New Light of Myanmar (17 Jan 2013)

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Volume XX, Number 241 4th Waxing of Nadaw 1374 ME Monday, 17 December, 2012

THE MOST RELIABLE NEWSPAPER AROUND YOU

New Light of Myanmar

NayPyiTaw, 16 DecThe following is the reproduction of the Thein Sein is STs

Asian of the Year appeared on The Straits Times newspaper on 15 December.NLM

PRESIDENT Thein

Sein of Myanmar is TheStraits Times inaugural

Asian of the Year.

Mr Thein Sein, 67,

was chosen by top editors

of this newspaper for his

role in loosening political

and economic controls in

Myanmar. This has led to

democracy icon and Nobel

Peace laureate Aung San

Suu Kyi taking a seat in

Parliament, the lifting of

Western sanctions and a

surge of investor interest in

the once-reclusive nation.

By his actions, he hasalso opened new strategic

opportunities for his

country and set in motion

forces that could have a

Thein Sein is STs Asian of the Yearpositive impact on not just

South-east Asia, but also thewider Asian continent.

Properly harnessed,

these hold the potential to

lift millions of people from

poverty in a nation rich in

natural resources, but held

back because of a closed

economy and decades of

suspicion towards foreigners.

There was a time

when Myanmars generals

were known for holding

lavish weddings for their

children, said Mr Warren

Fernandez, editor of The

Straits Times. The stepstaken by Thein Sein have

put Myanmar back in the

news, but this time, for

better reasons. His bold

and brave efforts will give

his people hope of joiningtheir Asian neighbours in

their march to modernity.

The Asian of the Year

award, to be announced

every December, will

recognise a person or

organisation from the

region that has contributed

signicantly to changing

lives for the better, whether

in his own country or the

wider region.

The Straits Times,

established in 1845, is

uniquely placed to confer

the award as few othernews organisations devote

as many resources to

covering the Asian region,

said Mr Fernandez.

NayPyiTaw, 17 DecOn the occasion of the National Day of Bhutan which falls on

17 December 2012, U Thein Sein, President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar,

has sent messages of felicitations to His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck,

King of Bhutan and His Excellency Lyonchen Jigmi Y. Thinley, Prime Minister of the

Kingdom of Bhutan.MNA

President U Thein Sein sends felicitations

to Bhutani King, Bhutani PM

NayPyiTaw, 16 Dec

President of the Republic

of the Union of Myanmar

U Thein Sein arrived in

Dawei, Taninthayi Region,

this morning.

He was welcomed

there by Chief Minister of

Taninthayi Region U MyatKo, Speaker of Taninthayi

Region Hluttaw U Htin

Aung Kyaw, Commander of

Coastal Region Command

Maj-Gen Khin Maung

Htay, regional ministers,

members of the social

organizations, teachers,

students and local ethnic

people at the Dawei Airport.

T h e P r e s i d e n t

met with departmental

ofcials, members of the

social organizations and

townselders at the City Hall.

During the meeting,

Chief Minister of TaninthayiRegion U Myat Ko reported

on plans for building human

resources development

training school, for building

shopping malls, private

banks and hotels, power

supply to Dawei and

towns in Dawei District,

a 150-bed private hospital,

transportation, industrial

zones and border trade

camps and maintaining the

water course of the Dawei

River.

Af t eward s , Un io n

Ministers at the President

Ofce U Tin Naing Thein

and U Soe Thein reportedon opportunities for foreign

investment and prospects

for economic development

in Taninthayi Region.

Sp eak in g o n t h e

occasion, President U Thein

Sein expressed his hope

that Taninthayi Region

would achieve development

though per capita income of

the Dawei is currently lower

than those of Kawthoung

and Myeik. The nation was

transformed into democracy

beginning 1 April 2011

and the Const i tu t ion

came into force togetherwith the convening of

the First Hluttaw session.

Burgeoning of democratic

practices is in good shape

supported by three powers

legislation, executive and

judiciary.

T h e t w o - y e a r -

o ld n ew g o v ern m en t

President U Thein Sein views reference books and equipment displayed at Dawei University.mna

was introducing reform

processes for ensuring rule

of law reinforced by peace

and stability and socio-

economic development

inspired by 60 million

people in the country. So we

were moving towards to the

emergence of democratic

nation in accord with

aspiration of the people,

he said.

In translating the nation

into peace and prosperity,

there are two parts

political stabili ty and

cessation of armed conicts.

We had taken necessary

measures for ensuring all-

inclusiveness in the political

conguration, setting aside

the differences and building

a common ground. Union

spirit played a pivotal

role in non-disintegration

of the Union. In spite of

being different, peace was

witnessed in eastern part

and southeast of the country

through preliminary peace

agreements with national

r aces a rm ed g ro u p s .

The President said he

would like to see political

stability and cessation of

armed conicts and socio-

economic development of

the 60 million people in the

country.

He underscored theneed of qualied human

r eso u rces wh o co u ld

h arn ess r i ch n a tu ra l

resources and the duty lies

with the education sector.

Foreign investments with

substantial capitals and

technologies were invited,

he said. Lack of regulations

in a l l o win g fo re ig n

investments could beset

more adverse consequences

than favourable outcomes,

he said. The Foreign

Investment Law, which

is one of the integral parts

of legislation, has been

enacted, he said.

H e r e c a l l e d t h e

experiences of 20 years

of economic sanctions

and said the country is

now establishing amicable

relations with all world

countr ies th rough i t s

unbiased foreign policies.

M y a n m a r s r e f o r m s

earned support not only of

ASEAN but of the wider

international community,

he said. He said that the

best example is the visit of

US President Mr Obama.

US eased sanctions and

EU rewarded generalized

system of preference forproducts from Myanmar.

He said the ofcials

have town plans and city

plans ahead of entry of

foreign investors. He said

that the nation sees good

prospects. He urged all to do

work on a self-reliant basis.

He pointed out that not only

departmental personnel

but also local people are

to take responsibilities

for regional development.

Seven regions, seven states

and Nay Pyi Taw Council

Area are to show off their

excellent performances

in competitiveness. The

authorities of regions and

states are to join hands

with the local people in

their works.

According to the UN

Millennium Development

Goals, he stressed the need

to reduce poverty rate from

26 per cent to 16 per cent

by 2015. Eight points of

rural development and

poverty alleviation are being

undertaken. There are over

1200 villages in Taninthayi

Region and over 60000

across the nation. The

government and the people

are to harmoniously carryout rural development tasks.

After the meeting, the

President cordially greeted

the attendees.MNA

Political stability, cessation of armed conicts, socio-economic

development a must: President


2/16

2 Monday, 17 December, 2012

l o ca l n ew s


Yangon, 16 Dec

An educative talks will be

organized on the fth oor

of International Business

Centre which is being kept

open at No. (228/240) Yangon

Region Ofce of the Ministry

Talks on economics on 20 Decemberof Commerce in Pabedan

Township, here, at 9.30 am

on 20 December (Thursday).

Professor U Maw Than,

retired rector of the Yangon

University of Economics, will

give a talk entitled Capital

Market, Public Company

and Corporate Governance.

Those interested may take

part in the talks and for further

information, contact Ph: 01

250871.

Kyemon

Tourists ood Shwedagon Pagoda

Yangon , 16 Dec

According to the press meet

organized by the board

of trustees of Shwedagon

Pagoda on 13 December,

more than 18000 tourists

visited Shwedagon Pagoda

during the rst period of the

month of December.

T h e n u m b e r o f

globetrotters thronging

Shwedagon Pagoda has

reached 18243 during

the period from 1 to 12

December, helping the board

of trustees earn US$ and FEC

91215 as admission fee. Thai,

French, German and Chinese

and Japanese visitors are the

greatest in number visiting

the Shwedagon. The number

of Iranian, South African,Dutch, Israeli and Filipino

visitors was low. The board

of trustees earned US$ 11155

and FEC 10 as donations.

A responsible person of

the board of trustees said that

an average number of tourists

were 1500 a day. During the

previous month, a total of

47589 tourists arrived there

and the board received an

entrance fee of 226973 US

dollars and 10972 FECs.

On an average day

1586 tourists thronged the

Pagoda in the month of

November.

Acco rd i n g t o t h e

records, the number of

globetrotters who visited

Shwedagon Pagoda from

January to the end of

November in 2012 was

296486, more than the

whole year arrival of tourist

in 2011. Kyemon

Yangon, 16 Dec

A public drinking water

lake at ward-63 in Dagon

Myoth i t (South) , was

named after Pale Sein

drama troupe that performed

entertainment to raise the

funds for construction of

the drinking water lake of

300 square feet on the four-

acre farmland donated by

villagers U Kyaw Khaing

and wife Daw Win Kyi in

Pale drinking water lake under facingcontamination1975. Locals named the lake

Pale lake.

The lake offers drinking

water for local people in

nearby villages up to date.

During the recent days, the

lake has been polluted with

household waste of houses

and shops which are settled

illegally around the lake. So

locals relying on the lake for

their drinking water are being

annoyed by an undisciplined

group of people who are

dumping waste in the lake.

