The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Burma Govt Requests $7m for Peace Process
• Monk Conference Backs Bills to Restrict Interfaith Marriage, Rohingya Voting
• Suu Kyi Still Wants to Meet Burma Army Chief
• Guitarists to Hit the Stage for Burma’s First Instrumental Show
• Civil Society Groups Learn to Harness ICT at ‘Tech Camp’
• Warning for Factories as Rangoon Electricity Board Discovers Tampered Meter
• On South China Sea, Asean Chair Burma Ready to Mediate
• UK to Investigate Possible SAS Role in Indian Golden Temple Attack
• Thai PM Stands Firm on Election, Says Protests Flagging
• ‘Vaping’ a Slow Burner in China, World’s Maker of E-Cigarettes

Burma Govt Requests $7m for Peace Process Posted: 16 Jan 2014 05:11 AM PST Karen National Union (KNU) leaders and government peace negotiators shake hands during talks in Rangoon last year. After agreeing to a ceasefire, the KNU has negotiated with the government over development projects in Karen State. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — A budget request of 7 billion kyats (US$7.1 million) for Burma's peace process and national reconciliation efforts has been submitted to Parliament as a designated appropriations item for the first time. Kan Chun, a President's Office official, told a session of Parliament this week that President Thein Sein intended the funds, which fall under the broader "national planning" budget, to be used for the ongoing peace process between the government and more than a dozen ethnic armed rebel groups. The request marks the first time that a "peace appropriation" has been requested as a component of the state budget. Last year, one million kyats—diverted from its originally earmarked purpose of funding the construction of housing for parliamentarians in Naypyidaw—was the extent of government funding for peace talks. Outside funders such as the Norway Peace Initiative and Japan's Nippon Foundation have been the main financial backers of the peace process in Burma. Foreign governments and the European Union have also been major supporters. "The budget was not proposed by MPC," said Hla Maung Shwe, a leading member of the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) who added that he felt the funding request was excessive. "The proposed peace budget this year is so much, in my opinion. Seven times more than the previous amount," he said. Still, the funding request is just a fraction of the 2.36 trillion kyats that Burma's Defense Ministry proposed this week for its 2014-15 budget. Funds designated for Burma's peace process go to a variety of different initiatives and expenditures, including the set-up and staffing of liaison offices in ethnic regions, development programs and coordinating operations run by the MPC, a government-affiliated entity formed with 700,000 euros ($950,000) in start-up funding from the European Union. In announcing the formation of the MPC in November 2012, the European Union pledged an additional 30 million euros in support for the peace process in 2013. "The budget, if approved by the Parliament, will be used by the concerned persons in the peace process within the framework of the Central Peace-making Committee and Working Committee," Hla Maung Shwe said on Thursday, referring to the government's two main peace negotiating bodies. Funding for Burma's peace process has come in for criticism in the past by observers who have urged greater transparency. Total funding the peace process since Thein Sein embarked on an ambitious effort to reconcile with the country's many ethnic groups in 2011 is difficult to estimate. The Myanmar Peace Monitor, a project that tracks the peace process in Burma, said some $500 million was committed to various peace initiatives by mid 2012. This week an official from the Norway-funded Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI) said the program was being reviewed to determine whether it remained relevant two years after its launch, during which time the MPSI put $2 million toward dozens of peace initiatives in Burma. Hla Maung Shwe said the government aims to establish a framework for political dialogue this year, an aspect of the national reconciliation process that ethnic groups have long called for. Since Thein Sein took office, the government has signed ceasefires with 14 of the country's 16 main armed rebel groups. It hopes to reach a "nationwide ceasefire" with all of the groups in the coming months. The post Burma Govt Requests $7m for Peace Process appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Monk Conference Backs Bills to Restrict Interfaith Marriage, Rohingya Voting Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:28 AM PST A banner promoting the new Upper Burma chapter of the Group to Protect Nationality, Religion and the Buddhist Mission is seen at a monastery in Mandalay. (Photo: Teza Hlaing / The Irrawaddy) MANDALAY — Thousands of Buddhist monks who gathered at a conference in Mandalay will continue to submit signatures to