Volume I, Number 82 1st Waxing Day of Pyatho 1376 ME Sunday, 21 December, 2014

Yangon, 20 Dec—Global Compact Network Myanmar hosted a summit with hope to expand its membership to more than 1,000, in Yangon on Sat-urday.

The United Nations Global Compact Summit celebrating the mobiliza-tion of GCN Myanmar took place at the office of Republic of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RUMFCCI).

About 300, companies including ones listed as participants in the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corpo-rate citizenship and sus-tainability initiative, were brought to the summit and encouraged to participate in the initiative.

“It is our goal to mo-bilize over 10,000 com-panies in Myanmar to be UNGC participants”, said Professor Dr. Aung Tun Thet, presidential econom-ic adviser and also chair of GCN Myanmar.

In his speech, the Pro-fessor described the role of the country’s private sector

Photo shows some attendees at UN Global Compact Summit in which Professor Dr Aung Tun Thet, chair of UN Global Compact Network

Myanmar, calls for good corporate governance in Myanmar, setting a target of expanding the country’s participation in the largest global corporate

responsibility initiative.—Photo: Ye MYint

Global Compact Network Myanmar sets ambitious plan of further expansion to

1000 plus membersBy Ye Myint

Two corridors of Mekong Subregion will surely contribute to regional development

not only as the main en-gine for development, but also as drivers for the UN’s sustainable development goals to be set from 2015 onwards.

The economic adviser, who is also the member of Myanmar Investment Com-mission, said all companies investing in Myanmar have to adopt corporate social responsibility initiatives and he called for at least

10 new recruits from each GCN Myanmar member.

“Let’s do well in busi-ness, at the same time, let’s do good for ourselves, the country and its people”, he said.

Founded with a mem-bership of 14 companies on 1 May 2012, the UN Glob-al Compact Network My-anmar had grown to 152 participants in the UNGC initiative in 2014. Business

participants are required to issue an annual Communi-cation on Progress (COP) on progress made in imple-menting the Global Com-pact’s 10 principles in the areas of human rights, la-bour, the environment and anticorruption.

GNLM

President U Thein Sein delivers speech at the Fifth Greater Mekong Subregion Summit.—Mna

Yangon, 20 Dec—A local non-profit organiza-tion on Saturday introduced its new project to build a Myanmar Text To Speech Engine (MyTTS), aiming to help people with poor or blurry vision with their learning.

With the financial as-sistance of the Kanbawza Group (KBZ), the Myan-mar Christian Fellowship of the Blind (MCFB) is de-veloping the speech engine that suits the window oper-ating system.

Ma Thin Zar Myo, who leads a team of software de-velopers, said that plans are underway to release a free beta version to the public in six months, expecting it to emerge as the first open source engine in Myanmar by the end of 2015.

U Ngwe Tun, an IT

Beta release of Myanmar TTS engine projected in

six monthsBy Khaing Thanda Lwin

technician and consult-ant of the Yangon Edu-cation Center for Blinds, explained: “This text-to-speech (TTS) system, as a speech synthesizer, will convert a normal language text into speech.”

He added that the text reader will benefit all users including people with read-ing disabilities and pre-lit-erate children to learn the Myanmar language, noting that the creation will em-power other software ven-dors who want to integrate it with their applications.

The KBZ group has pumped over K96 million into the project, with the of-ficial saying that the group has pledged more voluntary contributions to other de-velopment projects in the future.

(See page 4)

Bangkok, 20 Dec— President U Thein Sein de-livered a speech at the 5th Greater Mekong Subregion Summit in Bangkok on Sat-urday, saying Myanmar’s reform process has gained momentum since the last such summit was held and it is working closely with oth-er GMS member countries and the global community to achieve further progress.

The president ‘s speech followed his arrival in the Thai capital on Friday evening and his participa-tion in a gala dinner host-ed by Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha for the leaders of the five-nation GMS as well as Asian De-velopment Bank President Takehiko Nakao.

The summit, held at the Shangri-La Hotel under the theme “Committed to Inclusive and Sustainable

Development in the GMS,” was attended by President U Thein Sein of Myanmar, as well as prime ministers of Thailand, Cambodia, China and Vietnam along with the ADB president, and a joint statement of the 5th GMS Summit was issued.

In his speech at Satur-day’s plenary meeting, U Thein Sein recounted the fourth GMS hosted by My-anmar in 2011 at which the GMS Strategic Plan was ap-proved.

The GMS economic cooperation programme covers such areas as infra-structural linkages, energy, telecommunications, trans-port and trade facilitation, development of regional economic corridors, agri-culture, tourism, human resource development and environmental conserva-tion. U Thein Sein thanked

the ADB for its support in these areas.

He said the southern economic corridor of Me-kong subregion will be-come the shortest trading route between Pacific and Indian oceans, while the East-West economic corri-dor will be crucial for the member countries. The two corridors will pass through Phaya Thonezu at Myan-mar-Thai border before linking up with a 170-mile long road between Maw-lamyine and Dawei in southern Myanmar. It will surely countribute to re-gional development.

The meeting’s partic-ipants also heard an expla-nation of implementation plan of future Regional Investment Framework, which is expected to expe-dite proposed plans worth (See page 3)

Sunday, 21 December, 20142l o c a l n e w s

Nay Pyi Taw

Mandalay

Mohnyin

Sittway

Yangon

MyeikToday’s

MyanMar news siTes

Today’s MyanMar news siTes

Float hotel to attract tourists in Mandalaythe hotel in Ayeyawady River on 31 December night. Vocalists He Lay, Nyan Lin Aung, Kaung Kaung and Yadana Mai will present hit songs on the occasion, according to managing director U Tun Tun. The floating hotel is a three-Decker. The top deck can be used as a wedding hall that can give 250 seats to the guests. The first and second decks comprise four suites, three family rooms and 32 double rooms.

The rooms are rented at US$ 120 per foreigner and K70,000 per citizens.

Tin Maung (Mandalay)

Mandalay, 20 Dec—Mandalay Karaweik float-ing hotel will be commis-

sioned into service in the near future. A restaurant was opened at the floating

hotel on 19 December.The Happy New Year

party will be held on board

Basic education students join extempore talks contestSittway, 20 Dec—No

1 Department of Basic Ed-ucation under the Ministry of Education and Sky Net (Education Channel) joint-ly organized the extempore talks contest and general knowledge quiz in com-memoration of the 40th an-niversary of Rakhine State Day in Sittway on 19 De-cember.

Six students from ba-sic education high schools participated in the extem-pore talks contest. Moreo-ver, students participated in the general knowledge quiz. Rakhine State min-ister for social affairs Dr Aung Kyaw Min presented one set of Sky Net receiv-er to participant students.

State Education Officer U Hla Sein Tun gave prizes to the winners in the extempo-

re talks and essay contests.Before concluding

the ceremony, students

presented songs to the au-diences.—Rakhine State IPRD

Myeik, 20 Dec—In commemoration of the Kayin New Year Day 2014, the Myanmar tra-ditional boxing challenge was kicked off at a gymna-sium in Myeik, the capital

Plan to vaccinate measles, German measles to people in 2015nay Pyi taw, 20

Dec—A meeting to vacci-nate measles and German measles to the people in January and February 2015 across the nation was held at the hall of Pyinmana Township People’s Hos-pital (200-bed) in Nay Pyi Taw Council Area on 19 December.

Member of Nay Pyi Taw Council Professor Dr Paing Soe explained vacci-

nation for measles and Ger-man measles and dissemi-nation of health knowledge to the people. National Con-sultant Dr La Win Maung of WHO discussed outbreaks of these two diseases in the world and the country.

Head of Nay Pyi Taw Health Department Dr Daw Hla Hla Kyi reported on plans to give vaccinations to the people in the council area.—Shwe Kokko

Rakhine traditional wrestlers win gold medals

Sittway, 20 Dec—Final matches of the Rakhine tra-ditional wrestling contest were held at Wingabar Sports Grounds in Sittway, the capital of Rakhine State on 19 December, attended by Chief Minister of Rakhine State U Maung Maung Ohn and wife.

State Minister for Forestry and Mining U Kyaw Khin and Chief Minister U Maung Maung Ohn presented gold medals to the winners in the gold and silver classes.

Later, the chief minister and party enjoyed chorus dances of Rakhine nationals.—Rakhine State IPRD

Boxing challenge marks Kayin New Year Day 2014

of Taninthayi Region, on 18 December afternoon.

Boxers from Myeik, Dawei and Kawthoung districts participated in the challenge.

The challenge includ-

ed special matches of fa-mous boxers and ordinary matches of traditional box-ers from 18 to 20 Decem-ber.

Khaing Htoo (Myeik District IPRD)

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

N a t i o N a l3

Nay Pyi Taw, 20 Dec—Union Minister for Environmental Conserva-tion and Forestry U Win Tun held talks with Pro-fessor Dr. Ari Pappinen and party of University of Eastern Finland of Finland at the ministry, here, on Friday.

They discussed for-estry management in My-anmar, human resource development of University of Forestry, reforestation of

ECF Ministry, Finland university discuss human

resource developmentthe University of Eastern Finland and its cooperation with international commu-nity in generating energy from recycle of waste.

They also focused on exchange of post-graduate students and faculty mem-bers among the ministry and University of Eastern Finland in the future, and prospects of cooperation in using gasifier to gener-ate energy from recycling wastes.—MNA

Nay Pyi Taw, 20 Dec- The Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security held a meeting to discuss the designation of minimum wages on 18 De-cember, sources said.

The union minister told the meeting that the gov-ernment passed the Mini-mum Wage Law in July last year alongside related rules and regulations, adding that a national committee has been formed to desig-nate minimum wage in five

Designation of minimum wage rates discussedsteps.

In the first step, the national committee formed subcommittees to quick-en its operations, with the union minister saying that the second step involved holding seminars between employers and employees under the auspices of the government in cooperation with the Myanmar Develop-ment Research Institute and the International Labour Organization. According to the union minister, the third

step deals with submitting reasonable wages to respec-tive committees, while the fourth step requires the na-tional committee to publish the outcomes for public ob-servation for 60 days.

As for the fifth step, the national committee will put forward the proposed mini-mum wage rates to the gov-ernment for approval. The union minister called for full participation and frank discussions in designating minimum wages.—MNA

President U Thein Sein being

greeted by Prime Minister Prayut

Chan-o-cha at the photo gallery to

mark Fifth Greater Mekong Economic

Cooperation Summit.— mna

President U Thein Sein together with GMS leaders at the

opening of Fifth Greater Mekong

Economic Coopera-tion Summit.

mna

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha delivers speech at Fifth Greater Mekong Economic

Cooperation Summit.—mna

President of UMFCCI U Win Aung hands over the chairmanship to Cambodian official.

mna

(from page 1)US$51.5 billion covering 10 development areas, ranging from energy and agriculture to environment, human re-sources development, urban development, tourism, and transport and trade facilita-

Two corridors of Mekong . . .tion, among others.

At the sidelines of the summit attended by Pres-ident U Thein Sein, prime ministers of Thailand, Cambodia, China, Laos, Vietnam, the leader of Thai-land suggested some plans

to be carried in the region, including establishment of special border economic zones along the economic corridors, the development of infrastructures for trad-ing routes, facilitation of cross-border trade, invest-ment and environmental conservation efforts.

U Win Aung, pres-ident of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry, explained a statement of GMS Economic Forum and handed over the chairman-ship of that group to Cam-bodia.—MNA

Minister for Culture U Aye Myint Kyu and wife being welcomed by Indonesian Ambassador Dr Ito Sumardi and wife at the reception to mark 65th anniversary of establishment of

diplomatic ties between Myanmar and Indonesia on 19 December.—mna

Sunday, 21 December, 20144n a t i o n a l

Nay Pyi Taw, 20 Dec — Myanmar Parliamenta-ry Union held a meeting to boost cooperation between Pyidaungsu Hluttaw and Region/State Hluttaws and enhance parliamentary ca-pacity building on Satur-day.

The meeting took place at Zabuthiri Hall of Hluttaw Complex in Nay Pyi Taw, with Speaker of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Thura U Shwe Mann who also the chair of the MPU deliver-ing an address.

Myanmar Parliamentary Union meetsIn his speech, the

Speaker highlighted the importance of a team spirit among respective parlia-ments and capacity build-ing to be enhanced.

Next, Deputy Speaker U Nanda Kyaw Swa, MPU secretary, made clarifica-tion of work progress. Then those present held discus-sions on draft constitution of the MPU and other matters.

The meeting came to an end with concluding re-marks by the Speaker.

MNA

yaNgoN, 20 Dec — Myanmar Motion Picture Development Department held talks with Myanmar Motion Picture Organiza-tion on development of the country’s film industry at the department in Yangon on Saturday.