As the summer comes,

the lake is urgently needed

to do cleaning up a rubbish

dump in the lake for

availability of safe water for

local people, and clearance

of the lakeside calls for

measures to be taken for

removal of illegal houses

and shops around the lake.Kyemon

Yangon, 16 Dec

A fire broke out at the

office of a company thatdeals with piling work

on Mya Nanda s t reet

in indust r ia l ward of

Thakayta Township of

Yangon Region at 1.50

am on 14 December.

The fire started from

an overheated voltage

regular at the office.

Ofce re in industrial ward of Thakayta

TownshipTwo administrative

vehicles, 10 fire engines,

two water tankers rushedthere and f i ref igh ters

managed to bring the fire

under control at 2.40 am.

The re claimed property

loss of K 6.1 million of

company owner U Kyar Shwe.

When the ofce building was

on re, Thakayta Township

Administrator U Hsan Min,

Township Development

Affairs Committee Executive

Officer U Aung Thaungand Head of Township

Fire Services Department

U Ko Ko Oo and ofcials

concerned supervised and

assisted in controlling the re

by reghters by providing

them with adequate supply

of water to put out the re.

Kyemon

Pantanaw, 16 Dec A

girl was pronounced dead after

she was knocked down by a

trailer on the village road in

Asugyi village of Pantanaw

Girl pronounced dead in road accidentTownship. A trailer driven

by Sa Ai Say (25 years) of

Thalakkhwat village of the

township hit Ma Pyae Pyae

Phyo (3 years) who was

crossing over Mayan-Asugyi

village road near Asugyi

village at about 1.30 pm on 11

December. The girl was killed

in the accident.Kyemon

Yangon, 16 Dec

According to a man who led

a philanthropic organization,

the youth participation in

philanthropic organizationshas increased signicantly

more than ever before. He

said that those who want to

perform philanthropic works

had to urge the youth for

their contributions in the past.

Now the youth of today were

leading the organization and

philanthropic works of their

own accord.

It was very pleased to

see they are interested in

community services while

Philanthropic works see more youth participationtheir peers were in quest of

pleasure going to the movies

and concerts. He added that

more than half of the total

membership of his team was

the youth who are making

a substantial contribution to

the society.

W e s t a r t e d t h e

philanthropic work on

a managerial scale in

cooperation with other friends

while we are at school. We

collect K 2000 from each

member every month, and

donate them to the schools

for the blind or orphanages,

a youth shared his experience.

I cannot earn by myself

as I am a college student. I

make donation only through

my pocket money. So I put

my labour contribution tothe community services

aimed to be more effective

than my small amount of

cash donation. I got a lot of

knowledge and experience

through philanthropic works

and enlarge my social cycle

making friends with other

peers. I am very happy to have

an experience of team work,

a 20-year-old university

student said.

Kyemon

PYu, 16 Dec For

ensuring Yangon-Mandalay

up and down trains full

safeguard and convenience

of train users without delays,

automatic track circuits that

enable trains to overtake each

other safely through a control

panel have been xed at Pyu

and Kanyutkwin railway

stations.

Safety measures for Yangon-

Mandalay up and down trainsMoreover, replacement

of concrete sleepers in the

places of old ones and other

railroad works were being

carried out at Kanyutkwin

station and Pyu railway yard

under the supervision of the

senior engineer (civil) of

Division (6), Yangon, on 12

December.

Kyemon

Pathein, 16 Dec Ahead-on collision between

a bicycle and a motorbike

occurred on Pathein-Yangon

road. An old man on the

bicycle was killed while his

bicycle was in collision with

a motorbike driven on the

opposite direction at about

3 pm on 11 December.

The motorbike driven by

Tun Tun Naing (27 years) of

Aye village in Nyaungdon

collided a head-on with the

bicycle of U Kyo (78 years)

of Chaungwa village at a

place between mile post Nos

(36/3) and (36/4) on Yangon-Pathein Road near Chaungwa

village. The road accident

left U Kyo dead with serious

injuries.Kyemon

Motorbike, bicycle

collide head-on on

Yangon-Pathein

Road

Election of new ward administrators in Pyu

TownshipPYu, 16 Dec Election

of new administrators for

11 wards in Pyu Township

of Bago Region took place

at Myoma East Ward and

Myoma West Ward in Pyuon 11 and 12 December

under the supervision of

departmental ofcials and

townselders.

New administrators for11 wards and 61 village-

tracts will be elected before

the end of December.

Kyemon


3/16

Monday, 17 December, 2012 3

WORLD


Policemen gather near the site of a rocket attack at

Peshawars Airport on 15 Dec, 2012. Four people

were killed when militants attacked the airport in the

northwestern city of Peshawar on Saturday and traded

gunre with soldiers for more than 30 minutes before

being repulsed, military and health ofcials said.

ReuteRs

NATO-led

forces

combat

mission to

end in 2013Kabul, 16 DecThe

combat mission of NATO-led International SecurityAssistance Force (ISAF) will

over in 2013 and the Afghansecurity forces will take thesecurity charge of the entire

country, President HamidKarzai said on Saturday.

Addressing at the

conference of Afghanambassadors and diplomats

in his fortied Palace, theAfghan president statedthat the NATO-led forceleaves Afghanistan in 2014

and there will be change in

Afghanistans relations withthe world.

There is no need toworry over the withdrawalof foreign troops from

Afghanistan. You speakwith confidence to anycountry, President Karzai

told the conference, sayingthe pull out of foreign troops

from Afghanistan would notaffect the security situationin the country; rather would

contribute in stabilizing thesecurity.

He also asked the

NATO-led troops to leaveAfghan villages for their

bases on the way to theirrespective countries.

Xinhua

Clinton sustains concussion; Benghazi

testimony postponedSecretary Clinton becamedehydrated and fainted,sustaining a concussion,

State Department spokesmanPhilippe Reines said in astatement.

She has been recoveringat home and will continueto be monitored regularly

by her doctors. At theirrecommendation, she willcontinue to work from home

next week, staying in regularcontact with department and

other ofcials. She is lookingforward to being back in theofce soon, Reines added.

Clinton fell ill with astomach virus last weekendand was forced to cancel a

planned trip to the MiddleEast and North Africa.The virus also hit other

members of her staff, whowere returning with her froma European trip, and was

described as uncomfortable,but not medically serious.

Clinton, 65, has often

been cited as a potentialcandidate for the USpresidency in 2016 and

frequently refers to hergeneral good health, sayingin an interview with ABC

broadcast that she hasincredible stamina and

energy.She has maintained a

punishing schedule in her

nal weeks as the top USdiplomat, a position sheintends to leave toward theend of January when US

President Barack Obama issworn in for a second term.

Cl in ton had been

expected to testify on20 December before the

House of Representativesand Senate foreign affairscommittees on a report

on the deadly attack onthe US diplomatic postin Benghazi, Libya, that

killed the US Ambassadorand three other Americans

and raised questions aboutsecurity at far-ung posts.

Reuters

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses a news

conference in Brussels in this 5 Dec, 2012 le photo.

ReuteRs

Washington, 16 Dec

Secretary of State HillaryClinton, who canceled anoverseas trip last weekend

because of illness, suffered aconcussion after fainting dueto dehydration, prompting

the postponement of her

scheduled congressionaltestimony on the attackon a US mission in Libya,

ofcials said on Saturday. W h i l e s u f f e r i n g

from a stomach virus,

US Senator John Kerry speaks to the media before

Republ ican presidentia l nominee Mitt Romney andPresident Barack Obama meet in the nal US presidentialdebate in Boca Raton, Florida on 22 Oct, 2012.ReuteRs

Obama to nominate Senator Kerry

for secretary of stateWashington, 16 Dec

President Barack Obamahas decided to nominateMassachusetts Senator John

Kerry to be the next secretaryof state, CNN and ABC Newsreported on Saturday, citing

unnamed sources.Kerrys nomination will

not be announced for a

variety of reasons, includingthe need to finalize theprocess and out of respect for

the national mourning overFridays school massacrein Newtown, Connecticut,

ABC said. CNN, citing an

unnamed Democrat, said thenomination could be madepublic as early as next week.

Kerry, the Democraticpresidential candidate in the2004 election and chairman

of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee, wouldreplace Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton if conrmedby the Senate.

Clinton has decided to

step down from her job inthe Obama administration.

Reuters

An elderly woman (C) sits as she queues outside a

polling centre to vote during a referendum on Egypts

new constitution in Cairo on 15 Dec, 2012.ReuteRs

10 killed, over 40 injur ed in airport a ttack

in NW Pakistanislamabad, 16 Dec

At least ten people werekilled and over 40 othersinjured when an airport in

Pakistans northwest city ofPeshawar came under attackon Saturday night, according

to hospital and army sources.The killed include ve

attackers, local media quoted

army sources as saying.Pakistan Taleban later claimedresponsibility for the attack.

Both Pakistani PresidentAsif Ali Zardari and PrimeMinister Ashraf condemned

the attack while expressedgrief over the loss of livesin the attack.

The attack took place

at about 8:30 pm local timewhen militants coming inan explosive-laden vehicle

launched an attack at BachaKhan Airport in Peshawar.

The attackers rammed

the vehicle into the wallsurrounding the airport andthen tried to enter inside the

airport, said Mian IftikharHussain , Informat ionM i n i s t e r o f K h y b e r

Pakhtunkhwa Province withPeshawar as its capital. Fourof the attackers were killed

during the attack, said theminister.

