[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
BurmaNet News: August 1, 2001
- Subject: BurmaNet News: August 1, 2001
- From: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 03:20:00
______________ THE BURMANET NEWS ______________
An on-line newspaper covering Burma
August 1, 2001 Issue # 1855
______________ www.burmanet.org _______________
NOTED IN PASSING: ?the largest prison for journalists in Asia?
Reporters without Borders describing Burma. See AP: Myanmar
journalists' plight remains alarming, says press freedom group
INSIDE BURMA _______
*DVB: Rangoon junta frees 4 MPs, more expected before UN envoy's 27 Aug
visit
*AP: Myanmar journalists' plight remains alarming, says press freedom
group
*DVB: Education Ministry issues order on strict security measures at
schools
MONEY _______
*Xinhua: Tourist Arrivals in Myanmar Decline in 1st Quarter
*Xinhua: Myanmar Earns Less from Customs Duties in 1st Quarter
*Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in 1st Quarter
*Xinhua: Myanmar Produces 811,000 barrels of Crude Oil in 1st Quarter
*AFP: Thailand seeks better deal on Myanmar fishing concessions
GUNS______
*The Nation: Wa army delivers 7 Thai officials to Burma Junta; release
expected
DRUGS______
*AP: Thai government revokes nationality of alleged drug smuggler
REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL _______
*Sydney Morning Herald: Pressure on Rangoon to return to democracy
*Bangkok Cho So 100 Radio (Thailand): Thai FM spokesman says 7 missing
Thai officials under care of Burmese
*South China Morning Post: Burma--Satellite TV to beam 'true image'
EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA________
*Xinhua: Myanmar Media Calls for Cooperation Among Nations to Fight
Drugs
OTHER______
*Universities Historical Research Centre: Academic Conference in Myanmar
(Burma)
__________________ INSIDE BURMA ____________________
DVB: Rangoon junta frees 4 MPs, more expected before UN envoy's 27 Aug
visit
[FBIS Translated Text] [Translated text released August 1; date of
broadcast unknown]
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that the SPDC [State Peace
and Development Council] military government has released another four
political prisoners at about 1000 today. All four released today are
elected representatives from the National League for Democracy [NLD].
Their names and particulars are: U Chit Htwe, age 36 years, elected
representative from Myothit Township Constituency-2 [Magwe Division],
and released from Thayet Jail; U Khin Maung Win, age 57 years, elected
representative from Oktwin Township Constituency-2 [Pegu Division], and
released from Toungoo Jail; and U Aung Myint, age 57 years, elected
representative from Letpadan Township Constituency-1 [Pegu Division],
and U Nyunt Aye, age 65 years, elected representative from Letpadan
Township Constituency-2, both released from Tharawaddy Jail.
According to latest reports received by DVB, U Ohn Maung, age 73 years,
elected representative from Nyaunglebin Township Constituency-1 [Pegu
Division], who is not well, was also released from Tharawaddy Jail
together with the other four political prisoners but was rearrested. U
Ohn Maung is old and is not in good health. In order to know the latest
situation of the political prisoners and the views of the NLD, DVB
contacted NLD Central Executive Committee Member U Lwin and first asked
him why U Ohn Maung was released and then rearrested.
[Begin recording]
[U Lwin] I do not know whether the list was wrong.
When they first informed us U Ohn Maung was in the list. Then they
corrected the list and he was not included in the new one.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] Can you give us any confirmation after this release on
the number of prisoners still in jail?
[U Lwin] Do you mean elected representatives? Well, 28 elected
representatives still remain in jails.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] Are these 28 elected representatives from NLD or do
they include other parties as well?
[U Lwin] They are all from NLD and do not include other parties.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] What can you comment about the frequency and situation
of the release of prisoners?
[U Lwin] Well about that, I do not know with what idea they are
releasing. If you consider those released recently about three in the
last batch have some sentences remaining to be served. For instance, U
Par Par Lay has two years outstanding sentence. Apart from that the
sentences of all those released including today were almost completed.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] You mean to say they have released only those who have
completed their sentences?
