Mandalay residents eager to visit Bangkok will have a bevy of new flight options next month.
Myanmar National Airways (MNA) will begin offering thrice-weekly flights from Aug 31, just a day before Myanmar Airways International (MAI) is scheduled to begin its own Mandalay-Bangkok route, the Myanmar Times reported on Tuesday.
Competition is intense in Myanmar’s airline industry, which comprises the two international carriers – MNA and MAI – and nine firms that offer only international flights. Those nine internal airlines mostly fight over the same routes with similar schedules and fare structures.
The two international carriers, meanwhile, compete against each other, along with budget and national carriers in other regional countries. (Courtesy of bangkokpost.com)
August 9, 2016
21st Century Panglong Conference to begin August 31
State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi announced on her Facebook page yesterday that the first meeting of the Union Peace Conference, also known as the 21st Century Panglong Conference, will start on August 31.
Speaking to the central committee for holding the 21st Century Panglong Conference at the President's Office in Nay Pyi Taw, Suu Kyi called on officials to cooperate to ensure the success of the conference.
Members of the central committee and the working committee reported to the state counsellor on their preparations for the conference. The meeting ended with remarks from Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also the chair of central committee. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Speaking to the central committee for holding the 21st Century Panglong Conference at the President's Office in Nay Pyi Taw, Suu Kyi called on officials to cooperate to ensure the success of the conference.
Members of the central committee and the working committee reported to the state counsellor on their preparations for the conference. The meeting ended with remarks from Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also the chair of central committee. (Courtesy of elevenmyanmar.com)
Hundreds of thousands displaced in Myanmar flooding
Around 360,000 people have been temporarily displaced in Myanmar as of Tuesday with the low-lying regions of the country continuing to see an increase in water levels.
Incessant downpours over the past five weeks have brought floods to eight regions along the three main rivers of the country, including the Ayeyawady -- the country's main inland waterway that flows from north to south.
Though the level of the Ayeyawady has gradually dipped, the numbers of flood victims have been on the rise as some regions in the central and southern parts remain underwater.
“Some relief camps in upper parts of the country are closed, but the dangerous water levels in the lower parts affect more and more people,” Soe Aung, the permanent secretary of Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
Incessant downpours over the past five weeks have brought floods to eight regions along the three main rivers of the country, including the Ayeyawady -- the country's main inland waterway that flows from north to south.
Though the level of the Ayeyawady has gradually dipped, the numbers of flood victims have been on the rise as some regions in the central and southern parts remain underwater.
“Some relief camps in upper parts of the country are closed, but the dangerous water levels in the lower parts affect more and more people,” Soe Aung, the permanent secretary of Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, told Anadolu Agency on Tuesday. (Courtesy of aa.com.tr)
Mandalay activists mark pro-democracy revolt with tributes, eye toward future
Participants in the event took advantage of an atmosphere of greater openness under the National League for Democracy government to talk politics and read out papers on the upcoming 21st-century Panglong Conference, which will convene on August 31 as the administration seeks to jumpstart the nation’s peace process.
“The 28th anniversary of the quadruple-eight event included a discussion unlike past years. To be a help to the Panglong Conference, which is to be held soon, political groups of Mandalay held a discussion concerned with that,” said U Nyein Chan, a member of the event’s organising committee. “Holding such events is intended to raise the awareness of youth about Myanmar political activities.”
The gathering, in the hall at the corner of 84th and 31st streets in Myanmar’s second-largest city, was opened with a morning donation of meals to Buddhist monks. The program later included tributes to martyrs of the popular uprising, singing of political songs and discussion of the late-August peace summit. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
“The 28th anniversary of the quadruple-eight event included a discussion unlike past years. To be a help to the Panglong Conference, which is to be held soon, political groups of Mandalay held a discussion concerned with that,” said U Nyein Chan, a member of the event’s organising committee. “Holding such events is intended to raise the awareness of youth about Myanmar political activities.”
The gathering, in the hall at the corner of 84th and 31st streets in Myanmar’s second-largest city, was opened with a morning donation of meals to Buddhist monks. The program later included tributes to martyrs of the popular uprising, singing of political songs and discussion of the late-August peace summit. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
‘8888 Uprising’ remembered in Yangon
This year, as in years past, the commemoration evoked sombre reflection for many.