A n o t h e r a t t a c k e r

retreated into a building

nearby the airport and waslater killed by the securityforces in the search operation,

according to army sources.All the international

and domestic ights werecanceled during the attack.Airport officials said theairport will be reopened

soon.Some local media said

that ve rockets were red atthe airport during the attackand two of them fell on therunway of the airport. But

airport authorities said allairport assets remained safein the attack.Xinhua

Cairo, 16 DecEgyp-

tians voted narrowly in fa-vor of a constitution shapedby Islamists and which op-

ponents said was a recipefor deepening divisions in

the nation, ofcials in rivalcamps said on Sunday afterthe rst round of a two-stage referendum.

The result based on un-ofcial tallies, if conrmed

for this round and repeatedin Saturday's second stage,may give Islamist President

Mohamed Mursi limitedcause for celebration as itshows the wide rift in Egypt

at a time when he needs tobuild consensus on toughmeasures to heal a fragile

economy.Ofcial results are not

expected till after the next

round.Mursi and his backers

say the constitution is vital

to move Egypt's democratictransition forward. Oppo-nents say the basic law is

too Islamist and trampleson minority rights, includ-ing those of Christians who

Egyptians nar rowly back Islamist-shaped constitution, say

rival campsmake up 10 percent of the

population.The build-up to Satur-

day's vote was marred by

deadly protests. Demon-strations erupted last monthwhen Mursi awarded him-

self sweeping powers andthen fast-tracked the consti-tution through an assembly

dominated by his Islamistallies. The vote passed off

peacefully with long queuesforming in Cairo and othercities and towns where this

round of voting was held.

The vote was staggered be-

cause many judges neededto oversee polling staged aboycott to voice their op-

position.But late on Saturday, as

polls were closing, Islam-

ists attacked the ofces ofthe liberal opposition Wafdparty newspaper, a party

that was part of the Nation-al Salvation Front coalition

that pushed for a no vote.The referendum was 56.5percent for the 'yes' vote, a

senior ofcial in the Broth-

erhood's Freedom and Jus-

tice Party operations roomset up to monitor votingtold Reuters.

The Brotherhood andits party, which propelledMursi to power in a June

election, had representa-tives at almost all pollingstations across the 10 areas,

including Cairo, where thisround of voting was held.

The ofcial, who askednot to be identied, said thetally was based on counts

from more than 99 percentof polling stations in thisround. One opposition of-

cial also said the vote ap-peared to have gone in fa-vor of Islamists who backed

the constitution, after theopposition had previouslysaid late on Saturday when

voting ended that their exitpolls indicated the nocamp would win.

Another oppositionofcial had suggestedas counting proceeded

through the night that thevote would be very close.

Reuters


4/16

4 Monday, 17 December, 2012

Sci ence & Technol ogy


Science

Tech

Banks fend off attacks designed to disrupt

online banking access

Boston/C harlotte,16 DecBank of AmericaCorp, JPMorgan Chase &Co and US Bancorp andother major US banks seemto have stopped a group ofhacker activists from seri-ously disrupting their on-line banking operations.

A nancial services

industry organization andseveral cyber security com-panies said a group of hac-tivists that impeded accessto some major US onlinebanking sites in Septemberhad so far failed to gaintraction in a second cam-

A man works at his computer in V irginia Beach , Vir-

ginia, on 7 Feb, 2012.ReuteRs

paign that began this week.There has been no

impact to critical nancialsystems, the Financial Ser-vices Information Sharingand Analysis Centre, or FS-ISAC, said in a statement.

Tom Kellermann, vicepresident of cyber securityat security software makerTrend Micro Inc, said thebanks had been very suc-cessful.

I wouldnt see anyprolonged outages for themajor nancial institutions

in the coming year.Arbor Networks,

which sells equipment thatcompanies can use to pro-tect their websites againstattack, said banks had bol-stered their defences sincethe last round of attacks in

September. Everyone hasbeen through this once ortwice, said Dan Holden,an Arbor director. There isjust a better level of prepar-edness.

On Monday, a groupthat calls itself the QassamCyber Fighters said on awebsite called Pastebin.com that it was planningattacks against a group ofve banks that also includ-ed PNC Financial ServicesGroup Inc and SunTrustBanks Inc. The same grouptook credit for the disrup-tions in September.

US Bancorp spokes-man Tom Joyce said the re-gional banks website wasperforming well, but somecustomers might be experi-encing intermittent delays.We can assure customersthat their data and funds aresecure, he said.Reuters

Scientists nd new use for cells in

human urine

GuanGzhou, 16 DecChinese scientists havefound a new, innovativeway to use cells found inhuman urine that could aid

in the treatment of a rangeof neurodegenerative disor-ders.

The scientists havediscovered a new tech-nique for reprogrammingcells shed in human urineinto neural progenitor cells(NPCs) that can grow intomulti-functional neuronalsubtypes and glial cells.

The technique is ex-pected to be used in thestudy and treatment of neu-ral disorders such as Parkin-sons disease, Alzheimersdisease and other neurode-generative disorders.

Their ndings werepublished online on 9 Decin a research report in thejournal Nature Methods, amonthly publication cov-ering novel ndings in lifesciences.

Pei Duanqing, a profes-sor at the Chinese Academy

of Sciences Guangzhou In-stitutes of Biomedicine andHealth, said his researchteam has combined an epi-somal system to deliver

reprogramming factorswith a chemically dened

culture medium to repro-gramme kidney epithelialcells naturally shed in urineinto NPCs. These NPCs,normally only found in thehuman brain, were laterproven to be transgene-freeand self-renewing, he said.

These neurons andglial cells can survive forup to one month whentransplanted into the brainof a newborn rat, said Pei.

He said his team isworking hard to understandwhy their experimental

condition allowed the urinecells to become NPCs so asto improve the techniqueand make it more efcient.

Scientists have longsought to treat and studyneural disorders by obtain-ing and transplanting neuralstem cells. However, the

previous method of isolat-ing and using cells fromeither fetal or adult humantissue remain challengingdue to ethical concerns and

immune system rejections,he said.

Pei hopes the discov-ery will be used to generateNPCs from patients withneurological disorders suchas Parkinsons disease.These NPCs from patientsmay help us discover newdrugs for these diseases.

It is a remarkable ad-vance in the stem cell eld,

said Fred Gage, professorwith the Salk Institute forBiological Studies.

They reprogrammedsomatic cells with a non-integrating virus and epi-

thelial-like cells from hu-man urine, a novel, safe andabundant source of cells, hesaid.

The results and meth-ods derived from this studywill be of great value andsignicance to the eld, he

said.Xinhua

Two sales-

women show

white and

black Apples

iPhone 5 mi-

bile phones in

Kota Kinaba-

lu, capital of

Sabah State,Malaysia,

on 14 Dec,

2012. Apples

iPhone 5 was

released in

Malaysia on

Friday.

Xinhua

Dutch 4G frequency auction r aises more

than expectedamsterdam, 16 Dec

The Dutch state raised muchmore than expected in itsauction of fourth generation

(4G) wireless frequencies,with prices so high marketleader KPN said it wouldhave to cut dividends to af-ford its licences.

The auction raised amuch higher-than-expected3.8 billion euros ($5 bil-lion) and the result will leadto erce competition in one

of Europes most lucrativemobile phone markets asthe winners roll out faster,fourth-generation serviceswhich allow consumers towatch video and surf the In-ternet on the move.

The Dutch marketis currently dominatedby KPN, Vodafone andDeutsche Telekom, allthree of which won licenc-es, as did new entrant Tele2

of Sweden.Two cable companies

Ziggo and UPC, ownedby Liberty Global, which

already have strong sharesin broadband and pay-TV said they made a jointbid but later pulled out ofthe auction later becausethe bidding went too high.

KPN, which is 28 per-cent owned by Mexican tel-ecoms tycoon Carlos Slim,said the cost of the licencesmeant it would no longerbe paying a nal dividend

for 2012 and would pay outonly 0.03 euros per sharefor 2013, far lower thanalready revised dividendforecasts.

It had already cut itsdividend forecast for thisyear to 0.35 euros from aninitial planned payout of0.90 euros. It has paid aninterim dividend of 0.12

euros.KPN had been plan-

ning a payout for 2013 ofat least 0.35 euros.

Traders and analystshave previously expressedconcern about the abilityof KPN to pay dividendsgiven it has a debt to coreprot ratio exceeding its

own targets. KPN shares hita 10-year low of 3.90 eurosin November.

Eelco Blok, KPNschief executive, later ac-knowledged on a confer-ence call that KPN waspaying a considerableprice for the licence, butsaid that as the marketleader, it could not afford tomiss out on the auction. Healso said it would produce agood return over its 17-yearduration.

KPN, which expects toroll out its new 4G services

from February, did retainits outlook for 2012 coreprot, cashow and capitalexpenditure.

It said it would draw onexisting cash and its 2 bil-lion euro revolving creditfacility to nance the pur-chase. The dividend cut willsave it 800 million euros.

Asked about the impacton debt and its nancial

health, Blok said investorswould have to wait until thecompany reported fourth-quarter results on Feb 5.