Parliament in support of a proposed law that would restrict interfaith marriages between Buddhist women and men of other faiths. The monks also said they supported proposed legislation that would restrict the rights of ethnic Rohingya Muslims in west Burma to form political parties or vote. More than 10,000 monks attended the conference at A Tu Ma Shi monastery on Wednesday. They said the draft interfaith marriage law, which emerged after a monks' conference in Rangoon last year, would be sent to Parliament with help from the National Democratic Front (NDF). If passed, the law would force Buddhist women to get permission from their parents and local government officials before marrying a man of any other faith. A non-Buddhist man wishing to marry a Buddhist woman would be required to convert to Buddhism. "Daw Khin Wine Kyi from the NDF party promised to help with the law," said U Yattha, a leading monk. "We are not actually involved in drafting this law, although some people have accused us of getting involved in politics as monks. We are just helping because it is very important for this law to be enacted, as the marriage law of 1954 is not enough to protect women and children from being converted to other religions or nationalities." After Buddhist monks first proposed the idea for the draft law last year, they hired lawyers to take care of writing it. At the time, the bill was promoted as a way to protect Buddhist women from marrying Muslim men and potentially being forced to convert to Islam. The proposal came amid heightened religious tensions in Buddhist-majority Burma, following a number of anti-Muslim riots across the country that left hundreds dead and nearly 2,000 people displaced. The majority of victims were Muslims, especially Rohingyas in the western state of Arakan. A nationalist anti-Muslim group known as 969 also collected signatures last year to support the draft interfaith marriage law. The group calls on Buddhists to shun Muslim-run businesses and is led by nationalist monk Wirathu, who resides at a monastery in Mandalay and also attended the conference on Wednesday. At the conference, leading monks said about 3 million signatures from across the country had been given to NDF lawmakers, for submission together with the draft law, while another 1 million signatures would be sent to the party soon. "We believe more signatures will come, and of course we will submit them to Parliament," U Yattha said. "We will continue pushing for the passage of the interfaith marriage draft law—we will not stop until the law is enacted." U Eainda Sakka Biwuntha said the goal was not to single out any particular faith. "The marriage law is not only to protect Buddhists. Other religions will also have legal protections from this law as well," he said. "We do not know why only Muslims have raised concerns and taken this proposal as a threat, while others, the Hindus and Christians, are silent. This is a question we want to have answered." In a statement released at the conference, the monks said they also supported a separate bill to restrict the rights of temporary ID holders to forming political parties or voting. The bill, expected to be put forward in Parliament in the coming weeks, is seen as targeting Muslims because thousands of Rohingyas were given temporary IDs, or "white cards," before the 2010 elections, enabling them to vote. The statement also encouraged media to report impartially on religious conflicts. "Some of the reporting about the clashes between Buddhists and Muslims has been biased, creating more tension between the two groups," U Eainda Sakka Biwuntha said. "For this conference, too, if the media reports in a biased way, or if they quote monks who are not spokespersons, we will sue them." The monks urged reporters to use the term "Bengali" when referring to the 800,000 or so people in Arakan State known internationally as Rohingyas. Many Buddhists in the state accuse the Rohingyas of being illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh, and the government also calls them as Bengalis while largely denying them citizenship. The monks at the conference formed an Upper Burma chapter of the Group to Protect Nationality, Religion and the Buddhist Mission, a nationwide non-government organization that was established last year. The group says it seeks to support the draft interfaith marriage law, to prevent religious conversions, and to dispel rumors that can enflame religious tensions. "For example, the recent incident in Meikhtila was based on rumors about the fighting between Buddhists and Muslims," U Eainda Sakka Biwuntha said, referring to anti-Muslim riots that left over 40 people dead last year in March. "The situation was eased because our group members rushed to the area, investigated the reality and spread the truth to the public. …That's one activity our group will continue to do in the future, for the stability of the country." The Upper Burma chapter said it would educate children about