Volume XIX, Number 256 9th Waxing of Pyatho 1373 ME Monday, 2 January, 2012

Established 1914

NAY PYI TAW, 1 Jan—Accompanied by Union min-isters, the Mandalay RegionChief Minister, the MagwayRegion Chief Minister,deputy ministers, member ofNay Pyi Taw Council anddepartmental heads, Vice-President of the Republic of

Vice-President Thiha ThuraU Tin Aung Myint Oo visits

Bagan Cultural Regiongion yesterday to pay hom-age to ancient pagodas.

At Shwezigon Pa-goda in NyaungU, the Vice-President and party offeredflowers, water, joss sticksand lights to the Buddha im-age and presented cash do-nations to the Pagoda Board

funds after paying homageto the Buddha image.

They also paid obei-sance to the Buddha imageat Thabbyinnyu Pagoda andmade cash donations.

After paying homageto Hsinmyarshin Pagoda andLawkananda Pagoda, they

the Union of Myanmar ThihaThura U Tin Aung Myint Oovisited Bagan Cultural Re-

of Trustees.At Ananda Pagoda,

they donated cash to the

donated cash to the funds ofpagodas.

The Vice-President

inspected measures beingtaken for prevention againstbank erosion of Ayeyawady

River at Lawkananda Pagoda.At Pagoda No.

1625, the Vice-President and

party offered flowers andwater to the Buddha image.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 1 Jan—Vice-Presi-dent of the Republic of the Union ofMyanmar Thiha Thura U Tin Aung MyintOo, accompanied by Union Minister forIndustry U Soe Thein, Union Minister at thePresident Office U Soe Maung, Union Min-ister for Rail Transportation U Aung Min,Union Minister for Construction U KhinMaung Myint, Union Minister for ElectricPower No (1) U Zaw Min, Union Ministerfor Transport U Nyan Tun Aung, UnionMinister for Science and Technology U AyeMyint, Mandalay Region Chief Minister UYe Myint, Magway Region Chief MinisterU Phone Maw Shwe, Commander of Cen-tral Command Maj-Gen Ye Aung,Commander of North-West Command Maj-Gen Soe Lwin, Deputy Home Affairs

(See page 6)

Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oomeets district/township administrators, senior citizens,

ward/village administrators in Pakokku District

Vice-Presi-dent

ThihaThuraU TinAungMyint

Oopayinghomageto Law-kanandaPagoda.

MNA

Vice-President Thiha ThuraU Tin Aung Myint Oo comforts

flood victims in Aungchantha Wardof Pakokku.—MNA

Strengthened national consolidationAlthough land and water resources of the states and

regions may vary according to their topography, measureswill be taken to improve the various sectors of thoseregions such as economy, social affairs, education, healthand transport. Only if development tasks are carried outto improve the transport, economy, health and educationstandards of those regions, will national consolidation bestrengthened and Union Spirit be forged.

(Excerpts from President U Thein Sein’s speech delivered at Meeting (1/2011) ofCentral Committee for Progress of Border Areas and National Races on 23-4-2011)

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012

PERSPECTIVESMonday, 2 January, 2012

Liberty, unity, prosperityMyanmar is a nation constituted with Union

national races. It is a human society on a basisof family spirit. National brethren have beenresiding in Myanmar in unity and amity throughthick and thin up to now.

In reviewing the history of the nation,Myanmar has been standing tall as anindependent and sovereign nation and peopleon a grander scale among the global countries.Although Myanmar had lost its sovereigntydue to aggressive wars of colonialists in thehistory, she can stand again as an independentand sovereign nation with the concerted effortsof the entire national people who bravely foughtback the imperialists at the risk of their lives.

Based on historical experiences, all thenational brethren are to firmly uphold thesignificant points: non-disintegration of theUnion, non-disintegration of national solidarityand perpetuation of sovereignty. As it is theaspiration of all citizens, it is necessary toconstantly focus on the duties to be handeddown to new generations.

While marching towards the newdemocratic nation, the united strength of allnational brethren of the Union is essential forperpetuity of the independence. Thus, allnational races are to live in the Union foreverthrough thick and thin.

All the people are to bear in mind that non-disintegration of the Union is a dire need forMyanmar established as a Union state; non-disintegration of national solidarity is anessential point for the nation; and perpetuationof sovereignty is valuable lifeblood of all citizens.Only then will the independent nation andcitizens fully enjoy the essence of peace,prosperity and liberty.

All national people are to join hands withthe government in building new democraticnation. Emphasis is to be placed on flourishingof right democratic practices on a wider scale,prevalence of law and order, nationalreconciliation and ensuring perpetual peace.In fact, successful realizing of these main factorsdepends on strengthening of unity andprosperity.

NAY PYI TAW, 1 Jan – Mid-year Myanma Gems Emporium2011 continued the 8th day today at Mani Yadana Jade Hallhere.

Beginning 8 am, local and foreign merchants studiedand purchased jade lots through competitive bidding systemand Managing Director U Thein Swe of Myanmar GemsEnterprise, central committee members and officialssupervised and fulfilled the requirements.

At 10 am, Patron of the central committee for organizing

NAY PYI TAW, 1 Jan—Chairman of Myanmar NationalSports Committee Union Minister for Sports U Tint Hsan thismorning watched inter basic education school sportscompetitions for 2011-2012 academic year.

First, the Union Minister watched the third-place matchof Sepak Takraw tourney held at Nay Pyi Taw volleyballground. In the match, Ayeyawady Region played againstMandalay Region.

After viewing the track and field tournament at No.1 Nay

Union Sports Minister watches Inter-BESsports competitions

Pyi Taw sports ground, he awarded the winners. Then, theUnion Minister inspected the construction site of futsalfootball stadium and viewed the training of sportsmen at theBilliards Hall of Nay Pyi Taw Development AffairsCommittee and left necessary instructions.

Later, the Union Minister inspected extension of standat Ngalaik Dam and recreation centre for sports athletes. Hethen visited BMX bike race ground and inspected training.

MNA

8,221 jade lots sold at mid-year gems emporium

the emporium Union Minister for Mines U Thein Htaikvisited the emporium and looked round the sales of jade lots.A total of 8221 lots of jade were sold today.

As permission has been granted to export jewelleryitems and finished products by paying taxes after opening aone-stop service centre in Mandalay, local merchants arebuying the products in competition with foreign merchants.

The emporium continues up to 3 January and jade lotswill be on sale through competitive bidding system.— MNA

YANGON, 1 Jan—The opening ceremony of The ExcellentYangon Expo 2012 with Mobile & IT Zone was held atTatmadaw Convention Hall here this morning.

The ceremony was attended by Yangon Mayor YangonRegion Minister for Development Affairs U Hla Myint,Chairperson of Anawrahta Enterprise Daw Khin Hnin Hsiand Chairman of Great Father Land Construction &Decoration Co Ltd U Kyaw Myint formally opened the expoand viewed round the showrooms.

The exhibition will be displayed from 9 am to 5 pm till4 January.

The Yangon mayor also attended the opening of OrchidJunction in front of Orchid Hotel in Pazundaung Township.

MNA

The Excellent Yangon Expo2012 opened YANGON, 1 Jan—In commemoration of the 64th Anniversary

Independence Day, the U-16 Futsal invitational tournament was heldat Hline Mingala Sports Ground on Hline Mingala Road in Ward 13of Hlinethaya Township on 24 December.

Local authorities formally opened the tournament.Altogether 39 futsal teams are taking part in the tournament. The

prizes will be awarded on 4 January.—Township IPRD

Ayeyawady UnitedFC holds up

Community ShieldYANGON, 1 Jan—The MFF Community

Shield Football Match to mark the opening ofthe 2012 MNL League Cup was held at AungSan Stadium in Yangon yesterday afternoon.

Ayeyawady United FC routed YangonUnited FC 7-5 in the match.

After the match, Chief Minister of YangonRegion U Myint Swe presented trophy toAyeyawady United FC. After that, the ChiefMinister accepted K 4 million as the entrancefee for the match, K 42 million from 14 footballclubs of Myanmar National League and K 4million by MRTV-4, amounting to K 50 millionfor fire victims of Mingala TaungnyuntTownship.

Kyemon

LOCAL SPORTS U-16 Futsal invitational tournamentheld in Hlinethaya

Take Fire PreventiveMeasures

Local andforeigngems

merchantsbuyinglots ofjade

throughcompetitive

biddingsystem atMid-yearMyanma

GemsEmporium

2011.MNA

Ygn Chief Minister among congregationat 17th Sasana Taxila Maha convocation

YANGON, 1 Jan—137monks were conferreddegrees at 17th Sasana TaxilaMaha convocation whichtook place at State PariyatiSasana UniversityConvocation Hall inMayangon Township in

Yangon Region thisafternoon.

Chancellor of StatePariyati Sasana UniversitiesChairman of State SanghaMaha Nayaka CommitteeAbhidhaja MaharahtaguruAbhidhaja Agga Maha

Saddhamma Jotika BhamoSayadaw Dr BhaddantaKumarabhivamsa, Sanghamembers, graduating monks,Yangon Region ChiefMinister U Myint Swe andwife Daw Khin Thet Htay,Deputy Minister for

Religious Affairs Dr MaungMaung Htay, officials andguests attended theceremony.

At the ceremony, theSayadaws gave sermons, thedeputy minister supplicatedon religious affairs, degreeswere conferred on graduatingmonks and the congregationpresented offertories.

MNA

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012 3

Obama calls for efforts to bolster economy,enhance social fairness

WASHINGTON, 1 Jan—After rounds of contentiousdebates on economic issueswith Republican lawmakersthis year, US President

Barack Obama on Saturdaycalled for joint efforts toboost the US economicgrowth and improve socialfairness in 2012.

“The last year has beena time of great challenge andgreat progress for ourcountry,” Obama said in hisweekly address, adding that“we began to see signs ofeconomic recovery here athome, even as too manyAmericans are stillstruggling to get ahead.

“There’s no doubt that2012 will bring even morechange.

And as we head into theNew Year, I’m hopeful thatwe have what it takes to facethat change and come outeven stronger — to grow oureconomy, create more jobs,

US President BarackObama.

and strengthen the middleclass,” said Obama whileenjoying his vacation inHawaii.

“As President, I promiseto do everything I can tomake America a place wherehard work and responsibilityare rewarded — one whereeveryone has a fair shot andeveryone does their fairshare,’’ he added.

Before joining hisfamily in Hawaii for holiday,Obama signed on 23 Dec abipartisan two-monthcompromise stopgapmeasure to extend the payrolltax cut and federal joblessbenefits into law, afterwrapping up the latestchapter of partisanwrangling this year.

Xinhua

Fireworks explodearound the London Eyeby the River Thames in

London during New Yearcelebrations on 1 Jan,2012. Around 250,000

revellers have beenexpected to gather alongthe River Thames from

Saturday evening toSunday morning to

welcome the year 2012amid spectacularfirework displays.

XINHUA

KABUL, 1 Jan—Police arrested a Taleban commander in Afghan capital Kabul on Friday,a statement released by Kabul police said here on Saturday.

“With the hectic effort of police in the capital city Kabul, a Taleban commander namelyMawlawi Almas was captured in Kabul on Friday,” the statement emphasized.

The detained commander Almas was active in the northern Baghlan province, the shortstatement added.

Taliban militants fighting Afghan and NATO-led forces have yet to make comment.Xinhua

Taleban commander detained in Kabul

Fireworks explode over the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin,Germany, on 1 Jan, 2012. Berlin celebrated the NewYear in front of the Brandenburg Gate, where some

400,000 spectators attended the party to usher in the newyear of 2012.—XINHUA

Roadsidebomb killsPakistani

soldierISLAMABAD, 1 Jan— A

roadside bomb killed aPakistani soldier in thetroubled North Waziristantribal region on Saturday,security sources said.

Another soldier wasinjured when a convoy of thesecurity forces came underbomb attack in Datta Khelarea of North Waziristanbordering Afghanistan, localTV Geo quoted securityforces as saying.

Reports said theImprovised ExplosiveDevice was detonatedthrough a remote controlwhen the convoy of thesecurity forces was passingthrough the area.

The security forcesimposed a curfew in the areaafter the attack and alsolaunched a search operationto apprehend theperpetrators.

No group claimedresponsibility for the attack.

The government has apeace deal with the mainTaleban group in NorthWaziristan led by Hafiz GulBahar, under which bothsides will not attack eachother.

Security sources say thatthere are splinter militantgroups in North Waziristanwho routinely carry outattacks on the security forces.

They say that fighters ofTehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP) are also taking shelterin parts of North Waziristan,who have fled theneighboring SouthWaziristan in the wake ofmajor operations by thesecurity forces in 2009.

Xinhua

Six bombs recovered from Pakistan blast site

Mengal.Mengal had served as

oil minister during the tenureof former president PervezMusharraf.

Intelligence sources putthe number of the dead at 15.Seven among the dead weresaid to be guards of ShafiqueMengal, son of NaseerMengal.

Security officials saidShafique might have beenthe target of the attack.

Internet

ISLAMABAD, 1 Jan—Sixbombs have been recoveredfrom the site in Pakistan’sQuetta city where a carbombing took place Fridaynight killing at least 13people, a media report saidSaturday.