The Dutch govern-ment had counted on rais-ing about 480 million eurosfrom the auction, and thebetter-than-expected resultprovides a welcome wind-fall at a time of austeritymeasures and budget cutsamounting to 46 billion eu-ros by 2017.

Reuters

Microsoft, Motorola le to keep patent case

details pr ivateseattle, 16 DecMi-

crosoft Corp and GoogleIncs Motorola Mobilityunit have requested a federal

judge in Seattle to keep se-cret from the public variousdetails from their recent trialconcerning the value of tech-nology patents and the twocompanies attempts at a set-tlement. Microsoft and Mo-torola, acquired by Googleearlier this year, are prepar-ing post-trial briefs to presentto a judge as he decides theoutcome of a week-long triallast month to establish whatrates Microsoft should payMotorola for use of standard,essential wireless technologyused in its Xbox game con-sole and other products.

The case is just onestrand of litigation in anindustry-wide dispute overownership of the underlyingtechnology and the designof smartphones, which has

drawn in Apple Inc, Sam-sung Electronics Co Ltd,Nokia and others. In a ling

with the Western District of

Washington federal courtin Seattle on Friday, Micro-soft and Motorola asked thejudge to allow them to le

certain parts of their post-trial submissions under sealand redact those details in thepublic record.

The details concernterms of Motorolas licenseswith third parties and Micro-softs business and market-ing plans for future products.During the trial, which ranfrom 13-20 November, USDistrict Judge James Robartcleared the court when suchsensitive or trade secret de-tails were discussed.

For the same compel-ling reasons that the courtsealed this evidence for pur-poses of trial, it would beconsistent and appropriate

to take the same approach inconnection with the partiespost-trial submissions, thetwo companies argued in the

court ling. The judge has sofar been understanding of thecompanies desire to keepprivate details of their patentroyalties and future plans,although that has perplexedsome spectators who believetrials in public courts shouldbe fully open to the public.

Reuters

People attend the iPhone5 launch event in Jakarta,

Indonesia, on 13 Dec, 2012. Apples iPhone5 laun ched

in In donesia on Friday.Xinhua


5/16


BUSI NESS & HEALTH


Health

Health

BusinessWTO sees more trade disputes ahead after vintage yearGeneva, 16 DecA

surge in trade disputes hasforced the World TradeOrganization to reallocatestaff to cope with a ood of

litigation in the pipeline for2013, according to diplomats

and documents at the globaltrade body in Geneva.T h e W T O s 1 5 7

members have launched 26trade disputes so far in 2012,the most since 2003 and threetimes more than the eightnew complaints led in 2011.

According to an internalWTO document seen byReuters, the WTO decidedto reallocate staff to thedisputes team to deal withthe increasing number andcomplexity of legal cases.We are seeking to reallocateresources f rom o therdivisions. Its happening

already, said one WTOsource.

As well as moving staff,the trade body also advertisedfor a senior dispute settlementlawyer, at a starting salaryof around 161,900 Swissfrancs (108,377 pounds),and is seeking short term

candidates to help deal withthe caseload.

The boom in litigationcomes as the WTO strugglesto get back on the path toreforming its rules, after

the failure of the decade-old Doha round of tradenegotiations last year. Theless you negotiate the moreyou litigate, and vice versa,said one trade diplomat.

The resort to the disputesettlement system signies

both trust in the global trade

rules and distrust among itsmembers, as they ght for a

share of a pie that is not quiteshrinking, but expected togrow by a mere 2.5 percentthis year. Although the WTO

expects global trade growthto quicken to 4.5 percentin 2013, that would remainbelow the annual average of5.4 percent over the past twodecades.

WTO Director GeneralPascal Lamy will report toWTO members on the global

trading environment onMonday, armed with a reportshowing they had broughtin 308 new trade-restrictingpolicies, covering 1.3 percentof traded goods, over the past12 months.

The difficulties andconcerns generated by thepersistence of the globaleconomic crisis, with itsmany facets, are fuellingthe political and economicpressures put on governmentsto raise trade barriers,Lamys report says. Thisis not the time to succumbto these pressures.

The countries attractingmost complaints in 2012were China and the UnitedStates, each the target ofsix disputes. The UnitedStates also initiated the mostdisputes three against

China and one apiece againstArgentina and India.

Th i s y ea r s n ewdisputes included manythat were either apparenttit-for-tat actions or counter-challenges, ensuring that theheat was concentrated incertain areas.Reuters

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Pascal

Lamy speaks during an interview with Reuters on the

sidelines of the annual meetings of the IMF and the World

Bank Group in Tokyo on 13 Oct, 2012.ReuteRs

Bayer seeks FDA approval for

cancer drug radium-223

FrankFurt, 16 DecGerman drugmaker Bayersaid on Friday it requestedapproval from US regulatorsfor an experimental prostatecancer drug that couldeventually generate morethan 1 billion euros ($1.31billion) in annual sales.

Radium-223 dichloride,which Bayer used to callAlpharadin, is designed totarget bone metastases fromprostate cancer that cannot betreated by standard hormonetherapy. Bayer licensedradium-223 from Algeta in2009, and if approved in theUnited States, radium-223will be co-promoted byBayer and Algeta, the Oslo-

based company said onFriday.

Bay er , wh i ch o nWednesday said it wasrequesting EU approvalfor the drug, will marketradium-223 alone in Europeif the treatment is approvedthere.

Bayer said last year thatRadium-223 dichloride couldbecome a blockbusterproduct with annual sales ofleast 1 billion euros.

The drug has someproperties of calcium,which makes it cling tocancerous bone cells andthen destroy them via alpharays, which is more targetedthat the shotgun approach ofconventional radiotherapy.

Reuters

IVF twins pr egnancies riskier

than two singletonsnew York, 16 Dec

Having twins as a resultof in vitro fertilization(IVF) carries higher risks ofcomplications for both motherand babies than having twosingle babies from separateIVF procedures, according toa new Swedish study.

The extra concerns thatcome with multiple birthsare nothing new. But evenas many fertility clinics havestopped regularly implantingmore than one embryo, debatehas continued over whetherhaving twins through IVF isreally a bad thing for couplesdesperate for children.

A lot of patients, whentheyve had infertility for along time, think that its abonus to get two, said Dr

Lynn Westphal, a womenshealth and fertility specialistat Stanford UniversityMedical Centre in Palo Alto,California.

But, We know itsalways safest to haveone child at a time, saidWestphal, who wasnt

involved in the new study.Researchers led by

Dr Antonina Sazonova ofSahlgrenska UniversityHospital in Gothenburganalyzed data from freshand frozen embryo transfersdone at Swedish IVF clinicsbetween 2002 and 2006.Those records included 991women who ultimately gavebirth to twins after a doubleembryo transfer and 921mothers with two kids bornthrough separate rounds ofIVF.

Almost 47 percentof twin babies were bornprematurely and 39 percentwere considered low birthweight, Sazonovas teamreported in the journalFertility and Sterility. That

compared to the sevenpercent of singleton babiesthat were preemies and lessthan ve percent born small.

Twins were also morelikely to have breathingcomplications, sepsis orjaundice.

Reuters

Banking supervisors say Basel accord

wont be derailed

London, 16 DecThefailure of Europe and theUnited States to meet nextmonths deadline on tougher

bank capital rules wont derailthe global accord, regulatorssaid after they themselveswere unable to agree changesto one of the new rules.

The Basel Committeeon Banking Supervisionconcluded a two-day meetingon Friday saying 11 countrieswere ready to start phasing inits Basel III bank capital andliquidity rules.

The committee is madeup of nearly 30 countries butmajor nancial centres like the

European Union and UnitedStates are delaying the startof the worlds main regulatoryresponse to the 2007-09nancial crisis.

The accord requiresbanks to triple their basiccapital buffers in set stages

over six years, with newmandatory liquidity reservesand a cap on balance sheetsadded from 2015.

It is expected thatas remaining jurisdictionsfinalise their domesticregulations during 2013,they will incorporate allthe remaining transitionaldeadlines in line with theoriginal global agreement,committee chairman StefanIngves said in a statement.

He said this would be thecase even when they have notbeen able to meet the January1 2013 start date.

Hence, by the endof 2013, almost all BaselCommittee jurisdictions willbe implementing Basel III inaccordance with the agreedtimetable, added Ingves, whois also governor of Swedenscentral bank.

This is an absolutely

cr i t ical s tep towardsstrengthening the resilienceof the global bankingsystem. Talks to introduce

Basel III into EuropeanUnion law reached a tentativeconclusion on Friday in adeal to delay the start offormal implementation untilJanuary 2014.

The United States is alsodelaying introduction andBrazilian nancialnewspaper

Valorsaid there were talks atthe countrys central bank todelay Basel III there as well.

Reuters

A man walk s past the headqu arters of th e Ban k f or

Internation al Settlements (B IS) in B asel on 14 Sept,

2010.ReuteRs

EU considers mor e free CO2 permits for

steelmakersBrusseLs, 16 DecThe

European Commission isconsidering whether to handout more free pollution

allowances for the steelsector next year to counterthe risk the industry couldbe driven out of Europe, EUsources said.

