senior general than shwe bids farewell to dr apj abdul kalam

Volume XIII, Number 330 14th Waxing of Taboung 1367 ME Sunday, 12 March, 2006

Established 1914

Emergence of the State Constitution is the duty of all citizens of Myanmar Naing-Ngan.

* Development of agriculture as the base and all-rounddevelopment of other sectors of the economy as well

* Proper evolution of the market-oriented economicsystem

* Development of the economy inviting participation interms of technical know-how and investments fromsources inside the country and abroad

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

* Uplift of the morale and morality ofthe entire nation

* Uplift of national prestige and integ-rity and preservation and safeguard-ing of cultural heritage and nationalcharacter

* 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

Constitution* Building of a new modern developed

nation in accord with the new StateConstitution

Four economic objectives Four social objectivesFour political objectives

YANGON, 11 March— Chairman of the StatePeace and DevelopmentCouncil of the Union ofMyanmar Senior GeneralThan Shwe bade farewellto the goodwill delega-tion led by President ofthe Republic of India DrAPJ Abdul Kalam, whohad completed his Statevisit, at Yangon Interna-tional Airport this morn-ing.

Present at the air-port together with SeniorGeneral Than Shwe wereVice-Chairman of theState Peace and Develop-ment Council Vice-Sen-ior General Maung Aye,Member of the StatePeace and DevelopmentCouncil General ThuraShwe Mann of the Min-istry of Defence, Prime

Senior General Than Shwe bidsfarewell to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

Minister General SoeWin, Secretary-1 of theState Peace and Develop-ment Council Lt-GenThein Sein, the Chairmanof Yangon DivisionPeace and DevelopmentCouncil Commander ofYangon Command, theministers, the MyanmarAmbassador to India, theDirector-General of theProtocol Department ofthe Ministry of ForeignAffairs, departmentalheads, Indian Ambassa-dor to Myanmar MrBhaskar Kumar Mitraand embassy staff.

At 10.30 am, thegoodwill delegation ledby President of the Re-public of India Dr APJAbdul Kalam arrivedat the VIP Lounge of

(See page 16)

Senior General

Than Shwe shakes

hands with Indian

President Dr APJ

Abdul Kalam at

Yangon Interna-

tional Airport.

MNA

Senior General

Than Shwe sees off

Indian President

Dr APJ Abdul

Kalam at Yangon

International

Airport.

MNA

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 12 March, 2006

Sunday, 12 March, 2006

PERSPECTIVES

The Tatmadaw, which is leading the State,came into being during the independence strug-gle. Together with the people it restored theindependence. From the period of independencestruggles to date, the young men who joined theTatmadaw did not seek any privileges for per-sonal gain and joined only with the spirit ofserving the State and the people.

Since its birth, the Tatmadaw has extraor-dinary significance. Being a capable and well-disciplined Tatmadaw, it won the love of thenational people in successive eras.

Myanma Tatmadaw is equipped with thetwelve noble traditions—a patriotic Tatmadaw,a disciplined Tatmadaw, a loyal Tatmadaw, aunited Tatmadaw, a capable Tatmadaw, aTatmadaw which makes heroic sacrifices, aTatmadaw which does not seek personal gain, aTatmadaw of noble spirit and high morale, aTatmadaw which possesses true quality of over-coming obstacles, a Tatmadaw which can en-dure hardships, a tenacious and perseveringTatmadaw, and a Tatmadaw which always up-holds Our Three Main National Causes.

At present, the government hand in handwith the people is making all-out efforts for thecountry to keep abreast of the global nations. Inthe meantime, the seven-step Road Map hasbeen laid and is being implemented for the emer-gence of a peaceful, modern, developed anddiscipline-flourishing democratic nation.

The Tatmadaw in the best interest of theState and the people has turned nearly 61 years,while safeguarding independence and sover-eignty. Engaged in nation-building endeavours,the Tatmadaw is giving priority to national de-fence duty, the main duty.

The Tatmadaw members are not only safe-guarding the life and property of the people butalso participating in the national developmenttasks. Together with the people, they are takingpart in the construction of motor roads, railroadsand bridges and building dams and reservoirsacross the nation. This highlights an innate senseof the Tatmadaw members, which is based onnationalist spirit and Union Spirit.

We firmly believe that the Tatmadaw to-gether with the people will be able to shoulderthe responsibilities in building a modern anddeveloped nation, while safeguarding independ-ence and sovereignty.

Tatmadaw shoulderingnational defence andnation-building tasks

* 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 Desire

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YANGON, 11 March—The sixth meeting ofthe Fifth State CentralWorking Committee ofthe Sangha continuedfor the final day at MahaPasana Cave on KabaAye Hill here this morn-ing.

Members of theState OvadacariyaSayadaw BhaddantaYugandhara of NanUMonastery in Paungde,Sayadaw AbhidhajaMaha Rattha GuruAbhidhaja Agga MahaS a d d h a m m a j o t i k aBhaddanta Agghiya ofZayamaydani WasoMonastery in MahaAungmye Township,Sayadaw Agga MahaPandita BhaddantaNandavamsa of YwamaPariyatti Monastery inInsein Township,Sayadaw Agga MahaPandita Abhidhaja AggaMaha SaddhammaJotika BhaddantaSobhana of Mya TheinDan Monastery inPazundaung Township,and Sayadaw AggaMaha Pandita MahaD h a m m a k a t h i k aBahujana HitadharaBhaddanta Sagara-bhivamsa of MasoeyeinKyaung of AbhidhammaNayupadetha Monasteryin Maha AungmyeTownship were electedas OvadacariyaSayadaws.

Vice-Chairman ofSCWCS Sayadaw AggaMaha Pandita Agga

Sixth meeting of Fifth State CentralWorking Committee of Sangha ends

Maha SaddhammaJotikadhaja Agga MahaK a m m a t h a n a ç a r i y aBhaddanta Kesara ofAungmingalar Monas-tery in Thayet Townshipchaired the morning ses-sion of the meeting.Joint-Secretary ofSCWCS Sayadaw AggaMaha Pandita AggaMaha SaddhammaJotikadhaja BhaddantaTejaniya of ShwetaungPali Tekkatho Monas-tery in Yenangyoung,acted as master of cer-emonies.

SCWCS Joint-Sec-retary Sayadaw AggaMaha PanditaD w i p i t a k a d h a r aDwipitaka KovidaBhaddanta Jagarabhi-vamsa of KalewatawyaMonastery in MayangonTownship, assessed thecomments on tasks car-ried out last year. The

meeting chairmansought the approval.

Member of the StateSangha Maha NayakaCommittee SayadawAgga Maha PanditaAgga Maha SaddhammaJotikadhaja BhaddantaVissuta of NigyawdayonNyaungbintha Monas-tery in Pathein reportedon the methods for theupgrading of StatePariyatti Sasana univer-sities supplicated by theMinister for ReligiousAffairs.

SCWCS ChairmanSayadaw AbhidhajaMaha Rattha GuruAbhidhaja Agga MahaSaddhamma JotikaBhaddanta Kumara ofMaha WithutayamaMonastery in Magwaypresided over the after-noon session, and pre-sented State Vinaya cer-tificates to members of

the State SanghaVinicchaya.

Fifteen memberSayadaws of SCWCS,the Chairman Sayadaw,the Secretary Sayadaw,and a representativeeach from respectiveGanas, and states anddivisions signed theSasana record book re-garding the election ofnew members, resolu-tions, approvals andrecords.

Sayadaw BhaddantaKumara read outNigamana Ovadakatha,and the meeting endedlater in the afternoon.

U Hla Aye andKobasay traditionalmedicine house familyof No 177, WadanStreet, LanmadawTownship, Yangon Di-vision, offered almsfood to the Sayadawsthis morning. — MNA

Cash and kind for

triplets

YANGON, 11 March — A ceremony to presentcash and kind to parents of the triplets was held atNorth Okkalapa Hospital yesterday morning.

Central Executive Committee members ofMyanmar Maternal and Child Welfare Associationand the Executive Director presented K 50,000, medi-cines, cloths, blankets and bottles of toilet powder toKo Kyaw Htay Khaing and Ma Hla Hla Win, parentsof the triplets.

They viewed the babies and spoke words ofencouragement to the parents.

MNA

The third-day session of sixth meeting of the Fifth State Central WorkingCommittee of the Sangha in progress. — MNA

MMCWA personnel present cash and kind toparents of triplets at North Okkalapa General

Hospital. — MNA

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 12 March, 2006 3��

An Indian man

arranges earthen pots

on a roadside shop in

the central Indian city

of Bhopal, 7 March,

2006.

INTERNET

A visitor takes a photo of a Rolls-Royce car during the imported car exhibition,opened in Shanghai, east China, on 10 March, 2006.

INTERNET

Visitors crowd the Deutsche Telecom booth, wherea giant pink football has been installed during the2006 CeBIT information and telecommunicationtechnology fair in Hanover. This year’s soccer

World Cup in Germany is firing up the consumerelectronics market as new generation televisions

offer fans the next best thing to the live experience.INTERNET

This image provided by the JournalScience shows a Laonastes, the onlyliving representative of the otherwiseextinct Distomydae, a family of rodentsthat lived in south Asia and Japan. INTERNET

Rat-squirrel not extinct after allWASHINGTON, 10 March —It has the

face of a rat and the tail of a skinnysquirrel — and scientists say this creaturediscovered living in central Laos is prettyspecial: It's a species believed to havebeen extinct for 11 million years.

The long-whiskered rodent made

international headlines last spring whenbiologists declared they'd discovered abrand new species, nicknamed theLaotian rock rat.

It turns out the little guy isn't newafter all, but a rare kind of survivor: amember of a family until now knownonly from fossils. Nor is it a rat. Thisspecies, called Diatomyidae, looks morelike small squirrels or tree shrews, saidpaleontologist Mary Dawson ofPittsburgh's Carnegie Museum ofNatural History.

Dawson, with colleagues in Franceand China, report the creature’s newidentity in Friday’s edition of the journalScience.

The resemblance is “absolutelystriking,” Dawson said. As soon as herteam spotted reports about the rodent'sdiscovery, “we thought, ‘My goodness,this is not a new family. We’ve knownit from the fossil record.’”

They set out to prove that throughmeticulous comparisons between thebones of today's specimens and fossilsfound in China and elsewhere in Asia.

Internet

China slams US human rights reportas mistaken, hypocritical

BEIJING , 10 March — China on Thursday voiced its strong dissatisfaction with the United States afterthe State Department issued a report condemning China's human rights record. The "Country Reportson Human Rights Practices for 2005" is untruthful and crude, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman QinGang said at a regular Press conference.

