BurmaNet News, January 16, 2009

[Editor]

January 16, 2009, Issue #3633

INSIDE BURMA
IRIN News: Cyclone recovery “will take up to four years”
Khitpyaing News: Rangoon DPA reporter admits incorrect reporting of U Win
Tin's talk
DVB: North Korean national dies in Meikhtila
IMNA: Pro-government groups preparing for election in Mon State;
opposition left in the dark
Irrawaddy: Freezing temperatures hit remote areas of Burma

ON THE BORDER
BBC News: Thais hold more migrants amid row
Reuters: UN agencies team up on family planning for refugees in Thailand
CNN: Thailand denies whipping refugees on beaches
The Times of India: Dhaka wants to demarcate maritime boundaries in Bay of
Bengal

BUSINESS / TRADE
Mizzima News: Indian Vice President to visit Burma to strengthen bilateral
relations
Xinhua: Myanmar to hold gems emporium in March

REGIONAL
Mizzima News: Burmese weblog wins "Best Asia Blog" award for 2008

INTERNATIONAL
AFP: US slaps more sanctions on Myanmar regime backers


____________________________________
INSIDE BURMA

January 16, IRIN News (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs)
Cyclone recovery “will take up to four years”

Livelihoods will prove a key component of the overall recovery effort in
the months to come. This woman travels to Labutta to sell vegetables to
make ends meet after Cyclone Nargis, a disaster that left close to 140,000
people dead or missing

YANGON, 15 January 2009 (IRIN) - Cyclone survivors in Myanmar will likely
need up to four years to fully recover from the impact of Nargis,
according to the UN.

“Full recovery will take three to four years, depending on the
availability of funds,” Bishow Parajuli, UN Resident and Humanitarian
Coordinator, told IRIN in Yangon, the former Burmese capital.

His assessment runs from May 2008 when the cyclone struck to 2011, the
recovery period now being envisioned by the upcoming Post-Nargis Recovery
and Preparedness Plan, a strategic framework for the international
community’s recovery assistance.

More than eight months after Nargis left close to 140,000 people dead or
missing when it hit the Ayeyarwady delta on 2 and 3 May, life remains a
struggle for thousands of the 2.4 million people affected, many of whom
lost their homes, property and livelihoods.

Despite a massive outpouring of humanitarian assistance, recovery will not
be quick. Indonesia took four to five years to recover from the Indian
Ocean tsunami, which killed some 167,000 people in the western province of
Aceh in 2004, Parajuli explained.

Across the affected area - nearly twice the size of Lebanon - relief and
recovery in the coming months will likely run in parallel.

Since the start of its operations in May, the UN World Food Programme
(WFP) has provided food to more than one million people and will continue
to do so through April, covering the needs of at least 450,000 people.

An assessment in February will determine whether that support will have to
be continued.

“Moving people from a reliance on food aid to more sustainable food
security - this is where the integration of our activities with those
working in early recovery and agriculture is paramount,” Chris Kaye, WFP
country director, told IRIN.

The UN food agency is already engaging some 25,000 people in food-for-work
schemes in the affected area.

According to the first of three Post-Nargis Periodic Reviews released in
December by the Tripartite Core Group (TCG), despite progress in
addressing relief and recovery needs on the ground, more is needed,
particularly in areas of food security and nutrition.

“We need to increase the support particularly in the western delta and
some of the larger towns,” Parajuli said, citing the importance of
education, shelter and livelihood support.

A US$477 million flash appeal re-launched by the UN in July on behalf of
13 UN organisations and 23 NGOs for emergency relief and early recovery
efforts through to April 2009 is 64 percent funded.

“We still have a few more months under the current appeal period.
Hopefully we will get more support to continue this, as well as other
early recovery efforts,” Parajuli said, stressing the importance of
upcoming medium- and long-term recovery efforts as well.

“Funding will prove a key challenge in this effort, as will continued
cooperation,” he said, citing the importance of the TCG - comprising the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the government of Myanmar and UN -
in facilitating access and delivery of aid.

“That type of cooperation is really fundamental,” he said.

