THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 1

Established 1914

Emergence of the State Constitution is the duty of all citizens of Myanmar Naing-Ngan.

Panditanañ ca sevana, to associate with the wise; this is the way to auspiciousness.

Four political objectives* Stability of the State, community peace and

tranquillity, prevalence of law and order* National reconsolidation* Emergence of a new enduring State

Constitution* Building of a new modern developed nation in

accord with the new State Constitution

Volume XI, Number 134 2nd Waxing of Tawthalin 1365 ME Thursday, 28 August, 2003

YANGON, 27 Aug — The

Myanmar delegation led by

Minister for Agriculture and

Irrigation Maj-Gen Nyunt

Tin arrived back here by air

this evening after attending

the 25th ASEAN Ministers’

Meeting on Agriculture and

Forest held in Malaysia from

21 to 23 August, the 3rd

Coordination Meeting of

Three Dialogue Partners in

East Asia, and the 14th Meet-

ing of Administrative Coun-

cil of CIRDAP held in Indo-

nesia from 25 to 26 August.

The delegation was wel-

comed back at Yangon In-

ternational Airport by Min-

ister for Information Brig-

Gen Kyaw Hsan, directors-

general and managing direc-

tors of the departments and

enterprises under the Minis-

try of Agriculture and Irriga-

tion, officials of the Indone-

sian Embassy in Yangon and

departmental officials.

Together with the minis-

ter, Director-General of

Agricultural Planning De-

partment U Tin Htut Oo also

arrived back.

MNA

A&I Minister arrives back

Four social objectives* Uplift of the morale and morality of the

entire nation* Uplift of national prestige and integrity and

preservation and safeguarding of culturalheritage and national character

* Uplift of dynamism of patriotic spirit* Uplift of health, fitness and education

standards of the entire nation

Four economic objectives* Development of agriculture as the base and

all-round development of other sectors of theeconomy as well

* Proper evolution of the market-orientedeconomic system

* Development of the economy inviting partici-pation in terms of technical know-how andinvestments from sources inside the countryand abroad

* The initiative to shape the national economymust be kept in the hands of the State and thenational peoplesSecretary-2 Adjutant-General Lt-Gen Thein Sein sees off Myanmar Tatmadaw (Army) shooting team at the airport. MNA

Myanmar Tatmadaw shooting team seen offat Yangon airport

Shooting Contest of ASEAN

armed forces (Army) to be

held in Malaysia, at the

Yangon International Air-

port this morning.

The team was also seen

off at the airport by members

of the State Peace and De-

velopment Council Chief of

Armed Forces Training Lt-

Gen Kyaw Win and Lt-Gen

Tin Aye of the Ministry of

Defence, Chief-of-Staff

(Navy) Rear Admiral Soe

Thein, Vice Chief of Armed

Forces Training Maj-Gen

Win Myint, Vice Quarter-

master-General Maj-Gen

Kyaw Win, senior military

officers and their families.

At the lounge of the air-

port, the Secretary-2 urged

the team headed by Lt-Col

Zar Ni Win to win prizes in

the competition. — MNA

YANGON, 27 Aug — Sec-

retary-2 of the State Peace

and Development Council,

Chairman of the Defence

Services Sports and Physi-

cal Education Administra-

tive Board, Adjutant-General

Lt-Gen Thein Sein saw off

the shooting team of

Myanmar Tatmadaw, which

will take part in the 13th

Monsoon crops cultivationzone in Lashio inspected

YANGON, 27 Aug— The

104th meeting of the Traffic

Rules Enforcement was held

at the hall of Road Transport

Department on Thanthuma

Road in South Okkalapa

Township here this after-

noon, with an opening speech

by Yangon Division Peace

and Development Council

Chairman Yangon Com-

mand Commander Maj-Gen

Myint Swe.

Also present on the oc-

casion were Vice-Chairman

(1) of the Traffic Rules En-

forcement Committee Prov-

ost Marshal Maj-Gen Saw

Hla, Vice-Chairman (2) Di-

rector-General Brig-Gen

Khin Yee of Myanmar Po-

lice Force, Vice-Chairman

(3) Joint-Secretary of YCDC

U Kyi Win, Secretary Direc-

tor-General of Road Trans-

port Department U Hla

Thaung Myint, Naval Dock-

yard Command Headquar-

ters Commander Rear Ad-

miral Paw Tun, No 2 Mili-

tary Region Commander

Brig-Gen Myo Myint and

members of the committee,

departmental officials and

officials from bus lines.

Commander Maj-Gen Myint

Swe made an opening speech

on the occasion. Then, Royal

Myanmar Teamix Co Ltd

Traffic Rules EnforcementCommittee meets

presented K 1 million for

Wireless and Traffic Unit

through the commander.

Joint-Secretary of the com-

mittee Director of Wireless

and Traffic Unit Police Lt-

Col Aung Naing briefed on

the measured undertaken for

traffic rule enforcement in

June, July and August. Sub-

Committee members and

departmental officials dis-

cussed matters related to traf-

fic rules Enforcement and

the meeting came to a close

with concluding remarks by

the commander.—MNA

Minister Maj-Gen Nyunt Tin and party being welcomed back at the airport.MNA

INSIDE

Foreign NewsPages

3,4,5,6,7,12,13,14

Circulation

24,073

PerspectivesSafeguard

independence andsovereignty

Page 2

Coord meeting ongreening surrounding

areas of airportPage 16

ArticleWhat will be the

outcome of the lopsidedUS sanctions onMyanmar—4

Page 8

YANGON, 27 Aug —

Chairman of Shan State

(North) Peace and Develop-

ment Council Commander

of North East Command

Maj-Gen Myint Hlaing, to-

gether with Deputy Com-

mander Brig-Gen Hla Myint

and departmental officials,

arrived at 100-acre mixed-

cropping model field of high

yield coffee and pigeon pea

of 1000-acre project in the

high-yield monsoon crops

cultivation zone in Lashio

on 26 August.

Zone in-charge Lt-Col

Nay Linn reported to the

commander on completion

of cultivation of 100-acre

coffee and pigeon pea and

works being carried out.

The commander in-

spected the cultivation of

coffee in the thriving pigeon

pea plantations and gave nec-

essary instructions.

Next, the commander

inspected round the test-cul-

tivation of 12-acre high yield

hsinshweli paddy, 48-acre

model field of hsinyadanapaddy and 40-acre test-culti-

vation of second generation

of high yield hsinshwelipaddy and gave necessary

instructions to the officials.

Afterwards, the com-

mander inspected the culti-

vation of 830 acres of high

yield hsinshweli paddy, irri-

gated by Humon Dam, giv-

ing necessary instructions

and fulfilling the require-

ments. — MNA

2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003

PERSPECTIVESThursday, 28 August, 2003

The Union of Myanmar is a sovereignstate where various nationals have been livingin unity and amity from time immemorial. Andnow is the time when the Government is ex-pending all its efforts for the realization of ournational goal — the emergence of a peaceful,modern and developed nation.

A nation can exist long only if it is builton its social and cultural norms of the peopleliving in it. All the national people of Myanmarhave a fine tradition of defending the sover-eignty and freedom of their homeland againstthe intruders, sacrificing their lives and limbs.This being so, the Government, taking lessonsfrom the past, has given top priority to na-tional unity in shaping the future of the nationand has been working towards our nationalgoal with the strength of national unity.

If we look at the history of our nation,we can easily see that the national races de-fended their motherland against all its enemies.They drove colonialists and fascists out of itand regained their freedom and sovereign sta-tus of the nation. The entire people want theUnion of Myanmar to exist as long as the worldlasts and, for this, they are required to unitedlysafeguard it against the internal and externaldestructive elements. The time has now cometo build our own nation with the united par-ticipation of all the national people. Despitevarious constraints, the Government has beenfulfilling all the requirements for regional andnational development. Therefore, the people ontheir part, following the leadership of the Gov-ernment, should contribute as much as theycan to the development of the nation.

Some western nations have imposed eco-nomic sanctions on Myanmar so that her peo-ple suffer poverty and experience various kindsof hardships and national economic life isharmed. Whatever the situation is, we cannotlet our nation to slide from the status of a sov-ereign nation into the influence of other na-tions.

Therefore, we would like to urge all thenational people to safeguard the independenceand sovereignty of our beloved nation from allkinds of enemies so that it will last for ever.

Safeguard independenceand sovereignty

MRTVMyanmar culture is diverse, yet its just a click away. Try www.mrtv3.net.mm

Italian language courseto be opened

YANGON, 27 Aug —Myanmar Bodybuilding and

Physical Culture Federation will hold inter-State/Division

bodybuilding and physical culture contest on 22 November.

Five divisions — 60-kilo, 65-kilo, 70-kilo, 75-kilo and

above 75-kilo classes — will be included in the bodybuilding

contest. The height of the girl contestants must be at least 5

ft 3 in.

MNA

YANGON, 27 Aug — The 26 trainees

of the gardening course No 1/2003, con-

ducted by the Development Affairs Depart-

ment under the Ministry of Progress of Bor-

der Areas and National Races and Develop-

ment Affairs, together with officials of the

Development Affairs Department, made a

field tour of the Pan Hline Golf Course in

Hlinethaya Township this morning to study

the land preparation work of the golf course.

MNA

Trainees of gardening coursestudy land preparation

YANGON, 27 Aug—

Dagon Myothit (South) beat

Mayangon Township 3-1 at

the final match of Inter-Town-

ship boys’ under-13 football

tournament for Yangon Di-

vision Peace and Develop-

ment Council Chairman’s

Shield at the sports ground in

Dagon Myothit (South),

Yangon East District this

evening.

Chairman of Yangon Di-

vision Peace and Develop-

ment Council Commander

Maj-Gen Myint Swe pre-

sented championship shield

to Dagon Myothit (South)

team.

Among the spectators

were Commander of No 2

Military Region Brig-Gen

Myo Myint, Director-General

of Sports and Physical Edu-

cation Department U Thaung

Htaik, Secretary of Yangon

Division Peace and Develop-

Dagon Myothit (South) wins championship shield in Inter-Township boys’ U-13 football tourney

ment Council Lt-Col Kyaw

Tint and members, Chairman

of Yangon Division Football

Sub-Committee Brig-Gen

Myint Swe (Rtd), Chairmen

of District and Township

Peace and Development

Councils, guests and sports

fans. Brig-Gen Myint Swe

(Rtd) presented prizes to play-

ers of Mayangon Township

team and Director-General U

Thaung Htaik presented

prizes to players of the win-

ning team. Managing Direc-

tor U Aung Kyaw San of

Yemon Construction donated

K 30,000 and K 50,000 to

Mayangon Township team

and the winning team respec-

tively. — MNA

YANGON, 26 Aug — The

opening ceremony of the

11th Commander-in-Chief

(Air)’s Championship Shield

boxing tournament was held

at Thura Maung Thein hall

of Mingaladon Air Base this

morning.

It was attended by

Commander of the air base

Brig-Gen Thein Myint, of-

ficers of the Commander-in-

Chief (Air)’s Office and

other ranks, referees and of-

ficials of Myanmar Boxing

Federation and Myanmar

Police Force, and guests.

Brig-Gen Thein Myint

made an opening speech on

the occasion. The tournament

continues till 29 August.

  MNA

Boxing tournamentYANGON, 27 Aug —

Deputy Minister for Rail

Transportation U Pe Than

inspects tasks for upgrading

Yangon-Mandalay railroad inspected in Mandalaythe Yangon-Mandalay rail-

road between Singaing Sta-

tion to Myohaung Station and

gave instructions on 24 Au-

gust.

He met with the staff of

Myanma Railways of Man-

dalay at Myohaung Station

and left necessary instruc-

tions. On 25 August, he also

met officials of the MR and

gave instructions on ensuring

cleanliness of Mandalay Rail-

way Station. Afterwards, he

inspected sleeper factories in

Myohaung. The deputy min-

ister inspected Myitnge con-

crete sleeper factory and ful-

filled the requirements.

In the evening, he in-

spected Mandalay Railway

Station and called for coop-

eration of the departments

under the ministry for con-

venience of the passengers.

MNA

Bodybuilding and PhysicalCulture contest

Commander Maj-Gen Myint Swe presents the championship shield to Dagon Myothit(South) Township team. — MNA

Deputy Minister U Pe Than hears reports at the sleeperfactory at Myohaung on 25-82003.— RAIL TRANSPORTATION

Trainees of gardening course visit Pan Hlaing Golf Court in Hlingthaya Township. — MNA

Commander Brig-Gen Thein Myint addresses the opening of the 11th Commander-in-Chief (Air)’s Championship Shield Boxing Tournament. — PUPR

YANGON, 27 Aug —Italian language

course (Basic) jointly conducted by Ministry

of Hotels and Tourism, Union of Myanmar

Travel Association and New Huminity Fosiv

(NGO), Italy, will be opened as of 15 Septem-

ber.

The course will last eight weeks and

only 30 trainees will be admitted. Those

interested may enrol on a course at Training

School of the H & T Ministry on Bo Son Pet

Street and Directorate of Hotels and Tourism

on Sule Pagoda Road. — MNA

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 3

BAGHDAD , 27 Aug — Two more US soldiers were killed in combat Wednesday, and the international reliefagency Oxfam said it pulled its foreign staff out of Iraq because of the increasing danger.

The International Monetary Fund and the World

Bank pulled workers from Iraq last week following the

suicide truck bombing at UN headquarters in Baghdad

that killed 23 people and wounded more than 100.

Many UN foreign staff also have left the country

temporarily.

Violence in Iraq, particularly in and around

Baghdad, has taken its toll on Iraqis as well, with a spree

of carjackings and robberies reported by the population.

“The risk level was becoming unacceptable for us,

making it impossible for our programmes to operate,”

Simon Springett, Oxfam’s programme manager for Iraq,

told The Associated Press from Amman, Jordan.

The London-based Oxfam, which had been working

on water and sanitation projects with UNICEF, said it

began withdrawing its 15 international staff members

Monday and completed the move within 48 hours.

Springett cited last week’s bombing as only one of the

factors.

“I think there’s been a blurring of humanitarian and

military operations in Iraq,” Springett said. “It’s setting

a very dangerous precedent.”

Springett said he had spoken to several other aid

groups that were reviewing their security.

In the latest US deaths, a soldier was killed and three

were wounded in a roadside bombing in Fallujah, 30

miles west of Baghdad. The soldier was from the 3rd

Armoured Cavalry Regiment, the military said, provid-

ing no other details.

A second soldier was killed in another attack on a

military convoy in Baghdad. The dead soldier from the

205th Military Intelligence Brigade, the military said.

A third soldier was reported to have died of a

non-hostile gunshot wound in a separate incident.

The deaths brought to 281 the number of soldiers

killed since the war began on 20 March. Since President

Bush declared major combat over on 1 May, 143 US

soldiers have died — five more than during the heavy

fighting.

Internet

WASHINGTON , 27 Aug— The US administrationstepped up efforts to defend its “noble cause” in Iraq asthe death toll among US troops since the end of majorcombat overtook the number killed during the invasion.

President George W Bush was to give a major speech in the

Missouri city of St Louis on Tuesday to answer critics who have

called for more troops to be sent to the troubled country.

But the administration’s efforts were partly overshad-

owed by the news that more US forces have lost their lives

in Iraq since Bush declared the end of major combat on May

1 than in the war to topple Saddam Hussein.

