Established 1914 Volume XI, Number 296 1st …2004/02/06 · Director-General of the MRTV U Khin...

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

Established 1914

Volume XI, Number 296 1st Waning of Tabodwe 1365 ME Friday, 6 February, 2004

Success achieveddue to collective efforts

The three nation-building forces, namely,the national people, the Tatmadaw and thegovernment, join hands in implementing inearnest the basic objectives laid down by thegovernment to bring about marked and rapiddevelopment in political, economic and socialspheres. As a result, success has beenachieved in various sectors.

57th Anniversary Union Dayspecial features on pages 7, 8 and 9.

YANGON, 5 Feb — The Third Buddha Pujaniya ofLawka Chantha Abhaya Labha Muni Buddha Image washeld on Mindhamma Hill in Insein Township this morning,attended by Chairman of the State Peace and DevelopmentCouncil Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services SeniorGeneral Than Shwe and wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing.

Also present on the occasion were StateOvadacariya Sayadaws, Sayadaws of the State SanghaMaha Nayaka Committee, Tipitakadhara TipitakakovidaSayadaws, Sayadaws of the State Central Working Com-mittee of the Sangha, Sayadaws of the InternationalTheravada Buddhist Missionary University and StatePariyatti Sasana University (Yangon), and Sayadaws ofTheravada Ovadacariya Committee and Yangon DivisionSangha Nayaka Committee totalling 45 Sayadaws, PrimeMinister General Khin Nyunt and wife Dr Daw Khin WinShwe, Daw Khin Than Nwe, wife of Lt-Gen Tin Oo,member of the State Peace and Development Council Gen-eral Thura Shwe Mann and wife Daw Khin Lay Thet,Secretary-1 of the State Peace and Development CouncilLt-Gen Soe Win and wife Daw Than Than Nwe, mem-bers of the State Peace and Development Council andtheir wives, the chairman of Yangon Division Peace andDevelopment Council the commander of Yangon Com-mand and wife, ministers, the chief justice, the attorney-general, the chairman of Civil Service Selection and Train-ing Board, the Yangon mayor, deputy ministers, and sen-ior military officers and their wives, the director-generalof the State Peace and Development Council Office, headsof department, officials, the chairman and members ofLawka Chantha Abhaya Labha Muni Pagoda Board ofTrustees, members of social organizations, donors andguests.

Senior General Than Shwe and Daw Kyaing Kyaingpaid obeisance to the Lawka Chantha Abhaya Labha MuniBuddha Image, and offered flowers, water and “soon” tothe image.

The ceremony to share merits was held at theGandakuti of the pagoda at 7.15 am. The Master of Cer-emonies adviser at the State Peace and DevelopmentCouncil U Arnt Maung read out the agenda. The congre-gation recited the Namo Tassa three times to open theceremony. The Teingya Group blew conch shells and beatgongs.

Vice-Chairman of the State Sangha Maha NayakaCommittee Abhidhaja Maha Rattha Guru Abhidhaja AggaMaha Saddhamma Jotika Bhaddanta Pañindabhivamsa ad-ministered the Nine Precepts to the congregation led bySenior General Than Shwe and Daw Kyaing Kyaing.Sayadaws recited Metta Sutta and parittas.

Senior General Than Shwe and wife Daw KyaingKyaing presented robes and offertories to Secretary of theState Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee SayadawAbhidhaja Agga Maha Saddhamma Jotika BhaddantaKumara.

Senior General Than Shwe and Daw Kyaing Kyaingattend Buddha Pujaniya of Lawka Chantha Abhaya

Labha Muni Buddha Image

Head of State Senior General Than Shwe and wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing offer flowers, water, fruits and ‘soon’ toLawka Chantha Abhaya Labha Muni Buddha Image. — MNA

Head of State Senior General Than Shwe, wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing and entourage view round religious edificeson Mindhamma Hill. — MNA

Puja ca pujaneyyanam, to honour those worthy of honour; this is the way to auspiciousness.

(See page 10)

Senior General Than ShweChairman of

the State Peace and Development CouncilCommander-in-Chief of Defence Services

(From message on the 51st AnniversaryUnion Day)

2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 3 February, 2004

Friday, 6 February, 2004

PERSPECTIVES* Oppose those relying on external

elements, acting as stooges, holdingnegative views

* Oppose those trying to jeopardize stabilityof the State and progress of the nation

* Oppose foreign nations interfering ininternal affairs of the State

* Crush all internal and externaldestructive elements as the commonenemy

People’s Desire57th AnniversaryUnion Day objectives

— for all national races to safeguard the na-tional policy— non-disintegration of theUnion, non-disintegration of national soli-darity and perpetuation of sovereignty

— to keep the Union Spirit ever alive and dy-namic among the national people

— for all national people to defend and safe-guard the Union for its perpetual existence

— to prevent, through national solidarity, thedanger of internal and external destructiveelements undermining peace and stabilityof the State and national development, and

— for all national races to make concerted ef-forts for successful implementation of theseven-point future policy programme.

* Saving one gallon of fuel per car per monthwill save the nation one US dollar

* Thus, a total of 455,822 cars in Myanmar cansave US$ 5.5 million in a year

* The amount, US $ 5.5 million, can build amajor bridge across Ayeyawady River

Efficient use of fuel

The Government of the Union ofMyanmar has been striving for all-round de-velopment of the nation so that it can keepabreast with the development of other nationsin the world and the living standard of itspeople become higher.

For this, the Government is systemati-cally implementing the national plans with theuse of natural and human resources.

Now that peace and stability is prevail-ing all over the Union, national developmentwork can be carried out with added momen-tum and more and more natural resourcesare being exploited in the interest of the na-tion and the people.

The Ministry of Energy is now tryingto produce more and more oil and naturalgas for domestic consumption by extendingthe exploitation work at inland oil and natu-ral gas deposits and offshore oil fields.

Due to constant exploration of energydeposits by the Ministry of Energy, new oiland natural gas deposits were struck atNyaungdon in 1999, at Thargyi-taung in 2001,at Inndaw in 2002 and in offshore Rakhine inDecember, 2003.

Minister for Energy Brig-Gen Lun Thi,together with responsible personnel, visited theNyaungdon oil and natural gas field inAyeyawady Division on 4 February and gavenecessary instructions and attended to therequirements to be able to explore and pro-duce more and more oil and natural gas inMaubin, Pantanaw and Nyaungdon (Middle).Then, the minister also inspected the produc-tion work at Well No. 21, which can produce6.974 million cubic feet of natural gas and 72barrels of condensate daily.

Moreover, 16 wells at Nyaungdon Oiland Natural Gas Field can produce 83 mil-lion cubic feet of natural gas and 1,184 bar-rels of condensate, which are being distrib-uted to factories in Yangon region throughthe Nyaungdon-Yangon natural gas pipeline.

We believe that all the responsible per-sonnel and technicians will try to the best oftheir abilities to exploit more and more oiland natural gas deposits to be able to meetthe energy needs of the nation.

Explore and exploitmore and more oil andnatural gas

YANGON, 5 Feb — The State Peace and Develop-ment Council has confirmed the appointment of the fol-lowing heads of service organizations on expiry of theone-year probationary period.

Name Appointment(a) Dr U Soe Naung Rector

Primary Health University(Magway)Medical Science DepartmentMinistry of Health

(b) Dr U Myat Moe RectorTraditional MedicineInstitute (Mandalay)Traditional MedicineDepartmentMinistry of Health

MNA

� � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� !"��#$%&'(&#)'*+�,&#-.�/�01"��#$%&'(&#)� �)23�4�01��"�+#�15�(.�678��6&#2(-1�-9#�� 5"�23�,. �:9"�6;-16*5"&6-�&�-�!-��6;-162�01�(<<9&#=78��23�>?@@AB�'*��C&8&8-�DE9F�5�(.�GHI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=?@@AB�'*��C&8&8-�DE9F�5�(.�GHI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=?@@AB�'*��C&8&8-�DE9F�5�(.�GHI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=?@@AB�'*��C&8&8-�DE9F�5�(.�GHI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=?@@AB�'*��C&8&8-�DE9F�5�(.�GHI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=G?KI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=G?KI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=G?KI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=G?KI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=G?KI?I?@@AJ9.�&#=

Myanmar Gazette

YANGON, 5 Feb — A meeting was held at theMinistry of Information this afternoon to launch a newTV channel and to help the Myanmar TV and hoteliersand tour companies collectively run a media business.

Speaking at the meeting, Minister for InformationBrig-Gen Kyaw Hsan said the media and tourism haveinterelationship. Tourism is a very important business forthe nation. Thus, tourism plays a key role for nationaldevelopment and earns much income for the entrepre-neurs who run it. The meeting was held to discuss theentrepreneurs' role in showing the world the tourist attrac-tions and the objective conditions of the nation throughthe TV.

Through the Internet, the MRTV-3 programmeshave reached the Eastern Europe and the American con-tinent. In other words, we can say that it has reached theworldwide level. Plans are being made to telecast theMRTV-3 programmes in two sectors — the first sector isto promote international interest in Myanmar; and thesecond sector is to develop tourism with the help of ad-vertisements.

The other aim of the meeting is to inform the en-trepreneurs about the plans to launch a new TV channelhighlighting, special education programmes on agricul-tural, livestock breeding, health, social and economic fields.The new channel will also covers telecasting of entertain-ment programmes including Myanmar films and videoplays, dailies and periodicals. The new channel will help

Officials, entrepreneurs discuss launching ofnew TV channel to help facilitate tourism business

promote the tourism business if hotels and guest housesshow its programmes to the guests.

Minister for Foreign Affairs U Win Aung thendiscussed in detail the means to develop tourism.

Minister for Hotels and Tourism Brig-Gen TheinZaw said the new channel will help foreigners know moreabout the natural and cultural riches of Myanmar. Thus,entrepreneurs should not miss the opportunity. Tourist in-dustry will achieve greater success only if it cooperateswith the media and the publicizing of the Salone Tradi-tional Festival through the TV and dailies is one of theexamples. Director-General of the MRTV U Khin MaungHtay explained the telecasting of the programmes.

Adviser to the Information Ministry Director ofForever Group Co Ltd U Win Maw presented the MyanmarMedia Box (MMbox), a digital receiver, to receive thenew channel and other programmes, and Managing Di-rector of Inforithm Maze Co Ltd U Thaung Su Nyeinexplained a tourism promotion CD Rom — FascinatingMyanmar. Information Deputy Minister Brig-Gen AungThein and Transport Deputy Minister Col Nyan Tun Aungand other participants made suggestions sector-wise. Min-ister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan attended to the needs.

Also present were Secretary of Yangon City De-velopment Committee Col Myint Aung, directors-generaland managing directors of the respective ministries, ITentrepreneurs, hotel and tourism entrepreneurs and guests.

MNA

Minister for Information Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan delivers an address at the coordination meeting on launching a new TV channel. — MNA

Don’t smoke

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Tuesday, 3 February, 2004 3

WASHINGTON ,5 Feb— Nearly two months have passed since Saddam Hussein’scapture, yet American soldiers still are dying at a rate of more than one a day.

Deadly attacks on US soldiers onthe rise in Iraq

Forty-five soldiers died in January andthree more in the first three days of Febru-ary. The January toll was five more than inDecember, despite hopes that Saddam’s Dec.13 capture would weaken the Iraqi insur-gency and slow the killings from roadsidebombs and other attacks.

The number of deaths in January willrise to 47 when the Pentagon changes thestatus of two soldiers who are missing andbelieved to have died in the Tigris River onJan. 25. That would make the second highestmonthly total since last April when dailycombat from the invasion was still underway.

The worst month was November, when82 died. In October there were 43, Septem-

ber had 30, August 35.All told, 528 U.S. troops have died since

the war began in March. (The Pentagon’sofficial tally on Tuesday was 525, but thatdid not include two deaths on Feb. 1 and oneon Feb. 3.)

A review of Pentagon casualty reportsshows that, of 39 deaths in January that theArmy attributed to hostile action, 23 in-volved attacks with homemade bombs, whichthe military calls “improvised explosive de-vices.”