The three-year plan will focus on restoring productive, healthy and secure
lives at a cost of more than $230 million per year and cover health,
livelihood, education, shelter, disaster-preparedness response, water and
sanitation as well as the environment.

According to Parajuli, the UN and NGOs could do much more to help the
people of Myanmar, given greater support from the international community.

“There are a lot of development and humanitarian challenges in the
country,” he said. “We could do more if the resources were available,” the
UN official said.

____________________________________

January 16, Khitpyaing News
Rangoon DPA reporter admits incorrect reporting of U Win Tin's talk – Min
Naing Thu

NLD Central Executive Committee member U Win Tin complained to the Foreign
Correspondents Club (FCC) of Burma that a DPA report about an alleged
interview with him was incorrect. The FCC investigated the case by
questioning the DPA's Rangoon reporter on January 8, resulting in reporter
Ko Ko (RIT)'s admission of wrong reportage.

The FCC informed U Win Tin about the investigation, saying that the Club
could carry out the probe only to this extent since it has to abide by its
Constitution. It added that if U Win Tin is not satisfied with this
outcome, he could take action on DPA's news reportage by any means.

The investigations were conducted by Club's President U Hla Htwe who
informed U Win Tin in writing that Ko Ko (RIT) has admitted to his writing
the news report by himself after his assistant Daw Sint Sint Aung
conducted an interview with U Win Tin on phone.

When Ko Ko admitted as such, FCC then questioned Daw Sint Sint Aung
whether U Win Tin did say that there are some members of NLD wanting to
contest and some not wanting to contest in the coming elections, and asked
her to produce clear evidence.

Daw Sint Sint Aung answered that she has interviewed U Win Tin on phone
but not recorded the sounds nor could she present any evidence. She only
remembered U Win Tin's talk about some people in the NLD having a
hard-line approach and some having a soft approach. She said she was
unsure whether U Win Tin has said that some NLD members wish to run for
elections and some do not.

U Ko Ko then took the stand, testifying that when he heard Daw Sint Sint
Aung's report about the two approaches inside the NLD toward the coming
elections, he 'naively' thought that it was an implication of existence of
two sides—those who wanted to contest and those who did not want to
contest—and so he wrote the said news report.

After their testimonies, the President told them to conduct important
interviews not on phone but face-to-face and to record the sounds. He
concluded the investigation by lecturing them on journalist ethics,
quoting books on international journalism.

When asked by Khitpyaing about the proceedings, U Win Tin said, "It's
quite hard to believe this as a sincere mistake. As I am a politician who
came from journalism sector, I don't want to argue with the media. Also as
a responsible official of a political organization, I don't want to
quarrel with the media too. I made this complaint because it was too bad,
too wrong. What I have said by citing two statements was that the NLD has
approached the new constitution in both hard-line and soft approaches.
However, they [DPA people] replaced constitution with elections. Moreover,
another mistake was made by implying that there are two sides in the NLD,
which are those who want to contest in the elections and those who don't.
Thereby it seems that the party is ridden with divisions which are going
to split the League. That's why I have to complain so. Of course, only the
culprits would know whether it is a sincere mistake. As for me, I'm
content with their admission of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, on the political
aspect, if exiled democratic forces deem it to be a deliberate character
assassination or an intentional misinformation and continue to take action
as necessary, I would agree to their act. I would also like to thank them
for working on behalf of me. I have difficulty to communicate with
elements abroad."

The case came up when U Win Tin sent a letter of complaint to Foreign
Correspondents' Club of Burma on December 18 after German-based DPA news
agency printed news on November 30, 2008, incorrectly reporting U Win
Tin's talk.

In the said news report, it was written as if there are divisions and
splits inside the party, thus annoying exiled democratic forces.
Dissidents complained to the DPA Head Office in Berlin, Germany, resulting
in Editor-in-Chief Eva Maria McCormick's reply to Burmese dissidents
pledging undertaking of investigations and effective action on culprits if
found guilty of falsified reporting.

As the investigations that have been conducted now were made by the FCC in
Rangoon, it is not known clearly how Rangoon reporter Ko Ko (RIT) would be
penalized after DPA's internal investigations.