At least 21 other peoplewere injured in the deadlyblast that occurred around 7pm on Arbab Karam KhanRoad. The BalochistanLiberation Army tookresponsibility for the

bombing.A bomb disposal squad

has reached the site to defusethe bombs, sources told GeoNews Saturday.

While the AssociatedPress of Pakistan and DawnNews put the toll at 13, GeoNews said 10 people werekilled.

The explosion in thecapital city of Balochistanprovince occurred outside thehouse of the son of formerfederal minister Naseer

Play Taleban ringtones or you’ll be killed inAfghanistan!

Travellers often pop outtheir real SIM cards andreplace them with onescontaining insurgent-produced jingles.

Shopkeepers are doingroaring trade in rebelringtones at 2 dollars anupload for ‘emotional’ songssung by children with‘beautiful voices’ the mostpopular, the paper said.

A spokesperson for thegroup told the Wall StreetJournal, that the Talebanhave 40 singers that produceon average of one 12-songalbum every month.

Internet

KABUL, 1 Jan—Travellersin Afghanistan will face deathif they do not have mobilephones playing Talebanringtones and messages.

Taleban ringtonesinclude the titles ‘Teenager’,‘Doomsday’ and ‘SuicideBomber’.

Lyrics for Doomsdayinclude, ‘Its Judgment Dayfor the Satan of the West ... theevening is blazing, blazing...’

For Suicide Bomber, thesong includes the words, ‘Youwent up into flames... Youburned like a moth, younghero, martyrdom seeker...

You are the Muslims’’ atomicbomb.’

Taleban are killingpeople at clandestinecheckpoints if they don’t heartheir messages on someone’sphone, The Daily Mailreports. The prevalence ofcheckpoints just an hour fromthe capital of Kabul, hasforced many Afghans tocleanse their mobiles of allapparent Western songs andringtones.

According to the paper,some offenders have beenforced to eat SIM cards andhave had phones broken ontheir heads.

Chinese, S Korean Presidents exchange newyear greetings

push for constant progress ofthe bilateral relationship, Husaid. For his part, Lee said onthe basis of theaccomplishments achievedover the two decades of thebilateral diplomatic ties,South Korea looks forward tojoining hands with China tobuild a better future for thebilateral relationship.

Xinhua

BEIJING, 1 Jan—ChinesePresident Hu Jintao and hisSouth Korean counterpartLee Myung-bak exchangednew year greetings Sundayand announced the start ofthe “China-South KoreaFriendly Exchange Year”.

In his message, Hu spokepositively of the relationsbetween the two countries.Seizing the opportunity of

the 20th anniversary of theestablishment of the China-South Korea diplomaticrelations, China is willing towork together with SouthKorea, by launching variousexchange programmes, tofurther promote mutualunderstanding and friendshipbetween the two peoples,deepen communication andcooperation in all sectors, and

Tourists take photos of the rime and iced waterfall sceneryat Jingpo Lake Scenic Park in Mudanjiang City, northeastChina’s Heilongjiang Province, on 1 Dec, 2011.—XINHUA

Afghanistan’s acting Minister of Public Health SurayaDalil (L) and Afghanistan’s caretaker Minister forWomen’s Affairs Dr Husn Banu Ghazanfar visit an

Afghan girl, who was tortured for months after refusingprostitution, as she lies on a hospital bed in Kabul on 31

December, 2011.REUTERS

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4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012

This screen shot shows eyewear coupons for the NewYork City area offered by Groupon.com. Daily dealsites such as Groupon and LivingSocial, best known

for discounts at local restaurants and spas, are helpingsome people fill holes in health insurance coverage.

INTERNET

MS may not be autoimmune diseaseNEW YORK, 1 Jan—

Multiple sclerosis, longviewed as primarily anautoimmune disease, is notactually a disease of theimmune system, a USresearcher says.

Dr Angelique of theJohn Jay College ofCriminal Justice in NewYork suggests instead thatMS is caused by faulty lipidmetabolism—in manyways more similar tocoronary atherosclerosis —hardening of the arteries —than to other autoimmunediseases.

Considering MS as a

no one has been able to fullyexplain what triggers the onsetof the disease.

Corthals said the primarycause of MS can be traced totranscription factors in cellnuclei that control the uptake,breakdown, and release oflipids — fats and similarcompounds — throughoutthe body. Disruption of theseproteins, known asperoxisome proliferator-activated receptors, causes atoxic byproduct of “bad” low-density lipoproteincholesterol to form plaque onthe affected tissue. Theaccumulation of plaque in turn

Vitamin B12 may still help reduce strokeLONDON, (Ontario,) 1 Jan—Vitamin B

therapy still has a role to play in reducing therisk of stroke, US and Canadian researcherssuggest. Dr David Spence of The Universityof Western Ontario and Dr Meir Stampfer ofthe Harvard School of Public Health saidvitamin B therapy was once widely used tolower homocysteine levels.

Too much of this amino acid in thebloodstream was linked to increased risk ofstroke and heart attack, but severalrandomized trials found loweringhomocysteine levels with B vitamins didnot result in a cardiovascular benefit.

In fact, Spence, a scientist with theRobarts Research Institute at Western’sSchulich School of Medicine & Dentistry,found vitamin B therapy actually increasedcardiovascular risk in patients with diabeticnephropathy.

In an commentary published in theJournal of the American MedicalAssociation, Spence and Stampfer said twokey issues have been overlooked in theinterpretation of the clinical trials — thekey role of vitamin B12, and the newlyrecognized role of renal failure.

“It is now clear that the large trialsshowing no benefit of vitamin therapyobscured the benefit of vitamin therapybecause they lumped together patients withrenal failure and those with good renalfunction,” Spence said in the commentary.“The vitamins are harmful in renal failure,and beneficial in patients with good renalfunction, and they cancel each other out,”said Spence, the author of “How to PreventYour Stroke.” The commentary authors alsocontend most of the trials did not use a highenough dose of vitamin B12.—Internet

metabolic disorder helps toexplain many puzzlingaspects of the disease,particularly why it strikeswomen more than men andwhy cases are on the riseworldwide, Corthals said.

Multiple sclerosis ismainly characterized byinflammation followed byscarring of tissue calledmyelin, which insulates nervetissue in the brain and spinalcord. Over time, this scarringcan lead to profoundneurological damage, butmedical researchers havetheorized that a runawayimmune system is at fault, but

triggers an immune response,which ultimately leads toscarring. Corthals’ frameworkexplains why MS is moreprevalent in women.

“Men and womenmetabolize fats differently,”Corthals said. “In men,problems are more likely tooccur in vascular tissue, whichis why atherosclerosis is moreprevalent in men. But womenmetabolize fat differently inrelation to their reproductiverole.”

The findings arepublished in The QuarterlyReview of Biology.

Internet

Diet may help prevent brain shrinkageCORVALLIS, 1 Jan—

Elderly people with higherlevels of vitamins B, C, Dand E, and omega-3 fattyacids in their blood arementally sharper, USresearchers say.

The study, publishedin the journal Neurology,also found the higher levelsof vitamins and fish bodyoils resulted in less brainshrinkage typical ofAlzheimer’s disease, while“junk food” diets — trans-fats found in baked andfried foods, margarine,fast-food and other less-healthy dietary choices —

produced just the oppositeresult.

Study co-author MaretTraber, a principalinvestigator with the LinusPauling Institute at OregonState University, andscientists from the OregonHealth and ScienceUniversity in Portland, Ore,said the study involved 104people, at an average age of87, with no special risk factorsfor poor memory or mentalacuity.

The researchers testedfor 30 different nutrientbiomarkers in their blood, and42 participants also had

magnetic resonance imagingscans to measure their brainvolume.

“The vitamins andnutrients you get from eatinga wide range of fruits,vegetables and fish can bemeasured in bloodbiomarkers,” Traber said in astatement. “These findingsare based on average peopleeating average Americandiets. If anyone right now isconsidering a New Year’sresolution to improve theirdiet, this would certainly givethem another reason to eatmore fruits and vegetables.”

Internet

A cement equipment manufacturing plant in Jiangsuprovince. Flagging manufacturing conditions signalthat weakening external demand is staring to bite,

says Qu Hongbin, chief China economist and co-headof Asian Economic Research at HSBC.—INTERNET

Vehicles on display at an international rental andleasing industry exposition in Nanjing, Jiangsu

province. Business analysts and company officials saidthe car rental industry must focus more on individual

customers.—INTERNET

IMF: Greece will missfinancial targets

ATHENS, (Greece), 1Jan—The InternationalMonetary Fund in anofficial report saidGreece’s financialsituation is worse thanpreviously thought.

With a new estimateon the country’s economicgrowth, the IMF said evena 50 percent write-off onGreek debt would beinsufficient for Greece toavoid default, Ekathime-rini reported Saturday.

To dig Greece out ofits financial trough“requires either a deeper

haircut or additional loansfrom Europe,” an IMF officialsaid. While the Greekeconomy stumbles, taxrevenues have dropped. Theprevious goal was for Athensto collect $9 billion in taxesin December, January andFebruary.

Without hitting its targeton tax collection, the budgetdeficit is projected to reach10 percent of the nation’sgross domestic product,missing another target, thatof keeping the deficit below9 percent of GDP.

Internet

GM recalls Sonics toinspect brake pads

DETROIT, 1 Jan—GM hasannounced the recall of4,296 Chevrolet Sonics soldin the United States becauseof a potential problem withbrake pads.

Company officials saidthey expect only a few of thevehicles to have defectivebrake pads, the Detroit FreePress reported. GM decidedon the recall after a Sonicwas found to have a missingpad during routine service.

There have been noreports of crashes, deathsor injuries, the companysaid.

The recall involves2012 Sonics produced atthe Orion, Mich,assembly plant between2 June and 21 Nov, theNational HighwayTransportation SafetyAdministration said on itsWeb site.

Internet

Companies can foster or destroy innovation

Business

NASHVILLE, 1 Jan—A USresearcher says innovationmay mean less “thinking outof the box” and more settingup a company structure thatovercomes constraints.

David Owens ofVanderbilt University’sOwen Graduate School ofManagement said businessand other leaders need tounderstand exactly whichconstraints work againstthem in order to help createconditions that fosterinnovation rather than killcreativity.

“Constraints are theparameters within which youmust work,” Owens said in astatement. “And for a creativeperson that’s actually ablessing.”

Owens identified the sixmost common hurdles toinnovation that companiesencounter:

— Failures of innovationare failures of ideas, and tomeet this challengecompanies need to trainpeople to use the tools andprocesses that help them“think differently” and

enable them to become betterat generating andrecognizing good ideas.

— A company’s socialclimate will determinewhether an innovationsucceeds.

— The company ororganization needs a strategyfor innovation.

— Innovation fails whena firm competing among agroup of rivals in an industryfails to produce something

customers want.— For an innovation

to succeed, it has to betechnologically feasible.

“By learning toanalyze these constraintsin advance, turning fromretrospective analysis toproactive strategydevelopment, you candramatically improve yourchances of innovationsuccess,” Owens said.

Internet

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012 5

India unveils statue ofcosmonaut Gagarin

An aerial photograph shows the Cleveland Volcanoduring the time a small lava flow, or dome, was

accumulating in the summit crater as the 660 foot widesummit crater emits a white, largely steam condensate

cloud in this 8 August , 2011 file photo. The remotevolcano in Alaska’s Aleutian islands erupted early on29 December, 2011 spouting an ash cloud 15,000 feet

into the sky and prompting an air-traffic alert,scientists said.—INTERNET

NIJMEGEN, 1 Jan—Apes appear to gamble, like humans,by calculating odds of rewards vs. risks in performing tasks,European researchers say.

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute forPsycholinguistics in the Netherlands observed apes as they“gambled” on overturning cups concealing pieces of choppedbanana, Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

Faced with the choice of a guaranteed small piece ofbanana or a larger chunk of fruit hidden beneath one of anumber of shuffled cups, the apes chose to gamble more than50 per cent of the time, researchers said.

The apes were able to identify when the odds werestacked against them and when it was wiser to go with the safebet, so when more cups were added and the odds of a biggerreward worsened, they became more cautious.

The research team said the ability is shared bychimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans, althoughchimps and orangutans were found to be more prolific risk-takers. “Our study adds to the growing evidence that themental life of the other great apes is much more sophisticatedthan is often assumed,” study leader Daniel Haun said.

Internet

Apes willing to gamble likehumans

MUMBAI, 1 Jan—A statue of the world’s first cosmonaut,Yuri Gagarin, was unveiled Friday in Mumbai on the groundsof the Nehru Science Centre, centre officials said.

Dignitaries attending the unveiling ceremony Fridayincluded Russian Ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin,Russian General Consul in Mumbai Alexei Novikov andMumbai Mayor Shraddha Jadhav.

“Gagarin is a man who is known and loved around theworld, including India. He visited India and was in Bombay,as Mumbai was called then. Mumbai’s older generation stillremembers his visit,” Anil Manekar, the director of the NehruScience Centre, told RIA Novosti.