Buddhism, encouraging them to respect and maintain their own religion and nationalism. Other well-known senior monks at the conference included Sayadaw Insein Ywama, Sayadaw Sitagu, Sayadaw Shwe Nya War, Sayadaw Galone Ni, and abbots from Shwe Kyin monastery. Some monks emphasized the need for peace in efforts to protect Buddhism. "It is important to be patient and work with forgiveness in order to maintain the Sasana [Buddhist mission]," said Sayadaw Sitagu, also known as U Nyar Neitthara. The post Monk Conference Backs Bills to Restrict Interfaith Marriage, Rohingya Voting appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Suu Kyi Still Wants to Meet Burma Army Chief Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:21 AM PST Aung San Suu Kyi sits with ethnic minority leaders and members of the military in Naypyidaw on the annual Armed Forces Day in March. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) NAYPYIDAW — Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi will continue to propose a meeting with the commander-in-chief of the armed forces before the national election in 2015. Speaking to reporters in Naypyidaw, she said she had tried to meet Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing in the past, but her attempt had proven unsuccessful. "My relations with him have not progressed at all because I have not even been able to meet him yet," the National League for Democracy (NLD) chairperson said Tuesday. "But I have never given up on something after failing only one time." She added that since her release in 2010 from house arrest under the former military regime, and since she joined Parliament in 2012, she has established good relations with President Thein Sein and Union Parliament Speaker Shwe Mann because they have held meetings. In late November, the opposition leader called for a four-party meeting between herself, Thein Sein, Shwe Mann and Min Aung Hlaing to discussion constitutional amendments. The president turned down her request, saying Parliament's Constitutional Review Joint Committee had not yet come forward with proposals to change the 2008 charter. Formed in July and chaired by the deputy speaker of Union Parliament, the 109-member committee is expected to issue recommendations for amendments later this month. Suu Kyi said she planned to continue requesting a four-party meeting. "It will be better if we can hold informal discussions about the Constitution in advance. Otherwise, it may be difficult to change the Joint Committee's decision later, as they may become official," she said. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate is pushing for changes to the Constitution that would allow her to become president in 2015. The current charter makes her ineligible because her sons hold foreign citizenship. In a regular speech to the general public on Jan. 1, Thein Sein said he supported changes that would address these eligibility concerns. But he cautioned, "I would like to urge people to be mindful that a political crisis may occur and we may lose possible and practical opportunities if we expect more than what the current political situation can fulfill." Suu Kyi's NLD party is organizing a constitutional talk with members of the public at about the same time that the government's Union Peace-Making Work Committee plans to meet with ethnic armed groups in the Karen State capital of Pa-an. The opposition leader told reporters Tuesday that she did not plan to join the peace talks but would consider the possibility if she were invited. "I just want to tell the participants to work together as much as they can to develop a situation in which we don't need to take up arms to solve problems," she said. The post Suu Kyi Still Wants to Meet Burma Army Chief appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Guitarists to Hit the Stage for Burma’s First Instrumental Show Posted: 16 Jan 2014 04:11 AM PST Chit San Maung, the lead guitarist of Burma's most popular rock band Iron Cross, plays at a concert in Rangoon last year. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — With the first ever instrumental show that would bring nearly two dozen guitarists on stage, Burma's guitar fans will have a glimpse of some of the country's most gifted six-string virtuosos performing live. For some of the participants, it will be a rare chance to publicly show off their guitar skills that they have painfully practiced in their bedrooms. At Rangoon's Myoma Parade Ground on Jan. 26, a total of 22 famous, as well as rising, Burmese guitarists will share the stage at an open-air Burmese style guitar festival called "Meet the Guitar Heroes." "It's the first-ever guitar instrumental show to be held in Burma, and I have long dreamed about it," said Ghingar, the organizer of the event. The managing director admitted that he was inspired by the "G3" guitar concert tours organized by American rock instrumental guitarist Joe Satriani featuring him alongside two other guitarists. "We have great guitarists