The Army has put enormous effort intoovercoming the threat from homemadebombs, often detonated along roadways usedby Army convoys. Usually a remotely trans-mitted signal sets them off. —Internet

A US soldier from the 1st Armoured Division, right, watches as a new Iraqi Armysoldier searches Iraqi commuters at a mobile checkpoint in Baghdad, on 3 Feb, 2004.The new Army is slowly beginning to assume the task of securing the capital following

their training by US troops. —INTERNET

Two US soldiers keep watch on an Iraqi street during a night patrol on 4 Feb, 2004.INTERNET

ROME , 5 Feb— PrimeMinister Silvio Berlu-sconi’s Cabinet approvedon Tuesday a draft law toreform Italy’s financialregulatory system, leavingthe Bank of Italy with aneffective veto over bankingmergers, ministers said.

The bill, drawn up fol-lowing the multi-billion euroscandal at food groupParmalat, will now go fordebate to Parliament, whichcould take weeks or monthsto put it on the statute books.

Economy MinisterGiulio Tremonti had origi-nally proposed a radical over-haul of Italy’s financialchecks and balances thatwould have handed much ofthe Bank of Italy’s regula-tory powers to market watch-dog Consob and the Anti-trust Authority.

But in the event, at therequest of Berlusconi, theCabinet backed a watered-down version that means thecentral bank and AntitrustAuthority will jointly decideon whether to allow mergersin the banking sector.

“If one of the two says‘no’, then it is no. You willneed two ‘yes’ votes,” For-eign Minister Franco Frattinitold reporters as he left theCabinet meeting.

MNA/Reuters

Italy’s Cabinetapprovesregulatory reform

BAGHDAD , 5 Feb— The US army apologized for kill-ing an Iraqi child, as the death toll from double suicidebombings, the deadliest post-war attacks in Iraq , climbedto more than 100.

Colonel William Mayville acowledged that his forceswere responsible Tuesday for mortar fire that killed an Iraqiboy during a major Muslim holiday as his family picnickedin the northern oil region of Kirkuk.

Mayville told a meeting with local government officials,attended by an AFP correspondent, that he had ordered aninvestigation into the shelling that also wounded the boy’smother and two brothers.

He said his troops had opened fire because they sus-pected insurgents were in the area, but that those responsiblefor the deadly error would be held accountable.

Mayville added that he ordered the payment of 2,500dollars in compensation for the family of the nine-year-oldboy, Basssam Sami Awwad, and 1,500 dollars for each ofthe three injured. —Internet

US army apologizes for killing Iraqichild, FBI track terror groups

Death toll in Iraq attacksrises to 109

IRBIL , 5 Feb— Saadi Sultan Mameh was filming areception at a Kurdish party office when, suddenly, aman with a stubbled beard shuffled into the frame. Assoon as the man clasped the hand of a senior Kurdishofficial, Mameh heard a blast, and his viewfinder wascovered in fire and flesh.

“My camera lens went red with blood,” said Mameh. Asecond attacker slipped in similarly in a gathering of anotherKurdish party office across town and unleashed a carnage ofequal proportion. The death toll in the twin attacks rose to 109Wednesday with more people dying of injuries overnight,according to Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish member of theU.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council. The U.S.-led occupa-tion authority put the toll at 101 as of Tuesday night.—Internet

LONDON, 5 Feb — The London-based Reuters news agency delivered a letter to theUS Defence Department on Tuesday, demanding a more thorough and objectiveprobe at a senior level into the treatment of three Reuters staff by US troops in Iraq.

“Reuters” demands new probeinto US treatment of reporters

US troops arrested two Reuters report-ers and their driver near Falluja in westernIraq on January 2 and had detained them for72 hours. The international news agencythen lodged a formal complaint with the USmilitary over their treatment in detention.

In response, the US 82nd Airborne Divi-sion sent back an investigation report, say-ing no evidence of any specific incidents ofabuse was found but admitting the Reuterscrew had undergone some stressful treat-ment, including sleep deprivation.

Meanwhile, the US military launched aninspection of all of its temporary detentionfacilities in western Iraq and reinforced stand-ards for handling detainees, Reuters said.

However, Reuters Global Managing Edi-tor David Schlesinger said in a statementTuesday that this investigation was “woe-fully inadequate”. “It appears that the inves-tigation consisted of simply interviewing theaccused soldiers, and despite our offer, noeffort was made to interview our staff,” hesaid.— MNA/Xinhua

BEIJING , 5 Feb — Chinese and foreign journalists are welcome to cover theupcoming annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the ChinesePeople’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, it was announcedhere Wednesday.

Journalists welcome to coverupcoming NPC, CPPCC sessions

The Second Session ofthe 10th NPC opens on March5 and the Second Session ofthe 10th National Committeeof the CPPCC will begin onMarch 3, according to the gen-eral offices of the NPC Stand-ing Committee and theCPPCC National Committee.

The NPC is the top legis-lative body in China, whilethe CPPCC is a broad-basednational advisory organiza-tion consisting of experts and

citizens from all walks of life.The CPPCC plays a supervi-sory role and accepts sugges-tions and criticisms which re-late to major state affairs andpolicies and other importantissues.

A Press centre will be setup at the China Great HallHotel, No. 19 XijiaominxiangStreet, Beijing. It will be re-sponsible for arranging forChinese and foreign corre-spondents to cover the two

meetings.Chinese correspondents

from Beijing-based state me-dia, who want to cover themeetings are required to sendtheir applications to the Presscentre, local correspondentswho want to come to Beijingto cover the meetings, shouldfirst send their applications tothe local delegations who willdeliver those applications tothe Press centre.

MNA/Xinhua

NICOSIA , 5 Feb— Cyprus, Greece and Lebanon will soon launch business cooperationon issues that concern business, industry and tourism, Cyprus Finance Minister MarcosKyprianou declared here Tuesday.

The three-party coopera-tion was initiated by GeekDeputy Minister of ForeignAffairs Andreas Loverdos,Kyprianou said.

Kyprianou said the rel-evant ministry departmentsare working on holding inNicosia the first businesscouncil between the three

countries, to be held aroundend of spring. He said therewas clear interest from bothCyprus and Greece for suchcooperation while Lebanonwas chosen because it is con-sidered the gateway to theArab world. The three-partycouncil that will be organized in Nicosia will provide

an initial forum for businesspeople of all three countriesto get to know one another.

Kyprianou described thecooperation as “very inter-esting”, noting that it will helpthe countries and their busi-ness people to further developeconomically.

MNA/Xinhua

Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon to launchbusiness cooperation

��


Maria Gisela Hiciano, holds her daughter Rebeca in her arms as her father FranklinMartinez, caresses her at the CARE clinic in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on27 Jan, 2004. Rebeca, a Dominican infant born with a second partially formed head isscheduled to undergo a risky operation that will take an estimated 13 hours for a team

of international doctors and nurses on Friday.—INTERNET

A US military helicopter passes over Baghdad at sunset,Iraq, on 4 Feb, 2004.—INTERNET

Cook says Iraq war is Britain’s “greatestblunder” since Suez

LONDON , 5 Feb— The war in Iraq is the “greatest blunder” in British foreign policy since the 1956 Anglo-Frenchexpedition in Suez, Egypt, former foreign secretary Robin Cook warned.

“The Iraq war is proving the great-est blunder in British foreign and secu-rity policy since Suez,” he said wrote inWednesday’s edition of the Independent.

“The war has neither disarmed asingle weapon of mass destruction nordiminished the terrorist threat to Britishinterests.”

“It has, though, undermined the au-thority of the UN, divided us from ourmajor partners in Europe and damagedour status in the Third World, espe-cially Muslim countries,” added Cook,who resigned his post as a governmentminister last March in protest at Britishinvolvement in the Iraq conflict with-out UN approval.

He also questioned Prime MinisterTony Blair’s motives for joining theUS-led war that ousted Iraqi leaderSaddam Hussein .

“The truth is that Tony Blair did nottake Britain into Iraq because of anyevidence of weapons of mass destruc-tion. He joined in the war because hewanted to prove to (US) president(George W) Bush that Tony Blair washis best friend and Britain was his mostreliable ally.”

Cook, who has been sniping at Blairsince he left government, also dismissedas a “diversion” the probe announcedby the Prime Minister to determinewhether flawed intelligence about Iraq’salleged weapons of mass destruction

was used to justify the war to removeSaddam Hussein.

“The Butler inquiry is a diversion,set up to examine the pretext for warrather than its origins,” Cook said.

Lord Robin Butler, a former headof Britain’s civil service, will head theprobe into Britain’s pre-war intelligenceabout Iraq’s alleged weapons of massdestruction and report before July.

“It will be a gross injustice if theintelligence services get the blame,”Cook added.

Blair, who previously insisted thatIraq did possess banned weapons, saidhe had acted in good faith in joining theUnited States in invading Iraq lastMarch.—Internet

WASHINGTON, 5 Feb—Democratic presidentialcandidate John Kerrywould defeat PresidentGeorge W Bush if the general election were held to-day, a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll published onTuesday showed.

The survey, conductedfrom last Thursday to Sun-day, found Kerry, a Demo-cratic Senator from Massa-chusetts, would defeat Bush53 per cent to 46 per cent, alead outside the poll’s mar-gin of error of plus or minusthree percentage points.

North Carolina SenatorJohn Edwards, anotherDemocratic candidate,would edge Bush out at 49per cent to 48 per cent, astatistical tie. The Presidentwould best former VermontGovernor Howard Dean by7 percentage points and re-tired general Wesley Clarkby 3 percentage points.

MNA/Xinhua

Poll findsDemocraticcandidateleadingBush

Iraq accident claims Houston soldierBAGHDAD , 5 Feb—Armando Soriano’s dark brown eyes and stoic expression

captured in an Army photograph glowing in front of a candle in his parents’ livingroom suggest he had a lot on his mind.

He joined the Army two months aftergraduating from South Houston High Schoolin 2002 to help his financially strugglingparents, Clotilde and Enrique.

On Sunday, they learned that Soriano,20, the oldest of their five children, died thatday in Haditha, Iraq. His vehicle, travellingwith another one on a supply route, slid offa road and rolled over during bad weather,

the Department of Defence reported.“He was a good student; no problems,

and he was a nice son, and I thank God forthat,” said his mother, clutching a smallalbum with pictures of her son — some ofhim looking distinguished wearing a uni-form, others of him posing confidently andirreverently with Army buddies.—Internet

Philippine President confident onstrong economy

M ANILA , 5 Feb — Philippine President GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo Wednesday insisted the economy was“sound and strong” despite the peso’s continued dropagainst the dollar.

“We can all help by staying calm and focusing in construc-tive economic endeavours and dealing with the effects of theoil price hike in the spirit of sacrifice and solidarity,” Arroyosaid in a statement.

“The transient pressure on the peso is coming fromperceptions of instability fuelled by isolated militaryadventurism and excessive politicking,” she added, referringto an alleged destabilization plot by a small band of juniorofficers and civil society leaders against her government, whoare facing sedition charges before military and local courts.

Meanwhile, Arroyo warned currency speculators as wellas dollar buyers and profiteers who might take advantage ofthe situation after the peso closed at a record low of 56.20 tothe dollar on Tuesday. Earlier this week, the policy-makingMonetary Board has instructed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas(BSP, the Philippine central bank) to impose fines andadministrative sanctions against currency market playersfound repeatedly violating foreign exchange rules.

MNA/Xinhua

ASEAN+3 to continue cooperationin tourism

BANGKOK , 5 Feb— Ministers from the Association of South-East Asian Nations andChina, Japan and South Korea (ASEAN+3) vowed to continue cooperation indeveloping the region’s tourism, according to a media statement issued by a relevantmeeting on Tuesday night in Vientiane, Laos.

“The ministers expressedtheir support for the imple-mentation of decisions of theASEAN+3 Summit to furtherboost the tourism industry,encouraging expansion oftourism between ASEAN andChina, Japan and (South)Korea,” said the joint mediastatement issued at the end ofthe third meeting ofASEAN+3 tourism ministers.

