Development of Chaungtha, Shwe Thaung Yan2009/01/25 · Article: Maung Maung Htwe (MNA); Photos:...

Established 1914

Volume XVI, Number 282 15th Waning of Pyatho 1370 ME Sunday, 25 January, 2009

* Development of agriculture as the base and all-round development ofother sectors of the economy as well

* Proper evolution of the market-oriented economicsystem

* Development of the economy inviting participation in terms oftechnical know-how and investments from sources inside the coun-try and abroad

* The initiative to shape the national economy must be kept in the handsof 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, 24Jan – Maj-Gen Ko Ko ofthe Ministry of Defencetogether with Chairman ofAyeyawady DivisionPeace and DevelopmentCouncil Commander ofSouth-West CommandMaj-Gen Kyaw Swe andofficials inspected patientwards, medicine store andoperation theater atChaungtha Station Hos-pital in Chaungtha,Ayeyawady Division on21 January and presentedcash assistance to the pa-tients.

Next, they lookedinto preparations for con-struction of new schoolbuilding for Chaungtha

Development of Chaungtha, Shwe Thaung YanTownship Basic Educa-tion High School andlearning of school chil-dren, and met with teach-ers and members of theboard of trustees of theschool at the school. Theyalso visited No. 8 BasicEducation Primary Schoolin the township andChaungtha TownshipElectrical Engineer’s Of-fice.

On 22 January,Maj-Gen Ko Ko accom-panied by the com-mander and officials in-spected development ofChaungtha region andmet with departmentalofficials, members ofsocial organizations

and townselders at theoffice of township Gen-eral Administration De-partment in ShweThaung Yan.

At People’s Hos-pital in the township, Maj-Gen Ko Ko and party in-spected patient ward,medicine store and X-rayroom of the hospital andpresented cash assistanceto the patients.

Next, Maj-Gen KoKo heard reports on aca-demic matters presentedby Ayeyawady DivisionEducation Officer at town-ship BEHS and providedmatriculation studentswith cash assistance,teaching aids and blankets.

The commander and offi-cials presented blankets tothe students.

Afterwards, Maj-Gen Ko Ko gave instruc-tions on academic matters

to the students and lookedinto classrooms in theschool. – MNA

INSIDE

New way to produce hydrogenPENN STATE UNI-

VERSITY, 24 Jan — Scien-tists at Penn State Uni-versity and the VirginiaCommonwealth Univer-sity have discovered away to produce hydro-gen by exposing selectedclusters of aluminum at-oms to water. The find-

ings are important be-cause they demonstratethat it is the geometries ofthese aluminum clusters,rather than solely theirelectronic properties, thatgovern the proximity ofthe clusters' exposed ac-tive sites. The proximityof the clusters' exposedsites plays an importantrole in affecting the clus-ters' reactions with wa-ter.—Internet

Maj-Gen Ko Ko of the Ministry of Defence inspects learning of schoolchildren at Chaungtha Township BEHS. —MNA

The figure showsaluminum clusters

reacting with water toproduce hydrogen.

ILBC hiking and mountaineering team'svictory over ice-capped Mt. Phonganrazi

Article: Maung Maung Htwe (MNA); Photos: Thaung Myint (MNA)

Members of ILBC hiking and mountaineering team celebrate the victory at the peak of 11,860-foot-highice-covered Mt. Phonganrazi in Putao, Kachin State, on 1 January 2009. (See page 7)

PERSPECTIVES

Newly-constructed bridges on theAyeyawady River have generated smooth trans-port and there has been an increase in trade inthe regions on the east and west banks.Page 2

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 25 January, 2009

Sunday, 25 January, 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

Pakokku in Magway Division on the westbank of the Ayeyawady River is an economicallystrategic region. So, the government is fulfillingrequirements in various aspects for its all-rounddevelopment through the 24 Special RegionsDevelopment Project.

Newly-constructed bridges on the AyeyawadyRiver have generated smooth transport and therehas been an increase in trade in the regions on theeast and west banks.

Magway Division has a low rainfall, so it willsee an agricultural boom if it has access to sufficientirrigation water supply. Upon completion, manydam projects including multipurpose ones alongthe Mone Creek will make significant contributiontoward hydropower generation and agriculture ofthe region. Many small dams, lakes and riverwater pumping stations in Pakokku District havehelped increase its sown acreage of monsoon paddyto over 100,000 and summer paddy, to over 10,000.Moreover, the region is boosting cultivation ofedible oil crops and beans and pulses.

Over 500 State-owned and private-ownedfactories such as textile factories, dyeing andprinting factories, garment factories, Kyunchaungfertilizer plant, cigarette factory, tobacco blendingfactory and machine and machine tools factory inthe district have generated regional developmentand many job opportunities.

The government is exerting all possible meansin various sectors for all-round development of thewhole Union, thus bringing about regionaldevelopment and improving the living conditionsof the people.

It is, therefore, required to continue to workhard for completion of the ongoing projects aheadof schedule, operation of the factories at fullcapacity, and boosting production of modernmachines for greater development of the regionson the west bank of the Ayeyawady River.

Expedite development ofregions on west bank ofAyeyawady River

YANGON, 24 Jan—Organized by the Ministry ofReligious Affairs, the Basic English Proficiency CourseNo. 1, jointly conducted by the Department forPromotion and Propagation of the Sasana and MahaKaruna Buddhist Association of Singapore, concludedat the training hall of Pitakat Building on Kaba AyeHill, here, this afternoon.

Minister for Religious Affairs Brig-Gen ThuraMyint Maung delivered an opening address. Next,Minister Brig-Gen Thura Myint Maung, Adviser UArnt Manug, Director-General Dr Myo Myint of DPPSand Pro-Rector (Admin) Dr Myint Kyi of InternationalTheravada Buddhist Missionary University presentedcompletion certificates to the trainees and prizes tooutstanding trainees.

Afterwards, the opening ceremony of the basiccourse No. 2 followed. A total of 60 trainees areattending the course that will last six months.

MNA

YANGON, 24 Jan—A ceremony to concludethe Refresher Course No.1/2008 for ManagementStaff Grade-II was held atthe training school of

Refresher Course for Management StaffGrade-II concludes

General AdministrationDepartment inMingaladon Township,here, this morning.

In his address,Minister for Home Affairs

Maj-Gen Maung Oo urgedthe trainees to carry outtheir tasks with betterperformance by applyingthe experiences obtainedfrom the training course

and observe the conductrules of governmentservices.

The ministerawarded prizes to theoutstanding trainees andpresented completioncertificates to a traineerepresentative.

The course wasattended by 36 traineesfrom GAD (Head Office),States/Divisions, Districtsand Townships, and thecourse lasted six weeks.

MNA

YANGON, 24 Jan—TMC Educational Groupwill conduct thescholarship test forEnglish and Critical andAnalytic Thinking, atTraders Hotel, here,on 14 February(Wednesday) from 2 p.m.to 4 p.m.

S c h o l a r s h i pawarded winners will beawarded S$ 5,000 eachto attend the subject-

TMC’s scholarshipprogram under way

wise courses of 2009April intake.

TMC is a privatecollege of international,recognized by theRepublic of Singapore.Those who had passedthe matriculationexamination may attenddiploma and degreecourses at TMC but thegraduates may directlyenroll higher diplomacourse.

For internationallevel degrees conferredby universities ofAustralia, the USA andthe UK, diploma anddegree holders of TMCmay grasp jobopportunities.

The courses coverjournalism, masscommunications, publicrelations, accounting &finance, internationalbusiness management,international marketing,logistics management,

management, marketing,computing, E-business &E-commerce, multi-media, constructionmanagement & property,hospitality & tourism,English, GCE “O” leveland preparatory coursefor government schools.

Those wishing to

Minister Maj-Gen

Maung Oo presents

completion certificate

to a trainee.

MNA

Head of Mandalay Division Fire ServicesDepartment U Tin Min, Head of the TownshipFSD U Aung Thu and officials inspected firepreventative measures taken in Phonetawto

Ward, Aungmyethazan Township,Mandalay recently.—NLM

sit for the exam maycontact Asia PacificConsultancy Ltd (APC)at No. 67, D-1, Natmaukstreet on Po Sein Road,Bahan Township (Tel:01-554475, 549929,556617 and 0951-70688,up to 30 January.

MNA

Basic English ProficiencyCourse concludes

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Sunday, 25 January, 2009 3

US, Afghan villagers differ over 15killed in raid

Gunmen kill family of eight in Iraq

US soldier dieswhen vehicle

rolls over in IraqBAGHDAD, 24 Jan —

The US military says anAmerican soldier has diedin a vehicle accident inIraq.

A statement says theMulti-National Division— Centre soldier died onThursday when the vehi-cle rolled over.

The military says theaccident was not related tocombat and is under inves-tigation.

Friday’s statementdoesn’t identify the soldieror give more details aboutwhere the accident oc-curred. The soldier’s divi-sion operates in an areasouth of Baghdad.

The death raises to atleast 4,230 members of theUS military who have diedin the Iraq war since it be-gan in March 2003. That’saccording to an AssociatedPress count.—Internet

NATO friendly fire kills two civilians,wounds four more in S Afghanistan

KABUL, 24 Jan — Two civilians have been unin-tentionally killed with four more wounded byfriendly fire of the NATO-led International Secu-rity Assistance Force (ISAF) in southern Afghanprovince of Helmand, said ISAF statements receivedhere on Saturday.

A local man, who was suspected laying IEDs(Improvised Explosive Device) near an ISAF basein Gereshk district, was killed by ISAF forces onThursday, the statement said.

It added that an ISAF soldier killed the victimafter he ignored two warning shot and kept digging.

“ISAF broadcasts frequent public service an-nouncements and undertakes advertising campaignsto inform the local population of the need to followthe directions given by ISAF personnel. This is fortheir safety as well as for the safety of ISAF’s sol-diers,” it added.

In another incident in Sagin district, “a local manwas unintentionally killed and four others injuredin an incident on Wednesday when ISAF forcescame under attack from enemy fire and were forcedto act in self defence,” said the statement.

Internet

US military deaths in Afghanistanregion at 570

WASHINGTON, 24 Jan—As of Friday, 23 Jan, 2009, at least 570 members of theUS military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of theUS invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defence Department.The department last updated its figures Friday at 10 am EST.

Of those, the military reports 415 were killed by hostile action.Outside the Afghan region, the Defence Department reports 66 more members

of the US military died in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Of those, threewere the result of hostile action. The military lists these other locations asGuantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba; Djibouti; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Jordan; Kenya;Kyrgyzstan; Philippines; Seychelles; Sudan; Tajikistan; Turkey; and Yemen.

There were also four CIA officer deaths and one military civilian death.—Internet

KABUL, 24 Jan — TheUS coalition said on Sat-urday that an overnightraid killed 15 Talebanmilitants but villageelders who quicklytraveled to speak withgovernment officials saidthe dead were all civilians.

A detailed US state-ment said multiple teamsof militants fired on thecoalition forces during araid in the eastern prov-ince of Laghman, includ-ing a woman the US saidwas carrying a rocket-pro-pelled grenade.

“We know the people

who were killed wereshooting at us,” saidCol Greg Julian, the topUS spokesman inAfghanistan. “The peoplewho were killed todaywere running around,maneuvering against ourforces, and we killedthem.”