Translated from news posted on Khitpyaing online website.

____________________________________

January 16, Democratic Voice of Burma
North Korean national dies in Meikhtila – Ahunt Phone Myat

A North Korean who was believed to be a weapon specialist working in a
secret research facility in central Burma has died on the way to Meikhtila
military hospital after suffering a serious headache.

According to a member of staff at the hospital, speaking on condition of
anonymity, the unidentified North Korean was already dead when he arrived
at the hospital on 9 January.

A Meikhtila resident said the man’s body was cremated at around 7am on 11
January with the assistance of a local charity called Yan Aung Myin
funeral service.

An official from Yan Aung Myin funeral service said the funeral was
attended by a group of North Koreans, assumed to be his family, and a few
Burmese army officers in civilian clothing.

"We were informed of his death by Meikhtila military hospital who told us
to arrange a funeral service for him," the official said.

"The funeral was held early in the morning and it was rumoured that the
authorities wanted to keep it a secret from the public as he was a
foreigner who was involved with government work."

Sources close to the military in Meikhtila said the dead foreigner was
working on a secret weapons project for the government.

Military analyst and researcher Htay Aung of the Thailand-based Burmese
exile group Network for Democracy and Development said the group had
received reports on secret facilities being built by the government around
Meikhtila.

"We have obtained some information on the government building some secret
facilities around Meikhtila, particularly on the one being built near
Taung Thar township," said Htay Aung.

"No one from the outside world knows what they have been doing in that
facility but foreigners have often been seen around the area," he said.

"I assume that if he was not just a regular tourist, then he must have
been some sort of specialist working on a secret government project or in
a research facility."

Htay Aung said residents of nearby Taungdwingyi and Myo Thit townships had
often spotted foreigners, assumed to be North Koreans, in the area.

Last year there were reports on a Russian national who had gone missing in
Shan state but that case was also given a low profile by the government.

____________________________________

January 16, Independent Mon News Agency
Pro-government groups preparing for election in Mon State; opposition left
in the dark – Hong Gakao, Mi Kyae Goe, and Blai Mon

Pro-regime groups in Mon State are being ordered to prepare for the
upcoming 2010 election, though groups that do not support the government
continue to be left in the dark about election details.

Burma’s military government has yet to announce its rules governing the
formation of political parties or the election itself, and a formal date
has yet to be officially announced. January 4th, Burma’s Independence Day,
came and went without an announcement, though experienced Burma watchers
had expected the day to figure a declaration of the rules.

The deferred announcement is likely part of a strategy to ensure victory
for the regime and its supporters, said a veteran Mon politician involved
in the 1990 election, which was later annulled. The regime is preparing
itself for the election, he said, and will announce the election rules
only at the last moment. Opposition parties will be left scrambling with
only a few months to organize themselves.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), Burma’s largest opposition party,
has yet to officially decide whether it will participate. According to
Nyan Win, quoted by Mizzima in December, the NLD is holding its decision
until after the election law is announced.

Though the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) may be deferring
announcement of the election law, it is not deferring its election
preparations in Mon State. In Mudon Township, near to Mon State’s capital
city of Moulmein, authorities have ordered regime-back civilian groups
like the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), Myanmar
Women’s Affairs Association and the fire brigade to step up their
recruitment efforts.

The recruitment order in Mudon was issued on January 2nd in a meeting
between Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) authorities and the
heads of all Village Peace and Development Councils (VPDC) in the
township. According to a source that attended the meeting, each village
was ordered to increase the size of government-backed civilian groups by
the hundreds and report the increase to local army battalions. Mudon
Township’s larger villages, Kamawet, Hneepadaw and Kwan Hlar, were each
ordered to add at least 1,000 new members, said the source. Mudon is home
to 44 villages, and one of Mon State’s most populous townships.

A source in Rangoon confirmed a similar recruitment effort, and said that
government-backed groups in her township had been instructed to find 200
new members each month. The source, who is a member of one of the groups
in question, also said that in nearby South Okkalapa Township the USDA had
set up a free clinic and tutoring sessions for students in the 10th
standard. The services are overt recruitment efforts, as only USDA members
can oblige themselves of the services.