Korea, which reached 20 percent of international touristarrivals in ASEAN in 2003,”said the document.

It noted that the minis-ters agreed to intensify theircooperation in tourism, es-pecially in the fields of jointpromotion and marketing,tourism investment and man-power development.

MNA/Xinhua

China’s volcanic island listed as nationalgeological park

NANNING , 5 Feb— China’s biggest volcanic island and a group of ancient sink holes,both located in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have been listedas national geological parks.

Ministers in charge oftourism from the above coun-tries exchanged views on theglobal tourism situation andrecent tourism developmentsin ASEAN and China, Japanand South Korea at their one-day meeting.

They were “pleased tonote recent trends in the tour-ist arrivals between ASEANwith China, Japan and South

The Ministry of Land andResources announced onTuesday 41 new geologicalparks, bringing the totalnumber to 85. Weizhou Is-land, a 25-square-kilometrevolcanic island, is 26 nauticalmiles off Beihai, a scenic portcity facing Beibu Gulf.

The island is known as a“Museum of Volcanoes” andis thought to be the youngestvolcanic island in China asgeologists believe its latesteruption dates back about7,000 to 10,000 years.

It is surrounded by a largearea of coral reef and is inhab-ited by 15,000 people.

Each year, the island re-ceives hundreds of thousandsof sightseers, who come toview the remains of volcaniceruptions such as craters,pozzolana, lava and unique

scenic spots formed by ma-rine abrasion.

Guangxi’s second contri-bution to the national list ofgeological parks is its dolinegroup, the oldest and largestgroup of 27 ancient sink holesin the world, located in LeyeCounty, 460 kilometres fromthe regional capital Nanning.

The doline group wasformed 65 million years ago,and “Dashiwei”, the largesthole of the group, is 613 me-tres deep and 420 metres wide.The virgin forest at the bot-tom of the doline covers nearly100,000 square metres. It ishome to over 1,000 varietiesof plants and animals, includ-ing rare species such as blindfish and flying squirrels, aswell as crabs and shrimp.

The dolines were discov-ered in 1998 and opened as a

tourist destination in October2003.As a special geologicallandscape found in karst re-gions, dolines were formedby repeated cave-ins of thetops of underground caves andare mainly seen in China,Mexico and Papua NewGuinea.

Also on the list of 41 newgeological parks announcedTuesday are the scenic resortsof Jiuzhaigou, in the south-western Sichuan Province,Yandangshan Mountain, inthe eastern Zhejiang Pro-vince, Wangwushan Moun-tain, in the central Henan Pro-vince, and the Three Gorgesof the Yangtze River.

The Stone Forest in thesouthwestern Yunnan Province was among the first 11geological parks named in2000.— MNA/Xinhua

��


US Army Sgt John Rhodes (left) hands a 9mm pistol to SPC David Guerrero, after itwas confiscated from an Iraqi commuter at a mobile checkpoint set up along a

Baghdad street on 4 Feb, 2004 in Iraq. — INTERNET

Nepal, India agree to strengthenborder surveillance

KATHMANDU , 5 Feb — Nepal and India have agreed to form a border districtcoordinating committee to sort out border related issues and strengthen security tocheck terrorism and trans-border crimes.

During the two-day HomeSecretary-level talks betweenIndian Home Secretary N.Gopalaswami and his Nepalicounterpart Ananta RajPandey, which ended Tues-day, the two sides agreed toincrease vigilance along theborder and strengthen secu-rity mechanism to checkcross-border terrorism andcrimes, Nepal’s Home Min-istry Spokesman GopendraBahadur Pandey told PTI.

A Home Ministry official

also said that India has re-sponded “positively” to de-porting and repatriating Mao-ists listed in the red cornernotice of Interpol.

In order to enhance effec-tiveness of the border mecha-nism, a meeting of the jointworking group on bordermanagement will be heldevery three months, Pandeysaid adding both sides agreedto share intelligence to checkterrorism.

The two sides agreed to

form a border district coordi-nating committee comprisingadministrative and securityofficials from Nepal and Dis-trict Magistrates from Indiato handle border related is-sues. On the drafting of anew and updated extraditiontreaty between Nepal and In-dia, the two sides agreed tosort out the differencesthrough the experts’ group,which had already held tworounds of meeting, Pandeysaid.— MNA/PTI

Central govt official stresseseconomic development in HK

HONG KONG, 5 Feb — Gao Siren, director of theLiaison Office of the Central People’s Government inthe Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR),said here Tuesday that in Hong Kong’s economic devel-opment lie Hong Kong people’s greatest interests.

Addressing a ChineseLunar New Year receptionhosted by the Liaison Officeand extending New Yeargreetings to people from allwalks of life in Hong Kong,Gao said the Year 2003 wit-nessed Hong Kong’s victoryagainst SARS and its effortsfor economic recovery.

In his speech, Gao made itclear that the Chinese centralgovernment has attached greatcare to Hong Kong’s circum-stances, and staged a series ofconcrete measures to supportHong Kong’s struggle againstvarious difficulties.

Measures he cited are theinitiation of Chinese Main-landers visiting Hong Kongon an individual basis, allow-ing Hong Kong banks to en-gage in the RMB business

and the inking of the CloserEconomic Partnership Agree-ment between Hong Kongand the Mainland (CEPA).

Gao also listed the factorswhich showcased HongKong’s economic betterment,namely, the activation of theHong Kong stock market andproperty market, the drop ofHong Kong’s unemploymentrate, and slowdown of HongKong’s deflation, and the en-hancement of Hong Kong’sconsumers’ confidence.

He called on the people ofHong Kong, bestowed withthe golden opportunity foreconomic growth, to focustheir efforts on the task soas to improve their liveli-hood, where lie the greatestinterests of Hong Kong resi-dents. — MNA/Xinhua

Seven missing after fishingboat sinks in South China

GUANGZHOU , 5 Feb— Ships and planes are searching forseven missing fishermen aboard a boat which sunk Tues-day in the southern sea areas of Guangdong Province.

The accident occurred at 40 sea miles to the southeast ofHuilai County in Jieyang City at 3:00 p.m. and seven fisher-men aboard fell into the sea, according to the South China Searescue centre under the Ministry of Communications.

One ship from the centre and a warship from the SouthChina Sea Fleet immediately took part in the rescue. Twoplanes with heat-detecting devices have also been scouringthe sea areas.— MNA/Xinhua

Malaysian tradesurplus up 45%

in 2003KUALA LUMPUR, 5 Feb —

Malaysia recorded a big tradesurplus of 19.74 billion USdollars in 2003, up 45 percent over the previous year,an official release said onWednesday.

Driven by the surge inexports since last March, to-tal exports for the whole yearreached an all-time high of100.6 billion US dollars, anincrease of 8 per cent from93.17 billion US dollars in2002, Ministry of Interna-tional Trade and Industry saidin its preliminary release ofthe Malaysia External TradeStatistics. Imports, mean-while, increased by 1.6 percent to 80.86 billion US dol-lars from the 2002 volume,the release indicated.

During the year, the ex-ports to most markets regis-tered increases, it said, add-ing exports to other ASEANmembers increased by 7 percent, the European Union by9.4 per cent, Japan by 5.3 percent, China by 22.6 per cent,Hong Kong by 15.5 per cent,and India by 42.6 per cent.

Malaysian major exportproducts in 2003 includedelectrical and electronicproducts, palm oil, chemi-cals and chemical products,crude petroleum, liquefiednatural gas, machinery, ap-pliance and parts as well aswood products.

MNA/Xinhua

��

Blair’s debate on HuttonReport suspended by

demonstratorsLONDON, 5 Feb—The British Parliament’s House of Commons was suspended

Wednesday after a group of protesters in the public gallery continually interruptedthe debate on the Hutton Report over the death of arms expert David Kelly.

Anti-war protestersshouted “murderer” and nomore whitewashes” shortlyafter Prime Minister TonyBlair opened the debate.Amid the interruption, Blairjoked: “ I somehow feel I amnot being entirely persuasivein certain quarters.”

He said the bestdefence against claims of awhitewash was the HuttonReport, which cleared thegovernment of embellishingits Iraq weapons dossier.

Commons SpeakerMichael Martin suspendedthe debate until 1305 GMTfor the public gallery to becleared., On Wednesdaymorning, five demonstratorswere arrested for throwingwhite paint at the gates ofDowning Street to protest thenarrow remit of an inquiryinto Britain’s intelligence onIraq’s weapons of massdestruction. The protesters,said to be dressed in judges’wigs and robes, were arrested

at about 0900 GMT and thepaint was later cleaned offby firefighters using high-powered water jets.

Blair told thelawmakers Wednesday thatthe inquiry into prewar Iraqintelligence will not examine“whether it was right to go towar or not,” saying the issuewas a question for thegovernment, Parliament and“ultimately the people” todecide.—MNA/Xinhua

Supporters of ‘The Stop The War Coalition’ burn a copy of the Hutton Reportoutside Downing Street recently. The House of Commons was briefly suspendedafter a group of anti-Iraq war protesters shouted ‘murderer’ and other abuse at

Prime Minister Tony Blair. — INTERNET

528 US soldiers killed since beginning ofmilitary operations in Iraq

BAGHDAD,5 Feb—As of Wednesday, 4 Feb, 528 USservice members have died since the beginning of militaryoperations in Iraq , according to the Department of Defence.

Of those, 368 died as a result of hostile actions and 160died of non-hostile causes, the department said. The Britishmilitary has reported 57 deaths; Italy, 17; Spain, eight;Bulgaria, five; Thailand, two; Denmark, Ukraine and Polandhave reported one each.

Since May 1, when President Bush declared that majorcombat operations in Iraq had ended, 390 US soldiers havedied — 253 as a result of hostile actions and 137 of non-hostile causes, according to the military. —Internet

Guerilla group claims Iraq bombingsBAGHDAD ,5 Feb— An Iraqi guerilla group claimed responsibility Wednesday for twin suicide attacks on the

offices of two Kurdish political parties, saying they were targeted because of the Kurds’ ties to the United States.“Two of our

m a r t y r d o m - s e e k i n gbrothers...broke into twodens of the devils in the cityof Irbil in the north of Iraq,”said the statement by “JaishAnsar al-Sunna”, or “Armyof the Protectors of theSunna.”

Sunna refers to thecollective teachings of theProphet Muhammad.

The statement wasposted in Arabic on a Website that frequently carriesstatements by Islamicmilitants. It said the Sunday

attacks were launchedbecause the two Kurdishparties “paved the way forthe American crusaderarmy.” The claim could notbe independently confirmed.The name of the organizationwas included among a dozeninsurgent groups that issueda joint statement this week inRamadi and Fallujahwarning Iraqis againstcooperating with the US-ledoccupation.

Kurdish and USofficials suspect the attacksmay have been carried out

by Ansar al-Islam, anextremist group with allegedties to al-Qaida. The attackskilled many officials of theKurdistan Democratic Partyand the Patriotic Union ofKurdistan.

In the statement, theArmy of the Protectors ofthe Sunna condemned thePUK for the crackdown onAnsar al-Islam. It said PUKleader Jalal Talabani “wascoordinating with thecrusaders (Americans) toattack our mujahedeenbrothers from Ansar al-Islam

group and their women andchildren.”

The statement said USand Kurdish forces“pummeled them with tensof US rockets, shelled themwith aircraft and for eightdays, nonstop, whole villageswith their mosques wereobliterated from the face ofthe Earth.” The statementwas signed by Abu Abdullahal-Hassan bin Mahmoud,identified as the leader ofJaish Ansar al-Sunna.

Internet


Sufferings of Iraqi people resulting from US-led war against Iraq

Iraq under US and allies’ occupation

During the US-led war against Iraq, the lack of adequate clean

water and electricity supplies in much of the city of Baghdad was

hampering efforts to treat the wounded. The situation overall was

extremely problematic in terms of clean water supply and sewage

evacuation.

An Iraqi girl leaves the city of Basra in southern Iraq across one of the town’s bridgesmanned by British soldiers, on 30 March, 2003.

