President U Thein Sein attends opening of 20 ASEAN Summit, … · 2012-04-05 · receives...

Established 1914

Volume XIX, Number 350 14th Waxing of Tagu 1373 ME Thursday, 5 April, 2012

Our Three MainNational Causes

* Non-disintegration ofthe Union

* Non-disintegration ofNational Solidarity

* Perpetuation ofSovereignty

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—President of the Republicof the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein attended the openingof the 20th ASEAN Summit and the 45th Anniversary of theASEAN at Nuon Srey Hall of the Peace Palace in Phnom Penhin Cambodia yesterday morning.

Also present on the occasion were Brunei KingSultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah, Cam-bodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, Vice-Presidentof Indonesia Dr Boediono, Laotian Prime Minister MrThongsing Thammavong, Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak, President ofPhilippines Mr Benigno Aquino, Singaporean Prime Min-ister Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Thai Prime Minister Ms YingluckShinawatra, Vietnamese Prime Minister Mr Nguyen TanDung, Speaker of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw U Khin Aung Myint,Union Minister for Foreign Affairs U Wunna Maung Lwin,Union Minister for Information and for Culture U KyawHsan, Union Minister for National Planning and EconomicDevelopment U Tin Naing Thein, deputy ministers, depart-mental officials, ministers from ASEAN countries, high-ranking officials, ASEAN Secretary-General Dr SurinPitsuwan, and invited guests.

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen ex-tended a warm welcome to Heads of State/Governmentattending the summit, followed by opening of the ceremonywith ASEAN anthem sung by Cambodian cultural troupe.

In his opening address, Alternate ASEAN ChairmanCambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen called forfurther cooperation for attainment of the goal of “ASEAN:One Community—One Destiny” of the ASEAN,establishment of single ASEAN Community in 2015 under

President U Thein Sein attends opening of 20th ASEANSummit, 45th Anniversary of ASEAN

President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein attends the opening of 20th ASEANSummit and 45th Anniversary of ASEAN at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.—MNA

President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein and Heads of State/Government ofASEAN countries pose for documentary photo at the opening of 20th ASEAN Summit and

45th Anniversary of ASEAN.—MNA

the ASEAN Charter, increased cooperation for regionaleconomy in line with Chiang Mai InitiativeMultilateralization (CMIM), completion of Road Map for

ASEAN Community Building (2009-2015), prioritizedmeasures for establishment of ASEAN economiccommunity in 2015, narrowing of development gap amongthe ASEAN members and linking material andinstitutional infrastructure for successful integration,

(See page 8)

Swachaung Reservoir and NagapaukSluice Gate contributing to

agricultural development in BagoRegion

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Dagon Myothit (South) gets newself-reliant library

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 5 April, 2012

PERSPECTIVES

The right job at the rightmoment

Thursday, 5 April, 2012

Nowadays, the scope of reforms takingplace in Myanmar is growing under theleadership of the government committed itselfto building a true democratic state wherefreedom, justice and liberty flourish.

Basically, reforms are carried out tomake amendments or improvements throughchanges of a system and structures. Byintroducing reforms the government is findingout faults or abuses and getting rid of them inaddition to repairing, restoring or correctingnecessary sectors for a better tomorrow.

Here the government staff at all levelsare the persons responsible for the task ofmaintaining, accelerating and safeguarding thereform process of the country at differentstages on behalf of the Union. In consequence,the first thing they need is to adapt themselveswell to the changes taking place in their owninstitutions. And in the second step, they musthave an overall view of the democratictransition.

As the reform process is gaining moreground and running at higher pace thegovernment staff at all levels need moreefficiency to do their job smoothly. However,in one way or another, majority of governmentemployees do not have the required competenceyet for certain reasons. Besides, they do nothave much experience in democracy.

Accordingly, the government and theprivate organizations are turning to domesticcapacity-building programs conducting moreand more courses, in-house trainings, seminars,workshops and conferences by their own or incooperation with regional or internationalinstitutions or global countries. They are alsosending a larger number of staff abroad forstudy tours, scholarship programs, short-termand long-term courses, group discussions,roundtables and seminars.

Additionally, the President himself andUnion level officials are receiving guests fromabroad seeking common ground and greaterinternational cooperation for our capacity-building programs.

And through capacity-buildingprograms, all government and private staffwill have a clear picture of the democraticreforms, having efficiency to do the right job atthe right moment.

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—Chairman of Union ElectionCommission U Tin Ayereceived a delegationcomprising of Mr RobertCooper and Ms MalgorzataWaskilewska from EuropeanUnion Headquarters at thehall of the Office of Chairmanof the Union ElectionCommission, here, at 10.30am today.

Also present at the callwere members of the UEC UMyint Naing, U Win Kyi andU Nyunt Tin, Secretary U WinKo and officials.

At the call, the EUdelegation praised Myanmarfor transparently holding thefree and fair by-elections and

UEC Chairman receives delegation of EuropeanUnion Headquarters

YANGON, 4 April—The 10th Customs CapacityBuilding Working Group-CCBWG Meeting, organized byCustoms Department under the Ministry of Finance andRevenue, was held at Traders Hotel, here, yesterday morning.

It was attended by representatives of the ASEANSecretariat and ASEAN member countries and officialsCustoms Department.

Union Election Commission ChairmanU Tin Aye receives Mr Robert Cooper and

Ms Malgorzata Waskilewska from EuropeanUnion Headquarters and party.—MNA

10th Customs Capacity Building Working Group Meeting held

To be able to establish ASEAN EconomicCommunity, 15 strategic plans on development of customsare being implemented in 2011-2012 fiscal years. Themeeting is aimed at emerging better process for regionalcustom cooperation and emergence of modern custom.

The meeting will last up to 5 April.MNA

The 10th Customs Capacity Building Working Group-CCBWG Meeting organized by CustomsDepartment in progress at Traders Hotel in Yangon.—MNA

they exchanged viewson cooperation inbetter processes for futureelections.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 4April—Committee for smoothentrance of foreign touristsmet at the Ministry of Hotelsand Tourism this morning forimplementation of e-visasystem.

Chairman of thecommittee Union Ministerfor Hotels and Tourism and

Committee for smooth entrance offoreign tourists meets for e-visa system

for Sports U Tint Hsan saidin his address thatcoordination was made withrelated ministries tointroduce e-visa systemwhich could save time andensure security. The systemwill be installed firstly atYangon InternationalAirpot, Ministry of Home

Affairs, Ministry ofImmigration and Population,Ministry of Com-munications, Posts andTelegraphs and Ministry ofHotels and Tourism and thenat Mandalay InternationalAirport and Muse, Tachilek,Kawthoung and Myawadyborder gates. Thirdly it will

be installed in Bagan, Hehoand Thandwe airports.

Tourist visa,business visa, social visa andother visa will be transformedinto e-visa which will beintroduced in fourth week ofthis April, he said. ManagingDirector U Kyaw Moe Naingof Myanmar Ease Net Co Ltd,technical arm of e-visa systemimplementation team, andcommittee members reportedon the progress of works.

MNA

YANGON, 4 April—Chief Minister of Yangon RegionU Myint Swe received Vietnamese Ambassador to MyanmarMr Chu Cong Phung at the office of the Yangon RegionGovernment yesterday afternoon.

They discussed friendly relations and economiccooperation between Yangon and Ho Chi Minh City as theyhave signed as sister cities. Also present at the call wereYangon Mayor Yangon Region Minister for DevelopmentAffairs U Hla Myint, Region Minister for Electricity andIndustry U Nyan Tun Oo and Secretary of RegionGovernment U Than Aung.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—Attorney-General of theUnion Dr Tun Shin received NY Legal Partners, LPCAdvocate Mr Yasumasa Nakamura of Japan at the CredentialsHall of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Union, here,this morning.

They frankly discussed legal affairs.Also present at the call were Director-General of

the Office of the Attorney-General of the Union U MyintWin, Directors U Nyan Naing Win and Daw Htoo HtooNgwe, and officials.—MNA

Foreigners can bring into the Republic of theUnion of Myanmar at any one time any foreign currencynot in excess of US Dollars Ten Thousand or its equivalentwithout making a declaration to the Customs on arrivalwith effect from 1st April 2012.

Central Bank of Myanmar

Attorney-General of the Unionreceives NY Legal Partners,

LPC Advocate of Japan

Yangon Region Chief Ministerreceives Vietnamese Ambassador

Press Release

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—With the aim of ensuringdevelopment of ward and village libraries in MawlamyineTownship of Mon State, raising of reading habit and bookdonation was held at the hall of Mon State Red CrossSupervisory Committee in Mawlamyine on 20 March.

After the reading habit raising contest, Mon StateMinister for Development Affairs Dr Toe Toe Aung, StateMinister for Social Affairs Dr Hla Oo and officials awardedthe winners. They then donated books and publications toward and village libraries.—MNA

Books donated to ward andvillage libraries

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 5 April, 2012 3

Southeast Asian leaders askWestern countries to lift

Myanmar sanctions aftersuccessful polls

PHNOM PENH, 4 April— Southeast Asian leaders havecalled on Western countries, including the European Union,to lift punitive sanctions imposed on Myanmar.

The leaders of the 10-member Association of SoutheastAsian Nations made the call Wednesday at the end of a two-day summit in the Cambodian Capital. The summit wasattended by Myanmar President U Thein Sein, who receiveda flurry of praise for recent democratic reforms in hiscountry that have surprised even its harshest critics.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said the leaders’appeal for the lifting of sanctions would first be relayed tothe EU, which punished formerly military-ruled Myanmarfor massive human rights violations.— Internet

Armed Somali pirates carrying out preparations to askiff in Hobyo, northeastern Somalia, in 2010. A

Bolivian-flagged vessel seized by Somali pirates sincelast week has been freed, and is continuing on to Iran

with its sugar shipment, the Bolivian governmentannounced on Tuesday.— INTERNET

Pakistan van bomb kills six passengersPESHAWAR, 4 April — A

bomb ripped through apassenger van in Pakistan’srestive tribal belt onWednesday, killing at leastsix people and wounding nineothers, officials said. The vanwas carrying 15 men fromKhurrakai village to Jamrud,the main town in Khyberdistrict when it was hit whilepassing through a ravine.“The passengers were goingto town for shopping. So farwe can confirm the death ofsix people while nine othersare injured,” Shakeel KhanUmarzai, a senior

administration official, toldAFP.

“Three people areseriously injured. It is unclearthat the blast was caused byan IED or a planted bomb inthe van but explosives wereused,” he said. A doctor at thelocal government hospitalwhere the dead and the injuredwere taken also confirmed thecasualties. “We are treatingsix other passengers who werewounded while threeseriously injured have beenshifted to Peshawar,”Mohammed Anas told AFP.

Khyber is one of seven

districts in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt, whereTaleban and Al-Qaeda-linkedmilitants have carved outstrongholds used to plotattacks on Pakistani, Afghanand Western targets.Pakistani government troopsare currently operatingagainst militants loyal to localwarlord Mangal Bagh. TheUN refugee agencyannounced last week thatmore than 100,000 people,mostly women and children,have fled the fighting inKhyber since 20 January.

Internet

The UK says HMS Dauntless is being sent to the SouthAtlantic as part of routine operations.— INTERNET

HMS Dauntless sails to Falklandsunlikely that there would beany visits to Argentina’sports. The Royal Navy said itwas the first operationaldeployment for HMSDauntless since it wascommissioned in 2010.

Commanding OfficerCaptain Will Warrender said:“HMS Dauntless’ ship’scompany has been workingextremely hard over the lastyear or so to prepare for ourfirst operational deployment.“We are now ready to providea reassuring presence in theregion and protect Britishinterests.” A total of 255British servicemen and about650 Argentines died after theUK sent a task force followingthe Argentine invasion on 2April 1982. Britain hascontrolled the Falklands since1833 but Argentina claims theterritory — which it calls theMalvinas — saying it inheritedrights to them from Spain.

Internet

Photo illustration of troops on patrol in Afghanistan.Three international troops were killed in separate

insurgency incidents in Afghanistan in one day, theNATO-led coalition force said.—INTERNET

BAGHDAD, 4 April — A“sticky bomb” killed atelevision presenter workingfor a local station inSalaheddin Province of centralIraq, a provincial spokesmansaid on Tuesday. KamiranSalaheddin, a presenter forSalaheddin Channel, waskilled in central Tikrit by amagnetic bomb attached tohis car as he drove home fromwork late on Monday,Salaheddin provincialcouncil spokesman Jamal al-Dulaimi told AFP.

Salaheddin, a 34-year-old father-of-two, was the

Three NATO troops killed in one day inAfghanistan

Bomb kills TV presenter incentral Iraq

Iraq says Iran proposes Baghdad as nuclear talks venue

five Western powers plusGermany on Teheran’s plan.“The proposal came fromthem. We received adelegation from Iran... Todaywe are inviting G5 plus oneambassadors to hand over aletter about the proposal,”Zebari said.