Clarifying procedures set by the department on 1 December 2014 for re-sponsible persons to adhere in making a movie, Direc-tor-General U Thein Aung of the department assured that there is no plan to re-activate the four points that had been lifted since 10 December 2011.

Expressing thanks for easing restrictions on mov-ie production, responsible persons of the organization

Myanmar film industry development discussed

called for continuation of relaxing restrictions for the development of the film in-dustry.

In his speech, Deputy Minister for Information U Pike Htway stressed the need of cooperation for the

better future of the industry and pledged to continue the ministry’s support to them.

MNA

Nay Pyi Taw, 20 Dec — Anti-narcotics task forc-es in northern Shan State confiscated more than one billion kyat worth drugs and equipment used to make illegal drugs outside the Lawkai township Friday.

While stopping the two vehicles, the task forc-es found the illegal drugs, equipment, guns, ammuni-tion, and the three suspects, identified as Shon Jin Wu aged 45, Shon Ta Ji 19 and Shon Ta Sae 19, were ar-rested. The confiscation of

yaNgoN, 20 Dec — The Small and Medium Enter-prises Development Agency held a second seminar on financial policies for local SMEs at its office here on Saturday, with the vice gov-ernor of the Central Bank of Myanmar giving talks on the exciting rules and regu-lations, challenges and pros-pects of the financial sector.

The seminar focused on familiarizing small business-es with banking procedures, analyses of financial hard-ships and financial policies.

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Myanmar and the German Society for Interna-

(from page 1)The team has invited

local and foreign software developers to join hands or offer their technical know-

Germany helps Myanmar’s small business to grow

tional Cooperation (GIZ) are jointly conducting “Saturday SME Talks”, aiming to give incentives to small and me-dium enterprises in the coun-try, officials said.

“Saturday SME Talks” took place for the first time on 23 August this year, with a talk given by Prof Dr Aung Tun Thet under the topic “promoting entrepreneur-ship and innovative SMEs”.

Germany has been helping Myanmar since 2012 with the development of its private, financial, tech-nical, vocational sectors.

The third seminar is expected to come in March 2015.—MNA

Anti-narcotic task forces seize over K1 billion worth drugs,

weapons in northern Shan Stateammunition included four guns, 132 bullets, six mag-azines and a China-made bomb, together with the anti-narcotic drugs and the substances to make the drugs, including acetic hy-droxide, hydro chloric acid, sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, sulphuric acid, potassium chloride and oth-er equipment.

The three suspects have been charged with an-ti-narcotic and psychotropic substances laws.

MNA

Nay Pyi Taw, 20 Dec—The fivesec-tionson Yazahtarni and Zayahtarni roads in Zabuthiri Township herewill be closed between 4 and 10 am on five daysto have rehearsals of ceremonies onthe 67th Inde-pendence Day parade and the Grand Military Review, which will be held on 4 January.

The announcement of the security com-mittee for these ceremonies stated that the temporary closures of these road sections will happen on 24, 26, 27, 29 and 30 Decem-ber, as well as on 1 January.

The blockade for the rehearsals will

how in developing a similar speech engine that can run on any devices.

The team can be reached at 09 796339780

and 0932237791 or visit-ed at myttsengine@gmail.com or mcfb.yecb@gmail.com.

GNLM

Beta release of Myanmar TTS engine . . .Roads in capital to be closed to rehearse for Grand Military Review on Independence Day

include the corner of headquarters of Min-istry of Finance on Yazahtarni Road, the intersection of this road near officer num-ber 18, Zayahtarni Road in front of the head office of Ministry of Transport, the section of Zayahtarni Road near office number 38 and the road between Kumudrakyarpan and Kyarpan roundabouts on Yazahtarni Road.

The Security Committee has noticed drivers to use Yazathingaha, Pannita and Zawana roads during these days, instead of the aforementioned road sections.

Security Committee

Kanbawza Group donates over K96 million to Myanmar Christian Fellowship of the Blind (MCFB), a local non-profit organization, to develop its text-to-

speech engine in the Myanmar language.—Photo: Khaing thanda Lwin

Thein Than Htay company is now

constructing a bridge spanning Nangying Creek in Myonyin,

Kachin State. With the length of 300 feet and width of 30 feet, the bridge is being built

spending 1049.7 million kyat provided by Kachin

State government in 2014-2015 fiscal year.

NLM-001

Speaker of Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Thura U Shwe Mann delivers speech at MPU meeting.—mna

Deputy Minister U Pike Htway attends meeting on development of Myanmar film industry.—mna

Sunday, 21 December, 2014 5r e g i o n a l

Police patrol on a beach near Kudankulam nuclear power project in Tamil Nadu on 12 Sept, 2012.—ReuteRs

India looks to sway Americans with nuclear power insurance plan

New Delhi, 20 Dec — India is offering to set up an insurance pool to indemni-fy global nuclear suppliers against liability in the case of a nuclear accident, in a bid to unblock billions of dollars in trade held up by concerns over exposure to risk.

Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi’s government is hoping the plan will be enough to convince ma-jor US companies such as General Electric (GE.N) to enter the Indian market ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit at the end of next month.

Under a 2010 nuclear liability law, nuclear equip-ment suppliers are liable for damages from an accident, which companies say is a sharp deviation from in-ternational norms that put the onus on the operator to maintain safety. From the 1950s, when the United States was the only exporter

of nuclear reactors, liability has been channelled to plant operators across the world.

India’s national law grew out of the 1984 Bho-pal gas disaster, the world’s deadliest industrial acci-

dent, at a factory owned by US multinational Union Carbide Corp which Indian families are still pursuing for compensation.

The law effectively shut out Western compa-

nies from a huge market, as energy-starved India seeks to ramp up nuclear power generation by 13 times, and also strained US-Indian re-lations since they reached a deal on nuclear cooperation

in 2008.GE-Hitachi, an alli-

ance between the US and Japanese firms, Toshiba’s (6502.T) Westinghouse Electric Company and France’s Areva (AREVA.PA) received a green light to build two reactors each. They have yet to begin con-struction several years later, according to India’s Depart-ment of Atomic Energy. Even Indian suppliers re-fused to sell equipment until the law is amended or they can be sure they are indem-nified against any liabilities.

“We are working fast to address the concerns of suppliers. We are working on a solution with the in-surance companies,” RK Sinha, Chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commis-sion, told Reuters.

State-run reinsurer GIC Re is preparing a proposal to build a “nuclear insur-ance pool” that would in-demnify the third-party sup-pliers against liabilities they would face in the case of an accident.

Under the plan, insur-ance would be bought by the companies contracted

BaNgkok, 20 Dec — Asian Development Bank Presi-dent Takehiko Nakao said on Friday that Asian economies will benefit from cheaper oil prices.

“The lower oil price gives a positive impact to the Asian economy as a whole because many Asian economies are im-porting,” Nakao told a Press conference in Bangkok.

Nakao is in Thailand for the fifth Greater Mekong Sub-region leaders’ summit that started on Friday.

The chief of the Manila-based bank said declining oil prices represent a “golden opportunity” for “beneficial re-forms” in Asia. Last Wednesday in the ADB’s updated Asian Development Outlook, the bank said the growth out-look for developing Asia remains steady even though mo-mentum slowed in the second half of 2014.

With oil and commodity prices falling, the update said most developing Asian economies have revised their infla-tion forecasts downward.

“The forecast for the region is lowered to 3.2 percent in 2014 and 3.5 percent in 2015, from 3.4 percent and 3.7 percent,” the report said. It added lower prices will give importers such as Indonesia and India a chance to reform costly fuel subsidy programmes while oil exporters will be able to develop their manufacturing sectors as lower commodity prices tend to make their real exchange rates more competitive.—Kyodo News

Indian PM wishes Jewish community on occasion

of Hanukkah

ADB chief says lower oil prices will benefit Asian economies

China, Thailand eye closer agriculture, railway cooperation

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (centre L) and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha (centre R) attend the

signing ceremony of two memoranda of understanding on railway cooperation and farm produce trade

cooperation respectively after they met in Bangkok, Thailand, on 19 Dec, 2014.—Xinhua

BaNgkok, 20 Dec — Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here on Friday that China and Thai-land have agreed to kick-start mutually beneficial cooperation on agro-prod-uct trade and railway.

China eyes deeper co-operation with Thailand and hopes for a more bal-anced bilateral trade and economic relationship, Li told reporters after meeting with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.

The two governments signed a memorandum of understanding on farm produce trade cooperation. China, Li said, has agreed to double its purchase on the basis of the volume the two sides agreed upon last year.

China expects the new initiative to empower both China and Thailand to re-sist risks of international market fluctuations and help improve the liveli-hood of Thai farmers, he said.

“Only China has such a big market and a huge purchasing power which could consume the big agricultural production of rice, rubber and others of Thailand,” said Li.

In addition, the two governments also inked

a memorandum of under-standing on railway coop-eration.

Li said the Chinese and Thai governments have agreed to build Thai-land’s first standard-gauge railway lines with a total length of more than 800 km, which has been ap-proved by the National Legislative Assembly of Thailand.

The agreement allows China to invest in two du-al-track rail lines in Thai-land that will span 734 km and 133 km respective-ly and connect northeast Thailand’s Nong Khai Province, Bangkok and eastern Rayong Province.

The project is estimat-ed to cost some 10.6 billion US dollars.

“This is the expansion, extension and further con-firmation of the previous agreement that the Chinese and Thai governments reached last year,” said Li.

The Chinese premier said he hopes that the two sides will speed up prepa-ration for the railway pro-ject and lay a solid basis for the beginning of con-struction at an early date.

The new railway will also benefit neighbouring countries if being extended to other places of the re-

gion, Li said.Chinese standards,

equipment and manufac-turing capacity will all be used in building the Thai railway, which helps China export its manufacturing capacity to the rest of the world, Li said.

For his part, Prayut said Thailand and China are friends sharing weal and woe, and his country highly values its relations with China.

Bilateral cooperation on railway and farm pro-duce trade is of vital sig-nificance to Thailand, and is conducive to regional

inter-connectivity and de-velopment, said Prayut, adding that Thailand will cooperate closely with the Chinese side to facilitate the implementation of rel-evant cooperation agree-ments.

Thailand, he said, will take the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplo-matic ties next year as an opportunity to elevate its relationship with China to a new height.

Li is here to attend the fifth summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation.

Xinhua

New Delhi, 20 Dec — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday wished the Jewish commu-nity of the country on the occasion of Hanukkah, an important Jewish festival.

“Wishing my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah! May this Festival of Lights and the festive season ring in peace, hope and well- being for all,” Modi said in a tweet. Hanukkah is an eight-day

Jewish holiday commemo-rating the re- dedication of the Holy Temple in Jerusa-lem at the time of a revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC, ac-cording to Jewish history.

India and Israel have been seeking closer relations in the fields of counter-ter-rorism, defense and security since the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power in May.—Xinhua

to build the nuclear reactors who would then recoup the cost by charging more for their services. Alternatively, state-run operator Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) would take out in-surance on behalf of these companies.

Sinha said New Delhi believed the insurance plan was the best option given how tricky changing the law would prove, and that the proposal should be ready within the next two months.

Details of the plan have yet to be thrashed out, and Sinha said the government was considering how it would better capitalise NP-CIL. India wants to gener-ate 62,000 megawatts from nuclear sources within two decades from the current level of 4,780 megawatts, even as other countries shift away from nuclear energy following Japan’s Fukushi-ma disaster.

GE declined to com-ment on the Indian propos-al to offer insurance cover. Westinghouse said it need-ed more information before it could comment.

Reuters

Sunday, 21 December, 20146w o r l d

Mariela Castro, director of the Cuban National Centre for Sex Education, National Assembly member

Cuba not returning to capitalism despite US deal: Castro’s daughter

Havana, 20 Dec — Cuba will defend its so-cialist principles and will not return to capitalism just because it has agreed a detente with the Unit-ed States, the daughter of President Raul Castro said, dispelling any notion that US companies would be free to roll into Cuba.

“The people of Cuba don’t want to return to cap-italism,” Mariela Castro, a member of parliament, told Reuters on Friday.

Cuba and the Unit-ed States on Wednesday agreed to end more than five decades of animosity and re-establish full diplo-matic relations. US Pres-ident Barack Obama also said he intends to remove some sanctions against Cuba and work with the US Congress to end the economic embargo.

But even if all US bar-riers to Cuba were lifted, any US companies would still need permission from Cuba’s communist govern-ment to do business on the Caribbean island.

“We’ve been at this 56 years and ... we love say-ing that we are a country in revolution, trying to create socialism, and we form part of a single party called the Communist Party,” Marie-la Castro said.

Under Cuba’s foreign investment law, overseas companies are welcome but need to negotiate agree-ments with Cuban state companies or the govern-ment to do business.

Cuba almost always demands a controlling stake, which has discour-aged some companies from

elsewhere in the world from investing.

Imports to Cuba are administered by state hold-ing companies, meaning that US companies would not be able to simply find a buyer and ship goods in.

