The head of the Indian Coast Guard spent three days in Myanmar last week on a visit aimed at strengthening maritime cooperation, media reported.
Vice Admiral H.C.S. Bisht arrived on January 6 for a three-day visit that included meetings with Tatmadaw Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the Commander-in-Chief (Navy) Vice Admiral Tin Aung San, the Press Trust of India reported.
A Coast Guard official told PTI ahead of the visit that the two sides were expected to discuss the possibility of joint exercises and issues related to smuggling.
Vice Adm Bisht was also due to visit training and operational facilities in Yangon and Mandalay, PTI said.
His visit coincided with the arrival of an Indian Coast Guard ship at Yangon port on January 7. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Fighter Jets Worth $560m Ordered Last Year, Says Magazine
YANGON — Myanmar has ordered a fleet of Chinese-designed fighter jets worth more than half a billion US dollars from Pakistan, an Israeli online defence magazine has reported.
Myanmar placed an order “in 2015” for 16 JF-17 Thunder jets, each worth US$35 million, Defense Update reported on January 11.
Myanmar was the first country to order the jets from Pakistan, the report said.
It said the jets were designed and developed by the state-run Aviation Industry Corporation of China to meet Pakistani requirements for a lightweight, affordable fighter jet. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Myanmar placed an order “in 2015” for 16 JF-17 Thunder jets, each worth US$35 million, Defense Update reported on January 11.
Myanmar was the first country to order the jets from Pakistan, the report said.
It said the jets were designed and developed by the state-run Aviation Industry Corporation of China to meet Pakistani requirements for a lightweight, affordable fighter jet. (Courtesy of Frontier Myanmar)
Recent visit confirms deportation fears
Myanmar (MNN) — Hopelessness is rising among refugees in Thailand as threats of deportation loom. According to Vision Beyond Borders (VBB), plans are underway to send thousands of ethnic minorities back to Myanmar (also known as Burma) in 2017.
“They’re doing this based on the fact that [Myanmar’s] government is showing all these democratic reforms and changes. They [Thailand’s government] hope that this means the refugees will then be safe,” VBB’s Dyann Romeijn explains.
“All the information coming from the ethnic areas, where there’s still fighting, [shows] that they would not be safe,” she adds.
Myanmar’s leaders may have inched toward democracy, Romeijn explains, but the armed forces are a different matter. (Courtesy of Mission Network News)
“They’re doing this based on the fact that [Myanmar’s] government is showing all these democratic reforms and changes. They [Thailand’s government] hope that this means the refugees will then be safe,” VBB’s Dyann Romeijn explains.
“All the information coming from the ethnic areas, where there’s still fighting, [shows] that they would not be safe,” she adds.
Myanmar’s leaders may have inched toward democracy, Romeijn explains, but the armed forces are a different matter. (Courtesy of Mission Network News)
Hepatitis survey points to nearly 5 million infected
Nearly 5 million people in Myanmar suffer from a form of hepatitis, health officials say. A nationwide survey conducted last year estimated that about 3.3 million people suffer from hepatitis B and a further 1.3 million live with hepatitis C.
The survey – conducted by the Department of Medical Research, the Central Epidemiological Unit of the Department of Public Health and the Myanmar Liver Foundation – was done between May and November 2015 among men and women aged between 15 and 80, living in 18 townships in nine states and regions and Nay Pyi Taw.
The results were announced to the Myanmar Research Congress, which is currently meeting in Yangon.
Daw Aye Aye Lwin, deputy director of the Immunology Research Division at the Department of Medical Research, told participants on January 6 that the survey results would be used to help better target measures to fight the disease.
The survey found that the highest prevalence of HB infection was 12.4 percent in Yangon Region and the lowest was 3.3pc in Magwe Region. HC infection was highest in Mon State at 10.3pc, and lowest in Bago Region and Chin State at 0.32pc. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
The survey – conducted by the Department of Medical Research, the Central Epidemiological Unit of the Department of Public Health and the Myanmar Liver Foundation – was done between May and November 2015 among men and women aged between 15 and 80, living in 18 townships in nine states and regions and Nay Pyi Taw.