Debris litters the inside of a maternity hospital hit by coalition forces

in Baghdad on1 April, 2003.

Eleven-month-old Iraqi girl Rosslal cries in a Baghdad children’s hospital near her two-year-old sister Aya as both suffer from gastroenteritis due to poor drinking water, on

18 April, 2003. Iraq’s collapsed infrastructure means the re-establishment of basic servicesand civil authorities are more urgent priorities than food aid, humanitarian

workers said on 19 April.

An Iraqi man holds his daughter, wounded during an airstrike according to hospitlalsources, in a hospital in Baghdad on 6 April, 2003.

Iraqi deaths up to 29 January 2004

No Iraqi side Death toll

1. Iraqi service personnel about 10,000

2. Civilian 9896

Total 19896

Iraqi Munthir Sabir, who lost six members of his immediate family when an American

ammunition dump exploded and destroyed his home, walks through the remains of the

site on Saturday 26 April, 2003.

Iraqis pass a US-led forces checkpoint at an area known as Bridge Four outsideBasra in southern Iraq, on 29 March, 2003. Explosions have been heard around thesouthern Iraqi city of Basra, a correspondent for Qatar-based al-Jazeera television

reported on 30 March, 2003.


Hailing the 57th Anniversary Union Day:

Development images of Shan State (East) in the time ofthe State Peace and Development Council

2004DevelopmentSector

1988

AgricultureSown acreage 179489 274950Sown acreage(all year round) 205821 337329Highland cultivation (acre) - 25000Irrigation facility 5 17

CommunicationMicrowave station - 11Post office 11 26Telegraph office 2 20Auto-exchange 4 33Telephone 2510 7465

Electric powerHydropower plant - 2

InformationMyanma Alin/Kyemonsub-printing house (Kengtung) - 1TV retransmission station 3 12Information & PublicRelations Department - 14

TransportTarred road (mile) 110 214Earth road (mile) 258 314Bridge (above 180 feet) 4 8

EducationSchool (basic) 355 611Multimedia teaching centre - 18E-library - 11University/college - 3

HealthHospital (200-bed) - 1Hospital (50-bed) 1 3Hospital (25-bed) 1 6Hospital (16-bed) 2 8Border hospital - 6Rural health care centre 18 24Traditional clinic - 1Border clinic - 20

The photo taken on 20 May, 2003 shows the 200-bed General Hospital in Kengtung, Shan State (East).

An aerial view of developing Mongla in Shan State (East).

2004DevelopmentSector

1988

Mongpan Hydel PowerStation constructed on theeast of Monghsat Town-ship in Shan State (East).

The 300 feet long and 12 feet wide Nantmwe creek

bridge in Shan State (East) which was opened on

15 September 2003.

The Government has been striving for uplift of health and fitness of the people in

border areas. Photo shows the Nursing and Midwifery Training School

in Kengtung, Shan State (East).


Developing border areasHailing the 57th Anniversary Union Day:Marching toward

Golden Land inunity and amity

Unity is strength

As the saying

“Seeing is believing”

goes, it was amazing to

see the development of

the border areas.

I frequently vis-

ited Lashio and

Kengtung. Every time I

visited the regions in

eastern and northern

Shan State I noticed

more and more progress.

The towns in the border

areas are much like those

of foreign countries.

After the govern-

ment had taken up State

duties in 1988, it re-

stored peace and tran-

quillity in the country.

The government

made peace with 17

armed groups. National

race leaders who have

returned to the legal fold

are participating in the

regional and national de-

velopment tasks hand in

hand with the people.

The government has

also made efforts for de-

velopment of border ar-

eas and national races

that lagged behind in

development for various

reasons after regaining

the independence.

In order to imple-

ment the project for de-

velopment of border ar-

eas and national races

effectively and widely,

the Central Committee

for Development of Bor-

der Areas and National

Races chaired by Chair-

man of the State Peace

and Development Coun-

cil Commander-in-Chief

of Defence Services Sen-

ior General Than Shwe

was formed on 25 May

1989.

The Work Com-

mittee for Development

of Border Areas and Na-

tional Races comprising

Secretary-1 of the State

Peace and Development

Council General Khin

Nyunt (now Prime

Minister) as chairman

was also formed in or-

der to carry out the tasks

for development of bor-

der areas and national

races.

The government

constituted the Ministry

of Progress of Border

Areas and National

Races and Development

Affairs on 30 January

1994 for raising the mo-

mentum of the tasks be-

ing undertaken and im-

dertook the tasks for

communication, trans-

port, education, health,

agriculture and livestock

breeding.

By doing so,

transport facilities devel-

electricity.

Now it gets elec-

tricity. Pankhan or

Pansan in Wa region in

Special Region-2 was

only a hamlet in the past.

Now there are

high-rise buildings as in

other cities of the world.

Namtip village with

small huts has become a

big town bordering

China. Developing

Chinshwehaw and

Laukkai in Kokang re-

gion are cities in the bor-

der areas.

Tachilek at the Thai

border has become a city

oped and economic, so-

cial, education and

health sectors also im-

proved.

The towns in theState 7Division 2Region 18Township 68Area 83415.34 milesPopulation over 5.3 million

of the Golden Triangle

and developed like ma-

jor towns in the divi-

sions.

Panglong Univer-

sity that people have

never dreamed of has

emerged in Panglong

region, an auspicious

land of national races.

Government Computer

College (Panglong),

Government Technologi-

cal College (Panglong),

Loilem 200-bed special-

ist hospital and Panglong

digital auto exchange

have also been built.

(See page 9)

The photo shows thriving poppy-substitute crops such as honey orange and lychee in Tachilek regionof Shan State (East).

Kengtung Degree College in Shan State (East). — MNA

The youth development training school in Kengtung, Shan State (East) has been built for the developmentof nationalities in border areas.

Sein Shwe Hlaing

plementing urban and

rural development

projects.

After formation of

the ministry, efforts were

made for progress of

border areas that lagged

behind in development.

The ministry un-

border areas have devel-

oped. Even modern

buildings and five-star

hotels and motels have

emerged in the areas.

Mongla in Shan

State East Special Re-

gion-4 was once only a

village and there was no

Earth road over 2793 milesGravel road over 1640 milesTarred road over 306 milesRenovated road over 2971 milesMajor bridge 42Small bridge 659Suspension bridge 16

Area and population of regions whereborder area development projects are being

implemented

Roads and bridges builtunder border area development projects


Poem

Panglong ChronicleDeveloping border areas

❏ Panglong land will stand witnessAll citizens born of the UnionPut all their strength together and did itThere’s no change in historic trendIt emerged strong, practically newHands held together, we made a historic vowFor pride and benefit of nationEver striving, we continue on our journeyMyanmar people’s abode, start an eraFor emergence of one, we are buildingA new dawn brightness the horizon.

❏ Panglong’s history, strong as the stormWith violence, the foreign intrudersWe drove out, from the states and mainlandUnitedly, and Myanmar’s freedomWe built together blood brothersBorn of the Union, citizens allProudly we proclaim, trusted chronicleWe call witness, till eternityLong enduring, vibrant and alertStrength within nation.

❏ The time machine, changes what isEra alters, lines of historyWe hold a witness, our land, this UnionTo be perpetuated, looking aheadAlong the route, exert all energiesAnd defend the land, we make this vowThe earth shall stand witnessPanglong Chronicle, we use as vow,We implore, what you call MyanmarShall be permanent, as long as the world exists.

Kaytu Nilar (Trs)(Hailing the 57th Anniversary Union Day)

Newly built Tachilek airport seen magnificently in Tachilek, Shan State (East).

Thriving paddy fields in Mongla region of Special Region-4 in Shan State (East).

(from page 8)

In accord with the

guidance of Chairman of

the State Peace and De-

velopment Council

Commander -in-Chief of

Defence Services Senior

General Than Shwe, the

Panglong University was

opened on 11 February

2003 for all-round de-

velopment of the

Panglong region, the

heart of national people

where the Union Spirit

was conceived. The first

courses of the university

started on 18 December

2003. Students from

eleven townships in

Loilem and other three

townships are attending

the courses on Myanmar,

English, Geography,

History, Philosophy,

Law, Chemistry, Phys-

ics, Mathematics, Zool-

ogy, Botany and Geol-

ogy at the university.

The university situated

in the north of old

Nankyinpu town near

Panglong-Leikha is 206

acres wide.

Construction of

Computer College

started on 1 June 2002

and Technological Col-

lege on 1 July 2002. The

200-bed special hospital

was constructed on 27

May 2002. The facilities

were opened on 11 Feb-

ruary 2003. Transport

for the people living in

Panglong area is now

smooth and new genera-

tion youths who are hu-

man resources can learn

higher education living

in their own region. An

opportunity to pursue

higher education had

never been provided in

the past.

Border areas devel-

opment tasks cover

seven states and two di-

visions, 18 regions and

68 townships. The total

areas of the project with

a population of over 5.3

million are approxi-

mately 83,415 square

miles. Earth roads

stretching over 2,793

miles, gravel roads over

1,640 miles, tar roads

306 miles were con-

structed and over 2971

miles of roads were up-

graded in the border ar-

eas under the develop-

ment project. A total of

42 large and 659 small

bridges and 16 suspen-

sion bridges were built.

The total cost of roads

and bridges was K

2,719.11 million. En-

deavours were made for

education, health, com-

munications, agriculture,

livestock breeding, min-

eral exploration, forest

conservation and energy

sectors.

The government is

implementing the 15-

year plan for elimination

of narcotic drugs which

causes hindrance to bor-

der areas development.

Up to 15 December

2003, the government

spent over K 49,701.13

million on the project.

Now everybody can

witness unprecedented

development of border

areas with high-rise

buildings and modern

communication facili-

ties.

In the past, these re-

gions lagged behind in

development due to lack

of peace.

Now the border

areas are enjoying fruit-

ful results of develop-

ment thanks to the ef-

forts of national race

leaders who have re-

turned to the legal fold

and participation of the

entire people fully

equipped with the Union

Spirit.

Translations: NY


Head of State Senior General Than Shwe and wife Daw Kyaing Kyaing presentoffertories to a Sayadaw. — MNA

Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt and wife Dr Daw Khin Win Shwe presentoffertories to a Sayadaw. — MNA

Senior General Than Shwe andDaw Kyaing Kyaing attend BuddhaPujaniya of …

(from page 1)Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt and Dr Daw Khin Win Shwe presented

robes and offertories to Sayadaw Bhaddanta Pañindabhivamsa.Daw Khin Than Nwe presented robes and offertories to State Ovadacariya

Sayadaw Agga Maha Pandita Bhaddanta Ñaninda.General Thura Shwe Mann and Daw Khin Lay Thet presented robes and offer-

tories to State Ovadacariya Sayadaw Agga Maha Pandita Abhidhaja Maha Rattha GuruBhaddanta Rajindabhivamsa.

Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Soe Win and wife Daw Than Than Nwe presented robes andoffertories to State Ovadacariya Sayadaw Agga Maha Pandita Bhaddanta Nandavamsa.

Members of the State Peace and Development Council, the Yangon Commandcommander, ministers, the chief justice, the attorney-general, the chairman of CSSTB,the Yangon mayor and deputy ministers presented robes and offertories to Sayadaws.

Bhaddanta Kumara delivered a sermon, and the congregation shared the meritsgained.

Senior General Than Shwe and Daw Kyaing Kyaing and the congregation of-fered ‘soon’ to 500 Sayadaws led by State Ovadacariya Sayadaws and Sayadaws of theState Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee. The artistes of the Fine Arts Department of theMinistry of Culture sang the religious songs.

Staff of the Ministry of Defence, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Military Intel-ligence, the SPDC Office, the Adjutant-General’s Office, the Quartermaster-General’sOffice, the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Navy), the Office of the Commander-in-Chief (Air), ministries, the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General’s Office, the Audi-tor-General’s Office, the CSSTB, the Yangon City Development Committee and theTownship Peace and Development Councils in Yangon Division and donors presentedoffertories to Sayadaws on the pagoda platform and at the northern stairway.