“Sometimes people say Fidel is hard-headed, that the Cuban leaders are hard-headed, but experi-ence has taught us some-thing important, that we should never give in on our principles,” Castro said outside parliament during a break in Friday’s session.

Reuters

Obama’s year-end message to Americans: I’m not a lame duck

WasHington, 20 Dec — If US President Barack Obama is feeling the pain from a rough year at the office, he did a great job of covering it up on Friday.

Before boarding Air Force One for a vacation in Hawaii, the president gave a year-end news con-ference with a spring in his step, buoyed by a surge in US economic growth and newly confident after hav-ing stymied his Republican critics with unilateral ac-tions on immigration and Cuba.

Bantering with report-ers, granting questions only to women and wishing all the Hawaiian Christmas greeting, “Mele Kalikima-ka,” Obama appeared en-ergized and exuded an I’m-not-done-yet attitude.

“There is no doubt that we can enter into the new year with renewed confidence that America’s making significant strides where it counts,” he said.

The Washington Post declared recently that Oba-ma had “the worst year in Washington,” a grim as-sessment after the president struggled to respond to a variety of foreign and do-mestic crises from behead-ings by Islamic State to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to racial unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.

He was quickly la-belled a lame duck after his Democrats’ dramatic mid-term election losses to resurgent Republicans in early November. Already a multitude of potential candidates are jockeying for position in the loom-ing fight to succeed him in 2016.

Obama’s actions in the weeks since the elections, however, have foiled the conventional wisdom that his presidency is largely over.

He bypassed a divided Congress to reform immi-gration on his own, ignored congressional critics this week by moving to nor-malize relations with Cold War-era foe Cuba, and reached a compromise deal with Republicans on a $1.1 trillion spending bill to the chagrin of some Demo-crats.

Perhaps the biggest factor in Obama’s im-proved mood has been stronger economic growth and job creation after the long tepid period that marked much of a presi-dency that began in early

2009 when the economy was mired in deep reces-sion.

It is an old truth of American politics that pres-idents have a greater ability to strike compromises and go against their party’s or-thodoxy in their last two years in office, when they don’t have to face the vot-ers again.

Obama’s message to Republicans, who will con-trol both houses of Con-gress in January, was that he will be willing to com-promise with them but will insist that he gets some-thing he wants in return.

Obama cited tax re-form as an area of potential compromise, and as part of any deal he raised again the issue of getting Con-gress to approve funds for infrastructure projects, a demand Republicans have repeatedly rejected.

“In order for their ini-tiatives to become law I’m going to have to sign off,” he said. “And that means they have to take into ac-count the issues that I care about, just as I’m going to take into account the issues

that they care about.”The president felt no

compunction about public-ly calling out Sony Pictures for withdrawing a comedy movie, “The Interview,” because of a massive hack-ing attack that the United States on Friday blamed on North Korea.

“I wish they had spo-ken to me first,” Obama said of Sony executives. “I would’ve told them, ‘do not get into a pattern in which you’re intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks.’”

Behind the scenes, Obama privately acknowl-edges that he has six or nine months to make pro-gress on his agenda before the campaign to replace him kicks into high gear and Americans begin to look past him.

But at his Press confer-ence, he beseeched Ameri-cans not to do that just yet.

“My presidency is en-tering the fourth quarter. Interesting stuff happens in the fourth quarter. And I’m looking forward to it,” he said.—Reuters

Ukrainian army soldiers from battalion “Aydar” practise shooting during a military drill in the village of Schastya, near the eastern Ukrainian town of Luhansk

on 20 Sept, 2014.—ReuteRs

Rebels say new Ukraine peace talks will not take place on Sunday — IFX

Kiev, 20 Dec — A Ukrainian separatist leader said a new round of peace talks aimed at easing the conflict between the Kiev government and rebels will not take place on Sun-day as had been hoped, news agency Interfax re-ported on Friday.

Talks in the Bela-russian capital of Minsk between Russia, Ukraine and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in September brokered a ceasefire agree-ment between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels.

The truce was flouted by both sides but violence has lessened significantly in December, raising hopes of further talks. Ukrainian Petro Poroshenko said this week representatives were likely to meet on Sunday to discuss implementing the next steps of the agree-ment.

Denis Pushilin, vice speaker of the separa-tists’ “People’s Council”, a leadership body, said a date had yet to be agreed.

“We hope a Minsk meeting will happen be-fore the new year,” Inter-fax quoted him as saying.

Earlier on Friday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the group to meet again in person as soon as possible.

“We must make every effort to bring this about, as at the next meeting we want to see deals being struck on the exchange of prisoners, deals on the de-marcation line, the buffer zone,” he told journalists in Kiev after talks with Po-roshenko. —Reuters

EU open to possible easing of sanctions against Russia

Brussels, 20 Dec — The European Union (EU) is open to possible easing of its sanctions against Russia, if peace progress is made in Ukraine, French President Francois Hollande said here on Friday. Speaking at a Press conference of the EU winter summit, Hollande called for implementation in all dimensions of the Minsk agreement reached in Sep-tember between Kiev and independence-seeking insur-gents. The French president hoped the process of the Minsk agreement “moves fast by the end of the year,” adding that the contact group that includes delegates from the two confronting sides and envoys from Russia and the Organization for Securi-ty and Cooperation will meet next week in Minsk on fur-ther implementation of the previous agreement.

The current Russian economic situation is very delicate and fragile, which is not good for Russia, Europe and the global economy, Hollande said, attributing Russia’s situation to falling oil prices and sanctions im-posed by the EU.— Xinhua

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

w o r l d7

Israel bombs Hamas facility in Gaza following rocket fire

Israeli border policemen inspect the remains of a rocket launched into Israel from Gaza Strip in southern Israel, on 19 Dec, 2014. A rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit southern Israel on Friday, causing no injuries or damages, the Israeli military

said. Air raid sirens were heard in several Israeli communities adjoining the border with Gaza shortly before the rocket exploded in an open territory. —Xinhua

Jerusalem, 20 Dec — Israeli aircraft struck a Hamas military site in the Gaza Strip early on Sat-urday in retaliation for a rocket fired at southern Is-rael the day before.

This is the first Israe-li air strike on the coastal enclave since a 50-day war ended in August.

Palestinian media re-ported that missiles were fired at a training facility in the area of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza. No injuries have been reported.

The Israeli military is-sued a statement saying that aircraft attacked Hamas “terror infrastructure” in southern Gaza in response to rocket fire earlier in the day, with pilots reporting a direct hit.

Lt Col Peter Lerner, a military spokesperson, said, “The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) will not permit any attempt to un-dermine the security and jeopardize the well-being of Israeli civilians. The Ha-

mas terrorist organization is responsible and account-able for today’s attack against Israel.”

The Israeli strikes came after a rocket, the third launched from Gaza since a cease-fire came into

effect on 26 August, ex-ploded in an open area near the border fence shortly be-fore noon on Friday, caus-ing no injuries or damage. Air raid sirens sounded in Israeli communities in the vicinity shortly before the

projectile fell, alerting res-idents to seek cover.

Two rockets, launched at Israel on 1 November and 16 September respec-tively, exploded in fields near the border and caused no injuries. Following the

first attack, Hamas arrested the members of a militant group. Israel did not re-spond to those attacks. No group in Gaza has claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, which came after a European Union court on Wednesday ruled to remove Hamas from the bloc’s list of terror organ-izations. Danny Danon, a Likud lawmaker and for-mer Israeli deputy defence minister, said the incident served as a proof to Europe that Hamas, which wrested control of Gaza in 2007, “is a terrorist organization.”

“If anyone doubted this, then they received the answer now,” he said.

Haim Yelin, the head of a local council of south-ern Israeli border commu-nities that were battered by numerous rockets in July and August, said that diplo-macy was the only way to end the rocket attacks that have been targeting Israel for more than a decade.

Xinhua

The word “Afghanistan’’ is carved into wood in a guard tower at Command Outpost AJK (short for

Azim-Jan-Kariz - a nearby village) in Maiwand District, Kandahar Province on 23 Jan, 2013. — ReuteRs

Civilian deaths in Afghanistan war reach new high in 2014 — UNits combat mission at the end of the month, shifting to a supporting role for Af-ghan forces after 13 years.

“The situation for ci-vilians in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly dire,” said Georgette Gag-non, human rights direc-tor for the UN mission in Kabul. As of 30 Novem-ber, the United Nations had recorded a total of 3,188 civilian deaths and 6,429 injuries. That puts 2014 on track to be the first year on record that combined civil-ian casualties will surpass 10,000. Civilian deaths over the year to the end of November were up 19 per-cent over the same period last year and had already

surpassed the previous high set in 2011, when 3,133 ci-vilians were killed.

For the first time, ground battles between the Taleban and Afghan forces became the main cause of civilian deaths. In previous years, planted bombs killed the most civilians.

“That is very worry-ing,” said Gagnon, calling on all sides to do more to keep civilians from being caught in crossfire of mor-tars and other heavy weap-ons. About three-quarters of civilian casualties were caused by Taleban insur-gents, who are intensifying their fight to re-establish their hardline Islamist re-gime that was toppled in a

US-backed military inter-vention for sheltering the al-Qaeda architects of the 11 September, 2001, attacks on US cities.

Since the UN began tracking civilian casualties in 2009, a total of 17,252 civilian deaths and 29,536 injuries have been recorded. While US military officials have portrayed the war as in the process of being won by Afghan security forces, the national army and police have also suffered record losses this year, with more than 4,600 killed. Since 2001, nearly 3,500 foreign soldiers from 29 countries have been killed in Afghan-istan, including about 2,200 Americans.—Reuters

Kabul, 20 Dec — At least 3,188 Afghan civil-ians have been killed in the intensifying war with the Taleban in 2014, making it the deadliest year on re-cord for non-combatants,

the United Nations said on Friday.

The numbers are a sharp reminder that the Af-ghan war is far from over, even as a US-led interna-tional force formally ends

Britain intends to

allow women to serve in frontline infantry

roleslondon, 20 Dec —

British women are likely to be allowed for the first time to fight in ground close combat roles by 2016, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on Fri-day.

“I hope that, following further work on our training regimes and equipment, we can open up combat roles to women in 2016,” British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said.

He added that roles in the armed forces “should be determined by ability not gender.”

The MoD on Fri-day published a govern-ment-commissioned report, which “ended the long-held view that mixed close ground combat units would have an adverse effect on cohesion between troops,” the ministry said in a state-ment. The report calls for further research into the physiological demands on women before they are al-lowed to fight on the front line. “Ground close combat roles place high physical demands on service per-sonnel, and it is important that the impacts on wom-en’s health are fully ex-plored,” the MoD said.

It added that it would be “irresponsible and po-tentially place women at risk of personal injury” if they undertake these roles without further research.

Xinhua

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Yukiya Amano arrives for a board of governors

meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna on 11 Dec, 2014. — ReuteRs

Iran honours nuclear deal with powers, IAEA report showsVienna, 20 Dec —

Iran has continued to meet commitments under an in-terim nuclear agreement with six world powers, a confidential UN agency re-port showed, though Tehe-ran temporarily halted con-version work that makes higher-grade uranium less suitable for bombs.

The monthly update by the International Atom-ic Energy Agency (IAEA), seen by Reuters, said Iran was not enriching uranium above a fissile concentra-tion of 5 percent, far below the 90 percent level needed for atomic arms. It also said

Iran had not made “any fur-ther advances” to its ac-tivities at two enrichment facilities and an unfinished heavy water reactor.

Under last year’s ac-cord between Iran and the United States, France, Ger-many, Russia, China and Britain, the Islamic Repub-lic halted its most sensitive nuclear activity and took other steps in exchange for some easing of economic sanctions.

It was negotiated to buy time for talks on a fi-nal settlement of a 12-year dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme, which it says

is peaceful but the West fears may be aimed at de-veloping a capability to produce nuclear weapons.

After Iran and the powers last month failed for a second time to meet a deadline for ending the stand-off, they extended the preliminary accord un-til 30 June.

France and Britain said on Thursday that Iran had not demonstrated suf-ficient flexibility in the nu-clear talks. The remarks, at the United Nations, came just after the completion of another inconclusive round of negotiations in Geneva

this week. Western officials say

Iran has not compromised on major sticking points, including the size and scope of its future urani-um enrichment programme and the speed of ending sanctions.

Under the interim deal’s extension, Iran would continue to cov-ert higher-grade uranium oxide into reactor fuel — thereby making it harder and more time-consuming to turn it into the fissile core of a bomb. Teheran denies any such aim.

Reuters

Sunday, 21 December, 20148o p i n i o n

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

We appreciate your feedback and contributions. If you have any comments or would like to submit editorials, analyses or reports please email wallace.tun@gmail.com with your name and title.