The source did not comment on the motivation for the projects, but similar
projects have been reported around Burma as both a recruitment effort and
pre-election drives for positive publicity.

USDA officials appear cognizant of the infamous reputation enjoyed by
their organization, which played a highly visible role in the brutal
crackdown on monks and civilians during peaceful demonstrations in
September 2007; on January 13th, Southeast Command Commander Major General
Thet Naing Win explained as much in a meeting with top USDA officials.

The meeting, convened at the USDA office in Moulmein, featured top USDA
representatives from Mon State’s 10 townships as well as representatives
to the National Convention that drafted Burma’s new constitution and
referendum committee members who oversaw the constitution’s approval.

According to a source present at the meeting, the general explained that
the USDA would participate in the election in three ways, depending on
local sentiments towards the organization. Contrary to reports by Mizzima
and the Irrawaddy, the general said that the USDA might field a candidate
as a political party. Consistent with reports by Mizzima and the
Irrawaddy, he said that in places where the USDA is unpopular it would
form new political parties or, depending on organizational strength,
support another party as directed by higher USDA officials.

According to the IMNA source, the general said that a report by the
Special Police had recently explained that the USDA should not involve its
name in the election because of its negative reputation.
____________________________________

January 16, Irrawaddy
Freezing temperatures hit remote areas of Burma – Min Lwin

Freezing temperatures have hit residents of Burma’s mountainous eastern
and western border areas, making life tougher for marginalized ethnic
minorities and many of the country’s political prisoners.

In Chin State, where a famine has afflicted a large part of the population
since last year, temperatures have fallen below zero in some areas.
According to the state-owned New Light of Myanmar, the thermometer reached
-2 degrees Celsius in the state capital of Hakah on Sunday.

Tun Lwin, the director general of the Department of Meteorology and
Hydrology, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that temperatures were below the
seasonal average in some places, but were normal for this time of year in
other areas.

However, he said that nighttime temperatures for the whole country would
likely be 3 to 5 degrees below average for the next few days, with border
areas of Chin, Shan, Karen and Karenni states experiencing especially cold
conditions.

Residents of some of the worst-affected areas said that many people were
struggling to stay warm by burning firewood in their homes. “They don’t
have enough warm clothes and blankets because they can’t afford them,”
said an ethnic Chin man living in Hakah.

Despite the harsh conditions, however, he said that he had heard no
reports of death due to the unusual cold.

Many areas also reported heavy fog, which reduced visibility to just a few
meters and made transportation on mountain roads dangerous.

In some hillside villages, schoolchildren without winter clothing were
being taught outside when the sky cleared, and in classes heated by
burning firewood when clouds or fog returned.

Meanwhile, the governor of Thailand’s Tak Province, which borders Karen
State in Burma, declared nine districts of the province a disaster area
because of the cold temperatures.

The area is home to a large Karen refugee population, and across the
border in Karen State, hundreds of villagers displaced by conflict are in
desperate need of warm clothes and blankets, according to the Committee
for Internally Displaced Karen People.

The cold snap was also adding to the misery of Burma’s political
prisoners, many of whom have been transferred to remote prisons in recent
months.

“The health condition of political prisoners is getting worse, especially
in the labor camps,” said Bo Kyi, joint secretary of the Assistance
Association for Political Prisoners—Burma (AAPP). “Without the support of
their families, their health will undoubtedly deteriorate further,” he
added.

Bo Kyi quoted Min Ko Naing, a leading political activist who was
transferred to Kengtung prison in Shan State, as saying, “My prison cell
is like a refrigerator.”

But cold temperatures were not the only hardship facing Burma’s more than
2,100 political prisoners.

Zaw Naing Htwe, a detainee at the Four Mile Labor Camp near Taungoo Town
in Pegu Division, is believed to be close to death due to harsh treatment
at the hands of prison authorities.

Zaw Naing Htwe is currently being held in iron shackles and being forced
to perform hard labor by the authorities, and is not receiving enough food
and water, according to AAPP.