About 700,000 people visit the Science Centre eachyear, he said. “Interest in science, in space research, is veryhigh in India. We are confident this bust of Gagarin will bean important attraction for our centre,” he said. The bust ofGagarin has been placed near the Science Centre’s mainentrance. India already has another monument to Gagarin,located on the grounds of the Russian Science and CultureCentre in the southern city of Trivandum.—Internet

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks, as he presentsto the Museum of Cosmonauts in Star City, just on theoutside of Mowcow, the portrait of the first SovietCosmonaut Yuri Gagarin , on 12 April, 2001.—INTERNET

Science

NASA probe circling the moon on New Year’s Eve

This undated artistrendering provided byNASA on 21 Dec,2011shows the twin Grail

spacecraft mapping thelunar gravity field. The

two probes are scheduledto enter orbit around themoon over New Year’s

weekend.INTERNET

PASADENA, 1 Jan—Asplanet Earth rang in the newyear, a different kind ofcountdown was happeningat the moon. After a 3½-month journey, a NASAspacecraft flew over themoon’s south pole, fired itsengine and dropped intoorbit Saturday in the first oftwo back-to-back arrivalsover the New Year’sweekend. Mission controlat the NASA Jet PropulsionLaboratory erupted incheers and applause afterreceiving confirmation thatthe probe was healthy andcircling the moon. Anengineer was seen onclosed-circuit televisionblowing a noisemaker toherald the New Year’s Evearrival. “Everything went

TechGoogle Plus to have over 400million users by the end of

2012WASHINGTON, 1 Jan—

Google’s social networkingsite, Google Plus will haveover 400 million users bythe end of 2012, anAmerican researcher haspredicted.

“Based on theaccelerated growth I’mseeing and all the dials andlevers Google can stillutilize, and the developerecosystem that will bedeveloped, I predict that2012 is going to be abreakout year for GooglePlus and that it will endnext year with more than400million users,” TheDaily Mail quoted PaulAllen, as saying.

Though Facebookusers outnumber GooglePlus subscribers by 400million, the figure comes asa setback to CEO MarkZuckerberg.

Allen pointed out thatGoogle already has 62million users, with a quarter

Google Plus

Verizon reverses on $2 feefor one-time payments

NEW YORK, 1 Jan—After a customer backlash, VerizonWireless on Friday dropped a plan to start charging $2 forevery payment subscribers make over the phone or onlinewith their credit or debit cards.

In a statement on its website Friday, the company said“customer feedback” prompted the decision to drop the“convenience fee” it wanted to introduce on 15 Jan.

Verizon wanted to steer people to electronic checkpayments, which are cheaper, and automatic credit cardpayments, which are more reliable.

A petition on Change.org against the fees had gatheredmore than 95,000 names by Friday afternoon, a day afterVerizon, the country’s largest cellphone company,announced the fees.

The petition was set up by Molly Katchpole, whoearlier this year started a successful campaign to makeBank of America drop a $5-per-month fee for debit-carduse.

Payment processors for power companies usuallycharge “convenience fees” of up to $5 for every paymentmade by phone or online, but cellphone companies haven’ttaken the step yet.

The furor against Verizon hints that they may have towait further.

Verizon Wireless serves 91 million phones and otherdevices on accounts that pay the company directly, andmore who pay indirectly through other companies.

It’s a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc.of New York and Vodafone Group PLC of Britain.

Internet

Designer behind Apple’s products knighted in UKLOS ANGELES, 1 Jan—Fans of the clean, inviting look of the iPhone, iPad and other

blockbuster Apple products are legion, and that includes Queen Elizabeth II.The British monarch has awarded a knighthood to Jonathan Paul Ive, a British citizen

and head of Apple Inc.’s design team since the mid-’90s.Ive received an Order of the British Empire for services to design and enterprise.Ive is credited with helping the late Steve Jobs bring the consumer-electronics company

back from the brink of financial ruin in the late 1990s with his whimsical design for the iMaccomputer, which originally came in bright colors at a time bland shades dominated the PCworld. He later helped transform Apple into the envy of Silicon Valley with the designs forthe iPod, the iPhone and, most recently, the iPad.—Internet

of them signing up inDecember.

He said 625,000members are signing up toGoogle Plus daily partly dueto Android devices, whichfacilitate registration andthrough power of word ofmouth. According to Allen,‘it may be the holidays, theTV commercials, the Android4 signups, celebrity and brandappeal, or positive word ofmouth, or a combination ofall these factors’ that led tolarge number of userssubscribing to the site inDecember. His research

methodology is, however, notbased on actual figures and isonly a ‘guestimate’.

He arrived at the data bytracking a list of unusual names

in the US on the recruitmentsite Elance and noting thenumber of those peoplebeing Google Plus users aswell.—Internet

just as we hoped. The burnwas spot-on,” chief scientistMaria Zuber of theMassachusetts Institute ofTechnology said in a post-mission interview with TheAssociated Press.

The team toastedsparkling cider, but thecelebration was brief. Despitethe successful maneuver, thework was not over. Its twinstill had to enter lunar orbiton New Year’s Day.

The Grail probes —short for Gravity Recoveryand Interior Laboratory —have been cruisingindependently toward theirdestination since launchingin September aboard the samerocket on a mission tomeasure lunar gravity.

Hours before revelers in

Times Square celebrated theNew Year, Grail-A approachedthe moon and fired its enginefor about 40 minutes to getcaptured into orbit. Deep spaceantennas in the Californiadesert and Madrid trackedevery move and fed real-timeupdates to ground controllers.

About 270 familymembers and friends of themission team descended on theNASA campus to watch thedrama unfold on a live feed.

“This is great, a big relief,”deputy project scientist SamiAsmar told the jubilant crowd.

Grail is the 110th missionto target the moon since thedawn of the Space Ageincluding the six Apollo moonlandings that put 12 astronautson the surface. Despite theattention the moon has

received, scientists don’tknow everything aboutEarth’s nearest neighbour.

Internet

P5(2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM5

6 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012

(from page 1)Minister Brig-Gen Kyaw ZanMyint, Deputy Minister forSocial Welfare, Relief and Re-settlement U Phone Swe,Deputy Education MinisterU Ba Shwe, Deputy HealthMinister Dr Win Myint, NayPyi Taw Council Member USaw Hla and departmentalheads, inspected the 340-ftlong temporary bailey bridgein place of ShwechaungBridge which was damageddue to natural disaster andsite chosen for constructionof 900-ft long newShwechaung Bridge acrossShwe Creek in Pakokku on30 December evening.

The Union ConstructionMinister briefed the Vice-President on progress inconstruction of the bridge.Head of Magway RegionDirectorate of Water Re-sources and Improvement ofRiver Systems under theMinistry of Transport U OhnHan reported on works formeasuring water way at thechosen site and the Vice-Presi-

Vice-PresidentThiha ThuraU Tin AungMyint Oomeets…

Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo greets departmental officials, townselders, localauthorities and members of social organizations.—MNA

dent left necessary instruc-tions.

The Vice-President andparty then inspected resettle-ment of flood victims atAungchantha Ward andspoke words of encourage-ment to them.

The Vice-President metdepartmental personnel atdistrict and township levels,townselders, ward/villageadministrators and membersof social organizations atPyithaya Hall.

The Pakokku Townshipadministrator and the deputycommissioner gave anaccount on area, location,population, amount of rain-

fall, land resource, irrigationsystem and irrigated areas offarmland, target productionof monsoon and summerpaddy, cultivation and pro-duction of rice, cultivation of10 major crops, rice suffi-ciency, livestock farming,meat and fish production, netproduction, service, exportand trade value, per capitaincome, standard of basic andhigher education, number ofhealth care facilities and pro-vision of health care service,supply of water to rural andurban regions by develop-ment affairs committees, so-cial welfare programmes ofsocial organizations in their

township and district.Next, Magway Region

Chief Minister U Phone MawShwe made a supplementaryreport on rescue andrehabilitation of flood vic-tims in Pakokku District,health care services, re-grow-ing of flood-swept farms,progress in construction ofnew houses and opening ofdomestic science courses forfemale youths.

U Tint Swe, a seniorcitizen, requested to assign akidney specialist to PakokkuGeneral Hospital.

Union Minister forElectric Power No (1) U ZawMin explained develop-

ments in education, health,agriculture, and transpor-tation sectors in MagwayRegion, and stressed thepublic role in government-led rural development andpoverty alleviation projectfor its success.

Deputy Minister forSocial Welfare, Relief andResettlement U Phone Swementioned rural disasterprevention and rehabilitationworks being undertaken bythe SWRR Ministry andhighlighted the need for wideissuance of advance warningof natural disasters and thepeople’s cooperation.

The Vice-Presidentfulfilled the needs ineducation and health sectorsand delivered an address,saying that he and hisentourages were there to inau-

quirements for regional de-velopment and emphasizingthe accuracy of statistics.

The Vice-Presidentnoted that the global coun-tries including Myanmar wasfacing climate change andnatural disasters small orlarge, calling for awareness ofclimate change process andcoordination with personneland townselders of regionsconcerned in takingpreventive measures.

Looking at the urban-rural population ratio oftoday’s Myanmar, it could beseen that 70 per cent of thepeople were residing in ruralareas, said the Vice-President,adding that the Presidenthimself was playing a leadingrole in rural development andpoverty alleviation workslaunched all over the country.

gurate Ayeyawady Bridge(Pakokku) which would setthe record of longest bridge inMyanmar. On his tour, heinspected the site chosen forconstruction of newShwechaung Bridge in placeof flood-swept old one andnew houses for flood victims.

He added that he wasthere to learn the conditionsof the region from personneland townselders and to fulfillthe requirements. He thenrevealed targets of education,health, agriculture,transportation, and economicplans and progress inimplementation of them,pointing out the further re-

The Vice-Presidentcontinued to say that in sodoing, eight-point work pro-gramme was adopted depend-ing on the fundamental needssuggested by the workshopsof local and foreign expertsand it was a project beingimplemented under theguidance of the governmentwith the assistance of privatesector, UN and internationalsocial organizations. It wasalso the MillenniumDevelopment Goals of the UN,added the Vice-Presidenturging the people to play apart for the success of theproject.

(See page 7)

Houses relocated for flood victims of Aungchantha Ward in Pakokku.—MNA

Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo visits Pakokku General Hospital.—MNA

P6(2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM6

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012 7

Vice-PresidentThiha ThuraU Tin AungMyint Oomeets…

(from page 6)Observing Pakokku Dis-

trict, it could be seen that edu-cation, health and transporta-tion sectors were improvingand businesses and industriesdeveloping, leading to anincrease in job opportunities,noted the Vice-President,calling for focus on reductionof poverty and enhancementof socio-economy of ruralpeople with the assistance, en-couragement and correctguidance of regional authori-ties and civil servants.

The Vice-President con-tinued to say that for ruraldevelopment and poverty al-leviation, the President hadinstructed to seek means toput the motto “one district,one product” into practiceeven if every village couldnot produce one particularproduct on industrial scaleaccording to the motto “onevillage, one product”. Mainly,it should be targeted for in-crease of per capita income ofindividual, underpinned theVice-President.

In addition, the Vice-President said that, it wastargeted to produce 1500

Vice-President Thiha Thura U Tin Aung Myint Oo meets departmental officials, townselders, local authorities and members ofsocial organizations at Pyithaya Hall in Pakokku.—MNA

million baskets of rice peryear for food sufficiency of60 million citizens of thecountry and even surplus canbe produced today. However,the population would keepon growing and thus the targetof 2000 million baskets ofrice per acre was to be set forfood security of about 100million people.

Marching towards thegoal of modern, developednation, stability of the Stateplus economic growth is amust, stressed the Vice-President.

To achieve the stabilityof the State, the governmenthad been focusing all itsattention on creating eternal

peace, endeavoring to bringarmed conflicts amongnational brethren conceivedwith the independence to anend.

The people were to lenda hand in ensuring stabilityand eternal peace in theirhome regions and the entirenation as well, urged the Vice-President.

The Vice-Presidentadded that the governmenthad been constructing infra-structures necessary for socio-economic development andhigh living standard of thenation and the infrastructuraldevelopment so far had beensatisfactory. The governmentwas also creating jobs for

people and encouragingestablishment of small andmedium enterprises to reducethe poverty rate of the ruralpeople.

The Vice-President thenurged the people to cooperatewith the government for rapidachievement of nationalstability and economic devel-opment, adding that Hluttawrepresentatives elected by thepeople were discharging theirrespective duties in legisla-tive, executive and judicialpillars in accordance with theconstitution.

The Vice-President thencalled regional administratorsand all the civil servants toexert efforts for the interests

of the State and people in linewith the new administrativemechanism.

The Vice-President thencordially conversed withdistrict/township level de-partmental personnel andtownselders.

The Vice-President andparty then visited PakokkuGeneral Hospital whereUnion Construction MinisterU Khin Maung Myintcontributed cash to themedical fund of the hospitaland provided patients withcash and kind.

The Vice-President inmeeting with the medicalsuperintendent, doctors andnurses of the hospital in-

structed provision of haemo-dialysis by the governmentand donors depending on thenumber of patients who arebitten snakes and who sufferkidney failure at Region/State and district level hos-pitals and assigned the Min-istry of Health to turn outspecialists.

The Vice-President andparty then proceeded toThihoshin Pagoda where theVice-President offered flow-ers to the Buddha image anddonated cash to the pagodaboard of trustees. They thenvisited Shwegu Pagoda andpresented cash to the pagodaboard of trustees.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 1 Jan—Aceremony to inaugurateKanyin Dam, built byMinistry of Agriculture andIrrigation, was held at thedam in Ingapu Townshipthis morning, attended byUnion Minister for Agricul-ture and Irrigation U MyintHlaing, Ayeyawady RegionChief Minister U TheinAung, Speaker ofAyeyawady Region HluttawU Hsan Hsint, region minis-ters, officials and local peo-ple.