Due to limitation of space we are only able to publish “Letter to the Editor” that do not exceed 500 words. Should you submit a text longer than 500 words please be aware that your letter will be edited.

Write for us

olence are of importance for the life. While bad mentalities of grudge, hatred and

jealousy do not need lessons or training, the pos-itive mental attitude such as sympathy and toler-ance require mindfulness and contemplation on every experience before responding external fac-tors. All good is hard, while all evil is easy.

We can easily counter with negative attitudes of anger and disgust against other’s mistreat-ment. However patience or forgiveness rarely comes out to calm down the heat out of dissatis-faction. Life is too long and boring for those who do not care about prosperity of oneself or socie-ty.

The world has developing issues to be tacked of all time. Whenever a certain problem has hap-pened, we need to solve it with peace and tran-quility. When a situation or argument cannot be resolved properly, negative impacts such as mis-understanding and displeasure might result

from it. Gorge Washington said that it is at all times easier to make enemies than friends.

Mahatma Gandhi said ‘An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind’. For those who have high expectations, making the world and nearby society peaceful is not easy-peasy. They always concentrate on the welfare of human till their last breath, with the consid-eration of dying and comedy are crucial for all.By Aung Khin

Till the last breath

All men are afraid of dying, and the world moving forward without us. To understand well the arts of living in life

is a complete mystery to us. There have been a list of things they don’t teach us at school — how to love somebody, how to be famous, how to be rich or how to be poor, and all how to die.

However we need to learn ourselves from experiences for the best of our lives till the end of our last breathe. Mental maturity and benev-

In human society, there are different types of people living and working together. The individual differ-ences or discrepancy in characters, habit, and men-

tality are inherited from the heredity and environment. Occasionally, we disagree with each other for different concept s or ideas. We normally decide to do with the people together those who accept common sense to do something achievable for our community or society. This behavior or act can lead to harmonious result. An-yway, we obligate to do the betterment of our society and for welfare state. We, the public do not want to see or encounter the egoists, opportunists, bureaucrats and shirkers those who were appointed as government offi-cials. The egoists, opportunists, bureaucrats and shirk-ers are the persons , who are selfish, undutiful, arrogant and parasitic. So, the government has to assess or mon-itor its elected officials’ conduct and performance in fulfilling the wants and needs of the citizens concerned. Recruiting or electing the public servants is very impor-tant because the candidates are the ones who would work as decision makers or administrators for public services. If they consider their ranks or positions or ben-efits as the first priority and fulfill the public needs and wants lastly, the institutions or the government will be disgraceful and untrustworthy. The egoists, opportun-ists, bureaucrats and shirkers in the public services are normally subservient or obsequious to their immediate bosses or superiors for their sustainable positions and benefits from the services. They practice the subservi-ence for the sake of their personal gain or merit, but they suppress their subordinates. Obviously, they are sycophants or servile self-seeking flatterers indeed. Fur-thermore, they brazenly violate the codes of conduct of the public servants. Therefore, their behavior and mal-practice tarnish and undermine the reputation of the government badly. Consequently, the building of har-monious relations between the government officials and the ordinary citizens will not be possible. The aforesaid disgusting mindsets of some public servants must be eliminated or changed in conformity with the exercising clean government.

Any public officials who are egoists, opportunists, bureaucrats and shirkers, must be removed and replaced with honorable and decent ones. There must have been

goodwill- gesture, sincerity and willingness to serve the interests of the citizens in the minds of the public serv-ants. Undeniably, the decent officials are qualified enough to do the public-dealing jobs or assignments harmoniously. They usually treat the public with careful attention and humility when they perform their duties. Thus, right men in the right places can be visualized and the government can also maintain its glory. At the same time, the mechanism of government channel can be op-erated smoothly and efficiently for the nation’s tasks. Besides, there will be no misunderstanding or distrust on the government concerned. As a result, the mutual- trust between government and the public can be built up .The clean governments usually get rids of corrupt offi-cials and malpractice. The entire people are very eager to see or deal with clean government. So,the present government is also carrying out reform in administra-tion pattern. At present, the elected Myanmar govern-ment is listening to the people’s voice and making the positive changes. Similarly, the mindsets of the Myan-mar citizens must also be changed to make the process-es of democratization so that Myanmar can proudly stand tall as a democratic state in the world. If we really want to acquire democratic values, we must practice the correct way to achieve them. Both the people and the government officials must possess high morale and high standard of morality so that we can maintain the pres-tige and honor of our country. Our fresh demands are for reform in administration and exercising clean gov-ernment because we had already encountered with mis-management, ineffectual government officials and malpractice in the management and administrations in the past. We do not want to hear such undignified be-haviors and poor qualities any more. In addition, we do oppose those who practice nepotism and cliques in the government offices or government organizations. Since we all are Myanmar citizens, we have been given rights to legally choose the efficient, skilled and decent public officials, who are Myanmar citizens as well. We aim to step forward to reach the brilliant and prosperous state. Thus, we can give our posterity a guarantee that they will be able to have privileges and rights to participate in nation’s tasks for sustainable all-round development of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. The priceless inheritance such as the state-pride, patriotic-spirit, unity and union-spirit should be handed down to the subse-quent generations.

(See page 9)

It is time to remove the egoists, opportunists, bureaucrats and shirkers from the public services for exercising clean-government

By TOMMY PAUK

Dear Sir,It was the 70th Sarsodaw Day of Myanmar

which came on the 1st waxing day of Nattaw 1306 by Myanmar calendar, 23rd November 2014. The first Sarsodaw Day of modern Myanmar was cele-brated on the 1st waxing day of Nattaw 1306 Myan-mar Era (15th November 1944) in Yangon spon-sored by Pyinnya Takun Association, Myanmar Writers’ Association and Myanmar scholars. Since that time Sarsodaw Day was held annually as an auspicious event to honour and commemorate My-anmar literature and Myanmar writers.

The first ceremony to pay puja (obeisance) to the senior doyen writers was inaugurated by the Myanmar Nainggan Sarpay Lotha Association in 1342 Myanmar Era (AD 1980). The initial number of doyen writers came to only 10. Since then the number of old writers increased steadily, with na-tional coverage. The minimum age was also fixed at 80 next birthday. The latest anniversary ceremony was held on the 1st waxing day of 1376 Myanmar Era (23rd November 2014) at Yangon, in the YCDC Town Hall, the auspicious venue of such ceremo-nies, being held annually. One hundred and eighty doyen writers graced the ceremony. Only very few were physically strong and mentally alert, as many felt the ravages of old age and infirmity. But there was joy among all as they meet and greet each oth-er, reliving their old memories, and resolving anew to contribute in the remaining day of their twilight years.

The State Dignitaries most respectfully paid obeisance, contributed cash donated by generous donors and a gift of SKYNET to the 28 newly ar-rived freshers. The President of current Myanmar Writers Association, Sithu U Tin Hlaing (Letwin-thar Saw Chit) delivered a stirring key note speech to grace the ceremony and one seasoned writer de-livered word of thanks. Finally the 70th Sarsodaw Day ceremony came to a close.

This is the 5th year for me to attend the ceremo-ny and bless all who had contributed much towards growth and sustenance of Myanmar literature and enduring heritage of a thousand years. Inwardly I condoled the 20 writers who passed away peaceful-ly in 2014. While thanking the Editor of Global New Light of Myanmar for publishing my letter now, as he had done so always I look forward to more enriching years of literary contribution.

Yours etc U Ba Than (Maha Vijja)

Letter to the Editor

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

a r t i c l e9

The sidewalks are pedestrian walk-ways or foot

paths on both sides of the motor roads in the cities and towns. They provide safe passages for those on foot, free from the dangers of car accidents. They are usu-ally built about a foot higher than the motor-ways they bordered. The curbs, or concrete blocks are placed at the edges of the sidewalks, to reinforce them and to make cars getting onto the sidewalks impossi-ble; in case the cars went out of control. They are painted either plain yel-low or checkered white and red or yellow and black or left unpainted to indicate the degree of restrictions for park-ing at those locations. The motorists are sup-posed to know what they meant; however, I doubt whether every driver really knew what they meant. Now, they don’t matter anymore, as they are being neglected by both the motorists and the concerned depart-ments.

Most sidewalks in Yangon City had van-ished. They were taken over by the cars for park-ing, and businesses and street vendors expand-ing their domains onto the sidewalks. These il-legal actions forced the pedestrians to take to the motor roads, which made them vulnerable to car accidents. The de-partment responsible for their maintenance had abandoned them in most

Tommy Pauk is the pseudonym of U Thein Swe, who is B.A (English) and (Registered Law) R.L I. degrees holder. He has English Teaching experience at Yangon University English Department and Workers’ college in Yangon, and now is working as freelance writer and English Teacher cum Translator/Interpreter for foreign firms.

locations. These prob-lems are most common in the townships outside the downtown areas, for ex-ample Tammwe and Ka-mayut townships, the only two places I had frequent-ly been to, nowadays. As I lives in Tammwe area, I will mention the condi-tions in my locality, which I am quite familiar.

Along the Banyardala Road, that can be termed the main artery of Tam-mwe, the sidewalks were no more passable by the pedestrians, throughout its length. If one would care to take a walk, start-ing from the traffic light intersection near Min-galar Market, heading toward the traffic light junction at the former Tammwe round about, one would agree with my statement. The sidewalks along that route had been taken over, in many plac-es by the local residents, to be utilized as their per-manent parking lots. In some places the sidewalks are only about three feet wide, as they had to give space for widening the ex-isting roads.

Early every morning, when I went for my daily walks to Kandawgyi Lake, I had to walk along the concrete dividers that run along the center line of the road to avoid being ran over by the racing, or rath-er, “fighting” buses. In the early hours, the roads are still not too crowded yet and provided them with perfect “Formula One” race tracks. If you are wondering why I walked over those concrete blocks along the middle of the

road instead of taking the sidewalks, which are supposed to be for pedes-trians, please recall the above statement and you will realize my actions. Someone passing by on a car might even think I was jaywalking, not pay-ing attention to the rules and regulations regarding road safety. I must insist that the dividers lining the center of road provide the safest place to walk along, these days, as you can-not either keep to the left side or to the right side of the road, because of the parked cars taking up the outermost lanes. As for the sidewalks, don’t even think of them early in the morning, as the cars are still parked on them.

As I have nothing productive to do at my age, I thought of doing a survey/research, on how the motorists were able to get their cars over the high curbs of the sidewalks. To my dismay, the curb blocks in many places were missing and the side-walk surfaces were sloped toward the road to facili-tate easy access for the cars to be parked squarely on the sidewalks, leaving no space for even a slim person to pass. The curbs were either intentionally removed or diminished in height to the point of dis-appearing under the new layers of asphaltic, repeat-edly laid without remov-ing the old ones. Some places are utilized as park-ing lots only during the nights. However, in some places like the front of the companies, hotels and mobile phone shops, they

are staked out, using signs that claimed as parking for their cars only, during the daytimes too.

I won’t be fair, if I don’t mention a number of various types of business-es and some food stalls encroaching the spaces in front of their places to display their commodities, restricting the pedestrian traffics over the sidewalks. Of these, the carpenter shops, hardwares and con-struction materials stores are the worst offenders. Their goods can inflict in-juries to the passers by, as they are recklessly strewn on the sidewalks, Also, the labourers loading or un-loading their goods from trucks have no regards for the public; they will never give priority to the pedes-trians.

If you want to avoid the cars parked illegally on the sidewalks and the congested spaces due to encroachments by the var-ious businesses, the only place for the pedestrians are the motor roads. Those too are not safe for them, as there are cars double parked in many places, on each side of the six lane road. In actual fact, the Banyardala Road be-ing a six lane road is, or rather was designated as a no parking road around the clock. However, I am doubtful that designation still applies, from the ap-pearance of it. In some spots, there are garbage bins lined on the side of the road taking up some portion of the outermost traffic lane. Inconsid-erate motorists, mostly taxi drivers, would park

by the side of those bins, keeping a wide space in between because of the stench, making the mo-torable space narrower. Hence, taking to the road instead of the congested sidewalks, which you are sometimes compelled to do so to get to your desti-nations, may be more dan-gerous. Some of you may think I am making a big fuss about nothing. For those who thought so, I would like to invite you to come and see for yourself, because “seeing is believ-ing”.

As for the Kamayut area, the sidewalks close to the flyover bridge at Hledan junction are the worst places. The side-walks are lower than the standards, if there are any. What I want to point out is that, they are thought to have been purposely made low during recent con-structions, to facilitate car parkings on them.