US military troop death toll rises to 2,306WASHINGTON, 10 March—As of Friday, 10 March, 2006, at least 2,306

members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war inMarch 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes sevenmilitary civilians. At least 1,807 died as a result of hostile action, according tothe military’s numbers.

The AP count is two lower than the Defence Department's tally, last updatedFriday at 10 am EST.

The British military has reported 103 deaths; Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland,17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Slovakia, three; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia,Netherlands, Thailand, two each; and Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, one deatheach.—Internet

The report, issuedWednesday, criticized thepolitical system of HongKong and its restrictionson journalism. Qin saidthat China's Constitutionrespects and safeguardshuman rights. The ChineseGovernment adheres to apolicy it calls "puttingpeople above everythingelse," he said, and has mademany efforts towardbuilding a democratic coun-

try under the rule of law. Human rights in China

have kept improving, headded. "China's progress inthis regard have beenrecognized and welcomedby the whole world, and theChinese people are satisfiedwith the progress," said Qin.

The spokesman said theChinese Government hasnot deviated from its policyof "one country, twosystems" in Hong Kong and

the Basic Law of the HongKong Special Administra-tive Region (HKSAR), andsupports democratic deve-lopment in the HKSAR inaccordance with its uniquecircumstances.

Hong Kong citizenshave enjoyed their full legalrights and basic freedoms,Qin added.

"We disapprove of anyforeign governments ororganizations making

wanton comments on theissue," Qin said.

Qin urged the USGovernment to stopinterfering in the internalaffairs of other countries,yet said "The US side shouldfocus more on its ownhuman rights problems."

"Its various humanrights violations and doublestandards on the issue havedrawn increasingly strongcriticism from its ownpeople and the internationalsociety," the spokesmansaid.

MNA/Xinhua

Ecuadoreans protest against proposedtrade pact with US

QUITO, 10 March —Ecuadoreans on Wed-nesday staged strikesagainst a proposed tradedeal with the United Statesand demanded cancel-lation of an oil contract witha US company.

Demonstrators, in-cluding workers, students,peasants and memsbers ofindigenous groups, blockedmain roads through centralQuito Wednesday morning.They protested against thegovernment's trade talksnext Monday with USrepresentatives on apossible free tradeagreement, which has beenpassed by Colombia andPeru. They also asked thegovernment to scrap acontract with Occidental, a

US oil company.Ecuador's Civil

Defence forces dispersedthe crowds with tear gas

and surrounded marcherswho came within twoblocks of the presidentialpalace. — MNA/Xinhua

Floods in Malawi leave6,000 homeless

LILONGWE, 10 March —Floods in Malawi's south-ern lakeshore district ofMangochi have left over6,000 people homeless,forcing local authorities toclose schools and use themas shelter camps for thedisplaced. The floods, caused bypersistent heavy rains inthe past three days, havealso swept away staplemaize gardens anddestroyed roads that linkup one of the country'sprime tourist areas. "These are the worstfloods in 28 years to hitMangochi District. Houseshave collapsed, villages have

been submerged in water,while crops, livestock andseveral bridges have beenswept away," the dis-trict's Director of Planningand Development, HarryChipeni, told XinhuaWednesday.

MNA/Xinhua

Suicide bomber inFallujah kills at least 11FALLUJAH, 11 March — A suicide truck bomb

struck a checkpoint manned by US soldiers and Iraqisecurity forces in the former Sunni stronghold ofFallujah on Friday, killing at least 11, including fivepolice, police said.

There was no immediate word from the US militaryon the blast in eastern Fallujah, 30 miles west ofBaghdad. — MNA/Reuters

4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 12 March, 2006 ��

Peru museum has diseases on the brain L IMA , 10 March —Thousands of human brains float in jars of formaldehyde at a unique museum

that gives visitors to Lima an up-close view of brain diseases, from trichinosis to stroke.

More than 2,500brains are on display in amodest museum in Limasponsored by the NationalInstitute of NeurologicalSciences (INCN).

Visitors can see brains

of persons felled byAIDS, Alzheimers, clots,hemorrhages, heart attacksand a myriad of tumours.

The museum is theproud owner of a brain thatdied of Creutzfeld-Jacobdisease, the human variantof “mad cow,” which resultsin progressive dementia andloss of muscle control.

Also on exhibit: thebrains of people who diedof trichinosis, the mostcommon brain disease inPeru, caused by eatingundercooked meat, usuallypork. One brain, donatedby US physicians, is slicedin half and the righthemisphere dissected toshow the skin, bone, arteriesand veins.

The brains, collectedsince 1942, are crammedonto shelves covering thewalls from floor level to thefour-meter (13-foot) highceiling.

A nearby autopsy roomholds only a concrete table,

a hose, and a 30-centimetre(12-inch)-long knife forslicing open skulls.

Museum director DianaRivas, a slight neuro-pathologist, supervises 100autopsies each year. Thatallows her to consider eachbrain for inclusion in thecollection.

“For me, cutting brainsis like peeling potatoes,”Rivas said as she toyed withthe giant knife.

The museum also hasdeformed fetuses. One fetushas one eye, another a hole

instead of a nose, and athird a brain but no skull.

Animal brains in thecollection, of chickens,monkeys, cats and dogs,are distinguished by theircream color, distinct fromthe gray of the humanbrains. A healthy humanbrain weighs 1.2 kilos(2.6 pounds) and is likehard jelly at death, Rivassaid. “One month laterit dries up and becomesas tough as a (pencil)eraser,” she said.

Internet

US hostage Tom Foxkilled in Iraq

WASHINGTON, 10 March — An American who wasamong four Christian activists kidnapped last year inIraq has been killed, a State Department spokesmansaid Friday.

The FBI verified that a body found in Iraq Fridaymorning was that of Tom Fox, 54, of Clear Brook, Va,spokesman Noel Clay said. He said he had noinformation on the other three hostages.

Clay said additional forensics will be done in theUnited States. The US Embassy in Baghdad isinvestigating, he said.

Fox was the one American among four ChristianPeacemaker activists kidnapped last year in Iraq.

On Tuesday, Al-Jazeera television aired footage ofthe three other activists purportedly appealing to theirgovernments to secure their release.—Internet

Thousands of passengers wait at LaGuardia airport inNew York, on 10 March, 2006, after their flights weredelayed because the Delta Northwest Terminal waspartially evacuated when a man fled a securitycheckpoint without his shoes, the Transportation Security Administration said.—INTERNET

Polar bear cubs playon their first day outon public display atthe Ouwehands Zoo

in Rhenen, theNetherlands, on 10

March, 2006.INTERNET

Woman nabbed forshoplifting for 81st time

VILNIUS, 10 March — Lithuanian ViktorijaRaudonyte has never held a job, but police say thathasn’t stopped the single mother of three from makingends meet.

Raudonyte, 25, was detained for the 81st time thisweek, for shoplifting cosmetics at a shopping mall nearher home in Klaipeda, 186 miles from Vilnius, policesaid. “Stealing is like a regular job for her. There areprobably no shopping centers left where she hasn’tbeen busted,” police officer Jonas Vaitkevicius saidFriday

Raudonyte, who has had little education and isunemployed, has managed to evade harsh punishmentbecause, police said, she knows that under Lithuanianlaw, she can only receive a sentence of communityservice for stealing items worth less than 125 litas($43).—Internet

A cross-section of ahuman skull on displayat Lima's Museum ofthe Brain. Thousandsof human brains floatin jars of formaldehydeat the unique museumthat gives visitors toLima an up-close viewof brain diseases,from trichinosis tostroke.—I̊NTERNET Museum of the Brain . —INTERNET

4 Iraqi soldiers killed, injuredin car bomb in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, 11 March— A car bomb went off insouthwestern Baghdad nearan Iraqi Army patrol onFriday, killing a soldier andwounding three others, anInterior Ministry source said.

“A car bomb detonated

Iran vows to resist pressureon nuclear issue

TEHERAN, 10 March — Iranian Supreme Leader Seyed Ali Ali Khameneivowed here on Thursday that Iran is fixed to resist any pressure and conspiracyimposed on the country’s nuclear programme.

“During the past 27 years, we haveexperienced such situations for manytimes. Now, the Iranian nation isdetermined to resist any pressure orconspiracy,” Khamenei was quoted bystate television as saying.

“We will forge ahead with the worktoward mastery of nuclear technology,”Khamenei said.

Earlier in the day, Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran wouldnever give in to bullies on its nuclear

issue, for nuclear energy is an undeniableright of the country.

“The Iranian nation will never give into bullies, and all of them are announcingthat nuclear energy is an undeniableright,” Ahmadinejad was quoted by theofficial IRNA news agency as saying inthe western province of Lorestan.

Ahmadinejad said the time of bullyingover the Iranian nuclear issue had cometo an end, and Iran would never be forcedto do anything.—MNA/Xinhua

New HIV/AIDS cases on the rise in women, girls in US NEW YORK, 10 March

— Women and girls —get out your red ribbons.March 10th is NationalWomen and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

As of 2004, 27 per centof new AIDS cases in theUnited States were inwomen — and women ofcolour, especially AfricanAmerican women, madeup the majority of thesenew cases, according tothe US Centres forDisease and Prevention.

To raise awareness ofthis growing problem in

the US and globally,March 10th will markthe first National Womenand Girls HIV/AIDSAwareness Day, Dr. An-thony S Fauci announcedin a statement.

In the early days of theAIDS pandemic, fewerwomen were infected withHIV, Dr. Fauci, Directorof the National Institutesof Allergy and InfectiousDiseases continued.However, as of 2005,46 per cent of adultsliving with HIV/AIDSthroughout the world were

women. These 17.5million women represent1 million more cases thanreported in 2003.

And, according tothe World Health

Organization's UNAIDS,the “vase majority” ofwomen became infectedthrough heterosexualintercourse.

MNA/Reuters

around midday near anIraqi Army patrol in theRadhwaniyah area, killing asoldier and wounding threeothers,” the source toldXinhua on condition ofanonymity. Iraqi securityforces cordoned off the areasearching for attackers,added the source.

Earlier in the day, aroadside bomb hit a USconvoy setting a tank on firein eastern Baghdad,according to a source fromthe same ministry.

MNA/Xinhua

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 12 March, 2006 5

Giant trade gap:no end in sight

WASHINGTON, 10March—America’s tradedeficit has been settingrecords with suchfrequency that it seemsalmost tiresome to hear itagain: Another month,another $68.5 billion.

But the gap betweenwhat America importsand what it exports isgrowing so rapidly andrelentlessly that it isprovoking new concernabout how long the

world’s largest economycan play borrower andconsumer to the world.

The issue may takeon new urgency in acongressional electionyear, stoked by newsThursday that the tradedeficit hit a new high inJanuary.