According to the Defence Department’s latest official

tally, 277 US troops have now been killed in Operation Iraqi

Freedom — 139 since Bush’s triumphant May 1 speech on

board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. —Internet

US forced onto thedefensive over

mounting toll in Iraq

BEIJING , 27 Aug — Chinese President Hu Jintao andPresident Lucio Gutierrez Borbua of the Republic ofEcuador exchanged views on bilateral relations andinternational and regional issues of common concern intalks held here Tuesday afternoon.

Chinese, Ecuadoreanpresidents hold talks

Hu said over the past

more than 20 years since the

two countries established

diplomatic ties, bilateral

relations have seen steady

development, with increased

high-level exchanges,

broadened exchanges and

cooperation in various fields,

and mutual understanding and

support in international

affairs.

He said the two countries

have broad common views

on protecting world peace,

promoting common

development and other

significant issues. China will

work together as always with

Ecuador to promote the long-

lasting and steady friendly

cooperative relationship

between the two countries to

a new level in the new century.

He pointed out that the

Chinese side pays attention

to strengthening Sino-

Ecuadorean economic and

trade cooperation, and is

willing to carry out multi-

channel and multi-pattern

cooperation with Ecuador on

the principles of equality,

mutual benefit and supple-

menting each other.

China encourages and

supports its enterprises to

participate in Ecuadorean

construction, and also

welcomes Ecuadorean

enterprises to invest in China,

he said.

Hu introduced to the

Ecuadorean guest the Chinese

government’s principled

stance on the Taiwan issue,

and expressed appreciation

for the reiteration by the

Ecuadorean Government that

it adheres to the “One-China”

policy. He also expressed

thanks for the valuable

support China has received

from Ecuador in international

affairs.

MNA/Xinhua

SINGAPORE, 27 Aug— Sin-

gapore’s Prime Minister Goh

Chok Tong will be honoured

with the prestigious

Jawaharlal Nehru Award for

International Understanding

for his “vision and leader-

ship” in bringing India closer

to Southeast Asia, Indian Ex-

ternal Affairs Minister

Yashwant Sinha said Tues-

day.

“It was Prime Minister

Goh who started the ‘India

fever’ back in 1992 when

India first embarked on its

economic liberalization pro-

gramme,” he said address-

ing the Institute of Defence

and Strategic Studies here.

It is in recognition of his

outstanding role that India has

this year decided to give the

award to the 62-year-old Sin-

gapore’s Prime Minister, he

said. Goh has been Singa-

pore’s Prime Minister since

1990. — MNA/PTI

KAMPALA , 27 Aug — The Chinese Government Monday donated a batch ofemergency assistant materials worth 250,000 US dollars to the Ugandan Govern-ment, to help internally displaced persons in the northern part of the country.

China donates emergencyassistant materials to Uganda

Vietnam’s pharmaceutical exportexpected to rise

HANOI , 27 Aug— Vietnam is expected to export 25-30 million US dollars worthof pharmaceutical products in 2003, local newspaper Youth reported on Tuesday.

This figure represents a sharp increase compared with the just 20 million US dollars

exported annually over the past few years. However, it is expected to equal to only

5 per cent of the country’s pharmaceutical import turnover this year.

Vietnam’s pharmaceutical products are exported to Russia, the Common Wealth of

Independent States, and Asian and African countries.

The industry is also seeking ways to infiltrate into many new markets, such as

America and Europe.

Vietnam is scheduled to implement a great trade promotion programme with an aim

to introduce its pharmaceutical products in Russia in October.

MNA/Xinhua

A long exposure picture shows the trail of the planet Mars as the brightest among starsas it crosses the night sky over Bolshoy (Big) Almaty lake at 2,600 metres above sea

level in a mountains outside Almaty on 27 August, 2003. The red planet and earth reachtheir closest encounter in nearly 60,000 years Wednesday when Mars is 55.6 million

kilometres away. — INTERNET

Chinese Ambassador to Uganda Li

Qiangmin and Ugandan First Deputy Prime

Minister and Minister of Disaster Prepared-

ness Moses Ali signed the handing over

certificate on behalf of their respective

governments.

The donations include 840 pieces of

tarpaulins, 7,000 pieces of blankets,

exercise books and ballpoint pens.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony

held at the Prime Minister Building here,

Li said China and Uganda have been shar-

ing weal and woe and supporting each other

over the years. Ali sincerely thanked the

emergency assistance provided by the

Chinese government, say, “A friend in need

is a friend indeed.”

He said the assistance is timely and

useful.

MNA/Xinhua

���������������� ���� ��Two US soldiers killed in Iraq attacks,bringing number of death to 281

US soldiers stand over two Iraqi men while their family look on during a raid on scoresof houses in Khalis, a town about 70 kilometres north of Baghdad, Iraq on

26 August, 2003. — INTERNET

Goh Chok Tongto be honouredwith JawaharlalNehru Award

4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003

TEHERAN, 27 Aug — Turkey and Iran told US-led occupiers to restore order inneighbouring Iraq after a spate of bombings and ethnic clashes, and as thousandsprotested the attempted assassination of a Shiite leader.

Iran warned the US-led coalition after an

attempt to bomb one of Iraq’s four leading

Shiite clerics, Grand Ayatollah Seyed Mo-

hammed Said al-Hakim.

More than 3,000 Shiite Muslims took to

the streets of Baghdad outside the headquar-

ters of the US-named governing council to

protest the bombing and recent ethnic clashes

chanting, “No to America! No to Saddam!”

Banners denounced the killing over the

weekend of at least eight ethnic Shiite

Turkmen in the northern cities of Kirkuk

and Tuz Khurmatu. Iran’s supreme leader,

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned Sun-

day’s bombing in the holy city of Najaf as

part of a plot against Islam and Shiites, the

majority in both Iraq and Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said, “The Is-

lamic Republic of Iran is worried about the

intensification of instability and insecurity

in Iraq and holds the occupying forces re-

sponsible for the incident.” Turkey, a NATO

member that refused to let US troops deploy

from its territory during the Iraq war, was

more guarded in its criticism of the coalition.

“We have reminded them that they need

to do their best to establish peace there,”

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told report-

ers. The clashes came as Turkey weighed

sending as many as 10,000 troops to join an

international security force in Iraq.

Internet

This artist's rendition shows SIRTF (Space Infrared Telescope Facility) satelliteorbiting the Earth. NASA's new infrared space telescope, strapped to a Delta II rocket,

soared into the sky over Florida early 25 August. — INTERNET

Slain UN Iraq envoy to beburied in Geneva

GENEVA, 27 Aug — Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN special envoy to Iraq killed ina bomb attack in Baghdad, will be buried in Geneva on Thursday, the United Nationssaid on Tuesday.

De Mello, a 55-year-old Brazilian who

had served over 30 years with the United

Nations and was seen as a future secretary-

general, died with 22 others in a truck bomb

blast at the UN’s Headquarters in the Iraqi

capital last Tuesday.

His body was taken to Rio de Janeiro

for national mourning at the weekend and

brought back on Monday to Geneva, where

he had been serving as UN High Commis-

sioner for Human Rights.

UN officials said he would be laid to

rest in Geneva’s “Cemetery of Kings” in the

international city’s Plainpalais District

alongside Swiss Protestant leader Jean

Calvin and writers James Joyce, Jorge Luis

Borges and Rainer Maria Rilke.

Vieira de Mello was the most senior

UN official to be killed in service since

Secretary-General Dag Hammerskjold died

in a mysterious 1961 plane crash in central

Africa while trying to solve a crisis in the

newly independent Congo Republic.

On Tuesday in Geneva, hundreds of UN

employees headed by Sergei Ordzhonikidze,

the director-general of its European head-

quarters, staged a silent march in memory of

the 23 killed in the Baghdad explosion.

Staff from all the UN agencies in the city,

including the World Health Organization,

the International Labour Organization, the

Office of the High Commissioner for Refu-

gees, and Vieira de Mello’s Human Rights

office, took part.

The Baghdad attack has been claimed by

a group claiming to have acted in the name of

Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network.

Officials said a formal ceremony would be

held on Friday at the UN’s Palais des

Nations in Geneva to honour all the dead and

wounded.

MNA/Reuters

HANOI, 27 Aug —Vietnam is estimated to gain more

than 1.4 billion US dollars from seafood export in the first

eight months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 12.2 per

cent, according to sources with the Ministry of Fisheries on

Tuesday. The country recorded highest seafood export

growths in the European Union (EU), up 74 per cent; China,

up 70 per cent; and Russia, up 60 per cent.

In the period, revenues of Vietnamese seafood exported

to the United States, however, decreased because of the

catfish dispute between the two countries.

MNA/Xinhua

Traffic chaos in Baghdadincreases suffering of Iraqis

BAGHDAD , 27 Aug — With soft words the traffic policemen carried out their dutiesin Baghdad, which witnesses a state of chaos after the toppling of of Saddam Husseinon 9 April.

“We are suffering the minimal authori-

ties given to us, especially when some driv-

ers do not respect the law,” said Ahmad

Khudair Hadi, a 45-year-old traffic police

master sergeant.

“But I should praise the drivers who

respect the law and the traffic police. They

are mostly educated,” he said.

Answering a question whether he is

afraid of some people sometimes, Hadi said,

“I’m old in this job, and in such cases I talk

to them and make it clear that I’m suffering

the summer heat to serve them.”

“Most of them apologize after that, but

there are others who just smile and insist on

breaking the law, while looking at me,” he

continued. It is usual in the Iraqi capital

these days that the traffic lights do not work

properly because of the frequent power cut,

and drivers carry weapons while policemen

do not.

“I carry my own personal gun because

the forces didn’t provide us with weapons,”

Hadi explained, “The coalition forces only

gave me a permit to carry a gun, but not to use

it.” “Our job is not safe because some drivers

carry guns and when we stop them, they draw

guns on us,” admitted the master sergeant.

The weapons of Iraqi police forces were

all lost because of the looting and chaos that

prevailed after the US-led war on Iraq and

their cars and motorcycles also disappeared,

which hindered the pursuit of criminals and

lawbreakers. “Iraq imported large number of

cars and we don’t have any records of the

actual number. This is clearly reflected in the

traffic jams in Baghdad, for our streets are

not prepared to receive those increasing num-

bers,” said Mohammad Abbas, a 33-year-old

colleague of Hadi.

All these problems are creating a state of

traffic chaos to be added to the suffering of

Iraqis, who have already suffered weak basic

services, lack of security and the well-known

high temperatures of the Iraqi summer.

MNA/Xinhua

DAR ES SALAAM , 27 Aug — Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC) chairman andTanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa Monday urgedWestern countries to lift sanctions on Zimbabwe,defending the country’s land policy.

“I do not believe the application of sanctions in the

case of Zimbabwe is a good, warranted, or even effective

strategy,” President Mkapa said in his opening speech to

more than 700 delegates and other 12 SADC heads of

state and government. The colourful opening ceremony

witnessed the handing-over of the chairmanship by

Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to Mkapa.

“It has not worked, it will not work, and it only makes

the life of ordinary people in Zimbabwe unnecessarily

difficult,” he said, indicating that this is a “very clear”

statement. “Those sanctions should be now lifted. The

quicker they are lifted, the quicker more influence for

positive growth and change can emerge,” he added.

SADC had kept asking Western governments to lift

sanctions on Zimbabwe, imposed by the European Union

(EU) and the United States after President Robert

Mugabe’s re-election in 2002. The chairman defended

the controversial land policy in Zimbabwe as well.

“I find it insulting that there are powers and people

who believe food shortages in the region can only be

averted when Africans become servants on White peo-

ple’s land, rather than when they work on their own land,”

he said. “Our friends and partners must help our farmers

improve production. This is the real challenge that begs

urgent attention, “ he added. “It is to underscore policies

and movements that recognize the inevitable and timely

need to redress the usurpations of yester centuries

carefully, orderly, fairly, sustainably, but necessarily

and irreversibly.”— MNA/Xinhua

US soldiers search an Iraqi family's home during a raid on scores of houses in Khalis, atown about 70 kilometres north of Baghdad, Iraq, on 26 August, 2003.—INTERNET

SADC

calls for

lifting of

sanctions

on

Zimbabwe

Vietnam’sseafood

exports up12.2% in first

8 months

������������������� ���

Turkey, Iran fear Iraqinstability

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 5

Bush says US faces ‘hard’ task in IraqST LOUIS, 27 Aug — President Bush sought today to steel the country for more hardship in Iraq, cautioning that the

fight will require a large and sustained commitment of American resources but that there is no alternative to completevictory.

“Retreat in the face of terror would

only invite further and bolder attacks,”

Bush said before thousands of veterans

at the American Legion convention here.

“There will be no retreat.”

Bush’s speech, coming on the same

day the number of postwar US losses in

Iraq surpassed the number killed in last

spring’s war, did not directly address

complaints that have been leveled against

him by Democrats and Republicans that

he is committing inadequate troops and

funds to Iraq. But Bush addressed a

growing public concern about the occu-

pation by saying success in Iraq is neces-

San Antonio, is part of an effort by the

administration to solidify support for the

occupation at a time when the bombing

of the UN headquarters and other attacks

have raised doubts about the administra-

tion’s handling of the situation by the

American public. Bush suggested US

efforts in Iraq are indistinguishable from

the broader war on terrorism, for which

Americans are more patient.

Iraq “is now a point of testing in the

war on terror,” Bush said today, adding

that “terrorists are gathering in Iraq to

undermine the advance of freedom.”

Internet

sary for success in the war on terror and

pledging that he will do whatever it

takes to win.

“Building a free and peaceful Iraq

will require a substantial commitment

of time and resources, and it will yield a

substantially safer and more secure

America and the world,” Bush said,

vowing to work with Congress to pro-

vide the necessary funds. “More progress

will come in Iraq and it will require hard

and sustained efforts.” Bush’s speech to

the veterans group, following similar

speeches by two deputies Monday to the

Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in

BERLIN , 27 Aug — The head of the United Nations’nuclear watchdog called on the United States on Tues-day to set an example to the rest of the world by cuttingits nuclear arsenal and halting research programmes.

“The US Government

demands that other nations

not possess nuclear weap-

ons. Meanwhile, it is arm-

ing itself,” Mohamed

ElBaradei, head of the In-

ternational Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA), told Ger-

many’s Stern weekly.

Criticizing President

George W. Bush’s plan for

a national missile defence

shield, he said: “Then a

small number of privileged

countries will be under a

nuclear protective shield,

with the rest of the world

outside.” “In truth there are

no good or bad nuclear

weapons. If we do not stop

applying double standards

we will end up with more

nuclear weapons. We are at

a turning point,” ElBaradei

told Stern in the interview

released ahead of publica-

tion. The IAEA director,

who has overseen inspec-

tions of nuclear sites in Iraq,

North Korea and Iran over

the past year for half a dec-

ade said the world’s five

original nuclear powers —

the United States, Russia,

Britain, France and China —

should send a clear message

to the world that they were

disarming.

“Otherwise, we must live

with the consequences. At

the moment we are, at best

acting, like the fire brigade.

Today Iraq, tomorrow North

Korea, the day after Iran. And

then?” ElBaradei said.