who are good in their own right. That's why I have arranged the show," he explained. According to a list of the participants provided by the organizers, the event will be not only joined by guitarists known nationwide, like Chit San Maung of the band Iron Cross, Zaw Myo Htut and John O' Hara of Emperor. It will also feature a long-respected veteran guitarists, as well as younger players. "Musically, they will play rock, blues and jazz because they will mainly focus on the kind of music they love," Ghingar said. "They can either play their own music or any piece they like," he said, suggesting the audience is likely to hear a "tribute" to the playing of Joe Satriani, Vennie Moore or Steve Vai, who are popular among Burmese guitar enthusiasts. Chit San Maung said he was afraid at first if the show would attract any attention from both players and audiences. "An Instrumental show is music only, so I was worried initially, but when I saw the list [of participants], I was really impressed and encouraged," said the guitarist, who has produced one instrumental album. Another guitarist, Naing Zaw, hopes the event will herald a brighter future for instrumental guitarists. The rock guitarist with five instrumental albums of his own said everyone is not fond of instrumental music here. "So the event will become an exclusive place for guitarists to play instrumental, whether they have their own albums or not," said the guitarist, who will also play three songs at the event. "It has never happened before. We want to keep this tradition alive as it could give you a chance to let people know who you are and how much you can play," he added. Ghingar admitted that the event may be a little bit strange to the Burmese audience but, he said, he doubts it. "We still have the audience of our great guitarists here. Being strange to general audience would be an attraction, I think. Plus, it's a free show!" The post Guitarists to Hit the Stage for Burma's First Instrumental Show appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Civil Society Groups Learn to Harness ICT at ‘Tech Camp’ Posted: 16 Jan 2014 03:41 AM PST A foreign tech expert instructs Burmese participants at the US-funded Tech Camp in Rangoon earlier this week. (Photo: TechCamp/Facebook) RANGOON — About 150 members of 80 Burmese civil society organizations (CSOs) participated in a US-funded 'Tech Camp' in Rangoon this week, where they learned how to use information and communication technology to promote their organizations' goals. The two-day event began on Monday at the Myanmar ICT Park and was organized by the Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO) and the United States Embassy. "There are many ways to apply technology in civil society works. This conference will let them know how technology can help. We also hope to develop a network through this conference and foster collaboration between civil society and technologists," Nay Phone Latt, MIDO's executive director and a well-known Burmese blogger, said during a press conference. Fifteen international and local tech experts instructed dozens of CSO members on ways to use ICT for fundraising, advocacy, monitoring, mapping and other activities, according to Yatanar, a MIDO staff member. She said the CSOs were taught, for example, how to raise funds through so-called crowdfunding, a technique whereby people network and pool their money through an online campaign. They also learned how to secure their organizations' digital information and protect it from hackers, Yatanar added. She said particular attention was paid to using ICT for election monitoring during Burma's much-anticipated 2015 elections, which are expected to be the country's first free and fair elections after decades of military rule. "Election monitoring is a topic that most participants were interested in and foreign technical experts want to help them learn techniques," Yatanar said. Some 30 students from Rangoon's Technology and Computer University also joined the event and participated in a training session dealing with online education. Zaw Thurein Tun from Sagaing Youth Network said he had learned how ICT mapping programs could be used to create flyers that explain to the public where to find polling stations. He said he also learned about a digital complaint-registration program that election monitors can call by phone to file election irregularities. The system can be used, he said, "to report if some injustice and threats happened during polling, and all election information from across the country can be shared by using this network." Ola, a coordinator at Green Network, an environmental group, said he had benefited from courses on the issue of digital security. "Without safely saving our data and information, we can't do our work," he said. "And if someone hacks or disturbs our data that was saved in a computer or accounts, we need to know how we can get back in and how we can protect that information." He added that the CSOs also learned about