The monthly recordis attributed to a surgein goods from fast-risingChina, a tide of importsaffecting the belea-

Mass. bottle message ends upin Africa

LYNN, 11 March— A message in a bottle launched in Massachusetts twoyears ago has travelled halfway around the world. In a letter postmarked fromMorocco, 26-year-old Assila Ahmed wrote that he’d found a bottle throwninto the water by Genevive Hernandez of Lynn.

Hernandez, now a 13-year-old seventh grader,was among group of fifth-graders who on 20 Nov,2003 put messages inbottles and cast them offfrom Lynn’s shores thatstormy day.

Hernandez said she’samazed that her greenSprite bottle made it as faras it did since most of themeither bounced right backto shore or ended up onlyas far as the Cape.

“I thought it wasn’tgoing anywhere,” saidHernandez. “Mine wasstuck on the seaweed.”

Students receivedreplies from 14 peoplebefore Hernandezreceived hers. Most werefrom the Cape Cod area.One made it as far asEngland. But Hernan-dez’s bottle had, by far,the longest journey,travelling 3,500 miles.

In the letter toHernandez, Ahmed said

he found the bottle about10:30 am on 18 Dec, 2005.Hernandez’ bright orangecard wrapped in plasticbore the address theBrickett School in Lynn,where she attended classestwo years ago.

The only request fromthe African man: a letterback from Hernandez.

Hernandez’s teacherfifth-grade teacher atBrickett, Sheila Thomas,said he will get one.

INTERNET

A worker selects bad leaves of new green tea in a workshop in Suzhou,east China’s Jiangsu Province, on 9 March, 2006. About 25,000 tea leavespicked before the Qingming Festival will be needed to produce 500-gramme

new green tea.—INTERNET

Employees of a Renault dealership and plainclothes police officers look atdamaged cars in Athens, on 11 March, 2006. Dozens of cars were believed

damaged in arson attacks against five French car dealerships across Athensearly on Saturday, police said. Four Renault and one Citroen dealerships were

targeted in the attacks in four parts of the city, in the pre-dawn attacks.INTERNET

A woman and daughter leave the scene as BrazilianArmy soldiers take position during an operation tosearch for weapons at the Providencia slum in Rio

de Janeiro, 10 March, 2006.—INTERNET

Chinese expert says Indo-Chinacooperation benefits Asia

Three sailors missing after shipsinks off Egypt

VALLETTA, 10 March— Three sailors weremissing on Thursday but12 were rescued after aMaltese-flagged cargoship sank off the Egyptiancoast, Maltese officialssaid.

The Malta MaritimeAuthority said it wasinvestigating the sink-ing of the Teklivka,which Lloyds CasualtyReporting identified as a4,168 deadweight tonnegeneral cargo ship.

Its cargo was notknown, Lloyds said inLondon. Earlier,Egyptian port officialssaid one sailor was lost,presumed drowned, butthat 15 crew were rescued

after the ship sank instrong winds and highwaves 75 miles from PortSaid in northern Egypt.

The ship wastravelling from Turkey toPort Said with a cargo ofcontainers, they said.

The Egyptianofficials said they had alsoreceived a distress signalfrom a Syrian ship theynamed as the Rafiq butwhen a Coast Guardvessel went out toinvestigate they found itwas a false alarm.

The Coast Guardfound the Rafiq 12 milesfrom the port of Damiettain the Nile Delta andbrought it safely into port.

MNA/Reuters

At least 26 killed in Ugandan church collapseKAMPALA,10 March —

At least 26 people werekilled in a church collapseaccident overnight in adownpour in the northernsuburb of Kampala, hospitalofficial said Thursday.

“Six people died afterthey were rushed in among89 injured last night,”

Ssekabira Eliphaz, the officialof Mulago Hospital toldXinhua, bringing the deathtoll to at least 26, including20 victims, on the site. “Theremaining 83 injured werestill under treatment, most ofthem in severe conditions,”the official of the biggest andbest equipped hospital of the

capital added. Plain clothepolice restrained access tothe clinic section whiledozens of families waited inthe hallway in anxiety.Another hospital official saidthe wounds seemed notserious, but they were deepcuts in most cases.

MNA/Reuters

NEW DELHI, 10 March— Sino-India cooperationwill lead Asia to a newcentury of peace, stabilityand prosperity, said LiuJingqin, vice-presidentof Chinese People’sAssociation for Peaceand Disarmament, hereThursday. The rapideconomic growth in Chinaand India will support thesustainable and steadyeconomic growth in Asia,Liu said at the Seminar onChina-India Relationsheld here Thursday, oneof the functions for“China-India FriendshipYear”.

“As the two largestdeveloping countries inAsia, the development ofChina and India is vitalfor the development ofAsia,” he said. Both Chinaand India have reportedremarkable economicgrowth in the past fewyears, which helped makeAsia the most activeeconomic zone in theworld, Liu said.

India has maintained

an annual economicgrowth of 5.5 per cent inthe past few years whileChina kept reporting 8 to9 per cent growth in thepast two decades.

The two countries

enjoy great potential ineconomic cooperation, hesaid, adding that workingtogether instead ofcompetition will benefitthe two.

MNA/Xinhua

guered US auto industry,and an exodus of dollarsgoing to pay for OPECoil.

The huge tradeimbalance was top of mindwith US lawmakersrecently, when theyquizzed incoming FederalReserve Chairman BenBernanke about theireconomic concerns.

Even if a soft landingwere to eventually occur,the trade deficit would be

likely to remain animportant issue.

The change, when itcomes, could bring aweaker dollar and higherinterest rates for USborrowers as foreignwillingness to lenddollars to the US ebbs.Moreover, the longerit takes for “globalimbalances” to begin acorrection, the tougherthe adjustment could be.

Internet


Coloured powder is applied to an Indian student during the celebration ofBasanta Utsab or Spring Festival in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata,

on10 March, 2006.—INTERNET

Minister warns companies not to missbusiness opportunities in China, India

BERLIN , 10 March — German Economics and Technology MinisterMichael Glos warned here Thursday German companies not to missopportunities in China and India.

“We must use thechances that are offered tous in both countries,” hesaid at a conferenceorganized by Germany’sChamber of Trade andIndustry (DIHK).

Glos said that thestrong flow of investmentand exports to other partsof the European Unionby Germany’s small-to-medium sized companieshad been appropriate and

very successful so far, but“looking towards themedium term this isprobably not enough”.

He added that Germancompanies need to investin both China and Indiain their infrastructuredevelopment and specificsectors such as engineeringand environmental tech-nology.

DIHK presidentLudwig Georg Braun

echoed him by saying thatcorporate Germany neededto be careful that it did loseits position at the top ofinternational investors inresearch and developmentin China and India.

The German DIHKhas been pushing forstronger business role inthe two Asian countries,where economic growthhas been rapid.

MNA/Xinhua

14 killed in bus crash in BrazilRIO DE JANEIRO , 10 March — At least 14

people were killed, dozens injured when then busturned over early on Thursday morning in Brazil,local police said.

The accident occurred at a highway in the Brazilianstate of Minas Gerais, local media reported.

The bus was carrying a total 40 passengers and wasen route to a resort in central Brazil when the accidenthappened. The injured were taken to local hospitals.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. MNA/Xinhua

India, Chile sign Free Trade AgreementNEW DELHI , 10 March — India has signed a Preferential Trade Agreement

(PTA) with Chile, Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry said here onWednesday.

Indian Minister ofCommerce and IndustryKamal Nath said theagreement marks a “water-shed in ties between thetwo countries as it willimpart a new dimension toour trade relations in thetimes to come”.

The agreement wassigned by Indian Com-merce Secretary SN

Menon and Ambassador ofChile to India Jorge Heineon behalf of the ChileanGovernment.

Kamal Nath said thePTA would take bilateraltrade to a higher plan with asubstantial growth in two-way trade.

In 2004-05, total tradebetween India and Chilewere valued at 447.54

million US dollars,according to statistics.

Indian products forexport include textiles,chemicals, pharmaceu-ticals, engineering andagricultural machinery, andChilean products aremainly copper, cellulose,newsprint, iodine, fish meal,wood boards, planks andsalmon.

Both sides alsodiscussed the draft reportsof the Joint Study Group(JSG) and agreed to submittheir findings to theirrespective governments toconsider further action on aFree Trade Agreement(FTA) between the twocountries.

Chile is one of India’smajor trading partners inLatin America.

MNA/Xinhua

Death toll rises to 16 in bus accident in Turkey ANKARA , 10 March — Death toll rose to 16 after a passenger bus plunged into a river in northern

Turkey on Thursday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported. The bus, which was

en route from Istanbul tothe eastern province ofVan with 39 passengersaboard, drove off a road

and plunged into theKelkit River in ResadiyeTown of Black Sea cityof Tokat in northernTurkey early Thursday,

said the report. Turkish rescue teams

recovered two morebodies, including that of achild, raising the death toll

to 16. An earlier report said

that at least 14 people werekilled, 11 others woundedand 11 survived in theaccident.

“They have beenhospitalized in Resadiye,and are in a stablecondition,” Resadiyesubgovernor FerhatKurtoglu was quoted assaying, adding that rescueworkers were continuingto search for other missingpassengers. Meanwhile,Tokat Deputy GovernorIzzet Ercan, who said thatthere were two drivers,two stewards and 39passengers on the bus,speculated that theaccident might havehappened due to highspeed. — MNA/Xinhua

ICRC helicopter crashes in quake-hitKashmir, two pilots injured

I SLAMABAD , 10 March — A helicopter of the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross (ICRC) crashed Thursday in theearthquake-hit Kashmir, injuring the pilot and the co-pilot, an ICRCspokesman said.

Raza Hamdani, thespokesman, told the Geotelevision that helicopterwas engaged in reliefoperations in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir whenit crashed in the BandeyFateh Jang area ofNeelum Valley around12:00 noon local time.

There was no im-mediate word about thecauses of the crash. PilotsDave Peterson and MikeChurch from South Africawere injured, when theyjumped from the chopper,the spokesman said.Theywere flown to the PakistanInstitute of MedicalSciences (PIMS) in

Islamabad by an ICRCrescue helicopter,Hamdani said. They wereshifted to the IntensiveCare Unit of the hospital,

he said. “Their condition is

stated to be out of danger,”the ICRC spokesman said.

MNA/Xinhua

Asian Film Festivalopens in France

PARIS, 10 March —France’s annual AsianFilm Festival openedWednesday in the chicFrench resort of Deauville,drawing world attention toAsian film makers who willpresent more than 40movies at the four-dayfestival. The eighth editionof the festival, whichfeatures films from China,Japan, Thailand, SouthKorea, Singapore andIndonesia, comprisesthree separate sections:“Features”, “Action Asia”,and “Panorama”.

