“This is a historic decision. This is a victory for human rights,” said Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo of the Philippines, whose nation had been pushing hard for the creation of a rights organ at the heart of the ASEAN bloc.

AN official from the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department confirmed last week that the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been detected at chicken farms in Bago Division and Mon State.

The quake struck 176 kilometres (109 miles) south of the town of Meiktila and 290 kilometres (180 miles) northwest of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology’s Kaba Aye earthquake station in Yangon, placing its epicentre not far from Nay Pyi Taw.

YANGON vehicles that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) will be allowed to buy gas only after they get a monthly infringement clearance record from the Yangon Division Wireless and Traffic Police Force, a private taxi driver said last week.

FISH farmers in Yangon, Bago and Ayeyarwady divisions said last week they were worried that recent flooding in Bamaw in Sagaing Division as well as heavy rains in the upper reaches of Ayeyarwady and Chindwin rivers could cause flooding in lower Myanmar as high water flowed south.

“We want to allow students to get an international business education in a local context,” he said at the launch ceremony held at Parkroyal Hotel in Yangon on July 21.

“The overall goal of the project is to promote the participation of the deaf in the society in Yangon and Mandalay through strengthening the cooperation between the social welfare administrators and the deaf community to plan and implement activities jointly,”

The first tour, to Bangkok from August 18 to 21, will include trips to the Emerald Buddha, Royal Palace, Tropical Garden, Coral Island, Pattaya Beach and shopping centres. The cost is US$310 a person, including three nights at Bangkok Palace Hotel.

THE scene at Yangon Children's Hospital is busy. Hospital staff carry sick children on trolleys from one ward to another, while a steady stream of new patients registers at the front counter.

THE Strand Hotel in downtown Yangon has been named one of the world’s best hotels in the August issue of Travel and Leisure magazine, which is published in New York.

CONSERVATIONISTS in Myanmar are preparing the country’s first action plan to help save endangered vultures from extinction, Dr Htin Hla, director of the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association (BANCA), said last week.

A LOCAL environmental non-government organi-sation, the Forest Resource Environment Development and Conservation Association (FREDA), marked its 10th anniversary on July 21 at a meeting at the International Business Centre on Pyay Road in Yangon.

THE government will introduce new curricula and syllabi for grades 10 and 11 starting in the 2008-2009 academic year with the aim of boosting the quality of education in Myanmar, including teaching critical thinking and problem-solving skills, said a press statement from the Department of Education Planning and Training.

“Myanmar conducted research on fish resources in 1996 and 1998 using the catch from fishing vessels. Back then the catch was 96.12 kilogram an hour while with SEAFDEC it was 85.92 kilograms,”

That might explain why in recent months women in Yangon have been flocking to health clinics offering injections that purport to melt away pounds without the need to resort to pesky, time-consuming activities like walking, running or cycling.

According to a statement released on July 17 by the Japanese embassy in Yangon, the fellowship will cover seven months of Japanese-language study at the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute in Osaka, beginning in March 2008.

THE Singapore-based UOL Group Limited (UOLG) last month acquired Pan Pacific Hotels and Resorts Pte. Ltd, whose portfolio includes the Parkroyal Hotel chain, from Tokyu Corporation of Japan.

“Our Secure Water Supply Project in the Dry Zone has completed drilling 92 tube wells and renovating 177 old tube wells in the townships of Nyaung Oo, Taungthar and Kyaukpadaung in Mandalay Division, and Chauk in Magwe Division,” said Ms Akiko Mori, the program manager of the project.

OVERSEAS education agents in Yangon are increasingly steering local students towards tourism training and hospitality schools in Singapore because fees are low, the programs are short and students have the opportunity to find jobs in Singapore’s tourism industry.

“This is obviously an ethical thing which totally depends on the self-denial of the doers,” said U Saing Saw Lin Htun, an engineer with state telecom provider Myanmar Post and Telecommunications.

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