Established 1914

Volume XVII, Number 252 9th Waxing of Pyatho 1371 ME Thursday, 24 December, 2009

* Development of agriculture as the base and all-round devel-opment of other sectors of the economy as well

* Proper evolution of the market-oriented economic system* Development of the economy inviting participation in terms

of technical know-how and investments from sources insidethe country and abroad

* The initiative to shape the national economy must be kept inthe hands of the State and the national peoples

* Uplift of the morale and morality of theentire nation

* Uplift of national prestige and integrity andpreservation and safeguarding of culturalheritage and national character

* Uplift of dynamism of patriotic spirit* Uplift of health, fitness and education

standards of the entire nation

* Stability of the State, community peaceand tranquillity, prevalence of law andorder

* National reconsolidation* Emergence of a new enduring State Con-

stitution* Building of a new modern developed nation

in accord with the new State Constitution

Four economic objectives Four social objectivesFour political objectives

International-standard Mount Pleasant Hotel in Nay Pyi TawByline: Myint Maung Soe; Photos: Tin Soe (Myanma Alin)

Photo shows beautifully designed Mount Pleasant Hotel.

In making theendeavors fordevelopment of Nay PyiTaw in all aspects, thegovernment is buildingNay Pyi Taw, startingfrom building it up.

There have emergeddepartmental buildings,houses, main roads,markets, hotels, motels,and resorts around NayPyi Taw.

At the same time,new towns called OttaraThiri, Pubba Thiri,Dekkhina Thiri, ZeyaThiri and Zabu Thiri arebeing built in Nay PyiTaw. Now, Nay Pyi TawZoological Garden,Water Fountain Garden,Herbal Garden, NationalLandmark Garden andNgalikekantha resorthave been opened there.

Under the guidanceof Special ProjectsImplementation Com-mittee, international-standard Mount PleasantHotel was successfully

opened on 19 Decembermorning. It is also calledhilly resort hotel.

The sky was full ofcolourful gas balloonswhen Mount PleasantHotel was opened. MountPleasant Hotel was builtby Original Group, A-1,ACE and TZTM Cos.

Director U Yan Winof G-4 Group ofCompanies which isformed with OriginalGroup, A-1, ACE andTZTM Co explained tous, “We started buildingMount Pleasant Hotel on28 May 2009. It has anarea of 25 acres. Mainbuilding is the three-storey structure ViewingTower. It also consists ofReception Hall in whichinternational meetings canbe held.

As the first phase, 10bungalows have beenopened. The remaining 21bungalows are to beopened in March 2010. (See page 8)

Spic and span bungalows with attractive design in a row.

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2 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009

Thursday, 24 December, 2009

PERSPECTIVES

Constantly turn out well-qualified human resourcesand good citizens

In the world today, science, informationand communications technologies are devel-oping rapidly. The economy of the entire hu-man society has also come to be based onknowledge. Therefore, every nation is striv-ing to produce such human resources as intel-lectuals and intelligentsia.

In Myanmar, the government is taking allthe necessary measures for the nation to be-come developed in every way. And it is accel-erating the process of transforming the nationinto a peaceful, modern and developed onebased on Union Spirit, national discipline andhigh educational standard.

Teachers, the major force of the educationsector, are to nurture the youth in order thatthey have good morals, right way of thinkingand good behaviour and habits. Moreover, it isnecessary to train them to possess Union Spirit,sacrificing spirit for the sake of national inter-ests and spirit of safeguarding national pres-tige and integrity.

National discipline begins at school. There-fore, teachers are required to teach the youthto observe school discipline, community disci-pline, religious teachings, social ethics and thelaw. Only then will the youth of today becomelaw-abiding citizens of the future nation.

In shaping a new nation, it is necessary touplift the morale and morality of the entirenation in accordance with the characteristicsof citizens of an independent, sovereign na-tion. At the same time, it is also necessary totrain the youth to be well-informed and well-versed in their studies.

Nowadays, plans are being implementedfor the uplift of health, fitness and educationstandards of the entire nation. Educationalinstitutions are being built across the Union.As a result, educational opportunities haveopened up for national youths living in vari-ous parts of the Union. Therefore, we wouldlike to call on teachers to try to the best of theirabilities to constantly turn out well-qualifiedhuman resources and good citizens.

* Oppose those relying on external elements, acting as stooges, holding negative views* Oppose those trying to jeopardize stability of the State and progress of the nation* Oppose foreign nations interfering in internal affairs of the State* Crush all internal and external destructive elements as the common enemy

People’s Desire

NAY PYI TAW, 23Dec—Minister for Indus-try-1 U Aung Thaung vis-ited 500-ton cement plantproject (Nay Pyi Taw) be-ing implemented byMyanma Ceramics Indus-tries, 8 miles and 6 furlongsfrom Thawuthti in Nay PyiTaw-Lewe Township on 19December morning.

The minister heard re-ports on progress in con-struction work, test-run ofmachines and stockpiling ofraw materials. The ministerthen inspected the work

Cement Plant Project(Nay Pyi Taw) on test-run

104thgraduation ceremony of MFCNAY PYI TAW, 23 Dec—The graduation ceremony

of 104th batch of Myanmar Forestry Centre(PyinOoLwin) of Forest Department under Ministry ofForestry took place at the parade ground of Land SurveySchool in PyinOoLwin on 21 December, attended byMinister for Forestry Brig-Gen Thein Aung, Brig-GenZeya Aung of PyinOoLwin Station, directors-generaland managing director of the ministry, rector, seniorofficials and families of graduates.

Minister Brig-Gen Thein Aung awarded best bach-elor U Win San Naing, second best bachelor U PhoneMyint Ko and excellent in sports U Nyi The Aung andspoke on the occasion. Next, the minister gave a speechat the ceremony to present completion certificates andofficials concerned gave certificates to graduates.

Next, Chairman U Sein Lwin of Myanmar TimberEntrepreneurs’ Association presented K 2 million fundfor instructors of the centre to the principal. Director DrNyi Nyi Kyaw of Forest Department and General Man-ager U Wai Lin Aung of Myanma Timber Enterpriseaccepted K 10 million—K 2.5 million each for MyanmarForestry School, University of Forestry, Nanchun Tim-ber School and fund to medicines for elephants pre-sented by U Tin Win of Tin Win Tun Company. After-wards, U Tin Win of Tin Win Tun Company presentedK 0.5 million to U Win San Naing who won best traineeaward and other four awards. Next, completion certifi-cates were presented to graduates.

MNA

MYANMAR GAZETTENAY PYI TAW, 23 Dec—The State Peace and

Development Council has appointed the followingpersons as heads of service organization shown againsteach on probation from the date they assume charge oftheir duties.Name Appointment(a)U Myint Aung Managing Director

Chief Engineer Electric SupplyElectric Power Department

Supply Enterprise Electric PowerMinistry of Electric Supply Enterprise

Power No (2) Ministry of ElectricPower No (2)

(b)U Myo Thet Shwe Managing DirectorGeneral Manager Livestock, FeedstuffLivestock, and Dairy ProductFeedstuff and Dairy EnterpriseProduct Enterprise Ministry of LivestockMinistry of Livestock and Fisheriesand Fisheries

(c)U Soe Min Managing DirectorGeneral Manager Foreign Investment andMyanmar Foreign CommercialTrade Bank BankMinistry of Finance Ministry of Financeand Revenue and Revenue

Minister for Industry-1U Aung Thaung in-

spects 500-ton cementplant project (Nay Pyi

Taw).—MNA

Minister Brig-Gen Thein Aung addressesgraduation ceremony.

MNA

completed and gave instruc-tions on safety measures andmaintenance of machines.

The minister also vis-ited 500-ton cement plantproject (Taungphila) beingimplemented by MaxMyanmar Group of Com-panies.—MNA

Commander inspects regionaldevelopment undertakings in

Rakhine StateNAY PYI TAW, 23 Dec—Chairman of Rakhine

State Peace and Development Council Commander ofWestern Command Maj-Gen Thaung Aye inspectedroadwork on Sittway-An-Minbu Road between milepost Nos. 181/0 and 164/6 and Ponnagyun-KyauktawRoad, Kanzauk river-water pumping project, roadworkon Sittway-Yangon Road, growing Ngwechi-6 LongStaple Cotton on 13 December.

On 14 December, he looked into roadwork on An-Padegyaw-Maei Road and rubber plantations on bothsides of Taungup-Thandwe Road. On 15 December,he inspected beautifying the entrance to NgapaliAirport in Thandwe.—MNA

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009 3

US and allies kills, injures Iraqipeople

BAGHDAD, 23 Dec— There has been daily casualties in Iraq since the US andits allies have invaded the country.

Casualties of Iraqi peopleThe total number of casualties as from the day they invaded the country to

23 December reached 699762 and the total number of seriously injured peoplereached 1263170, according to the news on the Internet.

No. Subject Number1. Death toll of Iraqi people 6997622. The total number of seriously injured people 1263170

Internet

Casualties of Afghan people in invasion ofNATO troops led by US

KABUL, 23 Dec—The NATO troops led by the US have invaded Afghanistanand they are there for a long time.

A number of Afghan people are killed and injured due to invasion of theNATO troops led by the US.

Casualties of Afghan peopleAccording to the Internet news, a total of 32400 Afghan people were killed

and 38113 injured seriously as from the day when the NATO troops led by theUS invaded Afghanistan to 23 December.

No. Subject Number1. Number of Afghan people killed 324002. Seriously injured Afghan people 38113

Internet

A woman hugsher childrenafter a bomb at-tack in centralB a g h d a d ,on 15 Dec, 2009.Three car bombskilled four peo-ple and wounded15 on Tuesday incentral Bagh-dad, close toheavy morningtraffic aroundthe Green Zonegovernment dis-trict, policesaid.—INTERNET

Relatives of thewounded Afghanlook after him ata hospital in HeratProvince, Af-ghanistan, on 22Dec, 2009. NATOtroops shot two Af-ghan people ridinga motorbike inHerat on Tues-day.—XINHUA

Iraqis react at thesite of a car bomb

attack inBaghdad, Iraq

recently. A seriesof car bombs

ripped throughdown-town

Baghdad near theheavily

fortified GreenZone.

INTERNET

Iraqi police search a driver as trucks queue forinspection of goods coming from Iran through Al-

Shib Port, a land entry point which handlesaround 150 trucks per day, 145 kms from the city

of Amara, recently.—INTERNET

Pakistan Taleban say fightersgoing to Afghanistan

SHAKTOI, 23 Dec — A top Pakistani Taleban com-mander says he has sent thousands of militants toneighbouring Afghanistan to rebuff incoming US troops.The claim comes as an army offensive has apparentlypushed many of his fighters to flee their main redoubt.