In the main competitionsection of “Features”, fourChinese films—“DamStreet,””Blue ChaCha,””Falling in Love,”and “AV” will contendfor the most covetedGolden Lotus award.

Three movies by HongKong film makers —“Mob Sister,” “One Nightin Mongkok” and “TheMyth”, will competeagainst South Koreanmovies — “A BittersweetLife” and “General ofHeaven” — in the “ActionAsia” section. The festivalpaid tribute to Chinesedirector Chen Kaige, whowas in Deauville for thescreening of his latestfeature “The Promise”which was also the openingfilm of the festival . “ThePromise,” which wonwarm applause at theopening, is a mythicalepic set in ancient Chinafeaturing stunning specialeffects and a final messagethat through true love andhonour destinies can bechanged.— MNA/Xinhua

Rescue workers pull a body out of a bus in Tokat, Turkey, on 9 March, 2006.Earlier on Thursday the bus was submerged in the waters of Kelkit Rive, carrying

40 people, killing at least 14 passengers and injuring 11 others. 16 were stillmissing. INTERNET

The remains of a helicopter from the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sits crashed inthe mountain village of Chinari, some 30 km (19miles) above the earthquake-devastated city of

Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on9 March, 2006. — INTERNET


Chickens await vaccination against bird flu at the settlement Peredovoi 100 km(62 miles) from the Russia’s southern city of Stavropol, on 11 March, 2006.

Supply of the first batches of the bird flu vaccine to Russia’s Southern federaldistrict was launched on Friday, Itar-Tass news agency reported. —INTERNET

BEIJING , 11 March — China is expected to realize its “large aircraft” dreamby the year 2015, a senior aviation official said Friday in an exclusive interviewwith Xinhua.

China’s large aircraft dream tocome true by 2015

SHENYANG , 11 March — Thirteen foreign sail-ors were rescued from a sinking cargo ship Thurs-day afternoon in the sea waters near Dandong Portin northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

The 13 foreigners, including eight people fromSouth Korea and five from the Philippines, were aboardthe South Korea-registered ship when it began to sink65 sea miles from Dandong at 1:30 pm on Thursday.

Dandong’s border inspection guards, who receivedSOS signals from the crew members, rushed to thescene for rescue along with the local maritime salvag-ers.

Despite strong winds and high waves, the Chinesesalvagers managed to take all the 13 crew members tosafety at 3:15 pm the same day.

The ship, carrying 6,100 tons of goods fromDandong to South Korea, sank entirely into theseawaters at around 5:00 pm. — MNA/Xinhua

“Large aircraft” referto large transportationplanes with a carrying ca-pacity exceeding 100 tons,trunk liners with more than150 seats and other de-rivative special-purposeplanes, Liu said.

Liu Daxiang, who is a

senior official with thestate-owned China Avia-tion Industry CorporationI and also a deputy to Chi-na’s Parliament or theNational People’s Con-gress (NPC), said he washappy to learn that thedevelopment of large air-craft is listed as one of thecountry’s 16 major deve-lopment plans in the 11thFive- Year Programme forthe 2006-2010 period.

“If things are goingsmoothly, large transportplanes for military andcivil purposes are ex-pected to fly into the skyin 10 years,” Liu said.

“With five more yearsof further development,the Chinese people arelikely to travel by home-made 150-seat planes by2020.”

China has long con-

sidered building a large150-200 seat commercialaircraft, rather than con-tinuing to merely rely onBoeing of the United Satesand Europe’s Airbus.

“Although China hasencountered difficultiesand failed in several largeaircraft developmentplans, the experience ob-tained has laid a goodfoundation for the com-ing scheme,” he said.

Liu, who is also anacademician of the Chi-nese Academy of Engi-neering, has submitted,together with other ex-perts, motions to theNPC’s second and thirdannual sessions held re-spectively in 2003 and2004, calling for earlierresearch and developmentof large aircraft.

MNA/Xinhua

JAKARTA, 11 March —Former Indonesian presi-dent Abdurrahman Wahidwas admitted to hospitalon Wednesday and doc-tors said Friday he shouldstay until this weekend forphysical fatigue.

Wahid, popularlyknown as Gus Dur, suf-fered high blood pressure,Dr Umar Wahid said atthe CiptomangunkusumoHospital here.

“What Gus Dur needsnow is a good rest,” thedoctor said.

Another doctor at thehospital said Wahid muststay until Sunday.

Wahid, 65, steppeddown from his short-livedpresidency in 2001 afterbeing impeached by a spe-cial session of the Peo-ple’s Consultative Assem-bly for incompetence.

Nearly-blind Wahid’sreelection bid in 2004 wasdashed by his failure topass medical examination.

He is now one of theleaders of the country’slargest Muslim groupNahdlatul Ulama.

MNA/Xinhua

TOKYO , 11 March — Japanese police are investigating two separate cases ofsuspected group suicide after nine people were found dead in parked cars, thelatest in a series of such cases.

9 found dead in Japan in suspectedgroup suicides

Five men and onewoman were found deadin a station wagon inSaitama Prefecture, justnorth of Tokyo, a policespokesman said.

He noted that charcoalstoves were found in thecar but declined to givefurther details, citing on-going investigations. Thecharcoal generates carbonmonoxide, a poisonousgas.

Separately, a man andtwo women were founddead in a sealed carparked in the foothills ofa mountain in AomoriPrefecture, some 280miles north of Tokyo, apolice spokesman said.

In this case too, char-coal stoves were found inthe car with the three,who were undergoingtreatment for mental ill-ness and may have metat hospital, an Aomoripolice spokesman said.

The number of Japa-nese killing themselves ingroup suicides has risensteadily in recent years,and in many cases the

people have met throughthe Internet, althoughpolice declined to saywhether this was the casewith the six people inSaitama.

In 2003, 34 died ingroup suicides, rising to55 in 2004 and 91 lastyear.

That compares with atotal of 32,325 suicides in2004, the latest year forwhich figures are avail-

able — down from therecord-high 34,427 in2003 but second only toRussia among Group ofEight industrialized na-tions.

According to WorldHealth Organization data,Japan’s suicide rate was24.1 per 100,000 peoplein 2000, compared with39.4 in Russia and 10.4in the United States.

MNA/Reuters

TOKYO , 11 March — Isuzu Motors Ltd said onThursday it will recall about 2,700 set of its trucksunder three models due to possible defects on ex-haust pipes, local reports said.

In its report to the Ministry of Land, Infrastruc-ture and Transport, Isuzu said it has detected that thewelding on these vehicles’ exhaust pipes are notstrong enough and the pipes may crack, causingexhaust leaks, Kyodo News said.

The possibly defective vehicles were made be-tween June 2002 and October 2004, and were soldunder model names of Isuzu’s Elf, Nissan MotorCo’s Atlas, and Nissan Disel Motor Co’s Condor,the report added.

MNA/Xinhua

Isuzu to recall truckswith exhaust pipe defect

FormerIndonesian

President Wahidhospitalized

13 foreign sailors savedfrom shipwreck in

N-E China sea waters

Photo dated

December 2005

shows Russian

health officials

taking samples

from a contami-

nated river in

Khabarovsk.

INTERNET

HANOI , 11 March — Malaysia wants to boost cooperation with Vietnam,especially in the fields of oil and gas, energy and education, local newspaperLabour Friday quoted a Malaysian official as saying.

Malaysia eyes closer tieswith Vietnam

Malaysia, home tomany good schools, hopesto receive more Vietnam-ese students, visitingMalaysian Foreign Min-ister Syed Hamid Albarsaid in an interview withthe newspaper.

To promote bilateralmulti-faceted coopera-tion, the two countriesshould exchange morehigh-level delegations andstrengthen informationsharing among enter-prises, he said.

Malaysian enterprises

have done business inVietnam for a long timeand now they want to seeknew cooperation opportu-nities in the country, henoted.

Albar, who arrivedhere for a three-day visitto Vietnam on Wednes-day, met with VietnameseState President Tran DucLuong and Prime Minis-ter Phan Van Khai onThursday.

Malaysia considersVietnam a long-term part-ner and hopes for closer

ties between the two peo-ples and a continued boostof two-way trade and in-vestment, said the official.

The trade volume be-tween the two countriesstood at 2.2 billion USdollars in 2005.

Malaysia now ranksthe 9th among countriesand regions having in-vestment in Vietnam,with projects mainly inthe fields of hotel, ser-vice, construction, heavyindustry, oil and gas, andbanking.— MNA/Xinhua


Deputy Com-mander of North-EastCommand Brig-Gen HlaMyint, Design and Devel-opment Director U Tin Ooof International BeveragesTrading Co Ltd andMPGA and MGF Execu-tive U Ko Ko Lay openedthe championship by tee-ing off before the compe-titions of the first round.

Than Win (Muse)and Win Naing (N-E Com-mand) shot a four-under-

YANGON, 11 March— Minister for Informa-tion Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsaninspected Photolitho Pressin Bahan Township yes-terday.

Minister Brig-GenKyaw Hsan heard a reporton printing tasks, and se-curity and fire preventionmeasures presented byPress Manager U Hlaing

Information Minister inspects functionsof Photolitho Press

Win Khaung. ManagingDirector of Printing andPublishing Enterprise UAung Nyein presented asupplementary report.

Minister Brig-GenKyaw Hsan gave instruc-tions to employees of thepress on taking securitymeasure. He also in-structed officials to super-vise security and fire pre-

vention measures and firefighting drills.

Afterwards, theminister inspected func-tions of the press and ware-houses. In giving instruc-tions, he said that officialsare to coordinate withtechnicians for renovationof the press building. Ar-rangements are to be madefor repairing machinesparts. Matters related toold machine parts that can-not be used are to be con-ducted in line with therules and regulations.

MNA

Indian

President

Dr APJ

Abdul Kalam

concludes

goodwill visit to

Myanmar

Grand Royal Special Reserve Golf Championship kicks off in Lashio

YANGON, 11 March— The Grand Royal Spe-cial Reserve Golf Cham-pionship 2006 was openedat Lashio Golf Club inLashio this morning.

par 68 each on the firstround. Bala, Shwe Nann,and Hla Myint (Muse) tiedat the second position byfiring a three-under-par69. Third position golferKyaw Thet Paing, ThangEsk, Soe Thein and TinWin scored a two-under-par 70 each.

A total of 120 ama-teur golfers are taking partin the competitions.

The championshipis organized by Myanmar

Golf Federation, andmainly sponsored byIBTC together with co-sponsors Air MandalayLtd, Crusher Club Soda,Srixon, and Grand PlazaParkroyal Hotel. HanEvent Management per-formed functions of thechampionship.