MNA/Reuters

ONGC to invest60b rupees foracquiring oil

properties abroadNEW DELHI, 27 Aug —

Oil and Natural Gas Corp

Tuesday said it will invest

over 60 billion rupees an-

nually in acquiring oil prop-

erties abroad and is currently

in dialogue for buying out

stakes in oil fields in more

than a dozen countries in-

cluding Australia, Indone-

sia and Russia.

“We have budgeted more

than 60 billion rupees annu-

ally for acquisitions of oil

and gas fields abroad. This

figure may go up depending

upon the investment require-

ment for developing a par-

ticular field,” ONGC Chair-

man and Managing Director

Subir Raha told reporters

here.

ONGC’s overseas invest-

ment arm ONGC Videsh

Ltd, has to date taken par-

ticipating interests in oil and

gas fields in Vietnam, Rus-

sia, Libya, Syria, Iran, Iraq,

Sudan and US.

“We are talking for stakes

in oil properties in South

America, Central Asia, Aus-

tralia, Indonesia, Russia and

Middle-East,” he said but

declined to give details.

Raha said OVL this

month acquired Austrian

firm OMV’s stake in two

more oil fields in Sudan, that

are likely to give an addi-

tional 1.5-2 million tons of

crude annually.

MNA/PTI

The government agen-

cies, in particular the police

force, had been asked to

study the approach and look

into ways to be more women-

friendly and to place women

safety higher on the agenda,

Abdullah said when deliver-

ing a keynote address at the

National Women Confer-

ence here.

“I would also like to en-

courage private sector em-

ployers to look into ways to

increase the personal safety

of their employees at the

workplace,” he said.

“But to ensure success,

we need to work together.

The government, civil socie-

ty groups, employers, safety

and security personnel, all

need to do their part to en-

sure a safe, secure, and con-

ducive environment to work

and live in,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abdullah

said the number of women

holding decision- making

positions was still low —

about five to 15 per cent in

the public and private sec-

tors. “The government will

continue with its two-

pronged strategy to increase

the number of women in the

overall workforce apart from

having more women in high

positions,” he added

MNA/Xinhua

People within

a group of

some 3,000

UN employees

hold white

roses as they

participate in

a silent march

in mourning

for late

Brazilian

Sergio Vieira

de Mello in

front of the

UN building in

Geneva,

Switzerland,

on 26 August,

2003.

INTERNET

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 Aug — Malaysian Deputy PrimeMinister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Monday gave anassurance that more would be done to enhance thewelfare, safety and security of women.

Malaysia to do more toensure women’s welfare

Egypt bourse rises on talkof OT Iraq mobile bid

CAIRO, 27 Aug — Speculation that Orascom Telecom

(OT) could win an Iraq mobile telephone licence and expec-

tations of strong Orascom Construction Industries (OCI)

results pushed Egyptian stocks higher on Tuesday, traders

said.

Dealers said speculation that OT could win one of three

mobile phone licences on offer in Iraq helped its share price

climb 0.59 Egyptian pounds (0.10 US dollars), or 1.6 per

cent, to last trade at 38.27 pounds and officially close at

38.15 pounds. “There’s a lot of potential in Iraq,” one trader

said. OT said in June it was keen to enter the bid, which

closed on August 21. OT officials would not comment on the

speculation.

The benchmark Hermes index climbed 90.99 points, or

1.1 per cent, to end at 8,782.37 points. The broader CIBC

index rose 0.27 point, or 0.3 per cent, to close at 80.18 points.

Expectations of strong first half results from OCI helped its

share price last trade up 0.74 pounds, or 1.5 per cent, at 48.80

pounds and officially close at 48.90.

MNA/Reuters

��������� �� ��� ������� �

US should setnuclear disarming

example

Detained Iraqi men sit while US troops stand guard during a raid on scores of houses inKhalis, a town about 70 kilometres (43 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq,

on 26 August, 2003. — INTERNET

BAGHDAD , 27 Aug— A bomb attack on a US convoy killed a US soldier and wounded two in Iraq on Tuesday, ashundreds of troops launched a new operation to hunt down guerillas in the hostile Sunni heartlands north of Baghdad.

A US Army spokeswoman said the convoy was attacked

on a highway west of the capital between the Sunni Muslim

towns of Falluja and Ramadi, hotbeds of resistance against

occupying American forces. Roadside bombs and impro-

vised mines have been widely used against vulnerable US

convoys in Iraq.

The attack brought to 65 the number of US soldiers

killed in action since Washington declared major combat

over on May 1. Most guerilla attacks have taken place in

Baghdad and Sunni areas to the north and west of the capital,

from where Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, drew much of his

support.

The 4th Infantry Division, based in Saddam’s home-

town of Tikrit, said on Tuesday it had launched Operation

Ivy Needle, a series of raids backed by tanks, armoured

vehicles and helicopters to root out resistance in three

provinces.

“What we are doing is surgical strikes on more remote

areas where we have not had a very large or enduring

military presence,” Major Josslyn Aberle told reporters in

Tikrit.

MNA/Reuters

US soldier killed in Iraq, troopshunt gue rillas

6 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003

UNITED NATIONS , 27 Aug— The United Nations fell silent for half an hour onTuesday as Secretary-General Kofi Annan led more than 2,000 people in a middaymarch to remember the victims of the bombing at UN Headquarters in Baghdad.

NEW YORK, 27 Aug— Oil

prices took a small step down

from lofty levels on Monday

as dealers took profits from

the gasoline-driven rally late

last week.

New York crude futures

slipped 42 cents to 31.42 US

dollars a barrel, trimming

gasoline-driven gains made

last Thursday of 84 cents;

prices were almost flat Fri-

day. London oil futures trade

was closed Monday for a

holiday.

Low gasoline inventories

and setbacks to production

in Iraq have kept crude prices

not far from the 33 US dol-

lars per barrel level reached

earlier this month, a high for

the time since the US-led

invasion of Iraq.

US Government data last

week showed gasoline sup-

plies had fallen to their low-

est levels in nine months.

The fall came ahead of La-

bour Day weekend, in which

record numbers of drivers

are expected to take to the

road in the final weekend of

the traditional summer driv-

ing season. — MNA/Reuters

WASHINGTON , 27 Aug — Finnish researchers said onMonday they had found a gene they believe could beimportant in causing dyslexia, the most common learn-ing disorder among children.

Pinpointing the genetic changes that underlie dyslexia

could help scientists understand what causes it and perhaps

find better ways to help people with dyslexia overcome the

handicap.

Dyslexia affects anywhere between 3 per cent and 10 per

cent of the population and is characterized by difficulties

recognizing and reading words.

Studies suggest that people with dyslexia process infor-

mation in a different area of the brain than the average

person does, even though they are often of average orabove-

average intelligence.

Some evidence shows they use the right side of the brain

for reading instead of the left side, which is better set up for

processing words.—MNA/Reuters

CAPE CANAVERAL (Florida), 27 Aug — A new NASAinfrared observatory designed to see objects either toocold to cast their own light or obscured by interstellardust launched early on Monday from Cape CanaveralAir Force station.

UN falls silent in honourof slain colleagues

Thousands of UN work-

ers held similar marches

around the world. In Geneva,

where slain UN envoy to Iraq

Sergio Vieira de Mello will

be buried on Thursday, 3,000

UN staff carried banners

bearing his name and that of

his chief of staff, Nadia

Younes, who were among

23 people killed in the Au-

gust 19 suicide truck bomb-

ing.

In New York, several

undersecretaries general and

all 15 Security Council am-

bassadors, who had sus-

pended consultations, took

part in the march around the

circular driveway in front of

UN Headquarters along

Manhattan’s East River.

Among them was a hag-

gard Salim Lone, the spokes-

man for Vieira de Mello who

broke the news of his death

to the world. “So many

friends dead,” he whispered.

Some carried flowers and

held signs reading “We Will

Never Forget You,” “When

Will It End? It Must!” and

“Enough!”

“It’s one small way we

can all show our respects for

our fallen colleagues,” said

Catherine Bertini, UN un-

dersecretary-general for

management, who walked

alongside Annan for part of

the march. “People all feel

like we’re in mourning to-

gether.”

The United Nations was

plunged into grief after the

bombing in Baghdad, the

worst attack on United Na-

tions civilian staff. A senior

UN official said on Tuesday

that more than 160 people

were wounded in the explo-

sion and feared some of them

would not recover. UN em-

ployees in the march said

they were worried about their

colleagues abroad.

“For me, this was a terri-

ble shock because we’ve al-

ways been under the illusion

the UN was safe,” said Mary

Hughes, librarian of the UN

translation division and a

member of a staff safety com-

mittee. “But that barrier has

been broken down com-

pletely.”—MNA/Reuters

The cover of the ColumbiaAccident InvestigationBoard’s report released inWashington on 26 August,2003. A long-term relaxa-tion of safety vigilance atNASA culminated in the lossof the space shuttle Colum-bia and its seven-membercrew, investigators said,warning that withoutsweeping changes, ‘thescene is set for another accident.’—INTERNET

WASHINGTON , 27 Aug— NASA’s self-protective culture and its reluctance to tacklesafety problems head-on contributed to the fatal breakup of shuttle Columbia, just astechnical factors tore the ship apart, independent investigators reported on Tuesday.

Shuttle “Columbia” report slamsNASA management

The Columbia Accident

Investigation Board, set up

after the February 1 tragedy

that killed seven astronauts,

said in its final report that

NASA needs to set up sepa-

rate safety agencies that will

be able to get the attention of

top space officials when

things go wrong.

The board found that

NASA engineers raised

questions soon after Colum-bia’s launch on January 16

about a piece of foam insula-

tion that was seen falling

from the ship’s massive ex-

ternal tank about 81 seconds

after liftoff.

Engineers asked three

times during the 16-day mis-

sion for satellite images of

Columbia in orbit to check

on whether the foam struck

and damaged the ship, but

such images were never ob-

tained. The board’s report

said NASA officials missed

eight opportunities to ad-

dress concerns about the fall-

ing foam, which was ulti-

mately found to be the acci-

dent’s most probable cause.

The report drew parallels

between NASA manage-

ment problems now and at

the time of the 1986 Chal-lenger disaster, which also

killed seven astronauts.

MNA/Reuters

DAR-ES-SALAAM , 27 Aug — Executive Secretary of the Southern African Develop-ment Community (SADC) Prega Ramsamy said here Monday that the organizationcurrently is facing four challenges in its developing path.

Executive Secretary says fourchallenges ahead of SADC

Delivering his keynote

speech on the opening cer-

emony of the 23rd SADC

summit, the secretary said

that poverty, HIV/AIDS,

external debt, and food secu-

rity are the four major chal-

lenges to SADC member

states.

The executive secretary

said that the region is still

confronted with abject pov-

erty with 40 per cent of popu-

lation living with less than

one US dollar per day.

“The challenge of poverty

eradication would therefore

be uppermost in our focus.”

Ramsamy said.

On HIV/AIDS issue, the

executive secretary stressed

the necessity on educating

youth in the region to be fa-

miliar with the disease, so

that the young generation

may stay away from this

deadly disease.

Ramsamy also pointed out

that heavy external debt had

already blocked the devel-

opment path of SADC mem-

ber countries, which also

slow down regional integra-

tion, economic development

and poverty alleviation in the

region.

On Agriculture, the ex-

ecutive secretary said the

food security had badly af-

fected SADC region with

about 7 million people fac-

ing food shortage in the first

quarter of 2004.

The two-day 23rd SADC

summit was officially

opened on Monday. It has

collected 13 heads of state

and government out of the

14 membre states.

Seychelles sent its foreign

minister to the meeting.

SADC, with a population

of over 190 million and a

total area of 9.261 million

square kilometres, was es-

tablished in August 1992 in

Windhoek, Namibia, to re-

place the Southern African

Development Coordination

Conference (SADCC).

MNA/Xinhua

Iraqis work at a farm in Abu Khasib; US budget deficits arebeing partially blamed on reconstruction in Iraq.—INTERNET

NASA launches newinfrared telescope

Lift off of the Boeing

Delta II rocket carrying the

700 million US dollars sat-

ellite came at 1:35 am. EDT

(0535 GMT).

“The expectation is to re-

ally revolutionize our un-

derstanding of our universe

by looking in a completely

new low length spectrum,”

said Dave Gallagher,

NASA’s mission project

manager.

From failed stars that

never turned on, to the gal-

axy’s own dust-shrouded

heart, the Space Infra RedTelescope Facility will look

into the dark, cold corners

of the universe, making it-

self sensitive to the faintest

heat signatures by cooling

its own instruments to just a

degree or two above abso-

lute zero.

SIRTF is the last of

NASA’s so-called Great

Observatories. When com-

bined with the Hubble SpaceTelescope, which sees in the

visible light spectrum, and

the Chandra X-Ray Ob-servatory, astronomers will

get their most complete view

yet of matter and energy near

the edge of the known uni-

verse.

Or, as NASA scientist

Anne Kinney explained,

when all three telescopes

peer deeply into space, the

Chandra will see objects

that are millions of degrees

in temperature, the Hubble,objects that are thousands

of degrees, and SIRTF, those

that are hundreds of degrees.

“That way, you get a full

range of information about

what’s out there,” said

Kinney. SIRTF also has a

job closer to home. Scien-

tists know little about a wide

belt of icy objects that circle

the sun beyond the orbit of

Pluto.—MNA/Reuters

Oil prices fall astraders take profits

��� ����������� ����������� ������ �������

Finnish

researchers

find

dyslexia

gene

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 7

— to vitalize patriotism and nationalism in all citizens

— to preserve and safeguard Myanmar cultural heritage

— to perpetuate genuine Myanmar music, dance and traditional fine arts

— to preserve Myanmar national character

— to nurture spiritual development of the youths

— to prevent influence of alien cultures

The Objectives of the 11th Myanmar

Traditional Cultural Performing Arts

Competitions

HONG KONG, 27 Aug — Unemployment is a great concern to the government of theHong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the government is taking steps to easethe jobless situation, said a Hong Kong official here Tuesday.

HK Govt committed totackling joblessness

Permanent Secretary for

Economic Development and

Labour Matthew Cheung

said the government put for-

ward a relief package of 432

million Hong Kong dollars

(55.38 million US dollars) in

May to provide 21,500 short-

term employment and train-

ing opportunities. These in-

cluded 10,000 skills-en-

hancement training places

for workers in sectors hard

hit by SARS who were un-

employed or temporarily sus-

pended without pay. All the

newly-created posts have

been filled.

Cheung said the govern-

ment allocated an additional

715 million Hong Kong dol-

lars in July to create 32,000

job opportunities, including

19,050 short-term jobs and

13,000 training places. Re-

cruitment work commenced

in mid-July and successful

candidates are starting to re-

port for duty.

The Labour Department

has launched employment

programmes to strengthen its

support for job-seekers. The

Re-employment Training

Programme encourages em-

ployers to offer on-the-job

training to middle-aged un-

employed people. Employ-

ers receive a training allow-

ance of 1,500 Hong Kong

dollars a month for each par-

ticipant employed for three

months. Some 12,000 job

seekers are expected to ben-

efit from the programme.

Employers who hire

university graduates and pro-

vide them with on-the-job

training under the Graduate

Employment Training

Scheme will be paid a

monthly allowance of 2,000

Hong Kong dollars for each

trainee engaged for a maxi-

mum of six months. About

2,000 university graduates

will benefit from the pro-

gramme. “All these demon-

strate that the government is

committed to providing com-

prehensive employment as-

sistance to job seekers of dif-

ferent age groups and aca-

demic qualifications,”

Cheung said.