Iraq’s Shi’ite-ledgovernment is closely aligned

BAGHDAD, 4 April— Iranhas proposed holding the nextround of talks with six worldpowers over its disputednuclear programme next weekin Iraq instead of Turkey,Iraq’s foreign minister saidon Wednesday. US Secretaryof State Hillary Clinton saidon Saturday the 13 to 14 Aprilnegotiations with Iran would

be held in Istanbul, the firstsuch meeting since January2011 when the two sides failedeven to agree on an agenda.

Iraqi Foreign MinisterHoshiyar Zebari told Reutersthe proposal for talks inBaghdad came from an Iraniandelegation visiting onTuesday and he would meetwith ambassadors from the

Bolivian-flagged ship held bySomali pirates is freed

LA PAZ, 4 April — A Bolivian-flagged vessel seized bySomali pirates since last week has been freed, and is continuingon to Iran with its sugar shipment, the Bolivian governmentannounced on Tuesday. The MV Eglantine was seized bySomali pirates last week off Hoarafushi island in the Maldives,the first hijacking in the waters of the archipelago. TheBolivian-flagged and Iranian-owned vessel had a total of 23crew, but their nationalities were not immediately known.

The ship “no longer is in their (the pirates’) control as ofMonday. Now it is sailing securely to port to deliver its cargo”of Brazilian sugar, said the Bolivian International Ship Registryoffice, which reports to the defense ministry. A 1982 UN treatyallows land-locked countries like Bolivia to use sea routesincluding providing paid services such as ship registry.Maldivian and Indian forces earlier were shadowing thevessel but did not board it, a defence spokesman in Male said.

The Maldivian authorities said they were alerted to thehijacking by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System,the emergency communications system for global shipping,which maintains an operation in the Maldives. In November,the Maldives announced it was working with Sri Lanka andIndia on a strategy to deal with Somali pirates. The Maldiveshad arrested 37 Somali pirates who were drifting near thearchipelago.

Sri Lanka has also arrested an unspecified number ofSomali pirates. Two decades of lawlessness have carved upSomalia into mini-fiefdoms ruled by gunmen and militia,encouraging rampant piracy. At least 40 vessels and morethan 400 hostages were still being held in or just off Somaliaat the end of last year, according to the Ecoterra Internationalgroup which monitors piracy in the region.— Internet

with Iran in a region whereSunni Arab Gulf powers arejockeying for influence withShi’ite power Teheran. Asenior Iranian figure recentlyspoke out against Turkeyhosting the talks as once warmIranian-Turkish relationshave cooled in the past yearover the Turkish positionagainst Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assad, Iran’s closeArab ally.

Reuters

LONDON, 4 April — HMSDauntless, one of the UK’slargest and most powerful airdefence destroyers, is due toset sail for the FalklandIslands. The Ministry ofDefence says it is a “pre-planned and routine” six-month deployment in theSouth Atlantic. However, itcomes days after the 30thanniversary of the start of thewar. The move had earlierprompted an official complaint

by Argentina to the UnitedNations about the UK’s“militarisation” in the SouthAtlantic.

HMS Dauntless, a Type45 Destroyer, will sail fromPortsmouth to relieve HMSMontrose. It will carry outoperations off West Africaand the wider South Atlantic,with planned port visits inboth West and South Africa.BBC defence correspondentJonathan Beale said it was

second journalist killed inIraq this year, according tothe Journalistic FreedomsObservatory, an Iraq-basedmedia rights group.Salaheddin Channel wasestablished by Americanforces in 2004 and is fundedby Salaheddin provincialcouncil.

“The Iraqi authoritiesmust do everything possibleto ensure that thoseresponsible for his death arebrought to justice,” Paris-based watchdog ReportersWithout Borders (RSF) saidin a statement condemning

the attack. “His murder mustnot go unpunished.”

Iraq ranked 152nd out of179 countries in RSF’s 2011-2012 World Press FreedomIndex, down 22 from the yearbefore. The report said therewas “an increase in murdersof journalists” in Iraq, and“journalists are very often thetarget of violence by thesecurity forces, whether atdemonstrations in TahrirSquare in Baghdad, or in IraqiKurdistan, a region that hadfor many years offered arefuge for journalists.”

Internet

KABUL, 4 April — Threeinternational troops werekilled in separate insurgencyincidents in Afghanistan inone day, the NATO-ledcoalition force said.

The InternationalSecurity Assistance Force(ISAF) said one servicemember was killed by animprovised explosive devicein the south of the country,one by a similar blast in theeast and one by an insurgentattack in the east.

All three incidentshappened on Tuesday, withthe last statement released onWednesday. They did notgive further details. “It is ISAFpolicy to defer casualtyidentification procedures tothe relevant nationalauthorities,” each statementsaid. ISAF has around 130,000

troops in Afghanistanfighting the Taleban-ledinsurgency against PresidentHamid Karzai’s government

and its Western allies. Mostforeign soldiers are due to bewithdrawn by the end of 2014.

Internet

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How do we fall asleep?

A sleeping boy is carried as Catholic Christians takepart in a Palm Sunday procession on the Mount of Olives

in Jerusalem on 1 April, 2012.—INTERNET

Space tourist is just one way to describe SimonyiSEATTLE, 4 April —

Charles Simonyi may still bedescribed as a space touristeven though the Microsoftbillionaire has no plans totake a third vacation on theInternational Space Stationand hasn’t hung out in outerspace for a few years. He’sstill obsessed with space andis heavily involved in theSeattle Museum of Flight’snew space gallery, which isnamed in the philanthropist’shonour. Since 2002, Simonyihas been running his owncompany called IntentionalSoftware that specializes increating industry-specific

computer software, and herecently he took on a newtitle: book publisher.

The son of a Hungarianphysicist, the 63-year-old justmade one of his dad’s dreamscome true by helpingtranslate the senior Simonyi’sepic about physics intoEnglish. “A Cultural Historyof Physics” by KarolySimonyi, who died in 2001,is a heavy tome with anintimidating name but insidethe non-scientist will find lotsof pictures and stories thatoffer a whimsical side ofphysics. Flip through thebook, which has had five

editions in Hungarian andthree in German, and you’llfind a full-page diagramshowing how the scientistsof the 17th century enjoyeddismissing each other’stheories. A diagram and anexplanation by Sir IsaacNewton of how rainbows areformed are on another page.

An illustration of a catwith its hair standing on endmay catch your attentiontoward the end of the book. Ifyou stop to find out why thecat is on the page, you’ll findan explanation of quantummechanics and radioactivedecay —Internet

March weather third warmest on record, saysMet Office

March 2012 was one of the warmest, driest and sunnieston record .— INTERNET

Self-sculpting sand robots areunder development at MIT

NEW YORK, 4 April — Tiny robots that can join togetherto form functional tools and then split apart again after usemight be ready for market in little more than a decade,according to researchers. A team at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology says it has developed about 30 prototype“smart pebbles” and the software to run them. The sides ofeach cube are 1cm (0.4 inches) in length. Efforts are nowfocused on creating smaller models.

The researchers from the university’s DistributedRobotics Laboratory liken the ultimate product they aretrying to develop to “self-sculpting sand”. “We want to havea bag of this material that can form any shape you demand,”PhD student Kyle Gilpin told the BBC. “So if you are in anisolated situation and you need a certain tool, you can tellthat to the bag by making a miniaturised model of the tool,drop it into the bag, shake it around - and what you would endup with inside would be a magnified copy of the tool whichis usable.”

The test cubes have electropermanent magnetsembedded into their sides to allow them to stick together. The

The MIT team have built test modules with microprocessorsand magnets to prove their theory.— INTERNET

magnetic effect can be switched on and off and does notrequire an electric current to remain active. The cubes alsocontain a microprocessor to work out which of the magnetsshould be activated and when. Each processor can currentlystore 32 kilobytes of code and has only two kilobytes ofworking memory — so the algorithm powering the processhad to be kept simple. The solution was to use a “subtractive”method - removing modules rather than adding them.

The first step works out what the original object lookslike by covering it with the “pebbles”.—Internet

Astrophotography enthusiasts can now take greatimages of the sky without modifying cameras.

INTERNET

Canon releases new camera thatcan capture the beauty of space

NEW YORK, 4 April — Many expensive DSLR camerasaren’t optimized to shoot great photos of the heavens,especially of the night sky, right out of the box.Astrophotographers, photographers who mainly take picturesof astronomical objects, usually have to learn how to tweaktheir camera settings to best capture the wonders of space.Now, Canon has released a new product that makesastrophotography easy even for beginners.

The new Canon EOS 60Da Digital SLR Camera is threetimes more sensitive to hydrogen-alpha energy — the reddishlight given off by hydrogen found in nebulae, galaxies, andstar clusters among other objects in space — than otherDSLRs.

Thus, you can use the camera to capture vivid out of thisworld photos that show a lot more detail than what imagestaken by ordinary DSLRs would show. The trade-off for thisfeature is, of course, the price: the new Canon 60Da will retailfor $1,499 when it comes out later this month, a few hundreddollars more than the normal 60D’s price tag.

Internet

Pupils ‘made more violent by computer games’Teachers say they arenoticing an increase in

aggression amongpupils.— INTERNET

themselves out of the windowof the play car in slow motionand acting out blood spurtingfrom their bodies,” she says.“I followed it up in circletime and talked about whatthey knew about playinggames on the computer. “Outof 27, four or five-year-olds,most have TVs and laptops intheir bedrooms, most havesight of or actually ownNintendos, playstation,Xboxes and Wii and manysaid they watched olderbrothers, sisters and cousinsplaying games.”

Internet

LONDON, 4 April —Children are becoming moreviolent as they are being leftunsupervised by their parentsto play inappropriate

are acting out “graphicscenes” from games in classand in the playground, theAssociation of Teachers andLecturers is to hear. And there

computer games, teacherssay. Pupils as young as four

are fears youngsters cannotseparate fantasy worlds fromreality. Schools minister NickGibb said some childrencame into school exhaustedafter playing games late atnight. Bradford teacherAlison Sherratt is set to tellthe ATL annual conferencein Manchester that membersof her reception class havebeen acting out scenes fromgames well above limit fortheir age.

“The inspiration for thismotion was when I watchedmy class out on theplayground throwing

LONDON, 4 April — Lastmonth was the third warmestMarch on record — outshoneonly by 1938 and 1957 — theMet Office has said. It had anaverage temperature of 7.7C,compared with March 1938,which had an average of 8C. Itwas also the fifth driest andthird sunniest March. Marchsaw a total precipitation of36.4mm of rain and 156.5 hoursof sunshine across the month.Records for temperature andrainfall began in 1910, whilethe measurements forsunshine began in 1929.

The driest and thesunniest March bothoccurred in 1929, with just17mm of rainfall and 169.5hours of sunshine recorded.England saw an averagetemperature throughout themonth of 8.1C. Walesrecorded 7.9C, Scotland 7Cand Northern Ireland’s was8.1C. The averagetemperatures are measuredacross every hour of the dayand night. And during themonth there were 175.4 hoursof sunshine in England, 158.8in Wales, 129.7 in Scotlandand 127.5 in Northern Ireland.

Rainfall in England was

26.5mm with 31.4mm in Wales,56.8mm in Scotland and21.4mm in Northern Ireland.The good weather sawScotland set a new record forits highest March temperaturethree days in a row. Aboynein Aberdeenshire recorded23.6C on Tuesday 27 March,beating the record of 23.2Cset at Cromdale, nearGrantown on Spey, theprevious afternoon. And theday before that, Fyvie Castlein Aberdeenshire recorded22.8C, beating a Marchtemperature record which hadstood for 55 years.

Internet

with an air of detached disinterest; so, though most of us fallasleep every night, we can’t say exactly how we do it. Evenneuroscientists are still struggling to understand themechanisms the brain uses to switch from a state of wakefulnessto unconscious sleep, but research reveals that the transitionis a lot more gradual and tumultuous than the flip of a lightswitch.

According to recent work by neuroscientists atWashington University in St Louis, during the pre-sleepstage of the process — the period when you’re in bed with thelights off and your eyes closed, slowly “letting go” of the trialsof the tribulations of the day — your brain waves exhibitwhat’s known as alpha activity, typically associated withquiet wakefulness. “It is in this period that the brainprogressively disengages from the external world,” LindaLarson-Prior and her colleagues wrote in a 2011 paper. “Subjectsslowly oscillate between attending to external and internalthoughts, with the majority of internal thoughts beingautobiographical or self-referential in nature.”

Internet

WASHINGTON, 4 April — Falling asleep is a routine yetmystifying process. Like trying to see the 3D image in aMagic Eye poster, the more you focus on it, the less likely itis to happen. It shies away from scrutiny and is best approached

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Women’s height linked to ovarian canceris to eat healthily, eat smaller amounts and bemore physically active.”