The second roundof the championship con-tinues tomorrow at thesame venue.

MNA

Prime Minister General Soe Win bids

farewell to Indian President

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

MNA

Indian Ambassador Mr Bhaskar Kumar

Mitra and embassy staff see off

Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

MNA

Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan inspects PhotolithoPress of Printing and Publishing Enterprise. — MNA

Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Thein Sein bids farewellto Indian President

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. — MNA

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UMFCCI President hosts dinner in honour ofIndian President

YANGON, 11 March —Visiting President of theRepublic of India Dr APJAbdul Kalam attended adinner hosted in his hon-our by President of theUnion of Myanmar Fed-eration of Chambers ofCommerce and IndustryU Win Myint at the Trad-ers Hotel on Sule PagodaRoad at 8.30 pm yester-day.

The Indian Presi-dent was accompanied byhigh-ranking officers ofthe Indian Governmentand Indian Ambassador toMyanmar Mr BhaskarKumar Mitra and embassyofficials.

Also present at thedinner were Minister forNational Planning andEconomic DevelopmentU Soe Tha, Minister for

Commerce Brig-Gen TinNaing Thein, Minister forScience and TechnologyU Thaung, MyanmarAmbassador to India UKyi Thein, departmentalofficials of the Ministryof Foreign Affairs, vice-

presidents of the UMFCCIand CEC members, entre-preneurs and guests.

First, UMFCCIPresident U Win Myintextended greetings.

Next, Indian Presi-dent Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

explained industries,economy and technologi-cal matters.

Entrepreneurs ofthe UMFCCI asked aboutinvestment opportunitiesbetween Myanmar andIndia. The Indian Presi-

dent replied to the ques-tions. The Indian Presi-dent and goodwill delega-tion members were servedwith dinner.

After the dinner,Indian President Dr APJAbdul Kalam cordiallygreeted the entrepreneurs.

MNA

YANGON, 11 March — Accompanied byDeputy Minister for Construction Brig-Gen MyintThein and officials, Minister for Construction Maj-Gen Saw Tun oversaw upgrading of Twantay-Kanbe-Kungyangon-Dedaye-Pyapon Road this morning.

At the site of Pyapon Bridge ConstructionProject, Deputy Superintending Engineer U KhinMaung Hse of the project reported to the minister onprogress of the project and future tasks.

The minister gave necessary instructions, andfulfilled the requirements of heavy machinery. Healso inspected progress of construction at the bridge.

MNA

YANGON, 11 March—The 15th convocation ofthe University for Development of National Racestook place along with the fourth conferring of di-ploma certificates at the university yesterday.

Chairman of the UDNR University CouncilChairman of Sagaing Division Peace and Develop-ment Council Commander of North-West CommandMaj-Gen Tha Aye conferred certificates of MEd de-gree on three students, post-graduate degree on 53students, and BEd degree on 92 students, Vice-Chair-man of the UDNR University Council Chairman ofthe Civil Service Selection and Training Board DrThan Nyun, certificates of BEd degrees on 157 stu-dents, and Rector U Zaw Min Thein, certificates ofdegree on 96 students and teachership training di-ploma on 68 students.

The commander in his speech said that thenewly-completed students are to be convinced ofthe importance of the duties of education staff andto nurture youths of national races to become quali-fied human resources. They are also to realize theunremitting efforts the government makes to createpolitical and economic opportunities in the drive forbuilding a peaceful, modern and developed nationwith flourishing discipline and to play a leading rolein organizing local communities exerting the knowl-edge gained from the courses so as to raise the so-cial-economic life of local people. He also called onthem to inculcate local people and students withUnion Spirit and correct outlooks.

The commander and the CSSTB chairman helda meeting with outstanding students. — MNA

UDNR holds 15th convocation

Appointments presented to UDNR graduates

Progress of Pyapon Bridgeconstruction inspected

Indian President Dr Abdul Kalam elaborates on industry, economy and technology at the dinner. — MNA

Commander Maj-Gen Tha Aye speaks at the convocation of the University for Development ofNational Races. — MNA

Measures for ensuring smoothand secure transport discussed

YANGON, 11 March — Yangon Division Super-visory Committee for Ensuring Smooth and SecureTransport held its coordination meeting at YangonCommand yesterday evening, attended by YangonDivision Peace and Development Council ChairmanYangon Command Commander Maj-Gen Hla HtayWin.

First, Commander Maj-Gen Hla Htay Win madea speech. Afterwards, rectors and pro-rectors of uni-versities and colleges in Yangon, officials, supervi-sory committee members, departmental officials, chair-men of bus-lines reported on matters related to shoolbuses, declining traffic accidents, conversion of vehi-cles into CNG vehicles.

Regarding the reports, the commander attendedto the needs and the meeting ended with the conclud-ing remarks by the commander. — MNA

MMCWA donations forCancer Foundation

YANGON, 11 March — A ceremony to donatemedicines to U Hla Tun Hospice Cancer Foundation inDagon Myothit (East) Township this morning.

Chairman of the Foundation U Hla Tun ex-plained functions of the foundation.

Next, Central Executive Committee membersand the Executive Director of the Myanmar Maternaland Child Welfare Association handed over medicinesworth K 1.5 million donated by MMCWA to Founda-tion Chairman U Hla Tun.

They comforted cancer patients at the buildingof the foundation. — MNA

YANGON, 11 March — The ceremonies to markconcluding Junior Assistant Teachership Course No15 of University for Development of National Racesand presenting the letters of appointment to gradu-ates of No 37 BEd 4-year Course took place at theUDNR yesterday afternoon.

Present on the occasion were Rector of theuniversity U Zaw Min Thein, representatives of state/division PDCs, faculty members of the university,heads of departments, lecturers, teachers, guests and

trainees.First, Head of Departments (Academic Affairs)

U Htay Lwin read out the report on Junior AssistantTeachership Course No 15 and Rector U Zaw MinThein presented the completion certificates to train-ees and appointments to graduates of No 37 BEd 4-year Course.

Next, the rector awarded prizes to the out-standing trainees and the ceremonies ended with theconcluding remarks by the rector. — MNA


YANGON, 11March — Member of theState Peace and Develop-ment Council Lt-Gen YeMyint of the Ministry ofDefence, Chairman ofMandalay Division Peaceand Development Coun-cil Commander of Cen-tral Command Maj-GenKhin Zaw, MandalayMayor Brig-Gen PhoneZaw Han and officials ofthe State Peace and De-velopment Council andheads of departments in-spected summer paddyfields in irrigated summerpaddy special zone inPyigyidagun Townshipon 6 March. Lt-Gen Ye Myint in-spected cultivation ofsummer paddy. Lt-GenYe Myint and party at-

Lt-Gen Ye Myint inspects summer paddyfields in Pyigyidagun Township

tended a ceremony toassign duties to depart-ments and social organi-zations in Mandalay Di-vision to grow physic nutheld near the Tooth RelicPagoda (Mandalay). Manager of Manda-lay Division MyanmaAgriculture Service UAung Kyin reported oncultivation of 500,000acres of physic nutyearly. Next, Lt-Gen YeMyint presented physicnut seeds to Deputy ChiefJustice (Mandalay) UKhin Maung Latt,Deputy Attorney-General(Mandalay) U Han Shein,Deputy Director-Generalof Archaeology Depart-ment U Aung Kyaing andofficials. Lt-Gen Ye Myint and

party inspected demon-stration of the use ofphysic nut oil in stoves,lamps and milling ma-chines. Lt-Gen Ye Myint, thecommander and themayor planted physic nutsaplings. Lt-Gen YeMyint and party paidobeisance to the Buddhaimage at the Tooth RelicPagoda (Mandalay). They proceeded toHtonbo-Myitnge shortcut road and inspectedconstruction of dual roadand the axis and cultiva-tion of summer paddy. Lt-Gen Ye Myintgave instructions on lay-ing of culverts andproper drainage and in-spected ground level-ling.

They went to thesite of Yeywa HydelElectric Power Projectwhere Deputy Director-General U Win Kyi re-ported on constructionof diversion tunnels andothers. Lt-Gen YeMyint inspected theprogress of work. Lt-Gen Ye Myintalso inspected district todistrict roads in Singaingand Patheingyi Town-ships. He proceeded toPhyaukseikpin Village inKyaukse Township andinspected construction ofShwesayan Phyauk-seikpin-NaungkhanthanRoad section and con-struction of NaungkhanBridge (Thanywa) acrossZawgyi River.

MNA

YANGON, 11 March — To hail the 61st Anni-versary Armed Forces Day, the special sale of Min-istry of Industry-1 continued in North OkkalapaTownship today.

A total of 345 kinds of products of factoriesunder the ministry including garment, foodstuff,medicines and household items, ceramics, station-ery and electrical appliances are available at thereasonable price at the sale and it was packed withthe public.

Besides, the artistes entertained with the songsto the visitors and the restaurants are also beingopened at the sale. The special sale will be kept opendaily from 8 am to 8 pm.

MNA

Special sale of Industry-1Ministry continues

YANGON, 11 March— The 41st merit-shar-ing ceremony for cashdonations to the fund ofJivitadana Sangha Hospi-tal was held in conjunc-tion with the ceremony tohonour the wellwishers athome and abroad at thehall of the hospital thisafternoon.

Presiding NayakaSayadaw Agga Maha

Merits shared for Jivitadana donationsPandita BhaddantaAngisa of PalikayiPariyatti Monastery ofThakayta Township ad-ministered the Five Pre-cepts.

After offering almsto members of theSangha, the Sayadawdelivered a sermon, andthe congregation sharedmerits gained.

MNA

YANGON, 11 March— Kayan Township As-sociation will hold a re-spect-paying ceremonyfor Kainggon MonasterySayadaw BhaddantaSobhita who was con-ferred Agga MahaPandita title andKamakalu village monas-tery Sayadaw Bhaddanta

Respects to be paid totitle-recipient Sayadaws

Ñanavamsa who wasconferred Agga MahaSaddamajotika. The cer-emony will take place atAyeyawady DivisionDamayon on GyadawyaStreet in Bahan Town-ship at 9 am on 15March. — MNA

AFF Councilmeets

YANGON, 11 March— The 21st ASEANFootball FederationCouncil meeting tookplace at Sedona Hotel,here, this evening. It wasattended by President ofAFF Tengku Tan SriDato Seri Ahmad (Ma-laysia), Vice-PresidentMr Ibrahim Othman (Sin-gapore) and officials,President of MyanmarFootball Federation UZaw Zaw and delegatesof 11 member countriesof AFF.

At the meeting,they discussed matters onholding of ASEANChampionship WomenFootball Tournament,ASEAN U-20 FootballTournament, ASEAN U-17 Football Tournamentand ASEAN Futsal Tour-nament in 2006-2007.