Waliur Rehman told The Associated Press in an ex-clusive face to face interview on Monday that the Pa-kistani Taleban are still waging a guerilla war againstthe army in South Waziristan tribal region.—Xinhua

NATO troops wound twocivilians in Afghanistan

KABUL, 23 Dec — Troops with NATO-led Interna-tional Security Assistance Force (ISAF) shot and in-jured two civilians in Afghanistan’s western HeratProvince on Tuesday. Both victims were taken to the Herat hospital fortreatment, with one of them receiving five bullets whilethe other two, said surgeon Barakatullah Mohammadi. Maryam, mother of the brothers, blamed the inter-national troops for the atrocity. “ Foreign soldiers shotand wounded my sons,” she told Xinhua by telephone. Locals, however, said that the troops signaled themto keep clear but the two brothers ignored and contin-ued driving on motorbike prompting the troops to openfire. The ISAF media officers were not available for com-ment. The NATO-led force have asked passersby in thewar-torn Afghanistan to take distance from militaryvehicles, otherwise the troops would fire. Ignoring thewarning has claimed the lives of scores of civiliansover the past couple of years in Afghanistan.

Xinhua

Four wounded in separatebomb attacks in Iraq

BAGHDAD, 23 Dec — Four people were wounded, in-cluding a member of a city hall, in separate bomb attacksin Iraq on Tuesday, police said.

Hameed Abdul Hadi al-Erssan, member of Fallujahcity council, was wounded when a bomb stuck to his cardetonated in the city of Fallujah, some 50 km west ofBaghdad, a local police source said.

In Baghdad, two people were wounded in the capi-tal when a roadside bomb struck a civilian car near theUm al-Tubool intersection in southern Baghdad, thepolice said.

In Salahudin Province, a police officer was woundedwhen a bomb stuck to his car went off as he was driv-ing near his home in northern Tikrit, the capital city ofthe province in north of Baghdad, a provincial policesource said.

Also in the province, Iraqi security forces detainedfour Iranians at a checkpoint in Tal Kseiba area near Tikrit,some 170 km north of Baghdad, the source said.

The Iranians were arrested for illegally entering thecountry, the source added.

Xinhua

Conflicts leave two Afghansoldiers, four militants dead KABUL, 23 Dec — Conflict and Taleban-related ac-

tivities left two Afghan soldiers and four Taleban mili-tants dead in Khost Province east of Afghanistan, aPress release of Defence Ministry said on Tuesday.

In the first incident, according to the press releaseoccurred in Bak District on Monday when a mine plantedby militants went off, killing two soldiers and woundingtwo others. In another incident in Yaqubi District of thesame province Khost, militants opened fire on a patrolteam and the soldiers returned fire, killing four Talebanfighters, the Press release added.—Internet

At least two killed in explosionin northern Iraq

MOSUL, 23 Dec—At least two people were killedand five injured on Wednesday in a powerful explo-sion near a church in central Mosul, the capital ofnorthern Iraq’s Nineveh Province, a police source said.

The blast took place in the morning near a church inthe al-Sa’ah neighbourhood in central the city, thesource told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The police could not immediately say whether thepowerful blast was caused by a car bomb or a road-side bomb, the source said. Eight day ago, Mosul wasthe scene for a twin bombing, carried out by a booby-trapped cart and followed by a roadside bomb explo-sions near another church in the city, killing five peo-ple and wounding 40 others.—Xinhua

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4 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009

MOSCOW, 23 Dec—Russia may double thenumber of bombers onstrategic patrols as long asthe General Staff agrees,the commander of Rus-sia’s strategic aviationsaid on Tuesday.

“As a rule, up to fourstrategic bombers per-form patrol flights simul-taneously. However, un-der specific circum-stances and on ordersfrom the General Staff,

MIAMI, 23 Dec—AnAmerican Airlines Boeing737 overshot the runwaywhile landing in drivingrain at the internationalairport in Kingston, Ja-maica on Tuesday night,but the company saidthere were no fatalities orserious injuries.

The Jamaica Observernewspaper reported 40injured passengers but didnot give details about theircondition.

On 13 April, 2009 file photo shows an American Airlines Boeing 737-800 parkedat a gate at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport in Grapevine, Texas. AnAmerican Airlines spokesman says a flight using a 737-800 from Miami has

overshot the runway in Kingston, Jamaica, on 22 Dec, 2009—INTERNET

Stranded passenger sleep at Frankfurt airport. Mass flight cancellationsheaped fresh misery on European travellers, as the freezing weather that has

caused at least 90 deaths brought chaos to Christmas holiday plans.—INTERNET

Colombian police officers inspect the wreckage of a pickup truck allegedlyburned by FARC guerillas after kidnapping Luis Francisco Cuellar, governor

of Colombia’s southern department of Caqueta, in Alto Brasilia District. Abody found on Tuesday in southern Colombia is that of Cuellar, who was

kidnapped on Monday by leftist guerillas, local authorities said.—INTERNET

Russia may doublebombers on strategic patrol

their number could be in-creased to up to eight air-craft,” Russian Long-Range Aviation Com-mander Major-GeneralAnatoly Zhikharev said ata Press conference.

Russia resumed strate-gic bomber patrol flightsover the Pacific, Atlanticand Arctic oceans in Au-gust 2007, following or-ders from then-PresidentVladimir Putin.

The patrols are consid-

ered a counter-measureagainst threats faced byRussia, as well as a re-sponse to NATO’s contin-ued eastward expansionthat is approaching Rus-sia’s western border.

“Our planes also carryout missions to detect andpinpoint the location offoreign aircraft carriers,as well as to supply mis-sions to support the activi-ties of (Russian) polar sta-tions in line with the con-cept of the developmentof our Arctic zone,” thegeneral said.

XinhuaWASHINGTON, 23 Dec—A new order from the gen-eral in charge of US troops in northern Iraq makesgetting pregnant or impregnating a fellow soldier anoffense punishable by court-martial.

The directive, part of a larger order restricting thebehaviour of the 22,000 soldiers under Maj GenAnthony Cucolo’s command, is meant to prevent los-ing soldiers at a time when troop strength is stretchedthin, Cucolo explained in a statement sent to the troopsunder his command and provided to CNN.

“I need every soldier I’ve got, especially since weare facing a drawdown of forces during our mission,”Cucolo wrote. “Anyone who leaves this fight earlierthan the expected 12-month deployment creates aburden on their teammates. Anyone who leaves thisfight early because they made a personal choice thatchanged their medical status — or contributes to do-ing that to another — is not in keeping with a keyelement of our ethos.”—Internet

LA PAZ, 23 Dec—TheBolivian government saidon Tuesday it preferredfriendly relations with theUnited States based onmutual respect to beingtied to its aid program-mes. Bolivian ForeignMinister David Choque-huanca made the com-ment during a Press con-ference in relation to a US

Blast injures 3 Gaza militantsGAZA, 23 Dec—A blast wounded three Palestinian

militants in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medi-cal sources and witnesses said.

The witnesses said an explosive device went offprematurely as the fighters were carrying it in al-Burijrefugee camp.

According to the witnesses, the militants were ap-parently going to plant the explosives on a route theIsraeli army uses when entering the border areas eastof the camp.

One of the fighters was seriously injured, the medi-cal sources added.—Internet

RIYADH, 23 Dec—Saudi Arabia said onTuesday that 73 Saudishave been killed and 26have gone missing sincethe kingdom launched anoffensive against YemeniShiite rebels along theborder last month.

The announcementwas the first indicationthat the US ally had suf-fered such heavy losses inthe remote area, where itis difficult to independ-ently confirm details ofthe fighting.

The rebels, known asHawthis, have allegeddozens of civilian deathsin Saudi air assaults.

Internet

No deaths in Jamaica AmericanAirlines accident

CNN said four of thepassengers were in seri-ous condition.

“The injured passen-gers have been taken tothe Kingston Public Hos-pital,” Jamaican Informa-tion Minister Daryl Vaztold the Jamaica Ob-server. “There are no re-ports of fatalities.”

The plane crashed andbroke up into two or threepieces after landing at 10pm local time and

overrunning the runway,eyewitnesses said.

American Airlinessaid in a statement theflight originated in Wash-ington DC and stopped inMiami. There were 148passengers and six crewon board.

The company wouldnot speculate as to possi-ble causes of the accidentand said it would make afuller statement later onWednesday.—Internet

Bolivia seeks good ties with US, but without interferencedecision to suspend Bo-livia from Andean TradePromotion and Drug En-forcement Agency(Atpdea) programme.

“This frame agree-ment must be of mutualrespect, it has to respectthe Bolivian decision. Weare a small country, but weare a dignified country, wedo not accept more

intromissions, no moresubmission to the UnitedStates,” Choquehuancasaid.

Ties between Boliviaand the United Stateswere cut after the US am-bassador to Bolivia,Philip Goldberg, was ex-pelled in 2008, accused ofinterfering in internal is-sues.—Internet

Weeks offightingYemen

rebels killed73 Saudis

US soldiers in Iraq could facecourts-martial for getting pregnant

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THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009 5

Russian manned spaceship dockswith space station

MOSCOW, 23 Dec—ARussian spaceship carry-ing three astronauts suc-cessfully docked with theInternational Space Sta-tion (ISS) early onWednesday, the MissionControl Centre outsideMoscow said. The 22nd ISS missionon board the Soyuz TMA-17 spaceship, consistingof Russian Oleg Kotov,NASA’s Timothy Cre-amer and Japanese astro-

naut Soichi Noguchi, willjoin Maxim Surayev andJeffrey Williams alreadyworking at the space sta-tion. After two days of flight,the spaceship docked withthe ISS in an automaticmode at 01:48 MoscowTime (2248 GMT onTuesday), said ValeryLyndin, spokesman forthe Mission Control. The three astronautswere scheduled to open

the hatch and enter thespace station at around03:40 Moscow Time(0040 GMT) after check-ing on airtight conditionsand pressures of thesealed cabin. A Soyuz-FG rocket car-rying the Soyuz TMA-17spaceship lifted offat 00:52 Moscow Time onMonday (2152 GMTSunday) from the Bai-konur space centre inKazakhstan.—Xinhua

Strong quake hits W Sumatra, Indonesia, no casualty

Three killed, 13 injured in Indonesianshopping centre collapse

JAKARTA, 23 Dec—Three people were killed and 13others injured when a building under renovation col-lapsed in the old shopping centre of Tanah Abang inIndonesia’s capital Jakarta on Wednesday, local me-dia reported here. According to police, the construction’s supportingcolumns collapsed around 10 am, which led to thecollapse of the building. “Most of the victims were construction workers.Many are still buried under the rubble,” Kasno, a po-lice officer was quoted by the Kompas.com as saying. The bodies of the dead people have been rushed tothe police’s hospital in East Jakarta for further identi-fication. The 13 injured have been sent to hospital after theyhad been taken out of the rubble.

Xinhua

India, Israel discuss counter-terrorism,intelligence sharing, arms delivery

NEW DELHI, 23 Dec—India and Israel on Tuesday began a meeting of jointdefence working group focused on counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing, de-livery of weapons and enhancement of cooperation in research and development,reported the Indo-Asian News Service.

The group is co-chaired by Indian Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and Is-raeli Defence Ministry director-general, retired Brig Gen Pinchas Buchris, saidthe report. The report quoted a defence official at the meeting as saying that themain focus of the talks was on enhancing the counter-terrorism cooperation basedon intelligence sharing especially after the Mumbai terror attacks.