As I was too engrossed in blaming the unscru-pulous and irresponsible persons, I almost forgot to mention the conditions of the sidewalk surfaces. There are not a few feet of even surface along the sidewalks, except in those places maintained by the residents, with their own expenses, to be used for parking their cars. Other places are full of potholes, cracked concretes slabs and loose dirts. These are the handy works of the

ever present rodents at-tracted by the garbage bins. They had bur-rowed beneath the side-walks, causing them to collapse, making it very difficult to tread on. For that matter the rodents are not the only culprits, but some residents are also responsible. They plant trees that can get very big, to get shade, smack on the sidewalks, causing the damages to the them as they grew. I would like to say that such surfaces pose dan-gers to the pedestrians, especially the elderly persons. Here, I wanted to use the term “senior citizens”; however, I de-cided not to, as we are not recognized as such in our country. Where-as, in other countries, people over sixty years of age are recognized as senior citizens, and are given priority every-where. There are even separate toilets at pub-lic places for them, with safety rails fitted for support.

Well, there is a long way ahead of us, and many things to be done, so let us strive together to reach that goal. We should not place all the responsibilities on the government alone, we must observe our civic duties too.Looking forward to a law abiding and disci-plined society.

.

The Vanishing Sidewalks

The author is Retired Deputy General Manager,

Admin: Dept; Myanmar Posts and

Telecommunications

By Khin Maung Myint

(from page 8)We need to strengthen the spirit of patriotism so

that we can prosper our nation and the entire people. There is a correlation between good governance and clean government and they must be in equilibrium. It is necessary to maintain the enough equilibrium to oper-ate or drive the mechanism of administrative body con-stantly.

People from all walks of life are working for their livelihoods and for their country. The citizens also must be honest and decent in dealing with the govern-ment. The decent and honest citizens never ever evade taxes .They usually or regularly pay taxes levied by the government. The citizens and foreigners living or working in Myanmar are responsible for paying taxes and adhering to the existing laws. The punitive actions must be taken against those who evade taxes and vio-

late the laws. The existence of the rule of law and the clean government make people feel happy, safe, se-cure, comfortable and energetic when they earn their livelihoods.

It is important to build the honest, trustworthy and cooperative relations between the government and the citizens concerned. The citizens have been given right to express their optimistic views and constructive criti-cism on state, regional and divisional governments as well. The existence of clean government gives us a lot of benefits for our country. As there are no malversa-tion and red tape, a flock of foreign investors are plan-ning to invest in Myanmar for long term businesses or manufacturing products or establishing business asso-ciations or membership . It is a sign of mutual- benefit for Myanmar and foreign investors. When we look at the benefits from the economic aspect, our country can earn huge amount of foreign currency and can import the essential foreign products for the people. e.g. heavy

machinery for construction, modern medical equip-ment for public hospitals, modern sea- vessels for sea- transport etc. Simultaneously, we can create job oppor-tunities for the locals. Moreover, there will be no political conflicts and international trade will be more flourishing in Myanmar. Therefore, both local and for-eign businessmen can do their respective businesses independently and confidently. Hopefully, Myanmar can be transformed from the developing country into the developed country with our endeavors. Let’s march together with the clean government towards a prosperous goal !!!

It is time to remove...

Sunday, 21 December, 201410w o r l d

Ferguson wants peace instead of protests, but anger still simmers

Demonstrators protest against police violence and the Ferguson shooting of Michael Brown, in Sao Paulo on 18 Dec, 2014. The banner reads, “Ferguson is here’’. —ReuteRs

Ferguson, 20 Dec — It is hard to find much healing in Ferguson, Missouri.

More than four months after a white police officer killed an unarmed black teenager and sparked na-tionwide demonstrations over the way police in the United States interact with the black community, an-ger still simmers in the city of 21,000 mostly black res-idents.

Officials in Ferguson, Missouri, and the larger St Louis area want to move from protests to peace, promising programmes to build alliances between blacks and whites, and be-tween police and those they are sworn to protect.

“Ferguson is really trying to move forward,” Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said in an inter-view. “We’re very open. We’re listening and mak-ing proactive changes.”

Still, hundreds of people who participated in the protests face crimi-nal charges or fines. Pro-test leaders and a team of lawyers want charges dismissed for many of the roughly 500 people ar-rested in the St Louis area

since Michael Brown’s 9 August shooting by police officer Darren Wilson. A grand jury declined to in-dict Wilson in November in the teenager’s death.

“They should wipe the slate clean. All of these charges are a tactic to intim-idate... to complicate our lives,” said Derek Laney, an activist with Hands Up

United, which has organ-ized demonstrations.

A group called Jail Support has raised more than $120,000 to post bonds and pay defence at-torneys to represent the protesters in court. And a non-profit group called Plea for Justice was incor-porated this month in St. Louis to pursue litigation

for protesters and others in the area.

Further adding to ten-sions, the Missouri arm of the National Associa-tion for the Advancement of Coloured People sued the Ferguson-Florissant School District on Thurs-day, alleging the school board election process put black voters at a disadvan-

tage. While blacks make up more than 77 percent of the student population, there is only one black person on the seven-member school board.

Another tension point is that the city recently learned that the Depart-ment of Justice is extend-ing its probe into the prac-tices of the Ferguson police

department, according to Knowles.

The mayor acknowl-edged the continuing ten-sions but said city leaders were pushing forward. The city belatedly held a hol-iday lights festival on 14 December after canceling the event in November due to protests.

And on Friday, city leaders hosted a resource fair with 57 state and lo-cal agencies and charita-ble organizations to offer aid to business owners and residents impacted by the months of demonstrations.

In the spring, city of-ficials will launch a pro-gramme to recruit black college students willing to work as Ferguson police officers after they graduate in exchange for paid tuition at a police academy.

“This whole situation has been very difficult,” Knowles said. “The people who live here just want to get to a point of healing.”

Rasheen Aldridge, a 20-year-old student and activist from St Louis who serves on a newly created Ferguson Commission task force, said more change is needed.

“The politicians just want to move on,” said Aldridge, who is one of the protesters facing criminal charges. “They say they are going to do this and that. But there is no healing yet.”

Reuters

All fuel removed from Fukushima Daiichi No 4 unit pool

Pakistan hangs two militants after Taleban school massacre

A man places a rose after lighting candles in front of portraits of the victims of the Taleban attack on the

Army Public School in Peshawar, during a candlelight vigil in Lahore on 19 Dec, 2014. —ReuteRs

Lahore, 20 Dec — Pa-kistan executed two prom-inent militants on Friday, sources said, in a clear response to this week’s massacre of more than 130 children at a school.

The hanged militants had no links to the Tale-ban’s assault in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday, but their executions came at a time when a shocked Paki-

stani society is piling pres-sure on the government to do more to stem escalating violence.

Pakistan lifted a mora-torium on the death penalty after the attack and Mo-hammed Aqeel and Arshad Mehmood were the first prisoners reported hanged under the new arrange-ments.

The announcement

of their deaths came just hours after The UN human rights office appealed to Pakistan to refrain from re-suming executions, saying this would not stop terror-ism and might even feed a “cycle of revenge”.

“Aqeel alias Usman and Arshad were hanged in Faislabad Jail at 9:00 pm,” a source in a local govern-ment in Punjab Province told Reuters.

Aqeel, also known as Dr Usman, had been in jail for leading an attack on the Pakistani army headquar-ters in 2009 in which 20 people were killed. He was a member of the radical sectarian Lashkar-e-Jhang-vi group.

Mehmood, was arrest-ed for trying to assassinate former President Pervez Musharraf.

Four other militants, currently in jail in the east-ern city of Lahore, are also expected to be executed in coming days.

Reuters

drone strike launched in Pa-kistan’s northwest tribal area of North Waziristan on Sat-urday morning, reported lo-cal Urdu TV channel Samaa.

According to the report, the US unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at a house suspected of being a militant hideout in Data Khel area of North Waziristan, a tribal area bordering Afghanistan.

Five killed in US drone strike in NW Pakistan

IsLamabad, 20 Dec — At least five people were killed and sever-al others injured in a US

The identities of the killed and injured are not immediately available.

Saturday’s US drone strike is the 20th of its kind in Pakistan in 2014. Since the beginning of this year, at least 140 people, most of them believed to be mili-tants, have reportedly been killed in such strikes.

Xinhua

Tokyo, 20 Dec — The operator of the crippled Fuk-ushima Daiichi nuclear pow-er plant said on Saturday it has finished removing all fuel rods from the spent fuel pool of the badly damaged No 4 reactor building, a ma-jor step in decommissioning efforts.

A total of 1,535 fuel rod assemblies, including 1,331 riskier spent fuel rods and 204 unused ones, have been now taken to other buildings after Tokyo Electric Power Co’s yearlong operation, reducing risks of exposure of the fuel in the event of a new earthquake

or other possible accidents.“Completion of the re-

moval work is a milestone and I feel deeply about it,” plant chief Akira Ono told report-ers, adding TEPCO will not let its guard down as the de-commissioning process will be lengthy.

The overall cleanup work of the Fukushima plant — which is expected to take decades — has been delayed due to radioactive water build-ing up at the site.

The No 4 reactor, which was offline for regular check-ups at the time of the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami dis-

aster, had all of its fuel stored in the pool located in the up-per level of the building and avoided a meltdown unlike the Nos 1 to 3 units.

But the No 4 reactor building suffered a hydrogen explosion in the early stage of the nuclear crisis, and con-tinued storage of the fuel in the weakened building was a source of concern.

TEPCO hopes to begin taking out the fuel from the No 3 spent fuel pool in the next fiscal year beginning in April, and the No 1 pool in fis-cal 2017, a key step before ex-tracting the melted fuel. But it is uncertain whether the work will go smoothly given higher levels of radiation in the Nos. 1 to 3 units.—Kyodo News

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

b u s i n e s s & h e a l t h

11

Shoppers wrestle over a television as they compete to purchase retail items on “Black Friday” at an Asda

superstore in Wembley, north London on 28 Nov, 2014.ReuteRs

‘Black Friday’ spree lifts UK retail sales growth to

27-year high — CBI

London, 20 Dec — A “Black Friday” shopping frenzy pushed British retail sales growth to a 27-year high in December, accord-ing to an industry survey on Friday.

The Confederation of British Industry’s distrib-utive trades survey’s retail sales balance soared to +61 in December, the high-est reading since January 1988, and a marked rise from November’s +27.

Strong economic growth and a recent drop in the price of essentials such as food and fuel appears to be finally starting to trans-late into higher spending on big-ticket items by many households, after years of falls in disposable income.

The CBI started sur-veying retailers just before the US-style Black Friday promotions took place on 28 November, and finished on 11 December.

“The strongest sales

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner under construction is pictured at the Boeing facility in Everett, Washington

on 17 Feb, 2012.— ReuteRs

Three air-bag accidents at Boeing plant lead to extra safety measures

SeattLe, 20 Dec — Workers at planemaker Boeing’s (BA.N) Everett plant near Seattle are fol-lowing extra safety meas-ures after three air bag-re-lated accidents, including the death of a technician last month, the company said on Friday.

No one was seriously hurt when an air bag de-ployed on 13 December as a seat supplier technician was working on a Zodiac Aerospace seat on a plane being readied for delivery, Boeing spokesman Wilson Chow said.

“We understand that

employees are concerned,” Chow said, adding the company was holding meetings with workers and was implementing addi-tional safeguards and in-spections.

“We are confident the system is safe to work on and to be around, and the seat-belt air bag poses no risk to the flying public,” Chow said.

The accidental dis-charge of a seat-belt airbag happened because a bent connector pin caused a short circuit, he said.

Chow confirmed a third incident but could not provide specifics, such as injuries or cause.

A technician for air-craft interior supplier Jam-co America died after be-ing struck in the face when a passenger seat air-bag inflator discharged while he and another technician

from a different supplier were working on a 777 on 13 November, the Seattle Times newspaper reported.

A source who de-clined to be named said that workers were now following extra safety measures, including using caution tape to cordon off the seats.

The 13 December in-cident involved an actual air bag deployment, Chow said, while the 13 Novem-ber incident happened as the system was partially assembled.

“There is widespread concern,” Connie Kelli-her, spokeswoman for In-ternational Association of Machinists, District Lodge 751, told the newspaper. “We are actively involved and working to ensure our members concerns are ad-dressed.”

Reuters

growth for a quarter of a century is a big boost for re-tailers as they head towards the climax of the crucial pre-Christmas trading pe-riod,” said Barry Williams, an executive at Wal-Mart’s Asda brand who chairs the CBI survey.

“But shoppers may have caught the Christmas bug early and brought some of their spending forward. This has been a tough year for many retailers and parts of the sector are still strug-gling.”

Grocers enjoyed the strongest rate of growth, while furniture stores also performed well.

The CBI’s measure of expected sales in the month ahead fell slightly to +35 from +38.

The survey chimed with official data on Thurs-day that showed Black Fri-day discounts drove British retail sales growth to a 10-year high.—Reuters

The patient’s entrance at the National Institutes of Health is shown in Bethesda, Maryland

on 16 Oct, 2014.—ReuteRs

American nurse exposed to Ebola released from hospitalSan FranciSco, 20 Dec

— An American nurse who was exposed to Ebola while volunteering in Sierra Leone was released from the Na-tional Institutes of Health’s Clinical Centre in Maryland on Friday without showing signs of the disease, NIH said.