AFF membercountries, Myanmar,Thailand, Malaysia, Sin-gapore, Indonesia, Viet-nam, Laos, the Philip-pines, Cambodia, Bruneiand Timor Leste are at-tending the meeting.

MNA

Lt-Gen Ye Myint

inspects progress

in construction of

Yeywa hydel

power project.

MNA

Lt-Gen Ye Myint oversees construction of Naungkham Bridge (Thanywa) crossing Zawgyi River. — MNA

21st ASEAN Football Federation Council Meetig in progress atSedona Hotel — MNA


Klien ride : Austrian Red Bull driver Christian Klien steers his car during thefirst practice session of the Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix at Sakhir race-

track in Manama. —INTERNET

Technicians perform checks on the Mars Recon-naissance Orbiter in July 2005, in the PayloadHazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy SpaceCentre, Florida. A US spacecraft moved into a

“perfect” orbit around Mars, NASA said, puttingthe most advanced mission ever sent to anotherplanet in search of water and life.—INTERNET

TEHERAN, 11 March — A top Iranian cleric said on Friday that Iran would never be frightened bythe UN involvement in the country’s nuclear case, the official IRNA news agency reported. “TheIranian people are not afraid of the threat posed by the United Nations Security Council,” HojjatoleslamAhmad Khatami, substitute Friday prayers leader, was quoted as saying in a speech to worshippers.

Top cleric says Iran never be frightenedon nuclear issue

“Patience and resis-tance are the two majorfactors that definitelythwart all plots of ene-mies,” Khatami said.

Khatami also cited afrustrated hostage rescueoperation of the UnitedStates in 1980, hinting anyactivity against Iran weredoomed to fail.

“During those days,the sands of the Tabas

Desert acted like forces ofGod Almighty and killedthem (US troops),”Khatami said.

In November 1979,five months after Iran’sIslamic Revolution, agroup of Iranian studentstook over the US Embassyin Teheran and held 52people hostages for 444days.

In April 1980, an

aerocade of US aircraft,which was sent secretlyby the White House to Iranto rescue the hostages,landed in the Dasht-eKavir Desert near the east-ern Iranian city Tabas forrefuelling. But a strongsandstorm caused crashof two helicopters and aC-130 transport plane,which killed severalAmerican soldiers and

finally led to the abortionof the mission.

Khatami’s commentscame two days after theInternational Atomic En-ergy Agency handed overthe Iranian nuclear file tothe UN Security Council.

The Security Coun-cil is scheduled to con-vene next week to delibe-rate on the next move onthe Iranian nuclear issue.

Iranian SupremeLeader Seyed AliKhamenei and PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejadsaid on Thursday that theIslamic Republic wouldnever give in under pres-sures and bullies, vowingto forge ahead with thedevelopment of nuclearenergy. — MNA/Xinhua

MANILA , 11 March — Philippine Government on Friday rejected a reportby the United States criticizing human rights situation in the Philippines,saying its portrayal of human rights violations in the Philippines is vague andunfair.

ISLAMABAD , 11 March — Pakistani security forces during recent operationsin northwestern Pakistan have killed over 100 terrorists and arrested ninewith foreigners among them, the country’s intelligence said on Friday.

Philippines rejects US humanrights report

“The country’s de-mocracy has been ashealthy as ever, with ourpublic institutions ope-rating within transparent,lawful bounds. Cases ofhuman rights violationsare squarely being han-dled by an independentcommission with whichthe national governmenthas been working closelyin the investigation of spe-cific cases, as well as inthe proper education ofthe uniformed services,”said the presidentialspokesman IgnacioBunye.

He added that the gov-ernment has also takensteps to tackle the prob-lems of jails, such asovercrowdedness and themixture of minors withadults.

“The Justice Depart-ment has already takencognizance of this prob-lem ... to improve the cur-rent situation. Since lastyear, the Department of

Social Welfare and De-velopment has beengradually moving chil-dren-in-conflict-with-the-law from different pri-sons into their facilitieswith social workers asguardians,” he said.

“This problem ofovercrowded jails hasbeen with us for a longtime, even before thePresident’s term began in2001. Certainly, more re-sources are needed for usto be able to build bigger

jails and separate rehabili-tation facilities for mi-nors,” he added.

A US 2005 humanrights report on the Phi-lippines severely criti-cized the country, blam-ing the government forfailing to enforcing therule of law and checkingcorruption among govern-ment officials and accused“some elements of the se-curity forces” of commit-ting human rights abuses.

MNA/Xinhua

Over 100 terrorists killed in recentoperations in N-W Pakistan

The official APPnews agency quoted theInter-Services Public Re-lations (ISPR) as sayingthat huge cache of armsand ammunition had also

been seized during theoperations in Miranshahand Mir Ali in NorthWaziristan Agency(NWA), bordering on Af-ghanistan. But the mas-termind and chief of theinvolved group MaulviAbdul Khaliq who hasclose relations withAbdullah Mahsud, awanted terrorist, flewaway, according to theISPR.

It said that the armscaptured by the securityforces included mortars,rocket launchers, gre-nades, fuses, anti-tank andanti-personnel mines, im-provised explosive de-

WASHINGTON , 11 March — US Interior Secretary Gale Norton said onFriday she was stepping down after serving five years overseeing federallands, in a tenure in which she often clashed with environmentalists.

vices as well as huge quan-tity of ammunition, ex-plosives with electric im-provised circuits, commu-nication gadgetries, com-mando uniforms, foreignresidential cards, trainingpamphlets, CDs, medi-cines and food items.

According to investi-gations, the same kind ofweapons and ammu-nitions were used in vari-ous terrorist acts else-where in the agency.

It said that the terro-rists had been using theseweapons indiscriminatelythat often fall on civilianpopulation.

MNA/Xinhua

US Interior Secretary Gale Norton steps down

In her resignation let-ter, a portion of which wasreleased to the news me-dia, Norton said she wouldbe moving to the privatesector at the end of March.

The Interior Depart-ment manages nationalparks, wildlife refugesand other federal lands,

which make up a fifth ofthe acreage in the UnitedStates.

She is the firstwoman to head the 156-year-old department andone of the original mem-bers of Bush’s Cabinet.

Her departure comesas Congress is looking

into leases that the Inte-rior Department issued inthe late 1990s to energycompanies that will al-low them to avoid payingbillions of dollars in roy-alties for oil and naturalgas drilled in the Gulf ofMexico.— MNA/Reuters

Under a master planworked out by the CivilAviation Administrationof Vietnam, 140 billionVietnamese dong (VND)(9.3 million US dollars)will be used to upgradeaviation standard of theDien Bien Airport till2015 so that it can an-nually serve 200, 000 pas-sengers.

From 2016 to 2025,some 382 billion Viet-

Vietnam to upgrade northern airport

namese dong (over 24million dollars) will bespent on expanding theairport to 120.8 hectaresfor both civil and militarypurposes. It is scheduledto handle 200,000 passen-gers annually in the pe-riod.

Now, the airport con-ducts 10-14 flights a weekbetween Dien Bien andHanoi capital. It is ex-pected to offer flights to

China’s Kunming City,Thailand’s Chiang MaiProvince, and some otherdestinations in the GreaterMekong Sub-region in thefuture time, the reportsaid.

The Dien Bien Air-port served over 4,000passengers and thousandsof tons of cargo in thefirst two months of thisyear.

MNA/Xinhua

HANOI , 11 March — Vietnam will invest some 33.3 million US dollars toupgrade an airport in northern Dien Bien Province from now to 2025,Vietnam News Agency reported on Friday.


China needs law on Press supervision BEIJING ,10 March — A lawmaker from Northeast China’s Jilin Province has called for the enactment

of a law on Press supervision to curb the rampant violation of journalists’ right to make investigativereports as well as prevent malpractices of “corrupt reporters”.

“A mature andcomplete supervisorysystem is needed by everysociety, but such a systemis not fully establishedyet in China,” said WangWeizhong, a deputy to the10th National People’sCongress (NPC), theChinese legislature whichis holding its annual fullsession in Beijing.

The enactment of thePress supervision law isconducive to strengtheningpublic supervision on socialevils and other problems,and can also help regulatethe supervision practice bythe country’s journalists,said Wang.

“I frequently learnedabout incidents in whichjournalists doing inves-tigative reports or trying toexpose social evilsencountered various kindsof obstructions and wereeven beaten savagely.

Meanwhile, there are alsocases in which someimmoral reporters try toblackmail individuals orcompanies with threats of‘negative exposures,’”Wang noted.

According to Wang,the Press supervision lawhe proposed shall make

Time to boost EU-Russiaenergy ties

BRUSSELS,10 March — The European Union should improve its energycooperation with Russia as part of the bloc’s general review of its ties withMoscow, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said on Thursday.

Barroso said hisplanned meeting withRussian PresidentVladimir Putin on energyissues will take place onMarch 17 in Moscow,about a week before theEU’s 25 leaders gather todebate, among otherissues, the bloc’s futureenergy policy.

“Now is the time torethink the future shape ofEU-Russia relations andto explore all the optionsfor a closer and moreeffective cooperation,”Barroso said in astatement.

“At the heart of ourrelatio ns will be a newenergy partnership withRussia.” Russia is a majorenergy exporter to the EUand the bloc grew worriedover the stability ofsupplies when Moscowcut off gas supplies toUkraine temporarily thisyear over failure to agreea new pricing and supplydeal. The dispute resultedin lower supplies toEurope as most Russiangas passes through

pipelines crossingUkraine. Partly in res-ponse to the snag, theCommission, the EUexecutive, unveiledproposals on Wednes-day to coordinate thebloc’s fragmented energy

policies. The EU will have an

opportunity to reshape tieswith Moscow after itscurrent 10-year partner-ship agreement withRussia expires next year.

MNA/Reuters

Britain buries itslast female Great

War veteran LONDON, 10 March —

Britain buried its last knownfemale veteran of World WarI on Thursday, as 107-year-old Alice Baker was laid torest in Norfolk.Baker, whodied last week, was one of anumber of women whomaintained aircraft for theRoyal Flying Corps, whichlater became part of the RoyalAir Force.

“Without the work ofAlice and her colleaguesrepairing aircraft, theRoyal Flying Corps wouldhave been unable tooperate on the front line,”said Veterans MinisterDon Touhig in a statement.

MNA/Reuters

explicit stipulations toguarantee the journalists’right to be informed ofand cover news events,as well as to madeinvestigations —sometimes by secretmeans.

“Those who try toprevent the journalists

from reporting the truth,especially those whoresort to violence, shouldbe severely punished oncharges of obstructingpublic supervision anddenying the people theright to know,” saidWang.