The cost of carbon on theEmissions Trading Scheme(ETS) has collapsed to recordlow levels under the burdenof excess supply. Earlier thismonth, it hit a new low of5.61 euros a tonne.

The fall in price has

reduced any additional costsfor major polluters.

It is, however, expectedto rise. Some in heavy

industry complain that, inany case, it does not leadto emissions cuts but onlyto relocation of industry topollute other nations, whereit does not have to buy thepermits. The Commissionis planning to draw up alist of sectors most affectedby the ETS regulations andthat are, therefore, at riskof relocating their activitiesoutside the EU, a seniorCommission official toldReuters on Friday.

Sectors included inthis list should benet from

temporary free emissionpermits as from 2013, saidthe source, who asked notto be named. Steel is the

sector most likely to get freeallowances, another sourceadded. The Commissionhas already approved state

aid grants in the form offree carbon allowances,specifying the moneyshould be used to moderniseenergy installations andinfrastructure.

For the next phase of thecarbon market, beginningnext year, the system ofhanding out free allowanceschanges markedly, andauctioning becomes the rulefor the power sector.

The Commission isstill collating wish lists ofcially referred to as

National Implementation

Measures of the installationsthat could be eligible for freeallowances, depending on EUcriteria.Reuters

A work er controls a tapping of a blast f urnace at

Europes largest steel f actory of Germanys indu strial

conglomerate ThyssenKrupp AG in the western German

city of Duisburg on 6 Dec, 2012.ReuteRs

Business


6/16

Monday, 17 December, 2012

WORLD

6 New Light of Myanmar

Tunis, 16 DecTu-

nisian security units havearrested 7 members of al-Qaeda Maghreb terrorist

network, which aimed atrecruiting extremist mili-tants to conduct operations

in the area, a spokesman forthe interior ministry said onSaturday.

He said the seven menhad been arrested near theborder with Algeria on

Thursday and that a search

operation was currently un-derway to apprehend others

still at loose.The interior ministry

spokesman said that two

Ir an war ns against Patr iot deployment on Syr ia frontierBeiruT, 16 Dec

Irans army chief of staff

warned NATO on Saturdaythat stationing Patriot anti-

missile batteries on Tur-keys border with Syria wassetting the stage for world

war.General Hassan Firou-

zabadi, whose country has

been a staunch supporter ofPresident Bashar al-Assadthroughout the 21-month

uprising against his rule,called on the Western mili-tary alliance to reverse its

decision to deploy the de-fence system.

Each one of these Pa-

triots is a black mark on theworld map, and is meant tocause a world war, Firou-

zabadi said, according tothe Iranian Students News

Agency. They are making

plans for a world war andthis is very dangerous forthe future of humanity and

for the future of Europeitself. NATOs US com-

mander said on Friday thealliance was deploying theanti-missile system along

Syrias northern frontierbecause Assads forces

had red Scud missiles thatlanded near Turkish territo-

Syrias Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem (R) meets

UN-Arab League peace envoy for Syria Lakhdar Bra-

himi in Damascus on 20 Oct, 2012. A portrait of Syrian

President Bashar al-Assad hangs on the wall.

ReuteRs

Tunisia arests seven men

belonging to a l-Qaedarecruitment r ing

Students of B eijing Dance Academy perform a tra-

ditional Chinese dance during the Youthful Vigor

art show in Tsinghua University in Beijing, capital of

China, on 14 Dec, 2012. Xinhua

S African police on high aler t ahead of ruling ANC

national congress

BloemfonTein, (South

Africa), 16 DecTheSouth African government

on Saturday intensied itssecurity here before the rul-ing African National Con-

gress (ANC)s national con-gress. The ANC will startthe 53rd National Congress

on Sunday in Bloemfonteinto elect new leadership.Security has been beefed

up for the conference withabout 1,000 police beingnow on duty, said a police

ofcial.Bloemfontein is the

capital city of the central

Province of the Free Stateand the judicial capital ofthe nation, with a popula-

tion of about 400,000.Many police cars were

patrolling with siren ring-ing on the main streets, andsome police units were car-

rying out tasks at the checkpoints around the confer-ence centre. We have been

on alert around the clock inrecent days, a police of-

cer told Xinhua. A high-

ranking police ofcial ofthe Free State told media

on Saturday that safety

and security are a priorityamid the prevailing politi-cal environment, and that

police are striving to makeBloemfontein a safer place,

even preventive measuresare now in place to tacklepotential troubles.It was

reported that about 4,500delegates across the coun-try will participate in the

congress to elect the newleadership for all impor-tant positions, including

the president. The contestfor the new party presi-

ry. Damascus denies ringthe long-range, Soviet-built

rockets. But, forced on thedefensive by mainly Sunni

Muslim rebels, Syrias47-year-old Alawite presi-dent has resorted increas-

ingly to air strikes and artil-lery to stem their advances.

Warplanes bombed in-

surgents on the airport roadin southeast Damascus onSaturday and government

forces pounded a town tothe southwest, activistssaid, in a month-long and

so far fruitless campaign todislodge rebels around the

capital.Activists also reported

heavy ghting in the Pales-tinian district of Yarmoukin southern Damascus be-

tween rebels and ghtersfrom a pro-Assad Palestin-ian faction.

Syria is clearly a cha-otic and dangerous situa-tion, but we have an abso-

lute obligation to defendthe borders of the alliancefrom any threat emanating

from that troubled state,Stavridis wrote in a blog on

Friday.Batteries of US-made

Patriot missiles, designed toshoot down the likes of theScuds popularly associated

with Iraqs 1991 Gulf Warunder Saddam Hussein, areabout to be deployed by the

US, German and Dutch ar-mies, each of which is send-ing up to 400 troops to op-

erate and protect the rocketsystems.

Damascus has accused

Western powers of back-ing what it portrays as aSunni Islamist terrorist

campaign against it andsays Washington and Eu-rope have publicly voiced

concerns of late that As-sads forces might resort tochemical weapons solely

as a pretext for preparinga possible military inter-vention. Foreign Minister

Walid al-Moualem told UNhumanitarian chief Valerie

Amos on Saturday that USand EU sanctions on Syriawere to blame for hardship

in his country and urged theUnited Nations to call forthem to be lifted.

Reuters

dency will be possibly held

between President JacobZuma and Deputy PresidentKgalema Motlanthe.

The ANC is current-ly in an alliance with theSouth African Communist

Party and the Congress ofSouth African Trade Un-ions in ruling the country.

Given the ANCselectoral dominance inthe country, the new ANC

president will be possible tobecome the next presidentof the country in the elec-

tions in 2014.Xinhua

men arrested last week

near the town of Jendoubahad admitted being part of

a local Salast Jihadist net-

work. Explosives, weaponsand electric stun guns werefound onboard a rented car

they were driving.On Thursday, secu-

rity patrols also arrested 5

members of the same net-work, including a man inpossession of a pistol and

25 cartridges, the spokes-

man said, adding that com-bat and camouage gearand maps were also foundat the home of one of the

fugitives. Xinhua

Farmers walk their sheep at a sheep competition in

Lushan V illage of Changxing County, east Ch inas

Zhejian g Province, on 15 Dec, 2012. The sh eep

competition including sheep show, m utton feast,

sheep racing was held here on Saturday.

Xinhua

Philippine police kills Malaysian

tr ying to detonate bomb

Davao, 16 DecPhil-

ippine security forces have

killed a suspected Malaysian

bomber of the regional ter-

rorist group Jemaah Islami-

yah (JI) who reportedly at-

tempted to blow a bomb at

a public park in the southern

Philippine city of Davao on

Friday night, police said on

Saturday.

The Malaysian suspect,

Mohammad Noor FikrieBin Abd Kahar, attempted to

detonate a homemade bomb

inside his bag when he was

trapped at the park not far

from his hotel, and police

shot the suspect, said local

police commander Ronald

dela Rosa. Davao city police

also arrested Kahars Filipina

wife Annabel Lee, who was

with the Malaysian on Friday

night, when they were about

to check out at the Sam-

paguita Hotel. Police said the

couple ran but were cornered

and a sniper shot Kahar.

We shot him immedi-ately because he was trying to

detonate his bomb at the park

where we cornered them,

Dela Rosa said.Xinhua

newTown, 16 Dec

President Barack Obamaarrives in Connecticut

on Sunday to join in themourning for 20 children,all 6 and 7 years old, who

were slaughtered by a gun-man who forced his wayinto their school and shot

them with a rie at closerange.

Obamas appearanceat an interfaith vigil inthe once-tranquil town ofNewtown will be watched

closely for clues as to whathe meant when he calledfor meaningful action to

prevent such tragedies inthe wake of the massacreon Friday.

But politics will takea back seat to grieving, as

Obama to join mour ning

Connecticut families in search

for answersmore details emerge about

the 12 girls, eight boys andsix adult women that gun-man Adam Lanza killed at

the Sandy Hook Elemen-tary School before killinghimself.

Olivia Engel had a part

in a nativity play at St. Rose

of Lima Catholic Church.