[U Lwin] Well the trend seems like that. More than one perhaps three or
four, might be released before their sentences are completed. We will
need to confirm that. [Htet Aung Kyaw] Like we heard in the news, can we
say that the releases are in accord with the agreement reached at the
talks?
[U Lwin] No, we cannot say that.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] Generally speaking since political prisoners were
released and NLD is allowed to reopen its township branches, can we say
that relations between NLD and the government is improving? [U Lwin]
Well, the past events have shown that conditions have improved and
better understanding reached.
[Htet Aung Kyaw] Were you allowed to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
during this time and how is her health?
[U Lwin] Yes, I see her. I have been seeing her. I see her regularly.
[end recording]
That was DVB interview with NLD Central Executive Committee Member U
Lwin. According to exiled elected representatives [MPs] three non-NLD
MPs are still held in SPDC jails bringing to about 31, the number of MPs
remaining incarcerated. Human rights organizations say there are more
than 1,800 political prisoners in Burma. DVB has learned that more
political prisoners majority being MPs will be released before UN
Special Envoy Mr Razali arrive in Rangoon on 27 August.
___________________________________________________
AP: Myanmar journalists' plight remains alarming, says press freedom
July 31, 2001
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ Describing Myanmar as ``the largest prison for
journalists in Asia,'' an international press freedom group is calling
for sanctions against the country's military government to be maintained
until jailed journalists are released and censorship is eliminated.
The Paris-based group, Reporters Without Borders, issued a 20-page
report Tuesday documenting the plight of 18 detained journalists and the
lack of press freedom in Myanmar, also known as Burma.
It said that despite nine months of closed-door negotiations between
the military government and Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the opposition
National League for Democracy, ``the situation concerning freedom of the
press has not improved one iota.''
Myanmar's military regime has long been ostracized by Western
governments for its poor human rights record and failure to hand over
power to a democratically-elected government. The United States and
European Union countries limit diplomatic and business contacts with the
regime.
Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory in a 1990 general election, but
the military never allowed parliament to convene, and subjected its
opponents to severe harassment and detention.
``Torture is still commonplace in prisons and detention centers, and
some journalists suffer from serious mental disorders resulting from
long periods of isolation,'' said the report. ``Censorship, threats and
arrests are still the routine for journalists working for the few
private media in the country, and for political activists who speak out
against the situation in Burma.''
A request to the Myanmar government spokesman for reaction to the
report went unanswered Tuesday.
According to Reporters Without Borders, better known by its French
acronym RSF, journalists have received long prison sentences for
``having 'distributed information hostile to the state,' owning
undeclared video cameras, talking with foreign journalists or sending
information to Burmese media in exile.''
Although prison conditions are very harsh, several detained journalists
have put up resistance, taking part in such activities as smuggling out
information to human rights groups, taking part in hunger strikes and
even circulating underground publications, said RSF.
Outside prison walls, official domination of information is near-total,
with major media controlled by the military and their families and
rigorous censorship applied to the few independent private journals, the
group said.
Censors subject to close scrutiny any articles using words such as
``democracy,'' ``corruption'' or ``education,'' it said.
Reflecting the government's sensitivity to the popularity of Suu Kyi,
the 1991 Nobel peace laureate, favorable references to the opposition
leader are ``clearly forbidden'' and it is impossible to publish an
article about a female head of state.
RSF says that some underground publications, written, published and
distributed by opponents of the regime, circulate sporadically.
The most common sources of uncensored information are broadcasts of
international radio stations such as the BBC, the U.S. government-funded
Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, and the Democratic Voice of Burma,
which is based in Norway.
RSF said its report was based on information from interviews with
Myanmar exiles in northern Thailand in June this year, ``since it is
impossible to carry out an unfettered investigation in Burma.''
