YANGON – Myanmar received nearly 25 percent fewer tourists through its main airport in 2008, official figures showed Tuesday, in a year when a deadly cyclone laid waste to vast swathes of the nation.

THE government of Thailand last week announced yet another date for the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations but also said the meeting would be moved out of Bangkok to avoid disruptions by anti-government protesters.

A delegation of Sri Lankan donors led by Dr Bodagama, accompanied by members of the Taiwanese association, also donated clothes, school supplies and food to more than 1000 households in Nyaung Ngu and Kamaper villages.

TOURISM has increased gradually since the government designated 1996 as “Visit Myanmar Year”. But industry experts say more must be done to attract visitors from overseas.

THE Myanmar Geosciences Society published the first issue of the Journal of the Myanmar Geosciences Society last month, with the aim of “centralising” the country’s geological data, said society president Dr Win Swe.

“Although the main purpose of our trip [to Israel] was to negotiate commercial relations, we also visited Israel’s agricultural and livestock academies. We established contacts with two Israeli agricultural academies and they have agreed to take our trainees – one is Arava International Centre for Agricultural Training (AICAT) and the other is Rubbin Agricultural Institute, both of which are based in southern Israel,”

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia – A wooden boat with nearly 200 people on board was found drifting off the northern tip of Indonesia’s Sumatra island Wednesday, officials said.

A LOCAL nongovernmental group, the Ratana Metta Organisation, provided psychosocial support training to 90 of its members from December 29 to January 7 at Traders Hotel in Yangon. Technical and funding assistance for the training was provided by the International Organisation for Migration.

LAST year was a difficult one for the government-run Inland Water Transport (IWT) due to the devastation of cyclone Nargis, which sank or stranded 70 vessels that plied 22 routes in the Ayeyarwady delta, said IWT managing director U Soe Tint.

FIRE fighters in Mandalay have been undergoing special training to prepare for the expected increase in the number of fires as the dry season progresses, said U Tin Min, the chief commander of the Mandalay Division Central Fire Brigade Department.

THE Myanmar Photographic Society (MPS) has called for entries for its Best Photographer of the Year 2008 contest, said U Aung Tun Win, the rotating secretary of the society.

“Youngsters can build up a team with a few players, the sport is, in some ways, less intense than a proper basketball match and many streetball competitions also offer prizes as an incentive. For these reasons, streetball has become popular among young people,”

“We met with farmers from Mindat and Kanpetlet in 2006 and found that they wanted to grow elephant foot yams, so we have been giving them the necessary seeds and farming tools,”

MYANMAR’S internet users will soon be able to go wireless – without investing in start-up charges. A local IT company has revealed plans to sell a Wifi prepaid access kit early next year.

MMC to organise Mandalay festival

Myanmar attends tourism forum

Online education programs: Smart