Speaking on the occa-sion, the Union Minister saidthat as only when farmerscan earn increased incomes,will the whole nation developin harmony, the governmentis building a large number ofdams and reservoirs foragricultural purpose. From1988 to date, the nation hasbuilt 233 dams to irrigate2.82 million acres of arablelands. It was the 10th facilityof its kind in AyeyawadyRegion, he added.

He said that the newgovernment is undertaking

Kanyin Dam in Ingapu Townshipinaugurated as 10th facility in

Ayeyawady Regioneight tasks of rural develop-ment and poverty alleviationas a national duty. Minis-tries concerned, localauthorities and entrepreneursare seeking the strong marketfor crops produced byfarmers. Likewise, farmersare to use quality strains andagricultural inputs, applygood agriculture pattern andsave cost of cultivation har-moniously.

He urged the localpeople to maintain the damfor its durability and to carryout poverty alleviation.

The Region ChiefMinister also made a speech.A local spoke words ofthanks.

The Region ChiefMinister and the RegionHluttaw Speaker formallyopened the dam. The UnionMinister unveiled the stoneinscription.

The dam will irrigate8000 acres of summer paddyand it was installed with two2.5 megwatt generators tosupply electricity to the re-gion.

Kanyin Dam is ofearthen type, and its embank-ment is 194 feet high and3750 feet long. The saddledyke is 2850 feet long. Thedam can store 148800 acre-feet of water at full brim.Three conduits, four feet bysix feet, is of RC ogee typefor benefiting 25000 acresof farmlands. Constructionof the dam started in 2002-2003.

The Union Minister andparty participated in seedingof Palethwe hybrid paddystrain on 20-acre farmland inKywezin Village in IngapuTownship.—MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 1 Jan—Chairman of Union CivilServices Board U Kyaw Thuaddressed concluding cer-emony of refresher course No(44) for basic educationteachers at Central Instituteof Civil Service (Upper

UCSB Chairman attends courseconcluding ceremony

Myanmar) yesterday morn-ing.

UCSB Member DrMyint Aung, Mandalay Re-gion Social Affairs MinisterDr Win Hlaing, officials andtrainees attended the cer-emony.

The chairman presentedprizes to outstanding train-ees and completion certifi-cates to each company.

The course wascompleted by 1500 basiceducation teachers.

MNA

MEIKTILA, 1 Jan—A ceremony to donate cash to funds ofOrphanage Youth Development Parahita School inNyaunggaing region of Meiktila was held at the school on 16December.

Vocalist Dun donated K 2.8 million from his professionto the school. The vocalist wandered villages of MeiktilaTownship in performing singing entertainments. Amongcash earned from the entertainments, he donated K 2.2 millionto fund for construction of Kokkogon Village Pre-PrimarySchool in Meiktila Township on 30 December.

Myanma Alin

Vocalist donates cash to orphanage

HOPIN, 1 Jan—The archway gate ofYwathitgyi Basic Education High Schoolbranch was opened in Hopin Township,Mohnyin District, on 18 December.

Officials and the wellwisher openedthe archway.

The archway was built at a cost of K 5million by wellwisher U Pay Tu Lay andfamily.—Township IPRD

BEHS branch getsarchway gate New asphalt road opened

PINLAUNG, 1 Jan—As a gesture of hailingthe 64th Anniversary Independence Day, theself-reliant new asphalt Shwetaunggyar Roadwas opened in Pinlaunggyi Village ofPinlaung Township on 28 December.

The new facility is 12 feet wide and 2800feet long constructed at a cost of K 4,624,600by local people and K 3.3 million by TownshipDevelopment Affairs Committee.

Township IPRD

District News

P7(2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM7

8 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012

Hailing the 64th Anniversary Independence Day

Independence Day and present dutyKyaw Ye Min

President U Thein Sein meets UN Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon at Nikko Bali Hotel andResort in Bali of the Republic of Indonesia on 19 November, 2011.

With the mists ofJanuary, Independence Daywhich is the day of greatsignificance for Myanmarand its people has againreached its anniversary.

Independence ispriceless for a nation and itspeople. It is indeed lifebloodof a nation. It is a thing thatcannot be lost anyway andanyhow. So, it should not beforgotten that every citizenis duty-bound to safeguardthe nation till the doomsdayand independence so longas the nation exists.

Independence isconcerned with the past,present and future as well. Inthe past, lots of lives weresacrificed to claim backindependence. At present,it is to be solidified and it isto be safeguarded in thefuture for its perpetuity.

Of the three times, thepresent time is of mostimportant. At the presenttime, solidification ofindepedence is of mostimportant. So, whatever thegovernment and the peopleare collaborativelyendeavouring today can beinterpreted as strengtheningindependence at the presenttime and safeguarding it forall eternity in the future.

Today, our country ismarching towards the goalof modern, developed newnation exercising democracyand market economy inaccordance with the newconstitution. Thedemocratically-electedgovernment with its allseriousness is undertakingreforms, restoring stabilityand spurring developmentas desired by the people.

In legal affairs, a total of15 laws have been enactedincluding promulgation ofnew laws and amending theold ones. Systematic plans areunderway to be able toformulate new laws and amendold ones in accordance withchanging conditions. Thanksto such legal reforms, peoplenow can play bigger role inpolitics, economy, investment,trade, education, health andagricultural sector of thenation.

Likewise, inadministration, the doctrine ofGood Governance and CleanGovernment which placespublic interests at the fore isbeing put into practice step bystep. As the administrativeorgans have direct contactwith the people, theadministrative mechanism isbeing built to be transparent,showing respect for thepeople. In addition, multi-faceted reforms have beenmade in judicial system,lending credibility tojudicature.

Myanmar NationalHuman Rights Commissionhas been formed with the aimof effectively protecting andpromoting human rights of thepeople. Trustworthy expertsfor various social classesconstituted the independentcommission which will workcooperatively withinternational communityincluding the United NationsHuman Rights Commissionand regional organizations,creating historic human rightsrecords of the future nationand its people.

For two times, generalamnesty has been granted forthe prisoners who are serving

their time for breach of existinglaws, releasing over 20,000prisoners. These prisonersnow have a chance to play apart in building the new nation.Furthermore, there were over40000 prisoners who werecommuted to lifeimprisonment from deathsentence and released one yearahead of regular prison term. Itis indeed a turning point notonly for them but also for theirfamily and friends.

The government is alsoendeavouring to make peacewith ethnic armed groups forpeace and stability of thenation. To be able to attaineternal peace, it has adopteddifferent strategies based onobjective conditions of thenation today and historicalevents, taking the differentviews of ethnic groups intofull consideration. Of the 10remaining ethnic armedgroups big and small that stillrefuse to make peace, twogroups have signed peaceagreements at state level andare entering Union level peacenegotiations. Two othergroups also have reached statelevel peace agreement and arepreparing for Union levelpeace talks. In addition, therehave been contacts with othersic groups, moving a stepcloser to eternal peacenationwide. It is obvious thatthe government is exertingefforts to create win-winsituation throughcoordination and by buildingmutual trust andunderstanding for internal andexternal political stability.

Moreover, thegovernment has beenfocusing its attention on socialand economic reforms for

development of the nationand betterment of socio-economic life of the people.The government isreassessing monetary policy,financial policy, trade policyand investment policy andamending what should beamended dramatically forimprovement of the overalleconomic structure of thenation. Especially, it is creatingfavorable conditions ininvestment field to attract moreforeign investments,amending and relaxing existinginvestment laws and customsprocedures while simplifyingcommercial procedures.Developing Dawei deep-seaport special economic zone,Kyaukpyu deep-sea portspecial economic zone andThilawa special economic zoneprojects and offering

incentives to attract foreigndirect investment, it is strivingto stimulate the economy.Consequently, FDI are aboutto come flooding in fromEurope, Japan, Singapore,Korea, China and India. AsFDI will bring in opportunitiesfor domestic businesses andjobs, we will be able toovercome the hardship ofworking illegally abroad.

Likewise, thegovernment is relaxing export/import procedures and taxationregulations to grease thewheels of importation andexportation processes. Thesmooth and swift commercialactivities and export/importprocess will then strengthenthe national economy.Moreover, old pension rate ofretirees and political pensionrate have been adjusted in linewith enacted laws. Theincreased pension rate hascreated broad smiles on over815,000 retired civil servantsand their families and relatives.Previously, the retirees had totighten their belts living on asmall amount of pension butnow can lead a pleasant lifeeven with affordability todonate due to increasedpension rate.

Moreover, in accordancewith the prescription in theconstitution that says everypossible assistance is to begiven to people, farmers andworkers to enhance their socio-economic status, thegovernment is implementingrural development and povertyalleviation scheme across thenation. The poverty rate of thenation has declined to 26 percent from 32 per cent in around2005 and it is targeted todecrease to 16 per cent in 2015,for which 8-point rural

development and povertyalleviation plan is beingwidely implemented for ruralpeople who constitute the 70per cent of the population,setting the time frame fromJuly, 2011 to 31 December,2015. Works are in effectiveoperation on the ground incooperation with the ruralpeople in 82 sub-townshipsof 330 townships all over thecountry. It is learnt that micro-credit union laws in theprocess of formulation to helpaccelerate the works.

The government hasinitiated assistance forfarmers in cooperation withthe private sector to help themovercome such difficulties asneed for agricultural input,production at a loss andslashed price for farmproducts. In addition, thegovernment will make certainarrangements for farmers tobe able to hand downpermitted farms generationafter generation in accordancewith the laws.

Industrialization is a muston the road to prosperousfuture. Development of smalland medium lies at the heart ofindustrialization process.Therefore, the government isintroducing adjustmentmeasures to facilitate theinvestment procedures fordifferent scales of industriesto gear up SME development.

National level workshopwas organized to reformeconomic policies inclusiveof currency exchange rate inline with the constitution andcurrent time. The governmenthas meticulously assessedthe resolutions andsuggestions and is seekingadvice from international (See page 9)

Prisoners released by amnesty of the President.

P8(2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM8

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012 9

POEM:

For greater progress of Union

Hailing the 64th AnniversaryIndependence Day

64th Anniversary IndependenceDay Objectives

* All the national people to live together in the Unionforever in weal or woe

* All the national people to collectively strive for non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration ofnational solidarity and perpetuation of sovereignty

* All the national people to harmoniously make all-outefforts for development of socio-economic life of thepeople, reducing of poverty rate and ensuring the firmand clean executive pillar in building up a modern,developed democratic new nation

* All the national people to consciously cooperate inpromoting genuine democratic practice and ensuringthe rule of law, national reconsolidation and eternalpeace.

Independence Day…

Now in tranquility our countryWe have unity without any divisionsBlood’s thicker than waterPatriotism our noble foundationOvertures we’ve made with sincerityAll towards the right pathOur brethren in harmony and unisonWe brave high winds and drive out enemiesSafeguarding nation our priorityAlways in unity we areFor everlasting of independenceWe join hands eternallyCementing unity every momentLet’s try our best friendsSo that our Union be safeAnd enjoying greater progressAll along its future course

Maung Hla Thein (Thaye Thanmain) (Trs)

National level workshop on rural development and poverty alleviation in progress.

(from page 8)monetary organizations forthe change. It is so obviousthat the government iscarefully undertaking thereforms step by step in ordernot to harm the dailyeconomic-life the nation andits people both in short andlong run.

Currently, with thesupport of the public, thenew government is doingwhat should be done in realtime in accordance withinternational economic andmonetary conditions anddomestic economic climate.The government therefore isconcentrating all its effortson creating faircompetitiveness in themarket, equal rights for eachindividual, reduction oftransactional costs,elimination of red-tape

system, activation and solidfoundation of marketeconomy mechanism andadaption of new proceduresaimed to develop industriesand businesses.

The government isshaping public-privatepartnership stronger andstronger by reciprocallyassisting private-sector-ledorganizations which are keydrivers of the nationaleconomy. Meanwhile, it isencouraging private sectorto play a significant role increating secured jobs,driving GDP growth andincreasingly manufacturingproducts of quality standardin regional and globalcompetitive market.

It has been focusingstraight on promotion offundamental rights of citizensin conformity withprovisions of theconstitution, re-formulationof out-of-date farming rightslaws, adequate provision ofpublic health care and socialsecurity programmes,promotion of education andhealth standards,reformation of media inaccord with the constitution,and enactment of new laws

and amendment old ones inaccordance with objectiveconditions of the nation insuch programmes likeenvironmental conservation.

Today, Myanmar isentering into a new era andnew system. The governmentand people are joining handsin building the modern,developed, new democraticnation. Relatively distinctreforms can be seen in political,economic and social areas,highlighting thedemocratization process of thenation. Especially, the nationand its people are makingchanges every single time andthese changes are definitelyof positive ones.

However, transitionalperiod is prone to challengesand transitional process ofMyanmar is no exception.Some challenges, we have

overcome, some, we aredealing with and some, we willencounter in the future.Nevertheless, it should not beforgotten challenges go handin hand with opportunities. Itis important to surmount thechallenges and grasp theopportunities.