___________________________________________________
DVB: Education Ministry issues order on strict security measures at
schools
30 July
DVB [Democratic Voice of Burma] has learned that the SPDC [State Peace
and Development Council] Education Ministry has issued a directive to
State and Division Education Departments. Furthermore, the Tenasserim
Division Higher Education Department has issued a similar directive to
various District and Township Education Departments and the District
Peace and Development Council Offices on 25 July. The students,
parents, and teachers were disheartened as a result of the directive.
DVB correspondent Myint Maung Maung filed the report giving details of
the directive.
[Myint Maung Maung] The directive states:
1. Teachers, parents, and school council members shall take turns to
perform security duty at the school day and night.
2. No one apart from students must be allowed inside the school during
daytime.
3. Teachers, staff, and students are not allowed to bring in any book,
note, picture, or poster apart from the prescribed texts and must
strictly adhere to the dress code.
4. No unauthorized slogans, pictures, or posters other than those
permitted shall be pasted or hung in the classrooms, on the walls, or
inside and outside the fences.
5. Apart from normal teaching responsibilities, the teachers must take
extra security duty of the school and the students.
6. Persons running authorized food stalls inside the schools must not
bring in any paper, picture, or badge not related with their work.
The directive is effective immediately and the above articles must be
adhered to until further notice.
Source: Democratic Voice of Burma, Oslo, in Burmese 1430 gmt 30 Jul 01
______________________MONEY________________________
Xinhua: Tourist Arrivals in Myanmar Decline in 1st Quarter
YANGON, August 1 (Xinhua) -- A total of 42,998 foreign tourists visited
Myanmar in the first quarter of this year, dropping by 37. 8 percent
compared with the corresponding period of 2000, the country's Economic
Indicators said in its latest issue. The declination of tourists arrival
was obvious in the number of those travelling across border, reaching
only 4,732 during the three-month period and constituting a fall of 85.1
percent in the cross-border arrivals from the same period of 2000 when
it was 31, 762. The sharp reduction of cross-border tourists arrivals
was seen as being due to the outbreak of border clashes between Myanmar
and Thailand in February which lasted until June. Thailand is one of
Myanmar's two neighboring countries supplying most of the tourists to
the country. While the number of foreign tourists arriving Myanmar by
land was experiencing a sharp drop during the first quarter of this
year, those coming in by air increased by 2.63 percent, reaching 38,266
as compared with the same period of 2000. According to official
statistics, in 2000, the number of tourists arrivals was registered at
only 234,900, falling by 9.3 percent from 1999. Of them, 49 percent
entered the country by land through border points. In recent years,
Myanmar participated in tourism fairs held yearly in Thailand,
Singapore, China's Hong Kong, Berlin, London and South Korea, aimed at
drawing more tourists to Myanmar for the development of its tourism
industry. Meanwhile, Myanmar is also cooperating with tourism
authorities of member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) in activities in the region including cooperation
programs for tourist destinations in the ASEAN region and market
promotion activities of nations in great Mekong region as well as
Ganges-Mekong cooperation program. To develop its tourism, Myanmar has
signed bilateral agreements with China, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore and
Thailand. Enditem
2001-08-01 Wed 00:12
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar Earns Less from Customs Duties in 1st Quarter
YANGON, August 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar received 209 million U.S. dollars
from customs duties in the first quarter of this year, 13. 9 percent
less than the same period of 2000 when it registered at 243 million
dollars with the income, according to the latest figures released by the
country's Central Statistical Organization. The main source of Myanmar's
customs duties income comes from import through normal trade and border
trade, of which the import customs duties income earned through normal
trade accounted for 97. 9 percent of the total during the three-month
period. To promote agricultural development, the Myanmar government has
exempted import customs duties levied on agricultural implements
including fertilizer, pesticide and improved variety and machinery.
According to official statistics, in 2000, Myanmar earned 891 million
dollars from customs duties and its foreign trade totaled 4.086 billion
dollars in the year, of which imports amounted to 2. 567 billion
dollars, while exports were valued at 1.519 billion dollars.