____________________________________

January 16, The Times of India
Dhaka wants to demarcate maritime boundaries in Bay of Bengal

The new Bangladesh government wants to engage neighbours India and Myanmar
to demarcate maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal to be able to file
its claim before the United Nations by 2011, a media report said on
Friday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who convened a meeting of energy ministry
officials on Thursday, said she would coordinate with the foreign office
in contacting Delhi and Yangon, but did not indicate when.

She would also confer with the Bangladesh Navy and Geological Survey of
Bangladesh.

Hasina's deputy press secretary Sarwar Alam said that she raised the
maritime boundary issue at her first meeting with the officials and wanted
to know the latest situation and what surveys the ministry had conducted
to demarcate the boundary.

Energy secretary Mohammad Mohsin told the prime minister that India and
Myanmar were claiming maritime areas beyond their jurisdiction and often
intruded into Bangladesh's territorial waters and that the foreign
ministry was handling the issue, New Age newspaper said on Friday quoting
sources present at the meeting.

Mohsin also informed her that Bangladesh would have to lodge its claim
over the maritime boundary with the United Nations by 2011 after
completing necessary surveys for strengthening the claims.

Maritime boundaries' delineation became crucial after the finding of
hydrocarbon reserves in the bay by India in recent years. Dhaka thinks it
has missed the bus with poor response from international oil and gas
companies.

Bangladesh is sandwiched between India and Myanmar in the upper reaches of
the bay and says survey ships and even naval ships of the two countries
cross into what it considers to be its own territory.

There had been stand-offs with the two neighbours in the bay in recent
months and the erstwhile caretaker government had deployed naval ships and
applied diplomatic pressures to get the neighbours' vessels out, pending
resolution of the dispute.

Dhaka did not hold talks with India on the issue after 1982 and resumed it
only last year. The parleys with both Delhi and Yangon have remained
preliminary with each side insisting on its own standpoint.

____________________________________
ON THE BORDER

January 16, BBC News
Thais hold more migrants amid row – Jonathan Head

The Thai military has taken into custody another group of asylum-seekers
from Burma's Rohingya minority.

It comes amid accusations - denied by the military - that units set
hundreds of refugees adrift at sea last month.

A boat carrying 46 Rohingyas was intercepted this morning off an island in
southern Thailand, police confirm.

Survivors who drifted to Indonesia and the Andaman Islands accuse the Thai
military of towing them out to sea in boats with no engines and no food.

The commander of the military units responsible for dealing with
asylum-seekers has denied the accusations.

However, testimony from exhausted and dehydrated survivors who have
reached the Andaman Islands or Indonesia's Aceh province over the past
week describes brutal treatment at the hands of the Thai security forces.

'Security risk'

They say they were detained on an offshore island, then pushed onto boats
without engines, and with their hands tied. They say many of the
asylum-seekers died trying to swim back to land.

Privately, some Thai military and police sources have admitted to the BBC
that this has been happening - they say the escalating numbers of
Rohingyas reaching Thailand from Burma or Bangladesh are seen as a
security risk, because of fears they may include Islamic militants.

The reason they disable their engines, they say, is to prevent them trying
to come back to Thailand.

Refugee welfare groups have condemned the practice as inhumane.

The Thai government has so far been unable to comment on the allegations.
Thailand accommodates millions of illegal migrants, mainly from
neighbouring Burma, but takes a hard line against some, forcibly deporting
those thought to threaten security.
____________________________________

January 16, Reuters
UN agencies team up on family planning for refugees in Thailand

Refugees along Thailand's border with Myanmar will be able to continue to
plan their families thanks to cooperation between UNHCR and the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The two UN agencies are collaborating to fill gaps in reproductive health
care for the 111,000 refugees from Myanmar living in nine camps. A quarter
of the refugees are women of reproductive age.

As an initial step, UNFPA on Wednesday handed over contraceptives to meet
the needs of 8,500 current users and 400 new users for six months to one
year. The UN refugee agency's private aid agency partners will distribute
the supplies and provide related counselling, education and hospital
referrals in four camps: Umpium, Mae La, Mae Ra Ma Luang and Mae La Oon.