This meeting followed a low-profile visit of Israeli chief of defence staff, LtGen Gabi Ashkenazi, earlier this month to India, during which he had met the topbrass of the Indian armed forces.—Xinhua

Finland to build firstzero carbondioxide

emission shopping mall HELSINKI, 23 Dec—Fin-

land’s first shopping mallclaiming to put out zeroemissions of carbon diox-ide is to be built in Pori, awestern coast city in Fin-land, according to dailynewspaper HelsinginSanomat on Tuesday.

Construction on thecomplex with a surfacearea of about 55,000square metres is to beginin the autumn 2010. Theestimated cost is about 100million euros. Sustainabledevelopment has beentaken into consideration inthe project in the fact thatthe complex is withinwalking distance fromPori’s central square. Thisavoids unnecessary driv-ing typical to markets lo-cated out in the fields

The shopping mall willnot be connected to thedistrict heating network.Instead, the energy forboth heating and coolingwill come from geother-mal energy.—Xinhua

Hamas, Israel exchangeviews over prisoner swapGAZA, 23 Dec—Israel and Hamas are exchanging

views through the German and Egyptian mediators overa prisoner exchange deal, as talks between the two sidesare intensifying, a source close to Hamas told Xinhua.

“The coming hours are decisive” to overcome ob-stacles that prevent the prisoner swap, the source said.

The source said he expected that a final decision onthe prisoner exchange would be clear by the end of thisweek. The German mediator, currently in Israel, is ex-pected to arrive in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip tohear Hamas’ final response to undeclared results of dis-cussions inside the Israeli government.—Xinhua

Panssengers queue to get aboard at Kings Cross St Pancras station in Lon-don, on 22 Dec, 2009. Eurostar trains between Britain and France resumed

on Tuesday after three days of cancellations because of heavy snow.—XINHUA

Two visitors learn to pose under the direction of a Beijing Opera performer dur-ing the open day at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), or theNational Grand Theatre, in Beijing, capital of China, on 22 Dec, 2009. —XINHUA

JAKARTA, 23 Dec—Ashallow earthquake withthe magnitude of 6.1 on theRichter’s Scale rockedWest Sumatra Province ofIndonesia on Wednesdaymorning, but there was noreport of damage or fatali-ties, officials said.

The quake struck at08:15 am Jakarta Time(0115 GMT) with the epi-centre at 56 km Siberut ofMentawai island of the

province and at a depth of10 km under sea bed, anofficial of the Meteorologyand Geophysics AgencyArief Nursalim toldXinhua over phone.

The intensity of thequake was felt at 2 to 3MMI (Modified MercalliIntensity) at PadangPanjang town of the prov-ince and at 1 to 2 MMI inSibolga of the nearbyprovince of North

Sumatra, he said.Spokesman of Disaster

Management AgencyPriyadi Kardono toldXinhua over phone fromthe province that no build-ings were destroyed.

“There was no panic asthe quake was very lighthere,” spokesman of theprovincial administrationNuzul Putra told Xinhuaover phone from the prov-ince.—Xinhua

Three people were killed and 13 were injured after a building collapsed incentral Jakarta on 23 December, according to police. City officials said the

building, which was still under construction, was an unauthorized annex to ashopping mall.—INTERNET

All Items from Xinhua News Agency

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6 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009

NEWS ALBUM

A farmer weighs a giant mushroom in Ruanxiang village, Changfeng county,Anhui Province on 21 December, 2009. Farmer Li Qingli has adopted a new

method in growing mushroom, where the mushrooms are not too close toeach other during the cultivation period. Li’ s mushrooms on average weigh

10 kilograms, the largest weighing 20 kilogrammes.

RIO DE JANEIRO, 23 Dec—The number of deathsin the boat accident in theAmazon River in Brazil’snorthern Para statereached seven, authoritiessaid on Tuesday.

The rescue teams man-

LONDON, 23 Dec—So-mali pirates holding aBritish couple hostagesaid they would be al-lowed to celebrate Christ-mas, as the pair appearedset to enter their ninthweek in captivity, accord-ing to a report on Wednes-day.

Paul and Rachel Chan-dler were kidnapped on23 October when theiryacht, the Lynn Rival, wasboarded in the IndianOcean by pirates patrol-ling the waters.

The pair have beenmoved between safehouses close to Haradheerein Somalia to prevent theircapture by other gangs orIslamist insurgents, TheTimes said.

A woman watches videofootage of the British

couple, Paul andRachel Chandler, thatwere kidnapped whilesailing off the coast of

Somalia.INTERNET

Somali pirates to hold British coupleover Christmas

A pirate commander,who is Muslim, told thenewspaper that the Chan-dlers would not be pre-vented from praying ormarking the ChristianChristmas holiday.

“We will never denythem their Christmas,” hesaid.

“We respect their lib-erty, their life (sic) andtheir religion because noreligion allows violationagainst another one,” hesaid.

“We will prepare theirfavourite food if they wantto eat for the occasion,” hesaid, adding that theycould have something likechips, pasta, fish or beer.

“I think all their orderswill not be available butwe shall try to make themhappy with their Christ-mas in captivity.”

The couple said in avideo broadcast last monththat their captors were“losing patience” andcould kill them within aweek if no ransom waspaid.—Internet

BEIJING, 23 Dec— Al-though there are still fivemonths left before theShanghai World Expo,tickets are going fast. Theorganizer says that 12 mil-lion tickets have alreadybeen sold.

Ms Shan came to theBank of Communicationsto buy tickets, but wastold that tickets for thefirst few days of the Expohave already been soldout. She had to settle fora later date.

Ms Shan said, “Ibought five tickets. Ibought them now becausethe prices will be highernext year.”

The Expo organizersays that from January 1st2010, the price of an or-dinary ticket will go upfrom 140 to 150 yuan. Theticket is good for a singleadmission on a given day.Prices at the gate duringthe six-month event willbe 160 yuan.—Internet

SAN FRANCISCO, 23 Dec—Two police officers wereshot and badly wounded on Monday night in anotheralleged “ambush” attack on law enforcement person-nel in the US state of Washington, local media reportedon Tuesday.

The two Pierce County sheriff’s deputies were re-sponding to a domestic violence call near Eatonville,a town about 100 kilometres south of Seattle, whenthe suspect, identified as 35-year-old David Crable,opened fire.—Xinhua

Two police officers woundedin another “ambush” in US

state of Washington

Death toll in shipwreck in Brazil reaches sevenaged to find five bodiesearlier in the day.

During the morning,the bodies of a womanand a child had been takenfrom the water as well.

The victims have yet tobe identified.

According to the localauthorities, the shipwrecktook place in late Mondaybetween the municipali-ties of Prainha and MonteAlegre, when the boatnamed Almirante Barrosooverturned and sank.

It is not known whatcaused the ship to over-turn.

One of the possibili-ties is that the boat mayhave hit a sandbank andthe waters at that pointof the Amazon Riverare muddy, which mayhave hindered visibil-ity.

Additionally, the factthat the number of passen-gers had surpassed theship’s maximum capacitymay also be the cause ofthe tragedy.

The AlmiranteBarroso had a maximumcapacity of 100 people,but was transporting atleast 101.—Xinhua

ShanghaiExpo ticketssell out fast

Kelso, Wash, police said a man usedhis compound bow to interrupt anapparent break-in at a nearby vacanthome, wounding a fleeing man in thebuttocks.

Police said the man grabbed hishunting bow late Sunday night andchased a suspected prowler for more

Man shoots suspected prowler with arrowthan three blocks.

When the fleeing man refused to stop,the bowhunter shot him with a broadheadarrow.

A 32-year-old Longview man latersought treatment at St John MedicalCentre for an arrow wound to the leftbuttock. Doctors removed the arrow tipand the man was listed in satisfactorycondition on Monday.

Kelso Police Capt.Vern Thompsonsaid there were no immediate arrestsand the investigation continues. Hesaid charges against both men arepossible.

Someone mailed an envelope filledwith money to a western Pennsylvaniabank that was robbed earlier this month,and the FBI suspects it was either therepentant robber or an acquaintance ofhis.

Special Agent Jeff Killeen says thereturned money doesn’t cancel out thecrime that was committed 9 Dec at thePNC Bank in West Newton, a tinyborough about 20 miles southeast ofPittsburgh.

The FBI won’t say how much therobber took, but say the money in theenvelope was about 80 percent of theamount stolen. It was separated intostacks of $5s, $10s, $20s and $100s.

The FBI announced the mailing onTuesday and says it is checking thepackage for fingerprints and other clues.They believe the robber is local becausehe was wearing a yellow PittsburghSteelers T-shirt.

Money robbed from westernPa bank mailed back

A Connecticut Salvation Armychapter got a pleasant surprise when itsmembers were counting change droppedinto one of the organization’s holidaydonation kettles.

Members found a rare 1881 “halfeagle” coin last week while countingdonations made somewhere inTorrington on the day after Thanks-giving.

The half eagle was the country’s first-ever gold coin and had a face value of $5.It was in circulation from 1795 to 1929.

1881 gold coin found inConn donation kettle

Master’s degree at 17 forprecocious Austrian

A high school diploma at 15 and abachelor’s degree at 16: precociousteenager Marian Kogler has nowbecome Austria’s youngest master’sgraduate at the age of 17.

Vienna’s University of Technology(TU) announced on Monday that theyoung man had completed his master’sdegree in computational intelligence.

He also holds a bachelor’s degree insoftware and information engineering,and has now embarked on a doctorate incomputer science at the TU.

The son of a writer and anadministrative assistant, Kogler couldread and write at the age of three.

A 13-year-old teen was probably inhot water with his father after runningup a cell phone bill of nearly $22,000.

Ted Estarija said he was expectinghis bill to be higher this month afteradding his son to his plan, but wasn’texpecting a bill of $21,917 in data usagecharges. The Hayward man said hisVerizon Wireless bill soared after hisson apparently downloaded about 1.4million kilobytes of data last month.

His plan didn’t cover data usage, sohe was charged by the megabyte.

Estarija said after the first mediareports, Verizon said they would credithis account for the entire amount.

Teen runs up dad’s cellbill to nearly $22,000

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM6

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009 7

Bollywood looks to Aamir Khanto end 2009 on a high

Gas blastat Istanbul highschool injures

fourANKARA, 23 Dec—A

gas explosion at a highschool in the Turkish larg-est city of Istanbul injuredfour people on Tuesday,the semi-official Anatolianews agency reported.

The small explosionresulted from a gas leakand occurred in the foodcourt of the MaltepeTechnical and VocationalHigh School for girls inthe Maltepe District ofIstanbul, according to thereport.

Two teachers and twoother employees werehurt, said the report, add-ing that the investigationinto the blast wasunderway.—Internet

India tightens tourist visa rules

MUMBAI, 23 Dec—Bollywood is looking toAamir Khan to bring fes-tive cheer to the industryafter a disappointing 2009hit by a producers’ strike,swine flu fears and a lackof box office success.