He noted that there were

signs of a steady pick-up in a

number of business sectors.

The latest seasonally ad-

justed unemployment rate

rose by just 0.1 per cent and

there are signs that the up-

ward adjustment is slowing

down. “With fresh graduates

entering the labour market,

the unemployment rate in the

short term will remain high.

Although most companies

are still having a hard time

now, it is high time to invest

in human resources to pre-

pare for economic recovery,”

Cheung said.

MNA/Xinhua

SYDNEY , 27 Aug — India and Australia will sign a Memorandum of Understandingon counter-terrorism during the four-day visit of External Affairs Minister YashwantSinha beginning Wednesday that is also expected to give greater “dynamism andsubstance” to bilateral relations.

India, Australia to signMoU on counter-terrorism

The issue of terrorism and ways of

enhancing bilateral relations in various sec-

tors are likely to figure prominently in the

talks Sinha will have with Australian lead-

ers.

Sinha will call on Australian Prime

Minister John Howard and will hold talks

with his Australian counterpart Alexander

Downer. He will also meet Immigration

Minister Phillip Ruddock.

Sinha will attend the Foreign Minis-

ters Framework Dialogue in Adelaide on

Thursday and sign a MoU on Counter Ter-

rorism with Downer. The two ministers will

also address the international media.

He will hold a meeting with Ruddock

on his arrival in Sydney tomorrow to further

expedite the signing of MoU on cooperation

between the two countries in the field of

immigration. Discussions are already afoot

between the Indian Ministry of Home Af-

fairs and Australia’s Department of Immi-

gration on the issue.

Indian High Commissioner to Aus-

tralia R S Rathore said, “this is only the

second visit by an Indian foreign minister to

Australia. (Jaswant Singh, the then foreign

minister had visited Australia in June 2001).

We do hope the present visit will add greater

dynamism and substance to the bilateral

relations, which have been growing in recent

years.”

Sinha will then fly to national capital

Canberra and call on Howard en route to

Melbourne, where he will be meeting mem-

bers of the Indian community at a dinner

hosted by the Indian High Commissioner.

In Melbourne, Sinha will sign a MoU

for cooperation in the field of telecommuni-

cations with Australian Minister for Com-

munications, Information Technology and

the Arts Richard Alston.

He will also meet the Federal Treasurer

Peter Costello and Opposition Labour leader

Simon Crean and speak on India’s foreign

policy and India-Australia bilateral ties at a

luncheon hosted by Asia Society AustralAsia

Centre. — MNA/PTI

ZURICH , 27 Aug — Aman who tried to fightbothersome wasps with in-sect spray and a cigarettelighter burned down hisapartment and two neigh-bouring flats, Swiss policesaid on Tuesday.

A police spokesman

said the man used a whole

can of insect spray on a wasp

nest underneath an overhang-

ing roof outside his apart-

ment.

When he tried to fend

off the angry wasps with his

lighter, the fumes ignited and

set the flats ablaze.

No one in the apartment

block was hurt, but the blaze

caused 500,000 Swiss francs

(351,400 US dollars) in

damage. — MNA/Reuters

Swiss manburns downapartments

in wasp hunt M OSCOW, 27 Aug — Russia and Iran, keen to ease USconcerns over their nuclear ties, will sign in Septemberan agreement requiring Teheran to return nuclear wasteto Moscow, a Russian Atomic Energy Ministry officialsaid on Tuesday.

Russia has pressed ahead with plans to build a nuclear

plant at the southern port of Bushehr in Iran despite criticism

from Washington.

“The agreement will be signed very soon, perhaps by

the end of September. Last week, the Russian Government

instructed our ministry to sign the protocol in the nearest

future,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

As soon as the protocol is signed, Russia will ship fuel

to Iran for the Bushehr reactor, which will then process it to

generate power and send all spent nuclear material — which

can be converted to weapons grade material — back to

Russia. The official said the document would be signed

during a regular visit by a ministry delegation to the Islamic

Republic in coming weeks, but the precise date of the

signing was yet to be decided.

Iran, which says it is ready to sign the agreement with

Russia, has dismissed the US charges, saying it wants to

develop nuclear power to satisfy a booming demand for

electricity and save its oil and gas reserves for export.

MNA/Reuters

Russia, Iran tosign nuke fuel

deal in SeptemberISLAMABAD , 27 Aug — A five-member team of Indian officials arrived hereTuesday for talks with their Pakistani counterparts on resumption of air links andoverflights between the two countries.

Indian team in Islamabad fortalks to resume air links

Led by Director General of Civil Avia-

tion Authority Sathinder Singh, the Indian

officials will hold two days of talks from

Wednesday at Rawalpindi to finalize the

details for resumption of flight services and

to open up each other’s skies for overflights.

Other members in the team are AV

Chaturvedi, Indian Ministry of Civil Avia-

tion, Shirin Lalwani of Air India, Sunil

Kishen of Indian Air Lines and Kharbanda

of Airports Authority of India.

Vikram Misri, the Secretary Political

of the Indian High Commission would also

take part in the talks.

This is the first time that the officials of

the two sides hold formal talks to normalize

relations, after resuming the bus services

between the two countries last month.

While officials on both sides see little

difficulty in resuming direct flights from

Lahore to New Delhi and Karachi to

Mumbai, there were apprehensions that the

talks may hit snags on opening their skies

for dozens of overflights from both the

countries to far off destinations.

MNA/PTI

High-ranking Vietnamese Navaldelegation in Mumbai

MUMBAI, 27 Aug — A high-ranking delegation of the Vietnam’s Peoples’ Navy, led by

Deputy Commander-in-Chief Rear Admiral Be Quoc Hung, has called on the Flag Officer

Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command Vice Admiral Arun Prakash and dis-

cussed defence related issues in this western Indian metropolis.

The delegation, which was here on August 24 and 25, during its talks focussed on sale

of spares for weapons machinery and engines, a Ministry of Defence release said here on

Tuesday. The Vietnamese also showed interest in Indian ship-building and conduct of

training for their personnel in various naval disciplines in India, it said. — MNA/PTI

8 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003

What will be the outcome of the lopsidedUS sanctions on Myanmar—4

(Continued from 26-8-2003)The most basic norm of humanitarian rights of human

beings is fulfilling the food, clothing and shelter needs.

No one can deny the fact that the three basic requirements

are vital for the survival and progress in the standard of

living. The level of humanitarian rights and democratic

rights will improve in proportion to the rise in the level

of meeting the basic needs and advancement in produc-

tive forces of the people. If a society is very poor finding

difficult to make both ends meet, it has not enjoyed

humanitarian rights no matter how much it may have

enjoyed the political freedom. Some say that people will

be able to speak out, carry out work and produce goods

only when there is freedom. This may be right to an

extent. However, that should be economic freedom in

commodity production and trade of the people. Economic

freedom should come first. In the world today, the Peo-

ple’s Republic of China, which has given first priority to

the economic freedom, is progressing gradually and peace-

fully.

The emerging new industrialized nations of Asia have

developed based on economic freedom. Their progress

has been closely followed by political freedom. Starting

from the Stone Age to the present electronic age, history

of man has developed because of the economic freedom.

Humanitarian and democratic rights accordingly improved.

Such improvements as seen today will be non-existent

unless there is economic freedom and economic progress.

Man’s efforts to fulfil the basic needs such as food, cloth-

ing and shelter and increase commodity production are

the his struggles to enjoy humanitarian rights. Other rights

will also be fulfilled after this.

The US and other nations of the West bloc are cutting

aid, imposing economic sanctions on and waging war

against the developing nations which have been liberated

from the colonialist rules. This shows that although they

are shouting and advocating for human rights and demo-

cratic rights they are in fact violating these rights. At the

same time, we can study the statement on human rights

issued by the information office of the Council of State of

the People’s Republic of China.

According to the statement, there had been widening

gap between the rich and poor in the world day by day.

Meanwhile, there was slow socio-economic progress in

many of the developing countries. One third of the people

in the developing countries continued to live under the

poverty line. The problems of the right to survive and to

make economic, social and cultural progress persisted

among the people in the vast number of developing na-

tions. Hence, emphasis should be laid on the right to

develop. China thus urged the world to concentrate on the

problem of the developing countries’ right to develop;

strive for removing unjust and unrealistic practices in the

world economy after employing the active and effective

programmes; try to practically improve the international

economic environment; relax and gradually remove the

barriers restricting the growth of developing nations; es-

tablish the new international economic system; and create

healthy international environment conducive to develop-

ment while doing away with the negative factors such as

racism, colonialism, hegemony, and foreign aggression,

occupation and interference.

China also called for enhancing international coopera-

tion based on humanitarian grounds, after promoting

mutual understanding and upholding the common inter-

ests while setting aside the differences. However, no na-

tion will be able to steer away from its historical trend

and the objective economic, political and cultural condi-

tions in working for humanitarian rights and safeguarding

those rights. Moreover, a sovereign nation will have to

specifically recognize and protect the humanitarian rights

with the introduction of laws. A resolution of the 45th

Session of the United Nations General Assembly stated

that each nation has the right to choose its political, so-

cial, economic and cultural systems and promote them. A

resolution at the 46th Session of the UN General Assem-

bly also pointed out that there would never be a single

development pattern applicable to all cultures and all the

peoples. It would be neither proper nor practicable to

criticize others based on one’s own design as the standard

and to make others to copy one’s design. Hence, the prin-

cipal objectives and international efforts to safeguard

humanitarian rights should promote cooperation, friend-

ship, mutual understanding and mutual respect in the field

of international human rights. All should consider the

outlooks on humanitarian rights of the nations of different

political, economic, social systems, historical trends and

religious faith and cultural backgrounds. Common factors

are to be sought and differences are to be set aside based

on the spirit of promoting mutual respect, understanding

and cooperation.

The world is becoming more unstable because of the

process of transformation from the old global situation to

the new one. The acts of using human rights, interference

in others’ internal affairs and power politics as a weapon

are disturbing the process of materializing the human rights

and basic freedom. In facing the international situation

going on in this trend, China wishes to exert continued

efforts together with the international community to in-

stall a fair and systematic international relations system,

and to materialize the aims of the UN to protect and

develop human rights and basic freedom.

It is China’s opinion on the issue of the international

human rights as well as its attitude to the developing coun-

tries. On the other hand, the book on a bad nation men-

tioned that the US had opposed the UNGA decisions for

about 150 times during the period from 1984 to 1987.

The US failed to contribute its share of funds to the UN

for decades. Thus, the UN dismissed the US from Human

Rights Commission of the ECOSOC, formed with 53 coun-

tries, in May 2001. It is the first time the HRC has dis-

missed a member since its formation in 1946. First, it

seemed that the Third World countries suffering from the

US exploitation for years would lead the voting to oust

America from the body. But in reality, the allies of the

US had led the voting. Free trade means the free trade

that is in accord with the wish of America. The word

“free trade” has come into vogue since a few decades

ago. If America dislikes the economic policy of a nation,

it uses the IMF and WTO to destroy that nation. If the

method proves to be ineffective, the US imposes onesided

economic sanctions on it. During the past 80 years, the

US imposed economic sanctions on many countries for

120 times. A report said that the US imposed economic

sanctions on 75 countries where 52 per cent of the world’s

population lived in 1998 alone. Those were America’s

inconsistent that are counter to its words, and going against

the majority’s wish of the UN, the democracy, the human

rights and the free trade. Thus, the US government’s tough

economic sanctions on the developing countries including

Myanmar will lead to fuelling the hatred and international

conflict and harming the international friendship, stability

and cooperation.

Translation: AK, TMT

* Saving one gallon of fuel per car per monthwill save the nation one US dollar

* Thus, a total of 455,822 cars in Myanmarcan save US$ 5.5 million in a year

* The amount, US $ 5.5 million, can build amajor bridge across Ayeyawady River

Efficient use of fuel

Aung Moe San

There are about 500,000 householdsusing electricity in Yangon. Thus, saving afour-foot fluorescent lamp every day by eachhousehold amounts to saving power that isequal to the capacity a 20-megawatt powerstation can supply.

Efficient use of electricity* Use daylight as the main source of light* Use the least possible amount of electricity

only if there is not enough natural light* Use the least possible amount of electricity

required in production and service enter-prises

* Preventing waste of electricity benefits theuser and others

* Oppose those relying on externalelements, acting as stooges, holdingnegative views

* Oppose those trying to jeopardizestability of the State and progress ofthe nation

* Oppose foreign nations interfering ininternal affairs of the State

* Crush all internal and externaldestructive elements as the commonenemy

People’s Desire

* Do not be frightenedwhenever intimidated

* Do not be bolsteredwhenever flattered

* Do not be softenedwhenever appeased

All this needs tobe known

BEIJING, 27Aug —Tele-

vision cameras should focus

more on the lives of ordinary

people, and TV programmes

should reflect the public’s

demands more, while at the

same time publicizing new

achievements in the process

of reform and opening-up,

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao

Chinese Premier urges more TVprogrammes to reflect ordinary life

said here Tuesday. Wen, also

a member of the Standing

Committee of the Political

Bureau of the Central Com-

mittee of the Communist

Party of China (CPC), made

the remark when inspecting

the headquarters of China

Central Television (CCTV)

here.

Wen praised CCTV for

adhering to the right direc-

tion, standing alongside the

people, and stressing reform

and renovation. TV pro-

grammes should serve the

people as well as the work of

the CPC and the government,

he said, underlining TV sta-

tions’ role in inspiring people

and unmasking social evils.

TV programmes, linking

closely with ordinary people’s

life, should serve the inter-

ests of the people, he said,

calling on TV staff members

to stick to professional ethics

and shoulder their political

and social responsibilities.

MNA/Xinhua

KAMPALA, 27 Aug —

The Ugandan Government

has imposed a ban on li-

censing of new radio sta-

tions in the east African

country, Radio Uganda re-

ported Monday night.

Minister of State for

Information under the Of-

fice of the President Nsaba

Buturo made the announce-

ment here Monday.

Buturo said there are

many radio stations concen-

trated in one area and they

Uganda imposesban on licensing ofnew radio stations

disturb the air waves.

There is need for a spec-

trum plan where radio sta-

tions will be distributed

equally countrywide, he

said.

He said the ban will be

lifted in December this year.

There are over 30 radio

stations operating in the

country with a population

of 24 million. About another

30 have registered for

licenses for operation.

MNA/Xinhua

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 9

Do you want to know Internet?

Commander Maj-Gen Myint Swe speaks at the 104th meeting of the Traffic RulesEnforcement Committee. (News on page 1) — MNA

Minister Maj-Gen Sein Htwa presents donation of K 180,000 to Director-GeneralU Sann Lwin (News on page 16). — FIRE SERVICES DEPARTMENT

The coordination meeting for holding National Seminar on Women and Sport in progress. (News on page 16) — MNA

Director-General Dr Wan Maung and Mr Fahmid KBhuiya sing the agreement.— HEALTH

Internet Journal

foreign and local technologi-

cal news on computers and

IT, biographies of computer

experts, interviews, compu-

ter guide for kids, Internet

and computer lessons and

tips for game players.