Thiri Thudhamma Manijota Agga Maha Thiri Thudhamma Manijotas Teingya UThan Hla, on behalf of the congregation, shared the merits gained.

Senior General Than Shwe and Daw Kyaing Kyaing and party inspected the all-round development project of the Mindhamma Hill and viewed the religious buildingson it. — MNA

General Thura Shwe Mann and wife Daw Khin Lay Thet present offertories to aSayadaw. — MNA

Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Soe Win and wife Daw Than Than Nwe present offertories to aSayadaw. — MNA

The best time to plant a treewas 20 years ago.

The second best time is now.

Daw Khin Than Nwe, wife of Lt-Gen Tin Oo, presents offertories to a Sayadaw.MNA

(from page 16)Next, Deputy Minis-

ter for Construction Brig-Gen Myint Thein reportedon assistance to be renderedfor betterment of transpor-tation in the zones. Officiasof the zones also reportedon progress of cultivatingvarious kinds of crops andvegetables and conditions ofirrigation facilities for sup-ply of irrigation water.

Later, Deputy Direc-tor-General of the IrrigationDepartment U Khin Zawpresented progress reportson measures being taken forefficient supply of irrigationwater and prospects ofdraining water fromMoyungyi Lake; andDeputy Director-General ofWater Resources UtilizationDepartment U Hla MyintMaung on river-waterpumping projects.

In response to the re-ports, the commander gave

instructions and attended tothe requirements. After-wards, the commander andparty inspected tasks beingundertaken for supply of ir-rigation water for summerpaddy fields, and fish pondsbeing conducted byAyeyawady Naval RegionCommand Headquarters.Departmental officials con-ducted the commander andparty round the paddyfields. After inspecting thepaddy fields, the com-mander urged the officialsto render assistance to farm-ers to be able to conduct thedouble cropping on abroader scale. The com-mander and party alsolooked into the thrivingsummer paddy fields of thebattalions and units underthe No 11 LID. After hear-ing the reports, the com-mander gave instructions onstrict supervision for supplyof irrigation water for suc-

cess of summer paddy.Next, the com-

mander and party oversawthe progress of the tarringof the circular road linkingNo 1 Trunk Road with No3 Trunk Road inMingaladon Township andheard reports on construc-tion of the road and tasksleft to be done. After hear-ing the reports, the com-mander gave instructions ontimely completion of theproject meeting the setstandard.

The commander alsoinspected the thriving sum-mer paddy cultivated by thebattalions and units underYangon Command on bothsides of No 3 Trunk Roadin Mingaladon Township.After hearing the reports,the commander gave in-structions on efforts to ob-tain the targeted yield ofsummer paddy and attendedto the requirements.—MNA

Greening of Yangon International Airport,environs …


Buddha Pujaniya of LawkaChantha

Abhaya Labha MuniBuddha Image held

Head of State Senior General Than Shwe presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA Daw Kyaing Kyaing presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA

Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA Dr Daw Khin Win Shwe presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA

Daw Khin Than Nwe presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA

General Thura Shwe Mann presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA Daw Khin Lay Thet presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA

Secretary-1 Lt-Gen Soe Win presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw Hsan presents alms to a sayadaw.—MNA

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

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


TRADE MARK CAUTIONKUMON INSTITUTE

OF EDUCATION CO.,LTD., a Company incorpo-rated in Japan of 2-2, Umeda1-chome, Kita-ku, Osaka,Japan, is the Owner of thefollowing Trade Mark:-

Reg. No. 6975/2003in respect of “Class 9: DVDplayers; compact disc play-ers; CD-ROMs bearingsound or visual recordings;pre-recorded compact discs,pre-recorded cassette tapes,pre-recorded mini-discs,pre-recorded video tapes,pre-recorded digital videodiscs; recorded computerprograms; electric photo-graphic, optical apparatusand instruments for educa-tion; MP3 players; video discplayers; video recorders;video cassettes; cassetteplayers; parts and fittings forall the above; electronicbooks (downloadable),electronic newspapers(downloadable), electronicstudy papers (down-loadable). Class 16: Station-ery, calculating tables; notebooks; pencils, includingsharpened pencils; erasers,including rubber erasers;tools for memorising words;pen cases; books, booklets,writing or drawing books;magazines; paper, includinghome study paper, memo pa-per, name card paper; in-struction and teaching ma-terials (except apparatus);labels, not of textile; stick-ers; pennants of paper; en-velopes (stationery); pads(stationery), including tab-let pads, writing pads; book-markers; pens, including ballpoint pens, writing brushes,signing pens; pen holders,boxes for pens; loose-leafbinders; document files forstationery purposes; ink res-ervoirs; folders for papers;pencil sharpeners; black-boards, including magneticblackboards; boxes, includ-ing corrugated cardboardboxes, boxes of paper; bags

of paper for packaging, bagsof plastic for packaging; ca-lendars; hand writing speci-mens for copying; periodi-cals; catalogues; pamphlets;posters; hand books (manu-als); newsletters; animal andplant models; models forstudy. Class 28: Toys, in-cluding wooden toys, build-ing blocks (toys), paper toys,plastic toys, toys for educa-tion; playing cards; jigsawpuzzles; games of education;magnetic-number boardgames. Class 41; Publica-tion of texts; publication ofbooks; education examina-tion services; translationservices; tuition, education,teaching and instruction, in-cluding education teachingand instruction by corres-pondence courses; provid-ing educational informationand data; consultancy andguidance on education;rental and leasing of educa-tion books and texts, rentaland leasing of educationalsound recordings and visualrecordings; publication ofelectronic books and jour-nals online; providing onlineelectronic publications (notdownloadable); educationinformation services; provi-sion of correspondencecourses; operation of acade-mies; arranging and conduct-ing seminars, symposiums,workshops (training), andconferences; mathematics,language, including English,and infant education; edu-cation by correspondence;providing methods of in-struction for use with learn-ing materials; supplyinglearning materials;advisory and consultancyservices associated withthe above-mentioned ser-vices”

Fraudulent imitation orunauthorised use of the saidTrade Mark will be dealt withaccording to law.

Win Mu Tin ,M.A., H.G.P., D.B.L

for KUMON INSTITUTEOF EDUCATION

CO., LTD.P.O Box 60, Yangon.

Dated: 6 February 2004

CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV YANGON STAR VOY NO (345)

Consignees of cargo carried on MV YANGON STAR

Voy No (345) are hereby notified that the vessel will be

arriving on 6-2-04 and cargo will be discharged into the

premises of M.I.T.T where it will lie at the consignee’s risk

and expenses and subject to the byelaws and conditions of the

Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 am to 11:20

am and 12 noon to 4 pm up to Claims Day now declared as the

third day after final discharge of cargo from the vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted after the

Claims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENTMYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: M/S EAGLE CORPORATIONPhone : 256908/378316/376797

CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV BRIGHT PESCADORES

VOY NO (1)Consignees of cargo carried on MV BRIGHT

PESCADORES Voy No (1) are hereby notified that the vesselwill be arriving on 6-2-04 and cargo will be discharged intothe premises of Myanma Port Authority where it will lie at theconsignee’s risk and expenses and subject to the byelaws andconditions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 am to 11:20am and 12 noon to 4 pm up to Claims Day now declared as thethird day after final discharge of cargo from the vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted after theClaims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENTMYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: EASTERN CAR LINERCO LTD. JAPAN

Phone : 256924/ 256914

Paramount suesJapanese company over

due payment

Russia’s Yukos, Sibneftagree to halt merger

German beer sales fallfor fourth straight year

LOS ANGELES, 5 Feb —The Paramount Pictures In-ternational on Monday sueda Japanese company for al-legedly failing to make a 3-million-dollar due pay-ment.

The studio is also seek-ing “millions of dollars indamages” from the defend-ant, Movie Television Inc.,according to the Los Ange-les Superior Court.

Representatives of theMovie Television Inc. could

not be reached for comment.The studio claims it had

leased the rights to moviesand TV shows to Movie Tel-evision Inc. for sale to Japa-nese networks since 2000.Paramount Pictures Interna-tional notified the Japanesecompany last week that itterminated the deal.

According to the lawsuit,Movie Television Inc. shouldpay Paramount three milliondollars as of January 1.

MNA/Xinhua

BERLIN, 5 Feb — Ger-mans drank less beer for afourth straight year in 2003as a new government depositon cans and an ageing popu-lation led to sales erosion atthe nation’s 1,280 brewer-ies, data showed on Mon-day. “Even the hottest sum-mer in a century could noteven out the slump in salescaused by political deci-sions,” said Erich Dederichs,a spokesman for the Ger-man Brewers’ Association,which represents around 90per cent of beermakers. Beerproduction fell 2.1 per centfrom the previous year, theeighth decline in the pastdecade, to 105.5 millionhectolitres, from 107.8 mil-lion in 2002, the Federal Sta-tistics Office said.

A hectolitre is 100 litres(22 Imperial gallons). Lastyear’s sales were enough tofill about 10,560 Olympic-

sized swimming pools.German beer production

has been declining steadilysince the mid-1990s, whenbreweries produced morethan 115 million hectolitresa year. The country is stillthe third biggest consumeron a per capita basis, behindthe Czech Republic and Ire-land.

Brewers have saidchanging demographics arepartly to blame for the dropin demand as fewer youngerpeople in the German popu-lation means fewer beerdrinkers. They also blamethe slide on the fact thatdrinkers must pay a 25-centdeposit for each throwawaycan, a rule that came intoeffect in January 2003 to pro-mote recycling. The effectof the law has been to vir-tually eliminate canned beeron the German market.

MNA/Reuters

MOSCOW, 5 Feb — Share-holders with Russia’s oilfirms Yukos and Sibneftsigned a protocol Mondayto cancel their already sus-pended merger, MillhouseCapital, the trustee of thecore Sibneft shareholders,said on Tuesday. “The par-ties reached agreement toconduct, as quickly as possi-ble, all necessary actions toimplement the protocol,”Millhouse in a Press release.

The Russian oil giantYukos signed a mergeragreement with Sibneft lastApril, a move expected tocreate Russia’s No 1 and theworld’s No. 4 private oil pro-ducer.

However, the merger wassuspended in November re-

portedly due to Yukos coreshareholders’ rejection ofSibneft’s demand for thecontrol of the merged com-pany. In mid-December, theSibneft owners said themerger was off.

Yukos has been in trou-ble since July when one ofits core shareholders, PlatonLebedev, was arrested oncharges of theft of state prop-erty in a 1994 privatizationdeal. That was followed bythe arrest of other core share-holders, including that ofMikhail Khodorkovsky, theformer chief executiveofficer of Yukos and therichest man in Russia, onOctober 25 on seven char-ges ranging from fraud to taxevasion. — MNA/.Xinhua

Microsoft issuespatch for browser

software flawLOS ANGELES, 5 Feb —

Microsoft Corp., which wasbracing for an attack againstits web site by theMyDoom.B virus, issued apatch on Tuesday for what itcalled a critical flaw in itsWeb browser software.Microsoft posted on its website a fix for its Internet Ex-plorer Web browser that pre-vents malicious software cod-ers from making any web siteaddress look like that of an-other, a tactic scammers haveused to trick individuals intodisclosing personal bankinginformation.— MNA/Xinhua

DON’T SMOKE

A D V E R T I S E M E N T SSoros says US under Bush is

danger to world BERLIN , 5 Feb — Billionaire fund manager George

Soros said on Wednesday the United States under Presi-dent George W Bush was “a danger to the world” andrenewed a pledge to open his wallet to Democratic Partychallengers.

In an interview withGermany’s Stern magazine,he said he had donated 12.5million US dollars to backDemocratic challengers sofar. “The Bush Governmentwants to force its will uponthe whole world,” said Soros,whose 11.5 billion US dol-lars Soros Fund Managementis one of the world’s largesthedge funds. “This govern-ment has fallen into the handsof political extremists.America is a danger for theworld.”