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar Generates More Electricity in 1st Quarter
YANGON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Electric power generated by the state-run
Myanma Electric Power Enterprise (MEPE), the main electricity supplier
of the country, totaled 1.236 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) in the first
quarter of this year, 2.57 percent more than the same period of 2000,
said the latest issue of the government Economic Indicators. Meanwhile,
the installed generating capacity of the MEPE reached 1,172 mega watts
(mw) at the end of the first quarter of 2000. Official statistics show
that in 2000, electric power generated by the MEPE went to 5.028 billion
kwh, 17 percent more than 1999. According to the MEPE, since 1988
Myanmar's electric power installed generating capacity has increased by
509 mw, of which that of natural gas power plants rose by 255 mw, while
that of steam power ones by 143 mw and that of hydropower ones by 111
mw. Myanmar is implementing five more hydropower plants -- Paunglaung,
Zaungtu, Mone, Thaphanseik and Maipan. Three of them are China-aided
projects. Upon their completion, the five power plants will add 407 mw
more to Myanmar's installed generating capacity and is expected to
greatly ease the serious electricity shortage problem of the country.
___________________________________________________
Xinhua: Myanmar Produces 811,000 barrels of Crude Oil in 1st Quarter
YANGON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar produced a total of 811,000 barrels
of crude oil in the first quarter of this year, 11.94 percent less than
the same period of 2000, according to the latest data released by the
country's Central Statistical Organization. During the three-month
period, the country yielded 347.08 million cubic-meters of natural gas,
also falling by 10.3 percent from the corresponding period of 2000. In
2000, the country produced 3.538 million barrels of crude oil and 1.538
billion cubic-meters of natural gas. Since Myanmar opened to foreign
investment in late 1988, investment in the oil and gas sector coming
from oil companies of Australia, Britain, France, Indonesia, Japan,
Thailand and the United States has reached 2.355 billion dollars in 51
projects, taking up 32.2 percent of the country's total contracted
foreign investment. So far Myanmar's petroleum and its products are
insufficient to meet the demand and the country still has to import
280,000 to 300, 000 tons of crude oil and 100,000 to 150,000 tons of
diesel oil annually.
___________________________________________________
AFP: Thailand seeks better deal on Myanmar fishing concessions
BANGKOK, July 31 (AFP) - Thailand rejected Tuesday a set of regulations
proposed by Myanmar as a condition for the lifting of a ban on Thai
fishing trawlers operating in its waters, saying it would be a financial
burden.
Myanmar cancelled Thai fishing licenses in October 1999 after the Thai
government supplied an escape helicopter to five anti-junta gunmen in
exchange for the release of 38 hostages held captive at Myanmar's
embassy in Bangkok.
Despite a series of talks, the two sides have failed to reach agreement
on the revival of fishing concessions, in a stand-off that has cost Thai
fishermen dearly.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Pitak Intarawithayanunt said Fishery
Department and Foreign Ministry officials would travel to the
military-ruled nation in the hope of negotiating a workable deal for
Thai trawlers.
Myanmar is proposing a range of conditions, including that Thai
fishermen pay a special tax in addition to a percentage of the profits
from fish caught off its coast. Thailand has countered with a plan for a
single license fee.
"Thai fishermen say that if we pay all of the fees, it will cost a
lot," Pitak said, adding that Thai fishing vessels risk losing money
under the proposed scheme.
If Thailand and Myanmar can strike a deal on the issue, an agreement
would be signed during a planned September visit by the Myanmar junta's
number-three, Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt, he said.
Roughly 450 Thai-registered fishing trawlers and 80 Myanmar-registered
ones were hit by Yangon's decision to revoke all fishing licences.
_______________________GUNS________________________
The Nation: Wa army delivers 7 Thai officials to Burma Junta; release
expected
July 31, 2001
The seven Thai military and narcotics-suppression officers kidnapped in
Burma on Friday are likely to be freed today after they were handed over
to the Burmese army by their Wa abductors yesterday, said an informed
source. According to the source, the Burmese army wants Thailand to send
a senior officer to receive the officers, who were captured by the Wa
drug army during a trip in the vicinity of Tachilek township on the
Burmese side of the border.