Commenting on the study, Dr PaulPharoah, reader in cancer epidemiology at theUniversity of Cambridge, said the increase inrisk was small. “If we compare a woman whois 5ft tall with a woman who is 5ft 6in tall, thereis a relative difference in ovarian cancer risk of23%. “But the absolute risk difference is small.The shorter woman will have a lifetime risk ofabout 16-in-a-1000 which increases to 20-in-a-1000 for the taller woman. “A similardifference in absolute risk would be seenwhen comparing a slim woman with a bodymass index of 20 to a slightly overweightwoman with a body mass index of 30.”

Internet

Obesity has been linked to severalcancers.— INTERNET

LONDON , 4 April — Taller women have aslightly higher risk of ovarian cancer,according to a review of studies. Obesity isalso a risk factor among women who havenever taken HRT, say internationalresearchers. Previous studies have suggesteda link, but there has been conflicting evidence.The latest research, published in the journalPLoS Medicine, analysed all worldwide dataon the topic. It looked at 47 epidemiologicalstudies in 14 countries, including about 25,000women with ovarian cancer and more than80,000 women without ovarian cancer. Leadresearcher Prof Valerie Beral of the OxfordUniversity Epidemiology Unit told the BBC:“By bringing together the worldwideevidence, it became clear that height is a riskfactor.”

She said there was also a clear relationshipbetween obesity and ovarian cancer in womenwho had never taken HRT “Ovarian cancercan clearly be added to the list [of cancerslinked to obesity],” she added. Sarah Williams,health information officer at Cancer ResearchUK, said the study produced a clearer pictureof the factors that could affect a woman’s riskof developing ovarian cancer, and found thatbody size was important. “Women can reducetheir risk of this and many other diseases bykeeping to a healthy weight,” she said. “Forwomen trying to lose weight, the best method

The US Food andDrug

Administrationwarns of cancer-causing agent in

Japan weight losspills.— INTERNET

US warns of cancer-agent in Japan weight loss pills

US obesity ‘higher than thought’

WASHINGTON, 4 April — The US Foodand Drug Administration on Tuesday warnedconsumers not to take a product called “JapanRapid Weight Loss Diet Pills” because theycontain a suspected cancer-causing agent.The pills, advertised as promoting weightloss, are distributed by a company calledXiushentang and sold on popular web sitesincluding Amazon.com, said the FDA.Consumers are advised to stop using the pills— which are packaged in three colors: green,yellow and blue — and discard them. Theyshould also see a doctor if they haveexperienced any side effects, the agency said.An FDA lab analysis has confirmed that thepills, “Japan Rapid Weight Loss Diet PillsGreen” contain “undeclared

phenolphthalein,” the agency said in astatement.

“Phenolphthalein is a solution used inchemical experiments and a suspected cancer-causing agent that is not approved formarketing in the United States.” The FDA hasclassified the agent as “not generallyrecognized as safe and effective,” and it hasbeen found to potentially damage or evencause mutations in a person’s DNA, thewarning said. A similar notice was issued for“Japan Rapid Weight Loss Diet Pills Yellow”because they contain both phenolphthaleinand sibutramine, a weight loss agent found inthe drug Meridia that was removed from themarket in 2010 because it boosted the risk ofheart attack and stroke.

“The product poses a threat to consumersbecause sibutramine is known to substantiallyincrease blood pressure and/or pulse rate insome patients and may present a significantrisk for patients with a history of coronaryartery disease, congestive heart failure,arrhythmias or stroke,” the FDA said.

Internet

NEW YORK , 4 April —The obesity problem in theUS may be much worse thanpreviously thought, accord-ing to researchers. They saidusing the Body Mass Indexor BMI to determine obesitywas underestimating theissue. Their study, publishedin the journal PLoS One, said

up to 39% of people who werenot currently classified asobese actually were. Theauthors said “we may bemuch further behind than wethought” in tackling obesity.BMI is a simple calculationwhich combines a person’sheight and weight to give ascore which can be used to

diagnose obesity. Somebodywith a BMI of 30 or more isclassed as obese. The USCentres for Disease Controlsays at least one in threeAmericans is obese.

Other ways of diagnos-ing obesity include looking athow much of the body is madeup of fat. A fat percentage of25% or more for men or 30% ormore for women is thethreshold for obesity. One ofthe researchers Dr EricBraverman said: “The BodyMass Index is an insensitivemeasure of obesity, prone tounder-diagnosis, while directfat measurements aresuperior because they showdistribution of body fat.”

Internet

How should obesity be calculated?— INTERNET

Asia stocks slump on US job growth worries

Moody’s downgrades GE,citing risks from financial unit

stocks.The Dow Jones

industrial average closeddown 0.5 percent at 13,199.55.The Standard & Poor’s 500index finished down 0.4percent at 1,413.38. TheNasdaq composite index lost0.2 percent to 3,113.57.Benchmark oil for Maydelivery was down 37 centsto $103.64 a barrel in electronictrading on the New YorkMercantile Exchange. Thecontract fell $1.22 to settle at$104.01 per barrel in New Yorkon Tuesday. In currencies,the euro fell to $1.3199 from$1.3217 late Tuesday in NewYork. The dollar fell to 82.63yen from 82.86 yen.

Internet

BANGKOK, 4 April —Asian stock markets onWednesday followed WallStreet into negative territoryafter the Federal Reservevoiced concern about US jobgrowth but appeared to refrainfrom taking steps to prop upthe economy. Japan’s Nikkei225 index fell 1.4 percent to9,910.84 after briefly slippingto 9,886.34, its lowest level ina month. South Korea’s Kospidropped 0.9 percent to2,030.90 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3 percent to4,324.60. Markets in mainlandChina, Hong Kong and Taipeiwere closed for publicholidays.

On Tuesday, the USFederal Reserve released

minutes of the March meetingof its Open Market Committee,which sets interest rates andmonetary policy. The Fedminutes showed thatpolicymakers fear hiring couldslow if economic growthdoesn’t improve. That causedWall Street stocks to slump.The minutes also did notaddress the logistics of morebond-buying — troubling totraders who have beenhoping for more action fromthe Fed. The Fed hasembarked on two previousrounds of bond-buying, mostrecently in August 2010, todrive down long-term interestrates. Low bond yieldsgenerally encourage profit-hungry investors to buy

NEW YORK, 4 April — Moody’s on Tuesday said it haddowngraded the ratings of conglomerate General Electric Coby one notch to Aa2 and the ratings of its finance unit GeneralElectric Capital Corporation (GECC) by a notch to A1. Moody’saffirmed the Prime-1 ratings of both companies and said therating outlook for both was now stable. The move concludesa review begun on 19 March.

“The downgrades result from the implementation ofMoody’s revised global rating methodology for financecompanies, and reflect in particular the impact of GECC’shigher risk profile on GE,” the agency said in a statement.Moody’s added that, while GECC had improved its liquidityand capital levels since the credit crisis, there remainedmaterial risks associated with the firm’s funding model.

Reuters

A General Electric Company (GE) logo is seen on atoggle switch package in New York on 18 Jan, 2012.

INTERNET

China surpasses US as world’s biggestgrocery market

LONDON , 4 April — Chinahas become the world’slargest market for food andgrocery retail, surpassing theUS, a study showed. Thegrocery sector in China wasworth £607b ($972b) by theend of the 2011, showedresearch published by IGD.

The US market wasvalued at £527 for the sameperiod, which means it rankssecond. By 2015, the researchforecasts that the Bricscountries (Brazil, Russia,China and India) will be thetop grocery markets.

“China’s grocerygrowth story is phenomenal.Between 2006 and 2015, the

Chinese grocery market isforecast to triple in value andto be worth nearly a trillionpounds,” said JoanneDenney-Finch, chiefexecutive of IGD. IGDforecasts that by 2015, theChinese market will be worth£918bn compared to a USvalue of £675b. “This rapidexpansion has been fuelledby three main factors: rapideconomic growth, populationand rising food inflation,” MsDenney-Finch added.

The company said thatmany of the world’s largestgrocery retailers would belooking to China, and not justat the major cities but also atsecond and third tier cities.IGD said companies will alsobe looking to the Brics nationsas the size of their marketsgrows. “Many UK food andgrocery companies arealready pursuing thisopportunity,” Ms Denney-Finch said.

Internet

Foreign grocery retailers are looking to China and theother Brics countries.

INTERNET

P5(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM5


Swachaung Dam and Nagapauk Sluice Gate contributing toagricultural development in Bago Region

Swachaung Dam in Yedashe Township of Bago Region feeding irrigation water to 35000 acres of farmlands, contributing towards socio-economic development of local people and greening of its environs.

Nagapauk Sluice Gate* Nagapauk Sluice Gate lies near confluence of Nagapauk creek and Khamon

Myitkyophyat creek about three miles east of DaikU-Nyaungkhashe road.* It prevents inundation of 15000 acres of watershed areas in Waw Township

in rainy season. Archive: Maung Nyein Aye

* It reduces the number of flood by preventing Sittoung River water fromentering farmlands in monsoon and irrigates farmlands with fresh water ofSittoung River in summer.

* It has 40 valves with six-foot width and 16-foot height each.Translation: HKA

Memorial held for seven killed in Oakland shootingOAKLAND, 4 April — Civic and religious

leaders in Oakland are mourning the deaths ofseven people who were gunned down in onethe nation’s deadliest campus shootings inyears. Several hundred people gathered onTuesday night for a prayer vigil for the victimsof Monday’s shooting at Oikos University, asmall Christian school in Oakland.

Mayor Jean Quan joined pastors fromthe Bay Area’s Korean Christian communityin calling for unity and an end to violence at

the service at the Allen Temple Baptist Church.The service was attended by friends,

family and colleagues of the victims whoseidentities were officially released Tuesday.Not long after the mass shooting, policearrested 43-year-old One Goh at a supermarketseveral miles away in Alameda.

Goh is being held without bail onsuspicion of seven counts of murder, threecounts of attempted murder and othercharges.— Internet

NYC officials: one dead, four hurt in crane accidentNEW YORK , 4 April —The boom of a crane

set up at a subway construction site cameperilously off its base and crashed to theground, killing a construction worker andinjuring four other people Tuesday night, cityofficials said. The worker was pronounceddead after the accident at the Manhattanconstruction site of the No 7 subway lineextension, officials said.

One other person was hospitalized inserious condition and three people were

treated for minor injuries, according to a FireDepartment spokesman. Jack Sullivan, deputychief for the FDNY EMS, said it was possibleone of the workers had been struck by thecrane’s boom. The crane operator andsomeone who worked with him were amongthose who were injured. He described theremoval of the workers from the constructionsite, about 60 feet below street level, as“extremely dangerous.”

Internet

P6(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM6


President U Thein Sein attends meeting between ASEAN Headsof State/Government and ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary

Assembly, informal meetings between ASEAN leaders andrepresentatives of ASEAN public organizations, and between

ASEAN leaders and youth delegates

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—President of the Republic ofthe Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein attended meetingbetween ASEAN Heads of State/Government and ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly, informal meetings betweenASEAN leaders and representatives of ASEAN publicorganizations, and between ASEAN leaders and youthdelegates at Champei Room of Peace Palace in PhnomPenh in Cambodia on 3rd April noon.

First, President U Thein Sein attended the meetingbetween ASEAN Heads of State/Government andrepresentatives of the AIPA. It was attended by Heads of

State/Government of ASEAN countries, reps from the AIPAincluding Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker U Khin Aung Myint,and the ASEAN Secretary-General.

Alternate Chairman of the ASEAN Cambodian PrimeMinister Samdech Hun Sen extended greetings, followed bydiscussions between Alternate Chairman of the AIPA DrMarzui Alie of Indonesia and reps of the assembly.

ASEAN Heads of State/Government frankly exchangedtheir views on the discussions.

The Myanmar President then attended the informalmeeting between ASEAN leaders and ASEAN public

organizations. Present were ASEAN Heads of State/Government, reps from public organizations and the ASEANSecretary-General.

Joint-Secretary Daw Khaing Nwe Nwe of the Republicof the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers ofCommerce and Industry attended the meeting as Myanmardelegate.

Heads of State/Government of ASEAN nations heldcordial discussions with reps of public organizations.

The Myanmar President then attended the informalmeeting between ASEAN leaders and youth representativesin the evening.

ASEAN Heads of State/Government, youth reps andthe ASEAN Secretary-General were present at the meeting.Maung Lin Htin Ko Ko and Maung Sa Win Hlaing Oo fromEducation College from Myanmar participated in themeeting.

Heads of State/Government of ASEAN countries andthe ASEAN Secretary-General responded to the discussionsof youth reps.—MNA

Alternate ASEAN Chairman issues statement at 20th ASEAN SummitNAY PYI TAW, 4 April—The 20th ASEAN Summit was

successfully held from 3 to 4 April. Alternate ASEANChairman issued statement dated today.