The actor-producer-di-rector’s heavily-marketed“3 Idiots”, based onChetan Bhagat’s best-sell-ing debut novel “FivePoint Someone” aboutthree struggling studentsat a business school, isreleased on Friday, Christ-mas Day.

Bollywood watchershope Khan — known foronly making one big filmper year in an industrywhere leading actors canbe working on severalfilms at the same time —can replicate his previousyear-end successes.

His 2008 Christmas of-fering, “Ghajini”, becameBollywood’s highestgrossing film and fol-lowed the acclaimed“Taare Zameen Par”(Stars on Earth) in 2007.

“We hope he creates ahattrick this year,” said

Amod Mehra, aBollywood trade analyst.

Another leading critic,Taran Adarsh, gave thefilm 4.5 stars on hisbollywoodhungama.comsite and said it “easilyranks amongst Aamir, (di-rector) Rajkumar Hiraniand (producer) VidhuVinod Chopra’s finestfilms”. Bollywood began2009 after a muted end to2008 due to the deadly ter-ror attacks in Mumbai,which saw the cancellationof a number of films.

Internet Indian Bollywood actors R Mahadevan (left),Aamir Khan (centre) and Sarman Joshi at the

release of the first song from Hindi film “3 Idiots”in Mumbai in November 2009. Bollywood is

looking to Aamir Khan to bring festive cheer to theindustry after a disappointing 2009 hit by a pro-ducers’ strike, swine flu fears and a lack of box

office success.—INTERNET

Foreign tourists in Srinagar in May 2009. Indiahas tightened its rules for long-term tourist visas ina move that will hit thousands of foreigners livingin the country or planning lengthy stays, a foreign

ministry official said on Wednesday.—INTERNET

Turkmenistan to resume gas supplies to Russia

S Korea, Russia sign agreementon preventing illegal fishing

SEOUL, 23 Dec—South Korea and Russia signed anagreement on Tuesday on stemming illegal, unreportedand unregulated fishing, Seoul’s Ministry for Food,Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

Under the accord, South Korea will provide infor-mation on imports from Russian fishermen operatingillegally in Russia’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs)to help the country keep track of illegitimate fishingactivities, according to the ministry statement.

The pact, slated to take effect next year, is part ofefforts to address issues South Korean President LeeMyung-bak and his Russian counterpart DmitryMedvedev discussed at summit meeting in Septemberlast year, the ministry said.—Xinhua

S Korea to use English-teachingrobots at local schools

SEOUL, 23 Dec—South Korea’s Ministry of Knowl-edge Economy said on Tuesday that English-teachingrobots will be used at local schools in the country.

The ministry said robots with English-teachingabilities will be used at local schools in the city ofMasan and Daejon till February next year on a trialbasis, in an attempt to better serve students in pro-vincial cities.

The ministry introduced two types of robots for thisproject, an “autonomous” unit with voice-recogni-tion features and a “tele-presence” unit that a teachercan remotely control and communicate through abuilt-in camera and microphone with the students.

Xinhua

NEW DELHI, 23 Dec—India has tightened itsrules for long-term touristvisas in a move that willhit thousands of foreignersliving in the country orplanning lengthy stays, aforeign ministry officialsaid on Wednesday.

Under previous rules,tourists on five- or 10-year visas were requiredto leave the country every180 days. But manywould simply fly to aneighbouring countrysuch as Nepal for a briefstay before returning.

Now they will still facethe same 180-day dead-line, but will have to stayout of the country for twomonths before they canreenter.

“We have changed the

rules to prevent the mis-use of the long-term tour-ist visa,” a senior officialat the foreign ministrytold AFP, asking not benamed.

The new rules havebeen implemented since 4

November, he said, al-though the US embassy inNew Delhi said thechanges were being ap-plied inconsistently andhad caused problems fora number of its nationals.

Internet

A visitor views an exhibit during the nationaltreasure exhibition, organized by the National

Museum of China, in Hangzhou, capital of eastChina’s Zhejiang Province, on 22 Dec, 2009.

XINHUA

Chinese Navy soldiers participate in a training on Ma’anshan frigate of thefourth Chinese naval flotilla in the Gulf of Aden, on 16 Dec, 2009.—XINHUA

MOSCOW, 23 Dec—Turkmenistan has agreedto resume its gas suppliesto Russia in January, af-ter halting them last April,Russian news agenciesreported on Tuesday.

The reports said up to30 billion cubic meterswould be delivered annu-ally.

Contract amendmentson gas supplies, at Euro-pean level prices, were

signed between the twocountries’ gas monopo-lies, Gazprom andTurkmengaz, on Monday,as the Russian andTurkmen presidents metin the Turkmen capital ofAshgabat.

The documents “setdown all the terms for re-suming supplies, theirvolume and prices andstatus,” said GazpromDeputy Chief Executive

Alexander Medvedev.“For the first time in

Russian-Turkmen gasrelations, gas supplies willbe based on a formulathat corresponds fully tothe terms of the Europeangas market,” saidMedvedev.

The gas supplies shouldresume “from 1 Januaryor no later than 10 Janu-ary, 2010,” he added.

Xinhua

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM7

8 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009

International-standard Mount Pleasant Hotel in Nay Pyi TawByline: Myint Maung Soe; Photos: Tin Soe (Myanma Alin)

(from page 1)The customers whostay at the Hotel duringthe first six months ofthe opening can enjoy40 percent discounts.”One can see pleasantviews while looking

round from the ViewingTower, which is theMain Building. Thehotel being situated onPhozaung Mountainnear Ottara Thiri, theclimate is cool. YezinDam, Ottara Thiri and

Photo shows bungalows in Mount Pleasant Hotel.

A well-furnished room in Mount Pleasant Hotel.

Pubba Thiri can be seento the east of the Hotel,Uppatasanti Pagoda tothe south, ChaungmagyiDam, Pyithuhluttaw,Ngalike Dam, Bagomountain ranges andsunset view to the west”.

“Plans are underway to build walkwaysand sports ground inorder that the visitorsmay enjoy the naturalbeauty of the mountain.

Food, hotel services likeany other hotels and highspeed Internet areavailable at the Hotel. Itis a place where peopleshould relax in comfort

individually, in groupsor in families.

Translation: MT

Myanma Alin

(20-12-2009)

NAY PYI TAW, 23Dec—Minister forElectric Power No (2)Maj-Gen Khin MaungMyint received Chairmanof Central China Power

EP-2 Minister receives Chinese guests

Grid InternationalEconomic & Trade CoLtd (CCPG) Mr Li Chaoand party from thePeople’s Republic ofChina at the ministry here

on 21 December.They discussed

matters related tocooperation between theministry and CCPG.

MNA

YANGON, 23 Dec—Myanmar DistributionGroup Co Ltd hosted adinner in honour of its saleagents for lower Myanmaralong with a ceremony tosay goodbye to the year2009 at the Sedona Hotelhere on 18 Decemberevening.

Managing Director UAung Maw Theinextended greetings, andintroduced the newpackaging design of GoldRoast Coffeemix to be onthe market soon.

Music stars

Myanmar Distribution Group Co Ltd honours sale agentsperformed to theaccompaniment of TheThrees Band to entertainthe visitors. ManagingDirector U Aung MawThein and wife Dr MoeMyat Win chose first prize(1 million kyat) and threesecond prizes (500,000kyats) by chance; andSales & MarketingConsultant U Min TalaNyan, National SalesManager U Myo Htet,actor Ye Htaik, actressWut Hmon Shwe Yi andguests, six third prizes(200,000 kyats) and 40

fourth prizes (50,000kyats).

Since 1997, Myanmarnational-owned MyanmarDistribution Group Co Ltdhas distributed highquality productsthroughout the nation suchas Gold Roast Coffeemix,Gold Roast GoldCoffeemix, Ben Cafécoffee mix, Café 21Coffeemix, CalsomeQuaker, Royal MyanmarTeamix, Fresh Up LemonTeamix, winning thecustomer satisfaction athome and abroad.—MNA

4th Inter School Senior Cricket ChallengeShield 2009 commences

YANGON, 23 Dec—Jointly organized byDepartment of BasicEducation No (3) andMyanmar CricketFederation, 4th InterSchool Senior CricketChallenge Shield 2009was opened at the sportsground of No (1) BasicEducation High School

in Lanmadaw Townshiphere yesterday morning.

It was attended byofficials of theDepartment of BasicEducation No (3), patronsof Myanmar Women’sSports Federation,Chairman of MCF UNyunt Win, GeneralSecretary U Kyi Min and

executive members,principals, guests andfans.

Chairman of MGF UNyunt Win gave a speechat the ceremony. Thematches started atdesignated pitches.

The tourneycontinues at the schooltill 27 December.—MNA

Minister Maj-Gen Khin Maung Myint receives Chairman Mr Li Chaoof Central China Power Grid International Economic & Trade

Co Ltd.—MNA MD UAung Maw

Theinpresents

award to asale agent.

MNA

1234567812345678123456781234567812345678

123456781234567812345678123456781234567812345678

Thingangyun BEMS No. 4 holds respect paying ceremonyYANGON, 23 Dec—Old

students of ThingangyunBEMS No. 4 held the firstceremony to pay respectsto school heads and teacherswho taught the pupils from1970 to 2006, at the schoolon 20 December.

Headmistress DawMyint Myint Oo and retired

Headmaster U Than Htutformally opened theceremony. Next, theheadmistress gave anopening speech. Oldstudents paid respects to115 teachers and presentedgifts to them.

Teachers U Than Htut,Daw San Lwin and U Zaw

Win spoke words ofadvice.

Treasurer of theorganizing committeeMaung Kyaw Thurareported on the financialstatement and chairman USan Htay explained thepurpose of theceremony.—MNA

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM8

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009 9

Traditional Myanmar Gold Embroideries valued by international nations

Premier Coffee SingingContest, Ginsetin Pageant

finalizedYANGON, 23 Dec— Premier Coffee Company

and Ginsetin Korea Ginseng Tonic finalized PremierCoffee Singing Contest and Ginsetin Pageant at CapitalHypermarket here on 15 December.

A first prize winner was awarded 1 millionkyats, 200,000 kyats worth of gift voucher, and 100,000kyats worth of product; a second prize winner, 500,000kyats, 100,000 kyats worth of gift voucher, and 100,000kyats worth of product; and a third prize winner,300,000 kyats, 100,000 kyats worth of gift voucher,and 100,000 kyats worth of product. Ginsetin addedMiss Energetic prize and Miss Best Complexion prize.

Composer Naung Naung (Sunflower),Composer Nyi Nyi Thwin and Vocalist Khaing ShweWah acted as judges for the singing contest, and ActorNay Aung, Daw Nan Ei Ei Zar, and film star WutHmon Shwe Yi, for the pageant.

Vocalists: L Lun Wah, Nau Naw, Phyu PhyuKyaw Thein, L Hsai Zi, Chit Thu Wai, Khaing ShweWah and July entertained the visitors to theaccompaniment of COBRA-H Music Band.