"People's needs for voluntary family planning information and services do
not end when they become refugees," said UNHCR Deputy Regional
Representative Giuseppe de Vincentis. "We consider family planning and
reproductive health a basic human right and UNHCR is committed to ensuring
that all refugee needs are met."

The two agencies are also talking with the Thai government about long-term
cooperation to address the needs of adolescents, whose access to
information and services has been limited by cultural taboos.

"It is our hope that further collaboration with UNHCR will improve the
predictability, timeliness and effectiveness of reproductive health
information and service provision for refugees here in Thailand," said
Garimella Giridhar, UNFPA's representative in Thailand.

____________________________________

January 16, CNN
Thailand denies whipping refugees on beaches – Dan Rivers

Thailand's military has denied abusing refugee boat-people from Myanmar
after claims some were whipped on a tourist beach and hundreds more left
dead or missing after being towed at to sea without food and water.

Photos showing refugees being made to lie face down on a popular beach and
media reports claiming refugees been deliberately lost at sea have sparked
concerns for their safety.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says it is "concerned"
about the fate of the Muslim ethnic minority Rohingya people, who have
fled from Myanmar's border with Bangladesh.

The agency says it has written a formal note to the Thai Ministry of
Foreign Affairs asking for clarification of what is happening.

CNN spoke to one Australian tourist, who declined to be named for fear of
being barred from Thailand, who says boat-people were "whipped" by Thai
guards on popular diving resort island in the Similan Archipelago last
month.

Local media also report claims by Rohingya survivors that the Thai
military have been detaining hundreds of them an island called Koh Sai
Daeng before towing them back out into open water without supplies.

The survivors say hundreds of them drowned and only the lucky ones made it
to the Indian Andaman Islands or Indonesia's Aceh province.

The Thai Navy denies knowledge of the incident.

Rear Admiral Naris Pratumsuwan told CNN "as a normal practice, if Navy
finds illegal immigrants, we will hand them over to related authorities,
e.g. police or immigration police."

He said he had not received any information on an island where migrants
are being detained.

There were reports of another boatload of 46 Rohingya detained by the Thai
military Friday, but there was no official confirmation.

The Rohingya have been fleeing persecution of the hard-line military
regime in Myanmar, formerly Burma, for years and often seek refuge in
Malaysia.

Boat loads of Rohingya arriving in Thailand is nothing new, but
non-governmental organizations are increasingly worried about what they
say is an apparent change of government policy.

They say the army's Internal Security Operations Command is forcing the
Rohingya out to sea rather than deporting them overland back to Myanmar.

"The Thai government is taking highly vulnerable people and risking their
lives for political gain," says Refugee International's Sean Garcia says.

"It should be engaging the Burmese government on improving conditions at
home for the Rohingya if it wants to stem these flows.

"The Rohingya will continue to make the journey because they have no hope
for a better life in Burma. Pushing them back out to sea is not an
effective deterrent it just jeopardizes lives."

____________________________________
BUSINESS / TRADE

January 16, Mizzima News
Indian Vice President to visit Burma to strengthen bilateral relations –
Salai Pi Pi

India's Vice President Hamid Ansari is set to visit neighbouring
military-ruled Burma, in a bid to further strengthen bilateral cooperation
between both countries, according to reports.

Ansari's trip will focus on consolidating India's energy interests in
Burma and cooperation in infrastructure development, an official source
was quoted as saying by the Indo-Asian News Service.

"Ansari will go on a goodwill visit to Myanmar [Burma] early next month.
Preparations are under way," the report said.

Ansari's visit to Burma, which is a first for Indian leaders in 2009, is
seen as a part of India's growing efforts to strengthen bilateral
relationship with the gas-rich Southeast Asian nation.

Dr. Tint Swe, a minister of the Burmese government in exile – the National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma – said Ansari's visit is part
of India's efforts to appease the Burmese military government in order to
gain wider foothold in the country.

However, he said, "It has been about 15 years now, but India's Look East
Policy has still not been a success," adding that it was time for India to
reconsider its policy on Burma.

India, which is Burma's 4th largest trading partner after Thailand, China
and Singapore, is competing with China, Thailand, South Korea and Japan to
tap natural gas from offshore gas reserves on Burma's western coast.