That statement includes the facts that ASEANwelcomes Myanmar’s current progress and also describesthe following factors under the heading of regional andinternational issues—

“We welcomed the significant positive developmentsin Myanmar throughout 2011 and underscored theimportance of maintaining a strong momentum in thisregard, particularly on the bold steps undertaken by theGovernment of Myanmar to enhance socio-economicdevelopment, improve the livelihoods of the people, promotegood governance and democratic practices, strengthen

promotion and protection of human rights, and achievepeace, and national reconsolidation and reconciliation.

We welcomed the successful holding of the by-elections in Myanmar on 1st April 2012, which wasconducted in a free and fair manner.

We expressed appreciation to the Government of theRepublic of the Union of Myanmar for inviting a largenumber of election observers from ASEAN and its DialoguePartners as well as from regional and internationalorganizations.

We recognized that the holding of the by-elections wasa significant step towards further democratization inMyanmar. We reaffirmed our full support for the MyanmarGovernment’s on-going efforts in democratization, national

reconsolidation and reconciliation and reiterated our callfor the international community to support and encouragethe democratic developments in Myanmar.

We welcomed the invitation extended by theGovernment of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar tohost a Special Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers in NayPyi Taw at a date convenient to all ASEAN Member States.

We called for the lifting of all sanctions on Myanmarimmediately in order to contribute positively to thedemocratic process and economic development in thatcountry.

We also reaffirmed our commitment to expandnecessary assistance and cooperation in view of Myanmar’sASEAN Chairmanship in 2014.”—MNA

President U Thein Sein of the Republic of theUnion of Myanmar attends informal meeting

between ASEAN Heads of State/Government andrepresentatives of ASEAN public organizations atChampei Room of Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

MNA

President U Thein Sein of the Republic of theUnion of Myanmar attends meeting between

ASEAN Heads of State/Government andrepresentatives of ASEAN Inter-ParliamentaryAssembly at Champei Room of Peace Palace in

Phnom Penh.—MNA

President U Thein Sein of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar attends informal meeting betweenASEAN Heads of State/Government and youth delegates at Champei Room of Peace Palace in Phnom

Penh.—MNA

P7(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM7


(from page 1)unrestricted flow of skilled workers within the ASEAN,effective cooperation in regional disaster preparedness meas-ures, further cooperation in agricultural sector for foodsecurity, which could become a challenge in the future dueto climate change and frequent catastrophes, and jointimplementation of Phnom Penh Agenda.

Next, President of the Republic of the Union of MyanmarU Thein Sein together with Heads of State/Government ofASEAN nations posed for documentary photo.

The Cambodian cultural troupe sang a song in com-memoration of the 45th Anniversary of the ASEAN andtraditional dances were presented and the opening ceremonycame to an end.—MNA

President U Thein Seinattends opening…

President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein, Cambodian Prime MinisterSamdech Hun Sen and ASEAN Heads of State/Government pose for documentary photo at the

dinner.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—President U Thein Seinattended a dinner hosted by Cambodian Prime MinisterSamdech Hun Sen and wife at Rumduol Room of the PeacePalace in Phnom Penh in Cambodia on 2 April evening.

Also present at the dinner were Heads of State/Government of the ASEAN countries, Speaker of PyidaungsuHluttaw U Khin Aung Myint, ministers from ASEANcountries, high-ranking officials, ASEAN Secretary-Gen-eral Dr Surin Pitsuwan and invited guests.

The Cambodian Prime Minister and wife warmly

President U Thein Sein attends dinner hosted by CambodianPrime Minister Samdech Hun Sen and wife

welcomed President U Thein Sein and Heads of State/Government of ASEAN nations.

Next, the Cambodian Prime Minister and wife, Headsof State/Government of ASEAN countries and ministersposed for documentary photo.

The Cambodian Prime Minister and wife and Headsof State/Government of the ASEAN nations proposed atoast and had dinner together during which the Cambodiancultural troupe entertained with songs and dances.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 4April—Annual coordinationmeeting on researches for2011-2012, was held at YezinAgricultural Research De-partment in Zeyathiri Town-ship this morning, with anaddress by Union Ministerfor Agriculture and Irriga-tion U Myint Hlaing.

The Union Ministersaid that the country needs toconduct continual re-searches, which is basic foun-dation for the agriculturaldevelopment of the country.Research findings need to be

A & I Ministry holds annualcoordination meeting on researches

applied in actual practice.The Ministry is im-

proving the role of research-ers and providing necessaryassistances. After that, heinspected cultivation of highyield paddy, research plan-tations, hybrid Palethwepaddy research plantation,Basmati hybrid paddy plan-tation and Palethwe hybridpaddy seed production plan-tation (100-acre) of Univer-sity of Agriculture. Then, hemet with trainees of hybridpaddy seed productioncourse.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—A coordination meeting forratification of Myanmardisaster risk reduction workplan was held at Ministry ofSocial Welfare, Relief andResettlement here thisafternoon, with an addressby Chairman of MyanmarNatural Disaster PreventionCommittee Union Minister

Coord meeting held for disaster risk reductionwork plan

for Labour and for Social Wel-fare, Relief and ResettlementU Aung Kyi.

It was also attended byUnion Minister for Environ-mental Conservation andForestry U Win Tun, mem-bers of the Myanmar NaturalDisaster Prevention Com-mittee, deputy ministers ofthe ministries concerned,

and representatives ofYangon, Mandalay, NayPyi Taw DevelopmentCommittees.

Union Minister U AungKyi made a speech, followedby detailed explanationabout work programmes ofMyanmar Action Plan onDisaster Risk Reduction bythe board joint secretary di-

rector-general of the Reliefand Resettlement Depart-ment. Union Minister U WinTun, deputy ministers and de-partmental heads made sug-gestions. The joint secretaryread the minutes for approvalof the board. The meetingcame to an end with conclud-ing remark of Union MinisterU Aung Kyi.—MNA

Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Hun Senand wife cordially greet

President U Thein Sein at the dinner.MNA

The opening of 20th ASEAN Summit and 45th

Anniversary of ASEAN in progress at NuonSrey Hall of Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.

MNA

P8(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM8


Narrowing DevelopmentGap should… (from page 16)

ASEAN should try to achieve more important role inG-20 bloc. It will expand ASEAN’s influence in internationalmonetary sector. It is also accorded with Bali AgreementNo. 3.

At today’s summit, Heads of State and Governmentfrom ASEAN countries frankly discussed matters related tonarrowing rich-poor gap among ASEAN countries, equal andactive participation in establishing three pillars of ASEAN,implementation of Phnom Penh Agenda for 2012, unanimousrecognition of by-elections which had been held in Myanmaron 1 April as free and fair and transparent elections,unanimously supporting the lifting of sanctions on Myanmaras it is important not only for the country concerned but alsofor dignity of ASEAN, realization of “ASEAN: OneCommunity—One Destiny”, implementation of BaliAgreement No. 3, successful establishment of ASEANCommunity by 2015, establishment of Drug-Free ASEAN by2015, energy and food sufficiency in ASEAN countries,cooperation in ASEAN highways, railroads, motor roads, civilaviation routes and ASEAN’s participation in G-20.

After the summit, the Heads of State and Governmenttogether had lunch hosted by the Cambodian Prime Minister.

At 20th ASEAN Summit Plenary Session, all ASEANleaders welcomed successful holding of free and fair andtransparent by-elections in Myanmar and unanimouslysupported the call for prompt lifting of economic sanctions onMyanmar.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—President ofthe Republic of the Union of Myanmar UThein Sein, at the invitation of CambodianPrime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, togetherwith his entourage, left here for PhnomPenh of Cambodia to attend the 20th

ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh on 2nd

April morning.The special flight carrying

President of the Republic of the Union ofMyanmar U Thein Sein, Deputy ForeignMinister Dr Myo Myint, Deputy HealthMinister Dr Win Myint and high-rankingofficials arrived at Phnom PehnInternational Airport in Phnom Penh in

President U Thein Seinarrives in Phnom Penh of

Cambodia

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw SpeakerPyidaungsuHluttawSpeakerattends AIPA meetingattendsAIPAmeeting

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—Athree-member delegation led bySpeaker of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw UKhin Aung Myint left YangonInternational Airport on 31 Marchfor Cambodia to attend thepreparatory meeting of ASEANInter-Parliamentary Assembly(AIPA) Chairman and heads ofParliaments from member countriesand the meeting of heads/leadersfrom ASEAN countries anddelegates of AIPA at the 20th

ASEAN Summit. They arrived atPhnom Penh International Airportof Cambodia in the afternoon.

On 2 April, the Speakersubmitted proposal on puttingpromoting the role of AIPA inASEAN in AIPA Chairman’sspeech at the Preliminarycoordination meeting betweenASEAN Inter-ParliamentaryAssembly (AIPA) Chairman andheads of Parliaments from membercountries, at Hotel Cambodiana, inPhnom Penh. It was attended bythe AIPA Chairman and Chairmanof The House of Representatives

The 20th ASEAN Summit Plenary Session inprogress at Champa Room in Peace Palace

of Phnom Penh in Cambodia.MNA

Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker U Khin Aung Myint poses for documentary photo togetherwith delegates to preparatory meeting of ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly

Chairman and parlimenatary heads of ASEAN countries.—MNA

President U Thein Sein being welcomed by Cambodian Education, Youthand Sports Minister Mr Im Sethy and personnel at Phnom Penh

International Airport.—MNA

Cambodia at 11.40 am local time.Myanmar Ambassador to

Cambodia U Cho Tun Aung and DeputyChief of Protocol Department of ForeignAffairs and International CooperationMinistry of Cambodia Mr Sam Phangwelcomed President U Thein Sein and sodid Cambodian Education, Youth andSports Minister Mr Im Sethy, personneland staff of the Myanmar Embassy andthe Military Attaché Office.

President of the Republic of theUnion of Myanmar U Thein Sein and partythen proceeded to Cambodiana Hotel inPhnom Penh.—MNA

of Indonesia Dr Marzuki Alie, AIPASecretary Mr Antonio V.Cuencoand AIPA representatives fromASEAN countries.

In the evening, the Speakeralso attended a dinner hosted byPrime Minister of Cambodia,alternate ASEAN ChairmanSamdech Hun Sen, at Peace Palacein Phnom Penh, together withheads/leaders from ASEANcountries, AIPA representatives,the ASEAN and AIPA Secretary.

The following day, he attendedthe 20th ASEAN Summit and theopening of 45th ASEANAnniversary Day, the meeting ofheads/leaders from ASEANcountries and delegates of AIPA,at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh,

In the evening, he also attendeda dinner hosted by Chairman ofNational AIPA Group of CambodiaDr Cheam Yeap, at Inter-continentalHotel in Phnom Penh.

The Myanmar delegationarrived back in Nay Pyi Taw thisevening.

MNA

P9(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM9


DISTRICTNEWS

YCDC keeps garbage bins on Inya bundYANGON, 4 April—As garbage bins are

systematically kept along the bund of InyaLake on the side of Pyay Road in KamayutTownship of Yangon, those taking relaxationshould throw litters into the bins.

The bins were arranged by Yangon CityDevelopment Committee beside the relaxed

chairs and along the pavements.The bunds of Inya Lake are packed not

only those taking health exercises but alsothose taking relaxation the whole nation.The number of visitors on Kaba Aye PagodaRoad is more than that of the bund on the sideof Pyay Road.—Kyemon

Fuel stations to be opened in ThingyanMANDALAY, 4 April—The

fuel brokers associationmanages sales of fuel at thefilling stations in Mandalayfor ensuring stability of fuelrate and convenience ofThingyan merry makers andrevelers during the period ofMaha Thingyan Festival.

The Internal Revenue

Department declinescommercial tax for petroleumto 10 per cent from 170 percent and to 10 per cent from90 per cent for dieselbeginning 1 April.

As such, the it is notprospect to raise the price offuel.

Kyemon

Myanmar Libraries Foundation is giving encouragementto broadening the horizon of the people and developing self-reliant libraries across the nation.

Those wishing to donate cash and books to the librariesmay contact Myanmar Libraries Foundation at No. 228 onTheinbyu Street in Botahtaung Township, Yangon, Tel: 01-371342, 01-201936 and 01-398756.

MLF invites donations of cash,books

Mr and Miss SummerContests 8 April

YANGON, 4 April—Underthe directives of Sports andPhysical EducationDepartment under theMinistry of Sports, MyanmarBody-building and PhysicalCulture Federation will holdthe Mr and Miss SummerContests at Aung SanGymnasium in Yangon at 10am on 8 April.

Trainees from the body-building and physical culturetraining course are allowedto take part in the contest.

The medical checkupand classification will be

held at the hall of the grandstand of Aung San Stadiumat 9 am on 7 April.

The physical contestwill be classified into juniorand senior classes.

Likewise, the body-building contest is alsoclassified into 55-kilo, 60-kilo, 65-kilo and 70-kiloclasses for the participations.