PM's Office Minister Gen Thamarak Isarangura, who oversees the
government's war on drugs, confirmed yesterday the United Wa State Army
(UWSA) had handed the Thai hostages over to the Burmese army after the
Burmese military government stepped in to help negotiations between Thai
and Wa officials. Thai military officers along the border believed the
officers had been handed over to Burma's Battalion 331, under the
command of Col Aye Saw. However, the report has not been confirmed as
direct contact with the seven officers has not been made, the officer
said on condition of anonymity.
Bangkok yesterday dispatched Gen Wichit Yathip, chief of staff attached
to the defence minister, and Chartchai Suthiklom, deputy
secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, to
Rangoon to urge the Burmese junta to pressure their UWSA allies to
release the seven officers. The announcement of their planned hand-over
came last night, just a few hours after the two officers left for
Rangoon.
Army chief Gen Surayudh Chulanont said the officers had crossed the Mae
Sai-Tachilek checkpoint on July 27 on a border pass to visit a revered
monk residing about 30 kilometres from the border. According to a Thai
border officer, the seven officers had notified Burmese border
authorities of their visit and both sides understood that visiting the
monk would not create any problem. But along the way, according to an
army intelligence officer along the border who spoke on condition of
anonymity, the seven were kidnapped by a unit of the UWSA under the
command of Wei Hsieu-kang, a notorious opium warlord who is wanted in
Thailand and the United States on drug-trafficking charges. "I have no
doubt that it was Wei's men who carried out the abduction," the officer
said. The kidnapping was believed to have been in retaliation for the
government's get-tough policy against Wei's illicit activities. Wei, 55,
commands a sizeable faction within the 20,000-strong UWSA and is
believed responsible for the smuggling of millions of methamphetamine
pills into the Kingdom every month.
________________________DRUGS______________________
AP: Thai government revokes nationality of alleged drug smuggler
July 30, 2001
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) _ The Thai government on Monday announced it has
revoked the Thai nationality of Wei Hsueh-kang, an alleged major drug
dealer whose arrest has been sought by the United States.
Interior Minister Purachai Piumsomboon said Wei represented a threat to
national security, according to the radio network of the government's
Mass Communications Organization of Thailand.
Wei, an ethnic Chinese, is wanted for drug trafficking by the U.S
government, which has offered a dlrs 2 million reward for his capture.
He is under indictment in a U.S. federal court in New York for heroin
trafficking.
Wei, 49, is a leader of the United Wa State Army, an armed ethnic rebel
group in Myanmar that is believed to illegally smuggle heroin and
methamphetamine, a stimulant.
According to the U.S. State Department, Wei's group ``is currently the
dominant heroin trafficking group in Southeast Asia, and possibly
worldwide.'' The State Department says Wei is thought to be hiding in
Myanmar, also known as Burma.
Myanmar is the world's biggest producer of opium and its derivative,
heroin. It also produces huge amounts of methamphetamine, which is
exported mostly to neighboring Thailand.
The drugs are produced mostly in northern and eastern Myanmar in areas
under the semiautonomous control of ethnic minorities. The Thai and U.S.
governments accuse Myanmar's military regime of not doing enough to
suppress the trade, in order not to stir ethnic unrest.
Wei, whose Thai name the State Department says is Prasit
Chivinnitipanya, was awarded Thai citizenship in 1985.
The state-run Mass Communications Organization of Thailand quoted
Interior Minister Purachai as saying that the government had a list of
several suspected drug kingpins whose Thai citizenship would be revoked.
___________________ REGIONAL/INTERNATIONAL___________________
Sydney Morning Herald: Pressure on Rangoon to return to democracy
(Jul 30, 2001)
By Mark Baker, Herald Correspondent in Singapore
The Rangoon military regime is under renewed pressure to return Burma to
democracy or face fresh international sanctions.
Western governments and Japan are signalling impatience with the pace of
secret talks between the opposition leader, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, and
senior military officials that have been under way since late last year.