“I joined the ceremony in remembrance of fallen friends. I am really sad to recall all those scenes,” said U Nyunt Thaung, a 76-year-old National League for Democracy member from Thingangyun township, who was among 500 people packed into a monastery in the commercial capital for a commemoration ceremony.
Yesterday’s event at the Dhamma Piya Monastery was held to mark August 8, 1988, when student-led protests and a general strike spread that would, in the weeks that followed, bring hundreds of thousands of people out into the streets, posing arguably the greatest threat to decades of iron-fisted military rule in Myanmar. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
“I joined the ceremony in remembrance of fallen friends. I am really sad to recall all those scenes,” said U Nyunt Thaung, a 76-year-old National League for Democracy member from Thingangyun township, who was among 500 people packed into a monastery in the commercial capital for a commemoration ceremony.
Yesterday’s event at the Dhamma Piya Monastery was held to mark August 8, 1988, when student-led protests and a general strike spread that would, in the weeks that followed, bring hundreds of thousands of people out into the streets, posing arguably the greatest threat to decades of iron-fisted military rule in Myanmar. (Courtesy of mmtimes.com)
Aung Sun Suu Kyi moves to clean up Myanmar's murky jade trade
Myanmar’s new government has announced ground-breaking reforms to its $31bn (£23.7bn) jade industry in a move campaigners claim could signal “a new era of fundamental change” in a business long dominated by abuse, corruption and cronyism.
The decision to freeze any renewals of existing jade permits, and to suspend the licensing of new ones, follows a series of deadly landslides in resource-rich Kachin state, widespread protests against lack of regulations, and extensive NGO and media reports exposing social and environmental abuses in Myanmar’s jade trade.
“It is really significant that the new government is taking a stand on jade licensing,” says Juman Kubba, senior campaigner at Global Witness. “If Aung San Suu Kyi is to change how Myanmar is seen by the rest of the world, this is a really good place to start: jade is so symbolic of the legacy of cronyism, corruption and abuse left by decades of ruthless military dictatorship.” (Courtesy of theguardian.com)
The decision to freeze any renewals of existing jade permits, and to suspend the licensing of new ones, follows a series of deadly landslides in resource-rich Kachin state, widespread protests against lack of regulations, and extensive NGO and media reports exposing social and environmental abuses in Myanmar’s jade trade.
“It is really significant that the new government is taking a stand on jade licensing,” says Juman Kubba, senior campaigner at Global Witness. “If Aung San Suu Kyi is to change how Myanmar is seen by the rest of the world, this is a really good place to start: jade is so symbolic of the legacy of cronyism, corruption and abuse left by decades of ruthless military dictatorship.” (Courtesy of theguardian.com)
Police Injuries and Burma Army Casualties Reported After Clashes With KIA
Clashes have broken out in several areas in Kachin State between members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burma Army along the highway connecting Mogaung and Hpakant townships. According to local sources, government forces suffered casualties and police officers were wounded in the fighting.
Locals said that KIA soldiers from Battalion 6 reportedly ambushed a convoy of Burma Army trucks using the road on Monday, destroying two vehicles—one near the village of Nam Sheng, and one near Gauri.
Lt-Col Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the KIA, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “We heard that fighting broke out on the highway from Mogaung to Hpakant. We heard that two [Burma] army trucks were destroyed in Kamaing.” Kamaing is a town in Hpakant Township. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Locals said that KIA soldiers from Battalion 6 reportedly ambushed a convoy of Burma Army trucks using the road on Monday, destroying two vehicles—one near the village of Nam Sheng, and one near Gauri.
Lt-Col Naw Bu, a spokesperson for the KIA, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, “We heard that fighting broke out on the highway from Mogaung to Hpakant. We heard that two [Burma] army trucks were destroyed in Kamaing.” Kamaing is a town in Hpakant Township. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
How Will Burma Remember Its Political Prisoners?
The dollhouse-sized replica of Insein Prison, Burma’s most infamous correctional facility, is painted red and white and covered in paper labels: “Main Gate,” “Hospital,” “Woman Ward.”
Between the buildings there are little plastic bushes and palm trees. The circular shape of the sprawling complex looks like the real facility, which is still operational. Kyaw Soe Win, a genial, soft-spoken 48-year-old, stands over the model. “This hall, I was here,” he says, pointing to an annex where he was locked up for six years in the 1990s for distributing leaflets and communicating with exile groups.
