July 4, 2016

Fake malarial drugs found along borders

Anti-malarial drugs found in border areas are substandard, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The FDA collected drugs samples from private drug stores and at township hospital pharmacies in Tamu near the Indian border and Muse on the Chinese border.

The move aims to stamp out low-grade drugs, prevent drug-resistance developing and cooperate with the authorities to stop illegal imports.

The FDA tested the anti-malarials at a laboratory in Nay Pyi Taw. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)

Students move to include minorities

Around 200 representatives of the All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) met on July 2 at Pan Pyo Lat Monastery in Bago to discuss the organisation's electoral system and an expansion to ethnic minorities.

Phyo Phyo Aung, the general secretary of ABFSU, said: “We will mainly discuss the electoral system and the structure of each university and how they solved their problems. Later we will discuss the conference of student unions.”

The conference will be held in the next two months when a new central committee of ABFSU will be selected.  (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)

Naga rebels’ Indian problems block peace role

A delegation from the preparation committee for the so-called 21st-Panglong Conference and National Socialist Council of Nagaland – Khaplang (NSCN-K) met in Yangon on July 2 with the rebel group saying it will only attend the conference as observer and not be involved with political talks.

Dr Tin Myo Win, chairman of the preparation committee, said: “The NSCN-K signed a state-level ceasefire agreement with the government in April 2012. They will attend the union peace conference and all will cooperate for peace. We are inviting all groups to be involved.”

Ann Kant, who led the delegation from the Indian border, said: “We will attend the conference as an observer but we will not be involved in the political talks. We will work with the government help to establish peace and stability.” (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)

'Please call us Rohingya', plea to Myanmar democracy icon Suu Kyi

 "We are Rohingya, please call us Rohingya," pleaded Hajee Ismail, a Rohingya activist as Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi toured Thailand during her first official visit to the Kingdom recently.

He has pinned high hopes on Suu Kyi following her party's overwhelming victory in the country’s historic election, to improve the plight of 500,000 of his brethren in Myanmar from decades-old persecution.

However, his hopes on the iconic figure swiftly turned into anger and disbelievement as Suu Kyi not only failed to address the injustices suffered by the minority ethnic group but also refused to call them Rohingya. (Courtesy of english.astroawani.com)

Obstacles on the road to peace

Advanced negotiations are underway as preparations continue for the 21st Century Panglong Conference, the national peace talks to be chaired by State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

The main difference between the 21st Century Panglong Conference and the Union Peace Conference hosted in January by then President U Thein Sein is that Suu Kyi is trying to ensure the event she chairs will be all-inclusive.

The State Counsellor wants the participation of non-signatories as well as signatories of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement signed last October by Thein Sein’s government and eight of the 15 armed ethnic groups that had been involved in long-running peace negotiations. (Courtesy of frontiermyanmar.net)

World Briefs: Myanmar mob sets mosque ablaze

A mob wielding weapons razed a Muslim prayer hall in northern Myanmar, state media has reported. It was the second attack on a mosque in just over a week as anti-Muslim sentiment swells in the Buddhist-majority nation, police said yesterday.

The latest flare-up in violence saw throngs of Buddhist villagers in Hpakant, a jade-mining town in northern Kachin state, storm a mosque and set it ablaze on Friday. (Courtesy of straitstimes.com)

Restless Myanmar state sees mass anti-Muslim protests

Myanmar’s bitterly-divided Rakhine State saw mass protests Sunday as thousands of Buddhists, including monks, demonstrated in a show of opposition to a government edict referring to Muslim communities in the restive province, organisers told AFP.

Anti-Muslim rhetoric has spiked across Myanmar recently, with two mosques torched by Buddhist mobs in just over a week in a country where sectarian violence has left scores dead since 2012.

Home to around one million stateless Rohingya Muslims, Rakhine State has been hardest hit by religious violence that has left tens of thousands of the persecuted minority in fetid displacement camps. (Courtesy of dunyanews.tv)