She was supposed to be an

angel in the play. Now shes

an angel up in heaven,

Monsignor Robert Weiss

told a standing-room-only

crowd at the church before

the play on Saturday.Emilie Parker, another

of the child victims, was

studying Portuguese withher father. A Facebook me-

morial page for her alreadyhad nearly 147,000 likesas of Saturday night. VickiLeigh Soto, 27, saved her

rst-grade students lives byputting herself between the

kids and the gunman. Brit-ains Independent on Sun-day newspaper splashed her

photo on its front page withthe caption The Heroine ofSandy Hook.Reuters

US President Barack

Obama


7/16


WORLD


Students from Itami High School in Japan and Baruch

College Campus High School in the United States pose

for a photo session on 13 Dec, 2012, at the Japanese

Consulate General in New York. The two schools are

planning to start an exchange programme.

KyodoNews

EU leaders shocked by US elementar y school shootingBrussels, 16 Dec

Leaders of the EuropeanUnion (EU) on Friday

expressed their deep shockon the shooting incident inthe US state of Connecticut

killing at least 28.It is with deep shock

and horror that I learned

this evening of the tragic

fatalities in the shooting inConnecticut. Young livesfull of hope have been

destroyed, said EuropeanCommission PresidentJose Manuel Barroso in a

statement. On behalf ofthe European Commissionand on my own behalf, I

want to express my sincere

condolences to the familiesof the victims of this terribletragedy, Barroso said.

EU foreign policy chiefCatherine Ashton said inher statement I would like

to express my shock at thetragic shooting at the schoolin Connecticut today.

My thoughts go out to

Chinese Vice Premier Hu i Liangyu (C) attends a symposium in celebration of the

20th anniversary of Chinas accession to the Convention on Wetlands in Beijing,

capital of China, on 14 Dec, 2012.

XiNhua

China to continue wetlands protectionBeijing, 16 DecChina

will continue efforts to protectwetlands, Vice Premier Hui

Liangyu said at a symposiummarking the countrys 20thanniversary of joining the

Convention on Wetlands.

This agreement, also knowas the Ramsar Convention,

was adopted on 2 Feb, 1971,in the Iranian city of Ramsaralongside the Caspian Sea,

highlighting internationalefforts to protect wetlands

around the world.China has great ly

improved the ecological

condition of its key wetlandsover the past two decadesdue to timely protection,

according to its vice premier.The country will further

increase investment, promote

legitimation and strengthen

peoples awareness on

wetland protection, Huivowed, noting that there is

a relatively low coverageof wetlands on Chineseterritory. China is willing

to deepen internationalcooperation with all parties

under the framework of theRamsar Convention and makecontributions to wetlands

protection, according toHui. By 2015, China willensure that 55 percent of

Chinese wetlands are underprotection, according to theChinese authorities.

Xinhua

the victims, their families andthe American people at this

difcult time, Ashton said.The shooting incident

at an elementary schoolin Newtown, the US state

of Connecticut on Fridaymorning has left at least 28dead, with most of them

children.Xinhua

A citizen walks past snow-covered veh icles in Beijing,

capital of China, on 13 Dec, 2012.XiNhua

US to send troops to Turkey

for missile deploymentWashington, 16 Dec

US Defence SecretaryLeon Panetta has signed an

order to deploy two Patriotmissile batteries to Turkeyalong with 400 troops to

operate them, PentagonPress Secretary GeorgeLittle said on Friday.

The purpose of thisdeployment is to signal verystrongly that the United

States, working closely

with our NATO allies, isgoing to support the defenceof Turkey, especially withpotential threats emanating

from Syria, said Little.

Little said the troopswould be deployed in thecoming weeks once the

two Patriot missile batteriesare in place but declined toreveal the location.

Panetta issued the orderen route to Turkey fromAfghanistan, according to

the Pentagon.Panetta told reporters

during the trip that the

United States and Turkey

share common concernsabout the violence in Syriaand the threat that it posesto regional stability.

Xinhua

Sudans DM heads to Addis Ababa for

talks with South SudanKhartoum, 16 Dec

Sudans Defence Minister

Abdul- Rahim MohamedHussein on Saturdayheaded for Addis Ababa

of Ethiopia, to reviewimplementation of the jointcooperation deal signed

between Sudan and SouthSudan, ofcial SUNA newsagency reported.

A delegation of theSudanese side in the joint

polit ical and securitycommittee between Sudanand South Sudan, headed

by Sudan s Minister ofDefence Abdul-RahimMohamed Hussein, left

here today for the Ethiopiancapital Addis Ababa totake part in meetings of

the committee there toreview implementation ofcooperation deal signed

by the two countries, thereport said. Priorities ofthe Sudanese side to the

meetings include immediatea n d u n c o n d i t i o n e d

withdrawal of the SudanPeoples Liberation Army(SPLA) from four disputed

border areas and stoppageof the support and shelterbeing provided by South

Sudan to the rebel groupsin Sudan, according to thereport.

Al-Sawarmy KhalidSaad , Sudanese army

spokesman, was quoted assaying that the membersof the joint political and

security committee wouldcontinue negotiations forthree days on what they

have started in Khartoumand Juba regarding theoutstanding issues between

the two countries.He added that the talks

would also discuss how to

implement what the twosides have recently agreedon with regard to the joint

defense agreement in thepresence of the African

Union (AU) mediatorThabo Mbeki who wouldreceive the two sides

proposals in Addis Ababa.Khartoum insists on

implementing items of

the security agreementrst and demands Juba todemobilize all the northern

troops within the SPLA inSouth Sudan, including

those from South Kordofanand Blue Nile areas.

On 27 Sept, Sudan

and South Sudan signeda package of agreementson various issues during

a presidential summit inEthiopia.

Witnessed by members

of the AU High-LevelImplementation Panel onSudan, the two sides inked

three deals on cooperation,security and post-secessionmatters.Xinhua

Oil tanker set on fre in

northern Afghan townPul-e -Khumri , 16

DecUnknown armed men

opened re and set ablazean oil tanker in BaghlanProvince 160 km north of

Kabul on Saturday, policesaid.

Unidentified armed

men targeted an oil tankerwith assault rie in Dushidistrict today morning

burning the oil tanker,Deputy to provincial police

chief Sayed Zaman HussainitoldXinhua.

W i t h o u t g i v i n gmore details, he said thatinvestigation is underway.

Meantime, locals at thesite of incident claimed thatthe tanker was supplying fuel

to NATO-led troops whenTaleban militants attacked

and set on re the vehicle.Taleban militants have

yet to comment.Xinhua

Gunman killed in US hospitalafter wounding thr ee

Washington, 16 DecAgunman was shot and killed

by police after opening rein a hospital on Saturday inUS state of Alabama, local

newspaper reported.Bi rmin gha m News

said the shooting took place

at St Vincents Hospitalin Birmingham at about 4am. The gunman wounded

two hospital staffers and aBirmingham police ofcerbefore he was killed by another

Birmingham police ofcer.The shooting came one

day after a deadly shooting

in Sandy Hook ElementarySchool in Connecticut which

left 28 people dead.

The hospital is afliatedwith the University ofAlabama at Birmingham(UAB). The university

released a statement sayingit does everything it can tokeep its patients, visitors and

employees safe, including 24-hour security at all entrances tothe emergency department and

throughout the area providedby UABs accredited andarmed police department, and

having all persons enteringthe emergency departmentthrough the walk-in entrance

pass through a metal detector.Xinhua

Cr ewman killed as ship

wracked in North Sea tideedinBurgh, 16 Dec

A crew member has died

and 11 others were res-

cued after a vessel in the

North Sea was battered by

huge waves, as storms and

unusually high tides caused

signicant damage across

north and east Scotland,

the local media reported on

Saturday.

The vessel named Vos

Sailor was stranded 120

miles (about 192 km) off

Aberdeen and taking on wa-

ter, while six other vesselsand three helicopters were

sent to the scene and non-

essential staff have been

evacuated from a nearby

rig, the online Scotsman

newspaper reported.

The body of the man

has not yet been recovered

due to severe weather but it

is believed he was dead when

the rest of the crew were res-

cued, said the report.

The Vos Sailorhad suf-

fered signicant damage,

said a local police spokes-

man, adding that it ap-

peared that one crew mem-

ber suffered fatal injuries.

Part of the harbour wall

in Balintore, Ross-shire col-lapsed under the repeated

force of the waves on Friday,

showed dramatic pictures.

Xinhua


8/16

Monday, 17 December, 20128 New Light of MyanmarN a t i o N a l


Nothing but the Noble TruthBuddhism or the Buddha Dhamma is

the noble an d t imeless teachings of Buddha ,

initially propagated in India, and later spread

thr oughout many part s of the world.In fact, Buddhism or Buddha Dhamm a is

an invaluable gem of many facets, attracting

people of diverse personalities. Every facet of

this gem has tested methods and approaches

that can benet the Truth seekers with their

various levels of under standing and spir itual

maturity.

The Buddha Dhamma has the power to

heal the mental wounds and fulll the spiritual

needs of all human beings, while science has

no capa city to do so.

Truthfully, the Buddha Dhamma is the

fruit resulting from a most intensive search

conducted over a long period of time by a

compassionate noble pr ince whose mission wasto help suffering human ity.

So, what actually is Buddhism or the

Buddha Dhamm a? The simple answer is that

Buddhism or the Buddha Dhamma is too

vast and too profound to be neatly placed

in any single category. Of course, it includes

philosophy and r eligion and a way of life. But

Buddhism goes beyond these categories.