In reality, our nationalready has the constitutionmassively supported by thepeople, the governmentformed in accordance with theconstitution, and interrelatedparliaments acting asreciprocally monitoring bodieswith judicial pillar standingseparately as well. The fourthestate of the country, mediahave gradually become matureand developed. At such time,what is of most important isunity plus cooperation forcommon interests actuallybeneficial to the nation and itspeople setting aside thediversities. If so, it is notdifficult to solve thechallenges and seize theopportunities.

To repeat theintroduction, independence isconcerned with the present,past and future, of which thepresent time is the mostimportant. Therefore, every

Photo shows Dawei deep-sea port project.

single joint effort of thegovernment and the peoplefor building democratic newnation today means solidifyingindependence at the presenttime and safeguardingindependence andsovereignty for their perpetualexistence in the future.

Our country has massground for wealth if only weare united. Myanmar belongsto all Myanmar peoples. Everycitizen has a responsibility togive a hand in protecting thenation in order not to lose thecountry in other words not tolose the independence andsovereignty.

Every citizen loves hisown nation and his own landand wants his own nation andpeople to be able to enjoyprosperity. Every citizen wantsto live in unity, harmony andamity. Every citizen adores hisown land and community andaspires to a peaceful and

prosperous society. This isthe same wish of each andevery citizen. So, all the people,taking it as present dutysharing the same wish, are tosafeguard the independencein unison as from this year’s

Independence Day to the lastday of the world so that thenation can stand tall amongglobal countries now andforever.

*****Translation: TKK

P9(2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM9

10 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012

Fire Brigade members whosacrificed… (from page 16)funds of the monastery through Presiding Nayaka SayadawBhaddanta Jatila of Maha Wizayayama Monastery.

At the Dhammayon, he presented K 200,000 each to 63households.

At Bawzana Thukhakari Refectory, the Vice-Presidentdonated K 1 million each to the funds of Maha WizayayamaMonastery through Assistant Sayadaw Bhaddanta Paññindaand Khemathiwun Monastery through Sayadaw BhaddantaPaññavamsa.

In meeting with families of five members of the FireBrigade who sacrificed lives in the fire explosion, he said thathe took pride in performance of five members of Fire Brigadewho sacrificed lives for the sake of the people. He expressedhis condolence for demise of those members. He said that theFire Brigade members who sacrificed live in fire fightijng willbe honoured deservedly. The State will provide assistance tothe remaining families for their life as much as possible. Hepresented K 200,000 each to their families of five dead FireBrigade members and 13 people.

At the donation ceremony, the Vice-President acceptedK 5.2 million to be shared as K 50,000 each for 104 damagedhouses, 5500 corrugated iron sheets worth K 6,350,245, 208plain iron sheets worth K 240,154 and 77 viss of CI nails worthK 231,000, amounting to K 12,021,399 donated by UnionMinister for SWRR U Aung Kyi.

Max Myanmar Co Ltd U Zaw Zaw donated K 50 millionfor reconstruction of Khemathiwun Monastery, MyanmarGems Entrepreneurs Assocaition K 40.5 million, MyanmarFootball Federation K 4 million, 14 MNL football clubs K 3million each, Chairman of Shwe Than Lwin Co Ltd K 3 millionfor auxiliary Fire Brigade, K 3 million for Red Cross Brigade,K 2.5 million for five sacrificed Fire Brigade members and K 3million for 30 members of Fire Brigade who are under treatmentat the hospital and K 10 million for fire victims and Chairman

of Tawwin Co Ltd U Ko Ko Htwe K 20 million to the Vice-President.

He also accepted K 335 million donated by wellwishersincluding K 15 million each by Chairman of A-1 ConstructionCo Ltd, Chairman of Golden Flower Co Ltd U Aung Htwe,Chairman of Shwedaung Development Co Ltd U Aung ZawNiang, Chairman of ACE Construction Group U San Ko KoTint Hsan, Chairman of Original Group Co Ltd U Sai Tha Htay,Chairman of TZTM Construction Co Ltd U Thet Lin andChairman of PMG Co Ltd U Thein Win, K 10 million each byChairman of Carrier Aircon U Han Kyi, Chairman of MyanmarBase Net Co Ltd U Kyaw Moe Naing and Chairman of WEGCo Ltd U Win Naing, K 5 million by Shwe Thabye Co Ltd UThein Win and K 4 million by Forever Group.

At Yangon General Hospital, the Vice-President andparty heard reports on medical treatment provided to theinjured patients from fire explosion at the hospital and givinghealth care services to them presented by MedicalSuperintendent Dr Than Win and specialists. The Vice-Present gave instructions on special care for the patients.

At Hall Nos. 5 and 6 of Yangon General Hospital,intensive care unit, hall Nos 9 and 10, the Vice-Presidentcomforted Fire Brigade members and people injured in the fireexplosion and one woman who injured in bomb blast at thepublic toilet in Kamayut Township and presented K 100,000each to them.

On arrival at Neurosurgical Department, the Vice-President asked after Sayadaw Bhaddanta Pandiçça fromKhemathewun Monastery injured in the fire explosion anddonated K 100,000 to his fund. Then, he comforted woundedmembers of Fire Brigade and people and gave K 100,000 eachto them.

At Kamayut BEHS No. 2, the Vice-President viewedcleaning of debris from the damaged school building byservicemen of regiments and units under Yangon Commandand loss and damages. Later, he gave words of encouragementto teachers.

Headmistress Daw May Hla Yi reported on number ofstudents and classrooms, arrangements for reopening of theschool and loss and damages in the fire. Union Minister forEducation Dr Mya Aye, Union Minister for Construction UKhin Maung Myint, Chief Minister U Myint Swe and Director-General U Aung Win of Department of Human Settlement andHousing Development gave supplementary reports onreconstruction of school building. The Vice-President gaveinstructions on continuous learning of students and soonestreconstruction of the school building.

Patron of the Myanmar Construction EntrepreneursAssociation Union Minister U Khin Maung Myint handedover K 300 million donated by MCEA for reconstruction ofschool building to the Vice-President.

The association will take responsibilities for completionof construction tasks for school buildings.—MNA

Vice-President

Dr SaiMaukKhamviews

provisionof health

careservices to

firevictims at

No. 7BEHS inMingala

TaungnyuntTownship.

MNA

Vice-

President

Dr

Sai

Mauk

Kham

comforts

fire

victims

at

Yangon

General

Hospital.

MNA

Vice-President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Dr Sai Mauk Kham at site of burnt-down Mittamon group ofwarehouses in Kutohseik Ward in Mingala Taungnyunt Township, Yangon Region.

MNA

Tachilek’s newroads hail

IndependenceDay

NAY PYI TAW, 1 Jan—Tachilek hailed 64th

Independence Day with theopening of a number of tarredroads on 27 December.

Officials explained aboutroad works in this tax year.

Shan State DevelopmentAffairs Minister U Tu Maungand officials formally openedthe roads.

The length of roads is800 feet in total and its width12 feet. These wereimplemented by the fund of K32 million.—MNA

P10(2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM10

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012 11

People attend New Year celebrations in Shanghai, east China, on 1 Jan, 2012.—XINHUA

India launches relief operations forcyclone-hit areas as 42 people die

NEW DELHI, 1 Jan—TheIndian authorities Saturdaylaunched relief operations ona war-footing to bring backnormalcy of life in thesouthern state of TamilNadu’s cyclone-batteredCuddalore district andadjacent Puducherry, anational territory, reportedlocal media.

Meanwhile, the deathtoll from the severe stormThane has mounted to 42,

according to the Press Trustof India.

Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister Jayalalithaa saidnine more people have diedin rain related incidents,taking the toll to 42,following the severecyclonic storm Thane thatcrossed the Tamil Nadu coaston Friday, according to thenews agency.

She said five people werekilled in the worst-affected

Cuddalore district, three inKancheepuram and one inTheni. She also announced asolatium of 200,000 rupees(4,000 US dollars) each tothose killed.

Thane, packed withwind speeds of about 135kmph, killed 33 in Cuddaloreand the Union territory ofPuducherry, while leavingaround 20,000 peoplehomeless on Friday.

Xinhua

A boy poseswith an ant-

shaped artworkcreated by

Chen Zhiguangduring an

exhibition inFuzhou,southeast

China’s FujianProvince, on 31Dec, 2011.The

artworkexhibitd hereare made of

stainless steel.XINHUA

Beer drinkers likelier to be in drunkdriving deaths

WASHINGTON, 1 Jan—Beer drinkers are most likelyto drive drunk and getinvolved in driving fatalitiesthan wine or scotch drinkers,a new study has found.

In fact, the study foundthat states with higher wineconsumption actually havefewer drunk driving deaths,Discovery News reported.

“Beer has the strongestlink to traffic fatalities, thenspirits, while wine has anegative impact on trafficfatalities,” said BradleyRickard, assistant professorof economics and appliedmanagement at Cornell

University.“Wine is more likely to

be consumed with food. Thathas an impact. We alsosuspect that there are differentdemographic groups thatconsume this alcohol.

“May be the audiencethat consumes wine is lesslikely to drink and drive andbe in a traffic accident,” hesaid. Rickard said he and hiscolleagues at Cornell weremotivated by recent effortsto block the sale of wine ingrocery stories.

Opponents said thegreater availability of winewould actually result in more

youth drinking, healthproblems and traffic deaths.Rickard says his studyactually counters that finalargument.

“Our results suggest thatarguments againstlegislation that proposes tointroduce wine into grocerystores for reasons related totraffic fatalities may bemisguided,” the study stated.

“Specifically, theconventional wisdom thatalcoholic beverages withhigher ethanol content aremore dangerous in terms oftraffic fatalities is not obviousin our simulation results,” he

stated.Rickard said restricting

alcohol sales after 10 pm hasthe strongest negativepressure on drunk drivingdeaths. “We’re notadvocating that people drinkwine and then they are fine todrive. We’re just saying lookover the last 25 years, it hasbeen those states with higherrate of beer consumption havehigher traffic fatalities,”Rickard added.

The study waspublished in this month’sJournal of the AmericanAssociation of WineEconomists.

Internet

Photo taken on 31 Dec, 2011 shows the Erqi YangtzeRiver Bridge in Wuhan, the capital of central China’sHubei Province. The Erqi Yangtze River Bridge, the

seventh Yangtze River Bridge, was completed and openedto traffic on Saturday. The bridge, 6,507 meters in total

length with two main 616-meter spans, was both the three-bridgehead cable-stayed and composite-beam cable-stayed bridge with the world’s largest span.—XINHUA

US airport evacuated after servicemanfound carrying explosives in bag

HOUSTON, 1 Jan—Anairport terminal in the USstate of Texas was evacuatedSaturday morning after aserviceman was foundcarrying explosives in hisbag.

The man, a member ofthe US Armed Forces, wasstopped at MidlandInternational Airport whenexplosives were found in his

carry-on baggage as it wentthrough an X-ray machine.

The man was heading toa military base in NorthCarolina with his family,according to US mediareports.

The US TransportationSecurity Administration saidin a statement that one of itsofficers found a suspiciousitem in the man’s carry-on

bag during an X-rayscreening.

The checkpoint wasclosed for about one hourwhile officers investigatedand removed the item, thestatement said.

The man was detainedby the FBI and wascooperating withinvestigators, according toreports.—Xinhua

Bed tester to insure her butt for 4 millionpounds

LONDON, 1 Jan—A hotelworker is all set to insure herderriere for 4 million poundsafter landing a job to test thesoftness of guests’ beds.

Natalie Thomas, willcheck about 24 beds eachday after being appointeddirector of bed bouncing fora hotel chain, Premier Inn’s.

The 39-year-old wasoffered the job after sheimpressed with her ability tofeel even the smallest lump

or bump in a mattress.She takes care of her

prized bottom with regularmoisturising and does notwear materials, such as denimjeans, which lessensensitivity.

So important is herbottom that the firm is in talksto insure it for 4millionpounds.

“I absolutely love mynew job – it’s a dream cometrue,” the Daily Express

quoted her as saying.“While it can be fun

bouncing on beds, I take myjob very seriously as makingsure every guest gets a goodnight’s sleep is of paramountimportance to the hotel,” sheadded. Thomas and her teamof helpers will travelthousands of miles a yearacross the UK, visiting thechain’s 602 hotels to test howcomfortable the Inn’s 46,000beds are.—Internet

Accouterments forNew Year are on saleat Times Square in

New York, the UnitedStates, on 31 Dec,

2011. Celebrations forNew Year’s Eve at

Times Square is one ofthe biggest New Year

party in the world.XINHUA

Fish withrazor-sharpteeth bites

offfishermen’s

genitals

Hijacked Italian crew ‘fine’ROME, 1 Jan—The captain of an Italian ship hijacked off

the coast of Somalia said the 18-member crew is “fine.”“We are anchored off the Somali coast and the crew is

fine,” Captain Agostino Musumeci said Friday.The oil tanker, the Enrico Ievoli, was captured near the

coast of Oman, Italy’s ANSA news Agency reported.Last week, another Italian oil tanker, the Savina Caylyn,

was freed after being hijacked by Somali pirates in February.Officials estimate pirates in the region made $80 million

from ransom money in 2010. Earlier this year, governmentsreached an agreement that they would no longer pay ransoms.