But Hamididan AbdulRahmzai, the head of theprovincial council inLaghman, said villageelders arrived at his officehours after the earlymorning operation tocomplain that the 15killed were innocent

civilians.During a call from an

Associated Press re-porter, Rahmzai relayedquestions to the villageelders directly, who an-grily shouted that theywould swear on theQuran, the Muslim holybook, that all those killedwere civilians. The eldersclaimed that women andchildren were among thedead.

The villagers toldRahmzai that they areshepherds and have noties to militants.

Internet BAGHDAD, 24 Jan — Gunmen killedeight members of a family, including sixwomen, and kidnapped two others in atense area northeast of Baghdad whereShiite militiamen still operate, officialssaid on Friday.

The ambush was a grisly example ofthe dangers still facing Iraqis as the newUS administration prepares to withdrawits troops.

The gunmen stormed the al-Karawifamily’s home late Thursday and shot theeight victims to death in their sleep, ac-cording to Brig Gen Abdul-Karim al-Rubaie, the head of the security headquar-ters for Diyala Province.

He initially said the dead included twowomen but later said there were six

women, including one who was only 16years old. The family was poor and hadmoved to the Maamil village a year ago towork at brick factories in the area, he said.

The US military said four men, fourwomen and one child died. Conflictingcasualty tolls are common in Iraq whereaccess is limited because of security con-cerns. Al-Rubaie declined to speculate onthe reason for the attack, saying it was stillunder investigation.

But Iraqi police officials contacted in thenearby town of Balad Ruz and the provin-cial capital of Baqouba gave conflictingmotives. One said it was a family disputewhile another blamed it on Shiite extrem-ists he said still wield influence in thearea.— Internet

The crime scene where Oaxaca’s former policedirector Aristeo Lopez was killed during a

shooting in Oaxaca, Mexico, on 23 Jan, 2009.INTERNET

Pakistani paramedics treat a victim of a missile attack in Bannu on 23 January. Sixmore bodies were recovered from the rubble of an Al-Qaeda den hit by a US missile,pushing the death toll in two separate strikes to 21, security officials have said.—INTERNET

Commercial airline pilots prepare for takeoff. Indian pilots have a new weapon to combat mid-flight fatigue: talking with their cabin crew.—INTERNET

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Economic downturn fails to dent festivities

A local resident shop for “festival necessities” for the upcoming ChineseLunar New Year at a supermarket in Beijing, on 23 Jan, 2009.—INTERNET

BEIJING, 24 Jan —Unlike in recent years,Beijinger Bai Meng didnot receive any bonusfrom her boss this year.

But the researcherwith an American-owned chemical firm inBeijing still said shewould spend the last daybefore the SpringFestival at one of thecapital’s largestsupermarkets andsplurge on ingredientsfor the traditional familyreunion feast on the eveof the Lunar New Yearon Sunday.

The dinner on theSpring Festival eve is veryimportant for every familymember, and I will shopand prepare it myself thisyear,” Bai, 26, told ChinaDaily on Friday.

“I didn’t get the bonusthis year because of theglobal financial crisis, andthat’s why we decided notto celebrate in arestaurant,” she said.

From supermarkets toshopping malls,Beijingers like Bai arebusy with last-minutepreparations to celebrateSpring Festival, even as

the global financial crisisand job security loomedlarge with the ushering inof the Year of the Ox.Shops displayed redlanterns and ox-motifpaper-cuts as customarydecorations of joy andhope.

“We gave a 70 percentdiscount on some productsand arranged variousentertainment shows in themall to attract youngershoppers,” said amarketing manager at JoyCity in Xicheng district,one of Beijing’s mainshopping areas.—Internet

Hamas says it’s back incontrol of the Gaza Strip

WWII bombs found inUS Embassy compound

in ManilaMANILA, 24 Jan — Construction workers

accidentally unearthed about 100 bombs from WorldWar II in the US Embassy compound in the Philippinecapital, but the explosives posed no immediate danger,police said on Saturday.

The heavily corroded mortar bombs and artilleryshells will be taken to an aerial bombing range in thenorthern Philippines for disposal, police SeniorSuperintendent Pablo Francisco Balagtas said.

It was not immediately clear if the ordinance wasAmerican or Japanese, Balatagas said.

US Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompsonsaid workers found the bombs Friday as they weredigging the foundations for new visa and veterans’facilities at the seaside embassy. Workers and staffwere immediately evacuated as a safety precautionwhile the police bomb squad removed the explosives,Thompson said.

Normal embassy operations resumed Saturday, shesaid.Manila was the scene of heavy fighting betweenUS and Japanese forces during the liberation of thePhilippines in 1945, and war-era explosives are oftenfound in the city.—Internet

Chilean private mining companiescriticized for firing 14,000 workers

Members of a police bomb squad handle a corrodedWorld War II bomb on 24 Jan, 2009 in Manila forproper disposal. Construction workers unearthedabout 100 pieces of heavily corroded artillery shellsand mortars found inside the US embassy compound where a construction is going on.—INTERNET

GAZA CITY, 24 Jan —Bearded Hamas activistson Friday delivered anenvelope with five crisp$100 bills to a veiledwoman whose house wasdamaged during Israel’sinvasion of Gaza, the firstof promised reliefpayments by the militantgroup.In another part ofthe territory, a bulldozercleared rubble and filledin a bomb crater where aweek before a top Hamasleader had been killed inan Israeli air strike.

Since a truce took holdthis week, ending Israel’sthree-week onslaught,Gaza’s Hamas rulers havedeclared victory and goneout of their way to showthey are in control.

They have pledged $52

million of the group’sfunds to help repair lives,the money divied up bycategory. The veiledwoman receivedemergency relief moneyfor her two-story home inthe northern town of BeitLahiya.

Hamas, which isbelieved to be funded bydonations from theMuslim world and Iran,said the emergency reliefwould include $1,300 fora death in the family, $650for an injury, $5,200 for adestroyed house and$2,600 for a damagedhouse.

More than 4,000 houseswere destroyed and about20,000 damaged,according to independentestimates.—Internet

Two dead, seven injured in northwestMiami shooting

SANTIAGO, 24 Jan —Chilean private miningcompanies were criticizedby the country’s labourunion for having laid offmore than 14,000 workerssince 2008, local mediareported on Friday.

President of the CentralUnion of Workers in ChileArturo Martinez said thatsuch move “is a companypolicy to make the

employees pay for thefinancial crisis.”

“The businessmenthink of themselves morethan their workers, thoughthey have earned a lot ofmoney at the good pricesof the copper,” Martinezsaid. The recent massivedismissal was done by themultinational companyBHP Billition, controllingthe Escondida Mine,

which fired 2,000 workersthis week, allegedly forthe low prices of thecopper.—Internet

Rescue workers work in front of the childcarecentre in Dendermonde, 30 km north of Brussels.

A 20-year-old Belgian man armed with a longknife and wearing face paint killed two infants

and an adult in a rampage at a creche on Friday,officials said.—INTERNET

MIAMI, 24 Jan — Twopeople were killed andseven injured during ashooting Friday night in a

residential area innorthwest Miami,authorities said.

At least one of the

wounded was in criticalcondition at a hospital,police spokeswomanKenia Alfonso said.Authorities didn’t haveanyone in custody anddidn’t know how manypeople were involved orwhat prompted theshooting outside a store inLiberty City.“We havesomeone out there that isarmed, it is a dangeroussituation,” Alfonso said.

When paramedicsarrived, many of those whohad been shot were lyingin the street. Lt IgnatiusCarroll with Miami FireRescue said the scene waschaotic.—Internet

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The crew members of the Chinese cargo ship Zhenhua 4 and guests pose forcameras during a commendation ceremony at Changxing Island Port in

Shanghai, east China, on 23 Jan, 2009. Shanghai Zhenhua Port MachineryCo Ltd held a commendation ceremony here on Friday, and rewarded 30 ofits seamen with 10,000 US dollars each for their bravery and courage. Ninepirates armed with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns boarded the

ship in the Gulf of Aden on 17 Dec. —XINHUA

Asia braces for tough tourism year

Two actors attend thefull dress rehearsal of

the Republic Dayparade in New Delhi,capital of India, on

23 Jan, 2009.XINHUA

Railway policemenperform for travelerson a train on 23 Jan,

2009. An eveningparty was held on

board to celebrate theupcoming Spring

Festival withtravelers.—XINHUA

Brazil’s Petrobras to invest $174.4 bln by 2013

BEIJING, 24 Jan —Across Asia, hotels, air-lines and tourism opera-tors are bracing for an-other tough year as the fi-nancial crisis sees long-haul visitors remain athome, and regionaltravelers tighten purse-strings with shorter,budget trips.

“There’ll definitely bea drop in business, fewertourists is a reality,” saidLaurence Lai, the ownerof photo galleries locatedin two of Hong Kong’sbusiest tourist hotspots in-cluding the Star Ferrypier.

“I expect a 30-percentfall at least. I’m having toshift my strategies to con-front this financial tsu-nami, but you just have tostand firm and face thewinds,” added Lai, whorelies on tourists for halfhis sales.

Asia’s blend of diversecultures, geography, bar-gains and exoticism, withtravel gems ranging fromsnowy Himalayan king-doms to neon-lit capitals,crumbling Khmer ruinsand powdery beaches -have made it one of theworld’s fastest growingtourism regions in recent

years, along with the Mid-dle East.

But since the downturnintensified last year, travelmarkets spanning Asiahave suffered sharp con-tractions, at times wors-ened by political turmoil,with many projectingnegative growth in 2009.

Hong Kong, now oneof Asia’s top tourist hubswith 29.5 million visitorslast year, is predictingvisitor arrivals to dip 1.6percent in 2009, though asteeper drop of 9.2 per-cent is forecast for non-Chinese visitors.

Xinhua

Lebanese de-mining worker woundedby war-left cluster bomb

BEIRUT, 24 Jan. — A member of the Lebanese de-mining team Mine Action Group (MAG) was woundedFriday in south Lebanon when a cluster bomb left overfrom the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war went off, the state-run National news agency reported.

Ali Mrad was wounded when one of the clusterbombs exploded near the southern town of Arabsalim,and was taken to Nabatieh hospital, the report said.

Many areas in south Lebanon are littered withunexploded cluster bombs dropped by Israel.

Over 285 cluster bomb locations are present acrosssouth Lebanon, according to a UN mine action spokes-woman. — Xinhua

RIO DE JANEIRO, 24Jan— Brazil’s stateowned oil and gas giantPetrobras on Friday an-nounced its 2009-2013business plan which fore-sees a total investment of174.4 billion US dollars,up 55 percent from the2008-2012 plan.

The plan’s publicationhas been postponed sev-eral times since Septem-ber, as the company saidit needed to be reviewedtaking into considerationthe international financialcrisis and its effects on theoil market.

According to the plan,90 percent of the total in-vestment, or 157.3 billiondollars, will be used inprojects at home.

The figures were cal-culated based on an aver-age oil price of 42 dollarsper barrel.

Petrobas will invest 92billion dollars on explo-ration and production, up71 percent from the pre-vious plan. A total of 28billion dollars will be in-jected into pre-salt layeroil field projects.

Petrobras’ CEO JoseSergio Gabrielli said the

plan was sound and vi-able in both short andlong terms, though the ac-tual amount of the invest-ment envisioned in theplan may be lower, withcosts expected to dropbecause of the falling oilprices.

The company aims toproduce 3.3 million bar-rels of oil equivalent(boe) per day by 2013,up 37.5 percent from cur-rent production. By2020, it expects to pro-duce a daily total of 5.7million boe.