For further information,anyone may contact 09-73218546 of the in-chargeof the training U Kyaw SeinThan.

MBPCF

YANGON, 4 April—Organized by Yangon EastDistrict Maternal and ChildWelfare SupervisoryCommittee, the fruit andflowery arrangement course1/2012 concluded at BasicEducation High School No. 1in Mingala TaungnyuntTownship on 29 March.

It was attended by the

Fruit and flowery arrangement courseconcludes

chairpersons of Region andDistrict Maternal and ChildWelfare SupervisoryCommittees and members,the chairperson of TownshipMaternal and Child WelfareAssociation and members,and trainees.

Chairperson of RegionMCWSC Daw Thaung Myadelivered a concluding

Chairperson of Region Maternal and Child Welfare Supervisory CommitteeDaw Thaung Mya speaking at concluding of fruit and flowery arrangement course

No. 1/2012.

Dagon Myothit (South) getsnew self-reliant library

YANGON, 4 April—ThutaKaungkin library was openedin Ward 107 of DagonMyothit (South) Townshipin Yangon East District on 27March morning.

At first, TownshipAdministrator U Myint Lwin,Head of TownshipInformation and PublicRelations Department Daw

Yin Yin Thwe and Wardadministrator U Kyi Tunformally opened the library.

The township adminis-trator donated K 50,000 andone TV set.

The library was built ata cost of K 4 million by thelocal people. It is 20 feet long,20 feet wide and 12 feet highbuilding.—Myanma Alin

Reading contest raises reading habit of ruralpeople in Tachilek

TACHILEK, 4 April—Withthe aim of raising readinghabits of rural people,Tachilek District Women’sAffairs Organization andDistrict Information andPublic Relations Departmentjointly organized the readingcontest at Hsonsiyan Libraryin Meiyan Village ofPhanmin Village-tract inTachilek on 20 March.

A total of 19 readersparticipated in the MyanmaAlin newspaper readingcontest.

After the contest,Chairperson of DistrictWomen’s AffairsOrganization Dr Daw HtayHtay Win presented first prizeto Ma May Thazin Htwe,Chairperson of TownshipMaternal and Child Welfare

Association Daw Shwe MoeThuza, the second prize toMaung Naing Lin Aung,Staff Officer U Maung Kyi ofDistrict Information andPublic RelationsDepartment the third prizeto Ma Nan Bu, and Villageadministrator U KyawNaing, the consolationprizes to respective winners.

Myanma Alin

Football finals of MEMEAwraps up

YANGON, 4 April—Thefinal match of the MyanmarEconomic ManagementExecutives Association washeld at the football ground inWest Mayan Village of

Dedaye Township, PyaponDistrict, Ayeyawady Region,at 3 pm on 27 March.

In the junior class, WestMayan team beat Hsagyin 2-1 whereas Kawgyaing team

routed Hsagyin team 2-0 inthe senior class.

Officials presentedprizes to the winning teamsin the respective classes.

Kyemon

CASH DONATED: Inmemory of both side

parents, wife Daw KyinWin, daughter Yin Yi Tun

and grandson MaungSithu Tun, U Hla Tun and

family of ThakaytaTownship donated

K 700,000 to KyauktanHome for the Aged

recently. Chairman of theHome U Tun Hla Shwe

and party accept the cashdonation.—MYANMA ALIN

speech.After that, Chairpersons

of Region and DistrictMCWSCs awarded theoutstanding trainees.

Later, Chairperson ofTownship Maternal andChild Welfare AssociationDaw Nwe Nwe Win presentedcompletion certificates to thetrainees.—Myanma Alin

Township level age-wise measles vaccinationcoordinated

KYAIN-SEIKKYI, 4 April—The coordination meeting ontownship level age-wisemeasles vaccination was heldat the hall of the TownshipPeople’s Hospital in Kyain-

Seikkyi of Kayin State on 15March.

At the ceremony,Chairman of the TownshipHealth Committee TownshipAdministrator U Win Hlaing

made a speech.After that, Head of

Township HealthDepartment Dr MaungMaung Lwin reported onprocedure for giving measles

vaccines.Later, those present

participated in thediscussions.—Health

Coordination meetingon age-wise measles

vaccination in progressin Kyain-Seikkyi.

Prizes awarded in reading skill contestLABUTTA, 4 April—The

raising of reading habit andprize presentation was heldin conjunction with the bookdonation in ThayetgonVillage of LabuttaloktaungVillage-tract in LabuttaTownship, AyeyawadyRegion, on 28 February.

Deputy Commissioner

U Aye Maung Kyi of LabuttaDistrict GeneralAdministration Departmentmade a speech.

Head of AyeyawadyRegion Information andPublic Relations DepartmentU Ngwe Tun explained theprocedure for raising thereading habit.

Next, officials awardedthe winners in the open andprimary level essay, poemrecitation and reading skillscontests.

Officials concerned alsopresented first, second andthird prizes to the villagelibrary committees thatstrove for enabling the localpeople to have readingopportunity.

Later, wellwishersdonated books andpublications to the villagelibraries.

Myanma Alin

P10(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM10


New UK attempt to capture carbonThe aim of carboncapture is to is to

prevent CO2 escapinginto the atmosphere.

INTERNET

Snow and ice return to partsof Scotland

LONDON, 4 April —Wintry weather has returnedto northern parts of Scotland— with reports of 25cm (10in)of snow in Aberdeenshire.Grampian Police said Morayhad taken the brunt of thepoor conditions but so farthere have been no reports ofmajor disruption. In theHighlands, the A939Grantown-on-Spey to Davaand the B9007 Carrbridge toFerness have been closed dueto heavy snowfall.

And the snowgates havebeen closed on the A93 atSpittle of Glenshee. The return

Several inches of snow hasfallen in Aboyne overnight.

INTERNET

years, £1bn will be offered forschemes to trap and burycarbon dioxide. An earlier

Power at its Longannet stationin Fife, and the prize moneywas not awarded.

strategy, CCS has beenplagued by delays anduncertainty.

Its attraction is thatexisting fossil fuels includingcoal and gas can be burnedwithout releasing the usualquantities of CO2, the keygreenhouse gas.

Instead of being ventedinto the air, the gas would betrapped and then piped intolong-term storage in old oilfields under the North Sea.The original hope was forBritish firms to designsystems that could be fitted tothe soaring numbers of coalplants in China and India toreduce their emissions.However the research hasproved costlier and morecomplicated than manyexpected, and the timescalekeeps slipping.

Internet

Coast Guard monitors ghostship drifting northwest

ANCHORAGE, 4 April —A derelict Japanese ship dislodgedby last year’s massive tsunami was drifting toward Alaska onMonday, the US Coast Guard said.

The shrimping vessel was floating slowly northwest inthe Gulf of Alaska about 125 miles west of the nearest pointof land — Forrester Island outside the Dixon Entrance, amaritime transportation corridor separating US and Canadajurisdictions. The ship is heading in the direction of thesoutheast Alaska town of Sitka 170 miles to the north,traveling at about one mile per hour, Coast Guard spokesmanDavid Mosley said.

There are no immediate concerns regarding thecommunity of about 9,000, however. Mosley said the townis just a reference point at this time and that currents couldalways change. “Our main concern is maritime traffic,” hesaid. “We’re trying to minimize any safety concerns, alertingvessels. We don’t want any vessels to run into it.”

A Coast Guard C-130 was heading to the ship on Mondayto pinpoint the exact location and check if a data buoy wassuccessfully dropped on it Saturday. The vessel has beenadrift since it was launched by the tsunami caused by themagnitude-9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last year. About

Ryou-Un Maru.—INTERNET

5 million tons of debris were swept into the ocean by thetsunami.

The ship has been identified as coming from Hokkaido,Japan. Beside boat traffic, another concern is the ship’s impacton the maritime environment after floating at sea more than ayear. What’s on board is unknown. Also unknown is whetherthe ship is carrying fuel. The vessel, named Ryou-Un Maru, isbelieved to be 150 to 200 feet long, according to Mosley.Officials are studying various options on how to deal with theship, including scuttling it at sea or towing it to land.— Internet

LONDON, 4 April— Arenewed attempt to developways of making powerstations greener is set to beunveiled by the government.For the second time in five

competition collapsed afterall nine entrants pulled out,most citing cost as the mainproblem.

The last to withdraw wasa project run by Scottish

Known as “carboncapture and storage” (CCS),the idea is to prevent CO2escaping into the atmosphere.A major part of thegovernment’s low-carbon

Vietnam craves rhino horn; costs more than cocaine

Texas tornadoes wreck homes and ground flightsDALLAS, 4 April — Several powerful tornadoes have

touched down near Dallas, in the US state of Texas, flippingtrucks, wrecking homes, uprooting trees and grounding planes.Dallas-Fort Worth Airport cancelled flights and movedpassengers away from glass windows for their safety.

Meteorologists estimated that six to 12 tornadoes hadtouched down in North Texas. Police reported several injuriesbut no fatalities so far. US TV footage showed images ofhouses with roofs and second storeys missing. Some of theproperties were almost completely blown away. “Obviouslywe’re going to have a lot of assessments to make when this isdone,” Dallas County spokeswoman Maria Arita told theAssociated Press.

The National Weather Service (NWS) at first reported atleast two “large and extremely dangerous” tornadoes. Itswarning said that the area would remain on tornado watch until

Violent storm leaves fourdead in Japan

TOKYO , 4 April — A huge storm killed at least four peoplein Japan, police said on Wednesday, as violent wind and rainbattered the nation and disrupted transport for a second day.The storm has moved east and is now covering all of the northof Japan’s main island of Honshu and much of the northernmostisland of Hokkaido, buffeting the region with strong windscaused by what meteorologists say is a severe low-pressuresystem. On Sado island, on Honshu’s northwest, gusts of upto 156 kilometres (97 miles) per hour were recorded.

The dead included a 96-year-old man who fell from the roofof a three-storey house during high winds and a 28-year-oldwoman who was hit by a falling tree while walking a dog. Thestorm temporarily reduced electricity supplies to the Onagawanuclear power plant, in Miyagi prefecture, halting the coolingsystem for a fuel pool, operator Tohoku-Electric Power Cosaid. Plant workers manually restarted the cooling system afterabout 20 minutes, it said. “There was no problem in theoperation,” a company spokesman added. All reactors at theplant are currently idle.—Internet

Pede-strians

struggleagainstthe windand rain

inTokyoon 3

April,2012.

INTERNET

Neighbours view what remains of a home in Arlington,Texas, on 3 April, 2012.—INTERNET

20:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday. Later, senior NWSmeteorologist Eric Martello said an estimated six to 12 twistershad touched down, although survey teams had yet to confirmthe numbers.

One of the tornados touched down in a parking lot full ofarticulated lorries, and a local television station captured thevehicles flying through the air.

Some of the cargo containers attached to the lorries wereflattened. Witnesses said the twisters formed quickly. “All ofa sudden, the rain and hail ceased,” Jonathan Cook, a residentof a nearby town, told CNN. “That’s when we saw the tornadoestouch down.” Damage was reported in nearby Kennedale,Arlington and Lancaster. Lancaster police said 10 people hadbeen injured, two seriously. In Arlington another three peoplewere injured including two residents of a nursing home, firecrews said.— Internet

of wintry weather follows themildest March ever recordedin Scotland. A week ago thetemperature in the Aberdeens-hire town of Aboyne reached23.6C —the warmest Marchday on record. The high inAboyne on Tuesday is notexpected to rise above 2C—and it will feel much colder inthe biting wind and snow.

The Met Office issuedamber warnings for much ofScotland and said drifting waslikely over the Grampians.Across lower parts of thecentral belt it was estimatedabout 1cm (0.4in) to 4cm (1.6in)would fall in places. Thewarning is in place until until12:00 on Tuesday.

A spokesman for theMet Office said, withwidespread ice developingon untreated surfaces innorthern Scotland, the publicshould be prepared fordisruption to transport.

InternetHANOI, 4 April — Nguyen Huong Giang loves to party but

loathes hangovers, so she ends her whiskey benders bytossing back shots of rhino horn ground with water on a specialceramic plate. Her father gave her the 4-inch (10-centimetre)brown horn as a gift, claiming it cures everything from headachesto cancer. Vietnam has become so obsessed with the fingernail-like substance it now sells for more than cocaine.