Senior Western diplomats at the annual meeting of the Association of
South-East Asian Nations in Hanoi last week said the United States and
the European Union were preparing to increase pressure on the junta if
there was not clear evidence in the next two to three months that it was
ready to compromise with Ms Suu Kyi and her National League for
Democracy.
Several Western ministers are believed to have warned the Burmese
Foreign Minister, Mr Win Aung, that the regime's recent decision to
release about 150 political prisoners was not enough to end trade and
investment sanctions that have crippled the Burmese economy.
"We have to show there is more to democracy than just releasing several
political prisoners," the Belgian Foreign Minister, Mr Louis Michel,
said.
The EU's external affairs commissioner, Mr Chris Patten, said Burma must
demonstrate a commitment to reform and end human rights abuses,
including forced labour, if it wanted to see European sanctions lifted.
Japan, once Burma's most important aid donor, also appears to be
toughening its stance under the new leadership of Mr Junichiro Koizumi.
The Japanese Foreign Minister, Ms Makiko Tanaka, told Mr Win Aung the
regime must speed up the release of the 1,800 political prisoners still
in detention and ensure Ms Suu Kyi's early release from de facto house
arrest.
"I told him that although Myanmar [Burma] may have domestic problems, I
want it to return her to society as quickly as possible so that we can
work together with the international community," Ms Tanaka said.
While Ms Suu Kyi has not commented publicly on her talks with the
regime, her decision not to attend a ceremony two weeks ago marking the
anniversary of the assassination of her father, the Burmese independence
hero Aung San, was interpreted as evidence the dialogue has stalled or
remains far from a breakthrough.
But Mr Win Aung said the talks were making progress and insisted
Rangoon's aim was to return to democracy. "Now the atmosphere is good.
Now we are moving forward. The process has started. We are patient, we
are cautious and, yes, we are optimistic," he told Reuters.
Australia's Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, said after meeting Mr Win Aung
on Friday that he believed progress was being made in the talks with Ms
Suu Kyi.
___________________________________________________
Bangkok Cho So 100 Radio (Thailand): Thai FM spokesman says 7 missing
Thai officials under care of Burmese
[FBIS Translated Text] July 31, 2001
The Foreign Ministry has received a confirmation from Thai authorities
that the seven officials from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board
[ONCB], who were missing after entered Burma on 27 July, are now under
the care of Burmese officials in Tachilek and all of them are safe. Thai
and Burmese officials are negotiating for the release for the seven
officials. Norachit Sinhaseni, director general of the Foreign
Ministry's Information Department and Foreign Ministry spokesman, said
that the Burmese government did not have details on the entry of the
seven Thai officials.
However, the Burmese authorities have extended cooperation in searching
for the Thai officials and have coordinated with the Thai ambassador in
Rangoon. [Begin recording] [Norachit We have notified the Burmese
authorities that we received information saying that the seven Thai
officials are now safe and are under the care of the Burmese
authorities. [Unidentified correspondent] You meant that they are under
the care of the Burmese authorities and not under the Red Wa Army.
[Norachit] Yes, under the care of the Burmese authorities, according to
the latest unofficial report. [end recording] The foreign ministry
spokesman believed that there will be new development in the settlement
of the Thai seven officials today because Thai representatives led by
ONCB Deputy Director General Chatchai Suthikhon are negotiating with
Burmese officials in Rangoon to settle the issue.
Source: Bangkok Cho So 100 Radio in Thai -- Traffic news radio station
with reputation for providing good coverage of breaking news]
___________________________________________________
South China Morning Post: Burma--Satellite TV to beam 'true image'
Tuesday, July 31, 2001
DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR in Rangoon
Burma is launching an English-language television channel intended by
the ruling generals to present a ''true image'' of the country. The
regime says the satellite service will be beamed to 120 countries.
The Myanmar Radio and Television English Programme, MRTV3, would be
launched on Burmese public TV tomorrow and be available for viewing
outside the country from Saturday, said the New Light of Myanmar
newspaper. The new English-language programme will use Thaicom-3, a
satellite owned by Shin Corporation, the telecommunications conglomerate
founded by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
It would be available on a ''global beam'' to homes with their own
satellite dishes in 120 countries spanning an area from Western Europe
to Australia, including most of Asia, said Shin Corporation's
communications officer in Bangkok, Richard Jones.