The journal will be de-

livered to subscribers.

Those wishing to read may

contact ground floor of

Kanbawza Building,

Tekkatho Yeikmon Hous-

ing, Seinle Yeiktha Lane,

New University Avenue,

Yangon dialling 559 328-9

or 559 068-9. — (H)

YANGON, 27 Aug—

Internet Journal is published

bimonthly. It features

Agreement signed for cooperationin anti-AIDS activities

YANGON, 27 Aug — The

Health Department under the

Ministry of Health and the

Pact Myanmar social organi-

zation signed an agreement

on cooperation in anti-AIDS

activities at the meeting hall

of the department on

Theinbyu Road here this

morning.

Present on the occasion

were Director-General U

Wan Maung of the Health

Department, Deputy Direc-

tor-General Dr Soe Aung,

directors, resident repre-

sentative Mr Fahmid K

Bhuiya of the Pact Myanmar

and members, and guests.

After delivering an ad-

dress, Dr Wan Maung signed

the agreement together with

Mr Fahmid K Bhuiya and

exchanged the documents. Mr

Fahmid K Bhuiya also spoke

on the occasion. — MNA

FRP speedboat handed over to MMUYANGON, 27 Aug —With

the aim of promoting the

Myanmar Maritime Univer-

sity, a 20-foot-long fibre

water craft— Fibre Glass

Reinforced Plastic-FRP con-

structed by Association for

Japan Myanmar Mutual Co-

operation-AJMMC and Sil-

ver Wave Trading Co Ltd

was handed over to MMU

this morning at Nanthidar

Jetty here. On the occasion,

Mr Murata of AJMMC ex-

plained the purpose of the

donation. Next, Mr Murata

and U Min Min Aung of

Silver Wave Trading Co Ltd

Win, Transport Deputy Min-

ister Col Nyan Tun Aung, de-

partmental heads of the Trans-

port Ministry, senior military

officers, the rector, pro-rector

and principal of MMU, and

students also attended the

handing over ceremony of

the speedboat. — MNA

handed over the water craft

to Transport Minister Maj-

Gen Hla Myint Swe. The

craft is 6 metres long and

2.35 metre wide with a 170

horsepower engine and has

a seating capacity of 7.

Vice-Chief of Military

Intelligence Maj-Gen Kyaw

Minister Maj-Gen Hla Myint Swe and officials view the FRP speedboat — MNA

Mayor looks into tasks for upgrading of Yangon CityYANGON, 27 Aug—Chair-

man of Yangon City Devel-opment Committee YangonMayor Brig-Gen Aung TheinLin, accompanied by Vice-Chairman Deputy Mayor ColMaung Pa and committeemembers, departmental headsand officials, inspected tasksfor upgrading of Yangon Cityincluding the waste watertreatment plant, extension ofStrand Road, Kaba Aye Pa-goda Road and greening tasks

the road section fromTheinbyu Road to YwathitChaung, completion of pave-ment, car parks, greening tasksalong road sides, and tasksbeing implemented and to beimplemented.

The mayor inspected theWaste Water Treatment Plant

for Myainghaywun park andgave instructions. The Mayorarrived at the Waste WaterTreatment Plant of YCDC atThanhlyetsun in BotahtaungTownship. After hearing re-ports, the mayor gave neces-sary instructions.

Deputy Mayor ColMaung Pa and Head of Engi-neering Department (Road &Bridge) U Bo Htay briefed onextension of Strand Road, dig-ging of drainages, tarring of

project site, extension of roads,building of car parks for haul-age trucks and gave instruc-tions.

Later, he inspected beau-tifying tasks forMyainghaywun park inMayangon Township.

  MNA

OISCA-Japan donate trucks to MASYANGON, 27 Aug —

OISCA - International-Japandonated tractors and spareparts to Myanma Agricul-ture Service of the Ministryof Agriculture and Irrigationthis morning at MAS (HeadOffice) here.

On behalf of the officialsof OISCA, Principal of Ag-

ricultural Training School inPakhangyi Village inYesagyo Township, MagweDivision, Mr Ikuo Okamuraexplained the purpose of thedonation. Next, MAS Man-aging Director U Tun Thanspoke words of thanks andaccepted the donation.

MNAMayor Brig-Gen Aung Thein Lin views the scale model of

water treatment plant. — CITY NEWS

10 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003

Efficient woman engineers at Paunglaung hydel power project

The Paunglaung

hydel power project is a

multi-purpose one because

it will not only generate 280

megawatts of electricity but

provide water to 35,000

acres of land. The

Paunglaung River is a tribu-

tary at the upper reaches of

the Sittoung River. It rises

at the Shan plateau and its

current is 4520 cubic feet

per second. The Hsinthay

creek flowing through the

plain in the Yamethin region

and the Ngalaik creek flow-

ing through Pyinmana meet

at a place to the east of

Pyinmana and flow into the

Developing human resources from the most basic sectorThiha TinThiha TinThiha TinThiha TinThiha Tin

Only if the roots are strong, will a tree be able to

grow well and stand firmly on the ground. Likewise, in

every sector, the basic part or the foundation is the most

important for its progress and continued existence.

In this regard, the Government of the Union of

Myanmar has been striving for the infrastructure develop-

ment in all sectors to fulfill the basic requirements of the

Myanmar society before starting to launch its grand project

to build a peaceful, modern and developed nation, with full

momentum.

Everywhere across the nation, bridges large and

small, rail roads, motor roads, Union Highways, com-

munication stations, series of dams in various sizes, in-

stitutions of higher learning, basic education schools, vo-

cational training schools and domestic training schools

are emerging.

In addition, industrial zones have been set up, de-

velopment zones designated and border areas and rural de-

velopment plans implemented to further accelerate the na-

tional development drive.

As the academics and the intellectual power play a

vital role in developing and advancing the nation on the

correct tract, plans are being laid down and implemented to

develop the human resources of the nation from the most

basic sector, and that is the basic education sector.

In developing the basic education sector, first, the

qualifications of the teachers have been upgraded. Courses

including the Special Refresher Course for Basic Educa-

tion Teachers have been conducted, and the modern teach-

ing aids provided to schools in every part of the Union.

As it is now the computer and electronic age, the

Government has been giving priority to installing the multi-

media teaching centres at the schools and imparting com-

puter and electronic knowledge to students starting from

the elementary schools.

The Government is also building many new schools

in all the states and divisions of the nation, while renovat-

ing and upgrading the existing ones.

Even the children of the most remote areas of the

Union are now attending schools at their own villages.

At present, over eight million students are attending

classes in 40,099 basic education schools all over the na-

tion, and annually, the number of students, schools and

teaching staff is increasing.

In the past, students who passed the matriculation

examination with highest marks in the entire nation emerged

only from Yangon, but now, such outstanding students also

come out from schools outside the city. And that is one of

the results of the Government in narrowing the education

gap between the different regions of the Union.

Furthermore, the development in the basic educa-

tion sector means the development in the foundation of the

whole human resources, the main force that will uplift the

nation to a better future.

*****

Paunglaung River to form

the Sittoung River. Water

flows in the creeks only in

the rainy season and is

hardly seen there in other

seasons. At present, the

Ngalaik dam has already

been built across the Ngaleik

creek. The project site is 11

miles from Pyinmana. The

Hydro-electric Power De-

partment and the Irrigation

Department took responsi-

bilities to implement the

multi-purpose dam project.

The Hydro-electric

Power Department con-

structs related buildings in-

cluding two diversion tun-

nels, power intake and trask

rack, 37 small and large tun-

nels (3,300 metres in total),

installation of turbine gen-

erators, transformers and the

230 KV power line and ex-

tension of Pyinmana power

sub-station.

Construction of the

dam and the spillway are

being carried out by the Irri-

gation Department. The two

departments have to take

heavy and significant re-

sponsibilities. The dam con-

structed by the Irrigation De-

partment blocks the moun-

tains on either side of the

Paunglaung river. The rein-

forced earthen dam is 3,084

feet long and 430 feet high.

Its storage capacity is

559,410 acre feet of water

at full brim and 283,760 acre

feet of water can be used.

The spillway is of ladder

type with no gate. It is 410

feet wide and is designed to

release 353,160 cubic feet

of water per second. The

Hydro electric Power De-

partment is building the

power station 310 feet in

length, 50 feet in width and

140 feet in height in a tun-

nel. In this station, four 70-

megawatt vertical Francis

turbines will be installed to

generate 280 megawatts. So,

911 kilowatt hours will be

generated yearly.

Two diversion tun-

nels and related tunnels of

power intake, the under-

ground power station and

related tunnels are being

constructed at over 400 feet

under ground. The tasks call

for endurance and courage.

The fact that woman engi-

neers keeping abreast of man

engineers are working

skillfully at the project is sig-

nificant. Assistant Engineer

Daw Aye Aye Than leads

the woman engineer group

to cooperate with man engi-

neers in digging tunnels,

building diversion wier, in-

take building, concrete tasks

along high-pressure pipe

lines and the underground

power station. No ordinary

woman engineer can finish

these tasks. Only those with

zest and zeal and high effi-

ciency can accomplish these

tasks. So, the whole

Myanmar woman mass can

take pride in those young

woman engineers making

endeavours for nation-build-

ing tasks. It is the result of

State having acknowledged

and trusted the ability of

women assigned duties to

them. The Ministry of Elec-

tric Power has assigned du-

ties to woman engineers as

part of the experimental

project. So, their high effi-

ciency is known and the

ministry is now considering

possibilities to make them

led the whole project in fu-

ture.

In building the coun-

try into a new, modern and

developed nation, the State

acknowledges the efficiency

of women and this leads to

turning out outstanding ef-

ficient woman engineers. So,

ideal woman engineers on

whom the State as well as

the woman mass can take

pride is turning out.

In July, 95 per cent

of digging tunnels and 97

per cent of digging the tun-

nel for underground power

station had been completed.

Priority is being given to

building of major structures

such as water inflow gate

and power intake.

The first turbine of

the power station will be in-

stalled in December and the

fourth and last turbine in

2004. So, efforts are being

made with the objective to

distribute electricity in 2004-

2005.

Translation: KKK(Kyemon: 26-8-2003)

Article by Than Zin Tun, Aung Naing Oo & photos by Thant Zin Tun

Entrance to the Power Plant at PaunglaungHydel Power Plant.

Woman engineers taking part in PaunglaungHydel Power Project.

The new building of No-5 Basic Education Primary School in Daingsu Village in Hlinethaya Township,Yangon North District. — MNA

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 11

Implementation of projects for socio-economicdevelopment of all regions in the country

Repair of uphill and

downhill roads in

Thandaunggyi, Kayin

State, was carried out

with might and main.

The photo shows the

repair of 12 miles long

and 18 feet wide old

road in Thandaunggyi

which will become a

hill resort.

PHOTO: MNA

In line with one of thefive rural developmenttasks — better trans-port in rural areas —bridges big and smallare being built in therural areas.The 120 feet long and19 feet wide Padawa(Pilakhat) creekbridge was built inKyauktan Township,Yangon District(South) at a cost ofK 27 million and wasopened on 17 April 2002. PHOTO: MNA

WATER SUPPLY FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSE: Lagunbyin Dam was built at the border of Hlegu Township of Yangon Division and Bago Township ofBago Division near Thami-galay village. The dam was built at a cost of K 1107.68 million to irrigate 22,000 acres of farmland and was opened

on 24 November 2001. — PHOTO: MNA

12 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003

Singapore’s manufacturingoutput declines 6.3% in July

Cumulatively, output in

the first seven month this

year declined by 1.8 per cent,

said the Press release pub-

lished by the Economic De-

velopment Board (EDB).

It said the marginal rise

in output of the electronics

and chemicals clusters,

which registered 0.4 and 1.2

per cent growth in July 2003

respectively, was offset by

the output declines in other

clusters.

The growth in the elec-

tronics cluster, which has

long been considered as a

pillar of the Singaporean

economy, was contributed

mainly by the semiconduc-

tor and data storage seg-

ments, it said.

The biomedical cluster

contracted by 24.6 per cent

in July, arising from de-

clines in both the pharma-

ceuticals and medical tech-

nology segments, said the

Press release.

The general manufactur-

SINGAPORE, 27 Aug — Singapore’s manufacturing output contracted by 6.3 percent in July 2003 as compared with the same period last year, a government releasesaid here on Tuesday.

ing industries dipped 1.4 per

cent in the month as growth

in the printing and food and

beverage industries was

offset by declines in the

miscellaneous industries, it

said.

The Singaporean eco-

nomy contracted by 1.3 per

cent in the first half of 2003.

The Ministry for Trade and

Industry has recently revised

its growth forecast for 2003

from 0.5-2.5 per cent to 0-1

per cent.—MNA/Xinhua

HANOI , 27 Aug — Vietnam’s export value is expected to grow at 27.5 per centto 13.3 billion US dollars in the first eight months of this year, according to areport of the General Statistic Office on Tuesday.

Of the total, the foreign-invested sector is forecast to register a 38.2- per-cent rise

to nearly 6.7 billion US dollars while the domestic economic sector records a growth

of 18.3 per cent.

Major hard currency earners include coffee with the highest growing rate of 64.5

per cent, and textiles and garment products with the export value of 2.6 billion US

dollars, a year-on-year rise of 57.9 per cent. Other key export items are cashew nuts,

rubber, electric and electric cable wires, wooden furniture, footwear and coal.

According to the Ministry of Trade, the country’s export values to all continents

register rises, with the highest recorded in America.

To earn 18.5 billion US dollars in export value this year, Vietnam aims to rake in

9.2 billion US dollars from Asia, which has been defined as its main market; 3.74

billion US dollars from Europe; 3.53 billion US dollars from North America; and

nearly 1.5 billion US dollars from Australia.

MNA/Xinhua

Vietnam’s export valuerises sharply

BEIJING , 27 Aug — Nepal plans to attract some 120,000 Chinese tourists by the endof 2005, according to Sarvendra Nath Shukla, Nepalese Minister of Culture, Tourismand Civil Aviation who is currently visiting China.

Nepal plans to attract 120,000Chinese tourists by 2005

Shukla said here Mon-

day that when the bilateral

civil aviation agreement

comes into force, airline of

both countries would open

more direct flights to more

cities, which would help in-

crease tourist numbers. The

Nepalese Embassy in China

has begun to exempt visa

fees for Chinese tourists.

With rich culture and

mountain resources, Nepal

is one of Asia’s most fa-

mous tourist destinations.

Since Nepal became the first

South Asian nation to gain

Approved Destination Sta-

tus from the Chinese Gov-

ernment, the mountainous

kingdom has already drawn

some Chinese tourists. But

owing to a lack of direct

flights and the high cost, the

number of Chinese travel-

lers is still limited.

According to the new

agreement, Royal Nepal Air-

lines will extend the original

Katmandu-Shanghai route to

Osaka. China Eastern Air-

lines also plans to link Kat-

mandu with the Delhi route.

Shukla noted that Nepal

had eight mountain over

8,000 metres, eight splen-

did world cultural heritage

sites, and a wealth of relics

of Hinduism and Buddhism.

The country also has over

ten natural protection re-

serves, with valuable plants

and wildlife. Nepal tourism

authorities were training more

Chinese guides, and improv-

ing accommodation to suit

Chinese tourists’ needs, he

said.—MNA/Xinhua

Horn of Africa workshop on climateopens in Kenya

NAIROBI , 27 Aug — The 12th Climate Outlook Forum for the Greater Horn of AfricaWorkshop officially opened in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Monday.