Internet

KUALA LUMPUR, 1Jan—A river fish in thewaters of Papua NewGuinea has been targetingfishermen’s pennies.According to Sin ChewDaily, two local fishermenbled to death after havingtheir private organs bittenoff by the piranha-like riverfish’s razor-sharp teeth, StarOnline reported.

An experiencedangler from Britain said itwas believed the killer fishhad started biting humansdue to a lack of “naturallyoccurring food”.

Marine biologist IanMiddleton said the fishhad the most human-liketeeth on the bottom jaw hehad ever seen.

He also said that thefish could have possiblyfed on insects and mighthave detected a chemicalchange in the water beforeswimming up the urine trailand biting human genitals.

Internet

P11 (2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM11

12 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012

Thinking of you on your birthday withgood wishes for a year filled with

happiness!!!

Happy BirthdayTo

Capt. Aung Thein Myint (Listar)

From

Your Loved Ones

Ohn Mar Kyi Win, Thiri Kyi Win (MDIS)

(Pharmacy) & Moe Hein Aung (U.S.A)

2nd Jan’ 2012

Bank Holiday All Banks will be closedon 4th January (Wednesday)2012, Independence Day,being Public holiday Underthe Negotiable InstrumentsAct.Central Bank of Myanmar

ENGAGEMENTSteve Batu (a) Maung Lu Min

(Actron Engineering, Australia)

son of Mr Terry Batu+Daw Nyo Nyo Aung,residing at Sydney, Australia engage to

Ma Pan Myat Phyu (a)Academy Pan Phyu, B.A (Hist)

daughter of U Kyee Myint+Daw Myint Myint Yee

residing at Yangon, on 1st January, 2012at Sedona Hotel, presence of

both sided of parents.

Both sided of parents andSteve Batu (a) Maung Lu Min+

Ma Pan Myat Phyu (a) Academy Pan Phyu

THANKS TO ALL FOR ENCOURAGINGOUR WEDDING CEREMONY

MANG KHAWM PAU (a) PATRICK

younger son of (Dr. Cope Ya Pome),State Health Officer,

Department of Health (Retd)-Daw Ciin Niang,living at No. 6-A, Bld No. 37/41,

50th Street,Botataung Township, Yangon,

married to

AYE MAY WAR (a) LIAN THIAN CING(RTAD)

second daughter of (U Mang Kim), CustomOfficer (Retd), Daw Hau Za Cing living at First

Floor (left)Bld No. 52, 43rd Street, Botataung Township,

Yangon.

We both sides of parents take pleasure to say ourheartfelt thanks to all honourable dignitaries andesteeem gentlemen, all relative and friends,presented personally at the ceremony and thoseearnestly extended assistance in everything at theWedding Reception and Signing Ceremony by thebride and bridegroom signifying their marriage heldat Yangon Siyin Baptist Church and Panda Hotel(Pearl Hall) on 12.10.2011 (Saturday).

Both sided of Parents and

MAUNG KHAWM PAU (a)PATRICK

AYE MAY WAR (a) LIAN THIAN CING

Mach numbers * Mach number is the speed of an aircraft relative to thespeed of sound passing through the air * Mach 1 is the speed of sound - approximately 1,236km/h, depending on various factors including tempera-ture and altitude * Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, Mach 3 is threetimes the speed of sound and so on

Could hypersonic flight become a reality?LONDON, 1 Jan — When

Concorde wasdecommissioned in 2003,supersonic air travel becamea thing of the past. But workhas begun on a passengeraircraft that could go furtherand faster - flying from Eu-

rope to Australia in four hours.Will it ever become a reality?The European SpaceAgency’s goal is to create ahypersonic passenger plane,one that flies more than fivetimes faster than the speed ofsound and six times fasterthan a standard airliner.

It’s not the first time hy-personic flight has been at-tempted. In 1960, tests tookplace on the X-15 — halfplane, half missile — whichcarried one pilot and flew for90 seconds before its rocketfuel burnt out. Its creatorsthought it would herald a newera of high-speed civil avia-tion but more than 50 yearslater, a hypersonic passen-ger plane has yet to be testedor even built. Now a teamled by the European SpaceAgency, known as Lapcat,are working on an aircraft

called the A2, which couldtake up where the X-15 leftoff.

The technology involvedin exceeding the speed ofsound — Mach 1 — is ex-tremely complex. “Machnumber is the key,” saysaerodynamics expert at Im-perial College London, PaulBruce. “When you go belowMach 1 — so flying slowerthan the speed of sound —and then transition to aboveMach 1, the flow of physicscompletely changes. Whenyou go to Mach 5 or 6 thelaws start changing onceagain.” At hypersonicspeeds, gasses and metalsbehave very differently. Air-liner engines that work atsubsonic speeds — aboutMach 0.85 or 913km per hour— won’t work.

Internet

An ice statue is seen at theopening ceremony of the

first Zhangbei ice andsnow festival in ZhangbeiCounty of north China’sHebei Province, on 30

Dec, 2011. The firstZhangbei ice and snow

festival kicked off here onFriday. The festival is

scheduled to open untilMarch 10, 2012 and aseries of ice and snow

related games and eventswill be held during the

festival.— Xinhua

China’s quality watchdog warns ofsafety risks of some Subaru vehicles

4,000-year-old cypress treesurvives move

BEIJING, 1 Jan — China’stop quality regulator warnedFriday of safety risks due to

design flaws in the brakemaster cylinders of the im-ported Subaru Legacy andOutback vehicles producedby Japanese automaker FujiHeavy Industries Ltd.

The problem, which in-volved 7,133 imported vehi-cles on the Chinese main-land, could potentially re-sult in traffic accidents as itprolongs cars’ stopping dis-tance, the General Adminis-tration of Quality Supervi-sion, Inspection and Quar-antine said in a statement onits website.

The statement added theflaw has led to accidentsshortly after the problematicvehicles were put on themarket.

Xinhua

XI’AN, 1 Jan — An an-cient cypress tree has shownsigns of growth after it wastransplanted during thespring in northwest China’sShaanxi Province, accordingto local gardening experts.New branches of the treehave emerged after ninemonths of preservation andmaintenance. The tree, whichis said to have a history ofover 4,000 years accordingto local villagers ofHuangling county, had to beremoved in order for the con-struction of a water-controlproject, or else it would havebeen submerged.

In November 2009, thepreliminary process of thetransplantation began, ac-

cording to Wang Chunmei,head of the county’s public-ity department. About ninemonths later, the experts con-sidered it an appropriate timeto transplant when the newly-grown capillary roots, whichare vital to the root systemand determine how muchwater and minerals a plantcan absorb, had formed. On28 March , with the help ofgiant cranes, trucks, and asoil ball to protect its roots,the ancient tree, whichweighs 450 tonnes, wasmoved to its new home 2.5km away from its originallocation. —Xinhua

Peru holds mass end-of-year wedding for 92

couplesLIMA, 1 Jan — Peru’s capital, Lima, has held a mass

wedding for 92 couples, the last group ceremony of theyear. The brides and grooms, ranging in age from 18 to 74,were married in a ceremony conducted by the city’smayor.

Mass weddings are becoming more popular in Peru -not least because they are far cheaper than individualceremonies. “We fulfilled our desire to get married afterliving together for 34 years,” said Carmen Mercado, 64,who wed her partner, 74-year-old Jorge de la Cruz.

The couples paid some $10 (£6) for the joint cer-emony, instead of the usual $142 (£95) fee in Lima.

The group took their vows and exchanged rings at thesame time during Tuesday’s wedding.

Among the newly-weds were Edger Pasapera, 19, andLuisa Viera, 18, who met in school.

People had tried to keep them apart, Edger told Reuters.“Thanks to God and the love we have for each other,

we are still together. We already have a beautiful babywho was born a fortnight ago.” Lima Mayor SusanaVillaran presided over the event.

“This is part of the city’s celebration of the end of theyear,” said official Eva Revoredo who assisted with theceremony.— Internet

Seven dead, one injured inNE China car crash

HARBIN, 1 Jan—Seven people died and one was injuredwhen two sedans collided around noon on Saturday innortheast China’s Heilongjiang Province, local police said.

Two cars with a total of eight people on board hit head-on in the city of Zhaodong at around 12:30 pm Saturday,leaving six dead at the scene.

Another person died on the way to hospital and oneperson was injured, municipal traffic police said.

Police are looking into the cause of the accident.Xinhua

P12(2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM12

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012 13

List of likely 2012 ‘top words’ releasedcompete with the LondonOlympics, the economicsurge of China, variousactivities involving theCERN atom smasher, and theUS presidential election forTop Word honors, thoughwe always allow for wordcreation generated fromunexpected events such asHurricane Katrina in 2005or the Japanese ‘tripledisaster’ of 2011,” Payacksaid.

speaking world, with anestimated 1.83 billionspeakers, analyzing theInternet, blogosphere, the top75,000 print and electronicglobal media and socialmedia sources.

Global Language Moni-tor determined “occupy” wasthe Top Word, “Arab Spring”the Top Phrase, and SteveJobs the Top Name of 2011 inits survey. “Catherine, theDuchess of Cambridge, will

A US language grouphas released its annualglobal survey of words andphrases it says are likely todominate word usage andcreation in 2012.

In its 12th annualglobal survey of theEnglish language, GlobalLanguage Monitor saidterms such as CERN, Kate,China, the Olympics andthose relating to the USelections and end-of-worldscenarios will be foremostnext year.

“The year 2012 looksto be a vibrant year for theEnglish language withword creation again drivenby events both scheduledand unanticipated,” Paul JJPayack, president and chiefword analyst of GLM, said.

“Typically there is an‘end-of-the-world’ scenarioevery few years that impactsthe English language; thisyear we will see no fewerthan three including theMaya Apocalypse and theSolar Max,” he said.

Austin, Texas-basedGLM ranked words fromthroughout the English-

Photo shows PygmyChimpanzee cooking for

itself.

Photo shows two-faced kitty born in Australia.

Christmascard travelsfor 61 years

A Christmas card sentback and forth betweenfriends has crisscrossed thecountry for 61 years, saysthe Texas man who firstmailed it to a friend.

In 1950, Acker Hanks,now 89, sent the card to LeeKelley, a neighbor in NewWaverley, Texas. Kelly sentthe same card back to Hanksin 1951.

“I probably didn’t evenread what was on the card,”Hanks said. “We wereconstantly pulling jokes onone another.”

Since then, the card haschanged places every year,even as Kelly, who workedfor the US Forest Service,moved all over the UnitedStates, the Tyler (Texas)Morning Telegraphreported.

Inside the card is a listof years and where the cardwas sent that year, along withshort notes as the friendsupdated each other on thehappenings in their lives.

Santa’s sleigh tangles with jet fighterA Maryland couple say

a tableau showing a crashbetween Santa’s sleigh and aCold War-era plane pilotedby Scrooge is on display attheir St Michaels farm.

The scene depicts theaftereffects of a midaircollision between Santa’ssleigh and a Lockheed F-104Starfighter from the fictitiousSt Michaels Air NationalGuard piloted by “CaptainScrooge,” The Baltimore Sunreported.

Santa’s sleigh full of toyshas been impaled by the jet’s

nose, with presents strewn allover the place. Rudolf is stuckin the fuselage, the otherreindeer linger nearby andthe pilot is off to one sidetinkering with a brokenRadio Flyer wagon.

There’s a sign on a fenceproclaiming, “Oops!” “It’s ahappy thing,” Tom Blair said.“I meant for it to be humou-rous and non-offensive. I’veprobably got 99 extremelypositive comments and oneslightly critical comment.”

Tom and Alice Blair saythis is the latest in a series of

unconventional displaysthey put up throughout theyear, including Halloweenand Memorial Day.

Tom, a businessman andauthor who collects and fliesvintage World War II planes,said he wanted to bring inone of his planes for thisseason’s tableaux, the Sunreported.

“I was thinking, ‘Whatcould I do with this?’ and Ihad the idea of it impalingSanta’s sleigh and Santapulling Rudolph from the airintake,” he said.News Album

Kristen Stewart buys twoguitars for Robert Pattinson

Actress Kristen Stewart

Jennifer Lopez sets sail in luxurious yachtwith toyboy lover for New Year in MiamiLONDON, 1 Jan—Jennifer

Lopez, who whisked awayher toyboy lover CasperSmart on several trips aroundthe world in the past twomonths, has now set sail withhim on a luxurious yacht inMiami.

The 42-year-old singerlooked ready for a relaxingbreak, showing off her famouscurves in a green halterneckdress, the Daily Mail reported.

She appeared to havepared down her usually made-up look in favour of a bare-faced complexion and tied

Jennifer Lopez,

her brunette locks back intoa casual bun.

The 24-year-old back-up dancer looked like the catthat cream as he boarded thevessel, looking around thenew digs with a smile uponhis face. He wore a black tanktop and a fitted short sleeve

shirt, which showed off hisbulging muscles and array oftattoos. He also carried a backpack on his shoulders andwore an expensive lookingwatch on his wrist.

While ‘The Back-UpPlan’ star made her way aroundthe ship, Smart looked moreinterested in the conversationhe was having on the phone.Lopez’s twins Max and Emmealso appeared to have joinedthe couple, with the nannyseen holding the singer’’sthree-year-old daughter.