''This is only one of many contracts we have with the Government,'' Mr
Jones said. Burma is Shin's second-largest client after India.
It was unclear whether the new satellite channel on Thaicom-3 was opened
as a result of Mr Thaksin's visit to Burma last month to patch up
relations strained by border conflicts and Thai accusations that the
Burmese military was actively involved in the drug trade.
''MRTV-3 will facilitate projecting Burma's true image abroad more
distinctly and more attractively,'' said the state-run New Light of
Myanmar daily.
___________EDITORIALS/OPINION/PROPAGANDA__________
Xinhua: Myanmar Media Calls for Cooperation Among Nations to Fight Drugs
YANGON, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar
Tuesday called on all nations in the world to have positive mutual
understanding towards one another and cooperate with one another to deal
with narcotic problem. In an article, the newspaper pointed out that the
drug problem, which every nation confronts today, is concerned with the
entire mankind of the world, not only with a particular nation.
For this, the problem cannot be tackled by a particular nation, nor can
it be solved by all nations exclusive of a particular nation, it said.
It noted that Myanmar is cooperating with U.N. agencies, the nations in
the region, member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
and other world nations. So far, Myanmar has signed memorandums of
understanding on regional drug control plan with China, Cambodia, Laos,
Thailand and Vietnam as well as bilateral cooperation agreements on drug
control with India, Vietnam, the Russian Federation, Laos, the
Philippines and China. Official statistics show that Myanmar has since
1988 seized a total of 53.19 tons of narcotic drugs including 4 tons of
heroin, 31 tons of opium and 17.6 tons of ephedrine as well as 82.5
million tablets of stimulant drugs, destroying a total of 50,617
hectares of poppy cultivation. The country, since 1990, has also burned
up in Yangon for 15 times 81.7 tons of narcotic drugs including 23.69
tons high-grade opium and 34.27 tons low-grade opium, 3.74 tons heroin,
11.58 tons ephedrine as well as 80.85 million tablets of stimulant
drugs.
______________________OTHER______________________
Universities Historical Research Centre: Academic Conference in Myanmar
(Burma)
CONFERENCE: TEXTS AND CONTEXTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
We are glad to announce the holding of a Conference "Texts and Contexts
in Southeast Asia" to be held in Yangon from 12 to 14 December 2001. The
Conference provides a wonderful opportunity for participating in a
discussion of current scholarship on aspects of Southeast Asian history
with a special emphasis on Myanmar and for meeting with international
and Myanmar scholars in an atmosphere of warm hospitality.
Registration fee for the Conference is US$ 150 (in Foreign Exchange
Certificates) payable after arrival in Yangon. The registration to be
made before 17 November 2001 with the provision of the following
particulars: Name, Position, Affiliation, Address, Fax and E-mail
address.
Accommodation for participants is being arranged at two hotels (with
free transportation to the Conference venue): Summit Parkview Hotel
located near the People's Park and Shwedagon Pagoda at rates of US$ 35
(single) and US$ 40 (double) and the Central Hotel in a downtown
location close to Bogyoke Market at a rate of US$ 20 (twin).
If you would like us to make a reservation for you at one of these
hotels please let us know before 17 November 2001. Also please let us
have the date of your arrival in Yangon and the flight number so that we
can meet you at the airport.