Xinhua

China’s private airlineresumes flights

TIANJIN, 24 Jan — China’s first private airline, OkayAirways, resumes operation Saturday morning aftersuspension of seven weeks.

Its first plane, a Boeing 737-800, took off at 9:00am from Tianjin Binhai International Airport, carry-ing 62 passengers to Harbin.

The flight, coded BK2821, is set to make a landingat 10:50 am. Six other flights will also be resumedSaturday. —Xinhua

Air taxi service tobegin operation

in NepalKATHMANDU, 24 Jan —

The operation of air taxithrough single engine air-craft is to begin in Nepalfor the first time with theobjective of ensuring am-ple flight services in re-mote areas at lower price,the National NewsAgency RSS reported onSaturday.

According to the RSS,the air taxi service wasbrought to operation in thecontext that charteredflight could only be oper-ated through single engineaircraft and was difficultto run scheduled flightservice, and the govern-ment allowed the marketto determine charteredflight fare on competition,according to Ministry ofTourism and Civil Avia-tion.—Xinhua

All item from Xinhua News Agency

California jobless rate rockets to 9.3%LOS ANGELES, 24 Jan — California’s unemployment

rate jumped to 9.3 per cent in December last year, upfrom 8.4 per cent in November, it was announced onFriday. The December unemployment rate was thehighest in 15 years, highlighting the severity of theeconomic slowdown, the California EmploymentDevelopment Department (EDD) said.

In the Los Angeles County, the jobless rate was 9.5per cent. The department said the rising unemploymentrates were due to lackluster holiday sales, continuedhome value declines and a heightened tempo of layoffsat companies across all sectors of the economy.

Xinhua

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NEWS ALBUM

A woman (L) receives a piece of atraditional “Rosca de Reyes”, a

large ring-shaped cake baked forEpiphany, in Mexico City. Thebiggest “rosca de Reyes” of theworld, of 1978 metres of length, was distributed among 250,000people at the Zocalo square in

Mexico City.

Farmer Wu Yulu drives hisrickshaw pulled by his self-madewalking robot near his home in avillage at the outskirts of Beijing.This robot is the latest and largest

development of hobby inventor Wu,who started to build robots in 1986with wire, metal, screws and nails

found in rubbish sites.

A woman makes ox lanterns towelcome the Year of the OX inKuisan village, East China’s

Shandong Province.

Test-tube babies accountfor 2.5% of Dutch

new borns More than 2.5 percent of babiesborn in the Netherlands in 2007 werethe results of in vitro fertilization(IVF), Dutch daily De Volkskrant re-ported. The percentage translates to one in39 babies, which was much higher thanthe figure in 1996, when one in 11,000babies conceived from a test tube. The Netherlands has 13 IVF unitswhich carry out over 16,000 treat-ments a year, the report said. About aquarter of treatments led to a live birth,up from the success ratio of 18 per-cent in 1996.

Newspaper claims car thieftransformed into a goat

One of Nigeria’s biggest daily news-papers reported that police implicated agoat in an attempted automobile theft.In a front-page article on Friday, the Van-guard newspaper said that two men triedto steal a Mazda car two days earlier inKwara State, with one suspect transform-ing himself into a goat as vigilantes cor-nered him.

The paper quoted police spokesmanTunde Mohammed as saying that whileone suspect escaped, the other trans-formed into a goat as he was about to beapprehended.

The newspaper reported that policeparaded the goat before journalists, andpublished a picture of the animal.

Police in the state couldn’t immedi-ately be reached for comment.

Belief in black magic is widespreadin Nigeria, particularly in far-flung ruralareas.

Man charged with driving with worker on car hood A man is facing assault charges after

deputies said he hit a state transporta-tion worker and continued driving sev-eral miles while the man clung to thehood of the car. Marin County prosecu-tors charged 73-year-old Peter Buchananwith assault with a deadly weapon, reck-less driving and hit-and-run driving .

Authorities say Buchanan, an attor-ney, was returning to his office on 27Dec when he drove through a line ofcones in Mill Valley and hit DavidRamsey, a member of a Caltrans crew.

To avoid getting run over, authori-ties say Ramsey jumped on the hoodof the Mercedes. But Buchananallegedly continued driving, headingnorth on Highway 101 at speeds of 40mph.

Authorities said Ramsey was able tojump off after two drivers blockedBuchanan’s car when it exited the high-way. Ramsey was not hurt.

Ban welcomes US decision to closeGuantanamo Bay

UNITED NATIONS, 24 Jan — UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Friday welcomedthe decision by US President Barack Obama to begin the process of closing thedetention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Ban also hailed the new US leader’s orders to review detention policies andintroduce measures to ensure lawful interrogations, as well as the US administration’sban on certain types of interrogation.

“The United Nations has previously called for the closure of the GuantanamoBay detention facility, and is encouraged that President Obama has given thehighest priority to ensuring respect for fundamental rights,” Ban said in a statement,issued here by his spokesperson. The UN Secretary-General also said he looksforward to working with all UN member states to tackle terrorism “while fullyrespecting international human rights obligations”.—Internet

New Middle East envoy to visit region soon

A man carries a tray of meat dumplings at a village hall in Daxing, south of Beijing,on 24 Jan, 2009. Villagers gathered Saturday to make thousands of meat dumplingsin preparation for a feast to celebrate Chinese New Year, which begins on Monday.Dumplings are a traditional food eaten to celebrate the New Year.—INTERNET

WASHINGTON, 24 Jan —Middle East special envoyGeorge Mitchell could betraveling to the region asearly as next week, twoObama administration of-ficials said.

The schedule is still be-ing planned, but initialstops include Jerusalem;Ramallah, West Bank;Cairo, Egypt; Amman,Jordan; and possibly SaudiArabia as well as Europe.

President BarackObama on Thursday

named Mitchell as his spe-cial envoy to the region.

Obama said Mitchellwill help implement acease-fire between Israelisand Hamas and supportanti-smuggling efforts toprevent the latter from re-arming.

But he added, “Lastingpeace requires more thana long cease-fire, and that’swhy I will sustain an ac-tive commitment to seektwo states living side byside in peace and security.”

After he was officiallynamed an envoy at a StateDepartment ceremonyThursday, Mitchell said, “Idon’t underestimate thedifficulty of this assign-ment.”

“The situation in theMiddle East is volatile,complex and dangerous.But the president and thesecretary of state havemade it clear that dangerand difficulty cannot causethe United States to turnaway,” he said. —Internet

LONDON, 24 Jan — A Britishcomputer expert accused by the UnitedStates of the “biggest military hack ofall time” won the right on Friday tolaunch a new legal challenge againstplans to extradite him.

Gary McKinnon was arrested in2002 after US prosecutors charged himwith illegally accessing computers,including the Pentagon, US Army, Navyand NASA systems, and causing 700,000US dollars worth of damage.

He has been fighting attempts toextradite him ever since a British courtruled in 2006 that he should be sent tothe United States for trial. In the latest

round of his legal battle, two judges atLondon’s High Court ruled that he couldseek a judicial review of Home Secretary(Interior Minister) Jacqui Smith’sdecision to approve the extradition, thePress Association reported.

Lawyers for McKinnon, who hasbeen diagnosed with Asperger’sSyndrome, argued his health would sufferand he would be at real risk of suicide ifhe was handed over to US authorities.

“It is the right decision,” his lawyerKaren Todner said after Friday’s ruling.“This case has been going on since 2002and finally we have got the first rightdecision.” —Internet

UK Pentagon hacker can challengeUS extradition

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM6


(from page 1)Members of Inter-

national Language &Business Centre (ILBC)hiking and mountaineer-ing team led by principalU Lay Maung started toclimb ice-capped Mt.Phonganrazi in PutaoTownship, Kachin State,at 5.30 a.m. on 1 January2009.

The ages of themembers ranged be-tween 14 and 16. Theteam comprised 39 mem-bers including 21 stu-dents and the principal.

They set their feet

ILBC hiking and mountaineering team'svictory over ice-capped Mt. Phonganrazi

YANGON, 24 Jan –Chairman of Yangon CityDevelopment CommitteeMayor Brig-Gen AungThein Lin inspected up-grading of 1240-foot longand 18-foot wideShwetaunggya Road atShwetaunggya Ward-2 in

Yangon Mayor inspects upgrading ofroad and pavement

Bahan Township and lay-ing of concrete along four-foot wide pavement ofInnya Road between Uni-versity Avenue and PyayRoad in Kamaryut Town-ship this morning. Head ofEngineering Department(Road and Bridge) U Bo

Htay and in-charge engi-neers conducted the mayorround the workplaces.

The mayor stressedthe need to make sustainedefforts on upgrading ofroads and pavements andattended to the needs.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 24Jan – Member of NationalDisaster PreparednessCentral Committee Min-ister for Mines Brig-GenOhn Myint inspected con-struction of two-storeybasic education post-pri-mary school inThayachaung Village inHainggyikyun, Ayeya-wady Division, repair of

Regional development inHainggyikyun inspected

rural road and thrivingvegetable plantation ofPyinkharei Village policestation on 21 January. The minister also in-spected the site chosen forconstruction of two cy-clone shelters each ofwhich can accommodate500 people, earth surveyand ground leveling withthe use of heavy machin-ery. Next the ministerlooked into constructionof two storey basic educa-tion primary school inThabyengu Village andmet with village people.The minister went toChaungwa village basic

education high school andinspected construction oftwo-storey school build-ing by Shwe Thanlwin Co.In the afternoon, he metlocal salt-makers inKondan Village and wentto Kanyinchaung Villagebasic education middleschool (branch) where heinspected construction ofnew school building. The minister and partyinspected salt farm of UThein Tun of MayangwinVillage-tract. They in-spected environmentalconservation and fisher-ies and met members ofmobile rural developmenteducative team.—MNA

SAY NO TO DRUGS


Members seen on their way to the peak of Mt. Phonganrazi.

Members passing through an icy stream.

on the ice-capped peak ofthe 11860-foot-high moun-tain at 9 a.m. the same day.When they reached the topof the mountain, they wereall exhausted, but theirtiredness was no more justas they erected the StateFlag of the Union ofMyanmar there to celebratetheir victory.

They set out theirtrip on 27 December 2008.They left Yangon by airfor Putao. They got to up-per Shangaung Village at4.30 p.m. and stopped forthe night there.

At 7.30 a.m. the fol-

lowing day, they begantheir hike and they arrivedat Wah-hsamden Villageat 4.30 p.m. and spent thenight there. During theirlong range penetration(LPR), they climbed MtHsalaing Marden with aheight of over 5000 feet.

On 29 December,they left Wah-hsamdenVillage and arrived atZiyaden Village at 3 p.m.and it was the last village.

They departed fromlower Thitpingyi camp at8.30 a.m. on 31 December.They got to KhamtaukRiver camp, then to Yaykhesut point at 4 p.m.

The New Year Dayof 2009 became one of thedays of happy memories intheir lives. They left theYaykhesut gathering pointat 5.30 a.m. and climbedMt. Phonganrazi. Afterreaching the peak, they re-turned to the Yaykhesutgathering point. When theygot back to lowerThitpingyi camp, it was at9.30 p.m. They had to take14 hours to complete theclimbing of Mt.Phonganrazi.

They left Thitpingyicamp for Ziyadem Villageon 2 January, and for Wah-hsamden Village on 3 Janu-ary, and for upperShangaung Village the fol-lowing day. They got backto Putao in the evening.

In total, the mem-bers hiked 86 miles duringthe two-week trip from 27December to 9 January2009.