MNA

NAY PYI TAW, 23Dec—The Ministry ofCulture yesterday heldwork coordinationmeeting at the ministryhere, with an openingspeech by Minister for

Culture Ministry holds work coord meeting

Culture Maj-Gen KhinAung Myint.

The directors-generalreported on imple-mentation of resolutions, andongoing and future plans,which are decided from the

last meeting; rectors ofNational Culture and FineArts University (Yangonand Mandalay), staff andacademic affairs. Theofficials concerned alsosubmitted reports to the

minister. The minister thengave necessary instructions.

The work coordinationmeeting ended after givingconcluding remarks by theminister.

MNA

Article: Maung Maung Htwe (MNA); Photos: Tha Nyan & Yan Gyi Aung (MNA)

(from page 16)Myanmar arts and crafts.It flourishes most in andaround Mandalay,Amarapura and Sagaing.Nowadays, more andmore crafts can be seenin and around Yangon.

In the past, gold andsliver embroideries wereused with reverence inreligious ceremonies androyal palace. Nowadays,they are used inordinations, gear wornby dancers and mari-onettes in plays and pup-pet shows as well as forpatterns sewn on vari-ous designs of embroi-dered hats, cellular bags,wallets, bags, waist-coats, neckties, andgloves. Those who canafford and companyowners also purchaseembroidery artworks asadornments to the draw-ing room.

Stones from minesused to be raw materialsof embroidery whereasoyster shell, differentkinds of pastes and glassare used today. In someplaces, wooden beadsand plastic beads areused instead.

Cotton is the mainmaterial in sewing fig-

ures in relief on clothes.Other materials are gold-coloured thread, silver-coloured thread, sequin,cloth, velvet, thread, wax-paper, coarse paper madefrom paper mulberry pulp,paste and gum powder.

Most of main rawmaterials are of local butsome are mixed of localand foreign while someare ordered from abroad.Embroideries sewn onclothes are in demand inthe market, embroideriesmade by pasting thingstogether followed secondand gear for marionettesthird.

Embroidery artworksof high value are put onsale in souvenir shops inmajor towns like Yangon,

Mandalay and Bagan.Some businessmen andco-operative societiesalso export them whereasembroidery artworks oflow value are sold inshops in pagodas, storesand department stores.Especially, Thailand, Sin-gapore and Indonesia arefond of collectingMyanmar embroideryartworks.

While we were inMandalay last month, wegrasped the opportunityand met with famouscraftsman U Sein Myintwho said, “Currently,there are 14 or 15 deal-ing in gold embroideryindustry in Mandalay.I’ve been dealing in theindustry for 24 years. Iwork at home. Gold Em-broidery is part of tentraditional arts and craftsof Myanmar. It has flour-ished since Bagan Periodand has been handeddown from generation togeneration.”

“Originally, myhobby was painting. I en-tered the gold embroideryindustry in 1985. I valuemy work and do my workall by myself accordingto traditions as well asdepending on tide of

changes.”“It is really an un-

forgettable experience thatI made 17”x7”-sized em-broidery artwork for Stateto be presented to theUnited Nations in 1990.As it was to be hung in theUN, I depicted olivebranch as well as pago-das, agricultural produce,and Lawkanat (celestialbeing noted for peace-keeping). I am pleased forleaders of global countrieswill see my work.”

“Currently, I’mrunning gold embroiderybusiness with 40 full-time workers and 20 part-time workers. Mainly,quality is at the top of thelist. I have been givingtraining to women in theward wishing to runhandicraft business, fe-male nationalities fromSocial Welfare Depart-ment and border regions.It can be learnt within sixmonths to a year as a vo-cation.”

“I conducted em-broidery courses in theUSA, Japan and ASEANcountries. What’s more, Iwas able to exhibit someof my embroideryartworks in World TradeFair in South Africa in

1996.” We then observedMyanmar embroideryartworks museum of USein Myint next the em-broidery shop. There wefound century-old tradi-tional Myanmar embroi-dery artworks, silk paint-ings and utensils of oldrural folks.

U Sein Myint’sdaughter said, “The mu-seum was founded in1991 with collection ofantique gold embroider-ies. This one is silk paint-ing depicting display ofprowess in horsemanshipby members of the royalcavalry over hundredyears ago. I re-bought itfrom a foreigner. This oneis gold embroider paint-ing made of felt. It is

adornment of the royalpalace some 80 yearsago. We also have em-broidery paintings thatdepict the Buddholoo.And this is a sickle usedby ancient rural folks.You can see the figureof a mongoose at thehandle. It was assumedthat it can protect thedanger from snakes.”

Despite its smallsize, the museum is fullof interesting things.Looking round the mu-seum, time of glory ofMyanmar people ap-peared in my mind’seyes and nationalisticsentiment arose out ofmy flesh.

Translation: TKKKyemon (1-12-2009)

U Sein MyintCraftsman (Gold

Embroidery)

In the past, gold and sliver embroideryartworks were used in royal palace.

Minister Maj-Gen Khin Aung Myint addresses coordination meeting of the Ministry ofCulture.—MNA

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM9

10 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009

Businessmen smoke cigarettes during their lunch-time break in Tokyo in2003. Japan, long considered a smokers’ paradise, is planning to raise to-bacco tax from next October in a bid to repair its tattered public finances,

officials said on Tuesday.—INTERNET

A shoe vendor isseen arrangeshis mobile stallin Ho Chi Minh

City in 2007.The European

Union, theworld’s biggest

market, onTuesday ex-

tended punitivetaxes on importsof Chinese and

Vietnameseshoes.

INTERNET

A view of Auckland. New Zealand’s economy grew 0.2 percent in the threemonths to September, in the second straight quarter of sluggish growth

following a long recession, according to official figures.—INTERNET

BEIJING, 23 Dec—Sci-entists can understand theprogression of the condi-tion of the Parkinson’sdisease from an earlierstage, Britain’s Parkin-son’s Disease Society(PDS) said after studyingthe brain tissue along withthe lifestyle histories ofyoungsters with Parkin-son’s, according to newsreports on Wednesday.

Director in PDS’sR&D, Dr Kieran Breen,said that they are optimis-tic about finding a treat-

Brain tissues help scientistsunderstand Parkinson’s

ment for people with theParkinson’s.

Breen, together withhis colleagues, indicatedthat they are delightedwith the response to theirappeal to the brain tissuesso far.

“Scientific research onbrains from people bothwith and without Parkin-son’s is essential to helpus move closer to ourgoal,” said Dr Breen.

Earlier last month,published in the CellTransplantation Journal,

a research suggested thatnerve cells lost in Parkin-son’s could be supple-mented using cells from aperson’s own brain.

Xinhua

VIENTIANE, 23 Dec—Atiny colourful bird with aloud and distinctivesound has been discov-ered living in the forestsof Laos and Vietnam, sci-entists said.

The bird has beennicknamed the “lime-stone leaf warbler” be-cause it breeds in regionof Laos known for itslimestone deposits, scien-tists from the WildlifeConservation Societysaid in a release on Tues-day.

The olive-green bird,with a yellow breast andstriped crown, has a dis-tinctive sound and issmaller with shorterwings and a larger billthan other warblers foundin Southeast Asia, the sci-entific team wrote in theInternational Journal ofAvian Science.

“The discovery of thisnew species is very excit-ing and underscores theimportance of this regionof Indochina for conser-vation,” society spokes-man Colin Poole said,calling the region the“Lost World for new andunusual wildlife.”

Internet

RIO DE JANEIRO, 23 Dec—Brazil’s Consumer Con-fidence Index (ICC) fell to 112.3 points in December,down 2.4 percent from the 115.1 points in November,Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) reported on Tues-day.

It is the index’s first decline in seven months. TheNovember reading was the highest since May 2008.

According to the FGV, the fall showed Brazilianshad become more concerned about the country’s eco-nomic situation.

The ICC is based on the Present Situation Index(ISA), which measures the level of satisfaction withthe present economic scenario, and the ExpectationIndex (IE), which indicates the expectation for nextsix months.

In December, the ISA was down 2.7 percent to120.6 points, while the IE fell to 107.8 points, the low-est figures registered since May.

The most significant decrease, however, appearedin consumers’ family financial situation satisfactionindex, which saw a 4.3 percent slump in December.

Compared with the numbers in November, fewerconsumers in December believed the country’seconomy would improve in the following months,while more people thought the economy would getworse.

The ICC survey was carried out from 30 Nov to 18Dec, involving about 2,000 households in Brazil’sseven main metro areas.

Xinhua

KUALA LUMPUR, 23Dec— The orangutan willbecome extinct if no ac-tion is taken to protect itsjungle habitat in the nexttwo decades, a Malaysianconservationist haswarned.

There are some 60,000orangutan still living inthe wild in Malaysia andIndonesia but deforesta-tion and the expansion ofpalm plantations havetaken a heavy toll, the Starnewspaper reported onWednesday, citing

BEIJING, 23 Dec—Chi-na’s top legislature onTuesday discussed a legalamendment to requireelectricity grid companiesto buy all the power pro-duced by renewable en-ergy generators.

The State Council en-ergy department and thestate power regulatoryagency should supervisethe purchases, said the

New warbleridentified in

Southeast Asia

Twenty years left to prevent orangutan from extinction

Brazilian consumerconfidence index falls

2.4% in December

Tsubouchi Toshinori fromthe Borneo ConservationTrust. The orangutanhabitat is fragmented andisolated by plantations,which makes them unableto migrate and find matesto produce babies, Tsu-bouchi said.

He noted that althoughstudies predicted that theorangutan would disap-pear within 50 years iftheir habitat continued to

vanish, action needed tobe taken within the nexttwo decades to stall thatprocess.

Environmentalists arecalling for the creation ofwildlife “corridors” inMalaysia to link thescraps of jungle where theorangutan have becometrapped by decades of en-croachment by loggersand oil palm companies.

Xinhua

China considers compulsory green energypurchases by grid operators

draft amendment to theRenewable Energy Law,which was submitted tothe Standing Committeeof the National People’sCongress (NPC) for itssecond reading

It is an important offi-cial measure to supportthe country’s fledgling re-newable energy sector,experts say.

According to the

draft, the State Councilenergy department, inconjunction with thestate power regulatoryagency and the StateCouncil finance depart-ments, should “deter-mine the proportion ofrenewable energy powergeneration to the overallgenerating capacity for acertain period.”

Xinhua

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM10

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009 11

More small-business bankruptciesreported in California

Kuwait discovers newlight crude, gas field

KUWAIT CITY, 23 Dec— Oil-rich Kuwait said onTuesday it has discovered a light crude and gas fieldin the northwest, as the country moves toward a targetof four million barrels per day of crude by 2020. Thefield is located in the area of Mutreba and its primaryproduction is estimated at 80,000 barrels per day oflight crude and 110 million cubic feet per day of gas,Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) Chairman Sami Al-Rushaid said.

“Preparations are underway to drill for specificwells to test the promising layers in this field,” Al-Rushaid said during a ceremony marking KOC’s 75thanniversary.

