July 23, 2016

Malaysian activists call on Aung San Suu Kyi to meet Rohingya refugees

Aung San Suu Kyi is set to visit Malaysia in August and a local activist group, the Tenaganita movement is calling on her as the Burmese Foreign Minister to meet with a group of Rohingya refugees, the  Muslim minority persecuted in Myanmar.

Reached by Free Malaysia Today Aegile Fernandez, co-director of Tenaganita, points out that the NGO is available to arrange a face-to-face meeting between the Nobel Peace Laureate and a group of Rohingya refugees. "It would be wonderful - she added - because they could tell their side of the story".

In the past, Aung San Suu Kyi, icon of human rights and democracy in Myanmar, has been heavily criticized for failing to come to the defense of the Muslim minority. Recently, during a meeting with the UN special representative on human rights, the NLD leaders said they did not want to even use the term "Rohingya" because it is considered a source of controversy in the Asian country. (Courtesy of heraldmalaysia.com)

India, Bangladesh, Myanmar work together on quake prediction

Efforts are on by Indian seismologists and geologists to jointly carry out studies with Bangladesh and Myanmar and form a common geodetic network to verify fresh data and sort out discrepancies over earthquake-related research in the region.

In a recent paper in Nature Geoscience, a group of scientists published new evidence of the increasing strain building beneath Bangladesh, where two tectonic plates underlie the vast delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers, one of the most densely populated regions in the world.

They estimate that at least 140 million people in the region could be affected if the boundary ruptures. (Courtesy of daijiworld.com)

Thai firm to invest in Mawlamyine power plant

The company has set up a wholly owned Singaporean subsidiary Siam Gas Power, which signed a sales and purchase agreement on July 18 to invest $48 million (1.68 billion baht) in the 230-megawatt project.

The plant joined the national grid system earlier this year, and is operated by Myanmar Lighting under the government’s independent power producer (IPP) system. Myanmar Lighting contracted Singaporean firm Asiatech Energy to build the plant.

The Myanmar government rolled out its IPP system in 2011 to encourage private investment in electricity production, especially in areas off the national grid, hoping to produce more power and alleviate shortages. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)

Myanmar consumers slow to adopt debit cards

Kinks inherent in the system are preventing a rapid growth in the number of users, which has hovered at around 1.8 million, says U Zaw Lin Htut, CEO of Myanmar Payment Union (MPU).

“People are starting to use cards issued by banks and brands, and are finding it increasingly convenient as the number of stores that take cards increases,” he said.

But while international customers use their cards when they need to buy something and leave the rest of their money in their account, Myanmar users typically use cards to withdraw their entire salary at an ATM every payday, he said, adding, “We would like to encourage them to refrain.” (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)

Myanmar expands fibre optic cable to 31,000 kilometres

Myanmar had only used the SEA-ME-WE 3 fibre optic cable previously, but people in the country will be able enjoy the benefits of the SEA-ME-WE 5 and AAE1 cables soon.

The inland fibre optic cables link Muse and Myawady to Thailand, and in the 2015-16 fiscal year, a new inland fibre optic cable linked Tachilek to Thailand.

Three phone service providers operate in Myanmar.

International bandwidth has reached to over 200 Gbps in 2016, which is nearly seven times the country's capacity in 2013. Although the number of telecommunication towers in Myanmar was under 3,000 before the foreign were introduced, the number of telecommunication towers in Myanmar reached over 11,700 in 2016, sources say. (Courtesy of nationmultimedia.com)