India , Singapore to intensifyeconomic , security ties

SINGAPORE, 27 Aug — India and Singapore on Tuesdayoutlined measures to intensify bilateral economic andsecurity cooperation by setting up a joint fund for invest-ments and convening a counter-terrorism working group.

Indian External Affairs

Minister Yashwant Sinha,

who met the city state’s top

leadership during his one-

day visit, said the two gov-

ernments had agreed to set

up a joint fund to foster in-

vestments.

He also said that India’s

plan to participate in a pro-

posed Asian Bond Fund were

on track.

About joint cooperation

in counter-terrorism, Sinha

said the working groups

would convene soon.

Sinha said India has com-

mitted to a one billion US

dollars for Asian Bond Fund

(ABF), but extent of invest-

ment in Singapore-India

fund has yet to be worked

out. On its part, Singapore

on Tuesday announced a 100

million US dollars towards

the fund.

The ABF is backed by 11

Asia-Pacific countries in-

cluding Japan, China, Aus-

tralia, Thailand, Philippines,

Malaysia, Indonesia, Singa-

pore, Hong Kong, South

Korea and New Zealand.

While the India-Singa-

pore fund will be used by

Indian and Singapore com-

panies to invest in each other,

the Asian Bond Fund will be

used by the companies from

all the participating coun-

tries to invest in the member

countries. Both countries

have reiterated their commit-

ment in concluding the

Comprehensive Economic

Cooperation Agreement

(CECA) by early next year.

MNA/PTI

The three-day event is or-

ganized by the Nairobi-based

Drought Monitoring Centre

of the Inter-Governmental

Authority on Development

(IGAD) in collaboration with

the Kenyan Meteorological

Department and the World

Meteorological Organization

(WMO). WMO chief

Buruhani Nyenzi said in his

opening remarks that one of

the objectives of the work-

shop was to provide opportu-

nities for researchers, scien-

tists and experts to collabo-

rate in the development of

consensus climate outlook

products. The workshop is

also aimed at providing op-

portunities for discussions on

potential climate impacts on

various socioeconomic

sectors.—MNA/Xinhua

Don’t smoke

�������������� �������

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

��������������������� !��������������������� !��������������������� !��������������������� !��������������������� !

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 13

UNSC approves resolution toprotect UN staff

UNITED NATIONS, 27 Aug — Spurred by the bombing of UN headquarters inBaghdad, the Security Council on Tuesday voted unanimously for ways to improveprotection for UN and other aid workers around the world after a day of tense talksbetween Mexico and the United States.

The Mexican-drafted

resolution, cosponsored by

France, Germany, Russia,

Bulgaria and Syria, was first

circulated in April and then

taken out of mothballs after

the bombing of the UN Head-

quarters on August 19 that

killed 23 people and injured

many others.

It urges nations to pros-

ecute perpetrators of crimes

against UN workers and

those from other relief or

nongovernmental organiza-

tions engaged in humanitar-

ian efforts. It says states

should adopt laws ensuring

that violence against humani-

tarian workers is treated as a

war crime.

UN Secretary-General

Kofi Annan told the Council

it was the obligation of eve-

ryone “to protect those work-

ing under the blue flag and to

bring to justice those who

attacked and armed them”.

He said the resolution sent a

message to those who believed

they could advance their cause

by targeting aid workers.

While there was little disa-

greement on the purpose of

the resolution, a mention in

the document of the new In-

ternational Criminal Court

drew objections from the

Bush administration, which

vehemently opposes the

Netherlands-based tribunal.

Mexico and its allies

dropped specific mention of

the Court, whose statutes

spell out what a war crime

is. But they then faced US

objections about defining

war crimes.

Diplomats said that un-

derlying debates on the reso-

lution was bitterness among

some Council members over

US.positions on Iraq as well

as on the International

Criminal Court, with France

and Mexico especially chal-

lenging the United States.

“The basic bottom line is

that the resolution has to state

in clear and unequivocal

terms that an attack against

humanitarian workers is a

war crime,” Mexico’s UN

ambassador, Adolfo Aguilar

Zinser, said.

MNA/Reuters

Fair indicates great trade potentialbetween China, ASEAN

K UNMING , 27 Aug— More than 4,000 businessmen from the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are attending the 11th Kunming Export CommoditiesTrade Fair which opened Tuesday in this capital of southwest China’s YunnanProvince.

China’s decision to establish special

ASEAN exhibition rooms is echoed by com-

panies from the region, with 256 out of 1,500

exhibition rooms occupied by enterprises from

ASEAN countries.

The fair’s organizing committee said the

establishment of ASEAN event rooms was to

meet the requirements for a free trade zone

between China and ASEAN in the near future.

All 10 ASEAN countries have enterprises

participating in the trade fair, with Brunei,

Indonesia and the Philippines present at the

annual event for the first time.

ASEAN enterprises have brought to the

trade fair competitive farm produce, aquatic

products and light industrial goods.

Observers said the enthusiasm of the

ASEAN countries mirrors the great trade

potential between China and ASEAN as a

free-trade agreement is now under negotia-

tion by the two sides.

“The annual total trade volume between

China and ASEAN might approach that of the

North American Free Trade Area after the

China-ASEAN free trade zone comes into

being,” said Zhao Yang, deputy director of the

Office of Overseas Chinese Affairs of the

State Council, China’s Cabinet.

“Competition between China and ASEAN

does exist in some industries,” Zhao said, “but it

will stimulate the two sides to better develop their

comparative advantages, and promote the

process of free trade and investment.”

Trade between China and ASEAN has kept

soaring since the Asian financial crisis of 1997

with an average annual growth rate of 15 per

cent, making ASEAN the fifth-largest of

China’s trade partners, while China is ASEAN’s

sixth-largest trade partner.

China’s Customs statistics show that the

total trade between China and ASEAN reached

23.55-billion-US-dollar worth in the first half

of 2003, an increase of 18.7 per cent year on

year. — MNA/Xinhua

TyphoonKrovanh slams

into northVietnam, killing

oneHANOI, 27 Aug— One of

the most ferocious typhoons

Vietnam has seen in years ripped

into its northern regions, killing

at least one person and injuring

another five, as experts warned

on Tuesday of more landslides

and flashfloods.

Winds of up to 117 kilome-

tre per hour (72.7 miles per

hour) pounded the northern

province of Quang Ninh as

Typhoon Krovanh made land-

fall on Monday night after

sweeping the United Nations

heritage site Halong Bay in the

Tonkin Gulf. The storm was

moving northwest at about 20

kilometre per hour.

MNA/Reuters

Italy provides grant forAfghan highway

construction KABUL , 27 Aug— The Italian Government has agreed

to provide a grant of 36 million euros to Afghanistan aspart of a bilateral agreement to fund the construction ofa highway linking the capital city to a central province,a Press release said on Tuesday.

The agreement was

signed here on Monday by

Afghan Foreign Minister

Abdullah Abdullah and

Italian Ambassador to

Afghanistan Domenico

Giorgi, according to the

Press release of the For-

eign Ministry.

Under the agreement, a

road will be built with Ital-

ian assistance between Ka-

bul and Bamyan, which is

home to the world-famous

giant Buddha statues.

Abdullah on the occasion

thanked Italy for its “signifi-

cant and important contribu-

tion” in helping create jobs in

Afghanistan, connecting the

country’s central highlands

to the capital, and increasing

trade and economic activi-

ties in several provinces.

The Italian ambassador

reiterated that his govern-

ment remains committed to

Afghanistan’s reconstruc-

tion in various fields and

reforms of the judicial sys-

tem, where Italy is taking

the leading role, said the

Press release.

MNA/Xinhua

Mexico challenges US onprotection of UN workers

UNITED NATIONS , 27 Aug— Mexico and its allies dropped language on Tuesday onthe International Criminal Court the United States found offensive in a resolution toprotect UN and other aid workers around the world but Washington raised newobjections.

After hours of negotiations among the 15

Council members, Mexico hoped for a vote late

on Tuesday on the measure that would label

attacks on humanitarian workers a war crime.

But diplomats said Washington feared

that unintentional injury to a relief workers

would constitute a war crime. It wanted to

soften language on war crimes to spare

troops, who, in the heat of combat, might

accidentally fire on people later found to be

humanitarian workers or UN staff.

Consequently, diplomats sought to come

up with words that would paper over differ-

ences and not violate international law.

“The basic bottom line is that the resolu-

tion has to state in clear and unequivocal

terms that an attack against humanitarian

workers is a war crime,” Mexico’s UN am-

bassador, Adolfo Aguilar Zinser, said.

The Mexican draft, cosponsored by

France, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and Syria,

was first circulated in April and revived last

week after the bombing of UN Headquarters

in Baghdad on August 19 that killed 23

people.

The draft resolution originally mentioned

the new International Criminal Court, which

has defined war crimes, but Mexico and

others agreed to drop the reference.

The Bush Administration vehemently op-

poses the tribunal, set up in March to try

perpetrators of the world’s most heinous

crimes, as an infringement of US sover-

eignty and a potential venue for frivolous

lawsuits against US officials abroad.

MNA/Reuters

The wooden sculp-tures on an exhibitionstall of Laos attractmany visitors in theKunming Trade Fair

held in Kunming,southwest China's

Yunnan Province on26 August, 2003.

Exhibition teams fromall the 10 member

states of the Associa-tion of South-East

Asian Nations(ASEAN) showed uptogether in the 11thKunming Trade Fairwhich opened here on

Tuesday.XINHUA

British desert explorer Wilfred Thesiger dies LONDON, 27 Aug— British explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, who crossed the deserts

of Arabia by camel and charted the vanishing lives of Marsh Arabs in Iraq, has diedaged 93.

A death notice in The Times newspaper

on Tuesday said the man acknowledged as

one of the greatest 20th Century travellers

who roamed the most desolate corners of the

planet, died quietly in hospital on Sunday.

Thesiger’s best-selling book ArabianSands chronicled his expeditions across the

region’s treacherous Empty Quarter in 1946

and 1948 with a handful of hardy bedouin

in the last days before petrodollars trans-

formed the Arabian Peninsula.

A few years later he swapped his camel

for a canoe to explore another hidden world,

the marshlands of southern Iraq where he

lived for eight years with Shiite Arabs in

reed houses on the waterways around the

Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Thesiger also travelled in Iran, Kurdistan,

Pakistan and Afghanistan. But he was born

in Africa and returned there in his last years,

dividing his time between the Samburu tribe

of northern Kenya and a flat in London’s

smart Chelsea District.

MNA/Reuters

German cruise passenger dies from Legionnaires’ BERLIN , 27 Aug— A German has died from Legionnaires’ disease contracted during a

14-day cruise near Greenland and four others are infected, German health authorities saidon Tuesday.

The man died in a clinic in the eastern

German city of Magdeburg where he was

being treated after the ship Ocean Monarchreturned to Germany, the Health Ministry of

the state of Saxony-Anhalt said.

Health officials in neighbouring Lower

Saxony said four other passengers had also

contracted the disease.The state’s Health Minis-

try had previously stated that only two passen-

gers were infected. Legionnaires’ disease, named

in 1976 when an outbreak killed 29 people at an

American Legion Convention in Philadelphia, is

a form of pneumonia caused by bacteria in water

droplets. — MNA/Reuters

��������� ��� � �� � ���� ���� ��� ������ � �� ��� �� ��� ���� ��

� � � � � � ! "� � � � � � ! "� � � � � � ! "� � � � � � ! "

� � � � � � ! "� � � � � � ! "� � � � � � ! "� � � � � � ! "� � � � � � ! "

14 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � � � � � � � �

SPORTS

From left, MSK Zilina’s Vladimir Stas fights one ofChelsea’s new arrivals, Glen Johnson, during the match,on 26 August 2003, at Stamford Bridge, London. Chelsea

won the European Champions Cup qualifier 3-0.

INTERNET

Sheringham hat-trick sends Portsmouth top

LONDON, 27 Aug— Newly-promoted Portsmouth went top of the English PremierLeague after a hat-trick by Teddy Sheringham helped them to a 4-0 victory overBolton Wanderers on Tuesday.

Chelsea paradenew signing Crespo

LONDON, 27 Aug — Argentina striker Hernan Crespo has

signed for Chelsea, the big-spending English Premier League

club said on Tuesday.

A stadium announcement at Stamford Bridge, the venue

for Chelsea’s Champions League third qualifying round tie

with MSK Zilina, said that Crespo could make his debut in

Saturday’s home game against Blackburn Rovers.

No financial details of the deal were revealed but media

reports estimate Chelsea have paid around 16 million pounds

(25.03 million US dollars) for the Inter Milan striker.

Crespo, who was presented to the home fans during the

halftime interval on Tuesday, has been expected to join

Chelsea for the past week.

The move took the west London club’s spending to

nearly 100 million pounds since Russian oil tycoon Roman

Abramovich took the club over last month.

MNA/Reuters

Sheringham, 37, started his scoring spree

with a 57th-minute header and then struck

twice in the last three minutes, the second a

penalty, as Harry Redknapp’s side demol-

ished Bolton at Fratton Park.

A superb solo strike by teenage forward

Wayne Rooney in the 72nd minute earned

Everton a 2-2 draw at Charlton Athletic

after Jason Euell had converted two penal-

ties for the hosts.

Leeds United were held to a 0-0 draw by

Southampton and there was another goal-

less deadlock in Leicester City’s home game

with Middlesbrough, for whom new sign-

ing Gaizka Mendieta made his debut.

Portsmouth have seven points from three

games and lead second-placed Manchester

City on goal difference. Champions Man-

chester United and Arsenal, who both play

on Wednesday, and Chelsea have six points.

Though pleased with the outcome,

Redknapp was still ruing the fact that his

side conceded a 90th-minute equalizer in

last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Manchester

City.

“We really could have had nine points,”

he told Sky Sports. “We were one minute

away from winning at Manchester City —

and that would have been a fantastic start.

But to have seven points has been a great

start for us.”

As for the recipe for Portsmouth’s suc-

cess, the former West Ham manager said:

“We’ve got good spirit here, the lads all

work hard for each other and we’ve got

terrific support — they (the fans) make a big

difference. They’re going to be so vital to us

at home this year.”

Sheringham, offloaded by Tottenham

Hotspur at the end of last season after cap-

taining the north London club, said: “To

score four goals against any Premiership

club is brilliant and I think we fully deserved

it”.

By contrast, Bolton boss Sam Allardyce

was seething at his side’s performance, say-

ing: “They have a responsibility to do more

than what they’re doing. They get paid well,

they get looked after well. They have to

show a lot more determination.

“Sometimes the game isn’t about play-

ing pretty football, it’s about rolling your

sleeves up and digging in and our defenders

at the moment aren’t that good at doing that.