“The patient has shown no clinical or laboratory ev-idence of Ebola infection and will complete 21 days of monitoring at a private residence in Virginia under the direction of the Virginia Department of Health,” NIH said in a statement.

NIH did not release any further information on the nurse, including when he or she might have been ex-posed to the virus, affiliation or name.

The NIH clinical centre is one of the facilities across the United States designated as an Ebola treatment centre by the US Centres for Dis-ease Control and Prevention.

A child who arrived in Chicago with a fever was under observation on Friday at a city hospital to rule out the Ebola virus, hospital of-ficials said.

Ebola has killed nearly

7,000 people out of more than 18,600 infected, nearly all of them in the impover-

ished West African coun-tries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.—Reuters

A man walks past the London Stock Exchange in the City of London on 11 Oct, 2013.—ReuteRs

FTSE set for biggest weekly rise in two yearsLondon, 20 Dec —

The FTSE 100 headed to its biggest weekly gain in two years on Friday, led by recent laggards such as in-surer Aviva and Tullow Oil as analysts recommended snapping up battered shares after a recent selloff.

Fund managers and traders cited a gradual wind-down in trading ac-tivity as investors cut risk before the holiday season. British supermarket chain Tesco, which has been trading at depths not seen since 2003, was up 5.5 per-cent.

“Trading has been vol-atile. Now investors are trimming positions ahead of the few days off, just

wanting to reduce the risk,” said Mark Ward, head of execution trading at San-lam Securities.

Barclays, which had fallen 11.6 percent in just over a week, rose 1.3 per-cent after the judge over-seeing New York state’s lawsuit accusing it of fraud in its alternative trading system raised questions about the case.

At the close, the broad-er FTSE 100 index was up 1.2 percent at 6,545.27 points, adding to a 2 per-cent rise on the previous day and up 3.9 percent for the week, the biggest weekly rise since Decem-ber 2011.

Tullow Oil gained 6.9

percent, rising as Brent crude rallied back above $60. The stock is down 50 percent this year, suffering from a steep decline in the price of oil.

Britain’s public

finances improved sharply in November, official data showed on Friday, helped by a fine on banks hit by a foreign exchange trading scandal.

Global equities have

been rallying since Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday that US interest rates were unlikely to rise for “at least a cou-ple of meetings,” meaning April at the earliest.

Before this bounce, the FTSE had fallen nearly 9 percent in 1-1/2 weeks, as a slide in commodity pric-es hit energy and mining stocks and concerns about Russia’s financial stability dampened emerging mar-ket economies.

“When these turns happen quickly, there’s fear of missing out,” Ian Williams, a strategist at Peel Hunt, said. “It may be that we need the dust to set-tle and people to reconsider

things in January before we get a real idea of whether this rally is sustainable.”

Bernstein said insurer Aviva was “a last minute Christmas bargain” and up-graded the stock to outper-form from neutral after a 15 percent fall in the stock since the announcement of a deal to buy Friends Life in November.

Aviva’s shares rose 3 percent on Friday.

“We believe the recent sell-off provides an attrac-tive entry point into the stock, even for those – like us – who are only prepared to value the synergies and cash return,” the analysts wrote in a note.

Reuters

Sunday, 21 December, 201412w o r l d

Kabul, 20 Dec — About 141 Taleban militants have been killed as Afghan army waged offensives within the last 48 hours, said the country’s Defence Ministry on Saturday morning. “Afghan National Army (ANA) con-ducted operations to ensure security in surrounding areas of Kunar, Nangarhar, Ghazni, Helmand, Uruzgan, Balkh and Herat provinces over the past 48 hours, killing 141 armed opponents,”the ministry said in a statement.

A Taleban shadow district governor, named Ahmad Khan, for Dangam District of eastern Kunar Province was among the killed, according to the statement.

The statement also confirmed losing five ANA per-sonnel as a result of enemy’s heavy weapon firing and roadside bomb attacks over the same period.

The army specialists have recovered and defused 115 roadside bombs and landmines over the past two days, it said. The Taleban insurgent group has yet to make com-ments. The Taleban-led violence continues in Afghani-stan. Afghan security forces have pressed on to clear the militants in restive provinces as the NATO and US forces are withdrawing from the country.—Xinhua

ToKyo, 20 Dec — Prosecutors have ques-tioned the former head of the now-defunct opposi-tion Your Party, Yoshimi Watanabe, over an alleged violation of the political funds control law involv-ing his political group, sources close to the matter said on Friday. Watanabe, a 62-year-old veteran poli-tician who lost his Diet seat in Sunday’s general elec-tion, borrowed 90 million yen in 2010 from a bank account linked to his po-litical group and repaid the money. He also borrowed 80 million yen in 2013 from the same account. But neither of those trans-actions was recorded in the group’s funds report, rais-ing the question of whether they violated the political funds control law.

The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office’s special investigative arm has questioned Watanabe on a voluntary basis to decide whether they can pursue criminal charges against people involved in crafting the report.

Watanabe’s office is-sued a statement on Friday saying, “We will sincere-ly explain that there is no problem from the view-point of the political funds control law.”

Watanabe, when he quit as Your Party leader in April, was under fire for receiving unreported loans totaling 800 million yen from the chairman of cos-metics firm DHC Corp.

Kyodo News

Ceremony held to celebrate 100th anniversary of opening of Tokyo Station:Photo taken on the night of on 19 Dec, 2014, shows Tokyo Station in the

capital’s Chiyoda Ward, on the eve of the 100th anniversary of its opening.Kyodo News

Prosecutors question ex-Your

Party head Watanabe over funds

scandal

Afghan army operations kill 141 militants, five soldiers

die in attacks

Mother arrested for murder after children found dead in Australian home

Sydney, 20 Dec — The 37-year-old mother of most of the eight children found dead in a mass stab-bing in Australia’s tropical northern city of Cairns was arrested on Saturday for murder.

Detective Inspector Bruno Asnicar said the woman is under police guard in hospital, where she was taken on Friday with stab wounds. She has not yet been formally charged.

“She’s awake and lu-cid and able to speak,” Asnicar told reporters. “At this time we are not looking for anybody else.”

The woman was the mother of seven of the eight children, aged 18 months to 15 years, Asnicar said. The eighth child was her niece.

The tragedy has shocked Australia, com-ing just days after police stormed a Sydney cafe early on Tuesday morning

to end a 16-hour hostage standoff in which three people were killed, includ-ing the hostage-taker.

With the country al-ready on heightened alert, Queensland police stressed that the stabbings were a domestic incident and there

was no cause for alarm in the wider community.

Asnicar said forensics teams had completed their investigation and the chil-dren’s bodies had been re-moved from the house.

“We have located a number of weapons,” in-

cluding knives, Asnicar told reporters.

“Today we will have our coroner and pathologist conducting their investiga-tions with the assistance of the family,” he said.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the events in

Cairns “heartbreaking” and acknowledged that these were “trying days” for Australia.

Locals held a candle-light vigil for the children on Friday evening and began to lay flowers at a makeshift shrine, echoing a large floral memorial in Sydney where thousands of bouquets were placed for those killed in the cafe siege. The Cairns family were members of the Tor-res Strait Islander commu-nity, a group of indigenous Australians viewed as dis-tinct from the broader Ab-original community due to their origins on islands off the Queensland coast.

Northern Region Act-ing Assistant Police Com-missioner Paul Taylor said police were working close-ly with the Torres Strait Islander community in Cairns “who may be direct-ly affected by this tragedy.”

ReutersDetectives work at the scene of a stabbing attack at a home in Cairns, northern

Queensland, on 19 Dec, 2014.—ReuteRs

MoScow, 20 Dec — Russia’s military doctrine will remain defensive al-though the North Atlan-tic Treaty Organization (NATO) is building up its military presence in eastern Europe, President Vladimir Putin said on Fri-day.

“Our military doc-trine, with an absolutely defensive nature, remains unchanged, while Russia will consistently and deter-minedly protect its securi-

Russia’s military doctrine to remain defensivety,” Putin said at a meeting with senior military offi-cials.

On 11 September, Pu-tin ordered the government to draft a “balanced real-istic option” of the state defence programme for 2016-2025, as well as to present an updated military doctrine by the year-end, taking current situation “like NATO’s expansion” into consideration.

Moreover, Putin or-dered on Friday’s meeting

to fully equip the land-based Russian strategic nu-clear forces with modern weapons by 2021, while the triad of nuclear forces would be equipped with more than 50 Interconti-nental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) next year.

Putin also reaffirmed plans to modernize the fleet of Russian strategic bombers and nuclear-pow-ered submarines.

Moreover, a senior Russian Defence Ministry

official told Putin during the meeting that substitute of imported military pro-ductions is under special control and the plan for 2014 is 100- percent com-pleted.

Putin in November urged the defence indus-try to start to replace for-eign-made components with domestically-pro-duced ones to reach the tar-get of modernizing at least 70 percent of the equip-ment of Russian armed

forces by 2020.While urging the con-

struction of military infra-structure on Arctic islands should be finished in 2015, Putin reiterated that Russia is taking necessary meas-ures to ensure its defence capability in the Arctic rather than planning to mil-itarize the region.

“Our actions in the region are measured and reasonably moderate, and they are absolutely nec-essary to ensure Russian

defense capabilities,” RIA Novosti news agency quot-ed Putin as saying.

Later in the day, Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov announced that the total number of professional soldiers serv-ing in the Russian Armed Forces in 2014 set an all-time record of 295, 000.

Pankov added that the ministry in 2015 plans to contract at least 55,000 more professional soldiers.

Xinhua

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

a d v e r t i s e m e n t & g e n e r a l

13

Ministry of ConstructionPublic Works

(Invitation For Open Tender)1. Open tender applying prequalification method is invitedbyPublicWorks,MinistryofConstruction,NayPyiTaw, theRepublicoftheUnionofMyanmarforupgradingprojectswiththepart ofproceedsof theRegionalDevelopmentProject forPovertyReductionunderJICAODALoan,Japan.

Sr. Name of Work Type of Work

1. Thayet-MinhlaRoad(MagwayRegion)(13miles) BituminousRoad

2. DaikU-SittaungRoad(Bago Region)(21miles2furlongs) BituminousRoad

3. Monywa-Ayataw-ShweBoRoad(SagaingRegion)(7miles) BituminousRoad

4. Mandalay-Phottaw-MogokRoad(MandalayRegion)(8miles) BituminousRoad

5.Yangon-KyaukPhyuRoad(RakhineState)(19miles 4furlongs+6bridges)

BituminousRoad

2. Distributionperiod -(22.12.2014)to(29.12.2014) ofTenderDocuments3. LastSubmissionDate -12:00noonon22.1.2015 ofTenderDocuments6. OpeningdateofTender -13:00hourson10.2.20157. TenderDocuments can be purchasedwith fifty thousandkyats(50000Ks.)atthefollowingaddressandforthedetailin-formation,pleasecontacttheofficewithinofficehours. Tender Selection Committee, Public Works RoadDepartmentOfficeNo.(11),NayPyiTaw Tel: 067-407468, 407578, 407603, 407583, 407380

Advertise with us!(+95) (01) 8604532

THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNION OF MYANMARMINISTRY OF ENERGY

MYANMA OIL AND GAS ENTERPRISE(INVITATION FOR OPEN TENDER)

(22/2014)OpentendersareinvitedforsupplyofthefollowingrespectiveitemsinUnitedStatesDollars.

Sr.No Tender No Description Remark(1) IFB-118(14-15) GeologicalInstrumentsforAppliedResearch US$ Centre,GeologyWorkstation&MudLoggingUnit(1)Lot(2) IFB-119(14-15) RetestFactoryforCNGType.1 US$ (150Cylinder/Day)(1)Unit(3) IFB-120(14-15) CNGCompressorDrivenMotorwith US$ CompletePackage(2)Units(4) IFB-121(14-15) CNGCompressorDrivenElectricMotorwith US$ CompletePackage&Accessories(1)Unit(5) IFB-122(14-15) CumminsEnginewithGearBox(1)Set US$ TenderClosingDate&Time – 14-1-2015,16:30Hr

TenderDocumentshallbeavailableduringofficehourscommencingfrom17thDecember,2014attheFinanceDepartment,MyanmaOilandGasEnterprise,No(44)Complex,NayPyiTaw,Myanmar.

MyanmaOilandGasEnterprisePh.+9567-411097/411206

INVITATION FOR OPEN TENDER(TENDERNO.6(T)MPE/CONDENSATE

(2)/2014-2015)

1. OpenTenderisinvitedfortheMyanmaPetrochemi-calEnterprise,theMinistryofEnergyfortheConvey-anceofYetagunCondensate0.7Mbbls (±5%) fromYetagunMarineTerminalOffshoretoNo.(1)Refinery(Thanlyin).