Soros, 73, “broke” theBritish pound in 1992 and inMay 2003 helped push theUS dollar to near record lowsagainst the euro by announc-ing he was sellinggreenbacks. He said he hadlived in totalitarian systemsin Hungary under both theNazis and Communists, andfeared the Bush Administra-

tion was moving the countryin an ominous direction.

“I’m not comparingBush to the Nazis but some-thing’s happening in thiscountry that I never thoughtpossible: the open society isdeeply endangered,” Sorossaid. He said he was alarmedthe government was exploit-ing fears over the September11, 2001, suicide attacks topursue its aims. “It’s oftensaid this terrible act of terrorchanged the world,” he said.“No, the world is beingchanged by the way the BushGovernment is reacting tothis terror, the way it’s ex-ploiting it and using it tocurtail civil liberties andstriving to rule the world.”

Soros said his cam-paign contributions were adrop in the bucket but hopedthey would help level theplaying field. MNA/Reuters

��


The 2005 Hyundai Tucson makes its debut at the Chicago Auto Show, on 4 Feb,2004. —INTERNET

Beijing police crack downon fireworks

Local police smashed 720 cases of ille-gal fireworks dealing from October 2003 toFebruary 2, said Yu Hongyuan, deputy di-rector of the city public security bureau onWednesday. To improve public awarenessof the fireworks ban, police officers distrib-uted over four million copies of publicitymaterials and over 30,000 posters from 1January to the Spring Festival, a traditionaltime of family gatherings, which fell on 22January this year.

Beijing’s eight urban districts and somesuburban areas have banned firecrackerssince 1993, but some Beijingers are stillreluctant to farewell a traditional method ofcelebration.

At midnight of January 21, the eve ofthe Chinese Lunar New Year, many

Beijingers welcomed the Year of the Monkeywith firecrackers.

Bright flashes and loud booms have beenseen and heard around the city proper even inrecent days as it is traditionally regarded thatthe festival concludes on Thursday, the 15thday of the first month on the Chinese lunarcalendar or the festival of lanterns.

Illegally-lit firecrackers claimed four livesand injured 307 during the festival period,according to statistics from the city healthbureau. Beijing’s fire control department re-ceived reports of 871 fires from January 21 to26, a 157-per-cent rise from the figure for thecorresponding period last year. Two peopledied in fires. Over 210,000 police officersand security guards were patrolling the streetsfrom January 22 to 26.—MNA/Xinhua

Pixar Animation Studios on 4 Feb, 2004 claimed the mantle as world’s top animated filmmaker after posting record quarterly income from runaway DVD sales of computer-animated hit ‘Finding Nemo.’ Chief Executive Steve Jobs made clear his company’s

relationship with Walt Disney Co would end when their distribution deal ran out in 2005,calling Disney’s latest animated films bombs and its sequels embarrassing.—INTERNET

Mozambican Presidentcalls for joint effortsagainst epidemics

MAPUTO, 5 Feb—Mozambican President JoaquimChissano has urged Mozambique’s local society and theinternational community to work together in the fight againstthe HIV/AIDS and the cholera epidemics, local mediareported here.

Chissano was speaking at the district of Marracuene,about 30 kilometres north of Maputo City, on Monday,during celebrations to mark the 109th anniversary of “GwazaMuthini”, an 1895 battle between the invading PortugueseArmy and Mozambican resistance fighters.

Chissano called on all Mozambicans to be strict inobserving the measures established by the Mozambicanhealth authorities, in order to prevent the spread of thesediseases. He also urged all Mozambique’s research institu-tions to seek and collect data on the country’s history andculture, which could then be systematized and published.

MNA/Xinhua

30 volunteers to receiveSARS vaccine test in China

BEIJING , 5 Feb— Chinese scientists will select 30 volun-teers to receive clinical tests for developing a vaccineagainst severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), saidsources with China’s SARS vaccine research team.

Prosecutors say Newark securitystaff had crime records

A grand jury indicted Haynes Security company, itsPresident John D’Agostino, 50, and his wife and companyCEO Carol D’Agostino, 48, on corruption charges involv-ing bribery, theft and conspiracy over five years starting in1999.

“The outcome of the alleged illegal activity had thepotential to jeopardize security at Newark Airport,” StateAttorney General Peter Harvey said.

He said there was no direct connection between the caseand any security lapse at the airport on 11 September, 2001.

“A few of these workers did overlap on September 11but we cannot tie at this point any conduct by these indivi-duals to any of the September 11 events,” Harvey said.

The indictment said Haynes had more than 12 millionUS dollars in contracts with the Port Authority of New Yorkand New Jersey and Continental Airlines for Newark airportsecurity. It said there was a pattern of bribes, theft andconspiracy by company officers in security contracts. They

failed to fingerprint thousands of personnel or send finger-prints and background checks to police as required by law.

Harvey said investigators found 27 people with criminalrecords working at Newark for Haynes.

He said the airport, which handles about 33,000 flightsand 2.5 million passengers a month, had improved safetysince the attacks led to nationwide tightening of security.

“Obviously, there is more work to be done, but weneedn’t be unduly alarmed,” Harvey said. The grand juryalso indicted Benjamin Riggi, 51, a manager of PublicService Electric and Gas Co.. He is accused of accepting7,500 US dollars in a purported loan from Haynes — thatwas never paid back — in exchange for giving favourablereports to PSE&G about Haynes’ performance. The defend-ants face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to 150,000US dollars each if convicted.— MNA/Reuters

The team has drawn upan implementation plan forthe clinical research of aSARS vaccine. The firstphase will last for threemonths in either Beijing,south China’s GuangdongProvince or neighbouringGuangxi Zhuang Autono-mous Region.

The volunteers will com-prise 15 men and 15 womenaged from 18 to 40. The vol-unteers should pass medicalexamination and clinical ob-servation.

They will be vaccinatedonly after signing an agree-ment, said the team leader.Their body temperaturesshould not be higher than 37degrees Centigrade beforevaccination.

The vaccine was foundsafe and effective in experi-ments on animals, includingthe rhesus monkey. The firstphase test aimed to see if it

was safe and effective on thehuman body.

There were still risks, saidthe team leader. The vacci-nation might cause minoradverse effects such as lowfever and pain. But thesesymptoms could disappearnaturally without medicaltreatment.

A committee would beset up to protect the rights ofthe volunteers, who couldparticipate or withdraw fromthe test at will. Researcherswould provide medical treat-ment if they suffered any illeffects, said the team leader.

On the other hand,volunteers should follow theresearchers’ instructions andthe requirements of the re-search programme. Underthe implementation plan, thesecond phase of clinical test-ing will have more partici-pants from a wider age range.

MNA/Xinhua

US manfined forshipping

self in plane DALLAS, 5 Feb—A man

who shipped himself acrossAmerica in an air cargo crateto avoid paying a passengerfare was fined 1,500 US dol-lars on Wednesday and sen-tenced to 120 days of housearrest.

A federal court at FortWorth, Texas, also putCharles McKinley, dubbedby local media as “Charlie ina Box”, on probation for oneyear. He had faced up to oneyear in prison after pleadingguilty to stowing away on anaircraft.

Last SeptemberMcKinley, 25, filled out anair fight order that chargedhis New York computercompany for the shippingcosts, stuffed himself in acrate and sent his 5-foot-8-inch (173 centimetre) bodyin a box that was 42 inches(107 centimetre) high, 36inches (91 centimetre) wideand 15 inches deep (38 cen-timetre).

MNA/Reuters

Lusaka closes schools, market tocontain cholera outbreak

LUSAKA, 5 Feb— The authorities in the Zambian capital Lusaka have closed fourschools and a major market to contain the latest cholera outbreak, the official Times ofZambia newspaper reported Wednesday.

The closure was aimingto allow for cleaning exer-cises that the authorities hopeto help contain the choleraoutbreak that has killed over80 people in the city sincelast November.

The closed schools are lo-cated in Chawama and

Daniel Bowasi, LusakaProvince education officer,was quoted as saying thatthe schools were closed dueto the poor sanitation condi-tions which the Health Min-istry fears would worsen thecholera situation.

MNA/Xinhua

Mandevu townships.Chawama is one of the town-ships that have reported thelargest number of cholera cases.

Soweto, the largest openair food market in Lusaka,was also closed amid heavypolice presence and protestsby reluctant traders.

NEWARK (New Jersey), 5 Feb—A New Jersey company charged with corruption could have jeopardized securityat Newark Airport outside New York City by employing 27 people with criminal records there, prosecutors saidon Tuesday.

BEIJING , 5 Feb— Beijing police have continued a major crackdown on the illegalmanufacture, sale and igniting of fireworks.

��


SPORTS

Real Madrid's Jose Maria Gutierrez, left, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane embraceto Raul Gonzalez, centre, after he scored a goal against Sevilla during a King's Cup

semifinal first leg soccer match in Madrid, Spain, on 4 Feb, 2004.—INTERNET

Inter Milan's Adriano from Brazil, left, celebrates with teammate Alvaro Recoba fromUruguay during the Italian Cup match between Juventus and Inter, in Turin's Delle Alpi

Stadium, Italy, on 4 Feb, 2004.—INTERNET

Real take handy Cup advantage against Sevilla MADRID , 5 Feb — Real Madrid edged towards a place in the King's Cup final as

second-half goals from Santiago Solari and Raul earned them a 2-0 win over Sevillain their semifinal first leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Solari put Real ahead when he rifled theball in from the edge of the area 10 minutesinto the second half of what had been anevenly matched encounter.

The Argentine midfielder helped set upthe second 15 minutes from time, winningthe ball on the left and working it across forRaul to sweep low into the right-hand cor-ner with a classy first-time finish.

Sevilla produced a typically gritty per-formance but failed to take their chancesand Real will have a valuable lead goinginto next week's second leg.

Second-Division Alaves host RealZaragoza in the second semifinal, first legon Thursday.

Missing leading striker Ronaldo, whowas forced to pull out at the last minutebecause of illness, Real were guilty of aseries of bad misses in the first half.

Zinedine Zidane created the first clearchance of the game, teeing the ball up for anunmarked Raul to smash high and widefrom eight metres out.

Sevilla, who dealt Real Madrid their worstdefeat of the season when beating them 4-1at home in the league, were quick to re-spond.

Midfielder Marti sent a rising shot overthe bar and, in the next attack, Dario Silvamade room for himself on the left beforeshooting straight at Real keeper Cesar.

Real were caught out midway throughthe half when Julio Baptista burst past twodefenders on his way into the area, but theBrazilian striker lost his footing under pres-sure from Raul Bravo.

Real upped the pressure in the final 10minutes before the break, but Javier Portilloand Ivan Helguera both missed with close-range headers over the bar.

The game turned with Solari's spectacu-lar finish in the 55th minute.

Given space on the left, the Argentineturned inside one defender on the edge of thearea and lashed the ball across goalkeeperEsteban and into the roof of the net.

Real picked up a gear after the goal andRoberto Carlos, Guti and Zidane all carvedout chances before Raul added the second.

MNA/Reuters

City come back from dead to win Cup replayLONDON, 5 Feb — Kevin Keegan's luck finally turned at White Hart Lane on

Wednesday as his Manchester City side pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in FACup history to beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-3 in a fourth-round replay.

Eight-times Cup winners Tottenhamappeared to have booked a fifth-round tripto Manchester United by halftime, thanks tosuperb goals by Ledley King, Robbie Keaneand Christian Ziege.

But City, reduced to 10 men whenmidfielder Joey Barton was sent off fordissent seconds after referee Rob Styles hadblown his whistle for halftime, roared back.

Sylvain Distan headed in MichaelTarnat's clever free kick three minutes afterthe break and, when Paul Bosvelt's shotdeflected into the net off Spurs defenderAnthony Gardener in the 61st, Spurs weresuddenly rocking.

City goalkeeper Arni Arason pulled offsome great saves as Tottenham tried to killthe tie, but the home side were stunnedwhen Shaun Wright-Phillips lobbed an 80th-minute equalizer.

With the pulsating game heading forextra time, there was one final twist whenJohn Macken, who replaced injured NicolasAnelka midway through the first half, roseto head home a last-gasp winner.