how hackers can enter their computers and remotely turn on installed video and photo cameras. "Others can then take photos of us, so we need to cover that camera," Ola said. The post Civil Society Groups Learn to Harness ICT at 'Tech Camp' appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Warning for Factories as Rangoon Electricity Board Discovers Tampered Meter Posted: 16 Jan 2014 02:10 AM PST Pictures on display at the offices of the Yangon Electricity Supply Board show tampered electricity meters discovered by officials. (Photo: Kyaw Hsu Mon / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — The electricity provider in Burma's biggest city has warned factories against tampering with their meters, after an inspection revealed that an ice factory had done so. According to Maung Maung Latt, the vice president of the Yangon Electricity Supply Board (YESB), the public provider of power in the former capital, said a number of factories producing ice in Hlaing Township were inspected last week. One factory, which he declined to name, was fined 81 million kyat, about US$81,000, after an inspection last week found that a digital electricity meter had been bypassed in order for the factory to avoid paying for power, he said. One member of YESB staff was involved in the tampering, but had absconded when the factory was inspected, he said. Maung Maung Latt told The Irrawaddy that the board's suspicions were raised when ice in Hlaing Township was far cheaper than elsewhere in Rangoon. "We just noticed that the ice price for 300 pounds of ice was 1,600 kyats, compared with 3,000 kyats in other townships. That meant they could sell at a low price because they don't pay the real cost of their power to the YESB," Maung Maung Latt said, adding that the factory that was fined was only paying for a fraction of the power it was using. The law gives the YESB the power to impose a fine on customers who illegally steal power, he said, adding that the factory had been doing so for some months. Other factories hoping to cheat their way out of paying electricity bills would also be hit with fines, which can go as high as 200 million kyats, or about $200,000, said Maung Maung Latt. YESB has been in the process of replacing analogue electricity meters with digital meters since last year. According to YESB, 44,760 digital meters have been installed in all homes and businesses in Thanlyin, Thonegwa, Dawpon, Thingangyun, South Okkalapa, Khayan and North Dagon townships. During the replacement process, YESB engineers noted that the majority had been tampered with, suggesting that YESB officials—the only ones allowed to repair the meters—had altered them. Residents report that YESB staff often asked for bribes in return for altering meters to reduce customers' bills. Win Maw, deputy chief engineer of the YESB said despite the case of the ice factory, the new digital meters were actually more difficult to cheat that the old ones without detection. "With analog, it is easier than with the digital meter to cheat the board and not to pay the real cost. Now after replacing the digital meter by the board, they can't even cheat during a low voltage period, digital meter can calculate whatever they used per day, especially in factories," he said. The post Warning for Factories as Rangoon Electricity Board Discovers Tampered Meter appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

On South China Sea, Asean Chair Burma Ready to Mediate Posted: 16 Jan 2014 12:27 AM PST Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah hands over the Asean Gavel to Burma President Thein Sein as the next chairman of the Asean Summit during the Closing Ceremony of the 23rd Asean Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan, October 10, 2013. (Photo: Reuters) BAGAN, Mandalay Division — Burma's government is hopeful that it can make progress on mediating the divisive South China Sea dispute during its 2014 chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Ye Htut, Burma's deputy information minister and spokesman for President Thein Sein, said Burma hopes the issue can be resolved through dialogue, with Naypyidaw pinning its hopes on making progress with a long-delayed agreement over the disputed sea. "We are hoping we can move forward on the CoC on the South China Sea. We will try our best to achieve this," Ye Htut told The Irrawaddy, referring to the long-delayed Code of Conduct (CoC) for claimant parties to the South China Sea. China has clashed with fellow sea claimants Vietnam and the Philippines repeatedly in recent years, after asserting domain over most of the waters. Other claimants to parts of the sea include Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan, with tensions rising in recent years as countries in the region grow economically and seek new energy sources. According to a February 2013 report by the US Energy Information Administration, "the South China Sea is a critical world trade route and a potential source of hydrocarbons, particularly