The team has aplan to climb many otherhigh mountains. In myopinion, the youth of to-

day should study thegeographical featuresof the nation not onlytheoretically but alsopractically. It is be-cause the more theyknow the geographyand national races oftheir motherland themore they will cometo love and cherishtheir country andpeople.

*****Translation: MS

Myanma Alin: 21-1-2009

Mayor Brig-Gen

Aung Thein Lin

inspects roadworks

on Shwetaunggya

road in Bahan

Township.—YCDC

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM7


NAY PYI TAW, 24Jan—A coordinationmeeting on im-plementation of Medium-term Action Plan-2 was

NAY PYI TAW, 24 Jan –Minister for Forestry Brig-Gen Thein Aung visitedwood-based factory ofMyanma TechnologiesIndustry Co Ltd (MTI) inDagon East Industrial

Wood-based factories produce exportquality sawn timber, parquet

Zone yesterday. The minister fulfilledthe requirementspresented by officialsconcerned. He inspectedproduction of exportquality thin layer of teak

and sawn timber. The minister went toShwethanthahein Co andinspected production ofanti-slip parquet and sawntimber that areexported.—MNA

Coord meeting, signing contract ofMedium-Term Action Plan-2 held

held in conjunction with aceremony to sign acontract between theMinistry of Forestry andInternational Center forIntegrated MountainDevelopment (ICIMOD),at Kyun Shwe War Hallof the ministry, here, thismorning.

It was attended byDirector-General Dr.Andreas Schild ofICIMOD and Directors-General of the Ministryof Forestry, Rector ofUniversity of Forestry,Deputy Director-Generaland responsible persons.

Next, Director-General U San Lwin ofthe Planning and

Statistics Departmentunder the ministry andDirector-General Dr.Andreas Schild ofICIMOD signed theMoU to implement themedium-term actionplan-2.

The ICIMOD is anorganization that providestechnology, assistance andadvice to conductresearch, geographicalinformation by computer,map drawing system,workshop and training forprofessionals from therespective departmentsand students of theUniversity of Forestry andUniversity of Agriculture.

MNA

Myanma Fine Arts and TheatricalDrama discussed

Signingceremony of

Medium-Term ActionPlan (MTAP)

II betweenMinistry of

Forestry andInternationalCentre ForIntegratedMountain

Development(ICIMOD) in

progress.FORESTRY

YANGON, 24 Jan—The 53rd blood donationceremony of Myittamon blood donors associationof Shine Hope Co in Sangyoung Township washeld at No. 1 Defence Services General Hospital(1000-bed) in Mingaladon Township thismorning.

On behalf of the commandant of thehospital, Head of Pathology DepartmentPathologist Lt-Col Daw Tin Moe Mya gave aspeech. Daw Nyunt Nyunt Wai of Shine Hope Coexplained the purpose of donation. PathologistCaptain Aung Ko Than explained disciplines forthe blood donors.

Lt-Col Daw Tin Moe Mya accepted K300,000 for the hospital and K 100,000 for thePathology department donated by Shine Hope Coand spoke words of thanks.

Officials viewed blood donation of 50donors from the association.

A total of 20 persons from the associationalso donated blood at No. 1 Defence ServicesObstetrics and Gynaecology and Children’sHospital (300-bed) and 30 persons at DefenceServices Orthopaedic Specialist Hospital(500-bed).

MNA

Blood donated tomilitary hospitals

NAY PYI TAW, 24Jan—Organized by theMinistry of Culture, thePaper-reading Session onMyanma Fine Arts andTheatrical Drama washeld at the hall of theministry, here, today,with an introductoryspeech by Director-General U Yan Naing Ooof the Fine ArtsDepartment.

A l t e r n a t eChairmen of the sessionVice-Chairman ofMyanmar ThabinAsiayon U Ye Dway,member of Myanmar

Historical Commission DrKhin Maung Nyunt andmember of MyanmarLanguage Commission UMyint Kyi presided overthe paper reading session.

P r o f e s s o r(Theatrical Drama) DawNu Nu Khin of NationalCulture and Fine ArtsUniversity (Mandalay),Deputy Director U SuAung of Fine ArtsDepartment (MandalayBranch), Staff OfficerDaw Chaw Su Su Kyi ofFine Arts Department,Research Officer UMaung Maung Latt of

Director-General U Yan Naing Oo extends greetings at paper reading sessions.MNA

Fine Arts Department,Expert in YamayanaDrama U Ohn Maung(Pyinnya Alinpya) andDirector (Retd) U AungThwin of Fine ArtsDepartment submittedtheir papers to thesession.

Vice-Chairman ofMyanmar ThabinAsiayon U Ye Dway,member of MyanmarHistorical CommissionDr Khin Maung Nyunt,member of MyanmarLanguage CommissionU Myint Kyi, Director-General U Sann Win of

Archaeology, NationalMuseum and LibraryDepartment, Director-General U Yan Naing Ooof Fine Arts Department,Director-General Dr BaMaung of HistoricalResearch Department,Deputy Director-GeneralU Sein Win of ANMLD(North), Principal U TheinLwin of ArchaeologicalTechnology TrainingSchool, guests andresearchers took part inthe discussions. Theresource persons repliedto the queries of thosepresent.—MNA

All this needs to be known

* Do not be frightened whenever

intimidated

* Do not be bolstered whenever flat-

tered

* Do not be softened whenever appeased

NAY PYI TAW, 24Jan—A coordinationmeeting on im-plementation of Medium-term Action Plan-2 was

NAY PYI TAW, 24 Jan –Minister for Forestry Brig-Gen Thein Aung visitedwood-based factory ofMyanma TechnologiesIndustry Co Ltd (MTI) inDagon East Industrial

Wood-based factories produce exportquality sawn timber, parquet

Zone yesterday. The minister fulfilledthe requirementspresented by officialsconcerned. He inspectedproduction of exportquality thin layer of teak

and sawn timber. The minister went toShwethanthahein Co andinspected production ofanti-slip parquet and sawntimber that areexported.—MNA

Coord meeting, signing contract ofMedium-Term Action Plan-2 held

held in conjunction with aceremony to sign acontract between theMinistry of Forestry andInternational Center forIntegrated MountainDevelopment (ICIMOD),at Kyun Shwe War Hallof the ministry, here, thismorning.

It was attended byDirector-General Dr.Andreas Schild ofICIMOD and Directors-General of the Ministryof Forestry, Rector ofUniversity of Forestry,Deputy Director-Generaland responsible persons.

Next, Director-General U San Lwin ofthe Planning and

Statistics Departmentunder the ministry andDirector-General Dr.Andreas Schild ofICIMOD signed theMoU to implement themedium-term actionplan-2.

The ICIMOD is anorganization that providestechnology, assistance andadvice to conductresearch, geographicalinformation by computer,map drawing system,workshop and training forprofessionals from therespective departmentsand students of theUniversity of Forestry andUniversity of Agriculture.

MNA

Myanma Fine Arts and TheatricalDrama discussed

Signingceremony of

Medium-Term ActionPlan (MTAP)

II betweenMinistry of

Forestry andInternationalCentre ForIntegratedMountain

Development(ICIMOD) in

progress.FORESTRY

YANGON, 24 Jan—The 53rd blood donationceremony of Myittamon blood donors associationof Shine Hope Co in Sangyoung Township washeld at No. 1 Defence Services General Hospital(1000-bed) in Mingaladon Township thismorning.

On behalf of the commandant of thehospital, Head of Pathology DepartmentPathologist Lt-Col Daw Tin Moe Mya gave aspeech. Daw Nyunt Nyunt Wai of Shine Hope Coexplained the purpose of donation. PathologistCaptain Aung Ko Than explained disciplines forthe blood donors.

Lt-Col Daw Tin Moe Mya accepted K300,000 for the hospital and K 100,000 for thePathology department donated by Shine Hope Coand spoke words of thanks.

Officials viewed blood donation of 50donors from the association.

A total of 20 persons from the associationalso donated blood at No. 1 Defence ServicesObstetrics and Gynaecology and Children’sHospital (300-bed) and 30 persons at DefenceServices Orthopaedic Specialist Hospital(500-bed).

MNA

Blood donated tomilitary hospitals

NAY PYI TAW, 24Jan—Organized by theMinistry of Culture, thePaper-reading Session onMyanma Fine Arts andTheatrical Drama washeld at the hall of theministry, here, today,with an introductoryspeech by Director-General U Yan Naing Ooof the Fine ArtsDepartment.

A l t e r n a t eChairmen of the sessionVice-Chairman ofMyanmar ThabinAsiayon U Ye Dway,member of Myanmar

Historical Commission DrKhin Maung Nyunt andmember of MyanmarLanguage Commission UMyint Kyi presided overthe paper reading session.

P r o f e s s o r(Theatrical Drama) DawNu Nu Khin of NationalCulture and Fine ArtsUniversity (Mandalay),Deputy Director U SuAung of Fine ArtsDepartment (MandalayBranch), Staff OfficerDaw Chaw Su Su Kyi ofFine Arts Department,Research Officer UMaung Maung Latt of

Director-General U Yan Naing Oo extends greetings at paper reading sessions.MNA

Fine Arts Department,Expert in YamayanaDrama U Ohn Maung(Pyinnya Alinpya) andDirector (Retd) U AungThwin of Fine ArtsDepartment submittedtheir papers to thesession.

Vice-Chairman ofMyanmar ThabinAsiayon U Ye Dway,member of MyanmarHistorical CommissionDr Khin Maung Nyunt,member of MyanmarLanguage CommissionU Myint Kyi, Director-General U Sann Win of

Archaeology, NationalMuseum and LibraryDepartment, Director-General U Yan Naing Ooof Fine Arts Department,Director-General Dr BaMaung of HistoricalResearch Department,Deputy Director-GeneralU Sein Win of ANMLD(North), Principal U TheinLwin of ArchaeologicalTechnology TrainingSchool, guests andresearchers took part inthe discussions. Theresource persons repliedto the queries of thosepresent.—MNA

All this needs to be known

* Do not be frightened whenever

intimidated

* Do not be bolstered whenever flat-

tered

* Do not be softened whenever appeased

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM8


YANGON, 24 Jan—Trainees of four-year B.EdCourse No. 40 of the University for DevelopmentNational Races on 21 January observed YeywaHydropower Project being implement by No. (2)Construction of the Hydropower Department underthe Ministry of Electric Power No. 1 in MandalayDivision.

The following day, they visited the Myanmar

UDNR trainees go on excursion to Mandalay DivInstitute of Lacquerware, Lacquer Museum, LacquerHall, and Lacquer Shop of the Cottage IndustriesDepartment under the Ministry of Cooperatives, andMt. Popa in Kyaukpadaung Township, MyingyanDistrict.

Yesterday, they visited Kyetmauktaung Dam ofthe Irrigation Department under the Ministry ofAgriculture and Irrigation, the Central Institute of

Transport and Communications under the Ministry ofRail Transportation, Cement Plant in Kyaukse IndustrialZone, the bicycle factory under the Myanma Generaland Maintenance Industries, and the vest factory underthe Myanma Textile Industries.

During their three-day excursion, they wereaccompanied by Pro-Rector (Academic) U Htay Lwinand faculty members.— MNA

Trainees of four-year B.Ed Course No. 40 of UDNR visit Yeywa Hydropower Project site of Hydropower Department under Ministry of ElectricPower No. 1 in Mandalay Division. —MNA

BERKELEY, 24 Jan — Not only has the averageglobal temperature increased in the past 50 years, butthe hottest day of the year has shifted nearly two daysearlier, according to a new study by scientists from theUniversity of California, Berkeley, and HarvardUniversity.

