Âkmμamun\tiuc\;}{Âkmμamun\tiuc\;}{Âkmμamun\tiuc\;}(Apiuc\;-20)(Apiuc\;-20)(Apiuc\;-20)(Apiuc\;-20)(Apiuc\;-20)

R 489 Published by the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar. Edited and printed at The New Light of Myanmar Press,No 22/30 Strand Road at 43rd Street, Yangon. Cable Newlight, PO Box No. 43, Telephones: Editors 392308, Manager 392226, Circulation 392304, Advertisement 392223,Accounts 392224, Administration 392225, Production/Press 392369

This handout photographfrom the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation

(ISRO) shows the launch ofan Israeli Tecsar satelliteby an Indian-made rocketfrom the Sriharikota spacestation in January 2008.India has bought a spy

satellite from Israel withday-and-night viewing

capability to boostsurveillance capabilities in

the aftermath of theMumbai militant attacks, a

report said Friday.INTERNET

India ready to launch radar imagingsatellite built with Israeli inputsNEW DELHI, 20 March—India is likely to launch

early next month a radar imaging satellite (RISAT),built with “substantial inputs” from the Israel aerospaceindustry, from Sriharikota spaceport in southern India,the semi-official Press Trust of India news agencyreported Friday.

The report quoted an unnamed Indian SpaceResearch Organization (ISRO) official as saying Israelhas supplied Synthetic Aperture Radar, which is in fact“heart” of the 1,780-kilogram remote sensing satellite.

The Israeli “inputs” are seen as a “return gesture”to New Delhi for launching an Israeli spacecraft Techsaron board India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle fromSriharikota spaceport last year, said the report.

“RISAT is likely to be launched in the first half ofApril. We are looking at April 5 or 6,” the report quotedthe official as saying. Sriharikota is a barrier island offthe coast of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh inIndia which houses India’s only satellite launch center.

The Satish Dhawan Space Center is used by theISRO to launch satellites using multi-stage rocketssuch as the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle and theGeosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle.—Internet

21-3-09 NL 2/14/32, 4:49 PM15

11th Waning of Taboung 1370 ME Saturday, 21 March, 2009

NAY PYI TAW, 20 March—A very strong earth-quake of intensity 7.9 Richter Scale with its epicenteroutside Myanmar about 6,700 miles southeast of KabaAye Seismological Observatory in South Pacific Oceanwas recorded at 1 hour 00 minute 47 seconds MyanmarStandard Time today, according to the Department ofMeteorology and Hydrology.

MNA

Very strongearthquake report

YANGON, 20 March — As a gesture of hailingthe 64th Anniversary Armed Forces Day, one tarredroad was inaugurated in Hmawby today.

An executive officer of Hmawby TownshipDevelopment Affairs Committee and the chairman ofHmawby Township Peace and Development Councilformally opened Yadana Tarred Road which is 500 ftlong and 12 ft wide.

Shanbat-1 Road in Taikkyi was formallyopened by an executive officer of the township DACand the chairman of the township PDC. The road is 690ft long and 12 ft wide. In 2008-2009 fiscal year,Yangon Division Development Affairs Committeehas constructed 5 miles and 4 furlongs of road in urbanarea and 25 miles and 5 furlongs in rural area.

MNA

Tarred roads inaugurated inHmawby, Taikkyi

BEWARE OF FIRE

Implementing Nancho HydropowerProject in Nay Pyi Taw Pyinmana

Article & Photos: Khin Maung Than (Sethmu)

significant declines since 1995.“We were most surprised to discover that this

decrease is evident for both large-bodied speciestargeted by fisheries as well as small-bodied speciesthat are not fished,” said Michelle Paddack of SimonFraser University in Canada. “This suggests thatoverfishing is probably not the only cause.”

Rather, they suggest that the recent declinesmay be explained by drastic losses in coral cover andother changes in coral reef habitats that have occurredin the Caribbean over the past 30 years. Those changesare the result of many factors, including warmingocean temperatures, coral diseases, and a rise insedimentation and pollution from coastal develop-ment. Overfishing has also led to declines of manyfish species, and now seems to also be removing thosethat are important for keeping the reefs free ofalgae.—Internet

In building a new modern anddeveloped nation, the government isimplementing hydropower projects inall regions of the nation with the aim ofgenerating hydropower through a lot ofwater sources. In doing so, NanchoHydropower Project being implementedin east of Nay Pyi Taw Pyinmana is oneof the facilities.

Together2 with Staff Officer UThet Tun, I had an opportunity to visitthe area of Nancho Hydropower Projectalong the mountain road at eastern Shanmountain range, and arrived at theproject area next to the forests.

The project is located 16 mileseast of Nay Pyi Taw Pyinmana and sevenmiles upstream of the confluence ofPaunglaung River and Nancho Creek.

(See page 11)

Heavy machinery seen atworksite of Nancho

Hydropower Project, east ofNay Pyi Taw Pyinmana.

Major losses for Caribbeanreef fish in last 15 years

OTTAWA, 20 March — By combining datafrom 48 studies of coral reefs from around the Carib-bean, researchers have found that fish densities thathave been stable for decades have given way to

COPENHAGEN, 20 March — Where do super-novae come from? Astronomers have long believedthey were exploding stars, but by analysing a series ofimages, researchers from the Dark Cosmology Centreat the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagenand from Queens University, Belfast have proven thattwo dying red supergiant stars produced supernovae.The results are published in the journal Science.

A star is a large ball of hot gas and in itsincredibly hot interior hydrogen atoms combine toform helium, which subsequently forms carbon, otherheavier elements and finally iron. When all the atomsin the centre have turned to iron the fuel is depleted andthe star dies. When very large and massive stars, thatare at least about eight times as massive as our sun, die,they explode as supernovae.Enormous swollen stars

But some massive stars become red supergiant

Two dying red supergiant starsproduced supernovae

stars first, which is an intermediate phase where, afterthe fuel in the centre is used up, energy is still producedin shells surrounding the now dead core. In this phase,the star swells up to an enormous size, approximately1500 times larger than the sun, and emits as much lightas a hundred thousand suns. But there has been doubtover whether red supergiants explode as supernovae.

Internet

The Crabnebula isthe resultof a typeII super-

novaexplosionobservedby Chi-

neseastrono-mers in1054.

Coral reefs from around the Caribbean.

21-3-09 NL 2/14/32, 4:49 PM16