Internet

Jennifer Aniston’s beautysecrets revealed!

WELLINGTON, 1 Jan—Jennifer Aniston has alwaysbeen an example ofimpeccable style and hardlyever gets it wrong with herlooks, both on and off screen.

Turns out, the actress hasa range of beauty productsthat help her maintain hersweetheart looks.

Being a hair straightenerdevotee, Aniston relies onKerastase Ciment Thermiqueto protect her hair. Thet h e r m o - a c t i v a t e dreconstructioning milk hasbeen designed specifically for

hair subjected to heat styling.Taking special care of

that famous face, she uses theoil free Chantecaille FutureSkin Foundation, whichcontains 60 per cent chargedwater and seaweed extracts,Stuff.co.nz reports.

Any blemish or darkcircle is covered with the

moisture-rich and lightreflecting Laura MercierSecret Concealer.

The actress is also a fanof Dr Hauschka products anduses mascara and lip balmfrom this brand.—Internet

Jennifer AnistonBradley Cooper dating Zoe Saldana?LONDON, 1 Jan—Actor

Bradley Cooper isreportedly dating actress ZoeSaldana.

The 36-year-old, whowas recently named SexiestMan Alive by People

magazine, is said to havegrown close to the “Avatar”actress while workingtogether in upcoming movie“The Words”.

“They are very happy.They are totally dating,”

contactmusic.com quoted asource as saying.

Cooper was previouslylinked to Renee Zellweger,Jennifer Lopez and OliviaWilde.

InternetActor Bradley Cooper

Robin Williams would love to play AlbertEinstein or Theodore Roosevelt

WASHINGTON, 1 Jan—Robin Williams hasexpressed his desire to playAlbert Einstein or former USpresident Theodore ‘Teddy’Roosevelt in a movie.

The ‘Dead PoetsSociety’ actor revealed thathe finds the former USPresident ‘fascinating’.

“At some point I wouldlove to play Einstein. I wouldlove to play him at some place,some how.

Or Teddy Roosevelt

because he’s so fascinating,a really interesting guy. Heshot every animal he saw!”Contact-music quotedWilliams as telling BANGShowbiz.

The 60-year-oldcomedian also asserted thathe does not intend to slowdown his acting career andwants to stay on the big screenfor “as long as possible”.

“I just want to keepacting for as long as possible,I’m still enjoying it. I don’t

have any plans to retire atall,” he added.

Internet

Selena Gomez

Robin Williams

Selena Gomezpaid parents’rent with first

TV wagesLONDON, 1 Jan—Selena

Gomez has revealed that shehad used her first wages from‘Wizards of Waverly Place’to pay her parents’ rent.

The Disney actress’family had moved from theirnative Texas to Los Angelesto support her blossomingshowbiz career.

The 19-year-oldrevealed that when shelanded her first starring rolein the hit children’s TV show,she handed the money to herfamily to pay its livingexpenses.

“I think (my first paycheque) went into living (inLos Angeles) because we hadto move from Texas, so I thinkwe just had to pay for it,” TheDaily Express quoted her astelling Access Hollywood.

Internet

LOS ANGELES, 1 Jan—Actress Kristen Stewart hasbought two vintage guitarsworth USD 12,000 for herboyfriend, actor RobertPattinson. The 21-year-oldactress bought theinstruments from Norman’sRare Guitars in Los Angeles,reports femalefirst. co.uk.Shop owner Norman Harrisrevealed that Stewart pickedup a 1959 Fender Jazzmasterand a 1947 K and F Lap Steelfor Pattinson, who is a keen musician.—Internet

P13 (2).pmd 1/2/2012, 8:39 AM13

14 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012

Jimenez replaces sackedAguirre as Zaragoza boss

Van Persie sends Arsenal back to 4th with QPR win

Mavericks sign Chinese starYi for one year

BEIJING, 1 Jan — The Dallas Mavericks is set to sign freeagent forward Yi Jianlian on a one-year deal, according to anESPN report on Sunday.

The 24-year-old Chinese averaged 5.6 points and 3.9rebounds with Washington last season.Yi's best seasoncame in 2009-2010 when Yi averaged 12.0 points and 7.2rebounds with New Jersey.

Xinhua

Zhang votedtable tennisplayer of the

yearBEIJING, 1 Jan—World

championships and WorldCup men's singles winnerZhang Jike was voted as theTable Tennis Player of theYear by a leading table ten-nis magazine.

The Table Tennis World,whose editor in chief is theformer International TableTennis Federation presidentXu Yinsheng, awarded thehonour to the 23-year-oldChinese, who won morevotes than women's worldchampionships and WorldCup winner Ding Ning andITTF Finals men's singleschampion Ma Long.

Zhang ousted moreheraded teammate WangHao for the men's singles ti-tle at the world champion-ships last May and beat Wangagain later in the year for theWorld Cup crown.— Xinhua

Arsenal's Robin Van Persie shoots and scores his goalagainst Queens Park Rangers during their English

Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadiumin London.—INTERNET

LONDON, 1 Jan — Robinvan Persie lifted Arsenalback into the PremierLeague’s top four on Satur-day by clinching a 1-0 vic-tory over Queens Park Rang-ers. Having squandered sev-eral chances to score in thefirst half, the Netherlandsstriker finally broke the dead-lock on the hour at the Emir-ates Stadium.

He darted through theQPR defense to meet AndreiArshavin’s through ball be-fore slotting past QPR goal-keeper Radek Cerny. Thevictory dislodged Chelseafrom fourth place after Arse-nal’s west London rival lost3-1 at home to Aston Villa.How Arsenal failed to score

in the first half will havebewildered more than 60,000inside Emirates Stadium.

The lack of ruthlessnessprovided a reminder of whymanager Arsene Wenger has

turned to signing formerstriker Thierry Henry on atwo-month loan from theNew York Red Bulls. Thestriker, who scored a club-record 226 goals in eightyears at Arsenal between1999-2007, was in theground to assess the playerswho he will soon be rejoin-ing. Van Persie’s goal washis 35th league goal of 2011,leaving him just one shy ofAlan Shearer’s record haulfor Blackburn in 1995.

Internet

Andy Murray appoints IvanLendl as his new coach

Ed Moses backs Dai Greenefor gold at London 2012

Drogba’s 150th goal in vainfor Chelsea

Novak Djokovic beats David Ferrer to win AbuDhabi exhibition

Clarke, McIlroy honoured byQueen after major wins

International Sports

Didier Drogba

Manuel ‘Manolo’ Jimenez

MADRID, 1 Jan—RealZaragoza have appointedformer Sevilla coach Manuel‘Manolo’ Jimenez to replaceJavier Aguirre, who wassacked this week followinga poor run that left them bot-tom of La Liga.

“Real Zaragoza haveconcluded the hiring ofManuel Jimenez until theend of the season,” Zaragozasaid on their website(www.realzaragoza.com) on

Saturday. Jimenez, whocoached Sevilla from 2007-2010 and was also a playerwith the Andalusian side, willbe presented to the media onSunday, the club added.

Former Mexico bossAguirre was appointed inNovember 2010 and helpedZaragoza avoid relegationlast season. With 16 of 38matches played this season,they have just 10 points, andthe club’s board decided onThursday “an urgent changeof course” was needed.Jimenez was sacked bySevilla in March 2010 andmoved to Greece, where heled AEK Athens to thirdplace in the Super Leagueand victory in the GreekCup.

Internet

LONDON, 1 Jan —North-ern Irish golf stars DarrenClarke and Rory McIlroy areamong the sports figureshonoured by Queen Eliza-beth II in her New Year list,after claiming their first ma-jor titles. The 43-year-oldClarke was made an Officerof the Order of the BritishEmpire after ending his longwait for a major victory bywinning the British Open atRoyal St George’s.

“It is a great honour and afantastic way to end a greatyear. I am very proud for meand my family,” Clarke said.“It was a life-changing mo-ment really and in many waysmy feet have not touched the

floor since. And now this.”Clarke lifted the claret jugweeks after the 22-year-oldMcIlroy’s eight-shot victoryin the U.S. Open at Congres-sional. The second-young-est major winner since 1934,McIlroy was made a Mem-ber of the Order of the Brit-ish Empire.

“It is quite humbling tobe included in such a list ofworthy recipients,” McIlroysaid. “Many people on thehonors list have made hugepersonal sacrifices and con-tributed significantly to so-ciety during their lives. I feelvery fortunate to be in theircompany.”

Internet

Murray pulled out of De-cember's ATP World TourFinals with a groin injury

Lendl won 94 ATP Tourtitles in a career that

spanned 16 years.

LONDON, 1 Jan— DidierDrogba cemented his namein Chelsea folklore with his150th goal for the club onSaturday but it was notenough to prevent a 3-1 homedefeat by Aston Villa in thePremier League. The 33-year-old striker’s 23rd-minute spot kick helped theIvory Coast international joinStamford Bridge greats Pe-ter Osgood and Roy Bentleyon 150 goals.

Drogba scored from thepenalty spot where the lateOsgood’s ashes are buriedand after converting his kickhe pointed to the spot, wavedat the crowd and blew akiss.Only Frank Lampard(178), Kerry Dixon (193) andBobby Tambling (202) havescored more goals for theLondoners. “It was an emo-tional goal for Didier andmight be his last home ap-pearance before nextmonth’s African NationsCup,” manager Andre Vil-las-Boas told reporters. “We

will try our hardest for himto be available for the Port-smouth game (in the FA Cupon Jan. 8).”

Before the match withVilla, the superstitiousDrogba said his 150th goalcould be a late “Christmaspresent for the fans” but de-feat left Chelsea supportersfuming, with jeers echoingaround Stamford Bridge af-ter the final whistle. Chel-sea’s title hopes now seemover after they dropped tofifth in the table, 11 pointsadrift of leaders ManchesterCity. Drogba’s future atStamford Bridge is also un-certain after Villas-Boas saidtalks over a contract exten-sion had not been resolved.

Internet

Djokovic won 10 tourna-ments in 2011 includingthree Grand Slam titles

LONDON, 1 Jan— Britain'sAndy Murray has appointedformer world number oneIvan Lendl as his new full-time coach. Lendl, the win-ner of eight Grand Slam ti-tles, will start work immedi-ately. Murray said: "Ivan'simpact on the game is un-questionable and he bringsexperience and knowledgethat few others have, par-ticularly in major tourna-ments." The Scot starts 2012with a first-round matchagainst Mikhail Kukushkinat the Brisbane Internationalon Tuesday.

Now 51, Lendl is rated asone of the world's greatestplayers, having won 94 ATP

Tour titles in a career thatspanned 16 years. He camefrom two sets to love downto win the French Open finalagainst John McEnroe in1984 to claim his first GrandSlam and, after winning the1985 US Open, he remainedas the world's top rankedplayer for 156 consecutiveweeks.

On becoming Murray'scoach, Lendl said: "I am re-ally excited to have the op-portunity to work with Andy.He is a unique talent and Ilook forward to trying to helphim reach his goals." Topseed Murray will begin hisbid for a 22nd ATP WorldTour title at the Brisbane hardcourt tournament.—Internet

AGU DHABI, 1 Jan —Novak Djokovic beat DavidFerrer 6-2 6-1 to win theWorld Tennis Championshipexhibition in Abu Dhabi.World number one Djokovicfollowed up his semi-finalwin over Roger Federer toclaim the $250,000(£161,000) prize.

Djokovic will now pre-pare for the defence of hisAustralian Open title. Thetournament starts in Mel-bourne on 16 January. Ear-lier, Spain's world number

two Rafael Nadal beat Federer6-1 7-5 in the third-fourthplace play-off.

Ferrer, who beat Nadal inthe semi-finals, had his servebroken five times by Djokovicand went 3-0 down in eachset before succumbing to de-feat. Djokovic finished thematch with consecutive acesand said it was not impossi-ble to repeat his tremendousfeats from 2011 in the com-ing twelve months. "I think,yes. Nothing is impossible, ifyou believe. "I think the cru-

cial couple of weeks is now,for me to prepare for Aus-tralia. We'll see. It's a longyear and a difficult task, butI'm looking forward to it."

Internet

Greene wins gold at theWorld Championships

in South Korea

LONDON, 1 Jan —Ed Mo-ses says he sees no reasonworld 400m hurdles cham-pion Dai Greene cannot winOlympic gold in London ifhe is not distracted from hispreparations.

™But double Olympicchampion Moses added thatGreene, who won world goldin September, needs to gain"more power" if he is to break48 seconds regularly.

"People will put themedal around your neck be-fore you even finish train-

ing," the American toldBBC Radio 5 live. "My ad-vice is just to say 'look we'llwait and see'."Moses, whowon the second of his twoOlympic 400m hurdle goldsin his hometown Games inLos Angeles in 1984, wasspeaking to Greene in aBBC Radio 5 live special,which will air on NewYear's Day.

Greene, 25, ran a bril-liant race to win Britain's firstgold of the World Champi-onships in Daegu, SouthKorea in a time of 48.26 sec-onds, adding the world crownto his European and Com-monwealth titles.

However, the race wasone of the slowest in WorldChampionship history andMoses warned WelshmanGreene, who has a personalbest of 47.88 seconds, thatconditions will be verydifferent in London nextsummer.

Internet

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Monday, 2 January, 2012 15

R/489 Printed and published by the New Light of Myanmar press in Nay Pyi Taw, the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information.