“I don’t know how much it costs,” said Giang, 24, aftershowing off the horn in her high-rise apartment overlookingthe capital, Hanoi. “I only know it’s expensive.” Experts sayVietnam’s surging demand is threatening to wipe out theworld’s remaining rhinoceros populations, which recovered

from the brink of extinction after the 1970s thanks to conservationcampaigns. Illegal killings in Africa hit the highest recordedlevel in 2011 and are expected to worsen this year. This weekSouth Africa called for renewed cooperation with Vietnam aftera “shocking number” of rhinos have already been reporteddead this year. China has long valued rhino horn for itspurported — though unproven — medicinal properties, butUS officials and international wildlife experts now say Vietnam’srecent intense craving, blamed partly on a widespread rumorthat rhino horn cures cancer, is putting unprecedented pressureon the world’s estimated 28,000 remaining animals, mainly inSouth Africa.—Internet

p11(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM11


CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV MERKUR BRIDGE VOY NO (001)

Consignees of cargo carried on MV MERKURBRIDGE VOY NO (001) are hereby notified that thevessel will be arriving on 4.4.2012 and cargo will bedischarged into the premises of M.I.P where it will lieat the consignee’s risk and expenses and subject to thebyelaws and conditions of the Port of Yangon.

Damaged cargo will be surveyed daily from 8 amto 11:20 am and 12 noon to 4 pm to Claims Day nowdeclared as the third day after final discharge of cargofrom the Vessel.

No claims against this vessel will be admitted afterthe Claims Day.

SHIPPING AGENCY DEPARTMENTMYANMA PORT AUTHORITY

AGENT FOR: M/S MOL (S'PORE) PTE LTDPhone No: 256908/378316/376797

CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV LEMANS EXPRESS VOY NO (5)

Consignees of cargo carried on MV LEMANSEXPRESS VOY NO (5) are hereby notified that thevessel will be arriving on 5.4.2012 and cargo will bedischarged into the premises of M.I.T.T where it will lieat the consignee’s risk and expenses and subject to thebyelaws and conditions of the Port of Yangon.




AGENT FOR: EASTERN-CAR LINERS'PORE PTE LTD

Phone No: 256924/256914

CLAIMS DAY NOTICEMV SINAR BIMA VOY NO (112)Consignees of cargo carried on MV SINAR BIMA

VOY NO (112) are hereby notified that the vessel willbe arriving on 5.4.2012 and cargo will be dischargedinto the premises of A.W.P.T where it will lie at theconsignee’s risk and expenses and subject to the byelawsand conditions of the Port of Yangon.




AGENT FOR: M/S SAMUDERA SHIPPINGLINES

Phone No: 256908/378316/376797

HONG KONG, 4 April — An extremely rare Chineseporcelain bowl fetched nearly $27 million — smashing pre-sale estimates by about three times — at a hotly anticipatedSotheby’s auction in Hong Kong on Wednesday. The modest-looking imperial ceramic bowl that was made around 900 yearsago had been expected to fetch up to HK$80 million, but it wassnapped up by an unidentified telephone bidder for HK$208million ($26.7 million).

The price sets a new world record for a piece of ceramicfrom the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), according toSotheby’s, beating a 2008 record when a “Guan” Mallet Vasewent for HK$67.52 million. “The Ruyao Washer is among themost sophisticated achievements in Chinese ceramics. Itsappearance on the market has created enormous excitement,”Sotheby’s Asia deputy chairman Nicolas Chow said.

Eight hopefuls competed for over 15 minutes duringintense bidding for the extraordinarily rare flower-shapedbowl. The interest and price is testament to the vitality ofAsia’s art market, which has witnessed explosive growth overthe past decade, experts say.

Internet

The Ruyao Washer, anextremely rare Chinese

porcelain bowl,fetched nearly $27

million — smashingpre-sale estimates by

about three times — ata hotly anticipated

Sotheby’s auction inHong Kong on

Wednesday.INTERNET

Imperial Chinese bowl fetches$27 million

Despite all those decades of driving, Rachel Veitch isnowhere near to holding the Guinness World Record for

highest mileage.— INTERNET

NEW YORK, 4 April—A93-year-old Floridagrandmother has parked hercar for good after driving576,000 miles (927,000km) over48 years at the wheel of onetrusty vehicle. Rachel Veitchbought her Mercury CometCaliente for $3,289 in February1964. It has outlasted threemarriages and 18 batterychanges, she says. On 9March she had to give updriving as she has becomelegally blind. Mrs Veitch plansto sell the car instead of givingit to her family amid concernsthey might not look after it.

“They’re not going toget it. They couldn’t take careof it like I did,” Mrs Veitch toldFox News. She has fourchildren, nine grandchildrenand 11 great-grandchildren.Mrs Veitch said the care andattention she paid to her carwas one of the main reasons

For sale: 1964 Mercury, onelady owner, 576,000 miles

SAN FRANCISCO, 4 April — An Australian racing yachtstricken by a 100-foot (30-metre) wave plodded into SanFrancisco Bay for repairs on Tuesday, two days after the USCoast Guard rescued two injured crew members. The 11remaining crew members of the Geraldton Western Australiaarrived in the port of Oakland, the mid-point of a round-the-globe sailing contest, after 30 days in the North Pacific, muchof it in harsh weather.

Some gave vivid accounts of their brush with maritimecatastrophe. “I was down below, when the last monster wavehit us,” crew member Ian Geraghty recalled. “Water was justpouring down and everyone was in a complete state ofshock.” The Geraldton is one of 10 clipper-style vessels thatset sail on 31 July , 2011, from Southampton, England, on a40,000-mile voyage due to conclude back in Britain in July.

The race already has taken the competing boats to portsin Brazil, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore andChina. Nearly a month after leaving Qingdao, China, theGeraldton ran into trouble about 400 miles off California onSaturday, when the impact of a monster wave severed theyacht’s primary steering control and destroyedcommunications equipment. Four crew members were hurtand the US Coast Guard battled seas of 20 to 30 feet feet to getthe two more seriously injured mariners to a hospital ashore.

Reuters

Australian yacht reachesCalifornia after“monster wave”

The “Geraldton Western Australia” yacht races towardsthe finish line off of Tauranga, New Zealand in this

undated handout photo courtesy of the Clipper 11-12Round the World Yacht Race.— INTERNET

it had lasted so long. In 2009she told Fox News: “When Ibuy gas, I write down themileage, the date and howmany miles per gallon I got.I’ve never been a destructiveperson and I’ve just takencare of everything, except myhusbands.”

The car is said to be worthabout $12,000 (£7,500) todayand has been through threesets of shock absorbers andeight exhaust mufflers as wellas surviving a rear-endcollision in 1980. It is due toappear in an antique car showin the state of Wisconsin inJuly, though Mrs Veitch saysshe is not sure what willhappen to it after that. MrsVeitch has said she wouldconsider selling the car to JayLeno, a classic car enthusiastand host of the US late nightchat show The Tonight Show.

Internet

JERUSALEM, 4 April — Until Tuesday, if history buffswanted a glimpse of the Israel Museum’s vast collection —including a 9,000-year-old carved human face found in theJudean Desert — they would have to travel to Jerusalem to seeit. Now, through a joint venture with Google Inc, people fromaround the world can examine the ancient Neolithic artifact,which the museum says is the oldest in the world, in greaterdetail than ever before with a simple click of a mouse from thecomfort of their own home. The mask is just one of 520 objectsmade available as part of the museum’s partnership with theGoogle Art Project, an online compilation of high-resolutionimages of artwork from galleries worldwide, as well as a virtualtour of the museums using the high-tech giant’s Google Streettechnology.—Internet

Israel Museum showcased inGoogle Art Project

P12(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM12


NEW YORK, 4 April—ABurger King commercialfeaturing Mary J Bligesinging about chicken has

Burger King ad with Bligestirs criticism

In this 15 Jan, 2012 filephoto, singer Mary J Bligearrives at the 69th AnnualGolden Globe Awards in

Los Angeles.INTERNET

been pulled. But the fast-foodchain is blaming musiclicensing issues for thedecision — not criticism ofthe ad.

The spot debuted thisweek. In it, Blige singssoulfully about chickensnack wraps.

But as the video wentviral, some in the blackcommunity criticized the adas stereotypical. The blackwomen-oriented websiteMadame Noire likened it to“buffoonery.”

Burger King said onTuesday the commercial waspulled because of a licensingconcern. The company said ithopes to have the Blige “adsback on the air soon,” thougha spokeswoman would notcomment on whether they adswould be the same.

The spokeswoman alsonoted that other celebrities,including Salma Hayek andJay Leno, also are advertisingthe snack wraps. A rep forBlige did not immediatelyrespond to a request forcomment.—Internet

NEW YORK, 4 April — When it comes to his 28-year-oldfiancee, Alec Baldwin is very protective.

He used Twitter to blast a New York newspaper for“crashing” yoga instructor Hilaria Thomas’ class .

He tweeted Monday: “Shame on the no-talent trash fromthe Daily News for invading the privacy of 75 people in a yogaclass to take a picture of someone.”

Baldwin also posted the names of reporters at the class.He included a picture of one, and called her “nutty,” followedby a mild curse word.

The actor celebrated his 54th birthday on Tuesday. Hepopped the question last weekend.

The Daily News had no immediate response to commentrequests on Tuesday.

Internet

In this 12 June, 2011 filephoto, Alec Baldwin, right,and Hilaria Thomas arrive

at the 65th annual TonyAwards in New York.

INTERNET

Alec Baldwin goesTwitter-ballistic for fiancee

In this 12 Jan, 2012 filephoto, actor-comedianPatton Oswalt is seen

onstage during the 17thAnnual Critics’ ChoiceMovie Awards in LosAngeles.—INTERNET

NEW YORK, 4 April—Patton Oswalt will host the16th annual Webby Awards.The actor-comedian willemcee the 21 May event, itwas announced Tuesday,where winners are famouslyrestricted to five-wordacceptance speeches. Theawards will be held at theHammerstein Ballroom in NewYork City and streamed live onWebbyAwards.com.

The Webbys, whichcelebrate Internet achieve-ment, are presented by theInternational Academy ofDigital Arts and Sciences, agroup of about 1,000 Webexperts and Internetprofessionals. Winners areannounced ahead of theawards show. Nominees willbe unveiled next week, withwinners announced 1 May.This year’s Webby Awardsreceived more than 10,000entries. Oswalt recently co-starred in the film “YoungAdult.” He also plays asupporting role in theupcoming “Seeking a Friendfor the End of the World.”

Internet

Patton Oswaltto host 16th

annual WebbyAwards

NEW YORK, 4 April—Amy Adams, who played aprincess in the film“Enchanted,” will be returningto fairy tales this summer,starring opposite Cinderellaand a witch. The PublicTheater said on Tuesday thatthe three-time AcademyAward nominated actress willplay The Baker’s Wife in itsproduction of StephenSondheim’s and JamesLapine’s “Into the Woods.”

The musical is one of twoshows the Public will presentin Central Park’s DelacorteTheatre to help celebrate the50th anniversary of its freeShakespeare in the Park series.

“Into the Woods,”directed by Timothy Sheaderand Liam Steel, will beginpreviews on 23 July andcontinue for five weeksthrough 25 Aug. Adams,whose films include “TheFighter,” ‘’Doubt” and“Junebug,” will star oppositeJack Broderick, Gideon Glickand Cooper Grodin.

Internet

Amy Adams tojoin freesummer

Central Parkplays

In this 20 Feb, 2011 filephoto, actress Amy Adams

arrives at Vanity FairCampaign Hollywood at

Siren Studios in LosAngeles.—INTERNET

LOS ANGELES, 4 April—Jack Wagner remains among“The Bold and the Beautiful,”but his time on “Dancing Withthe Stars” is done.

The 52-year-old actorwas axed from the ABC dancecompetition Tuesday despiteturning in a samba that thejudges praised. Judges’scores are combined withviewer votes to determine

A second star is dismissed from‘Dancing’

In this 2 April, 2012 imagereleased by ABC, actorJack Wagner and his

partner Anna Trebunskayaperform on the celebritydance competition series“Dancing with the Stars,”

in Los Angeles.INTERNET

who is ousted each week.Wagner said he had a

great time on the show andwished the remainingcontestants good luck.

Returning to competenext week will be actors JaleelWhite, Roshon Fegan,William Levy and MelissaGilbert; singers GladysKnight, Gavin DeGraw andKatherine Jenkins; TVpersonalities MariaMenounos and SherriShepherd; and football starDonald Driver.—Internet

WASHINGTON, 4 April—Sarah Palin gave a visible

Palin pans Julianne Moore in“Game Change” film

Agents who opened acontainer labeled as “usedfitness equipment” in LosAngeles found a $280,000Ferrari, US Customs andBorder Protection said onTuesday.

Fifteen other stolenluxury cars were found innearby containers, all markedas fitness equipment, the LosAngeles Times reported.

The investigation beganwhen a car rental agencyreported strange readings fromthe Ferrari’s GlobalPositioning Systemequipment. Investigators saidthe agency told Customs thevehicle appeared to be on aship at the Port of Los Angeles.