“They’re more interested in playing pretty

little balls in to Jay-Jay Okocha, instead

of heading balls out of defence,” said the

Bolton boss. — MNA/Reuters

Schalke’s Gustavo Varea from Uruguay, left, fights for the ball against Eduard Glieder,right, of Pasching during the second leg UI soccer cup final between German first divisionclub FC Schalke 04 and Austrian first division club SV Pasching at the Arena Auf Schalke in the western German city of Gelsenkirchen on 26 August, 2003. — INTERNET

LONDON, 27 Aug— Chelsea booked their place in the group phase of the ChampionsLeague with a 3-0 victory over MSK Zilina and completed the signing of HernanCrespo in a double celebration at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

Chelsea cruise into Champions League

New defensive signing Glen Johnson

headed Chelsea into a 32nd-minute lead,

Robert Huth nodded another in the 67th and

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink lashed in a third

as Chelsea secured a comfortable 5-0 ag-

gregate win in the third qualifying round.

“It was important to win. We won and

scored some good goals but it was very

important for the new Chelsea that we

reached the Champions League,” Chelsea

manager Claudio Ranieri told reporters.

As if to further emphasize the huge gulf

in class and aspirations between the clubs

Chelsea paraded new signing Crespo at

halftime. The Argentine striker has joined

in a 16.8 million pound (26.28 million US

dollars) four-year deal from Inter Milan.

The scoreline could have been even

more convincing but Eidur Gudjohnsen hit

a post with only goalkeeper Branislav

Rzeszoto to beat while a 25-metre free kick

from Huth appeared to cross the line after

hitting the crossbar, but no goal was given.

Even without new signings like

midfielders Juan Sebastian Veron and

Damien Duff and defender Wayne Bridge

Chelsea were vastly superior to the Slovaks

in every position.

“We played the best we could but we are

not comparable with Chelsea,” said MSK

coach Milan Lesicky. “I’m sure they will be

one of the best teams in the world,” he said.

There was an air of inevitability about

the outcome from the start even though it

took Chelsea more than 30 minutes to score.

The opening goal came when Johnson

headed home a Frank Lampard free kick for

the first senior goal of his career.

Any fears Chelsea might have had of

repeating previous shock European exits were

quickly ended as former Joe Cole and

Lampard quickly established complete mas-

tery in midfield while MFK did not test

Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini once.

The late goals from Huth and Hasselbaink

added respectability to the scoreline.

MNA/Reuters

Poborsky helps SpartaPrague through togroup stage

PRAGUE, 27 Aug— Karel Poborsky scored

again as Sparta Prague sneaked through to

the lucrative Champions League group stage

on Tuesday with a 2-2 draw against Vardar

Skopje of Macedonia. The draw gave the

Czech champions a 5-4 aggregate victory in

the third qualifying round tie.

Sparta were indebted to former Man-

chester United midfielder Poborsky for two

goals, including an 89th-minute winner, in

their 3-2 first-leg win in Macedonia two

weeks ago. He steadied Sparta’s nerves again

on Tuesday by cancelling out Slavco

Georgievski’s 30th-minute opener against

the run of play for Vardar.—MNA/Reuters

Clijsters overcomes slow start, Hewitt wins

American Davenport

stormed through with a 6-1,

6-0 demolition of Belgium’s

Els Callens while Clijsters

began her bid for a first ca-

reer grand slam title in em-

phatic style by taming

American wildcard Amber

Lui 6-2, 6-3. They were

joined in the winners’ circle

by Clijsters’ long-term boy-

friend and men’s sixth seed

Lleyton Hewitt.

Champion here in 2001,

Hewitt crushed Romania’s

Victor Hanescu 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

in the night match at Flush-

ing Meadows.

The Australian’s one-

sided victory followed an

emotional farewell by Pete

Sampras, champion here last

year.

The 32-year-old winner

of a record 14 Grand Slam

titles was treated to a stand-

ing ovation which reduced

him to tears on center court.

“It’s not easy saying

goodbye,” Sampras told the

crowd. “I love playing here

in New York but in my heart

I know it (retirement) is the

right thing to do.”

Hot favourite to win the

women’s title following the

withdrawal of defending

champion Serena Williams

and her sister, twice winner

Venus, top seed Clijsters got

her match off to a stuttering

start against her 290th-

ranked opponent. But in the

end, the Belgian needed only

62 minutes to reach the sec-

ond round. —MNA/Reuters

NEW YORK, 27 Aug— World number one Kim Clijsters overcame a slow start andthird seed Lindsay Davenport shrugged off injury fears as two of the tournamentfavourites booked safe passage into the second round of the US Open on Monday.

Schalke, Perugia,qualify forUEFA Cup

BERLIN, 27 Aug — Ger-

man club Schalke 04 booked

their place in the UEFA Cup

after a goalless draw with

SV Pasching in the second

leg of their Intertoto Cup fi-

nal on Tuesday gave them a

2-0 aggregate win over the

Austrian team. The 1997

UEFA Cup winners, who fin-

ished seventh in the

Bundesliga last season,

bounced back from a 4-1

defeat by Werder Bremen

on Saturday to secure their

passage, although they did

not manage a shot on goal

until the 39th minute. Italy’s

Perugia also sealed a UEFA

Cup first-round berth after

beating nine-man VfL

Wolfsburg 2-0 in the second

leg of their final on Tuesday

to give them a 3-0 aggregate

win. — MNA/Reuters

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 2003 15

R 489 Published by the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar. Edited and printed at The New Light of Myanmar Press,No 22/30 Strand Road at 43rd Street, Yangon. Cable Newlight, PO Box No. 43, Telephones: Editors 296115, Manager 296864, Circulation 297093, Advertisement 296843,Accounts 296545, Administration 296161, Production 297032 (Office) /297028 (Press).

28-8-2003 (Thursday)(Programme Schedule)Morning Transmission

(9:00 - 10:00)

WEATHER

MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3MRTV-3

Wednesday, 27 August, 2003

View today:

Thursday, August 28

7:00 am1. Recitation of Parittas by

Missionary SayadawU Ottamathara

7:25 am 2. To be healthy exercise

7:30 am 3. Morning news

7:40 am 4. Nice and sweet song

7:55 am 5. Dance of national races

8:05 am 6. � � �� � �� � �� �� � �� � �� ��� �� � �� � �� � �� �� � �� � �� ��� �� � �� � �� � �� �8:15 am 7. Dance variety

8:30 am 8. International news

8:40 am 9. Let's Go

4:00 pm 1. Martial song

4:15 pm 2. Song to uphold

National Spirit

4:30 pm 3. English For Everyday Use

4:45 pm 4. Musical programme

5:00 pm 5. � � � � �� � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � � � � � � � � � �� � � �� � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � �� � � �� � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � �� � � �� � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � �� � � �� � � � � � � �� � �� � �� � �� �� �� � � � � � � �� � �� � �

� � � � � �� � � !" � # � $ � � % & # ' ( � � � % &� � � � � �� � � !" � # � $ � � % & # ' ( � � � % &� � � � � �� � � !" � # � $ � � % & # ' ( � � � % &� � � � � �� � � !" � # � $ � � % & # ' ( � � � % &� � � � � �� � � !" � # � $ � � % & # ' ( � � � % &� � $ � � �� ! � ) � � !" � )� � $ �� �� ! � ) � � !" � )� � $ � � �� ! � ) � � !" � )� � $ �� �� ! � ) � � !" � )� � $ � � �� ! � ) � � !" � )

5:15 pm 6. Cute little dancers

5:30 pm 7. * + + , � � � � �� - � � & � � � � � � ��* + + , � � � � �� - � � & � � � � � � ��* + + , � � � � �� - � � & � � � � � � ��* + + , � � � � �� - � � & � � � � � � ��* + + , � � � � �� - � � & � � � � � � ��

. . � � � � � ) � � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2 . . � � � �� ) �� �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2 . . � � � � � ) � � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2 . . � � � �� ) �� �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2 . . � � � �� ) � � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� ��� � � ��� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 ��� � �� � � ��� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� ��� � � ��� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 ��� � �� � � ��� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� � �� � � ��� ! � � � / � � � �� �� � � � �� ' �4 � $ 5 � � � � ! � � � / � � � �� �� � � � �� ' �4 � $ 5 � � � � ! � � � / � � � �� �� � � � �� ' �4 � $ 5 � � � � ! � � � / � � � �� �� � � � �� ' �4 � $ 5 � � � � ! � � � / � � � �� �� � � � �� ' �4 � $ 5 � � � � ( � � � �� �� � � ��/ ) � � !� � � �3 6 ) � ( � � � �� �� � � ��/ ) � � !� � � �3 6 ) � ( � � � �� �� � � ��/ ) � � !� � � �3 6 ) � ( � � � �� �� � � ��/ ) � � !� � � �3 6 ) � ( � � � �� �� � � ��/ ) � � !� � � �3 6 )

5:40 pm 8. Musical programme

7:55 pm 9.

� � �� � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � �� � � � � � � � �� � � � � � � �� � � � � � 6:10 pm 10. 7 � � � � 87 � � � � 87 � � � � 87 � � � � 87 � � � � 8 � �� &3 # � 5 �� � � � � � � �� # � �� &3 # � 5 �� � � � � � � �� # � �� &3 # � 5 �� � � � � � � �� # � �� &3 # � 5 �� � � � � � � �� # � �� &3 # � 5 �� � � � � � � �� #

� � � �� � � � � �9 � �� )� � � �� � � � � �9 � �� )� � � �� � � � � �9 � �� )� � � �� � � � � �9 � �� )� � � �� � � � ��9 � �� )

& ( � �� � � � � : � � � � �9 � � 2� �� ) & ( � �� � � � � : � � � � �9 � � 2� �� ) & ( � �� � � � � : � � � � �9 � � 2� �� ) & ( � �� � � � � : � � � � �9 � � 2� �� ) & ( � �� � � � � : � � � � �9 � � 2� �� )6:15 pm 11.

� $$ ; �� � 0 � � 0 � � �� � � � 0 �� $$ ; �� � 0 � � 0 � � �� � � � 0 �� $$ ; �� � 0 � � 0 � � �� � � � 0 �� $$ ; �� � 0 � � 0 � � �� � � � 0 �� $$ ; �� � 0 � � 0 � � �� � � � 0 �6:30 pm 12. Evening news

7:00 pm 13. Weather report

7:05 pm 14. Milo success in soccer

7:10 pm 15. � � �� <3 � � �� �� : * )� � �� <3 � � �� �� : * )� � �� <3 � � �� �� : * )� � �� <3 � � �� �� : * )� � �� <3 � � �� �� : * )7:20 pm 16. Musical programme

7:30 pm 17. � � ! � �� � � � 3 �� �� =� � ) � � � � � � �� � � �� � ! � �� � � � 3 �� �� =� � ) � � � � � � �� � � �� � ! � �� � � � 3 �� �� =� � ) � � � � � � �� � � �� � ! � �� � � � 3 �� �� =� � ) � � � � � � �� � � �� � ! � �� � � � 3 �� �� =� � ) � � � � � � �� � � � � � $ � �� �� ) � � $ � �� �� ) � � $ � �� �� ) � � $ � �� �� ) � � $ � �� �� )7:40 pm 18.

� �� �� � � <� = � < �� � � � �/ � � ! �� � �� �� � � <� = � < �� � � � �/ � � ! �� � �� �� � � <� = � < �� � � � �/ � � ! �� � �� �� � � <� = � < �� � � � �/ � � ! �� � �� �� � � <� = � < �� � � � �/ � � ! �� 8:00 pm 19. News

20. International news

21. Weather report

22. & � � � � � � �� . + � � � �� )& � � � � � � �� . + � � � � � )& � � � � � � �� . + � � � �� )& � � � � � � �� . + � � � � � )& � � � � � � �� . + � � � �� )� � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2� � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2� � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2� � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2� � �� � � / � �� � � 0 1� � � ! �2� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� � �� �� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� ��� �� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� � �� �� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� ��� �� � �� # � � #� � � # � � 3 � �� � �� � � � �� � � � � �� �� � ) � � � � � � � � �� �� � ) � � �� � � � � �� �� � ) � � � � � � � � �� �� � ) � � �� � � � � �� �� � )7 � � � > � � � 5 � � � � � �� � � 3 87 � � � > � � � 5 � � � � � �� � � 3 87 � � � > � � � 5 � � � � � �� � � 3 87 � � � > � � � 5 � � � � � �� � � 3 87 � � � > � � � 5 � � � � � �� � � 3 8 � �� � � �� � �� �� : * ) � �� � � �� � �� �� : * ) � �� � � �� � �� �� : * ) � �� � � �� � �� �� : * ) � �� � � �� � �� �� : * )

23. The next day's

programme

Tune in today:Thursday, August 28

8.30 am Brief news8.35 am Music8.40 am Perspectives8.45 am Music8.50 am National news/

Slogan9.00 am Music9.05 am International news9.10 am Music1.30 pm News/Slogan1.40 pm Lunch time music

-Let it flow (Toni Braxton) -Sitting up in my room (Brandy)

9.00 pm Aspects of Myanmar -Mother Ayeyawady by Saw Nwe

9.10 pm Aritcle/Music9.20 pm Topics potpourri

-Ancient Taoist medicine bottles -found in mountain bird nest

9.30 pm Favourite songschosen by

“Daw Khin Marlar Tun” -Shinning star (Backstreet Boys)-My all (Bariah Carey)-This is our song (CodeRed)

9.45 pm News / Slogan10:00 pm PEL

9:00 Signature TuneGreetings

9:02 Song of MyanmarBeauty & ScenicSights “MyanmaPanorama & MyanmaSentiment”

9:06 Myanmar's Pride &Glory

9:10 Headline News9:12 Myanmar Cuisine

“Noodle with CoconutSoup”

9:15 National News9:20 Asian Fantasy Orches-

tra (Part - V)9:25 Brave Youth Showing

His Strength &Ability

9:30 National News9:35 Lifestyles along the

Ayeyawady (Mandalayto Pyay) (Part-1)

9:40 Myanmar ModernSong “Speakingthrough our eyes”

9:45 National News9:50 Myanmar Marine Pro-

ducts For All Nations9:58 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Come andSee Myanmar”

28-8-2003˚(Thursday)Regular Programmes for

Viewers from AbroadEvening Transmission

(15:30 - 17:30)15:30 Signature Tune

Greetings15:32 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “MyanmaPanorama & MyanmaSentiment”

15:36 Myanmar's Pride &Glory

15:40 Headline News15:42 Myanmar Cuisine

“Noodle with CoconutSoup”

15:45 National News15:50 Asian Fantasy Orches-

tra (Part - V)15:55 Brave Youth Showing

His Strength &Ability

16:00 National News16:05 Lifestyles along the

Ayeyawady (Mandalayto Pyay) (Part-1)

16:10 Myanmar ModernSong “Speaking

Southern Shan State(Part-II)

20:55 Kayah Dance21:00 National News21:05 Folk Art of Pottery21:10 Song “Sumprabum”21:15 National News21:20 Breeding of Mythun21:30 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “MyanmaPanorama & MyanmaSentiment”

21:36 Myanmar's Pride &Glory

21:40 Headline News21:42 Myanmar Cuisine

“Noodle with CoconutSoup”

21:45 National News21:50 Asian Fantasy

Orchestra (Part - V)21:55 Brave Youth Showing

His Strength &Ability

22:00 National News22:05 Lifestyles along the

Ayeyawady (Mandalayto Pyay) (Part-1)

22:10 Myanmar ModernSong “Speakingthrough our eyes”

22:15 National News22:20 Myanmar Marine Pro-

ducts For All Nations22:25 Song “Bagan the

Wonder Land”22:30 National News22:35 Interview on Marque-

try Painting22:40 Myanmar Cuisine

“Steamed Fish”22:45 National News22:50 Myanma Jaggery22:55 Chin Dance23:00 National News23:05 Myanmar Traditional

Fan23:10 Myanmar Modern

Song“A way for lovers”

23:12 Myanma Rubber23:15 National News23:20 Usefulness of the

whole toddy palm23:25 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Come and SeeMyanmar”

28-8-2003˚(Thursday) &29-8-2003 (Friday)

Evening & MorningTransmission

(23:30 - 01:30)23:30 Signature Tune

Greetings23:32 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “MyanmaPanorama & MyanmaSentiment”

23:36 Myanmar's Pride &Glory

23:40 Headline News23:42 Myanmar Cuisine Summary of observations recorded at 09:30 hours

MST: During the past 24 hours, weather has been partlycloudy in lower Sagaing Division, rain or thundershowershave been isolated in Shan, Chin and Kayah States, scatteredin Kachin State, upper Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Bagoand Taninthayi Divisions, and widespread in the remainingareas with isolated heavyfalls in upper Sagaing Division andMon State. The noteworthy amounts of rainfall recorded wereHkamti (5.98) inches, Ye (3.86) inches and Thandwe (2.28)inches. Maximum temperature on 26-8-2003 was 30.0°C(86°F). Minimum temperature on 27-8-2003 was 21.6°C(71°F). Relative humidity at 9:30 hrs MST on27-8-2003 was 92%. Total sunshine hours on 26-8-2003 was(3.2) hours approx. Rainfall on 27-8-2003 was 2 mm atYangon Airport, 3 mm at Kaba-Aye and 1 mm at centralYangon. Total rainfall since 1-1-2003 was 1689 mm(66.50 inches) at Yangon Airport, 1851 mm (72.87 inches)at Kaba-Aye and 1880 mm (74.02 inches) at central Yangon.Maximum wind speed at Yangon (Kaba-Aye) was 19 mphfrom south at (15:20) hours MST on 26-8-2003.