Kyaw Soe Win is standing in the cluttered exhibition room at the offices of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) in Rangoon, Burma’s biggest city. Insein prison lies a few townships to the west. The exhibit, which was set up in March, is small but leaves an impression. A royal blue prison uniform hangs on one wall. There are images of stress positions used by guards as a form of torture: the “airplane,” the “motorcycle.” (Courtesy of time.com)
Between the buildings there are little plastic bushes and palm trees. The circular shape of the sprawling complex looks like the real facility, which is still operational. Kyaw Soe Win, a genial, soft-spoken 48-year-old, stands over the model. “This hall, I was here,” he says, pointing to an annex where he was locked up for six years in the 1990s for distributing leaflets and communicating with exile groups.
Kyaw Soe Win is standing in the cluttered exhibition room at the offices of the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) in Rangoon, Burma’s biggest city. Insein prison lies a few townships to the west. The exhibit, which was set up in March, is small but leaves an impression. A royal blue prison uniform hangs on one wall. There are images of stress positions used by guards as a form of torture: the “airplane,” the “motorcycle.” (Courtesy of time.com)
Suu Kyi Happy With Workload and ‘Full of Vigor’: Win Htein
State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi is not overburdened with steering the cabinet and performing her various high-level executive functions, National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesperson Win Htein told The Irrawaddy.
Win Htein was speaking in response to concerns flagged in a report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group released at the end of last month: that Suu Kyi is shouldering an overwhelming array of responsibilities and must learn to delegate more authority, and consult more widely, in pursuing her reform agenda.
“I don’t think she feels pressured by her workload because she is merely applying now what she has learned throughout her life. She always seems to be at ease whenever I see her. Sometimes, she even cracks jokes,” said Win Htein. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Win Htein was speaking in response to concerns flagged in a report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group released at the end of last month: that Suu Kyi is shouldering an overwhelming array of responsibilities and must learn to delegate more authority, and consult more widely, in pursuing her reform agenda.
“I don’t think she feels pressured by her workload because she is merely applying now what she has learned throughout her life. She always seems to be at ease whenever I see her. Sometimes, she even cracks jokes,” said Win Htein. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Suu Kyi to Visit China Next Week
Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s state counselor and foreign minister, is scheduled to visit China for four days from next week, according to the President’s Office.
President’s Office spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed that Suu Kyi would travel to China on Aug. 17. He declined to offer further details, saying that more would be announced soon.
China’s Minister of State Security Geng Huichang invited her to visit China during a meeting in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw on July 8.
It will be her first foreign visit since her name appeared on a (unverified) “hit list” sent to police in Malaysia on August 1, which purported to be from the Islamic State terrorist group. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
President’s Office spokesman Zaw Htay confirmed that Suu Kyi would travel to China on Aug. 17. He declined to offer further details, saying that more would be announced soon.
China’s Minister of State Security Geng Huichang invited her to visit China during a meeting in the Burmese capital of Naypyidaw on July 8.
It will be her first foreign visit since her name appeared on a (unverified) “hit list” sent to police in Malaysia on August 1, which purported to be from the Islamic State terrorist group. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
Veteran Activists Call for August 8 to be Burma’s ‘Democracy Day’
88 Generation Peace and Open Society—an activist group led by former student leaders of the 1988 pro-democracy uprising—have called on the government to formally recognize August 8 as Burma’s “Democracy Day.”
The call was made at a ceremony commemorating the 28th anniversary of the general strike that launched the uprising, held on Monday morning at the Dhamma Piya Monastery in Rangoon.
The 88 Generation statement said that the movement, known as “8-8-88” to mark the date on which it was launched—when hundreds of thousands of people, led by students, hit the streets to call for an end to the 26-year military dictatorship of Ne Win—was of great historic but also symbolic importance to Burmese society. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
The call was made at a ceremony commemorating the 28th anniversary of the general strike that launched the uprising, held on Monday morning at the Dhamma Piya Monastery in Rangoon.
The 88 Generation statement said that the movement, known as “8-8-88” to mark the date on which it was launched—when hundreds of thousands of people, led by students, hit the streets to call for an end to the 26-year military dictatorship of Ne Win—was of great historic but also symbolic importance to Burmese society. (Courtesy of irrawaddy.com)
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