However, in December 2008, Daewoo International Corporation along with
it's four other partners - Myanmar Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE), ONGC, GAIL
and Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) signed a deal with the China National
Petroleum Corporation, to supply Burma's offshore gas to China for 30
years from 2012.

India's ONGC and GAIL both held 20 % and 10 % respectively in Burma's
offshore A1 and A3 gas fields, and has been appeasing the junta so that it
awards the right to import gas.

The Shwe gas fields on Burma's western coast are estimated to hold a
reserve of 4.53 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of gas.

India, which lost out to China in its race to buy gas from Burma, however,
is also looking for other energy cooperation options, with Burma including
the building of hydro-electric projects.

The two countries recently signed a pact on the development of Tamanthi
and Shwezay hydropower projects on the Chindwin River, in Burma's
northwestern Sagaing division.

But Dr. Tint Swe, who is based in New Delhi and monitors Indo-Burmese
relationship said, "The two countries' bilateral relations does not help
the Burmese peoples' aspiration for democratic change."

"But it helps the junta in strengthening their rule," he added.

Indo-Burmese bilateral trade reached a record of 995 million US dollars in
the fiscal year 2007-08, while Burma's exports to India accounted for 810
million US dollars and its imports from India touched 185 million US
dollars, according to Burma's official statistics.

____________________________________

January 16, Xinhua
Myanmar to hold gems emporium in March

Myanmar will hold an annual gem show here in March this year to encourage
national gem traders to sell more quality gems, jade, pearl and jewelry,
according to the Central Committee for Holding Myanmar Gems Emporium
Friday.

Without specific date set, the 46th annual Myanmar gems emporium will take
place at the Myanmar Convention Center on the basis of competitive
bidding, the sources said.

In the last 45th annual gems emporium held in March 2008, 7,000 lots of
jade, 300 lots of gems and 270 lots of pearl as well as a 30-kilogram jade
block were put on sale.

The event was attended by around 3,000 foreign merchants mostly from
China, China's Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, India, Italy, Britain,
Japan, Australia, the United States and Canada.

In June-July and October last year, a special gem sale and a mid-year gem
sale were respectively added which attracted even more merchants than the
annual regular event.

Myanmar started to hold gem shows annually in 1964, introducing the
mid-year one in 1992 and the special one in 2004.

Myanmar, a well-known producer of gems in the world, boasts ruby, diamond,
cat's eye, emerald, topaz, pearl, sapphire, coral and a variety of garnet
tinged with yellow.

The authorities designated the proceeds from the sale of gems at these
emporiums as legal export earning to encourage the private sector in the
development of the gem industry.

Of Myanmar's 6.043 billion U.S. dollars' exports in 2007-08, gem products
stood the third after natural gas and agricultural produces with 647.53
million dollars, according to official statistics.

The government's Central Statistical Organization also revealed that in
the fiscal year 2007-08, Myanmar produced 20,235 tons of jade and 22.668
million carats of gems which include ruby, sapphire, spinel and peridot,
as well as 225,611 mommis (846 kilograms) of pearl.

____________________________________
REGIONAL

January 16, Mizzima News
Burmese weblog wins "Best Asia Blog" award for 2008

The weblog of venerable Burmese Buddhist monk, Ashin Mettacara, has bagged
the "Best Asia Blog" award for 2008.

Publisher of the Weblog Awards, which puts up an online poll on various
categories of weblogs, Kevin Aylward, told Mizzima that Ashin Mettacara's
weblog has gained maximum votes of 3,383. It stood first with 41 per cent
of the total voters voting for it in an online poll conducted since
November.

The weblog, ( www.ashinmettacara.org) is hosted by a Buddhist monk,
studying in Sri Lanka and contains political writings on Burma.

Ashin Mattacara (27), went to Sri Lanka to study Buddhist religious
scriptures and created his weblog in 2004, focussing on religious
writings. But, the weblog took a decisive turn in September 2007, when
Buddhist monks led mass demonstrations in Burma, with the site
increasingly filled with political writings on Burma.

