A LEADING American wildlife biologist who has been involved in efforts to preserve Myanmar’s tiger population for 13 years says the outlook for the big cats in the far north of the country is improving.

Mr Cai Mingzhao, Vice Minister of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and deputy editor-in-chief of the Xinhua news agency led a courtesy visit to Myanmar Consolidated Media during his four day visit.

The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) said initial funding for the centre would come from an allocation of about US$2 million it had decided to provide Myanmar this year through grant aid and technical cooperation programs.

ABOUT 70 academics who studied in Japan under scholarships provided by its government gathered in Yangon earlier this month for the first such reunion to be organised by the Japanese embassy.

The shops sell products ranging from packaged Myanmar food, to books and magazines and handicrafts. There are about 2100 Myanmar working legally in South Korea, says its embassy in Yangon.

Dr Kyaw Myint made the comment in a prepared statement read on his behalf by the president of the MRCS, Dr Thar Hla Shwe, at an event at Traders Hotel on February 6 to mark the release of the federation’s world disasters report for 2006.

THUNDEROUS applause greeted three tired but elated cyclists when they arrived at Yangon’s Thuwanna Stadium last week during a 3200-kilometre journey from the country’s northernmost village to Kawthaung at its southern tip.

THE number of pilgrims visiting the Shwesatdaw Pagoda Festival in northern Magwe Division each year has tripled since a bridge was built in 1997 to connect the towns of Pyay and Sinte across the Ayeyarwady River, a pagoda trustee said last month.

INFORMATION about the agricultural sector is essential to help policy makers and researchers in ASEAN countries solve challenges related to food security at the domestic and regional levels, the director general of the Settlement and Land Records Department, U Win Kyi, has told a seminar in Nay Pyi Taw.

The event will feature traditional Chin clothing, dancing and singing, weaving competitions and sporting events that will showcase the region’s diversity of cultural and historical identities, the organising committee said last week.

He said the Taw Win Yadana Taxi Association began providing the service early this month with two taxis. For passengers sharing taxis, the association charges K2500 a person for a one-way journey between the airport and Nay Pyi Taw, via Pyinmana, a distance of about 19 kilometres (nine miles).

A HEALTH specialist at Yangon General Hospital has warned that regular overuse of cooking oil in traditional Myanmar cuisine has left much of the country’s population susceptible to fat-related diseases, including high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and stroke.

During the fair, the centre – located on Baho Road in Ahlone township displayed about 40,000 books on a wide variety of subjects, including engineering, medicine, religion, computer science, economics and business management.

“When we opened our office in 2001 only 10 or 20 patients a month were seeking treatment at Bumrungrad but now it’s risen to 200 to 300 a month,” said Ma Helen, the manager of the hospital’s representative office in Yangon.

A SOFTWARE development company and an education centre have teamed up to provide an on-the-job training program aimed at strengthening professional development and creating employment opportunities in the ICT sector.

ENROLMENT in computerised accounting courses that use Mind Your Own Business (MYOB) software has rapidly increased in the past two years, industry experts in Yangon said last week.

“I was afraid of travelling alone,” said Maung Aung Thant Kyaw, who was 11 when he made the trip to Britain to spend a month with relatives in Salisbury, about 135 kilometres (84 miles) southwest of London. “But I was not afraid at all when I returned to Myanmar,”