Keegan, whose reign at City is underthreat after a run of 11 Premier Leaguegames without a win has left them justabove the relegation zone, could only watcha nightmarish first half in stunned silence ashis side were torn to shreds.

Central midfielder King curled in a de-

lightful opener after two minutes and Keane,scorer of a penalty in the first match whichearned Spurs a 1-1 draw, applied a coolfinish from Stephen Carr's pass to make it2-0 after 19 minutes.

City lost leading scorer Anelka to injuryafter 27 minutes and when Ziege, playing hissecond match after a long injury break, madeit 3-0 just before the break with a dipping freekick the second period seemed a formality.

But, in a crazy reversal of fortune, Citysomehow dragged themselves back to booka mouth-watering Manchester derby in thefifth round and avenge their defeat by Spursin the League Cup this season.

Speaking to Sky Sports, a disbelievingKeegan said: "I don't know how to describemy emotions. It was an incredible come-back, they'll talk about this long after we'veall gone. "I'm very proud of the team. Athalftime, I walked off and asked where thenearest job centre was."

Tottenham manager David Pleat slammedhis side for a shocking collapse.

"We were sloppy, even in the first half,"he said. "The players have let themselvesdown and the fans must be devastated. Wewill see now if the players can cope with thisdefeat, I'll be looking for a reaction."

In the other fourth-round replay, Fulhamwere leading Everton 2-1 in extra time.

MNA/Reuters

Benfica honour memory of Feherin league victory

LISBON, 5 Feb— Benfica beat Academica 2-0 in an emotionalPortuguese league match late on Tuesday, their first game sincestriker Miklos Feher died on the pitch last month.

Feher, a 24-year-old Hungarian international, collapsed anddied during a league game at Vitoria Guimarares on January 25.The cause of his death has yet to be determined.

Players and officials gathered in a circle at midfield for a minuteof silence before the game, which was played in front of a capacitycrowd of 56,000 at Benfica's Stadium of Light.

Giant screens showed images of Feher's career and the Benficaplayers carried his name on the back of their shirts. Feher's ownnumber 29 shirt has been retired by the club.

When Slovenian midfielder Zlatko Zahovic put Benfica aheadwith a header from a free kick in the 28th minute, his team matesgathered in an embrace and knelt, fingers pointing to the sky, todedicate the goal to Feher.

"Feher will always be with us in the locker room and at Benfica,"coach Jose Antonio Camacho told Record sports newspaper.

MNA/Reuters

Bayern fall to seconddivision Aachen in Cup BERLIN, 5 Feb— Second Division

Alemannia Aachen knocked holders BayernMunich out of the German Cup quarterfinalswith a spirited 2-1 win on Wednesday.

Dutch striker Erik Meijer hit the winnerwith a headed goal nine minutes from timeafter the home side had showed more initia-tive throughout.

It was the second dismal performance inrecent days by the German champions afterthey were held to a 1-1 draw by strugglersEintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga onSaturday.

Defender Stefan Blank opened the scor-ing for Aachen after 33 minutes before Bayernlevelled against the run of play, courtesy ofa diving header from Germany midfielderMichael Ballack in first-half added time.

Bayern, lying third in the Bundesliga sixpoints behind leaders Werder Bremen, willhave to improve dramatically if they are totrouble Real Madrid in the opening knock-out round of the Champions League.

"We failed to dictate play and we couldnot keep up with the pace," said Bayerncoach Ottmar Hitzfeld.—MNA/Reuters

Sochaux's Oruma spoils StEtienne League Cup party

PARIS, 5 Feb— A double by Nigeria'sWilson Oruma spoilt St Etienne's party asSochaux fought back from two goals down towin 3-2 in extra-time and qualify for theirsecond successive French League Cup finalon Wednesday.

Once great St. Etienne, relegated toFrance's Second Division in 2001, foundthemselves two goals up after 22 minutesthanks to Patrice Carteron and Lilian Companand on course for their first domestic final for22 years. But Oruma levelled the scoring onthe hour before silencing the 33,000 fans inthe Geoffroy Guichard Stadium with a bril-liant winner in the 103rd minute.

In the final at the Stade de France on April17, Sochaux will meet Nantes with bothteams trying to win the trophy for the firsttime.

Nantes beat AJ Auxerre on penalties in theother semifinal on Tuesday.

"I can hardly believe we made it back. "They're a great team, enthusiastic and

technical, I'm sure they will return to the topflight next season," said Sochaux coach GuyLacombe.—MNA/Reuters

Pekerman agrees to leavecash-strapped Leganes

MADRID, 5 Feb— Former Argentine youthcoach Jose Pekerman has given up his posi-tion as sporting director of Spanish seconddivision side Leganes in the wake of theeconomic crisis facing the club.

"Pekerman has realised that a small clublike Leganes cannot permit itself the luxuryof having a sporting director," club presidentJesus Polo told sports daily Marca on Wednes-day.

"We have to reduce costs to see if we canface up to the difficult situation in which theclub now finds itself."

Pekerman, who steered Argentina to threeWorld Youth Cup victories between 1995and 2001, was appointed to the post in Au-gust following the planned purchase of theclub by Argentine music tycoon DanielGrinbank.—MNA/Reuters


R 489 Published by the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar. Edited and printed at The New Light of Myanmar Press,No 22/30 Strand Road at 43rd Street, Yangon. Cable Newlight, PO Box No. 43, Telephones: Editors 296115, Manager 296864, Circulation 297093, Advertisement 296843,Accounts 296545, Administration 296161, Production 297032 (Office) /297028 (Press).

View today:Friday, February 6

7:00 am 1. Recitation of parittas by

missionary sayadaw UOattamathara

7:20 am 2.�� !��"�#�� !��"�#�� !��"�#�� !��"�#�� !��"�#��

��$��$��$��$��$��

7:25 am 3. To be healthy exercise7:30 am 4. Morning news7:40 am 5. Nice and sweet song7:50 am 6.%&��'(� �)�*�+�,��-��'.+�%&��'(� �)�*�+�,��-��'.+�%&��'(� �)�*�+�,��-��'.+�%&��'(� �)�*�+�,��-��'.+�%&��'(� �)�*�+�,��-��'.+�

8:00 am 7. The mirror images of

the musical oldies8:10 am 8.�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�,5�,"��,5�,"��,5�,"��,5�,"��,5�,"�

8:20 am

9.��)�*��6+��78��)�*��6+��78��)�*��6+��78��)�*��6+��78��)�*��6+��78

8:25 pm10.)�+� ��%(�+��)�+� ��%(�+��)�+� ��%(�+��)�+� ��%(�+��)�+� ��%(�+��

8:30 am11. International news8:45 am12. English for Everyday

Use2:50 pm 1.9::;<)�(,��;=��*��9::;<)�(,��;=��*��9::;<)�(,��;=��*��9::;<)�(,��;=��*��9::;<)�(,��;=��*��*�1�3��(+�>�)�+� *�1��2�+�,)�)�+� *�1�3��(+�>�)�+� *�1��2�+�,)�)�+� *�1�3��(+�>�)�+� *�1��2�+�,)�)�+� *�1�3��(+�>�)�+� *�1��2�+�,)�)�+� *�1�3��(+�>�)�+� *�1��2�+�,)�)�+� ��-�6 �� %7��3� ��%)� ��-�6 �� %7��3� ��%)� ��-�6 �� %7��3� ��%)� ��-�6 �� %7��3� ��%)� ��-�6 �� %7��3� ��%)� *��6+��78�)��')��2)��%.+�>�&�,5�,"�*��6+��78�)��')��2)��%.+�>�&�,5�,"�*��6+��78�)��')��2)��%.+�>�&�,5�,"�*��6+��78�)��')��2)��%.+�>�&�,5�,"�*��6+��78�)��')��2)��%.+�>�&�,5�,"��)��6?)�%�%)�78��)��6?)�%�%)�78��)��6?)�%�%)�78��)��6?)�%�%)�78��)��6?)�%�%)�78��3��)3��)�+� �(+�>��+�*�1�3��3��)3��)�+� �(+�>��+�*�1�3��3��)3��)�+� �(+�>��+�*�1�3��3��)3��)�+� �(+�>��+�*�1�3��3��)3��)�+� �(+�>��+�*�1�3��

4:45 pm 2. Songs to uphold National

Spirit5:10 pm 3.�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34 )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"�

5:20 pm 4.��%(�3��>�,��%(�3��>�,��%(�3��>�,��%(�3��>�,��%(�3��>�,��

5:25 pm 5.�/=��(,��*��3A�/=��(,��*��3A�/=��(,��*��3A�/=��(,��*��3A�/=��(,��*��3A,,�<-5,,�� 5<-+� *��6+��78,,�<-5,,�� 5<-+� *��6+��78,,�<-5,,�� 5<-+� *��6+��78,,�<-5,,�� 5<-+� *��6+��78,,�<-5,,�� 5<-+� *��6+��78

��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��

5:45 pm 6. �/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34�/0��(,��*��*�1��2�+�,)�34 )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"� )@�*�6�,5�,"�

5:55 pm 7.�<-+�')� ��,� �+��+��&�<-+�')� ��,� �+��+��&�<-+�')� ��,� �+��+��&�<-+�')� ��,� �+��+��&�<-+�')� ��,� �+��+��&

6:00 pm 8.�3��5 �� +� �� 3��5 �� +� �� 3��5 �� +� �� 3��5 �� +� �� 3��5 �� +� ��

Tune in today:

Friday, February 6

8.30 am Brief news8.35 am Music8.40 am Perspectives8.45 am Music8.50 am National news/

Slogan9.00 am Music9.05 am International news9.10 am Music1.30 pm News/ Slogan1:40 pm Lunch time music

- If I let you go(West life)-My immortal(Evaneseens)

9.10 pm Union Day comme-morative talk "TheUnion be affectino-nate and united"

9.15 pm Article/Music9.25 pm Music at your request

-I really miss you(S club 7)-To be with you(Mr Big)

9.45 pm News/Slogan10.00 pm PEL

��7 ��7 <3� ��7 ��7 <3� ��7 ��7 <3� ��7 ��7 <3� ��7 ��7 <3�

6:15 pm 9. Discovery6:30 pm10. Evening news7:00 pm11. Weather report7:05 pm12. Milo success in

soccer7:10 pm13.�)�+�+�*<� B��%�� 78�)�+�+�*<� B��%�� 78�)�+�+�*<� B��%�� 78�)�+�+�*<� B��%�� 78�)�+�+�*<� B��%�� 78C�)� �*��) �,��>�7��DC�)� �*��) �,��>�7��DC�)� �*��) �,��>�7��DC�)� �*��) �,��>�7��DC�)� �*��) �,��>�7��D��)�+� EF;��)�+� EF;��)�+� EF;��)�+� EF;��)�+� EF;�

7:35 pm14.��+(��)��7 �� +(��)��7 �� +(��)��7 �� +(��)��7 �� +(��)��7 ��

��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��+� ��+� ,��

7:45 pm15.*�1��2�+�,),��*��*�1��2�+�,),��*��*�1��2�+�,),��*��*�1��2�+�,),��*��*�1��2�+�,),��*��

'(+��3�<)�+��3��(��)�4�3��'(+��3�<)�+��3��(��)�4�3��'(+��3�<)�+��3��(��)�4�3��'(+��3�<)�+��3��(��)�4�3��'(+��3�<)�+��3��(��)�4�3��73�*�1�3��)�+� EF��73�*�1�3��)�+� EF��73�*�1�3��)�+� EF��73�*�1�3��)�+� EF��73�*�1�3��)�+� EF�

8:00 pm16. News17. International news18. Weather report19. Teleplay:C�*�*�3�A��+��G�+�%��C�*�*�3�A��+��G�+�%��C�*�*�3�A��+��G�+�%��C�*�*�3�A��+��G�+�%��C�*�*�3�A��+��G�+�%��

��+��3� D��+��3� D��+��3� D��+��3� D��+��3� D�*�3��>��(+�>')��*�+�� (�*�3��>��(+�>')��*�+�� (�*�3��>��(+�>')��*�+�� (�*�3��>��(+�>')��*�+�� (�*�3��>��(+�>')��*�+�� (�3�2�� -� ��3�2�� -� ��3�2�� -� ��3�2�� -� ��3�2�� -� ��')��E�-�6 �� ')��E�-�6 �� ')��E�-�6 �� ')��E�-�6 �� ')��E�-�6 ��

20. The next day’sprogramme

Thursday, 5 February, 2004

Summary of observations recorded at 09:30 hoursMST: During the past 24 hours, weather has been partly

cloudy in the whole country. Night temperatures were (5°C)

above normal in Taninthayi Division, (8°C) below normal

in Chin State, (3°C) to (5°C) below normal in Kachin, Shan,

Rakhine and Kayah States, Sagaing, Mandalay and Magway

Divisions and about normal in the remaining areas. The

significant night temperature was (3°C) at Hakha.