Just as human-generated greenhouse gasesappear to the be the cause of global warming, humanactivity may also be the cause of the shift in the cycleof seasons, according to Alexander R. Stine, a graduatestudent in UC Berkeley's Department of Earth andPlanetary Science and first author of the report."We see 100 years where there is a very natural patternof variability, and then we see a large departure fromthat pattern at the same time as global mean temperaturesstart increasing, which makes us suspect that there's ahuman role here," he said.—Internet

HOBART, 24 Jan — A four-week expeditionto explore the deep ocean south-west of Tasmaniahas revealed new species of animals and moreevidence of impacts of increasing carbon dioxideon deep-sea corals.

The collaborative voyage of US andAustralian researchers was led by chief scientistsDr Jess Adkins from the California Institute ofTechnology and Dr Ron Thresher from CSIRO’sClimate Adaptation and Wealth from OceansFlagships.

“We set out to search for life deeper than anyprevious voyage in Australian waters,” Dr Threshersays. “We also gathered data to assess the threatposed by ocean acidification and climate change onAustralia’s unique deep-water coral reefs.”

The survey through the Tasman FractureCommonwealth Marine Reserve, south-west ofTasmania, explored the near vertical slice in theearth’s crust, known as the Tasman Fracture Zone,which drops from approximately 2000 metres toover 4000 metres.

“Our sampling documented the deepestknown Australian fauna, including a bizarrecarnivorous sea squirt, sea spiders and giant

SCIENCE DAILY, 24 Jan — The association betweentobacco smoke and cancer deaths — beyond lungcancer deaths — has been strengthened by a recentstudy from a UC Davis researcher, suggesting thatincreased tobacco control efforts could save morelives than previously estimated. The epidemiological analysis linked smoking tomore than 70 percent of the cancer death burdenamong Massachusetts men in 2003. This percentageis much higher than the previous estimate of 34percent in 2001. “This study provides support for the growingunderstanding among researchers that smoking is acause of many more cancer deaths besides lungcancer,” said lead author Bruce Leistikow, a UCDavis associate adjunct professor of public healthsciences. “The full impacts of tobacco smoke,including secondhand smoke, have been overlookedin the rush to examine such potential cancer factors asdiet and environmental contaminants. As it turns out,much of the answer was probably smoking allalong.”—Internet

Smoking linked to mostmale cancer deaths

A new analysis linked smoking to more than70 percent of the cancer death burden among

Massachusetts men in 2003. This percentage ismuch higher than the previous estimate of

34 percent in 2001.

All Earth's seasons arrivetwo days earlier

Autumn leaves. Human activity may be the causeof the shift in the cycle of seasons.

Scientific submarine makesdeep-sea discoveries

sponges, and previously unknown marinecommunities dominated by gooseneck barnaclesand millions of round, purple-spotted sea anemones.”

All of these new species are located more than2000 metres below the surface.—Internet

A bright red, undescribed species of shell-lesscoral, called an anthomastid or gorgons-head

coral, at 1700 metres deep at the Cascade Plateau,off south-east Tasmania.

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM9


(from page 16)He further ex-

plained, “We haveplanned to hire the tech-nicians from abroad toimprove cold storages forthe aquatic productsprocessing of Myanmarto meet the internationalstandard based on EUstandard. Moreover, ef-forts are being made forestablishment of the auc-tion market in Maungtawregion of Rakhine State.The association willstrive not only for

Serving national interest for gaininggreater development


Domestic species of ornamental fish of Myanmar that won prizes ininternational contests earn foreign exchange for the nation.

New and old species of Ngamyitchin fish(Labeo rohita) are in high demands in foreign

market.

Chairman U Lo KimHsaing of Myanmar

Ornamental FishEntrepreneurs Asso-

ciation replying toqueries of the news

team.

processing of Myanmaaquatic products but alsofor production of value-added ones.”

Chairman U BaThaw of Myanmar EelEntrepreneurs Associa-tion explained, “I havebeen discharging duty aschairman of the associa-tion since the fifth annualgeneral meeting held on 6December 2006. The ex-porting of eel earns for-eign exchange for theState. In 2007-2008 finan-cial year, US$ 17.8 mil-

lion was fetched throughexporting 7,882 tons ofeel. At Muse 105th milecamp of the border traderoute, a total of 35 compa-

nies are exporting eel toforeign countries.”

The chairmanadded, “Our associationhas set the aims forMyanmar Eel Entrepre-neurs Association and eelentrepreneurs to joinhands in their workunitedly, to be able to seekthe appropriate market forthe fishery products; proc-

essors and exporters, areto observe the law, proce-dures, rules and regula-tions of fishery work forprevention against the de-pletion of fish stocks, andthey do their businesses inline with the aims.”

Afterwards, Chair-man U Lo Kim Hsaing ofMyanmar OrnamentalFish Entrepreneurs Asso-ciation said, “Our asso-ciation was formed on 5December 2006. Forbroadening the domesticornamental fish market,the Ornamental Fish Mar-ket was opened in the com-pound of the FreshwaterFish Garden in the Educa-

tion Zone of NationalKandawgyi Gardens on 7March 2008. Up to now,various species and sizesof ornamental fish are be-ing traded at the market.”

He recounted,“The indigenous spe-cies of ornamental fishare popular in the for-eign market and the ex-port of such fish fetchedUS$ 2.3 million in the2007-2008 f inancialyear. The Myanmar en-trepreneurs won theprizes in the interna-tional ornamental fishcontests by showing thespecies of ornamentalfish from Ayeyawady

and Bago Divisionsand Rakhine and ShanStates.”

“With a view toproducing domestic or-namental fish as a wa-ter resource in the longrun, he added, our as-sociation will adopt thefuture programmes tofocus on realizing theSustainable Develop-ment of Fisheries Sec-tor and to promote theMyanmar ornamentalfish business similar tothat of some ASEANmember countries.”

*****Translation: TTAKyemon: 22-1-2009

BERLIN, 24 Jan — Anew study by UCLA plan-etary scientists and theircolleagues in Germanyoverturns a longstandingscientific tenet and pro-vides new insights intohow convection controlsmuch of what we observein planets and stars.

The research uni-fies results from an exten-sive array of previous ex-periments. It appears in theJan. 15 edition of the jour-nal Nature.

“The Nature paperallows us new and mean-ingful predictions forwhere we should observedifferent behaviorsthroughout the universe

New insights into convectionin planets and stars

wherever there are rotat-ing convection systems,and that means planetsand stars,” said study co-author Jonathan Aurnou,a UCLA associate pro-fessor of planetary phys-ics. “This allows us tomake predictions for al-most any body where we

can measure the rota-tion rate and heat com-ing out. For me, that'sexciting.”

Convection de-scribes the transfer ofheat, or thermal energy,from one location to an-other through the move-ment of fluids such asliquids, gases and slow-flowing solids.

Internet

SCIENCE DAILY, 24 Jan— Findings from a newstudy suggest that natu-ral pigments found inplants may help protectagainst bone loss in oldermen and women. Re-searchers funded by theAgricultural Research

Nutrient supports bonehealth over time

Service (ARS) reportedthe findings in a paperpublished online by TheAmerican Journal ofClinical Nutrition. The study was led byepidemiologist KatherineTucker with the JeanMayer USDA Human

Nutrition Research Cen-tre on Aging (HNRCA)at Tufts University inBoston, Mass. Tucker di-rects the HNRCA’s Di-etary Assessment andEpidemiology ResearchProgram. Other studies have con-sistently shown that fruitand vegetable intake isgood for bones. Biologi-cal antioxidants in fruitsand vegetables, such ascarotenoids, protect cellsand tissues from damagecaused by naturally oc-curring oxygen free radi-cals in the body. Suchplant nutrients may helpprotect the skeleton by re-ducing oxidative stressand thereby inhibitingbone breakdown orresorption.—Internet

Plant pig-ments com-monly foundin colourfulfruits andvegetablesappear tohave a pro-tective effectagainst boneloss in olderadults, ac-cording to anew study.

This image illustrates the two ways in whichconvecting fluid will generally behave; “a” repre-sents rapidly rotating convection, and “b” repre-

sents chaotic, non-rotating convection.

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM10


India’s Brahmos supersonic cruise missiles are seen during the full dressrehearsal for the Republic Day parade in New Delhi on 23 Jan, 2009. India

will celebrate its Republic Day on Monday.—INTERNET

Gaza children pose forphotos during their breakin the Beit Loliya BoysElementary School inGaza city on 24 Jan, 2009.Some 200,000 Gazachildren returned toschool for the first timesince Israel’s offensive. INTERNET

Rescuers work in part of a sports center which collapsed in high winds killingfour children and trapping and injuring others in Sant Boi Llobregat, Spain,on 24 Jan, 2009. Freak weather conditions have caused winds gusting to 160 kph(100 mph) in many places throughout Spain. A woman died when a wall fell onher in Barcelona and a traffic officer was killed by a falling tree in northwest Galicia.—INTERNET

Iraq to reopennotorious AbuGhraib prison

BAGHDAD, 24 Jan —Iraq will reopen thenotorious Abu Ghraibprison next month, but it’sgetting a facelift and a newname, a senior justiceofficial said Saturday.

The announcementcomes as the US militaryhas begun handing overdetainees in its custody tothe Iraqis under a newsecurity agreement.

The renovated facilitywill be called Baghdad’sCentral Prison because thename Abu Ghraib has lefta “bitter feeling insideIraqis’ hearts,” deputyJustice Minister BushoIbrahim said.

Abu Ghraib, which wasa torture center underSaddam Hussein and latercame to symbolizeAmerican mistreatment ofsome prisoners captured inIraq, has been closed since2006. The prison willhouse 3,500 inmates whenit reopens in mid-Februaryand will have a capacityfor about 15,000 by theend of this year, Ibrahimtold The Associated Pressin a telephone interview.

Internet

Brazil model who lost hands, feet dies

Shanghai reports coldestwinter for 18 years

MOGADISHU, 24 Jan — A car bomb attack in theSomali capital of Mogadishu killed at least 14 peopleon Saturday, according to agencies' reports.

The attack took place near a base of African Unionpeacekeepers. The bomb-laden vehicle reportedlyaroused the suspect of police who opened fire at it, thenthe car blew up.

The victims include 13 civilians and a policeman.No peacekeeper was hurt in the incident.

It was unknown who was behind the car bombassault.—Internet

Brazilian modelMariana Bridi.

INTERNET

RIO DE JANEIRO, 24 Jan— A Brazilian modelwhose feet and hands wereamputated following adrug-resistant infectiondied early on Saturday,health officials said.

Mariana Bridi, 20, diedat 2:30 am from com-plications related to ageneralized infectioncaused by the bacteriaPseudomonas aeruginosa,the Espirito Santo StateHealth Secretariat said ina statement. The bacteriais known to be resistant tomultiple kinds ofantibiotics.

Bridi had been in the

hospital in the city of Serrain Espirito Santo statesince 3 Jan.

Doctors originallydiagnosed her with kidneystones in December, localmedia said. But as hercondition worsened, shewas diagnosed with aurinary tract infection that

spread.The cause of the

infection was notimmediately known.

It reduced the flow ofoxygen to her limbs,causing her feet to beamputated last week andher hands this week. Partof Bridi’s stomach wasalso removed as doctorstried to contain internalbleeding, local media said.