Kuwait sits atop with around 10 percent of theworld’s proven oil reserves and oil export is thebackbone of the emirate’ economy.—Xinhua

LOS ANGELES, 23 Dec—As credit lines haveshrunk and consumershave cut back onspending, thousands ofsmall businesses haveclosed their doors inCalifornia over the lastyear, it was reported onTuesday.

The latest data showthat small-businessbankruptcies shot up 81percent in the state for the12 months ended on 30Sept, compared with theprevious year, according

to the Los Angeles Times.About 19,000 small

businesses filed forbankruptcy in Californiaduring the 12-monthperiod, up from 10,500the previous year, thepaper said.

Filings nationwidewere up 44 percent, saidthe paper, citing figuresfrom the credit analysisfirm Equifax Inc.TheObama Administration’snew plan to give a boostto small businessesreflects continued trouble

in that sector, which isfacing new failures evenas much of the nation’seconomy is stabilizing,the paper noted.

The plight of strugglingfirms has been aggravated bythe reluctance of banks tolend money, said BrianHeadd, an economist at theSmall Business Admini-stration’s office ofadvocacy.“While bankru-ptcies are up, overall, small-business closures are up evenmore,” Headd said.

Xinhua

Ruth Grierson, a 2010 volunteer team leader for the 2010 Winter Olympicsat the Vancouver Uniform and Accreditation Centre on 14 December in

Vancouver, Canada. Organizers of the Winter Olympics have launched a linkon its website for the public to resale any unused tickets for February’s

Games.—INTERNET

A worker at theInternational Auto

Expo in New Delhi inJanuary 2008. India’sauto show next monthwill be the largest everstaged in the country,

organizers said onTuesday, as global

vehicle makersaccelerate toward the

fast-expandingmarket.—INTERNET

Vietnam set for middleincome status

Oil holds above $74 afterOPEC output unchanged

The Air France AirbusA380 lands at JFK

International Airportin New York in this on

20 November, 2009file photo, on its firstcommercial air flightfrom Paris. Airports

need to ramp up theirexpansion projects

that were put on holdduring the recession,an airports industry

body said onTuesday.—INTERNET

WASHINGTON, 23 Dec—The World Bank said ithad approved its biggestever loan to Vietnam as itvirtually endorsed theonce war-ravagedSoutheast Asian nation’simpending elevation tomiddle income status.

The 500 million dollarloan was the first to thefast-growing Communistcountry from the bank’slow-interest lending arm,the International Bank forReconstruction andDevelopment (IBRD),which provides credit tomainly middle incomenations.Vietnam has set

itself a 2010 target ofembracing middle-incomestatus.

Until now, World Banksupport to Vietnam hadc o m efrom the InternationalDevelopment Associa-tion (IDA), whichprovides interest freeloans to the world’spoorest countries.

The newly approvedloan is aimed at sup-porting a programme ofpublic investment reformsin Vietnam, theWashington-based banksaid in a statement.

Internet

Singapore, EU to negotiateFTA

SINGAOPRE, 23 Dec—Oil prices held above $74a barrel on Wednesday inAsia after OPEC leftoutput levels unchangedand a report showed UScrude inventories fell lastweek.

Benchmark crude forFebruary delivery wasdown 7 cents to $74.33 atmidday Singapore Time inelectronic trading on theNew York MercantileExchange.

The contract rose 68

cents to settle at $74.40on Tuesday.

The Organization ofPetroleum ExportingCountries said onTuesday that the 12-nation cartel won’tchange productionquotas, a move widelyexpected by investors.

OPEC leaders calledon group members toadhere more closely tocurrent quotas andreduce cheating.

Prices were boostedby signs US oil demandmay be picking up. UScrude inventories fellmore than expected lastweek, the AmericanPetroleum Institute saidlate Tuesday.

Crude stocks fell 3.7million barrels whileanalysts had expected adrop of 2.0 millionbarrels, according to asurvey by Platts, theenergy information armof McGraw-Hill Cos.

Internet

SINGAPORE, 23 Dec—Singapore and theEuropean Union(EU) haveagreed to start negotiationsfor a free trade agreement(FTA), Singapore’sMinistry of Trade andIndustry said on Tuesday.

Calling it a milestone inSingapore’s relation-shipwith the EU, the ministrysaid that an FTA with theEU will be a key additionto Singapore’s network ofFTAs, asthe EU is Singapore’slargest trading partner.

The ministry said thatthe bilateral FTA will notonly promote the flow ofgoods, services andinvestment, it is also likelyto enhance collaborationin areas such as tradefacilitation and technical

regulations. The FTA willalso con-tribute to regionalecono-mic integration bypaving the way for an FTAbetween the EU andthe Association of South-East Asian Nations(ASEAN).

Xinhua

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM11

12 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009

Int’l Elephant Polo in Nepal to kick off

Catastrophic fire threatensSouth Australia

CANBERRA, 23 Dec—Catastrophic fire danger rat-ings have been issued for eight South Australian dis-tricts on Wednesday, with temperatures expected toreach 40 degrees Celsius and strong winds forecastaround much of the state.

The eight catastrophic districts are: mid-north,Flinders, Yorke Peninsula, upper south-east, LowerEyre Peninsula, Eastern Eyre Peninsula, Murraylands,West Coast.

Severe or extreme fire danger ratings apply in thestate’s seven other districts of Riverland, north-westPastoral, Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, lowersouth-east, Adelaide metropolitan and north-east pas-toral.

A helicopter and 55 police patrols have been de-ployed across South Australia as part of police effortsto curb arson on high fire danger days.—Xinhua

13 peoplewarned or finedover e-cigarettes

in SingaporeSINGAPORE, 23 Dec—

The Singapore’s HealthSciences Authority (HSA)evicted 13 people forbringing in and selling themuch-hyped e-cigarette,local media reported onWednesday.

Among the 13 individu-als investigated are fourlocal suppliers who set upwebsites to hawk the prod-uct. The other nine orderedthe device online fromoverseas suppliers, localnewspaper The StraitsTimes reported.

Touted as a “healthy”way to beat rising ciga-rette prices and a widen-ing ban on smoking here,the electronic cigarettecomprises a cartridge ofliquid nicotine insertedinto a battery-operatedsteel tube. A heating coilvaporizes the nicotine intoa fine mist, which is theninhaled.

Xinhua

Three dead as dust storm,snow blast Arizona

PHOENIX,23Dec—A strong winter storm wreaked havocin Arizona on Tuesday, leaving at least three people deadand six injured in a series of fiery crashes caused by thick,blowing dust on Interstate 10 and shutting down I-40 forhours with slick conditions. One of the dead was a 25-year-old man whose vehicle was rear-ended by his fa-ther’s truck.

The midday I-10 wrecks, about 40 miles south ofPhoenix near Casa Grande, left the eastbound lanes lit-tered with the smoldering remains of several big rigs,passenger cars and vans. Both directions of the free-way connecting Tucson to Phoenix were closed forhours as crews freed the injured and dead from the tan-gled wreckage.

Along 1-40 west of Flagstaff, dozens of cars andtrucks were involved in collisions or slid off the high-way as snow began falling on Tuesday afternoon. Astretch of the highway between Williams and Ash Forkwas closed intermittently. Snowy and slippery condi-tions were also reported on I-17 north of Sedona.

Internet

Two people look at the

scene of a multiple

vehicle collisions

along Interstate-10

during a dust storm

near Casa Grande,

Arizona, on 22 Dec,

2009. Several motor-

ists were dead as

others were rushed to

local hospitals.

INTERNET

File photo shows a bushfire burning out of controlin Victoria, Australia. Residents were “fleeing fortheir lives” on Wednesday as wildfires burned out ofcontrol in South Australia, a witness said, as the state endured catastrophic fire conditions.—INTERNET

KATHMANDU, 23 Dec—The International El-ephant Polo will kick offfrom 26 Dec at Sauraha ofNepali Chitwan District,some 85 km southwest ofcapital Kathmandu, localmedia reported onWednesday.

Nine countries as wellas associations includingIndia, German, UnitedKingdom, Australia, Hol-land have already booked

their names as the partici-pants of the game, localnewspaper The RisingNepal cited Hari BhaktaGhimire, president ofReginal Hotel Associationas saying.

The task of constructionof a link road, making of acompound, setting up ofstalls, management of theground at Bagmara Com-munity Forest, where thegame will be held have

been completed, The Ris-ing Nepal reported, citingthe coordinator, ShankarSaiju as sources.

Saiju said that alongwith the elephant polo,preparations for holdingthe elephant football wasalso has been com-pleted.—Xinhua

Two men atop a roof look at a fire at the La Saline market in Port-au-Prince,on 22 Dec, 2009. Fifteen shops were burned and no injures were reported.

INTERNET

Frankfurt airport re-opens afterbeing closed by wintry weatherBERLIN, 23 Dec—Frankfurt International Airport, an

aviation hub for both Germany and Europe, re-openedon Tuesday after a seven-hour overnight shutdowncaused by wintry weather.

Snow, ice and severe cold in southwestern Germanyhad hampered takeoffs and landings in the Frankfurtairport in recent days. Ground crews constantly clearedfalling snow and de-iced waiting aircrafts, but someflights had to be cancelled or delayed when workerscould not keep up the pace.

The runways were closed late Monday after theybecame too icy to use. The closures stranded about8,000 passengers.

Xinhua

China considers ratifying UN protocolto combat human trafficking

BEIJING, 23 Dec—Chi-na’s top legislature hasbegun reviewing a UnitedNations protocol to com-bat human trafficking.

The State Council sub-mitted the Protocol to Pre-vent, Suppress and PunishTrafficking in Persons,Especially Women andChildren, supplementingthe UN Conventionagainst Transnational Or-ganized Crime to the on-going session of theStanding Committee ofthe National People’sCongress (NPC) for rati-fication.

The protocol wasadopted by the United Na-tions in 2000, and had beenacceded to or ratified by132 countries and the Eu-

ropean Community byOctober this year.

According to the billsubmitted to the NPCStanding Committee, rati-fication of the protocol

would improve coopera-tion between China andother countries and inter-national organizations incombating human traf-ficking.—Xinhua

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM12

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009 13

British female teacher Hannah Quinn (front) conducts the Mulan Children’sChorus, during their successful debut performance in the Tianjin Musical Hallof Tianjin, north China, on 22 Dec, 2009. Founded in early on November 2009,the Mulan Children’s Chorus of Tianjin Musical Hall has improved the stage

performance capacity of over 40 little chorus members.—XINHUA

People look at picturesduring the 2009 Univer-sal Children’s Day photo

exhibition in Hohhot,capital city of north

China’s Inner MongoliaAutonomous Region, on22 Dec, 2009.—XINHUA

Stem cells treatment helps re-gain eyesight

BEIJING, 23 Dec — Anew stem cells treatmenthas cured eight peoplewho had nearly losttheir eyesight inthe English city of New-castle, accordingto news reports onWednesday.