Maximum temperature on 4-2-2004 was 35°C

(95°F). Minimum temperature on 5-2-2004 was 13.6°C

(56°F). Relative humidity at 9.30 hours MST on 5-2-2004

was 73 per cent. Total sunshine hours on 4-2-2004 was 8

hours approx. Rainfall on 5-2-2004 was nil at Yangon

Airport, Kaba Aye and Central Yangon. Total rainfall since

1-1-2004 was 3 mm at Yangon Airport and nil at Kaba Aye

and Central Yangon. Maximum wind speed at Yangon

(Kaba Aye) was 6 mph from northwest at 14.30 hours MST

on 4-2-2004.

Bay inference: Weather is partly cloudy in South

Bay and fair elsewhere in the Bay of Bengal.

Forecast valid until evening of 6-2-2004: Likeli-

hood of isolated rain in Kachin State, upper Sagaing and

Taninthayi Divisions and weather will be partly cloudy in

the remaining areas. Degree of certainty is (60%).

State of the sea: Seas will be moderate in Myanmar

waters.

Outlook for subsequent two days: Likelihood of

isolated rain in southern Myanmar areas.

Forecast for Yangon and neighbouring area for6-2-2004: Partly cloudy.

Forecast for Mandalay and neighbouring areafor 6-2-2004: Partly cloudy.

6-2-2004 (Friday)(Programme Schedule)Morning Transmission

(9:00 - 10:00)

MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3

9:00 Signature TuneGreeting

9:02 Song of MyanmarBeauty & ScenicSights “Mingalabar”

9:06 Union of Myanmar(Kayah State)

9:10 Headline News9:12 Aungpan Oranges9:15 National News9:20 Myanmar Elephants

from Myanma Forest9:25 Leprosy Elimination

Commemorative Day9:30 National News9:35 A Hidden Treasure

(Kekku)9:40 Song “We’ll Greet

You In Mon Language9:42 Kayan Dance9:45 National News9:50 Traditional Chin Li-

queur (Khaung Yay)9:58 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Come and SeeMyanmar”

6-2-2004 (Friday)Regular Programmes for

Viewers from AbroadEvening Transmission

(15:30 - 17:30)15:30 Signature Tune

Greeting15:32 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Myanma Pano-rama & Myanma Sen-timent”



from Myanma Forest15:55 Leprosy Elimination



You In Mon Lan-

20:25 Song “Ayeyawady”20:30 National News20:35 The Making of a

Myanmar Saung(Harp)

20:40 Ayeyawady SecondDefile

20:45 National News20:50 Tasty fried Nga-Poe

from Padu Village20:55 The Beauty and Grace

of the hands21:00 National News21:05 Putao Surrounded by

Natural Scenic Beauty21:10 Song on Screen

“Flourishing”21:15 National News21:20 The Birth Place of

Lacquerware Techni-cians




from Myanmar Forest21:55 Leprosy Elimination



You In Mon Lan-guage”

22:12 Kayan Dance22:15 National News22:20 Traditional Chin Li-

queur (Khaung Yay)22:25 Song “Shadow of

Love”22:30 National News22:35 Fishery Enterprise in

Pyapon22:40 Devoutly Making Do-

nations22:45 National News22:50 Leisurely Cruise Along

The Coast (Mawla-myaing to Myeik)

22:58 Let’s Mail the lovelyCards

23:00 National News23:05 King Thayawaddy’s

Bell23:10 Myanmar Modern

Songs “Speakingthrough our eyes”

23:12 The Wooden WalkingStick

23:15 National News23:20 Tourists’ happy expe-

guage”16:12 Kayan Dance16:15 National News16:20 Traditional Chin Li-


Beauty & ScenicSights “Myanma Pa-norama & MyanmaSentiment”

16:30 National News16:35 Fishery Enterprise in

Pyapon16:40 Devoutly Making Do-






Songs “Speakingthrough our eyes”



rience in Myanmar17:25 Song of Myanmar


Evening Transmission(19:30 - 23:30)


19:32 Song of MyanmarBeauty & ScenicSights “Myanma Pano-rama & Myanma Sen-timent”

19:36 Htamane Fesitval(Daw Yu Yu Htwe)

19:40 Headline News19:42 Ayeyawady First De-

file19:45 National News19:50 Mawtinsoon Pagoda

Festival19:55 Kayin Dance (We Bu

(or) Paddy WinnowingDance)

20:00 National News20:05 Union of Myanmar

(Kachin State)20:10 Myanmar Modern

Song “Greetings FromChin Hills”

20:15 National News20:20 Unique Biodversity of

Indawgyi Lake (VI)



6-2-2004˚(Friday) &7-2-2004 (Saturday)Evening & Morning

Transmission(23:30 - 1:30)





from Myanmar Forest23:55 Leprosy Elimination



You In Mon Language00:12 Kayan Dance00:15 National News00:20 Traditional Chin Li-


Beauty & ScenicSights “Myanma Pano-rama & Myanma Sen-timent”

00:30 National News00:35 Fishery Enterprise in

Pyapon00:40 Devoulty Making Do-






Song “Speakingthrough our eyes”





WEATHER

Union of MyanmarState Peace and Development Council

(Order No 1/2004)15th Waxing of Tabodwe 1365 ME

(5th February 2004)Permission granted for retirement

The State Peace and Development Council haspermitted U Ko Lay, Minister at the Prime Minister’sOffice, to retire from duties with effect from today.

By order,Sd/ Soe Win

Lieutenant-GeneralSecretary-1

State Peace and Development Council

1st Waning of Tabodwe, 1365 ME Friday, 6 February, 2004

Four political objectives* Stability of the State, community

peace and tranquillity, prevalence oflaw and order

* National reconsolidation* Emergence of a new enduring State

Constitution* Building of a new modern developed

nation in accord with the new StateConstitution

Four social objectives* Uplift of the morale and morality of

the entire nation* Uplift of national prestige and integrity

and preservation and safeguarding ofcultural heritage and national charac-ter

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

standards of the entire nation

Four economic objectives* Development of agriculture as the base and all-round

development of other sectors of the economy as well* Proper evolution of the market-oriented economic sys-

tem* Development of the economy inviting participation in

terms of technical know-how and investments fromsources inside the country and abroad

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

Prime Minister receives national race groupsYANGON, 5 Feb —

Chairman of the WorkCommittee for Develop-ment of Border Areas andNational Races Prime Min-ister General Khin Nyuntreceived a national racegroup from Manpan regionled by U Sai Mon and an-other national race groupfrom Monhin Monha regionled by U Lawma atZeyathiri Beikman onKonmyinttha here at 5 pm

today.Present on the occasion

were Minister for Home Af-fairs Col Tin Hlaing, Min-ister for Mines Brig-GenOhn Myint, Minister forLivestock and FisheriesBrig-Gen Maung MaungThein, Minister for HealthDr Kyaw Myint, Minister atthe Prime Minister’s OfficeMaj-Gen Thein Swe, Vice-Chief of Military Intelli-gence Maj-Gen Kyaw Win,

Deputy Minister for Agri-culture and Irrigation Brig-Gen Khin Maung, DeputyMinister for Progress ofBorder Areas and NationalRaces and DevelopmentAffairs Col Tin Ngwe, Di-rector-General of the StatePeace and DevelopmentCouncil Office Lt-Col PeNyein, Director-General ofthe Government Office USoe Tint, and senior militaryofficers of the Military In-

telligence Headquarters.On the occasion, the

leaders of national racegroups explained that theywould take part harmoni-ously in the regional devel-opment measures under theleadership of the State.They also asked for assist-ance to be rendered to edu-cation, health, agriculture,livestock, road transporta-tion, and business transac-tions. — MNA

Prime Minister General Khin Nyunt receives a national racegroup led by U Sai Mon and one led by U Lawma. — MNA

Commander Maj-Gen Myint Swe addresses the meeting for all-year round greening of the 30-mile radius of YangonInternational Airport. — YANGON COMMAND

Minister attends ASEAN Tourism Ministers’ MeetingYANGON, 5 Feb — The

Myanmar delegation led byMinister for Hotels and Tour-ism Brig-Gen Thein Zaw at-tended the 7th ASEAN Tour-ism Ministers’ Meeting, thethird meeting of ASEAN andChina, Japan and Korea tour-ism ministers’ meeting andASEAN Tourism Exhibition2004 at Vientiane, the LaoPeople’s Democratic Repub-lic. The Myanmar delegationtogether with tourism minis-ters of ASEAN nations andthe People’s Republic ofChina, Japan and the Repub-lic of Korea attended the din-ner hosted by Chairman ofLaotian Tourism Administra-

tive Body Mr SomphongMongkhonvilay at Lao PlazaHotel on 2 February morn-ing.

On 3 February morning,Minister Brig-Gen Thein Zawand party attended the 7thASEAN Tourism Ministers’Meeting. In the afternoon, theMyanmar delegation attendedthe third meeting of tourismministers of ASEAN nationsand the PRC, Japan and theROK. Later in the afternoon,the tourism ministers held apress conference. In theevening, Minister Brig-GenThein Zaw and party attendedthe opening of ASEAN Tour-ism Exhibition 2004. Laotian

Prime Minister BoungnangVorachith opened the exhibi-tion. The Laotian Prime Min-ister and Deputy Prime Min-ister and Foreign Affairs Min-ister Mr Somsavat Lengsavadhosted a dinner to thosepresent.

Minister Brig-Gen TheinZaw and party arrived backhere by air yesterdayevening. They were wel-comed back at Yangon In-ternational Airport by Min-ister for Sports Brig-GenThura Aye Myint, DeputyMinister for Hotels and Tour-ism Brig-Gen Aye MyintKyu and officials.

MNA

YANGON, 5 Feb — A work coordination meeting onyear-round greening of the Yangon International Airportand its surrounding areas lying within the 30-mile radiuswas held at the briefing hall of the orchid farm of MyanmaAgriculture Service in Mingaladon Township here thisafternoon, with an address delivered by Yangon DivisionPeace and Development Council Chairman and YangonCommand Commander Maj-Gen Myint Swe. Present atthe meeting were Deputy Minister for Construction Brig-Gen Myint Thein, No 1 Military Region Commander ColTun Kyi, Col Myat Thu of No 11 Light Infantry Division,local authorities, departmental officials, and guests. In hisspeech, Maj-Gen Myint Swe said arrangements are underway to grow monsoon and summer paddy, beans andpulses, edible oil crops, vegetables and cash crops in the30-mile-radius of Yangon International Airport to make itlush and pleasant all the year round. The State also pro-vides irrigation facilities, river water pumping projects,and power tillers to be able to implement the project.Efforts are to be made to extend sown acreage and toconduct more double cropping.

(See page 10)

Greening of Yangon InternationalAirport , environs coordinated

PerspectivesExplore and exploit

more and more oil &natural gas

Page 2

ArticleDeveloping

border areasPage 8

Circulation: 20,071

INSIDE1

Minister Brig-Gen Thein Zaw and party being welcomed back at the airport. HOTELS AND TOURISM

Established 1914 Volume XI, Number 296 1st …2004/02/06 · Director-General of the MRTV U Khin...

Documents

Transcript of Established 1914 Volume XI, Number 296 1st …2004/02/06 · Director-General of the MRTV U Khin...