"I am proud that my weblog has been selected as the best in 2008, and I
would like to attribute the award to both my Burmese and international
friends, who have voted," Ashin Mettacara told Mizzima over the telephone.

In the wake of the public protests in September 2007, several
Internet-savvy Burmese youth, both in Burma and around the world, created
websites and blogs, and filled them with information on the protests and
the subsequent crackdown by the military junta.

Ashin Mettaraca's blog was among the outstanding blogs, that provided much
needed information on the protests to the Burmese people as well as to the
international community.

"I wanted to tell the whole world about the situation in Burma. That is
the main reason for creating this blog," Ashin Mettacara had told Mizzima
earlier.

Like Ashin Mettacara, several young Burmese bloggers, played an important
role in publishing information on the September 2007 protests as well as
the humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the deadly Cyclone Nargis in
early May 2008.

It is due to this reason, Burma's military rulers have hunted down
bloggers and others involved in the dissemination of information and
sentenced them to long prison terms.

Aylward, who hosts the world's largest blog competition, with a total
Weblog Awards for 48 categories, said the reason for organizing the
competition was to create awareness among the public and draw attention to
the blogs that were committed to write about such issues.

Ashin Mettacara has completed his B.A and M.A degrees in Sri Lanka's
Buddhist and Pali University.

____________________________________
INTERNATIONAL

January 16, Agence France Presse
US slaps more sanctions on Myanmar regime backers

The United States slapped additional sanctions against alleged key
financial backers of the Myanmar military regime Thursday, citing the
country's imprisonment of democracy advocates.

The US Treasury Department announced its Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) had added two people and 14 companies to its lists of sanctions
targets for Myanmar, which the US government identifies by its pre-junta
name of Burma.

"Congress and the administration have made clear the need to apply
vigorous sanctions against the Burmese junta as long as it continues to
suppress democratic dissent," said OFAC director Adam Szubin in a
statement.

"The junta's imprisonment of prominent democracy advocates confirms
Burma's unwillingness to abide by international commitments and
underscores the need to maintain pressure against one of the world's worst
violators of human rights."

OFAC has now imposed sanctions on 100 people and entities, "targeting key
state-owned enterprises, senior junta officials, regime cronies and their
business networks," the Treasury said.

The action freezes any assets the designees have under US jurisdiction and
bars any US citizen from having any financial and commercial transactions
with the sanction targets.

The latest move targets "regime cronies" Zaw Zaw and Win Aung and their
business networks, as well as the business networks of two
already-designated cronies of the Burmese junta, Tay Za and Steven Law,
the department said.

Zaw Zaw was identified as the managing director of the Max Myanmar Group
of Companies, a Burmese entity with interests in the gem, timber,
construction, and tourism industries.

The Treasury targeted eight companies of the group and Zaw Zaw's
Singapore-based company, Max Singapore International.

Win Aung allegedly made large financial donations to the Myanmar junta and
has been a major support on construction projects. He was designated along
with two of his companies, Dagon International Limited and Dagon Timber
Limited.

The financial network of Tay Za, "a notorious regime henchman and arms
dealer," was hit with a third round of sanctions.

Thursday's action targeted Espace Avenir, a Rangoon hotel owned or
controlled by Tay Za, the Treasury said.

Also targeted were Sentosa Treasure Pte. Ltd., a Singaporean firm owned by
Cecilia Ng, who was designated on February 25, 2008, along with her
husband, Steven Law.
Nine firms that previously had been identified as being owned by Ng were
also designated.

OFAC targeted Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper Company Limited (MICCL), a joint
venture owned or controlled by the state-owned No. 1 Mining Enterprise,
which was designated on July 29, 2008.

MICCL controls the Monywa copper project, the biggest of its kind in the
country, located in Myanmar's northwestern Sagaing division, the
department said.

The action came in the waning days of President George W. Bush's
administration. President-elect Barack Obama is to be sworn into office
Tuesday as the 44th US president.

The military-ruled Myanmar has been under international fire for years
over human rights abuses and many citizens had fled the impoverished
nation to neighboring countries, where they mostly stay illegally or apply
for refugee status and seek resettlement in the West.