Bay inference: Monsoon is strong to vigorous in theBay of Bengal. Forecast valid until evening of 28-8-2003:Rain will be widespread in Rakhine, Mon and Kayin States,Ayeyawady, Yangon and Taninthayi Divisions and isolatedto scattered in the remaining States and Divisions withlikelihood of isolated heavyfalls in Rakhine and Mon States,Ayeyawady and Yangon Divisions. Degree of certainty is(80%). State of the sea: Squalls with moderate to roughseas are likely at times off and along Myanmar Coast.Surface wind speed in squalls may reach (40) mph.Outlook for subsequent two days: Moderate monsoon.Forecast for Yangon and neighbouring area for 28-8-2003:Some rain. Degree of certainty is (100%). Forecast forMandalay and neighbouring area for 28-8-2003: Isolatedrain . Degree of certainty is (80%).

through our eyes”16:15 National News16:20 Myanmar Marine Pro-

ducts For All Nations16:25 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Mingalabar”

16:30 National News16:35 Interview on Mar-

quetry Painting16:40 Myanmar Cuisine

“Steamed Fish”16:45 National News16:50 Myanma Jaggery16:55 Chin Dance17:00 National News17:05 Myanmar Traditional

Fan17:10 Myanmar Modern

Song “A way for lov-ers”

17:12 Myanma Rubber17:15 National News17:20 Usefulness of the

whole toddy palm17:25 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Come and SeeMyanmar”

Evening Transmission(19:30 - 23:30)

19:30 Signature TuneGreetings

19:32 Song of MyanmarBeauty & ScenicSights “Mingalabar”

19:36 Native of Pa-O Nationals (Kyauktalone)

19:40 Headline News19:42 Easily Cooked Tasty

Dishes “Snake gourdstuffing poundedprawn”

19:45 National News19:50 Ancient Buddha

Images Carvedon Stone Walls(Akauk Mountain)

19:55 The “Htaung YaungNay” (Classical MaleDance)

19:58 The Floating Gardensof Inlay Lake

20:00 National News20:05 Medicinal Plants at

Popa Mountain Park20:10 Song “The Heart of

Wetland”20:12 Second Year Singing

Training Course ofthe School of Fine Arts(Yangon)

20:15 National News20:20 Myanmar Rattan Fur-

niture for the connois-seurs

20:25 Song “Land of Beauty”20:30 National News20:35 Mandalay-Lashio-

Muse Union Highway20:40 Myanmar Cuisine

“Carrot Pudding”20:45 National News20:50 Picturesque Views in

“Noodle with CoconutSoup”

23:45 National News23:50 Asian Fantasy

Orchestra (Part - V)23:55 Brave Youth Showing

His Strength & Ability

24:00 National News00:05 Lifestyles along the

Ayeyawady (Mandalayto Pyay) (Part-1)

00:10 Myanmar ModernSong “Speakingthrough our eyes”

00:15 National News00:20 Myanmar Marine Pro-

ducts For All Nations00:25 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Mingalabar”

00:30 National News00:35 Interview on Marque-

try Painting00:40 Myanmar Cuisine

“Steamed Fish”00:45 National News00:50 Myanma Jaggery00:55 Chin Dance01:00 National News01:05 Myanmar Traditional

Fan01:10 Myanmar Modern

Song “A way for lovers”

01:12 Myanma Rubber01:15 National News01:20 Usefulness of the

whole toddy palm01:25 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “Come and SeeMyanmar”

29-8-2003˚(Friday)

Morning Transmission(03:30 - 07:30)

03:30 Signature TuneGreetings

03:32 Song of MyanmarBeauty & ScenicSights “Mingalabar”

03:36 Native of Pa-O Na-tionals (Kyauktalone)

03:40 Headline News03:42 Easily Cooked Tasty

Dishes “Snake gourdssstuffing poundedprawn”

03:45 National News03:50 Ancient Buddha

Images Carved onStone Walls(Akauk Mountain)

03:55 The “Htaung YaungNay” (Classical MaleDance)

03:58 The Floating Gardensof Inlay Lake

04:00 National News04:05 Medicinal Plants at

Popa Mountain Park04:10 Song “The Heart of

Wetland”04:12 Second Year Singing

Training Course of

the School of FineArts (Yangon)

04:15 National News04:20 Myanmar Rattan

Furniture for theconnoisseurs

04:25 Song“Land of Beauty”

04:30 National News04:35 Mandalay-Lashio-

Muse UnionHighway

24:40 Myanmar Cuisine“Carrot Pudding”

04:45 National News04:50 Picturesque Views in

Southern Shan State(Part-II)

04:55 Kayah Dance05:00 National News05:05 Folk Art of Pottery05:10 Song “Sumprabum”05:15 National News05:20 Breeding of Mythun05:30 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights “MyanmaPanorama &Myanma Sentiment”

05:36 Myanmar's Pride &Glory

05:40 Headline News05:42 Myanmar Cuisine

“Noodle with Coco-nut Soup”

05:45 National News05:50 Asian Fantasy

Orchestra (Part - V)

05:55 Brave Youth ShowingHis Strength &Ability

06:00 National News06:05 Lifestyles along the

Ayeyawady (Mandalayto Pyay) (Part-1)

06:10 Myanmar ModernSong “Speakingthrough our eyes”

06:15 National News06:20 Myanmar Marine Pro-

ducts For All Nations06:25 Songs “Bagan the

Wonder Land”06:30 National News06:35 Interview on Marque-

try Painting00:40 Myanmar Cuisine

“Steamed Fish”06:45 National News06:50 Myanma Jaggery06:55 Chin Dance07:00 National News07:05 Myanmar Traditional

Fan07:10 Myanmar Modern

Song“A way for lovers”

07:12 Myanma Rubber07:15 National News07:20 Usefulness of the whole

toddy palm07:25 Song of Myanmar

Beauty & ScenicSights“Come and SeeMyanmar”

16 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 28 August, 20032nd Waxing of Tawthalin, 1365 ME Thursday, 28 August, 2003

Coord meeting on greening surrounding areas of airportYANGON, 27 Aug — A

coordination meeting was

held at the meeting hall of

Yangon Command this morn-

ing, with an address by Chair-

man of Yangon Division

Peace and Development

Council Commander of

Yangon Command Maj-Gen

Myint Swe. It was also at-

tended by member of YCDC

Col Thaung Wai, Secretary of

Yangon Division Peace and

Development Council Lt-Col

Kyaw Tint and members, de-

partmental personnel, local

authorities, and officials.

The meeting focused on

the greening of 30-mile ra-

dius of Yangon International

Airport and cultivation of

monsoon and summer paddy,

beans and pulses, edible oil

crops, and vegetables all the

year round.

Officials reported on mat-

ters related to farmland and

cultivation of crops in Yangon

Division, agricultural under-

takings in Uto and Kya-in re-

gions, cultivation of crops on

wetland, and future tasks.

The meeting ended with

concluding remarks of the

commander. — MNA

Commander Maj-Gen Myint Swe addresses work coordination meeting for greening of the 30-mile radius of Yangon International Airport. — MNA

Dr Daw Khin Win Shwe delivers a speech at the coordination meeting for holdingNational Seminar on Women and Sports. — MNA

yesterday afternoon.

Present on the occasion

were officials of the Min-

istry of Agriculture and Ir-

rigation, the Ministry of

Livestock and Fisheries,

the Ministry of Forestry,

the Ministry of Education,

the Ministry of Health, the

Ministry of Information,

and resident representative

office of UN FAO to

Myanmar.

Deputy Minister for A

& I Brig-Gen Khin Maung

delivered a speech.

Officials of the respec-

tive departments discussed

matters on presenting

prizes, information and se-

lecting motto.

MNA

YANGON, 27 Aug— East-

ern Command Command-

er’s Championship Shield

Shooting Contest for 2003

was held at the station

shooting range in Bahtoo

Tatmyo on 23 August.

Present were Com-

mander of Eastern Com-

mand Maj-Gen Khin Maung

Myint, Bahtoo Station Com-

mander Brig-Gen Zaw Win,

staff officers of the com-

mand, senior officers and

teams.

The commander and of-

ficials presented first, sec-

ond and third prizes to the

winning teams.

MNA

Commanderpresents prizes towinning teams inShooting Contest

Measures on holding National Seminar on Women and Sports coordinatedYANGON 27 Aug — The

organizing committee for

holding National Seminar on

Women and Sports held a

coordination meeting for the

seminar to be organized by

the Ministry of Sports,

Myanmar National Commit-

tee for Women’s Affairs and

Myanmar Women’s Sports

Federation, at the Interna-

tional Business Centre on

Pyay Road here this after-

noon.

It was attended by Pa-

trons of the organizing com-

mittee Minister for Social

Welfare, Relief and Reset-

tlement Maj-Gen Sein Htwa

emonies.

Dr Daw Khin Win Shwe

made an opening address on

the occasion.

Member of the organiz-

ing committee Vice-Presi-

dent 1 of MWSF Professor

Daw Mya Mya reported the

agendas and arrangements

for holding the seminar. Min-

ister Brig-Gen Thura Aye

Myint gave a supplementary

report. Professor Dr Daw

May May Yee reported on

preparations for the seminar

and made suggestions.

Dr Daw Khin Win Shwe

made concluding remarks.

MNA

and Minister for Sports Brig-

Gen Thura Aye Myint, Vice-

President of the organizing

committee member of

MNCWA and Myanmar

National Working Commit-

tee for Women’s Affairs Dr

Daw Khin Win Shwe, mem-

bers of the organizing com-

mittee, President of the

Working Committee for or-

ganizing the seminar Presi-

dent of MWSF Professor

Daw May May Yee and

members, secretaries and the

group leaders and members.

Secretary of the organiz-

ing committee Daw Nu Nu

Yee acted as master of cer-

Myanmar delegation arrives back fromKunming Trade Fair-2003

YANGON , 27 Aug —

The Myanmar delegation

led by Minister for Com-

merce Brig-Gen Pyi Sone

arrived back here by air

this afternoon after attend-

ing the Kunming Trade

Fair-2003 held in

Kunming, the People’s Re-

public of China.

The delegation was

welcomed back at Yangon

International Airport by

Minister for Culture Maj-

Gen Kyi Aung, Minister

for Labour U Tin Winn,

Director-General of the

Directorate of Trade U

Nyunt Aye, Managing

Director of Myanma Ag-

ricultural Produce Trad-

ing U Min Hla Aung,

Chinese Ambassador to

Myanmar Mr Li Jinjun,

officials of the Border

Trade Department and

their families.

Director-General U

Nay Win of the Border

Trade Department and

Assistant Director U Min

Min and Daw Pa Pa Win

of the Directorate of Trade

also arrived back on the

same flight.

MNA

YANGON, 27 Aug —

The Central Organizing

Committee for Observing

World Food Day, which

falls on 16 October

2003, held its first coor-

dination meeting at the

Ministry of Agriculture

and Irrigation on Thiri

Mingala Lane of Kaba

Aye Pagoda Road here

YANGON, 27 Aug — Un-

der the agies of Minister for

Social Welfare, Relief and

Resettlement Maj-Gen Sein

Htwa and wife, the Ministry

of Social Welfare, Relief and

Resettlement offered ‘soon’

to the lecturer Sayadaws and

members of the Sangha of

State Pariyatti Sasana Univer-

sity (Yangon) at Mogok re-

fectory on Thiri Mingala Kaba

Aye Hill in Mayangon Town-

ship this morning. Present on

the occasion were Minister

for SWRR Maj-Gen Sein

Htwa and wife, Deputy Min-

ister Brig-Gen Kyaw Myint,

Deputy Minister for Immi-

gration and Population U

Maung Aung and wife, Of-

ficer on Special Duty Brig-

Gen Thura Sein Thaung and

wife, directors-general of de-

partments under the two min-

istries and their wives, senior

officers and their wives and

staff families.

The congregation re-

ceived the Five Precepts from

the Pro-Rector Sayadaw of

the university Agga Maha

Ganthavacaka Pandita

Bhaddanta Uttama.

The minister, the deputy

ministers and officials pre-

sented offertories to the Rec-

tor Sayadaw and members of

the Sangha.

Afterwards, the minister

presented K 180,000 for of-

fering ‘soon’ to Sayadaws and

members of the Sangha do-

nated by the SWRR Ministry

to Director-General of the De-

partment for Promotion and

Propagation of the Sasana U

Sann Lwin who presented cer-

tificate of honour to the

wellwisher.

The Rector Sayadaw de-

livered a sermon and the cer-

emony ended after sharing the

merits gained. — MNA

SWRR Ministry offers ‘soon’ to members of Sangha

World Food Day to be observed

YANGON, 27 Aug —

Chairman of Myanmar Ol-

ympic Committee Minister

for Sports Brig-Gen Thura

Aye Myint attended the

Hsanhso Contest organized

by Myanmar Wushu Fed-

eration, held at Aung San

Gymnasium, this morning.

At the prize presenta-

tion ceremony, Minister

Brig-Gen Thura Aye

Myint, MOC General-Sec-

retary Sports and Physical

Education Department Di-

rector-General U Thaung

Htaik and officials pre-

sented prizes to the win-

ners in the respective di-

visions.

MNA

Prizes presented to winners ofHsanhso Contest

Myanmar delegation led by Minister Brig-Gen Pyi Sone being welcomed back at theairport. — MNA