Health officials onFriday said Bridi was notbreathing on her ownand was undergoinghemodialysis at a hospitalin the city of Serra.

Internet

Spain: Sports centre roof collapsekills at least three children

MADRID, 24 Jan — Three children were killed and 16others injured after a sports centre roof collapsed in strongwinds near Barcelona, news reaching here said Friday.

There were between 20 and 30 children in the buildingat Sant Boi de Llobregat when the accident occurred,reports quoted a regional government spokes-woman assaying. Destructive storm swept through theMediterranean for a second day.

Winds of up to 172 km per hour (107 miles per hour)have been battering northern Spain and southwest France,interrupted electricity supplies, and closing roads, railwaysand airports, the reports said.

Two other deaths have been reported in Spain amid thestorm. Spain’s interior ministry advised people to stay athome and avoid any outdoor activity. —Internet

SHANGHAI, 24 Jan —East China’s business hubShanghai reported atemperature of minus 5.9degrees Celsius in itsdowntown Saturday, thelowest for 18 years, as acold snap swept China fromnorth to south, the municipalmeteorological observatorysaid. The temperature inthe Xujiahui area indowntown Shanghaireached minus 5.9 degreesCelsius early Saturday, thelowest since1992, the city’sCentral MeteorologicalObservatory said.

Records show the lowest

temperature in downtownShanghai was minus 8degrees Celsius in 1991.

The observatory said thecity’s temperatures wouldalso be below minus 5degrees Celsius Sunday, theeve of Chinese New Year.But it forecast the city’stemperatures would risefrom Monday.

China Central Meteoro-logical Observatory forecastthe cold snap, which hascaused a temperature dropof about 15 degrees Celsiusin parts of east and southChina, would end Sunday.

Internet

Car bombattack inSomali

capital killsat least 14

Earthquake hits Timor regionHONG KONG, 24 Jan — An earthquake measuring

5.2 on the Richter scale occurred in Timor region at9:52 Saturday (0152 GMT Saturday), according to abulletin released by the Hong Kong Observatory.

The epicenter was initially determined to be 8.4degrees south latitude and 125.1 degrees east longitude,about 620 kilometers south-southwest of Ambon,Indonesia. There were no reports of casualties ordamage so far. —Internet

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM11


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Teens jailed for life for schoolboy murder of Lyle TullochLONDON, 24 Jan — Two teenagers were given life sentences today for the murder

of schoolboy Lyle Tulloch who was stabbed 13 times during an argument over amobile phone at a birthday party. Damien Solowabe, 18, and Tobi Peters, 17, both ofLondon, will serve a minimum 12 years after being found guilty at the Old Bailey lastDecember. Lyle, 15, from Peckham, had been at a party in Southwark, south-eastLondon, last May when his friend asked to use Solowabe’s phone.

When Solowabe could not find it an argument began and Lyle was chased outsideand into a stairwell where he was stabbed in the chest and thigh.

“This is another tragic example of what can happen when knives are used to settlearguments,” said Scotland Yard’s Detective Inspector David Willis, in a statementafter sentencing. –Internet

People wear masks at a crowded intersection in Hong Kong on 22 January .Pollution again reached dangerous levels in the territory with parts of thepopulation advised not to stay on busy streets for too long due to the high

risk.—INTERNET

Army worm caterpillar invades Liberia

Four life terms for teen who killed family

Three convicted of deadly Manila bombing

Aussie yacht owner shot inCaribbean

ANTIGUA , 24 Jan — An Australian man who wasshot dead on a Caribbean island is believed to be thevictim of a mugging.

Drew Gollan, from New South Wales, was shot inthe chest at close range as he walked near English Har-bour, Antigua, with his girlfriend on Thursday night,according to local authorities.

The 38-year-old was the skipper of luxury 50msailing yacht Perseus which is available for char-ters at $US175,000 ($266,700) per week. A Depart-ment of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman saidMr Gollan was shot and killed during a suspectedmugging.

He said consular staff from the Australian HighCommission in Port of Spain were liaising with localpolice who were investigating the crime. The man’sfamily in Australia were aware of his death and DFATand consular staff were offering them assistance, hesaid.—Internet

MANILA, 24 Jan —Three men were sen-tenced to life without pa-role on Friday in the Phil-ippines for a bombing ata Manila light rail stationthat claimed 11 lives.

A court convictedMukhlis Hadji Yunos akaSaifulla Yunos Muklis,Mohamad Amir akaAbdul Fatak Paute, andZainal Paks akaMamasao Naga of multi-ple counts of murder and

attempted murder,Inquirer.net reported.They were also ordered topay damages to the fami-lies of the victims.

The bombing, whichalso injured 19 people,was one of five in Manilaon 30 Dec, 2000, mark-ing the anniversary of the1896 execution of Dr.Jose Rizal by the Spanishcolonial government.Rizal, an advocate of in-dependence, is one of the

country’s national heroes.Prosecutors say the

three men convicted of thekillings are members ofJemaah Islamiyah, an Is-lamist group.

One of the key wit-nesses was a survivorwhose children were alsoinjured. She testified shesaw Yunos on the trainwith a bag and then sawhim leave the bag behindas he got off.

Internet

TOWSON, 24 Jan — Ajudge in Maryland on Fri-day sentenced a teenager tofour life terms in prison forkilling his parents and twobrothers.

As he faced sentencingin a Towson, Md, court-room for the February2008 shooting deaths,Nicholas Browning, 16,asked his remaining rela-tives for forgiveness, TheBaltimore Sun reported.Browning, in tears, wasunable to read a prepared

statement so his lawyer,Joshua R Treem, read it forhim. “I cannot make thepain go away,” the state-ment said. “I never consid-ered what effect my actionswould have. I thought onlyof myself.”

Browning admitted hekilled his parents, John andTamara Browning, and hisbrothers, Gregory, 14, andBenjamin, 11, in theirsleep. He said he used hisfather’s pistol to kill hisfamily after years of

physical abuse and insultsby his father.

Baltimore County Cir-cuit Judge Thomas J Bol-linger Sr said he did nottake Browning’s allega-tion of abuse into accountas a mitigating factor inthe killings, The Sun said.The judge sentencedBrowning to two consecu-tive life terms and twoconcurrent life terms.

Browning could be eli-gible for parole in 30 years,the report said.—Internet

MONROVIA, 24 Jan —Hordes of caterpillars aredestroying crops and veg-etation in northern Liberia,posing a threat to food se-curity, the United Nationssaid. The situation in Libe-ria is a national emergencyand likely will escalate intoa regional crisis involvingGuinea, Sierra Leone andCote d’Ivoire, WinfredHammon, the UN Foodand Agriculture Organiza-tion representative, said ina news release.

The agency has createda task force to assess thesituation, prepare an actionplan and develop medium-and long-term measures,

said Hammond. Liberia setup three emergency com-mittees to provide plan-ning, resources mobiliza-tion and communicationand information.

The caterpillars, de-scribed by villagers as“black, creeping andhairy,” are advancing in thetens of millions, he said,devouring plants and foodcrops in their path and insometimes overrunninghomes and buildings.

The food organizationsaid some villagerscouldn’t reach their farmsbecause of the pests, sus-pected to be African armyworms.“The situation is

getting worse,” RennieJackson, superintendent ofBong County, told the UNIntegrated Regional Infor-mation Networks. “Mostdrinking water sources, in-cluding creeks and wells,have been polluted with thefeces of the worms. Thenumber of affected peopleis in the thousands.”

The army worm, thecaterpillar form of thenoctuid or Owlet moth, isnative to North and SouthAmerica. Its name comesfrom its habit, in tropic ar-eas, of moving into a regionin a large group, consum-ing all available food andthen moving on.—Internet

Commander says US to deploy 20,000Marines to Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, 24 Jan —The US military is to de-ploy about 20,000 Marinesto Afghanistan in six toeight months, said a seniormilitary officer on Friday.

“The time is right forMarines to leave Iraq,”Marine CommandantJames Conway told report-ers, adding the deploymentis a result of troop with-drawal from Iraq. The Pen-tagon early said that theywere planning to send anaddition of up to 30,000troops to Afghanistan,where Taleban and other

extremist militants re-vived, within the next 18months.

Currently, there are ap-proximately 33,000 UStroops, including 2,200Marines. A total of 142,000US troops are stationed inIraq, including more than20,000 Marines. Accordingto Conway, Marines “havebeen steadily removingequipment from theater inIraq”, and will get the restof equipment out of Iraq innext six to eight months.However, he cautioned thatdeployment of too many

Marines to Afghanistancould jeopardize Marines’ability to resume training invital areas, and he hopes“the number is 20,000 orless”.

President BarackObama has asked the Pen-tagon to draw options toend the Iraq war, includinga plan to withdraw all com-bat troops from Iraq in thefirst 16 months of his presi-dency, and shift resourcesto Afghanistan, where theprime frontline to fightagainst terrorists is.

MNA/Xinhua

China baby diesof hand, foot and

mouth diseaseBEIJING, 24 Jan —

A toddler has died ofhand, foot and mouthdisease, state media re-ported on Friday, in aneastern Chinese provincethat was the epicentre of adeadly outbreak lastspring.

The 17-month-old boydied on Monday in Lixincounty, near the cities ofBozhou and Fuyang inAnhui province, the localhealth authority said Fri-day.

MNA/Reuters

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM12


Mexico man ‘dissolved300 bodies’

Songs can cue specific memoriesFatal bat condition spreading in NortheastNEWARK, 24 Jan — A

lethal condition that hasbeen killing bats in NewYork for two years hasspread into New Jerseyand Pennsylvania, wild-life authorities said Fri-day.

The discovery of hun-dreds of dead bats and theexpansion of “white-nosesyndrome” has left peoplewith “a kind of helplessfeeling,” Mick Valent, azoologist with the NewJersey Division of Fishand Wildlife, told theNewark Star-Ledger.“You can’t start treatingsomething when you

don’t know the cause ofit.”

First detected in NewYork in early 2007, thecondition rouses batsfrom hibernation duringwinter, from where theytake flight, burningstored fat and dropping tothe ground dead, thenewspaper said.

New York researcherscalled the condition“white-nose syndrome”because a white fungusdevelops around nosesand wing membranes ofmany of the affected bats.

The fungus waspresent on many dead

bats found inside and out-side three abandonedmines in RockawayTownship and Denville,where the majority ofNew Jersey’s batpopulations are located.

At least six of the ninebat species found in theNortheast appear to bevulnerable to the phenom-enon in New York, Ver-mont and Massachusetts,researchers said. ThePennsylvania GameCommissioner saidThursday the syndromespread into the state’s batpopulation.

Internet

MANHATTAN, 24 Jan —Thinking about a particu-lar song — no matter ifthe music of your life wasdoo-wop or disco — cancue vivid memories of thepast, US researchersfound.

“We thought that actu-ally hearing the songwould bring back themost vivid memories,”Richard Harris of theKansas State Universitysaid in a statement. “Butin our study there wasn’ta lot of difference inmemory between thosewho heard the song andthose who didn’t. What

we determined was hap-pening is that you alreadyknow the song and you’rehearing it in your mind.”

Harris and ElizabethCady, a 2006 doctoralgraduate in psychology,and J Bret Knap-penberger, an under-graduate, wanted to un-derstand whether memo-ries were cued by actuallyhearing the song or bythinking about it in otherways.

They tested 124 sub-jects ages 18-20 in spring2003. A pilot study hadthe subjects list songsfrom five stages of life —

early childhood, gradeschool, middle school,high school and college.