The results were announced to the Myanmar Research Congress, which is currently meeting in Yangon.
Daw Aye Aye Lwin, deputy director of the Immunology Research Division at the Department of Medical Research, told participants on January 6 that the survey results would be used to help better target measures to fight the disease.
The survey found that the highest prevalence of HB infection was 12.4 percent in Yangon Region and the lowest was 3.3pc in Magwe Region. HC infection was highest in Mon State at 10.3pc, and lowest in Bago Region and Chin State at 0.32pc. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
Gold miner opens case amid fresh protests
A gold-mining company supported by military-owned Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings opened a case with Mandalay police last week, after 100 people occupied the site of its mining operations in a new wave of protests, police sources said.
The latest case comes amid ongoing clashes between Myanmar Sithu Company and villagers, which saw protesters set fire to property and one local resident shot last July.
On January 3, residents from Yehtwet village in Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin township and those from Patheingyi, Madaya and Singu townships – around 100 in total – re-occupied the mining site near to Yehtwet village and put up red flags and signboards, according to Mandalay Region Police Office.
They were concerned, as they have been since the company began operations last year, that it is muscling in on their right to dig for gold. Following the sit-in, a township management meeting was held by the Tabeikkyin Township Administration Office, which decided to take legal action. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
The latest case comes amid ongoing clashes between Myanmar Sithu Company and villagers, which saw protesters set fire to property and one local resident shot last July.
On January 3, residents from Yehtwet village in Mandalay Region’s Thabeikkyin township and those from Patheingyi, Madaya and Singu townships – around 100 in total – re-occupied the mining site near to Yehtwet village and put up red flags and signboards, according to Mandalay Region Police Office.
They were concerned, as they have been since the company began operations last year, that it is muscling in on their right to dig for gold. Following the sit-in, a township management meeting was held by the Tabeikkyin Township Administration Office, which decided to take legal action. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
Union peace conference begins in Myanmar
NAY PYI TAW, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- A union peace conference kicked off in Myanmar's capital here Tuesday, ahead of the first round of national-level formal political dialogue between the government and eight ethnic armed groups.
The conference, which will last for five days until Saturday, was opened by President U Thein Sein.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, U Thein Sein said the conference is the biggest gathering of political forces in the country in over six decades after independence in 1948.
Since his government took office in 2011, various efforts have been made to bring the armed conflicts that have persisted since the country's independence to an end, the president said. (Courtesy of Xinhua)
The conference, which will last for five days until Saturday, was opened by President U Thein Sein.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, U Thein Sein said the conference is the biggest gathering of political forces in the country in over six decades after independence in 1948.
Since his government took office in 2011, various efforts have been made to bring the armed conflicts that have persisted since the country's independence to an end, the president said. (Courtesy of Xinhua)
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
CBM brings real-time settlement to banks
Myanmar's banking system has taken another step toward modernisation, courtesy of the Central Bank’s new clearing and settlement system, which will make an “immense difference” to lenders’ day-to-day operations, bankers said.
The long-awaited system – built with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – went live on January 6, according to an official at a local lender who is working on preparing his bank for the new system.
Dubbed CBM-Net, it provides Myanmar’s financial sector with a real- time gross settlement system (RTGS) – making the once-manual process of clearing and settling payments almost entirely electronic.
Payments in Myanmar’s economy are largely cash-based, and transfers between individuals often required the physical movement of cash between branches of the same bank and the branches of different lenders. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
The long-awaited system – built with the help of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) – went live on January 6, according to an official at a local lender who is working on preparing his bank for the new system.
Dubbed CBM-Net, it provides Myanmar’s financial sector with a real- time gross settlement system (RTGS) – making the once-manual process of clearing and settling payments almost entirely electronic.
Payments in Myanmar’s economy are largely cash-based, and transfers between individuals often required the physical movement of cash between branches of the same bank and the branches of different lenders. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
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