DISTRICT NEWS

Weather Map of Myanmar and Neighbouring Areas

Weather forecast for2nd January, 2012Oversea Transmission

* News* Towards a Peaceful and

Disciplined DemocraticNew Nation(Infrastructures)

* News* Spring of Upcountry* News* Myanmar Movie Impact

“Truth and Braveness”* News* A Pilgrimage to

Prominent in Minbu* News* Paragu Shantini-ketan

Library* News* Songs for you* Traveling in Shan

Mountain Ranges "ShanTraditional Food"

* News* The Heart Love

influenced (U HlaTun Cancer Foundation)

* News* Myanmar Traditional

Identity “The CulturePennant Pillar”

* Myanmar Movies “LoveTriangle”

7:00 am 1. Paritta by Hilly Region

Missionary Sayadaw7:50 am 2. Nice and Sweet Song8:00 am 3. Health Programme8:10 am 4. Song Of National Races8:20 am 5. Cute Little Dancers4:10 pm 6. Dance Variety4:20 pm 7. Musical Programme4:45 pm 8. Songs For Upholding National Spirit5:00 pm 9. Myanmar Language5:15 pm10. (64)th Anniversary

Independence Day6:20 pm11. Sing & Enjoy7:00 pm12. TV Drama Series8:00 pm13. News14. Independence Day Programme15. World’s Stars16. TV Drama Series17. India Drama Series

(2-1-12 09:30 am ~3-1-12 09:30 am) MST

MYANMARINTERNATIONAL

MYANMAR TV

(2-1-2012) (Monday)

Focus Myanmar TV Programme

Cash assistance provided tostudents

ZALUN, 1 Jan—A ceremony to donate cash assistance tothe funds of monastic education schools was held at themeeting hall of township education officer on 17 December.

Cetana Education Fund Chairman U Kyaw Myintpresented cash assistance to students of monastic educationschools.

Township IPRD

Rural development discussedMANAUNG, 1 Jan—A meeting on rural development and

poverty alleviation was held at the hall of ManaungTownship General Administration Department on 1December.

Work committee for township rural development andpoverty alleviation participated in their respective sectors.The Rakhine State Minister for Finance and Revenue gaveinstructions on rural development.

Township IPRD

Blood donated collectivelyKYAUKSE, 1 Jan—The blood donation ceremony headed

by the medical superintendent was held at Kyaukse GeneralHospital in Kyaukse on 19 December.

A total of 80 persons donated blood. Kyaukse DistrictGeneral Administration Department, Township GAD andShwemintha Foundation provided necessary assistance toblood donors.—Myanma Alin

Temperature (°C/°F) For Tomorrow Sr.

No. Regions/States

Maximum Minimum Forecast Percent

1 Kachin 29/84 13/55 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

2 Kayah 27/81 12/54 Generally Fair

3 Kayin 34/93 20/68 Partly cloudy

4 Chin 21/70 07/45 Partly cloudy

5 Upper Sagaing 27/81 14/57 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

6 Lower Sagaing 30/86 18/64 Generally Fair

7 Taninthayi 31/88 22/72 Likelihood of isolated light rain (60%)

8 Bago 31/88 19/66 Generally Fair

9 Magway 31/88 19/66 Partly cloudy

10 Mandalay 29/84 17/63 Partly cloudy

11 Mon 34/93 21/70 Partly cloudy

12 Yangon 33/91 20/68 Partly cloudy

13 Rakhine 32/90 19/66 Partly cloudy

14 Southern Shan 26/79 14/57 Partly cloudy

15 Northern Shan 29/84 08/46 Partly cloudy

16 Eastern Shan 28/82 14/57 Partly cloudy

17 Ayeyawady 31/88 21/70 Partly cloudy

18 Neighbouring Nay Pyi Taw 32/90 18/64 Generally Fair

19 Neighbouring Yangon 33/91 20/68 Partly cloudy

20 Neighbouring Mandalay 29/84 17/63 Generally Fair

Summary of

observations at

09:30 hr MST on

today

During the past (24) hours, weather has been partly cloudy in Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway,

Yangon and Taninthayi Regions, Kachin, Shan, Chin and Kayah States and generally fair in

the remaining Regions and States. Night temperatures were (3°C) to (4°C) above January

averages temperatures in Mandalay, Bago and Yangon Regions, Chin and Kayin States,

(5°C) to (6°C) above January averages temperatures in Ayeyawady Region, Shan, Rakhine,

Kayah and Mon States and (7°C) about January averages temperatures in Magway Region

and about January averages temperatures in the remaining Regions and States. The

significant night temperature were Putao and Katha (6°C) each, Hakha and Hkamti (7°C)

each, Lashio, Pinlaung and An (8°C) each.

Bay

Inference

Weather is partly cloudy in the Andaman sea and South Bay and generally fair in the

elsewhere in the Bay of Bengal.

State of the Sea Seas will be slight to moderate in Myanmar waters.

Outlook for sub-

sequent two days Likelihood of isolated rain in the extreme Southern Myanmar Areas.

Dr. Nay Win Maung (Aung Htut)Aged 50

1962-2012 CEO of Living Color Media and The VoiceWeekly, Program Director, General Secretary, andFounder of Myanmar Egress, beloved son of (ProfLt Col Thang Maung, Retd DSA) and Yin Yin (AsstLecture, Red. DSA), lived in No. 74, Arzani Lane,5 Ward, Mayangone Township, Yangon, son-in-law of Lt Col Myint Swe (Retd) and Khin Khin Win,younger brother of Zani Maung and Thandar, elderbrother of Dr Nay Linn Maung, beloved husband ofWin Kalayar Swe (Hnint Thit Oo Press) and belovedfather of Khaymar Maung (ISM), Sandy Maung(ISM), Eaindra Maung (SM), and Nandi Aung(ISM), Dr Nay Win Maung, Pen name of Aung Htutpassed away at 1:10 am on January 1st, 2012 dueto a sudden heart-attack at Yangon General Hospitaland the body was cremated at 2:00 pm of the sameday.

Important Announcement Myanmar Egress would like to announce that it hasarranged for a Condolence Book in memory of Dr. Nay WinMaung. Those interested in penning messages are kindlyrequested to do so at the Myanmar Egress office located inthe Thamada Hotel Signatories are also welcome tocontribute towards the Dr. Nay Win Maung Trust Fund thatwill be used to support his immediate family. Thank you.

Board of DirectorsMyanmar Egress

Condolence Message The Myanmar Scholars Group would like to conveyits heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of heirdear colleague Dr. Nay Win Maung from Myanmar Egress.We have had the pleasure of working alongside Dr. NayWin Maung in helping to mould and train the futureleaders of the country. We will all miss his foresight andenergetic presence that continues to guide us.

Prof. Robert Taylor-ISEAS, SingaporeDr. Tin Maung Maung Than - ISEAS, Singapore

Dr. Michael Montesaro-ISEAS, SingaporeDr. Kyaw Yin Hlaing- City University of Hong KongProf. N. Ganesan- Hiroshima Peace Institute, Japan

Condolence Message It is with deep regret that the Board of Directors ofMyanmar Egress announces the sudden expiry of Dr. NayWin Maung, founder member and General Secretary of theBoard. He was called to rest on the morning of 1st January2012. We would like to take this opportunity to expressour sincere condolences to Dr. Nay’s family and friends.He was steadfast and dedicated to the process of politicalreconciliation and national peace. We will truly miss avisionary leader who offered his time and energiesselflessly. May he inspire future leaders of the country andrest in peace.

Myanmar Egress, Board of Directors

Sonny Nyunt Thein Tin Maung ThannHla Maung Shwe Kyaw Yin HlaingKyaw Ni Khin Ye Myat Thu

SUNDERLAND, 1 Jan—Ji Dong-Won scored with the lastkick of the game as Sunderland grabbed an astonishing 1-0Premier League win against Manchester City at the Stadiumof Light. The home side had withstood a second-halfbattering, before catching City on the break in the 93rdminute.

Ji, who was offside, rounded Joe Hart before coollyslotting into the empty net to deliver a mighty sucker punchand send manager Martin O’Neill into a wild, leapingcelebration. The result means City failed to extend their leadat the top of the table - they remain level on points withManchester United, who were shocked 3-2 by Blackburn onNew Year’s Eve.

It has been a miserable week for City, who were held toa goalless draw by West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day.Sunderland have won three of their five games under O’Neill’sstewardship, all thanks to late winners, and are up to 13th inthe table. Roberto Mancini made six changes from the sidethat drew at The Hawthorns, naming David Silva and SergioAguero among the substitutes and leaving Mario Balotelliout of the squad altogether.—Internet

Premier League-Last-gaspSunderland Stun Man City

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Monday, 2 January, 20129th Waxing of Pyatho 1373 ME

Fire Brigade members who sacrificed lives in firefighting will be awarded deservedly

Vice-President Dr Sai Mauk Kham inspects loss and damagesin fire outbreak in Mingala Taungnyunt Township

YANGON, 1 Jan—Vice-President of theRepublic of the Union of Myanmar Dr SaiMauk Kham this morning inspected loss anddamages in outbreak of fire in Kutohseik Wardin Mingala Taungnyunt Township, here, andcomforted fire victims at the relief camp andpatients injured in explosion at the hospital.He presented cash assistance to them andinspected loss in the fire at Basic EducationHigh School No. 2 in Kamayut Township.

Accompanied by Union Minister forConstruction U Khin Maung Myint, UnionMinister for Labour and for Social Welfare,Relief and Resettlement U Aung Kyi, UnionMinister for Transport U Nyan Tun Aung,Union Minister for Immigration andPopulation U Khin Yi, Union Minister forHotels and Tourism and for Sports U TintHsan, Union Minister for Education Dr MyaAye, Union Minister for Health Dr Pe ThetKhin, Yangon Region Chief Minister U MyintSwe, region ministers and officials, the Vice-President arrived at the land razed by fire atMyittamon warehouse group on KutohseikRoad in Kutohseik Ward of MingalaTaungnyunt Township. Union Minister forSWRR U Aung Kyi and Yangon Region ChiefMinister U Myint Swe reported on outbreak offire and loss and damages.

Managing Director U Cho Than Maungof Myanma Port Authority reported on layoutof the warehouses and their explosion in firewith the use of charts and Commander ofLower Myanmar Criminal InvestigationDepartment Police Col Maung Nyein ofMyanmar Police Force on explosion andblazing of warehouses. The Vice-Presidentgave necessary instructions.

At the relief camp in Mingala

Taungnyunt BEHS No. 7, the Vice-Presidentand party comforted the fire victims andprovided necessary assistance for them. Hepresented K 200,000 each to 161 households.

The Vice-President, the Unionministers and officials also gave rucksack,school textbooks, two school uniforms and K20,000 each to 171 students of fire victim

families.At Maha Wizayayama Monastery in

Yagyaw Monastery of Pathein Nyunt Wardwhere the relief camp is being opened, theyinspected rice, edible oil, blankets, garmentsand foodstuffs to be provided to the firevictims.

Next, the Vice-President inspected cash

donation and relief supplies donated bywellwishers and health care services providedby the special medical team of Directorate ofMedical Services, specialist team of Ministryof Health and Phyo Cetana health care group.

At Aungawba Theikdi Dhammayon,the Vice-President donated K 1 million to the (See page 10)

Vice-President Dr Sai Mauk Kham presents school stationery and cash assistance to fire victim students atMingala Taungnyunt BEHS No. 7.—MNA

PAGE 8

Hailing the 64th AnniversaryIndependence Day

Independence Dayand present duty

Kyaw Ye Min

POEM:

Every citizen loves his own nation and hisown land and wants his own nation andpeople to be able to enjoy prosperity. Everycitizen wants to live in unity, harmony andamity. Every citizen adores his own landand community and aspires to a peacefuland prosperous society.

For greater progress of UnionNow in tranquility our countryWe have unity without any divisionsBlood’s thicker than waterPatriotism our noble foundation

Maung Hla Thein (Thaye Thanmain) (Trs)PAGE 9

Rovers bring in Button

David Button: Joining Doncaster on loan for a monthfrom Tottenham.—INTERNET

David Button.The 22-year-old had been on loan with League One

side Leyton Orient but was recalled to White Hart Laneand will now be stepping up to Championship level withRovers.

It will be the 12th loan spell of Button’s career, havingpreviously spent time with the likes of Crewe, Shrewsburyand Plymouth Argyle.

Rovers boss Dean Saunders has moved to bring inButton after losing Carl Ikeme and Neil Sullivan to injury.

“With Carl Ikeme and Neil Sullivan both injured andhaving operations, we have been looking to bring in a keeperfor the last month,” Saunders told the club’s official website.

“David is a good 6’3" experienced, young keeper whohas played up to England U20 level and in the FootballLeague. I would like to thank Daniel Levy, Harry Redknappand Tony Parks for allowing him to come here for the nextmonth on loan, for free.”—Internet

Saunders thanks Spurs for keeper deal

LONDON, 1 Jan—Doncaster have secured a one-month loan deal for promising young Tottenham goalkeeper

8,221 jade lots sold atmid-year gems emporium

PAGE 2 PAGE 5

Vitamin B12 may still helpreduce stroke

PAGE 4

Indiaunveils

statue ofcosmonaut

Gagarin

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