Government introduces fuel rationing to cut out black market
IN an effort to kill off the petrol black market, the government last week unveiled a fuel rationing system that will limit each vehicle to four gallons (about 18 litres) of petrol a day at the subsidised price of K2500. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Petrol prices soar 25 percent
BLACK market petrol prices in Yangon have risen by about 25 percent over the past month, sending prices outside the country’s economic capital soaring. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Paint at the pump
~ (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
After slow start, Chaungtha prepares for bumper season
HOTELIERS at Chaungtha beach in Ayeyarwady Region say the are expecting a record number of visitors in the 2010-11 tourist season, which runs until the end of May. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
MPs encouraged by committees
THE composition of eight permanent committees formed in the national legislatures last week has given opposition groups hope that they can play an effective role in the parliamentary system, sources say. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Htoo to retrieve stranded chopper: official
THE boss is back – but his helicopter is not. A US$2-million helicopter owned by Htoo Trading remains stranded on 4500-metre (15,000-foot) Madwel mountain in northern Kachin State, close to the border with India, a company official said last week. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Anxious wait over as matriculation exams begin
MARCH 7: The day hundreds of thousands of students, parents and teachers have been waiting for. At Teacher’s Training College (TTC) in Kamaryut township, the matriculation examinations began in the usual fashion, with parents wishing their nervous sons and daughters good luck as they led them to the gate of the school compound. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Kungyangon residents get death sentences
TEN people convicted of a vicious robbery-murder in Yangon Region’s Kungyangon township in May 2010 were last week sentenced to death by a Yangon court. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Monument opens new chapter
WITH 6000 titles under one roof and another 4000 on the way, the newly opened Monument Books in Bahan township is a bookworm’s dream, with a coffee shop and the promise of regular children’s entertainment the icing on the cake. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
K700m upgrade for Sangha hospital
CONSTRUCTION of a new six-storey building at the Jivitadana Sangha Hospital in Yangon will be completed by the end of this year, an official from the hospital’s management committee said last week. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Briefs
THE British embassy in Yangon will implement a compulsory online visa application and biometric appointment booking system next week, the embassy said in a statement. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
State factory to produce combination malaria drug
THE state-run New Pharmaceutical Factory will distribute one million doses of a new anti-malaria medicine from this month, an official from the factory said last week. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Nay Pyi Taw gets first art exhibition
IT has been the capital for almost five years but there’s no denying cultural activities have been slow to take off in the Nay Pyi Taw area. Taking matters into their own hands, a group of Pyinmana artists earlier this month organised the city’s first art exhibition, titled “Paung Laung Diary”. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)
Friends and family pay tribute to Japanese war veteran
WITH tears in her eyes and wearing a soft smile, 49-year-old Ms Awashima Sachiko stares at a photo of her father, Mr Kiyaoshi Inada. She is one of about 30 people who gathered at Yangon’s Royal Garden Restaurant from 6:30pm on February 1 to celebrate the life of the 90-year-old Japanese World War II veteran, who passed away on December 22, 2009 in Osaka. (Volume 29, No. 566 - March 14 - 20, 2011)