The cars were beingshipped to Hong Kong andVietnam. The same group ofthieves appears to have sentat least four vehicles toVietnam, and US officials aretrying to get the cars returned

GPS leads Customs to stolenluxury cars

A diver swims near British artist Jason de CairesTaylor’s sculpture “The Flower of Hope” in this undated

handout in the Mexican resort of Cancun. A Chinese cabbage ishanded to a robot named“Robovie-II”, developed

by Japanese roboticsresearch institution ATR,

at a grocery store during ashopping assisting

experiment by utilizing therobot in an ubiquitous

network technologyplatform in Kyoto, western

Japan recently.

Police in Iowa said a man accused of urinating on the office chairs of female coworkersturned himself in to authorities.

The West Des Moines Police Department said Raymond Charles Foley, 59, who wascaught on camera urinating on office chairs belonging to four female coworkers at the FarmBureau, surrendered Saturday and was charged with second-degree criminal mischief, TheDes Moines (Iowa) Register reported.

Farm Bureau officials, who fired Foley when police were informed 26 March, said theyinstalled cameras in February after workers started complaining about stains on their chairsin October of last year.

The officials said the security camera video caught Foley going to the desks of femalecoworkers during off-hours and urinating on their chairs.

Police said the estimated the value of the damaged chairs at $4,500.

to California.The group apparently

operated by renting or buyingluxury cars under falseidentities, defrauding rentalagencies, banks andinsurance companies.Investigators said therecovered cars, worth about$1.5 million in the United States,could be sold for twice that inAsia. No arrests had been madeTuesday, the newspaper said.

Man allegedly urinated on women’s chairs

A 97-year-old Japaneseman was arrested on Tuesdayafter allegedly using hiswalker to get to a relative’snearby home to attack herwith a sword, police said.

Police in Kanazawaallege Koshio Kawamuramade his way about 100 yardsto the 84-year-old woman’shome and used a sword witha 20-inch blade to slash herleft hand, The YomiuriShimbun reported.

Police said Kawamuravowed to the relative, “I’ll killyou.”

There was no word onhow Kawamura was relatedto his alleged victim.

Japaneseman, 97,

charged insword attack

N e w s A l b u m

Actress Julianne Moorewalks the red carpet for aviewing party for the new

HBO film “GameChange”, about the 2008McCain-Palin republicanpresidential campaign, at

the Newseum inWashington, on 8 March,

2012.—INTERNET

thumbs-down to actressJulianne Moore on Tuesdayfor her portrayal of Palin in thepolitical docudrama “GameChange,” but praised TinaFey for her comicimpersonation of the formerAlaska governor.

The movie review cameup during a NBC “TodayShow” panel discussion onwhether Ashton Kutcher wasthe right actor to play the lateApple chief Steve Jobs.

“Do any of you haveexperience of people beingpaid a lot of money to pretendthey’re you?” Palin asked theother panelists.—Reuters

p13(5).pmd 4/5/2012, 10:43 AM13


LONDON, 4 April — Charity runners were out in theirhundreds on Saturday to help Arsenal raise £40,000 for itscharity partner Save the Children. The annual ‘Be a Gunner.Be a Runner.’ event took place on Saturday 31st March andsaw Arsenal fans, staff and keen runners from more than 20countries around the world coming together to take part.Approximately 750 runners braved the chill at the EmiratesStadium - with 400 adults taking on the 10-lap, 6.4km routearound the Gunners’ home and more than 300 youngsterscompleting a shorter race.

There were also overseas-based individuals and groupstaking part from more than 20 countries including Australia,India, Poland and Nigeria, to help spread the word about theclub’s global charity partnership. To date the event has raised£40,000, with the figure expected to rise further over thecoming weeks. Lizzie Lleshi from Save the Children, who wasalso participating and who has been writing a weekly blog for

Gunners’ runners raisethousands for charity

Football supporters from many countries — includingKenya — took part in the charity run.— INTERNET

the event, said: “The training has been tough. “But I’m veryproud to have been part of the event and run alongsideArsenal fans and staff who have all showed fantastic supportto help children fulfill their potential.”— Internet

TORONTO, 4 April —Lindsey Vonn, winner of thewomen’s alpine skiing

Vonn will not need surgery on sore knees

Lindsey Vonn of the USCelebates with her trophyafter winning the Alpineskiing women’s overall

World Cup at the Alpineskiing World Cup finals inSchladming on 18 March,

2012. — INTERNET

AUGUSTA, 4 April —While this week’s Masters isone of the most anticipated inyears with so many playersbringing good form toAugusta National, TigerWoods once againcommands the spotlight. Theformer world number one hasa renewed spring in his stepafter ending a 30-month titledrought on the PGA Tourwith a win at last month’sArnold Palmer Invitationaland is unquestionably theplayer to beat at a venue wherehe triumphed four times.

Confident Tiger the player totame at Augusta National

Tiger Woods of the USanswers questions during aPress conference followinghis practice round for the

2012 Masters GolfTournament at the

Augusta National GolfClub in Augusta, Georgia,

on 3 April, 2012.INTERNET

Woods has beeninstalled as a 4-1 favourite byBritish bookmakers Ladbro-kes to win his 15th major titleon Sunday and he exuded aquiet confidence when hespoke to reporters afterplaying nine holes in practiceon Tuesday. “I certainly amexcited about playing andreally looking forward togetting out there,” the 36-year-old American said ofThursday’s opening round.“I feel like I’m driving the ballmuch better than I have. I’vegot some heat behind it, andit’s very straight. “My irongame is improving soeverything is headed in theright direction at the righttime.”—Internet

overall World Cup title, willnot require surgery on hersore knees, the United StatesSki and SnowboardAssociation said onTuesday.

After another long,grueling campaign thatended in March with Vonnclaiming a fourth overallcrown, the American all-rounder had doctors examineher tender knees. Testsrevealed some wear on themeniscus of Vonn’s left jointbut nothing that wouldrequire surgery, US ski teamspokesman Doug Haney

said.Vonn will now rest her

knees after a productive butdraining season that saw heradd the super-G, downhilland super-combined crystalglobes that go to disciplinechampions to her haul. The27-year-old started theseason announcing herdivorce from husband andcoach Thomas Vonn andended it with a women’srecord point total of 1,980,just 20 points shy of Austriangreat Hermann Maier’s markof 2,000 points.

Internet

CHARLESTON, 4 April — Venus Williams is hoping foreven more success in her second tournament after a longlayoff. Williams beat qualifier Iveta Benesova of the CzechRepublic 6-4, 6-3 on Tuesday in the Family Circle Cup,bouncing back from her quarterfinal loss at Key Biscayne.“This is great for me to be in another match and to be in thesecond round,” she said. “It was a good start.”

The Family Circle Cup is Williams’ first clay-courttournament in months. She withdrew from last year’s US Openafter being diagnosed with a fatigue-causing autoimmunedisease, then returned last week and won four matches in theSony Ericsson Open before losing to eventual championAgnieszka Radwanska in straight sets.

Her sister Serena is seeded fifth this week and beat ElenaVesnina of Russia 6-3, 6-4, in her first match in Charlestonsince winning the Family Circle title in 2008. The Williamssisters could meet in Saturday’s semifinals. Venus Williams,who has 43 career titles, said she takes a lot of ice baths andhad three days off just to rest following Thursday’s loss. “Forme it’s just about having energy at this point. I try not to worryabout tomorrow,” she said.— Internet

Venus Williams advances atFamily Circle Cup

Venus Williams, of theUnited States, hits a

return to IvetaBenesova, of the CzechRepublic, during theFamily Circle Cup

tennis tournament on 3April, 2012, inCharleston, SC.

INTERNET

LONDON, 4 April —Aston Villa manager AlexMcLeish says club captainStiliyan Petrov is in “amazingspirits” and in determinedmood as he begins treatmentfor acute leukaemia. TheBulgarian international wasdiagnosed with the illness lastweek after developing a feverfollowing the BarclaysPremier League match againstArsenal. The 32-year-oldbegan his treatment inLondon on Monday withMcLeish among thosevisiting the midfielder.

“The chairman RandyLerner, the chief executivePaul Faulkner and myself wentto see Stiliyan today withsupport from his wife, whowas there also, on the veryfirst day of his road torecovery,” McLeish told theclub’s official website. “He isdetermined to meet it head on,as we expect from Stan, andhe was talking reallypositively and couldn’t waitto get started to try and clearup this illness he has. “Stanhimself is in amazing spirits,absolutely fantastic spirits.

Internet

McLeish:Petrov infantasticspirits

MUNICH, 4 April —Bayern Munich reached theChampions League semi-finals after Croatia striker IvicaOlic netted both goals in a2-0 win over Marseille inTuesday’s quarter-finalsecond leg. With theBavarians having won 4-0 onaggregate, Bayern will hostthe first leg of their semi-finalon 17 April, most likely againstReal Madrid, who hostAPOEL with a 3-0 lead in thesecond leg of their last-eightmatch on Wednesday. Olicwas back in the hero role, twoyears after his hat-trick inLyon put Bayern through to

Olic brace fires Bayern into semi-finals

Bayern Munich’s Frenchmidfielder Franck Ribery

controls the ball during theUEFA Champions League

second leg quarter-finalfootball match FC BayernMunich vs Olympique de

Marseille in Munich,southern Germany.

INTERNET

Aston Villa skipperStiliyan Petrov

began his treatmentfor acute leukaemia

this week. INTERNET

the 2010 final, where they lost2-0 to Jose Mourinho-inspired Inter Milan inMadrid.

Bayern are now withintouching distance of the finalthat Munich’s Allianz Arenawill host on 19 May as theylook to win the ChampionsLeague trophy for the secondtime and claim their fifthEuropean Cup title overall.“We were very concentrated,despite the amount of gameswe are playing at the moment,”said Bayern coach JuppHeynckes, whose side are incontention for a ChampionsLeague, Bundesliga and

German Cup treble.“In the first half,

(goalkeeper) Manuel Neuerrescued us a few times. Afterthat we came back strongerand deserved the win.“Marseille weren’t in thequarter-finals for nothing andthey tried everything.”Having lost the first leg 2-0 inMarseille last Wednesday,the visitors were alwaysfacing an uphill task to win inMunich. “At half-time, I didn’task my players to score fourgoals,” said Marseille coachDidier Deschamps.

Internet

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International Sports

De Jong tells Balotelli to stopacting the fool

MANCHESTER, 4 April—Manchester City midfielderNigel de Jong has warnedcontroversial team-mateMario Balotelli to stop actinglike a “fool”.

Balotelli has repeatedlyearned headlines for hisbizarre antics on and off thepitch since moving toEastlands from Inter Milanand the City striker was at itagain over the last week.

First the Italian irked Cityboss Roberto Mancini byusing his time off to make anunscheduled appearance atthe press conference tounveil new Inter boss AndreaStramaccioni.

Then Balotelli, who also

have come at a bad time asCity have surrendered topspot in the Premier League toManchester United and arenow five points behind theirarch rivals.

With the title slippingaway, Dutch star De Jong hasurged Balotelli to stopcourting controversy andconcentrate on helping theteam get back on track.

“Sometimes Mario is afool and at other times he is agenius - there are two sides tohim, “ he told The Sun.

“Lots of people expecthim to pull off crazy stuntsand as a result he feels hemust do something. Peoplelike that need to have upheaval

Man City midfielderNigel de Jong

makes a point toteam-mate MarioBalotelli during aHerbalife World

Football Challenge2011 game in

Carson, California,in July 2011.

INTERNET

set fire to his bathroom byletting off fireworks earlier thisseason, was involved in adressing room bust-up withYaya Toure over the taking ofa second-half free-kick in lastSaturday’s 3-3 draw withSunderland.

Balotelli’s latest antics

in their lives in order toperform.

“He is happy in hispersonal relationship. That isimportant and it makes himmore focused. But he knowsthat he has to become moreserious-minded.”

Internet

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Germanssnatch sprintcycling crownin record time

(5-4-12 09:30 am ~6-4-12 09:30 am) MST

MYANMARINTERNATIONAL

MYANMAR TV

(5-4-2012) (Thursday)

Focus Myanmar TV Programme

NewsUnique Art of StuccoWorkNewsYangon LifestyleFurniture Fair (2012)NewsKid’s Anyeint (or)Non-DramaticPerformanceNewsThe Rise of theMyanma CoffeeNewsDistinctive FoodFrom Inlay LakeNewsWater Festival“The Pride ofMyanmar Tradition”NewsAdventurous Journeyto Bontalar WaterfallNewsA Famous Festive

` Feature(Shwe Ma DawPagoda Festival)Part-2Myanmar Movie“A Glance at Love”

7:00 am 1. Paritta By Venerable

Mingun Sayadaw7:40 am 2. Nice and Sweet Song7:50 am 3. Health Programme8:20 am 4. Dance of Thingyan

Festival8:40 am 5. International News8:45 am 6. Dance of Thingyan

Festival4:00 pm7. Martial Song4:30 pm8. One Village & One

Product5:00 pm9. Song for Upholding

National Spirit5:30 pm10. Science and

Environment5:45 pm11. Music Series6:20 pm12. Documentary6:45 pm13. Myanmar Series8:00 pm14. News15. TV Drama Series16. TV Drama Series

R/489 Printed and published by the New Light of Myanmar press in Nay Pyi Taw, the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information.