2. TenderClosingDate : 15-1-2015at(12:00)noon.3. TenderOpeningDate : 15-1-2015at(13:00)hrs.4. DeliveryTime : 1stApril2015to 31stMarch20165. TenderDocumentsanddetailsinformationareavail-

able at the Department of Finance,Myanma Petro-chemicalEnterprise,NayPyiTaw,duringofficehourscommencing22-12-2014onpaymentoftheMyanmarKyatOneHundredThousand(Kyat100,000)perset.

6. Onlybidfromtendererwhohaspurchasedtenderdoc-umentofficiallyfromMyanmaPetrochemicalEnter-prisewillbeacceptedforevaluation.

ManagingDirectorMyanmaPetrochemicalEnterprise

10yearsontsunamivictims,disasterworkersstillhealthewounds

Takua Pa, (Thai-land), 20 Dec — Twoweeks after the massive2004 Indian Ocean tsuna-mi, social worker Rojja-na Praesritong, 49, of theBangkok-based Duang-PrateepFoundationflewtoPang-Nga, a coastal prov-ince south of Bangkok,to help survivors housedin a makeshift evacuationcenter, including around200children.

Thedistrictwasamongthe hardest-hit by the tsu-nami thatkilledmore than260,000 people and dis-placedmore than 1.7mil-lionothersin14countries,including Indonesia, Thai-land,SriLankaandIndia.

Two years later, lo-cal authorities decided todismantle the evacuationcenter, but Rojjana, con-cernedaboutthefateof22orphanswhohadnohomesto return to or relatives tokeep them decided to stayon.

“I want to make surethat the childrenwill havegood future. They havenobody else to turn to,”Rojjanasaid.“Iwantthemtohaveagoodeducation.Icannot abandon them be-causewithoutmetheywillbecomeorphansagain.”

In2009,shewasdiag-nosed with breast cancer,but that failed to keep herfromhelpingtheorphans.

She remains the “BigMama” of the orphanagethathasbecomehometoatleast98childrenagedfrom4 to 22, including the 22whosoughtrefugetherein2006.

“All of them are mychildren,” Rojjana said.“They help each other intheorphanage.”

Among them is

WatanaSittirachot,22.Watana, “Game” to

manyoftheresidents,was14whenhedecidedtoliveintheorphanage.

Hewaslivingwithhisaunt and uncle when thedeadlytsunamistruck,kill-inghisuncle.

His aunt remarried,but Watana did not getalong well with his newuncleandsoughtrefugeintheorphanage.

“Atfirst,I thinkI justwant to study until Grade3inhighschoolandgotoa vocational school. Butthefoundationgavemetheopportunityandinspirationtocontinuemystudies,”hetoldKyodo News.

The foundation senthimtouniversityinPhuketand“Game”isnowafourthyearlawstudentatRachab-hatPhuketUniversity.

NextAugust,heplansto go to Britain to studyEnglishwiththesupportof

thefoundation.“I want to hone my

English skills,” he said,adding he plans to get amaster’sdegreeinpsychol-ogy.

After that, he said heplanstohelparoundintheorphanagethatcontinuestohelptsunamisurvivorsandotherchildreninthearea.

Niwan Chantawong,38,anothervictimwhohasbeenwith the center sincethe tsunami,helpsRojjanaruntheorphanage.

Tears still flow whenshe recounts the fear andsorrow that gripped heron the day she lost herhusband, son, daughter,brother and a sister to thetsunami. “You can neverforget,” she said, addingthefirsttwoandthreeyearswere themost difficult. “Ithought I could not moveon from the horrible past.The tragedy took the livesofmanyofmylovedones.

I never saw my childrenagain.”

Shesaidshecouldnotsleep or eatwell for near-ly three years and “criedeverysingleday.”

“Fortunately, whileI was in the evacuationcenter, I joined Duang-PrateepFoundationtohelptake care of the children.During those two to threeyears, sometimes I feltwarmwhensurroundedbymany kids and I felt thatjointingthefoundationwasthereasonthatinspiredmetomoveon,”Niwansaid.

Many children werealso forced to seek refugeintheorphanageaftertheirtsunami-surviving mothersor fathers remarried andseveral teenage mothersand their babies have alsobecomeresidentsoftheor-phanage. Rojjana says theorphanageisnowarefugefor all childrenwith prob-lems.—Kyodo News

RojjanaPraesritong (C), 49, is surrounded by children at an orphanage in Pang-Nga, a Thai coastal province south of Bangkok, on 29 Nov, 2014. Rojjana has been helping children orphaned by the massive 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Niwan

Chantawong (L top), 38, a survivor of the tsunami, helps Rojjana run the orphanage.—Kyodo News

First patient in Serbia gets artificialheartdevice

Belgrade,20Dec—ThefirstsurgicalproceduretofitapatientinSerbiawithanartificialhearthasbeensuccessfullycompletedattheClinicalCentreofSerbia(KCS)onFriday.

ThemechanicalorganthatshouldhelppatientthroughtothebiologicalhearttransplantwassurgicallyinsertedintoVladimirPetkovic,aged40,fromPancevo.

Thesurgicalprocedurewascarriedoutbyaround15doctorscomprisingSerbiansurgeonsandtheirGermancol-leagues,andtheteamwasheadedbythecardiovascularsur-geonandKCSdirectorMiljkoRistic.

Theoperationwentwellandwedonotexpectanysub-sequentcomplications,RistictoldRadioTelevisionofSer-bia.

Accordingtohim,thepatientwithanartificialheartcanliveuptofiveyearslongerthantheywouldwithoutthede-vice,butadonorneedstobefoundafterthisperiodtoreme-dythepatient’sconditioninthelong-run.—Tanjug

FORECAST VALID UNTIL EVENING OF THE 21st December, 2014: Weather will bepartly cloudy in Tanin-thayiRegion andKachinState and generally fairin the remainingRegionsandStates.STATE OF THE SEA: Strongeasterlywindswithmoderatetoroughseaarelikely at times Deltaic,Gulf ofMotama, off andalong Mon-TaninthayiCoasts. Surface windspeedinstrongwindmayreach(35)m.p.h.SeaswillbemoderateelsewhereinMyanmarwaters.

Weather reportWeather report

Sunday, 21 December, 201414 e n t e r t a i n m e n t

London, 20 Dec — Oscar-win-nig actress Lupita Nyong’o has been named Best Celebrity Body of 2014 by readers of Fitness magazine.

Country star Taylor Swift also features high on the first-ever Fitness Magazine Fit List, claiming the Fa-vourite Workout Song title for ‘Shake It Off’, reported Contactmusic.

She has narrowly beaten out Iggy Azalea, who comes in second with Fancy.

Meanwhile, British actress Kiera Knightley has picked up the Favourite #BodyLove Moment for agreeing to pose topless for a magazine.—PTI

Lupita Nyong’o named best celebrity body

Los AngeLes, 20 Dec — Actress Jen-nifer Lawrence’s ‘Hunger Games’ charac-

ter Katniss Everdeen’s waxwork has been unveiled at Madame

Tussauds in London.The attraction now fea-

tures the character in the outfit worn for the second instalment in the series ‘Catching Fire’, report-ed E! online. Katniss sports her famous braided hairstyle and she wears her brown leather hunt-

ing jacket, dark charcoal Los AngeLes, 20 Dec

— The Beatles’ George Harrison and Bee Gees are already among the winners at the 57th annual Grammy Awards. The Recording Academy announced that they would honour the two musicians with the Lifetime Achievement Award at a private ceremony held a day before the Grammys, report-ed Ace Showbiz.

Other names set to re-ceive the prestigious prize include Buddy Guy, country duo the Louvin Brothers, saxophonist Wayne Short-er, French composer Pierre Boulez and Texas Tejano musician Flaceo Jimenez.

“This year we pay trib-ute to exceptional creators who have made prolific contributions to our culture and history,” Recording Academy President-CEO Neil Portnow said in a press statement. “It is an honour and a privilege to recognize such a diverse group of tal-ented trailblazers, whose in-comparable bodies of work and timeless legacies will continue to be celebrated for generations to come,” Port-now added. Grammys will be held on 7 February, 2015.

PTI

Actress Jennifer Lawrence’s ‘Hunger Games’ character Katniss Everdeen’s

waxwork has been unveiled at Madame Tussauds in London.—PTI

Wax statue of Jenninfer Lawrence’s ‘Hunger Games’ character unveiled

trousers, knee-length tie-up leather brown boots, brown leather quiver and bow.

Likenesses of Katniss have also been placed at Madame Tussauds’ New York and Hollywood attractions. “We are huge-ly excited to have worked with Lionsgate to launch a Katniss wax figure following ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1’,” said Nicole Fenner from Madame Tussauds London. “The figure is in its own film-specific backdrop, allowing our guests to get up close to Katniss and the beloved story of The Hunger Games, which we know they’ll love.”

PTI

George Harrison to get Grammy Lifetime Achievement award

Rappers are destroying image of Bollywood music: Imran Khan

new deLhi, 20 Dec — ‘Amplifier’ singer Imran Khan,

who has lent his voice for a song in upcoming film

‘Tevar’, says the new-age rappers might have become a rage with the listeners but they have not given quality music to Bollywood. Im-ran has made his

debut in the Hindi Film industry with

the ‘Lets Celebrate’ song and said he does

not like the music of many hit hit hip-hop artists and rappers.

“Personally I don’t like their music. I feel it is just over-hyped. These Punjabi rappers and art-ists, who have entered

Bollwyood from outside, have destroyed its image.

Bollywood music is not about hip-hop but it is more about colours. “Hip-hop

should be left to others. And if one attempts that, it should be done in a proper way but the current fusion of hip-hop

and Bollywood, in my opin-ion, is not good. I will bring a change in this scene now. ” Imaran told PTI in an in-terview. The popular Punjabi singer said before ‘Tevar’ he had turned down many offers by Bollywood filmmakers but Boney Kapoor (producer of ‘Tevar’) made him feel at home and he felt an instant connection with him.

“Several producers and actors had approached me earlier but I rejected the offers as I felt that they just wanted to use me. I did not feel right about it. “I am not a greedy person so I knew if I would make Bollywood debut I will make with a good project. When Boney Kapoor came to me, I felt like I met my lost family in India. He, Arjun (Kapoor) and everyone made me feel comfortable. I liked the film’s story. I am glad to have made my Bollywood debut with this film,” he said.

‘Tevar’, starring Arjun Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha in lead, is hitting theatres on 9 January, 2015.—PTI

Brad Pitt, George Clooney celebrate their wedding over dinner

Los AngeLes, 20 Dec — Superstars Brad Pitt and George Clooney have recently celebrated their marriages over a dinner as they missed out each other wedding due to their busy schedules.

Pitt, 51 and Clooney, 53, tied the knot earlier this year to their respective partners Angelina Jolie and Amal Alamuddin, and the couples got together at the ‘Gravity’ star’s mansion, reported Femalefirst.

Clooney invited the head chef from one of his favourite restaurants to cook a lavish seafood dinner and went to Pitt’s Miraval estate in France to ship wine from their vine-

yard. “The head chef from George’s favourite restau-rant, ‘The Musso & Frank Grill’, cooked up a huge meal for the two couples with oysters and lobsters.

“As a nice touch George had shipped over

some of Angelina’s wine from her and Brad’s French vineyard,” sources said.

Pitt tied the knot with Jolie, 39, on 23 August in France and Clooney mar-ried Alamuddin, 36, on 27 September in Italy.—PTI

Brad Pitt and George Clooney have recently celebrated their marriages over a dinner as they missed out each

other wedding.—PTI

Emma Watson named feminist

of the yearLondon, 20 Dec — Actress Emma Watson

has been named feminist of the year in a new poll. The ‘Harry Potter’ star became a women’s rights heroine following a heartfelt sexual equal-ity speech she made at the launch of the #HeFor-She campaign at the United Nations in September, reported Contactmusic.

The 24-year-old actress rallied feminists all over the world with her stirring commentary on rights and equal pay, and her celebrity fans were quick to applaud her for her well-pre-sented argument. Now she has been rewarded with the top spot on the fashion website’s top ladies list, compiled by ForWomen.org.