MNA/Xinhua

Iraqi soldiers aboard a tank patrol a street in Baghdad, on 10 March, 2006.INTERNET

ADVERTISEMENTS

Migrating birds could bring bird fluto US in months

WASHINGTON, 10 March — Migrating wild birdscould transmit the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu tothe United States in the next few months, saidHomeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff onThursday.

“There will be a reasonable possibility of adomestic fowl outbreak” as migrating birds mix withducks, chickens and other birds in the US he said,speaking to newspaper editors and publishers.

He said the US Agriculture Department has yearsof experience in dealing with infections of otherstrains of bird flu, and that it is able to tacklesituations caused by H5N1, which the World HealthOrganization said has caused at least 95 humandeaths. Scientists fear the H5N1 strain would mutatequickly to be easily transmissible among humans,leading to a global flu pandemic.

Chertoff said he “certainly have to say that weshould be prepared for the possibility that at somepoint in the next few months, a wild fowl will comeover the migratory pathway and will be infected withH5N1”.

MNA/Xinhua

WHO recommendsMerck, Gilead AIDS

drugs GENEVA , 10 March— The World Health

Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that it hadadded anti-retroviral drugs made by Merck Sharp& Dohme and by Gilead Sciences to its list ofrecommended drugs.

The United Nationsagency said that Merck'sEfavirenz, in twostrengths, and Gilead'sTenofovir were "crucialproducts" in the treatmentof AIDS.

It also includedanti-malaria treatmentArtemotil, also in twostrengths, made by Dutchconcern Artecef.

The WHO'sprequalified list ofmedicines, which totalsmore than 70 anti-AIDSdrugs, is designed tomake it easier fordeveloping countries tochoose which medicinesto buy.

Drugs are added after

being submitted fortesting by companies.

"Tenofovir andEfavirenz ... andArtemotil ... willconsiderably boost thechoice of therapy inresource-poor countries,"the WHO said in astatement.

Malaria kills morethan one million people ayear, more than 75 percent of them Africanchildren under five yearsof age.

Over three millionpeople died from AIDSlast year, and more than40 million are living withthe virus.

MNA/Reuters


��

Survey shows most Japanese worryabout population decrease

TOKYO , 10 March— An overwhelming majority of Japanese regard theissue of population decrease as serious, according to a recent survey conductedby one of the country's leading newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

A sculpture, ‘The Modern Football Shoe' sits in apark in Berlin's government district on 10 March,

2006. The sculpture is one of six sculptures formingthe 'Walk of Ideas' for the soccer World Cup, awalking tour of inventions from Germany. AdiDassler, the founder of the Adidas sports shoe

brand, had developed football shoes that providedfirm grip on soft ground that was soaked with rain

by using his idea of the flexible screw-in stud shoe in1953, which helped Germany to win the World Cup

in 1954.—INTERNET

Switzerland's Giorgi Mondini is pursued by Italy'sMax Papis during a practice session of the A1

Grand Prix auto race in Monterey, Calif,on 10 March, 2006. —INTERNET

An artist's conception of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using the SHARADradar during its final approach to Mars, released by NASA on 10 March, 2006.NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has begun its final approach to the redplanet after activating a sequence of commands designed to get the spacecraft

successfully into orbit. —INTERNET

Belgium’s Zaventem, Denmark’sCopenhagen are Europe’s best Airport

Airports in New York area to get“invisible fences”

Canadian women getmarried less, divorce more

Ciba building Asia’s largestantioxidant plant in Singapore

SINGAPORE , 10 March— Ciba SpecialtyChemicals, a Swiss company, is building Asia'slargest antioxidant plant on Jurong Island,Singapore's petrochemical centre, according toChannel NewsAsia report Wednesday.

A web of fibre optics,radar, infrared imaging,motion detectors andsurveillance cameras, alsoknown as "invisiblefencing", will be installedin Newark, Kennedy,LaGuardia and Teterboroairports within two years,said officials of the PortAuthority, the agency thatoperates these airports inthe area.

The purpose is topump up existing securityfeatures at local airports,said a Port Authorityspokesman. The Port

Authority will cover thecost of the system, whichhas a price tag of some138 million dollars, butexpect to get some federalaid, he said.

Security at airports atGreater New York hasbeen greatly beefed up

after the 11 Septemberterror attack in 2001.Authorities have pooledgreater personnel andother resources tostrengthen the security ofairport, a likely target inanother possible terrorattack. — MNA/Xinhua

OTTAWA, 10 March—Canadian women aregetting married less,divorcing more andoutliving the men they dolive with, said StatisticsCanada on Wednesday.

In 2001, more than 1.5million women — 14 percent of Canadian womenover the age of 15 — livedsolo because of droppingmarriage rates andincreasing divorce rates,according to a studyreleased by the StatisticsCanada as the worldcelebrates theInternational Women'sDay.

That is more thandouble the numbercompared with 30 yearsbefore, according to thestudy. Coupled with thefact that men still haveshorter lifespan thanwomen, the study foundthat more women aged 65and over are also livingalone these days.

The number of womenwith post-secondaryeducation is also on therise — climbing to 15 percent in 2001 from 3 percent in 1971.

However, Zaventemwas awarded equal firstplace with the Copen-hagen Airport in Den-mark.

Zurich Airport ofSwitzerland and HelsinkiAirport in Finland wereranked second and third.

The AirportsExcellence Awards areawarded based on a broadsurvey among passengers.

In total, passengers filledin 100,000 surveys,spread over 66 airports.

"The main objectiveis to improve the provisionof services of the airports,"ACI spokeswoman NancyGautier was quoted assaying.

Korea's IncheonAirport was named theworld's best airport, withsecond place honours

awarded to Hong KongAirport and Singapore'sChangi Airport, it wasreported. — MNA/Xinhua

Dubai Ports has no plansto sell US operations

To be completed by2008, the plant worth 100million US dollars isCiba's single largestinvestment in the region.

Antioxidant is apetrochemical derivativeused extensively in themanufacture of plasticproducts, the reportsaid, adding that thedemand for plastic-relatedproducts is estimated todouble in two decades.

The new facility willhelp increase the com-pany's revenue generatedfrom Asia, whichaccounted for about 30 percent of its total global saleslast year.

Ciba has invested morethan 382 million US

dollars in Asia over thepast decade and itsrevenue has grown 50 percent since 1997.

MNA/Xinhua

The survey, carried outamong 3,000 people at 250locations, showed that 87per cent of the respondentsconcerned that a societywith such a dwindlingpopulation will not be ableto maintain the socialsecurity system and theytook the issue seriously,while only 11 per cent said

they did not. Ninety-four per cent

said they were concernedthat the current socialsecurity system, includingpensions, medicine, andnursing care, would notbe able to be maintainedas society aged, and 76per cent of respondentssaid Japan was not a good

place to raise children. In answer to a multiple-

answer question over thecause of the declining birthrate, 63 per cent said itwas too expensive to raisechildren and 49 per centsaid the authorities did notprovide enough supportto those having and raisingchildren.—MNA/Xinhua

BRUSSELS, 10 March— Belgium's Zaventem Airport in the capital ofBrussels has been crowned the best airport in Europe by the Airport CouncilInternational (ACI), news agency Belga reported on Wednesday.

LONDON, 10 March—Port operator Dubai PortsWorld has no plans to sellits newly acquiredoperations managing six

US ports, despite a fiercepolitical dispute inWashington, its head saidin an interview publishedon Thursday.

DP World ChiefExecutive MohammedSharaf said his companywould take all "humanlypossible" measures tocounter fears its takeoverof the ports threatens USsecurity.

"We have not eventhought of that (sellingthe port managementoperations) yet," he saidin an interview withBritain's Financial Timesnewspaper. "We have abusiness to run — theUSA is part of it."

The newspaper'swebsite (www.ft.com)reported that privateequity groups hadapproached DP Worldabout buying its USoperations. The report,citing unnamed peoplefamiliar with the matter,gave no more details.

DP World's takeover ofBritish ports operatorP&O, which previouslymanaged the US ports, hascreated a political crisisfor US President GeorgeW Bush.

MNA/ReutersMNA/Xinhua

NEW YORK, 10 March— Airports in New York will get an extra layer ofprotection by adopting a comprehensive new security system that have beenused in countries like Iraq and Israel, said airport officials Wednesday.


S P O R T S

ACROSS 1 Manchester-based or-chestra 4 Truths10 Echo11 River of Europe12 Synchronized13 Throw into shade15 Nobleman17 Ill-bred, surly fellow19 Watchful22 Ebb and flow of sea25 Type of cigar27 Main artery29 Narrow inlet30 Vacation31 Sluggish32 Hind-part of ship

DOWN 2 Fire-raising 3 Wash clothes 5 Month 6 Excursionist 7 Grid 8 Viper 9 Delay14 Clothed16 Highest male voice18 Country-dance20 Tract21 Jeer23 Having skin irritation24 Wood-god; half-man,half-goat26 Command28 Horseman

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

Benitez says Arsenal canwin Champions League LIVERPOOL (England), 11 March— Rafael Benitez

believes Arsenal can repeat Liverpool's feat of lastseason by winning the Champions League despitestruggling in the Premier League.

Arsenal, the only English representatives left, weredrawn against Juventus in the quarterfinals of theChampions League in Friday's draw. Arsene Wenger'steam are fifth in the Premier League, five points behindfourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

"Arsenal are now looking at winning the Cham-pions League as a real target and they can do what wedid last season," Benitez told reporters.

Benitez's Liverpool finished fifth last season al-though they beat AC Milan on penalties to win theChampions League final. Liverpool travel to Highburyon Sunday.

"Our league season was not too good and their's isthe same this season," Benitez said. "But we won thetrophy when not doing well in England and I believethey can do the same."

Liverpool's own Champions League bid was endedby Benfica on Wednesday when failings in front ofgoal cost them dear.

Benitez's side have scored four goals in their lastnine games and of the club's strikers, only Peter Crouchhas registered a goal in 2006.

"I cannot decide on just two strikers to play eachweek because we are not scoring," Benitez said.

"If some strikers do start scoring then maybe I cansay they will stay together in the side, but for that theymust start scoring first.—MNA/Reuters

United’s Queiroz pointsto Chelsea flaws

MANCHESTER, 11 March— Manchester United want teams tolose their awe of Chelsea and exploit emerging weaknesses theyperceive in the champions, United assistant manager CarlosQueiroz said on Friday.

Vietnam considers allowingsoccer betting

HANOI, 11 March— The Vietnamese Governmentis expected to approve a soccer betting plan, which isdesignated to prevent illegal betting and foster the statebudget, an official from Vietnam's National Sports andPhysical Training Committee said here on Friday.