Russell Turnbull,one of the cured patientswhose right eye wasburned in an ammonia at-tack after intervening in afight on a Newcastle bus15 years ago, said, “Thishas transformed mylife...I’m working, I can

go jet skiing and also ridehorses.”

Doctors experimentedon a treatment at the NorthEast England Stem CellInstitute in Newcastle, inwhich stem cells weretaken from Turnbull’shealthy eye and grown ona layer of amniotic tissue.

When the cells hadcovered the membrane,a piece of it was trans-planted onto his dam-aged eye. Seven to eightweeks later, the mem-brane had broken down,leaving his damaged eye

with a fresh material ofhealthy stem cells ,which repaired the cor-nea.

Six month later, eyetests showed Turnbull’seyesight was as good asit had been before theattack.

The scientist namedSajjad Ahmad, who de-veloped the Newcastlemethod, said its successindicated the scope forusing the patient’s ownstem cells to cure hisown eye.

Xinhua

Abdominal surgery higher risk in elderlyStudy casts doubt on TB spore theory

Canada seeks anti-cancer additive comment

Effects of binge drinking linger

CHICAGO, 23 Dec — US researcherssay their work has cast doubt on a theorythat tuberculosis bacteria have the abil-ity to turn into armour-plated spores.

The tuberculosis bacterium is an in-sidious germ that can lie dormant formany years, then suddenly emerge andcause potentially fatal disease.

The spore theory was proposed in theProceedings of the National Academyof Sciences in June by researchers inSweden. The theory tied the ability oftuberculosis to infect decades before thedisease emerges to the formation ofspores — thick-walled, “armour-plated”— cells that can lie dormant until con-

ditions allow them to shed the armor andgrow again.

However, study co-author AdamDriks of Loyola University ChicagoStritch School of Medicine and col-leagues at Boston’s Harvard Universitysay in their study, also published in theProceedings of the National Academy ofSciences, they have not been able to findany evidence of spores in TB cultures.

The researchers demonstrate the TBbacterium doesn’t contain genes relatedto those needed to produce spores. Also,the researchers said they failed to findspores in frogs infected with TB bacte-ria.—Internet

SEATTLE, 23 Dec —Older adults may havea higher risk of com-plications and death afterabdominal surgery, USresearchers found.

Dr Nader N Massarweh and colleagues at Uni-versity of WashingtonSchool of Medicine,Seattle, examined compli-cation and death rates of101,318 adults age 65 orolder who underwent com-

mon abdominal pro-cedures such as gall - blad-der removal, hyster-ectomy and colectomyfrom 1987-2004.

Complications were re-corded within 90 days ofdischarge and deaths wererecorded within 90 days ofhospital admission.

The study, published inthe Archives of Surgery,found advancing age wasassociated with increasing

frequency of complica-tions — ages 65-69 had a14.6 percent complicationrate, while those age 90and older had a 22.7 per-cent complication rate,Massarweh said.

The death rate follo-wing surgery was 2.5 per-cent for those ages 65-69to 12.6 percent for thoseage 90 and older, the studysaid.

Internet

More clinical trials usecomputer records

OTTAWA, 23 Dec —Health Canada is askingthe public for commenton putting the cancer-fighting enzyme aspara-ginase in baked and friedfood.

McCain’s, Frito Layand other companies areurging the Canadiangovernment to approve

the food additive thatcuts down on the levelsof L-asparagine — a pre-cursor of acrylamide —which forms in starchyfood that is baked orfried including bread,crackers, cookies,French fries and potatochips, the Toronto Starreported on Tuesday.

In 2002, a Swedishstudy discovered highlevels of what was con-sidered a probable car-cinogen, acrylamide,formed in some food af-ter high-temperature fry-ing or baking.

In 2005, the UNFood and AgricultureOrganization andthe World Health Or-ganization approvedadding asparaginase topotato chips, Frenchfries and packagedcookies, the Star repor-ted.

A year ago, food indus-try groups including theBaking Association ofCanada, McCain Foodsand Frito Lay Canadatold the government it ap-proved of adding the foodadditive and asked Ot-tawa to “treat the ap-proval of all tools withthe potential of reducingacrylamide formationin food as a highpriority,”fries and pack-aged cookies, the Star re-ported.—Internet

PROVIDENCE, 23 Dec —Heavy drinking adver-sely affects a person’s per-formance and perce-ptionhours after alcohol has leftthe body, researchers inRhode Island said.

Researchers at BrownUniversity recruited 95healthy adults ages 21to 35 who had reportedhaving a hangover atleast one time withinthe month before the re-search began.

The participants wererandomly assigned bour-bon or vodka and told todrink until their breathtests indicated a blood al-cohol level of 0.11 per-cent, well over the legaldriving limit for moststates, MedpageToday reported on Tues-day.

After eight hours ofsleep and breakfast, theparticipants showedpoorer performance in

simulated driving teststhan participants whohad consumed only colawith several drops of al-cohol the night before.

“We found that peoplewere impaired in their abil-ity to do tasks that requireboth vigilance and makingrapid decisions and thatpeople were not aware thattheir performance was im-paired,” researcherDamaris Rohsenow toldMedpage Today.—Internet

OTTAWA, 23 Dec —Canadian health officialsfound 41 percent ofclinical trials havemoved away from man-aging trial data usingonly paper records.

Study leader DrKhaled El Emam,

the Canada researchchairman in electronichealth information atthe Children’s Hospitalof Eastern Ontario Re-search Institute, evalu-ated the use of technol-ogy in Canadian clinicaltrials.

From 2006-2007 therewere approximately 950clinical trials registeredwith sites in Canada —about half funded by thepharmaceutical industry.Industry funded trialswere more likely to useelectronic data capturetools.—Internet

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM13

14 THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009

S P O R T S

Biasi replacesMarino as

Udinese coach ROME, 23 Dec—

Udinese’s coach PasqualeMarino stepped down andwas replaced by GianniDe Biasi, the Italian SerieA club said on Tuesday.

Marino had directedUdinese for two years andled the team with a flyingstart of the current season.However, Udinese wononly two games sinceearly October and isstanding 14th.

The 53-year-old DeBiasi has been out of workfor a year after beingsacked by Torino.

Xinhua

Manchester City deny chiefexecutive lied to fans

Roberto Mancini

Terry like Baresi and Maldini,says Ancelotti

Chelsea’s captainJohn Terry

Wenger willing to waiton Van Persie

Dutch strikerRobin van Persie

Sunderland’s Turner bannedfor four games

Sunderland defenderMichael Turner

Federer and Serena named ITF World Champs

Switzerand’s Roger Federercelebrates his quarter-final

victoryover Russia’s Evgeny Korolevat the Swiss Indoors tournament in

Basel.—INTERNET

Blood test could derailPacquiao-Mayweather clashLOS ANGELES, 23 Dec—A much-anticipated fight

between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiaocould be in danger because of a standoff over drug-testing procedures, reports said on Tuesday.

Filipino Pacquiao had agreed to have blood takenfor testing before the initial media conference and af-ter the fight but would not agree to have blood drawnwithin 30 days of the bout, Golden Boy Promotionssaid in a statement on Tuesday.

Golden Boy is representing the Mayweather camp,while Top Rank are Pacquiao’s promoters.

The Mayweather camp wants Olympic-style test-ing procedures to be adopted, as mandated by the U.S.Anti - Doping Agency, which involve random bloodand urine sampling prior to and after the fight.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said TopRank President Todd duBoef had informed him thatPacquiao did not want to have blood taken within 30days of the fight.

Internet

File photos show US boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr,left, prepares to spar at a gym in east London on22 May, 2009, and Manny Pacquiao, right, of thePhilippines, weighs in for the junior welterweightboxing match against British boxer Ricky Hatton,

on 1 May, 2009, in Las Vegas.—INTERNET

Coach Del Bosque to staywith Spain through 2012

MADRID, 23 Dec—The Spanish football federationhas extended national team coach Vicente del Bosque’scontract by two years. The 59-year-old Del Bosquewill stay with the team through 2012 after he led Spainto the World Cup finals next year in South Africa.

Del Bosque replaced Luis Aragones after Spain’sEuropean Championship triumph in June last year.

Federation president Angel Villar says DelBosque’s extension was a unanimous decision.

Xinhua

LONDON, 23 Dec—Sun-derland defender MichaelTurner will now serve afour-game ban for hissending-off against Man-chester City after theFootball Association (FA)added an extra match tothe usual suspension.

He will miss the Box-ing Day Premier Leagueclash with Everton, thetrip to Blackburn two dayslater as well as the FA Cupthird round tie againstnon-league Barrow and

the home game againstBolton on 9 January.

Turner won’t be avail-able again until Sunder-land face current PremierLeague leaders Chelseaon 9 January.

He was sent-off by ref-eree Andre Marriner dur-ing the closing stages ofSunderland’s 4-3 PremierLeague loss away to Cityat Eastlands on Saturdayafter catching GarethBarry with an elbow.

Sunderland managerSteve Bruce branded thedecision a joke and an-nounced the club wouldappeal.

The Black Cats arguedthe standard three-gameban is excessive but anindependent FA regula-tory commission landedTurner with a four-gameban on Tuesday, effec-tively for wasting theirtime, as they said the ap-peal had no chance of suc-cess.—Internet

PARIS, 23 Dec—Roger Federer hasbeen named International Tennis Federa-tion (ITF) champion for the fifth timewith Serena Williams taking the wom-en’s award for the second time.

They will receive their awards at theannual ITF World Champions Dinner on1 June in Paris, during the French Open.

Federer had an outstanding year re-gaining the world No.1 ranking fromRafael Nadal after completing a careerGrand Slam at Roland Garros with vic-tory over Robin Soderling in the final.

He went on to surpass Pete Samprasby winning his 15th Grand Slam title atWimbledon after a memorable final con-test against Andy Roddick.

Federer was also runner-up at theAustralian Open, where he lost in fivesets to Nadal, and the US Open, wherehe also went down in five sets to JuanMartin del Potro, and helped his coun-try retain its World Group status in DavisCup.

“It is an honour for me to be namedITF World Champion for a fifth time. Itwas an incredible year for me both onand off the court,” the 28-year-old Swissstar said.

Internet

LONDON, 23 Dec—Chelsea manager CarloAncelotti has likened JohnTerry to Italian greatsFranco Baresi and PaoloMaldini in his latest showof support for his belea-guered captain. The Eng-land skipper has been hav-ing to defend himself fromaccusations of money-grabbing after the News ofthe World tabloid on Sun-day alleged he’d accepteda financial payment to pro-vide a tour of Chelsea’straining ground.

The paper claimedTerry, who captained thePremier League leaders inSunday’s 1-1 draw at WestHam, arranged the visit toChelsea’s Cobham train-ing complex for three un-dercover reporters posingas businessmen withoutpermission from Ancelotti.

It is claimed that Terrytook a 10,000 pounds pay-ment, 8,000 pounds of

which he wanted to go tothe ‘Make A Wish’ charityfor children with the other2,000 pounds going to amiddleman.