Weather forecast for 5th April, 2012Weather Map of Myanmar and Neighbouring Areas

Sr. No. Regions/States

Temperature (°C/°F) For Tomorrow

Maximum Minimum Forecast Percent

1 Kachin 34/95 21/70 Isolated rain or thundershowers (80%)

2 Kayah 28/82 17/63 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

3 Kayin 37/99 23/73 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

4 Chin 27/81 11/52 Partly cloudy

5 Upper Sagaing 33/91 20/68 Isolated rain or thundershowers (80%)

6 Lower Sagaing 32/90 20/68 Partly cloudy

7 Taninthayi 35/95 25/77 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

8 Bago 35/95 22/72 Isolated rain or thundershowers (80%)

9 Magway 33/91 23/73 Partly cloudy

10 Mandalay 33/91 23/73 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

11 Mon 35/95 26/79 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

12 Yangon 36/99 26/77 Isolated rain or thundershowers (80%)

13 Rakhine 34/93 22/72 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

14 Southern Shan 28/82 16/61 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

15 Northern Shan 30/86 13/55 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

16 Eastern Shan 31/88 20/68 Scattered rain or thundershowers (80%)

17 Ayeyawady 35/95 24/75 Isolated rain or thundershowers (80%)

18 Neighbouring Nay Pyi Taw 34/93 23/73 Likelihood of isolated rain or thundershowers (60%)

19 Neighbouring Yangon 35/95 25/77 Likelihood of isolated rain or thundershowers (60%)

20 Neighbouring Mandalay 33/91 23/73 Isolated rain or thundershowers (80%)

Summary of

observations at 09:30

hr MST on today

During the past (24) hours, rain or thundershowers has been scattered in Shan State, isolated in lower Sagaing, Mandalay and Taninthayi Regions and weather have been partly cloudy in the remaining Regions and States. Day temperatures were (4°C) above April average temperatures in Kachin and Chin States, (3°C) to (4°C) below April average temperatures in Lower Sagain, Mandalay, Magway Regions and Kayah States and about April average temperatures in the remaining Regions and States. The significant day temperatures were Chauk, Taungdwingyi, Pyay, ZaungTu, Kyopinkauk and Hpa-an (38°C) each. The noteworthy amounts of rainfall recorded were Kawthong (1.77) inches, Magway and Loilern (0.20) inch each.

Bay Inference Weather is partly cloudy to cloudy in the Andaman Sea and South Bay partly cloudy to cloudy in the

elsewhere in the Bay of Bengal.

State of the Sea

Squall with moderate to rough Seas are likely at times off and along Mon-Taninthayi Coasts.

Surface win speed in squall may reach (30) to (35) mph. Seas will be moderate elsewhere in Myanmar

waters.

Outlook for sub-

sequent two days Likelihood of generally slight decrease of day temperature in the whole country.

Cash donated to religiousexamination

CASH DONATED: Under the patronage of (U ShweDinga)-Daw Kyin Ti of 27th Street in Yangon, family ofAungthabye Co Ltd (carpet trading) donated medicinesworth K 5 million to people’s hospital in Pantanaw and

two station hospitals on 7 March. TownshipAdministrator U Mya Oo and Township Medical Officer

Dr Daw Hnin Nilar accept cash donation.—KYEMON

Nay Pyi Taw, 4 April—A ceremony to donate cashto the fund for holdingDhammaçariya Examination2012 of Nay Pyi Taw CouncilArea was held at Yadana onHall of Basic Education HighSchool No 1 in Pyinmana on2 April morning.

Member of Nay Pyi Taw

Council U Than Htay handedover K 440700 for meals of682 members of the Sanghawho will sit for theexamination.

Chairman of theReligious Service Group UHla Myint accepted the cashdonation.

Township GAD

Suicide bomber kills 12 in Afghan north

Whitney Houstonitems fetch 82,000

at auction

LOS ANGELES, 4 April—Whitney Houston may begone, but her presence is stillbeing felt — particularly onthe auction block. A numberof items once belonging tothe deceased singer, who diedin February at age 48,commanded slightly morethan $82,000 at an auction thispast weekend, with most itemsdrawing much higher bidsthan they were originallyestimated to bring in. The

Afghan policemen inspect the site of a suicide attackin Maymana, the capital of Faryab province,

on Wednesday.—INTERNET

KABUL, 4 April—Asuicide bomber attackedforeign military forces innorthern Afghanistan onWednesday, killing 12 people,officials said, as NATO’sfatalities for the year passedthe 100 mark.

“A suicide bombertargeted a group of foreignfriends” near a park in

Maymana, the capital ofFaryab province, provincialgovernor Abdul Haq Shafaqtold AFP. “They were military.There are casualties, dead andwounded.”

Faryab, which bordersTurkmenistan, is far fromcentres of the Taleban-ledinsurgency in Afghanistan’ssouth and east, although the

militia are present in someareas of the province and itsuffers sporadic attacks.NATO’s US-led InternationalSecurity Assistance Force(ISAF) said two servicemembers died after anexplosion in northernAfghanistan, but refused toconfirm whether it was thesame incident.

There were conflictingreports about the exact death

toll and the identity of thevictims after the suicidebomber blew himself up on amotorcycle.

Lal MohammadAhmadzai, police spokesmanfor northern Afghanistan,described the blast as“powerful” and said sixcivilians and four policemenwere killed, with 20 peoplewounded including fourpolice.—Internet

highest-selling Houstonitem, a beaded bustier thathad been sold during a 2007court-ordered debt auction,drew $18,750. In the catalogfor the auction, the estimatedvalue is listed as $4,000 to$6,000.

Also commanding ahandsome price: a grey velvetgown that Houston wore toher mentor Clive Davis’ pre-Grammys party in 1996.

The gown, which was

also sold during Houston’s2007 debt auction, pulled in$11,520, and had been listedin the catalog in the $1,000-$2,000 range.

The items were sold offas part of the HollywoodLegends auction held inBeverly Hills by Julien’sAuctions.

Other items up for bidincluded a bowler hat, caneand suit owned by film iconCharlie Chaplin and aChristian Dior gown worn byGrace Kelly.

A vest and two pairs ofearrings worn by Houston inher breakthrough film “TheBodyguard” were alsoauctioned off, raking in acombined $8,700.—Internet

MELBOURNE, 4 April—Germany’s Miriam Welte andKristina Vogel upsetAustralia on the opening dayof the track worldchampionships Wednesdayby winning the hosts’coveted women’s team sprintcrown in a new record time.

Anna Meares and KaarleMcCulloch had won the lastthree world titles in the new

Olympic event but were givenwarning after Welte andVogel set a new world mark of32.630 in qualifying fastestfor the two-lap power event.

The Australians lookedon for a fourth world crownuntil late into the final lapwhen the Germans pushedon to set a new world recordof 32.549. It meant Germanytook gold, Australia silver andChina the bronze. The recordprevious to the start of theworld championships, 32.754,was set by Britain’s VictoriaPendleton and JessicaVarnish at the London leg ofthe track World Cup inFebruary. The British duo hadclocked only the fourthfastest time in qualifying(32.941) but left empty-handed from their bronzemedal match-up after defeatto China’s Jinjie Gong andShuang Guo.—Internet

Germany’s Miriam Weltecelebrates after winninggold with teammate KristinaVogel in the women’s teamsprint event at the trackworld championships inMelbourne, on 4 April, 2012.

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Thursday, 5 April, 201214th Waxing of Tagu 1373 ME

President U Thein Sein attends 20th ASEAN Summit Plenary Session

Narrowing Development Gap should be one of maintasks to be implemented by ASEAN

NAY PYI TAW, 4 April—President U Thein Sein attended20th ASEAN Summit Plenary Sessionat Champa Room on third floor ofPeace Palace in Phnom Penh ofCambodia at 10.45 am yesterday.

The session was also attendedby Brunei King Sultan Haji HassanalBolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah,Cambodian Prime Minister SamdechHun Sen, Indonesian Vice-PresidentDr Boediono, Laotian Prime MinisterMr Thongsing Thammavong,Malaysian Prime Minister Dato’ SriMohd Najib bin Tun Haji AbdulRazak, Filipino President MrBenigno Aquino, Singapoean PrimeMinister Mr Lee Hsien Loong, ThaiPrime Minister Ms YingluckShinawatra, Vietnamese PrimeMinister Mr Nguyen Tan Dung,ASEAN Secretary-General Dr SurinPitsuwan, ASEAN ministers andhigh-level officials.

Alternative ChairmanCambodian Prime Minister SamdechHun Sen extended greetings at thesession.

President U Thein Sein, Headsof State and Government fromASEAN member countries and theASEAN Secretary-General franklydiscussed matters related to ASEANcommunity.

President U Thein Sein saidthat he was heartened byCambodia’s active leadership inthe bid for “ASEAN: OneCommunity—One Destiny”. Heexpressed pride in reachingagreement on Phnom PenhDeclaration and Phnom PenhAgenda which include priorities to

be implemented in accord with themotto. The President believed thedeclaration and the agenda willformulate guidelines for prioritiesduring the time from 2012 to 2015in which ASEAN community willbe established.

He called for speeding upintegration attempt as theestablishment of ASEANCommunity in 2015 is nearing.

He underscored the need tonarrow rich-poor gap amongASEAN countries and in a particularASEAN country.

Narrowing the DevelopmentGap should be one of the main tasksto be implemented by ASEAN.

Equitable Development goaladopted by ASEAN and UNMillennium Development Goals willbe achieved as it focuses more oneconomic integration in ASEANregion for balancing regionaleconomic development. Myanmaris adopting eight poverty alleviationand rural development tasks.

Energy and food sufficiencywill have to be ensured with addedmomentum in ASEAN region. Theworld is worrying to feed growingpopulation and all the countriesincluding Myanmar are striving forfood sufficiency.

As Myanmar has a greatadvantage in agriculture sectorinvestment in farming and livestocksectors by ASEAN countries isinvited.

Service industry usually growsin parallel with economicdevelopment. Creating more jobopportunities and nurturing more

qualified service providers areneeded.

ASEAN Connectivity plays themost important role in developmentand integration among the regionalcountries.

Myanmar’s strategic positioncould contribute to ASEAN’saccess to countries outside theregion. Kyaukpyu SpecialEconomic Zone in the western partof Myanmar, Thilawa SpecialEconomic Zone near Yangon in thesouthern part and Dawei SpecialEconomic Zone in Taninthayi

Region are being implemented.These economic zones willcontribute to ASEAN Connectivityand ASEAN’s communication withthe outside countries.

Myanmar All-round De-velopment Goal adopted with thehelp of Economic ResearchInstitute for ASEAN and East Asiawas approved. The realization ofthe ambition will contribute toMekong-India Economic CorridorProgramme. Now is time to startcommunication works for ASEANintegration. ASEAN links South

Asia and North-East Asia region interms of trade and tourism. It is amust to communicate with theprospective economies aroundASEAN.

Myanmar supported thedeclaration of Drug-Free ASEAN in2015. Myanmar is adopting effectiveplans for combating illegal drugcultivation, abuse and trafficking.Myanmar has targeted to be drug-free by 2014. It will contribute muchto ASEAN’s ambition of being drug-free in 2015.

(See page 9)

President U Thein Sein arrives back from CambodiaNAY PYI TAW, 4 April—President

of the Republic of the Union of MyanmarU Thein Sein, accompanied by delegationmembers, arrived back here by specialflight of Myanmar Airways Internationalat 5.30 pm today, from Phnom Penh ofCambodia after attending the 20th

ASEAN Summit.Myanmar delegation led by

President U Thein Sein was welcomedback at Nay Pyi Taw Airport by Vice-Presidents Thiha Thura U Tin AungMyint Oo and Dr Sai Mauk Kham,Commander-in-Chief of Defence ServicesVice-Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,

Union ministers, first secretary ofCambodian Embassy in Myanmar MrsTuot Kunthea and departmental heads.

Myanmar delegation membersUnion Minister for Foreign Affairs UWunna Maung Lwin, Union Minister forInformation and for Culture U KyawHsan, Union Minister for NationalPlanning and Economic Development UTin Naing Thein, Deputy Minister forForeign Affairs Dr Myo Myint, DeputyMinister for Health Dr Win Myint anddepartmental high-level officials alsotook the same flight.

MNA

President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar U Thein Sein attends 20th ASEANSummit Plenary Session at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh of Cambodia.—MNA

Myanmar delegation led by President of the Republic of the Unionof Myanmar U Thein Sein being welcomed back by Vice-PresidentThiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo, Vice-President Dr Sai Mauk

Kham, Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Vice-SeniorGeneral Min Aung Hlaing and officials, at Nay Pyi Taw Airport.

MNA

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