These are some of papers which will be presented at the Conference:
- Aung Thwin - Rama Zat: Text and Dramatic Presentation
- Michael A. Aung-Thwin - The Legend That Was Lower Burma
- V Balambal - Relevance of Ramayana in the Modern Age
- Aurore Candier - France through Myanmar Eyes: Commentaries on Kinwun
Mingyi's Paris Diary
- Michael W Charney - Reading Yakhine Min-thami Eigyin as a
Fifteenth-century Historical Document
- Catherine Diamond - Personal Texts and Public Contexts: Maturation and
Political Upheaval in Lloyd Fernando's Scorpion Orchid and Robert
Yeo's The Singapore Trilogy
- Thomas Engelbert- The Vietnamese "Tale of the Golden Turtle" in a
Southeast Asian Context
- Neil A. Englehart - Representing Civilization: King Chulalongkorn's
Accounts of His European Travels, 1897 and 1907
- Annemarie Esche - War and Peace in Myanmar Literature of the 20th
Century
- Helen James - Adoniram Judson and the First Anglo-Burmese War:
Creation of a Missionary Discourse in Pre-colonial Burma
- Stephen Lee Keck - Text and Context: Another Look at Burmese Days
- Khin Aye - Buddhavamsa and Myanmar Literature
- Khin Khin Ma - Myanmar Queens in Historical and Literary Texts
- Khin Maung Nyunt - Historical Writings of U Po Kya
- Ursula Lies - The Verse Novel Truyen Kieu: Remarks on the Subject of
Ethics and Moral Standards
- John N. Miksic - The Manjusrigrha Inscription of Candi Sewu, Saka 714/
A.D 792
- Elizabeth Moore - Texts in New Contexts: Shwedagon and Kyaikhtiyoe
Today
- Myo Myint - Prince Mekkhara and Dictionary in English and Burmese
- Ohno Toru - The Main Versions of the Ramayana in Southeast Asia
- Ryuji Okudaira - Political Ideas of Eighteenth Century Myanmar Seen in
the Manugye Dhammathat
- T R Sareen - The Nature of Colonial Archives for the Study of
Southeast Asia
- Sunait Chutintaranond - Historical Texts on Thai-Myanmar Relations
- Than Tun - Estimation of Various Publications by the Myanmar
Historical Commission
- Than Htut & Thaw Kaung - Some Myanmar Historical Texts and their
Historical Fiction
- Thet Tun - The Writings of J. S. Furnivall
- Tin Lwin - Date of the Saddaniti
- Tun Aung Chain - The Mingun Bell Inscription: The King as Dhammaraja
_____________________________________________________________________
Universities Historical Research Centre
Amara Hall, Yangon University Campus
Yangon 11041, Myanmar
Tel: 95-1-532622/ 95-1-524200, Fax: 95-1-530121/ 95-1-515175 E.mail:
uhrc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
________________
The BurmaNet News is an Internet newspaper providing comprehensive
coverage of news and opinion on Burma (Myanmar) from around the world.
If you see something on Burma, you can bring it to our attention by
emailing it to strider@xxxxxxxxxxxx
To automatically subscribe to Burma's only free daily newspaper in
English, send an email to:
burmanet-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To subscribe to The BurmaNet News in Burmese, send an email to:
burmanetburmese-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
You can also contact BurmaNet by fax:
(US) +1(413)604-9008
________________
Burma News Summaries available by email or the web
There are three Burma news digest services available via either email or
the web.
Burma News Update
Frequency: Biweekly
Availability: By fax or the web.
Viewable online at
http://www.burmaproject.org/burmanewsupdate/index.html
Cost: Free
Published by: Open Society Institute, Burma Project
The Burma Courier
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail, fax or post. To subscribe or unsubscribe by email
celsus@xxxxxxxxxxx
Viewable on line at: http://www.egroups.com/group/BurmaCourier
Cost: Free
Note: News sources are cited at the beginning of an article.
Interpretive comments and background
details are often added.
Burma Today
Frequency: Weekly
Availability: E-mail
Viewable online at http://www.worldviewrights.org/pdburma/today.html
To subscribe, write to pdburma@xxxxxxxxx
Cost: Free
Published by: PD Burma (The International Network of Political Leaders
Promoting Democracy in Burma)
________________
==^================================================================
EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://igc.topica.com/u/?b1dbSX.b1CGhI
Or send an email To: burmanet-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
This email was sent to: reg.burma@xxxxxxxxxx
T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail!
http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register
==^================================================================