It h as also prevented the decline of mora l

values and contr ibuted to peace, coherence with

the embellishing of patience, loving-kindness,

compassion and selessness.

The source of all Buddhism is the experience

which is called Enlightenment. With this

experience of Enlightenment, the Buddhabegan His Teaching not with any dogmatic

beliefs or myster ies, but with a valid, un iversal

experience, which He gave to the world as

universal tr uth.

Consequent ly , the real defini t ion of

Buddhism is Noble Trut h. Remember tha t the

Buddha d id not teach from t heories. He always

taught from a practical standpoint based on

His understanding, His Enlightenment, and

His realization of the Tr uth.

So, on th e whole, Buddhism or th e Buddha

Dhamma is nothing but the Noble Trut h.

Maung Maung

San Lwin

(GAD)

Eyes

Thats

why weve

received

newspapers

early.Social obligationsarent unmet

anymore.

Better business

Nay Pyi Taw, 16 Dec

British Minister of State for

Foreign and Commonwealth

Affairs Rt Hon Mr Hugo

George William Swire and

Ambassador of Britain to

Myanmar Mr Andrew Richard

Heyn, together with Deputy

Minister for Border Affairs

Maj-Gen Zaw Win and ChiefMinister of Rakhine State U

Hla Maung Tin visited relief

camps in Rakhine State on 14

and 15 December.

On 14 December, they

ew to the relief camp of

Rakhine victims at Kantha

Htwat-wa Ward and the relief

camp of Bangali victims at

Taungpaw Ward in Myebon

by helicopter.

During the visit, the

Rakhine State chief minister

and the deputy minister

conducted them around the

relief camps and the British

delegation observed theaccommodation, cause of the

conict, duration at the camps

and relief aids.

They met with local

British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth

Affairs visits relief camps in Rakhine State

people in Zaypaing Ward in

Myebon.

In Mingan Ward in

Sittway, they observed the

resettlement of the victims at

their homes and asked how

the conict broke out Bangalis

in Aungmingala Ward inSittway.

They also visited the

garage of the WFP and viewed

the arrangements for shipping

foods to the victims.

On 15 December,

the delegation visited the

Kyeinibyin relief camp of

Bangalis in Pauktaw Township

and observed the sheltering of

the victims at the temporary

tents, food and water supplyand aids provided by the UK

Aid.

During the meeting, the

British Minister discussed

matters related to security,

humanitarian aids, rule of

law and seeking solutions for

the issues between the two

communities.

Deputy Minister for

Border Affairs Maj-Gen Zaw

Win discussed the reliefefforts, cooperation with

INGOs and needs for further

aids and for rehabilitation of

the victims.MNA

President U Thein Sein meets townselders, politiciansNay Pyi Taw , 16

Dec President of the

Republic of the Union of

Myanmar U Thein Sein

met with townselders and

members of political parties

in Mawlamyine yesterday.

During the meeting,the President stressed the

importance of the human

resource development for

the development of the

country and called for

making efforts reducing

the poverty rate to 16 %

in accordance with the UN

Millennium Development

Goals by 2015 as the

countrys current poverty

rate is 26 %.

Armed conflicts had

broken out since 60 years

ago and any fallen from

both sides during the armed

conflicts are Myanmarcitizens, he said.

It was not an easy work

to reduce the poverty rate

in Myanmar within a short

time though the government

had been undertaking the

eight tasks to bring the

easy livelihood to the rural

population which makes up

the 70 percent of the total

population, he added.

He also expressed his

hope for more foreign

investment in Myanmar as

about 3 million of Myanmar

citizens were currentlyworking in foreign countries

causing the loss of labour

force in the country.

He also stressed the

need for producing value-

added products to benet

the country which was

mainly producing the raw

materials due to lack of

technology and humanresources.

Myanmar has invited

s m a l l a n d m e d i u m

enterprises to invest in

Myanmar with the aim

of producing value added

materials.

Myanmar enacted the

FDI Law and the rules of

the law would be completed

in the near future with the

aim of attracting foreign

investment which would

help Myanmar build large

industries due to its richness

in natural resources, he said.

He also called forgiving IT training to

young generations as the

country lagged behind in

development of IT and

Telecom sector.

He stressed the need

for getting the GSP system

in the trade sector as the

economic sanction could

h in d er t h e eco n o m ic

development.

Due to the changing

international relations

policy, US President Obama

visited Myanmar and relaxed

most sanctions imposedon Myanmar, he added.

Though, the sanctions could

not be eased easily by

the administration as the

sanctions were imposed

through laws prescribed

by the Senate, he said. EU

also relaxed sanctions,

the President said. Social

and economic status of thecountry indicates progress

thanks to political stability,

he said. The modernity

could not be achieved by

the government alone, he

said, calling for concerted

efforts as the government

has committed to making

the reforms irreversible.

He asked for advices

from the townselders for

development of Mon State,

saying the the opening of

border gate after improving

Phayathonesu-Thanbyuza-yat

road could bring about the hustle

and bustle to Mawlamyine.He said he felt encouraged

by agricultural development of

the state. He said the electricity

is key to urbanization and

socio-economic development.

He continued to say that the

government has plan to install

two gas turbines which could

generate 50 Megawatts of

electricity.

He said the education

sector must turn out high-

quality human resources

and underscored the human

resource development of the

region.Those present frankly

discussed current concerns.

Union Ministers at the

President Ofce U Soe Thein

and U Tin Naing Thein

discussed matters related

to investment, marketing,

housing projects, job

opportunities and coopera-

tion with international

community.

T h e P r e s i d e n t

h ighl ighted compet i -

tiveness after establishment

of ASEAN Free Trade Area

in his concluding remarks.

He also called formanufacturing products of

high quality and marketing

abroad in cooperation with

officials of the state and

the Republic of the Union

of Myanmar Federation of

Chambers of Commerce and

Industry.MNA

NayPyiTaw,17 DecOn the occasion of the National

Day of Bhutan which falls on 17 December 2012, U Wunna

Maung Lwin, Union Minister for Foreign Affairs of the

Republic of the Union of Myanmar, has sent a message offelicitations to H.E. Lyonpo Ugyen Tshering, Minister of

Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bhutan.MNA

Union FM felicitates Bhutan

Foreign Affairs Minister


9/16


NATI ONAL

9New Light of Myanmar

NayPyiTaw, 16 Dec

As it is time to harvest

sugarcane plantation in

farmer educative sugarcane

farm in Nyaungbingyisu

vi l lage of Pobbath i r i

Township in Nay Pyi Taw

Council Area, K 95/84

sugarcane plants are being

harvested as quality strainand distributed to other

sugarcane growers on 10

December morning.

Knowledge of sugarcane plants for growersThe farmer educative

sugarcane farm has been

grown for 10 months. The

strain of such sugarcane is to

be grown again for 11 months

to be milled as sugar.

In-charge of the farm

U Moe Kyaw Hlaing said,

The educative sugarcane

farm is cultivated on 10 acresof farmland. Small grafts of

sugarcane are to be nurtured

for 10 months, thence will be

used as strains. The strains

are to be put on farmland

again for 11 months for

production. The grafts from

Nyaungbingyisu farm are

distributed to farmers from

Yedashe sugar mill area of

Bago Region for growing

them again. The plantations

of grafts are to be harvestedat 11th month. One acre of

sugarcane can produce 60

tons.Myanma Alinn

Bhamo , 16 Dec

According to the infor-

mation that motorcyclists in

group abused narcotic drugs

in the toddy plantation near

Kachin mound of ManyutVillage of Bhamo Township

in Bhamo District, a squad

led by IP Maung Maung

Lwin of Bhamo District

Special Anti-Drug Squad and

SIP Kyaw Thiha of Bhamo

Police Station together

with local authorities and

witnesses seized the drug

users recently.

The authorities seized

drug trafckers Hla Ngwe

and Tun Tin and 26 drug

users together with 28

syringes, and 13 China-

made motorcycles. The

police station opened lesof lawsuits against them

under Narcotic Drug and

Psychotropic Substances

Law.Myanma Alinn

Drug users,

trafckers

arrested

Book show marks National DayDawe i , 1 6 Dec

K a l e i n a u n g S u b -

Township Information

and Publ ic Relat ions

D e p a r t m e n t a n dEducation Department

jointly held the litera ry

talks on National Day and

book show at Kaleinaung

Basic Education High

School on 7 December.

After Headmistress Daw

Than Than Htay had

made a speech, Head ofSub-Township IPRD Daw

Nanda Hlaing explained

the purpose of book show.

Myanma Alinn

Gymnastics referee course

No. 1 on 17-20 DecyaNgoN, 16 DecThe

International Gymnastics

Referee Course No 1 will be

conducted at the Myanmar

Gymnastics Federation

at Kyaikkasan Sports

Grounds, here, from 17 to

20 December for Myanmar

gymnastic referees to be

able to discharge duties in

the XXVII SEA Games andinternational competitions

and turning out outstanding

gymnastic referees from the

nation.

Mr Anuchit of Thailand

will discharge duty as course

instructor who will provide

training to the trainees in

English.

Any enthusiasts of

gymnastics may attend the

course. Outstanding trainees

from the course No 1 are

allowed to attend the course

No 2.