Watson has beaten out transgender ac-tress Laverne Cox, US newswoman Rachel Maddow, Beyonce and Cher.—PTI

Sunday, 21 December, 2014

g e n e r a l15

* Local News* Booming Garment

Industry* World News* Kayin Child Boxer* Local News* Lacquareware Making* World News* Orphanage* Local News* A Day Tour on A Cart

(Bagan Trip)* World News* Creations of a

Designer* Local News* A Trend Of Chin

Traditional Dress* World News* Tea* Local News* Great Shwedagon

“The Historic Bells”* World News* Art Students :

Their Dream* Local News* Ar Khar New Year

Festival* World News* Photographer:

Kyaw Win Hlaing* Local News* In Pursuit of a dream* World News* Hip-Hop and Design* Local News* Myanmar

Masterclass: Art Teacher

* World News* In The Studio:

Hemale

(21-12-14 07:00 am~ 22-12-14 07:00 am) MST

MITVMITVMYANMAR INTERNATIONAL

6:00 am* Paritta by Venerable

Mingun Sayadaw 7:00 am* News / Weather

Report7:20 am* MRTV’s Youth

Programme8:35 am* Amazing World9:30 am* Documentary

(ASEAN)10:20 am* Documentary (Road

to Academy 2013) (Part- 3 & 4)

10:35 am* Science and

Technology Programme

12:00 noon* News/ International News /

Weather Report 12:30 pm* Round up of The

Week’s International News

12:40 pm* Myanmar Movie

(Part-1) 1:15 pm* Myanmar Movie

(Part-2) 4:15 pm* University of

Distance Education (TV Lectures) — Third Year (Chemistry)

5:15 pm* Sing & Enjoy7:20 pm* Weekly

Entertainment News8:00 pm* News International News /

Weather Report8:35 pm* Documentary

(Women in Myanmar Society)

9:00 pm* News* Tamyethnar

Takwetsar* Tasty Trip

(21-12-2014, Sunday)

Major sporting upsets of 2014London, 20 Dec — 1.

Brazil suffer 7-1 World Cup humiliation against Germany

“Historic Disgrace” screamed the Folha de S Paulo’s headline, as a shocked nation digested a 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat by Germany on home soil. While many pundits had speculated that this Bra-zil side lacked the sparkle of previous vintages, nobody predicted they would suffer perhaps the greatest shame in their illustrious football-ing past.

Germany inflicted a swift and sudden demise, taking a 5-0 lead after 29 minutes in front of a stunned audience at Belo Horizon-te’s Mineirao stadium.

Perhaps out of sym-pathy, Joachim Loew’s eventual champions lifted their foot off the gas and coasted home, scoring just twice more in the second half, before Oscar made an apologetic mark on the scoreboard for Brazil in the 90th minute.

2. Nishikori beats Djokovic in the US open semi-finals

When you have just played back-to-back five-set, four hour marathon matches, the last person you would want to face would be an iron-willed world num-ber one with a reputation for out-lasting everyone else on the tour.

A sweltering early Sep-tember afternoon in New York, however, provided the unlikely stage for young Japanese Kei Nishikori to inflict a stunning four-set defeat on Novak Djokovic and deny the Serb a fifth successive trip to the US Open final.

With the mercury tip-

Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari (L) gestures to Bernard during their 2014 World Cup semi-final against Germany at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte

on 8 July, 2014. — ReuteRs

ping 100 degrees Fahrenheit and in stifling humidity on Arthur Ashe court, Nishiko-ri proved tireless in grinding down Djokovic, winning 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 to be-come the first Asian man to reach a grand slam final.

3. Shaun White flops at the Sochi Winter Olym-pics

The major draw of the 2014 Winter Games turned out to be one of its biggest disappointments after pull-ing out of his first event and failing to win a medal in his second.

After talking up his chances of completing a stunning double, United States’ snowboarder Shaun White withdrew from the Slopestyle, before his eight-year reign as Olympic half-pipe champion ended in a shock fourth-place finish.

It all proved a major letdown for the fans who made the arduous journey

to the Russian resort hoping to see him produce his best gravity-defying tricks.

4. Seattle Seahawks thrash Denver Broncos to win Super Bowl

A Seattle defence made up of a bunch of overlooked and unwanted players com-pletely nullified a Peyton Manning-led offence that had set an NFL record for points in a season in one of the most one-sided Super Bowl’s ever.

The 43-8 thrashing was a performance worthy of some of the greatest defen-sive teams in NFL history and drew comparisons with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Steel Curtain”, the 1985 Chicago Bears with William “Refrigerator” Perry, and the Ray Lewis-led Balti-more Ravens of 2000.

“A bunch of misfits, that’s what they called us,” said defensive end Red Bry-ant. “A bunch of nobodies.

Inexperienced. Ain’t never been there. You see what misfits get you. You see what over-achievers get you.”

5. Western Sydney Wanderers winning the AFC Champions League

Coach Tony Popovic took over at the Western Sydney Wanderers in 2012 when they had no strip, no playing staff and no facil-ities. That did not prevent them going on to win the Asian Champions League title 900 days later in their maiden campaign, defying huge odds to overcome much wealthier Asian pow-erhouses.

A 0-0 draw against twice Asian champions Al-Hilal in front of 65,000 fans in the Saudi capital in November was enough to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory and earn plenty of plaudits for former Soc-ceroo Popovic.—Reuters

Bill Lewis, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Division, speaks during a news conference at FBI Headquarters in Los Angeles, California

on 19 Dec, 2014. — ReuteRs

Overseas tip led FBI to recover stolen art worth up to $24 millionLos AngeLes, 20 Dec

— An overseas tip inves-tigators received six years after one of the biggest art heists in Los Angeles led to the return of nine stolen paintings, including works by Marc Chagall and Diego Rivera, collectively worth as much as $24 million, po-lice and FBI said on Friday.

The paintings were re-covered in an FBI sting op-eration in which a suspect, Raul Espinoza, 45, was arrested after he tried to sell the stolen artwork to under-cover agents at a Los Ange-les-area hotel in October for $700,000, authorities said.

Espinoza was charged with receiving stolen prop-

erty and more suspects are being sought, investigators said at a news conference where they disclosed new details of the case and dis-played the artwork. Espi-noza has pleaded not guilty and is still in custody.

The nine paintings were part of the private collection of an elderly Los Angeles couple who have since died. They were home when the paintings were snatched in August 2008 but were bed-ridden and unaware of the theft at the time, police said.

Los Angeles Police Detective Donald Hrycyk said the daytime burglary occurred during a short but unspecified “window

of opportunity” when the couple, who were under round-the-clock care, were presumably left unattended. The Los Angeles Times has reported the theft occurred while a housekeeper was out shopping for groceries.

Hrycyk said three ad-ditional art works believed to have been stolen from the home were still missing.

A $200,000 reward was offered months after the heist, but the case grew cold until September 2014, when investigators received an overseas tip that led them to Espinoza and arrangement of the sting operation, the FBI and police said.

Reuters

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England keeper Hart signs extended deal with

Man City

Manchester City’s goalkeeper Joe Hart celebrates at the end of their Champions League Group E soccer match against AS Roma

at the Olympic stadium in Rome on 10 Dec, 2014.—ReuteRs

London, 20 Dec — Man-chester City and England goal-keeper Joe Hart has signed a new long-term deal with the Premier League champions that will run until the end of the 2018/19 sea-son, the club said on Friday.

Hart has made 276 appear-ances since joining City in 2006 and has won two Premier League titles, as well as the FA Cup in 2011.

“The club’s growing and I’ve been really lucky to be part

of the ride,” the 27-year-old told the City website (www.mcfc.com). “I just want to keep win-ning with the team and keep de-veloping. A lot of the boys have signed long-term deals so we’re building as a squad and I think that quite a few of us have been here for a long time now.”

City have also this year agreed new deals with Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Aleksandar Kolarov, Samir Nasri and David Silva.—Reuters

nairobi, 20 Dec — Kenyan Rita Jeptoo, winner of the Bos-ton and Chicago marathons for the last two years, has tested pos-itive for a banned substance in a B sample taken after she failed an out-of-competition check in September.

“The results of the analysis of the B sample which was con-ducted on 17th to 19th December 2014 at the WADA (World An-ti-Doping Agency) accredited laboratory of Lausanne con-firmed the finding of the A sam-ple,” Athletics Kenya said in a statement on Friday.

Jeptoo, provisionally sus-pended from athletics after the A

Kenya’s marathon queen Jeptoo fails second doping testsample tested positive, had asked for a B check. She told reporters at the time that the accusation was false. Dozens of Kenyan athletes have failed doping tests in the past two years.

Government officials have blamed the growing amount of cases on foreign agents and Ath-letics Kenya’s failure to educate its sportsmen and women prop-erly.

The country’s triple world 3,000 metres steeplechase cham-pion Moses Kiptanui has called for tough sanctions against those who fail doping tests, saying “big money” was behind the cheating.

Reuters

The Olympic flame is surrounded by waterfalls during the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics on 7 Feb, 2014.

ReuteRs

Billion dollar Sochi Games a sporting successberLin, 20 Dec — The So-

chi 2014 winter Olympics have gone down in history as the most expensive sports event ever or-ganised with a staggering cost of more than $51 billion.

The legacy left by Russia’s first winter Games is one of gleaming purpose-built arenas with little or no post-Games use, a massive overhaul of infrastruc-ture at the Black sea resort and a record price tag that triggered changes for future Olympics.

Despite months of bad press in the run up to the Games over Russia’s human rights record and anti-gay propaganda law, when the competitions started the Olympics were a sporting success. With Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin in the stands for a project he helped bring to his country back in 2007, when sports took centre stage, the fate of stray dogs, double toilets and #sochiproblems top trending on Twitter all slipped into the back-ground.

American snowboard-er Shaun White failed to shine again on the Olympic stage, withdrawing over safety fears in the inaugural slopestyle competi-tion leaving Sage Kotsenburg as the first ever Olympic slopestyle

gold medalist.The women’s ski jumping

competition was also one of 12 new events, with teenage Amer-ican Sarah Hendrickson be-coming the first woman to soar through the air at an Olympics, going on to finish 21st.

Germany’s Carina Vogt flew 104.5 metres to win the milestone event, the culmination of a 13-year fight by female ath-letes to be allowed to take part.

Another first was the shared gold medal in the women’s downhill at Rosa Khutor’s 2,713 metre-long run, with Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Swiss Dominique Gisin both clocking one minute 41.57 seconds.

Belarus’ Darya Domracheva dazzled in Sochi, becoming the first woman to win three biathlon titles at the same winter Olym-pics.

For Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, there was nothing novel about another gold med-al but it was a record 13th Win-ter Games gong after he helped his country to the biathlon team mixed relay title.

The 40-year-old edged ahead of former cross-country skier Bjorn Daehlie and moved alongside his compatriot as the

leading all-time Winter Olym-pics gold medallist with eight.

The Dutch dominated speedskating like few nations have done in any sport, winning 21 of 30 individual medals and four medal sweeps, turning the Adler arena orange.

There was also joy for the hosts, with Viktor Ahn, an adopt-ed Russian after switching alle-giance from South Korea, win-ning two gold medals in an hour at the Iceberg arena.

He confirmed himself among the Olympic greats with

victory in the 500 metres individ-ual and 45 minutes later returned to help Russia win the 5,000m relay. Russian teenager Adelina Sotnikova won the women’s fig-ure skating individual title amid accusations from South Korea of biased judges after their Vancou-ver winner Kim Yuna was beaten into second.

But the home team was hit by tragedy when Russian ski cross athlete Maria Komissarova broke her back during a training run for the extreme sport.

Reuters

‘Celtic Tiger’ McIlroy

emerges dominant in

2014

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland

Los angeLes, 20 Dec — A year to forget for an inju-ry-plagued Tiger Woods was savoured sweetly by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy after the ‘Celtic Tiger’ won two majors in 2014 to regain his status as the game’s leading player.

McIlroy ended a stellar campaign with four victories and five runner-up spots in 23 starts worldwide, embellishing his credentials as a genuine golfing great in what many regard as a handover of the ‘Tiger’ torch to usher in a new ‘Rory’ era.

While former world num-ber one Woods failed to add to his career major tally of 14 and played just eight tournaments during a winless and truncated season, McIlroy proved to be the player to beat virtually every time he teed off in competition.

McIlroy dominated golf’s biggest events in the latter half of 2014 after American left-hand-er Bubba Watson had clinched the Masters for a second time in three years and Germany’s Martin Kaymer had coasted to an eight-shot victory at the US Open. Swede Henrik Sten-son, Australian Adam Scott and Spaniard Sergio Garcia each tri-umphed once as they also pro-duced impressively consistent golf during the year but McIlroy set himself apart from his closest rivals, just as he did in 2012.

Having endured a turbulent 2013 on and off the course, McIl-roy was once again a picture of focus and consistency, finishing no worse than 25th in 17 starts on the 2013-14 PGA Tour and re-cording three victories among 12 top-10 placings.

He also claimed the Europe-an Tour’s money list trophy for the second time in three years and played an influential role in Europe’s Ryder Cup victory over the United States in September.

McIlroy never looked back after recording his first win of the year at the European Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Champion-ship in May, just a few days after breaking up with his tennis-play-ing fiancee Caroline Wozniacki.

Reuters

Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo reacts after winning the women’s

division at the 118th running of the Boston Marathon in Boston,

Massachusetts on 21 April, 2014.—ReuteRs