Harris said he andCady were surprised athow many participantsreported strong memoriesassociated with the samesong.

For the grade-schoolera, 26 percent of partici-pants had strong memo-ries associated with Va-nilla Ice’s song “Ice IceBaby.” For middle school,36 percent reported strongmemories associated withCoolio’s “Gangsta’s Para-dise.”

Internet

Baby ape takes flight — monkeybusiness class

Bili the bonobo is to be fostered by an ape atFrankfurt Zoo.—INTERENT

Mr Meza says he “didn’t feel anything” whengetting rid of the bodies.—INTERNET

Study indicates treedeath-global warming

tie foundFLAGSTAFF, 24 Jan — Death rates among trees have

more than doubled in recent decades largely becauseof global warming, Northern Arizona University re-search indicates.

The study “offers data to show that there is a prob-lem with tree mortality in the West and that climate isan important element in the problem,” Pete Fule, NAUSchool of Forestry associate professor and researchco-author, said in a news release.

The research was published Friday in Science jour-nal Eleven scientists provided long-term data sets takenfrom trees across the Pacific Northwest, California,Idaho, Colorado and Arizona, Fule said. The researchconcludes tree death rates more than doubled in re-cent decades in old forests largely because of regionalwarming.

“The gist is that we now have these long-term datasets from old trees across much of the western part ofthe country and one thing those forests have in com-mon is that the trees are dying increasingly fast,” Fulesaid.

To determine when trees died because of climatechange, scientists documented climate-related inci-dents that caused trees to die, such as bark beetle at-tacks or forest fires.

Internet

TIJUANA ,24 Jan — Aman arrested by Mexicanpolice says he disposedof 300 bodies for a drugsgang over the past decadeby dissolving them inchemicals.

Santiago Meza, calledthe “stew maker”, said hewas paid $600 (£440) aweek to dissolve the bod-ies of murdered rivalgang members in causticsoda. He was presented tothe media by the Mexicanarmy after being arrestedon Thursday near the cityof Tijuana.

Over 700 people diedin the US border city lastyear in an ongoing drugswar. The Mexican armysays it believes MrMeza’s claims are true.

“They brought me thebodies and I just got ridof them,” Mr Meza toldjournalists at a construc-

tion site where he dis-posed of the bodies overa 10-year period. “Ididn’t feel anything.”

The 300 corpses weresaid to belong to mur-dered rivals of Mexicandrug kingpin TeodoroGarcia Simental, who isbattling for control overdrug trafficking routesthrough Tijuana, after de-fecting from the power-ful Arellano Felix cartel.

Mexico’s drug vio-lence has surged andgrown more gruesome inrecent years, particularlyin the northern border cit-ies of Tijuana and CiudadJuarez.

Also on Friday, twohuman heads were foundinside coolers near policestations in the centralGuanajuato state, offi-cials said.

Internet

Schizophrenia mayblur brain boundaries

BIRMINGHAM, 24 Jan — A baby apeborn in the UK is settling into a newlife in a German zoo after flying fromBirmingham to Frankfurt — monkeybusiness class.

The three-month old male bonobo —who is to be fostered by a family of Ger-man apes after being rejected by hisnatural mother — was considered tooyoung and too fragile to travel cargoclass, a spokeswoman for the UK’sTwycross Zoo told CNN.

Instead, the tiny ape named Bilichecked in for the Lufthansa flight withspecial travel documents — includinga fake passport in the name of “Bili the

Bonobo” — before taking a seat in thecabin alongside a handler from Frank-furt Zoo, who had flown over to accom-pany him on his unusual journey.

“He was with his keeper all the wayto make him feel more comfortable andrelaxed, rather than being in a crate,” saidspokeswoman Kim Riley. “I just wishI’d been there to see the other passen-gers’ faces.”

Bonobos, which originate from theDemocratic Republic of Congo, are con-sidered particularly intelligent primates.They are the human species’ closest re-lation in the animal world, sharing 99.6percent of our DNA.—Internet

BOSTON, 24 Jan —Schizophrenia may blurboundaries in the brain,causing an exaggeratedfocus on self, US re-searchers suggest.

A brain imaging studyby researchers at theMassachusetts Instituteof Technology andHarvard Universityfound schizophrenia mayblur the boundary be-tween internal and exter-nal realities byoveractivating a brainsystem that is involved inself-reflection — thuscausing an exaggeratedfocus on self.

The traditional view ofschizophrenia is that thedisturbed thoughts, per-ceptions and emotionsthat characterize the dis-ease are caused bydisconnections amongthe brain regions thatcontrol the differentfunctions.However, thestudy published onlineahead of print in the Pro-ceedings of the National

Academy of Sciences,found that schizophreniaalso involves an excessof connectivity betweenthe so-called defaultbrain regions, which areinvolved in self-reflec-tion and become activewhen we are thinkingabout nothing in particu-lar, or thinking about our-selves.—Internet

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM13


S P O R T S

ACROSS 1 Go to the bottom 5 Imperfection 8 Clothe 9 Wet slightly10 Worn out12 Attack and rob13 Long heavy wave14 Set of seven17 Purchase18 Plan of events20 Thrift21 Pamphlet23 Enslaved24 Buffoon

DOWN 1 Soft sweetmeat 2 Yorkshire river 3 Call in question 4 Distant 5 Cooked in fat 6 Final terms 7 After this evening11 Garden flower13 Violent personal theft15 Printed error16 Immediately? No! (3,3)18 Arrogant19 Praise22 Fuss

CROSSWORDS PUZZLE

Wenger faces up to CardiffFA Cup clash

Arsenal managerArsene Wenger

FA Cup revenge is Everton’s focus,says manager Benitez

LIVERPOOL, 24 Jan—Rafael Benitez expects Liver-pool to shrug off the dual distractions of takeover talkand Steven Gerrard’s court appearance by gaining re-venge over Everton in the FA Cup on Sunday.

After plotting a serene course through the first halfof the season, Benitez has endured a turbulent periodthat threatens to blow his plans for domestic and Eu-ropean glory to pieces.

Benitez’s astonishing rant at Manchester Unitedboss Sir Alex Ferguson earlier this month hinted thatthe Liverpool manager was starting to feel the strainof challenging for the title.

The Spaniard followed that outburst by admittinghe had rejected Liverpool’s offer of a new contract.

Then George Gillett and Tom Hicks, the PremierLeague side’s American owners, made it clear theyare ready to start a potentially distracting auction afterthe Kuwait-based Al-Kharafi family reportedly ex-pressed interest in launching a 500 million poundstakeover.—Internet

Rangers due win in Aberdeen,says Miller

GLASGOW, 24 Jan—Kenny Miller believes a rare winat Pittodrie for Rangers will be vital if the Glasgow gi-ants are to wrestle the Scottish Premier League title awayfrom Celtic. The Ibrox club travel north on Saturday totake on fierce rivals Aberdeen knowing a win wouldsee them go top for the first time since November.

Aberdeen are in red-hot form, having won six of theirlast seven league games including last week’s defeat ofCeltic, and Scottish international Miller knows it willbe a tough task with Rangers having won only once ontheir last seven visits to Pittodrie.

“It’s always tough whenever we go up to Pittodrie.Aberdeen seem to raise their game against us and theymake it very hard to get anything.

“Aberdeen have done really well in the last fewweeks. They’ve got a good team with some fantasticplayers. They’re starting to score a lot of goals and LeeMiller in particular has begun to find the net fairly regu-larly over the last couple of months.—Internet

Rusty Serena on track as French tennis openrevolution gathers pace

Ivanovic crashes out, Jankovicbattles on at Aussie Open

MELBOURNE, 24 Jan—Serb pin-up Ana Ivanovic wasdumped from the Australian Open in a three-set thrillerFriday while her top seeded compatriot Jelena Jankovicmade a stuttering advance into the fourth round.

It was a stark contrast with the fortunes of thirdseed Dinara Safina and fellow Russian VeraZvonareva, seeded seventh, who both cruised intothe last 16.

Australia’s former world number four Jelena Dokicalso fired local hopes when she her dream comebackat the season-opening Grand Slam continued with acome-from-behind win over 11th seed CarolineWozniacki of Denmark.

Ivanovic’s 7-5, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2 loss to Russian teen-ager Alisa Kleybanova continues a form slump thathas dogged the glamourous 21-year-old since herbreakthrough Grand Slam win at last year’s FrenchOpen.—Internet

Wigan on Fridaysold Emile

Heskey, to AstonVilla for 3.5

million poundsand immediately

snapped upEgypt strikerMido on loanfrom Middles-

brough as coveruntil the end of

the season.INTERNET

Wigan snap up Mido asHeskey heads for Villa

LONDON, 24 Jan—Wigan on Friday sold EmileHeskey to Aston Villa for 3.5 million pounds and im-mediately snapped up Egypt striker Mido on loan fromMiddlesbrough as cover until the end of the season.

England forward Heskey’s move to Villa was com-pleted after he passed a medical and agreed personalterms while Mido was being lined up to form an Egyp-tian double act with compatriot Amr Zaki.

Heskey’s move will reunite him with Villa bossMartin O’Neill, who was in charge of Leicester whenthey sold the forward to Liverpool for 11 millionpounds in 2000.

Heskey, 31, has signed a three-and-a-half-year con-tract and O’Neill believes he will strengthen the club’sdrive for a place in the Champions League.

“I hope we can achieve a lot together. Aston Villa isa big club and it’s been taking strides to get back towhere it should be,” said Heskey.—Internet

Langer, Bryant leadseason-opening Mitsubishi

KAUPULEHU-KONA ( Hawaii), 24 Jan—Playing in thefinal group and facing a leaderboard jammed with lowscores, Bernhard Langer drew inspiration by watch-ing another shootout across the Pacific at the Bob HopeClassic. “I saw them (on TV) shooting the lights outthere, so I’m thinking, ‘Hey, we used to do that,’”Langer said.

Langer had seven birdies on the back nine on hisway to an 8-under 64 and a share of the lead with BradBryant on Friday in the Champions Tour’s season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship.

Langer, the tour’s player and rookie of the year, was1 over through six holes, then birdied nine of his last12 holes in the first round.—Internet

Ana Ivanovic ofSerbia reacts

after missing apoint during herwomen’s singlesmatch against

Alisa Kleybanovaof Russia at theAustralian Openin Melbourne.

Kleybanova won7-5. 6-7. 6-2.

INTERNET

MELBOURNE, 24 Jan—Rusty triple championSerena Williams bookedan Australian Open fourthround clash with risingteen star VictoriaAzarenka Saturday as themen’s French revolutiongathered pace.

Williams, the tourna-ment favourite, crushedChina’s Peng Shuai 6-1,

6-4 to set up an intriguingshowdown with Azarenkaafter the Belarusian endedany hope AmelieMauresmo had of repeat-ing her 2006 heroics here.

Stung by a listless “D-minus” performance in thesecond round and sisterVenus’ shock exit at thesame stage, Williamsstamped her authority on

the match early.Peng mounted a stiffer

challenge in the secondset but couldn’t match theAmerican’s power, leav-ing Zheng Jie as China’sonly player left in thedraw.—Internet

CARDIFF, 24 Jan—Arsene Wenger’s claimthat the Premier Leaguefixture list will benefitManchester United hasunderlined the importanceof this weekend’s FA Cupclash with Cardiff City tothe Arsenal manager.

With a full league pro-gramme on Tuesday andWednesday, Wenger haspointed out that Sir AlexFerguson’s side will enjoya five-day break betweengames while Arsenal willhave just two days to re-cover from their trip toEverton before facingWest Ham.