After that, the FIG

referee course will be

opened in 2013. Those who

passed the second course

may attend the FIG referee

course together with thoseof Southeast Asian, Asian

and European countries.

They will be presented the

certicates recognized by

FIG. Those who have the

certicates of FIG can take

out the duties of referees in

the international and world

gymnastics championships.

Myanma Alinn

Nay Pyi Taw, 16 Dec

President U Thein Sein

paid homage to Historic

Kyaikthanlan Pagoda in

Mawlamyine this morning.

The President and

President U Thein Sein pays homage to Historic Kyaikthanlan Pagoda in Mawlamyineparty offered owers, water

and lights to the Buddha

Image which is kept at the

Prayer Hall, and made cash

donations.

Next, the President, the

Vice-President and Union

ministers signed the visitors

book.

Then the President

gave necessary instructions

on development of Maw-

lamyine, viewing from the

precinct of the Pagoda.

A f t e r w a r d s , t h e

President and party left there

for Dawei by air.

MNA

President U Thein Sein pays homage to the

Buddha image at Kyaikthanlan Pagoda in

Mawlamyine.mna

yaNgoN , 16 Dec

Jointly organized by Yangon

North District Maternal andChild Welfare Supervisory

Committee and Health

Department, the mobile

clinic was launched in

Thebyu Village of Hmawby

Mobile clinic opened in

Hmawby TownshipTownship on 10 December

morning.

A t t h e o p e n i n gceremony, the cl in ic

provided health care services

to 205 patients from the

village and gave medicines

and refreshments to 20 older

persons and 20 expectant

mothers. The ceremony was

also attended by Hmawby

Township Administrator

U Thein Myint, Chairman

of Township Maternal and

Child Welfare AssociationDaw Than Shwe and

chairpersons of township

Maternal and Child Welfare

Associations of the district.

Myanma Alinn

yaNgoN, 16 DecA

delegation led by Vice-

President of Ethnic Council

of the National Assembly

of Vietnam Mr. Giang A

Chu visited Shwedagon

Pagoda and donated cash

at 8 am today. They were

Vietnamese delegation visits Shwedagon Pagoda,

Chaukhtatgyi Shwethalyaung reclining Buddha Image

accompanied by members of

Amyotha Hluttaw National

Races Affairs Committee

U Saw Tun Mya Aung and

ofcials.

The delegation also

v i s i t e d C ha ukh ta tgy i

Shwethalyaung reclining

Buddha Image.

MNA

LOCAL NEWS


10/16


WORLD

10 New Light of Myanmar

Chinese and Israeli youngsters visit the graves of Israels rst prime minister David Ben-Gurion and his wife Paula at Sde Boker Kibutz in South Israel, on 14 Dec, 2012.Xinhua

Gunmen kill lawmaker in northern

NigeriaKano , 16 DecA

member of the northwestNigerias Kano state Houseof Assembly, Danladi Isa

Kademi was on Friday shot

dead by unknown gunmen.The lawmaker, who

was said to have been shotdead by unknown gunmenat Ring road in Hotoro

quarters at about 5:55pm, local time at the time

when motorcycle riders aretrying to meet their time of

movement of 6: 00 pm, local

time in the state. Securitysources toldXinhua that theLate Kademi was trailed to

his guest House at Hotoro

Maradun by eastern byepass in Kano metropolis

by two gunmen riding ona motorbike.

The source said the

gunmen open re on thelate lawmaker, killing

him instantly and escapedfrom the scene. State

Commissioner of Police,

Ibrahim Idris conrmed theincident and said he hadearlier warned lawmakers

in the state to desist from

relaxing at popular spots.The commissioner

pointing out that a lawmakerin the state was recently shotdead by unknown gunmen in

a similar circumstance. Hedisclosed that investigations

into the incident have begun.Xinhua

Winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature,Chinese writer Mo Yan (L, front), is welcomed at

the Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing,capital of China, on 14 Dec, 2012. Mo Yan returned

to Beijing on Friday after receiving Nobel Prize

in Literature at the 2012 Nobel Prize ceremony inStockholm, Sweden.Xinhua

Supporters of gun control legislation hold candles andplacards during a rally to pay respect for the shooting

victims in front of the White House in Washington,capital of the United States, on 14 Dec, 2012,

following a deadly shooting spree in an elementaryschool in Newtown, Connecticut,

which took place earlier in the day.Xinhua

Family of slain border agent

sues federal ofcialsPhoenix, 16 DecTheparents of a slain US BorderPatrol agent have filed a

wrongful death lawsuit inconnection with the botchedFast and Furious federal

sting operation that saw gunspurchased in the United Statesslip to suspected criminals in

Mexico.The lawsuit, which names

federal ofcials and a federalprosecutor as defendants,was led in federal court in

Arizona and seeks unspecieddamages for Brian Terrys2010 death in a shootout withsuspected border bandits in

southern Arizona.Terrys slaying set off

a political restorm when itbrought to light the botched

Czech military to resumeying L-159 planes after

crashPrague, 16 DecThe

Czech military will on

Monday resume ying theL-159subsonic aircraft afterone of the planes crashed in

November, killing the pilot,a military spokeswomansaid on Friday.

Jana Ruzickova saidthe investigation of the fatalcrash ruled out any technical

defect. But the cause of

the accident has not beenannounced yet.

The pilot crashed intothe ground when routinely

training night piloting

Vienna, 16 DecGen-der equality is vital to pro-

gress in development andmust be at the heart of thedevelopment agenda, Vi-

enna Policy Dialogue con-cluded on Friday.

The two-day dialogue,

organized by the UnitedNations, highlighted thegender equality and em-

powerment of women.Despite the progress

made on gender equalitythrough the Millennium De-velopment Goals (MDGs),

with the 2015 deadline forMDGs approaching, gen-

Vienna Policy Dialogue calls for integration of

gender equality into development agendaHigh-level intl conference on

nuclear safety starts in

Fukushima

A research team of

Japans Nuclear Regula-tion Authority examinesa fault in a trench on the

premises of the Higashi-dori nuclear power plantsite in Aomori Prefecture

on 14 Dec, 2012.

Kyodo news

Koriyama, (Japan), 16DecA high-level inter-national conference on nu-

clear safety started Satur-day in Japans northeasternPrefecture of Fukushima,

with participants expectedto afrm that safety is a pre-requisite for using nuclear

power and assisting humanresources development for

countries seeking the en-ergy option is vital.

The three-day event,

organized by the Japanesegovernment and the Inter-

national Atomic EnergyAgency, is meant to share

the lessons learned from

the Fukushima Daiichiplant disaster last year and

to discuss the progress inglobal efforts to strengthennuclear safety.

The conference, heldin the city of Koriyama,

brings together ofcials ofIAEA member states, manyof whom are represented atthe ministerial level, and rel-

evant international organiza-tions.Kyodo News

der inequality persists andwomen continue to face

discrimination in access toeducation, work and eco-nomic assets, and participa-

tion in government, accord-ing to participants of themeeting.

Delegates, includingexperts and representativesof local governments, civil

society, parliaments andwomens organizations,

reached a consensus thatputting gender equality atthe core of the post-2015

development agenda is both

a moral and developmentalimperative.

We should thereforeaim for a standalone gendergoal coupled with the effort

to integrate gender equalityinto all aspects of a futuredevelopment agenda, Wu

Hongbo, United NationsUnder-Secretary-Generalfor Economic and Social

Affairs, said in the closingsession of the meeting.

Over 100 countrieshave put in place nationalgender action plans.

Xinhua

in Radovesnice, centralBohemia.

The L-1 59 ALCA isa one-seat, one-enginesubsonic combat aircraft

manufactured in the CzechRepublic.

The Czech military has

armed its air force with thismodel since 2003.

In that same year, one

of the planes crashed in

the Jince military trainingground in the central

Bohemian region causedby a pilot mistake.

Xinhua

probe by the US Bureau ofAlcohol, Tobacco, Firearmsand Explosives into gun

trafcking that let more than2,000 weapons slip across theborder into Mexico.

The operation had beenenvisioned as a way to trackguns from buyers to senior

Mexican drug cartel members.Federal agents who ran Fastand Furious focused on

building cases against theleaders of a trafcking ring,and did not pursue low-level

buyers of those rearms.Two rearms found at the

scene of Terrys death were

traced to the operation, althoughit was not clear if the bullets thatkilled him came from either

weapon.Reuters

Nigerian governor, ex-security head die in air crashLagos, 16 DecThe

governor of Nigeriasvolatile Kaduna state anda former national security

adviser were among sixkilled when a helicoptercrashed in the southerly

oil-producing Bayelsa stateon Saturday, ofcials said.

The helicopter wobbledin the sky before nose-divinginto a forest in Ogbia Creek

at around 3:30 pm (0930ET), a local resident whowitnessed the crash told

Reuters.By the time we got to

the scene it was in ames,

said Hitler Adunion, a local

community leader. We triedto put them out but it was

difcult. We saw the roastedbodies of those inside.

The Nigerian Navyconfirmed that its Agusta

helicopter had crashed whilecarrying VIPs to Port Harcourt

but it didnt give a reason andcivilian authorities

New Light of Myanmar (17 Jan 2013)

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