Ancelotti dismissed thereport and the former ACMilan coach went furtherby telling Tuesday’s Lon-don Evening Standard thatcentre-back Terry re-minded him of Rossoneridefensive greats Baresiand Maldini, whom heplayed alongside at theSan Siro.—Internet

MANCHESTER, 23 Dec—Manchester City insistedon Tuesday they had notlied to their supportersover when they ap-proached Roberto Mancinito become their new man-ager. In a prepared state-ment at Monday’s newsconference to present

Mancini as the replace-ment for the sacked MarkHughes City chief execu-tive Garry Cook claimedthe Italian had agreed tojoin the club on Friday,two days after a 3-0 defeatto Spurs.

Mancini appeared tocontradict that statement,however, by revealing thathe had first met with Citychairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak in London a fort-night ago.

British press reportsTuesday were overwhelm-ingly critical of the way inwhich City had gone aboutsacking Hughes and bring-ing in Mancini, while fansphoned up Eastlands tocomplain about the club’sconduct.—Internet

LONDON, 23 Dec—Ar-senal manager ArseneWenger said on Tuesdayhe’d all but given up on theidea of Dutch striker Robinvan Persie playing for theEnglish Premier Leagueclub again this season.

However, he stressedthe player would regainfull fitness and once morebe a force at top-flight

level. The 26-year-old for-ward suffered a right an-kle injury while on inter-national duty in Novem-ber.

The Gunners had hopedthe striker might be out forsix weeks but instead heneeded surgery and nowWenger believes the bestvan Persie and Arsenal canhope for is a return towardsthe end of the current cam-paign. “If you are verypositive you would say(he’ll be back in) April,”Wenger told the club’swebsite. “If you’re a bitcautious you say May. It isvirtually the rest of the sea-son.—Internet

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM14

THE NEW LIGHT OF MYANMAR Thursday, 24 December, 2009 15

7:00 am 1. rif;uGef;q&mawmf

bk&m;BuD;\y&dwfw&m;awmf

7:15 am 2. jrwf*kPfawmfocif

(oef;jrwfpdk;?aw;a&;-

armifarmifvwf)

7:25 am 3. To Be Healthy

Exercise

Thursday, 24December

View on today

R 489 Published by the News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information, Union of Myanmar. Edited and printed at The New Light of Myanmar Press,No 22/32 Strand Road at 43rd Street, Yangon. Cable Newlight, PO Box No. 43, Telephones: Editors 392308, Manager 392226, Circulation 392304, Advertisement 392223,Accounts 392224, Administration 392225, Production/Press 392369

Local Transmission

* Signature Tune* Song of Myanma Beauty & Scenic Sights* Lacquer painting workmanships from

Sandadaw Pyae Pagoda* Blue Sea* A Mirror Reflecting Rakhine Architecture

(Shitthaung Stupa)* Enjoy our Shan Food* Myanmar Modern Song* The Legacy of Painting* Song of Myanma Beauty & Scenic SightsEurope/ North America Transmission

* Signature Tune* Song of Myanma Beauty & Scenic Sights* Lacquer painting workmanships from

Sandadaw Pyae Pagoda* Blue Sea* A Mirror Reflecting Rakhine Architecture

(Shitthaung Stupa)* Enjoy our Shan Food* Myanmar Modern Song* The Legacy of Painting* Myanmar Modern Song* Let’s go to the Zoo (Animal Show)* Myanma Traditional Musical Instruments:

Timing Bell, Si & Wa* Village Libraries: Constant Source of

Knowledge for rural people* Everyone has a life* Myanmar Modern Song* Memory of Good Time imprinted on My Mind* Song of Myanma Beauty & Scenic Sights

Website: www.mrtv3.net.mm

MRTV-3Programme Schedule(24-12-2009) (Thursday)

Summary of observations recorded at 09:30 hr.M.S.T. During the past 24 hours, weather has been partlycloudy in Rakhine and Mon States, upper Sagaing, Bago,Yangon and Taninthayi Divisions and generally fair in theremaining areas. Night temperatures were (7°C) belowDecember average temperatures in Chin State, (6°C) belowDecember average temperatures in Upper Sagaing Division,(3°C) below December average temperatures in LowerSagaing Division, (3°C) above December averagetemperatures in Kachin State and Taninthayi Division andabout December average temperatures in the remainingStates and Divisions. The significant night temperatureswere Haka (-3°C), Namhsam and Loilem (0°C) each,Pinlaung, Heho and Mogok (3°C) each, Lashio and Katha(4°C) each and Pyin Oo Lwin (5°C).

Maximum temperature on 22-12-2009 was 94°F.Minimum temperature on 23-12-2009 was 59°F. Relativehumidity at (09:30) hours MST on 23-12-2009 was 76%.Total sun shine hours on 22-12-2009 was (8.3) hoursapprox.

Rainfall on 23-12-2009 was (Nil) at Mingaladon, atKaba-Aye and Central Yangon. Total rainfall since 1-1-2009 was (111.69) inches at Mingaladon, (122.09) inchesat Kaba-Aye and (129.41) inches at Central Yangon.Maximum wind speed at Yangon (Kaba-Aye) was (4) mphfrom Southeast at (15:30) hours MST on 22-12-2009.

Bay inference: Weather is partly cloudy in the Centraland Southwest Bay and generally fair in the Andaman Seaand elsewhere in the Bay of Bengal.

Forecast valid until evening of 24th December 2009:Weather will be partly cloudy in Kachin, Shan States andTaninthayi Division and generally fair in the remainingStates and Divisions.

State of the sea: Seas will be moderate in Myanmarwaters.

Outlook for subsequent two days:Generally fairweather in the whole country.

Forecast for Nay Pyi Taw and neighbouring area for24-12-2009: Partly cloudy.

Forecast for Yangon and neighbouring area for24-12-2009: Generally fair weather.

Forecast for Mandalay and neighbouring area for24-12-2009: Partly cloudy.

Wednesday, 23rd December, 2009

Transmissions Times

Local - (09:00am ~ 10:00am) MSTEurope - (15:30pm ~ 23:30pm) MSTNorth America - (23:30pm ~ 07:30am) MST

7:30 am 4. Morning News7:40 am 5. Nice & Sweet Song7:55 am 6. Dance of National

Races8:05 am 7. ta&;NydKifyG J

8:15 am 8. Dance Variety8:30 am 9. Musical Programme8:40 am10. International News8:45 am11. ]]rajymrNyD;rwD;rjrnf}}

4:00 pm 1. Martial Song4:10 pm 2. Musical Programme4:25 pm 3. twD;NydKifyGJ

4:40 pm 4. Cute Little Dancers4:50 pm 5. ta0;oifwuúodkvfynm

a&;½kyfjrifoHMum;oifcef;pm

'kwd,ESpf(pD;yGm;a&;ynm

txl;jyK) (pD;yGm;a&;ynm)

5:05 pm 6. Songs For Uphold

National Spirit5:15 pm 7. jynfolYeDwd ]]udk,fcsif;pm}}

5:45 pm 8. rl[efoG,foG,fqdkMur,f

5:55 pm 9. ]]rdrdqE´tavsmufESpfodrfh

aqG ;aE G ; jci f ;E Si f h HIVydk;&Sdr&Sdppfaq;jcif;}}

6:00 pm10. Evening News6:15 pm11. Weather Report

6:20 pm12. aysmf&TifapaomaeY&ufrsm;

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(rdk;rdk;?ol&vif;?oZif?

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6:35 pm13. xl;qef;axGvmrsm;udkodyÜH

jzifhcsOf;uyfjcif;

7:00 pm14. EdkifiHjcm;Zmwfvrf;wGJ

]]arwåmavmif;&dyf}}

(tydkif;-23)

8:00 pm15. News16. International News17. Weather Report18. EdkifiHjcm;Zmwfvrf;wGJ

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(tydkif;-2)

19. EdkifiHjcm;Zmwfvrf;wGJ

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WEATHER

File photo shows, a scallop dish made bySusan Spicer in New Orleans which uses

LSU’s Jazzmen rice.—INTERNET

iPhone most usedmobile phone in US:

NielsenBE I J I N G, 23Dec—

The iPhone 3G iscrowned the most-usedmobile phone in theU.S., according to datapublished by marketresearch companyNielsen on Wednesday.

Owning 4 percentof an “embedded baseof all subscribers” fromJan. to Oct. in the U.S.market, Apple’s devicetops a list that includesseveral competinghandsets such as RIM’sBlackBerry and mobilephones made by LG,Motorola, and Samsung

iPhone 3G’s

accumulative sale is justpast the BlackBerry8300 series (3.7percent), followed bythe RAZR V3 series (2.3percent) and the LGenV2 (2.1 percent).

Though this Applehandset ranks first onthe list, both LG andRIM hold a higher totalmarket share when allof their handsets arecombined.

Apple also scored inthe top 10 of the mostaccessed brands overmobile phones, saidNielsen.

Internet

15 (24).pmd 12/23/2009, 12:28 PM15

9th Waxing of Pyatho 1371 ME Thursday, 24 December, 2009

★ Only with stability and peace will the nation develop

★ Only with stability and peace will democratization process be successful

★ Anarchy begets anarchy, not democracy★ Riots beget riots, not democracy★ Democracy can be introduced only through constitution

People’s Desire ■ VOA, BBC-sowing hatred amongthe people

■ RFA, DVB-generating publicoutrage

■ Do not allow ourselves to be swayed■ By broadcasts designed to cause

troubles

■ We favour peace and stability■ We favour development■ We oppose unrest and violence■ Wipe out those inciting unrest

and violence

(23-12-2009)

Haka (-3°C)

Namhsan and Loilem (0°C)

Pinlaung, Heho and Mogok (3°C)

Lashio and Katha (4°C)

PyinOoLwin (5°C)

Significant night temperatures

NAY PYI TAW, 23 Dec—According to the obser-vations at (07) hrs (42) min and (02) sec MST today,a moderate earthquake of intensity 5.8 Richter Scalejolted outside Myanmar (Indonesia) about 1300 milessouth-southeast of Kaba-Aye seismological observa-tory, announced the Department of Meteorology andHydrology.—MNA

Earthquake report

Traditional Myanmar Gold Embroideriesvalued by international nations

Myanmar has stood as a country with its mon-archs and culture since the time immemorial. Myanmararts and crafts have been handed down from genera-tion to generation in the course of history and as a

result, it has been able to preserve cultural heritage ofmotherland till now.

Traditional Myanmar gold embroidery is one of(See page 9)

Article: Maung Maung Htwe (MNA); Photos: Tha Nyan & Yan Gyi Aung (MNA)

Traditional Myanmar embroidery artwork.

NAY PYI TAW, 23 Dec— The second round robinof the 48th Defence Services Commander-in-Chief’sTrophy Tatmadaw (Army, Navy and Air) FootballTournament for 2009 continued at No (1) footballground here this evening.

In the match, Southern Command team beat No11 LID team 3-1.

MNA

Tatmadaw (Army, Navyand Air) Football

Tourney continues

24-12-09 NL 8/1/18, 12:29 PM16