natural gas," with the EIA adding that the sea "contains approximately 11 billion barrels of oil and 190 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in proved and probable reserves." Ye Htut, the Burma government spokesman, believes that his country's foot-in-both-camps veneer can help smooth over any flare-up between the disputing claimants. "Our friendly relationship with China and membership of Asean means we can have good relations with both sides and be impartial and friendly to all parties concerned," he said, speaking at the sumptuous surrounds of the US$300-a-night Aureum Palace Hotel, the venue for a meeting of Asean foreign ministers that aims to mark out the agenda for Burma's first-ever chairing of the regional bloc. Last year's Asean chair Brunei won plaudits for its balanced handling of meetings over the disputed sea, but in 2012, Cambodia drew the ire of the Philippines in particular due to Phnom Penh's perceived favoritism toward China. That history means Hanoi and Manila will likely be watchful for any repeat in Burma, where China is listed as the biggest foreign investor. A deal worked out in September 2013 saw the setting-up of a Joint Working Group (JWG) comprising China and Asean to discuss the CoC, with the JWG set to meet four times this year. That format suggests that Burma's hopes of a diplomatic success with the CoC in 2014 are likely to be disappointed. "Due to the composition of the JWG and the relative infrequency of its meetings, we should not be too hopeful that much progress will be made on the CoC during Myanmar's chairmanship," said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, in an e-mail to The Irrawaddy. With hopes that an Asean Economic Community (AEC) can be put in place in 2015, Burma's chairmanship will play a pivotal role in realizing the bloc's immediate-term ambitions, but progress toward this and other goals could be overshadowed by maritime rivalries on the disputed South China Sea. China said last month that fishing boats seeking to operate in the South China Sea—known as the East Sea in Vietnam and the West Philippine Sea in the Philippines—must seek Beijing's approval in advance. Vietnamese foreign ministry spokesman Luong Thanh Nghi described this latest assertion by Beijing as "illegal and invalid," while the United States slammed the fishing move as "provocative and potentially dangerous," in turn prompting China to urge Washington to refrain from commenting on the matter. Burma's chairing of Asean will culminate in a year-end set of summits, likely to be held in the capital Naypyidaw, at which Asean heads of government will be joined by US President Barack Obama, China Premier Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among others. Conceding that Burma's poor infrastructure and long isolation could cause stumbling blocks for its Asean leadership this year, Ye Htut nonetheless hopes that the country will be ready. "Since 2011 we have been preparing, and getting technical assistance from other Asean members and even the UN," Ye Htut said. Asean foreign ministers will arrive in Bagan, an old Burmese kingdom capital known for its thousands of Buddhist temples, later on Thursday, for two days of meetings. Nyan Win, spokesman for the main opposition party, the National league for Democracy (NLD), said Burma's chairing of Asean was timely, and could push the country's ongoing political and economic reforms along. "We hope that the international attention on Burma will mean that reforms will continue and that this can push change to the Constitution," he told The Irrawaddy, referring to Burma's 2008 charter, which critics say gives the military too much say in the running of the country and bars NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi from realizing her ambition of becoming president of Burma after elections due for late 2015. The post On South China Sea, Asean Chair Burma Ready to Mediate appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

UK to Investigate Possible SAS Role in Indian Golden Temple Attack Posted: 15 Jan 2014 10:22 PM PST Devotees walk inside the complex of the holy Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple, in the northern Indian city of Amritsar Jan. 14, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) LONDON — Britain is to investigate newly released official papers which suggest the government of Margaret Thatcher helped India plan a deadly attack against Sikh separatists in the Golden Temple at Amritsar in 1984. Prime Minister David Cameron ordered the review after an opposition Labour Party lawmaker asked the government to disclose whether the papers were genuine and whether Britain had any role in the attack on Sikhism's holiest shrine. Sikh groups said they were shocked and disappointed by the idea that Britain may have been involved in the Golden Temple attack, a bloody episode which angered Sikhs around the world who accused the Indian army of desecration. The raid also remains a