"After drafting a scheme on running soccer bettingin June, we'll gather recommendations of relevant agen-cies to complete the scheme and submit it to thegovernment for approval in the fourth quarter of thisyear," a senior official from Vietnam's National Sportsand Physical Training Committee told Xinhua on con-dition of anonymity.

If soccer betting services are allowed in Vietnam,they will annually contribute to the state budget to thetune of hundreds of billion Vietnamese dong (tens ofmillion US dollars), the official stated.— MNA/Xinhua

Rooney signs recordbook deal

LONDON, 11 March— Manchester United's 20-year-old England striker Wayne Rooney has signed one ofthe biggest sports book deals in publishing history,agreeing to write five books over the next 12 years.

British media reported the deal with HarperCollinswas worth at least five million pounds (8.7 million USdollars) but a spokeswoman for the publishers wouldonly say it was a "substantial figure".

HarperCollins said the first book would be releasedin July and cover this year's World Cup in Germany.The following books will cover the rest of his career.

Rooney emerged as one of the outstanding playersat Euro 2004 and will carry the hopes of a nation oncemore when he lines up for the start of the World Cupin June.

His colourful off-pitch antics — including visits tobrothels — have also made him a regular fixture on thetabloid front pages, where he is often pictured with hisgirlfriend Coleen.

"The last few years have been brilliant for me andI'm very excited about bringing out my first book thisyear and all the other books that will follow," he saidin a statement.—MNA/Reuters

Syracuse Orange guard GerryMcNamara (3) and forward MattGorman (24) force Georgetown

Hoyas guard Ashanti Cook (R) to losethe ball late in the second half of theirBig East tournament semi-final game

in New York's Madison SquareGarden, on 10 March, 2006. Syracuse

won 58-57.—INTERNET

Third-seed Maria Sharapova, of Russia, returns toopponent Jamea Jackson, of the United States,duringaction at the Pacific Life Tennis Open in Indian Wells,

Calif, on 10 March, 2006.—INTERNET

China's Bai Lili (R) vies the ball with a player of theUnited States in the first round match of Group B atthe Algarve Cup 2006 held in the Algarve region ofPortugal on 9 March, 2006. The match ended with

a 0-0 draw.—INTERNET

Benfica’s Koeman confidentof beating Barcelona

LISBON, 11 March— Benfica's Dutch coach RonaldKoeman is confident his team can overcome favouritesBarcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals.

Koeman, who played for the Spanish club for sev-eral years, made his mark in Barca's history by scoringthe only goal in their only European Cup success whenthey beat Sampdoria in the 1992 final at Wembley.

"Barcelona are one of the favourites to win. Theyhave great players like Ronaldinho, (Samuel) Eto'oand Deco but I'm pleased to face them because I played(for) and coached them (as assistant manager) formany years," he said on Friday.

"I know the atmosphere at the Nou Camp with its100,000 seats is something special but I must remindpeople that we play the first leg at the Stadium of Lightwhere the climate is equally intense," Koeman addedon the Benfica website.

The Dutchman said his team will have to get a goodresult in the first leg to have a chance of reaching thesemifinals.

"When we play the first game at home we must keepour goal intact. From then on any result is good, evena 0-0 draw".—MNA/Reuters

Chelsea are 15 points clear ofUnited and well on course to re-tain the Premier League title butthey have lost one and drawn twoof their last six league games andgone out of the Champions Leagueto Barcelona. "We knew that theyweren't invincible because we beatthem (in November). It was notnecessary for the game againstBarcelona to know that," Queiroztold reporters.

"I hope that other teams in theleague start to believe that. I think,watching Chelsea play against acouple of teams especially in thelast four or five games, that thingsare starting to change. "Someteams are starting to believe thatthey can do something, althoughwe must also pay our respects

because they have got 72 points. "If you transfer the number of

points they have from the numberof games in all the different leaguesin Europe it is fantastic."

Queiroz believes United's pointstally puts them on a par with mostteams across Europe.

He attributes United's failure toget closer to Chelsea to an injurylist that at times this season hasdeprived the team of Paul Scholes,Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, GabrielHeinze, Louis Saha, Quinton For-tune and Roy Keane prior to hismove to Celtic.

Taking those problems intoaccount Queiroz believes Unitedcan still end the season on a highnote with the prospect of better tocome next season.—MNA/Reuters


*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 296115, Manager 296864, Circulation 297093, Advertisement 296843,Accounts 296545, Administration 296161, Production 297032 (Office) /297028 (Press).

Summary of observations recorded at 09:30

hours MST: During the past 24 hours, weather has

been generally fair in the whole country. Day tem-

peratures were (3°C) to (4°C) above normal in

Kachin, Shan and Chin States, Magway and

Ayeyawady Divisions, (5°C) above normal in Man-

dalay Division, (7°C) above normal in Taninthayi

Division and about normal in the remaining States

and Divisions. The significant day temperatures were

Monywa, Minbu, Magway, Aunglan and Pyay (40°C)

each.

Maximum temperature on 10-3-2006 was

100°F. Minimum temperature on 11-3-2006 was

68°F. Relative humidity at 09:30 hrs MST on

11-3-2006 was (80%). Total sunshine hours on

10-3-2006 was (8.0) hours approx.

Rainfalls on 11-3-2006 were nil at Mingaladon,

Kaba-Aye and central Yangon. Total rainfalls since

1-1-2006 were nil at Mingaladon, Kaba-Aye and cen-

tral Yangon. Maximum wind speed at Yangon (Kaba-

Aye) was (6) mph from Southwest at (15:30) hours

MST on 10-3-2006.

Bay inference: Weather is partly cloudy in

the North and West Central Bay and generally fair

elsewhere in the Bay of Bengal.

Forecast valid until evening of 12-3-2006:

Possibility of isolated light rain in Kachin, Chin and

Northern Shan States and upper Sagaing Division

and weather will be generally fair in the remaining

areas. Degree of certainty is (40%).

State of the sea: Seas will be slight to

moderate in Myanmar waters.

Outlook for subsequent two days:

Likelihood of slight increase of Day temperatures in

Central Myanmar areas.

Forecast for Pyinmana and neighbouring

area for 12-3-2006: Fair weather.

Forecast for Yangon and neighbouring area

for 12-3-2006: Fair weather.

Forecast for Mandalay and neighbouring

area for 12-3-2006: Fair weather.

Sunday, 12 MarchView on today

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-Story for children-Songs for children

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8:20 am 8. ?R<&$%&'(%)*?R<&$%&'(%)*?R<&$%&'(%)*?R<&$%&'(%)*?R<&$%&'(%)*

8:30 am 9. International news8:45 am10.Say it in English11:00 am 1. Martial song11:10 am 2. Musical programme11:25 am 3. Round up of the

week’s internationalnews

5:05 pm 6. Song of national races

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5:20 pm 8. Musical programme5:30 pm 9. Sing and enjoy

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7:40 pm17. Agricultural sources

country’s develop-ment

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23.The next day’sprogramme

Saturday, 11 March, 2006

BEIJING , 11 March — A total of 15,000 disabled orphans in China have received surgery andrehabilitation over the past two years, thanks to a programme launched by the Ministry of Civil Affairs(MCA).

15,000 disabled orphans receiverehabilitation treatments in China

The “Tomorrow Plan— Operations and Reha-bilitation for DisabledOrphans,” launched inMay 2004, has promotedmedical care for orphanssuffering from congenital

heart disease or lordosis. “By the end of June, it

is expected that 20,000disabled orphans willbenefit from the plan,”said Dou Yupei, the Vice-Minister with MCA.

“These efforts not onlybring health to the disa-bled orphans, but confi-dence towards life too,”said Dou.

The ministry plannedto raise a total of 600 mil-lion yuan (about 74 mil-lion US dollars) throughissuing welfare lotteries,government financial sup-port and public donationsto help disabled orphans.

In order to ensure these

children enjoy soundmedical treatment andservices, MCA also ap-pointed eight first-classhospitals to offer surgeryfor the kids.

Meanwhile, China hasabout 66,000 orphans andabandoned babies livingin various welfare organi-zations nationwide andabout half of them are dis-abled.

MNA/Xinhua

CARACAS, 11 March —Venezuela has com-plained to UN chief KofiAnnan about a UnitedStates report which dis-credited Venezuela’s ef-forts in curbing drug traf-ficking, local media re-ported on Friday.

Venezuela has pro-

vided a detailed accountof Venezuela’s anti-drugactions and the increasingquantity of drugs it hasseized, all of which, it said,challenged the credibilityof the US report.

The emphasis in thefight against drug traffick-ing should be placed oncountries which see widedrug use, such as theUnited States, it noted.

Data supplied by aVenezuelan mission hasindicated that some 9 percent of the US populationis addicted to drugs, it said.

MNA/Xinhua

Venezuela denies US chargeson handling of drug problems

In memory of late U Tint Hlaing, wife Daw Yee YeeKhin and family of No 33 (C) in Kyaikwaing Pa-

goda Road, Mayangon Township, Yangon, recentlydonated K 170,000 to Hninzigon Home for the Aged

through Joint-Treasurer U Maung Maung Gyi ofthe Administrative Board. — H

14th Waxing of Taboung 1367 ME Sunday, 12 March, 2006

I N S I D EThe Tatmadaw members are not only

safeguarding the life and property of the peo-ple but also participating in the national de-velopment tasks. Together with the people, theyare taking part in the construction of motorroads, railroads and bridges and buildingdams and reservoirs across the nation. Thishighlights an innate sense of the Tatmadawmembers, which is based on nationalist spiritand Union Spirit.PAGE 2 PERSPECTIVE

Senior General Than Shwebids farewell toDr APJ Abdul Kalam…

(from page 1)

Yangon International Airport. They were wel-

comed by Senior General Than Shwe and party.

Senior General Than Shwe presented a

documentary photo album on the State visit and

VCD as gifts to the Indian President.

Likewise, Indian President Dr APJ Abdul

Kalam presented books on the Republic of India

as gifts to Senior General Than Shwe.

Senior General Than Shwe and party bade

farewell to the Indian goodwill delegation at the

ramp of the special aircraft.

Next, Senior General Than Shwe shook

Senior General Than Shwe presents a

documentary photo album and VCD tape to

Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

MNA

Vice-Senior General Maung Aye bids

farewell to Indian President

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at the airport.

MNA

General Thura Shwe Mann bids farewell

to Indian President

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam at the airport.

MNA

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ��

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � ��

hands with the Indian President.

When the special aircraft carrying the

goodwill delegation led by President of the Re-

public of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam left Yangon

International Airport at 11 am, Senior General

Than Shwe and party waved them from the VIP

Lounge of the airport. — MNA

senior general than shwe bids farewell to dr apj abdul kalam

Documents