THE Myanmar Marketing Committee (MMC) under the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board will participate in the Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA) World Travel Fair 2007 from September 13 to 16 in Tokyo.

THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provided Children Centered Approach (CCA) training last month to teachers working at monastic schools and convents throughout the country. Such schools often teach children who do not have easy access to formal educations. The training was held at Summit Parkview Hotel in Yangon from August 20 to 31.

A SENIOR agricultural official has advised farmers to test their soil annually at government laboratories to ensure they are using appropriate amounts of fertiliser.

The cover price of all products published by Myanmar Consolidated Media are being raised, effective immediately. The company said is a short statement that it had no choice but to lift its prices because of the rising costs of international quality newsprint.

A CARAVAN of 12 four-wheel-drive Isuzu Troopers carrying 52 representatives from Malaysia’s armed forces passed through Myanmar last week on their way from Cape Town, South Africa, to Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Malaysia’s independence.

“We need to tell them not to catch undersized eels so we can reduce the workload and prevent the unnecessary deaths of eels,” U Khin Ko Lay said, adding that regulations prohibited the export of eels of less than 3 centimetres radius.

AIRFARES for local passengers on domestic airlines in Myanmar have been raised, effective September 1, an airline representative said. “Fares for locals have been raised by 30 percent,” a spokesperson from a domestic airline said last week.

The institute, which is a branch of Sitagu International Buddhist Academy in Sagaing near Mandalay, will be the “first of its kind in the world” in offering English-language lessons on the Abhidhamma, one of the three pitakas (baskets, or books) of the Buddhist canon, according to the institute’s official guidebook.

THE Ministry of Education and United Nations Children’s Fund collaborated last month to offer a training course for senior education officials to promote child-friendly school concepts and teaching techniques.

THE Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Myanmar Ministry of Electric Power (2) held a meeting on August 29 in Nay Pyi Taw to discuss progress on a project to develop a nationwide electric power network in Myanmar.

THE government of Japan provided US$82,614 under its grassroots grant assistance program to the Educational Development Committee for Kayah on August 17 for the construction of new educational facilities in Moe Bye and Khemaphyu villages in Kayah State.

“We build these centres across the world using money donated by our former meditation students,” U Htein Lin said. “We never ask for donations from anyone who hasn’t completed a 10-day meditation course at one of our centres.”

MANY local students interested in studying overseas choose Singapore not only because of the high standard of education and good job prospects, but also because the city-state is considered to be much safer than other countries in the region, education consultants in Yangon said last month.

“In previous years we have seen about 85 to 100 Myanmar patients every quarter, but since the start of this calendar year we have been seeing between 150 to 170 Myanmar cases every quarter,” said Dr Saw Chit Aung, the deputy marketing director at the hospital.

The lake sits at 166 metres (546 feet) above sea level and measures 11 kilometres (seven miles) wide by 23 kilometres (14 miles) long for a total area of about 260 square kilometres (100 square miles).

The schools represented by the trust include Shangqui Normal University, China Medical University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Zhejiang University, Jinhua University, Huazhoung University of Science and Technology and Yangtze University.

THE swagger or strut of Myanmar’s telecom trendsetters may not be essential to accommodating the dazzling handset holstered at the hip, but there’s a pretty good chance that piece of mobile wizardry is putting some extra spring in their step.

A PLAN to replace analog telephone stations with digital networks in cities throughout Myanmar got underway last month, local ICT companies involved in the upgrades said.

TWO new foreign airlines – Hong Kong Express Airway and Vietnam Airlines will begin flying into Myanmar soon under respective bilateral agreements between Myanmar and the region, 7-Day news journal reported on August 23.

THE Myanmar football team is progressing well under Brazilian coach Marcos Falopa but players must work harder to keep their composure on the pitch, Yangon fans said following last week’s loss to Malaysia in the Merdeka Cup final.

THE Myanmar under-17 football team failed to advance from the group stage of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) U17 Championship in Cambodia after Laos upset defending champions Vietnam 4-2 on August 28, knocking Myanmar out of the competition.

THE Myanmar women’s football team are expecting their toughest challenges to come from Vietnam and Thailand at the ASEAN Football Federation Women’s Championship, which gets underway in Yangon this week, a Myanmar Football Federation official said.

Having demolished opponents across the country – and several times overseas – over the past decade with his thunderous leg strikes, splitting jabs and an ability to stay cool amid all the hype and rage of battle, it is reassuring to find the sinewy Kayin fighter is a good, old-fashioned nice guy.

The Myanmar team of three, comprising former Asia titleholder Aung San Oo, Nay Thway Oo and Kyaw Oo, help make up a field of 36 of the world’s best cueists at the September 4-9 spectacle, with players from Australia, England, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Ireland, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam competing in eight groups.