The Frenchman be-lieves this will could be ahuge advantage to Unit-ed’s hopes of retaining thetitle. And with Arsenalcurrently lying in fifthspot, that could spell theend of the Gunners cham-pionship ambitions andreinforce the view that theFA Cup is the club’s besthope of ending a four-yearwait for silverware.

Wenger knows he mustdeliver success soon afterfailing to lift a trophysince the 2005 FA Cup fi-nal victory over United.

Internet

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM14


WEATHER

Summary of observations recorded at 09:30 hrMST: During the past 24 hours, weather has been partlycloudy in Kachin State, upper Sagaing and TaninthayiDivisions and generally fair in the remaining areas. Nighttemperatures were (3˚C) below January average tempera-tures in Mon State, (3˚C) to (4˚C) above January averagetemperatures in Kachin and Shan States , Mandalay andTaninthayi Divisions, (6˚C) above January average tem-peratures in upper Sagaing Division and about Januaryaverage temperatures in the remaining areas. The signifi-cant night temperatures were Hakha, Pinlaung and Loilem(2˚C) each.

Maximum temperature on 23-1-2009 was 92˚F.Minimum temperature on 24-1-2009 was 62˚F. Relativehumidity at (09:30) hours MST on 24-1-2009 was 61%.Total sunshine hours on 23-1-2009 was (9.6) hrs approx.

Rainfall on 24-1-2009 was (Nil) at Mingaladon,Kaba-Aye and Central Yangon. Total rainfall since 1-1-2009 was (Nil) at Mingaladon, Kaba-Aye and CentralYangon. Maximum wind speed at Yangon (Kaba-Aye)was (5) mph from Southeast at (18:30) hours MST on23-1-2009.

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

Forecast valid until evening of 25th January 2009:Weather will be partly cloudy in Kachin and Shan States,upper Sagaing and Taninthayi Divisions and generallyfair in the remaining areas.

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

Outlook for subsequent two days: Likelihood ofslight decrease of night temperatures in Southern Shan,Kayah and Kayin States.

Forecast for Nay Pyi Taw and neighbouring areafor 25-1-2009: Generally fair weather.

Forecast for Yangon and neighbouring areafor 25-1-2009: Generally fair weather.

Forecast for Mandalay and neighbouring areafor 25-1-2009: Generally fair weather.

Saturday, 24 January, 2009

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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

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2:45 pm 7. International news4:00 pm 1. Martial song4:10 pm 2. At^;‘pic\p∑Át^;‘pic\p∑Át^;‘pic\p∑Át^;‘pic\p∑Át^;‘pic\p∑´

4:20 pm 3. Dance of national races4:30 pm 4. Musical programme4:40 pm 5. Aew;qc\tkqiul\pvaer;Aew;qc\tkqiul\pvaer;Aew;qc\tkqiul\pvaer;Aew;qc\tkqiul\pvaer;Aew;qc\tkqiul\pvaer;

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(Agçlip\sa)(Agçlip\sa)(Agçlip\sa)(Agçlip\sa)(Agçlip\sa)

4:55 pm 6. Songs to uphold

�national spirit5:05 pm 7. {elka;qMu;Ts\Sc\;t.AKå}{elka;qMu;Ts\Sc\;t.AKå}{elka;qMu;Ts\Sc\;t.AKå}{elka;qMu;Ts\Sc\;t.AKå}{elka;qMu;Ts\Sc\;t.AKå}

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5:15 pm 8. Musical programme

5:25 pm 9. Sing and enjoy6:00 pm10. Evening news6:30 pm11. Weather report6:35 pm12. kat∑n\;AsAs√\kat∑n\;AsAs√\kat∑n\;AsAs√\kat∑n\;AsAs√\kat∑n\;AsAs√\

“Pocket DragonAdventure”

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

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Local Transmission

* Signature Tune* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights* Ayeyawady Dolphin Expedition (Part-I)* Cultural Museum (Kengtaung)* Grassland Survey in Hukaung Tiger Reserve* A Clean and Green Brewery* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights

Abroad Transmissions

* Signature Tune* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights* Valuable Myanmar Native Orchids* The Art of Silk-screen Painting* Taunggyi: An Environmentally Sustainable City* Rakhine State Cultural Museum* Deaf School* How To Make Chinlone* Expedition of Rare Crocodile Species Inhabiting in

Fresh And Seawaters (III)* Ayeyawady Dolphin Expendition (Part-I)* Cultural Museum (Keng Tong)* A Clean and Green Brewery* The Art of Sculpture from Sagaing Hill* Mind...the essence of Love!* Expedition of Rare Crocodile Species Inhabiting in

Fresh And Seawaters (IV)* Song of Myanma Beauty and Scenic Sights

Website: www.mrtv3.net.mm

MRTV-3Programme Schedule(25.1.2009) (Sunday)

Transmission Times

Local Transmission - (09:00am ~ 10:00am) MSTAbroad Transmission(Europe) - (15:30pm ~ 23:30pm) MSTAbroad Transmission(North America) - (23:30pm ~ 07:30am) MST

Sri Lanka editor stabbedin latest attack on media

COLOMBO, 24 Jan—A Sri Lankan editor was stabbedin the face and beaten by a gang of assailants onmotorcyles as he drove to work on Friday in the thirdassault on a journalist in the country this month.

Upali Thennakoon, editor of the Sinhalese languageweekly newspaper Rivira, told Reuters his wife savedhim from death by wrapping her arms around him untilthe attackers fled. She, too, was injured. The attack wassimilar to the killing two weeks ago of Sunday Leadereditor Lasantha Wickramatunga, who was alsointercepted on his way to work by men on motorcyles.

His murder came days after gunmen destroyed themain studio of MBC, Sri Lanka’s largest privatebroadcaster. The two assaults drew internationalcondemnation and calls for the government to protectjournalists and prosecute their attackers.

This week in parliament, the government’s chiefwhip, Urban Development Minister DineshGunawardena, said nine journalists had been killed and27 attacked since 2006.—MNA/Reuters

Picture taken on23 Jan, 2009shows festive

lanternsdecorating local

buildings inShanghai, China.A local show of

festive lanterns isto open to greetthe traditional

Spring Festival,or lunar New

Year, which fallson 26 Jan this

year.—INTERNET

25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM15

15th Waning of Pyatho 1370 ME Sunday, 25 January, 2009

YANGON, 24 Jan—Khinmon Dam, built byIrrigation Department(Maintenance) nearKhinmon Village ofYesagyo Township, wasinaugurated near the damthis morning, attended byChairman of Sagaing Di-vision Peace and Devel-opment Council Com-

Yesagyo Township gets new irrigationfacility for regional greening task

mander of North-WestCommand Maj-GenMyint Soe.

Speaking on theoccasion, Chairman ofMagway Division PDCCol Phone Maw Shwesaid that the alreadyopened Khinmon Dam isone of the 71 irrigationfacilities for ensuring

food sufficiency andgreening of Pakokku Dis-trict in accord with theguidance of the Head ofState. Magway Divisionhas made efforts for over400 per cent edible oilsufficiency, and over870,000 acres ofmonsoon paddy had beengrown and plan is underway to grow 160,000acres of summer paddyfor gaining 101.46 percent rice sufficiency, hesaid.

He continued to saythat there were 43 damsand lakes and 261,261 ir-rigated acres in MagwayDivision in the past.Thanks to construction of

44 dams includingKhinmon Dam, thenumber of irrigated areareaches 261,561 acres inthe division. Out of 71 ir-rigation facilities forgreening Pakokku Dis-trict, 24 small dams werebuilt with the assistanceof the Division PDC, su-pervision of Pakokku Dis-trict and Township PDCsand technology contribu-tion of Irrigation Depart-ment, and the remaining47 dams were constructedby Irrigation Departmentalone. So far, completionof 63 dams includingKhinmon Dam benefit7,103 acres of farmlands,he explained.

He added that atpresent, efforts are beingmade for timely completionof the remaining dams, andin conclusion, Col PhoneMaw Shwe urged thosepresent to maintain the damsfor their durability.

Deputy Minister forAgriculture and IrrigationU Ohn Myint delivered aspeech.

A local fromYesagyo Township spokewords of thanks for con-struction of Khinmon Dam.

The commander un-veiled the stone plaque, andCol Phone Maw Shwe andDeputy Minister U OhnMyint sprinkled scentedwater on it.

Col Phone MawShwe and Deputy Min-ister U Ohn Myint cutthe ribbon to open thedam. The commanderand officials visited thedam.

Khinmon Dam,the 218th irrigation fa-cility is of earthen type,built by the State at acost of K 750 million onDeedok Creek. Its em-bankment is 50 feet highand 1,700 feet long. Thedam that can store 2,200acre feet of water willirrigate 300 acres ofpaddy and other cropsand contribute togreening of the region.

MNA

Khinmon Dam is one ofthe 71 irrigation facilities forensuring food sufficiency andgreening of Pakokku Districtin accord with the guidanceof the Head of State.

YANGON, 24 Jan—A ceremony to honour thewellwishers who organized the 47th Charity Fair ofHninzigon Home for the Aged of Bahan Township washeld at the hall of the home, here, today.

Chairman of the Home Executive CommitteeLt-Col Kyaw Shein (Retd) spoke words of thanks.Vice-Chairman Major Aung Than (Retd) read the listof wellwishers for the fair and the amount of cashdonation.

Those present at the ceremony shared meritsgained for the pious deeds.—MNA

Organizers of Charity Fairof Hninzigon Home for the

Aged honoured

Serving national interest for gaininggreater development


A trawler at work in territorial waters of Myanmar.

Recently, we had an opportunity to interviewsome chairmen of the brother associations of theMyanmar Fishery Federation on their undertakings ofthe association for ensuring more development ofnational economy of the State.

First, Chairman U Nyo Min of Myanmar Fish-ery Products Processors and Exporters Associationsaid, “Our association was established on 2 Novem-ber 2004. HACCP, GMP and SSOP are memberfactories of the association. Moreover, maintenanceworkers of the factories are being provided withtraining courses, jointly conducted by Yangon Fish-

ery Training School of Yangon Division under theFisheries Department and the Fishery Inspection andQuality Control (FIQC) Division.”

He continued to say, “We had displayed thecanned foods and Myanmar aquatic products such asfish, prawn, crab and eel at the booths at the DubaiSeafood Expo 2008 held in Dubai of the Middle EastRegion, the China-ASEAN Expo 2008 held inNanning of the People’s Republic of China and theChina-Myanmar Border Trade Fair held in Decem-ber 2008 with a view to penetrating into the interna-tional market.” (See page 10)Beware of Fire

MELBOURNE, 24 Jan — A range of complexsurgical operations necessary to treat stroke victims,confront hardened arteries or address blockages in thebloodstream are about to be made safer as researchersfrom the Micro/Nanophysics Research Laboratory atAustralia’s Monash University put the final touchesto the design of micro-motors small enough to beinjected into the human bloodstream.

A research paper, published in the Journal ofMicromechanics and Microengineering, details howresearchers are harnessing piezoelectricity, the en-ergy force most commonly used to trigger-start a gasstove, to produce microbot motors just 250micrometres, a quarter of a millimetre, wide.—Internet

Microbot motors fit toswim human arteries

Microbot.

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25-1-09 NL 7/29/18, 11:44 PM16

Development of Chaungtha, Shwe Thaung Yan2009/01/25 · Article: Maung Maung Htwe (MNA); Photos:...

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