blot on the record of India's dynastic ruling Congress party, which faces an uphill struggle to be re-elected in national polls due by May. The party is widely expected to announce Rahul Gandhi, grandson of Indira Gandhi who was prime minister at the time of the attack, as its candidate for the post this week. The nationalist opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which some opinion polls say is the favorite to form the next government, criticized Congress over the 1984 incident. "It wanted to invade the sacred precincts of the Golden Temple no matter even if it hurt the national interest and certainly the interests of the Sikhs," Arun Jaitley, the BJP's leader in the upper house, said of Indira Gandhi's government in a blog posted on Tuesday. The death toll remains disputed, with Indian authorities putting it in the hundreds and Sikh groups in the thousands. The storming of the temple, aimed at flushing out Sikh separatists who demanded an independent homeland, triggered the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Two of her Sikh bodyguards shot her in revenge for the assault four months later. Papers Point to Thatcher Role Cameron visited Amritsar last year to express regret about another bloody incident there—a British colonial-era massacre of unarmed civilians—and has been trying to court British Sikh voters ahead of a national election in 2015. Newly released British government papers from the time, publicized by Tom Watson, a Labour Party lawmaker, suggest Margaret Thatcher, the then prime minister, responded positively to an Indian government request for advice on planning the 1984 attack and sent an officer from the elite SAS special air service to help draw up a plan. A spokesman for Cameron's office said on Tuesday the British prime minister had ordered an investigation as a result. "These events led to a tragic loss of life and we understand the very legitimate concerns that these papers will raise," the spokesman said. "The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Secretary to look into this case urgently and establish the facts." Jeremy Heywood, the cabinet secretary, is Britain's top civil servant. Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague had been unaware of the papers prior to their publication, the spokesman added. Cameron's own spokesman said separately the investigation would be conducted as quickly as possible and would also examine whether the decision to release the official papers after a 30-year secrecy rule had lapsed had been the right one. In India, there were calls for New Delhi to hold its own inquiry into Britain's possible role in the attack. "This is very dangerous news," said Mohammed Adeeb, an independent member of India's upper house of Parliament. "If there is an iota of truth in it, then we should look deeper into it across party lines. If outside help has been taken to kill and to commit atrocities on our own people, then it is extremely shameful." Syed Akbaruddin, a spokesman for India's foreign ministry, said his government was only aware of the story from the media. "We will take it up with our UK counterparts and seek more information," he told Reuters TV. The post UK to Investigate Possible SAS Role in Indian Golden Temple Attack appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

Thai PM Stands Firm on Election, Says Protests Flagging Posted: 15 Jan 2014 10:15 PM PST Anti-government protestors blocked large parts of central Bangkok on Friday. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) BANGKOK— Thailand’s government stuck to a plan for a February election on Wednesday despite mounting pressure from protesters who have brought parts of Bangkok to a near-standstill, and said it believed support for the leader of the agitation was waning. Some hardline protesters threatened to blockade the stock exchange and an air traffic control facility if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had not stepped down by a deadline media said was set for 8 p.m. (1300 GMT). There was no apparent movement as the deadline came and went. The unrest, which flared in early November and escalated this week when demonstrators occupied main intersections of the capital, is the latest chapter in an eight-year conflict. The political fault line pits the Bangkok-based middle class and royalist establishment against the mostly poorer, rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, a former premier ousted by the military in 2006 who is seen as the power behind her government. Yingluck invited protest leaders and political parties to discuss a proposal to delay the general election, which she has called for Feb. 2, but her opponents snubbed her invitation. After the meeting, the government said the poll would go ahead as scheduled, and it derided the leader of the protest movement, Suthep Thaugsuban. "We believe the election will bring the situation back to normal," Deputy Prime Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana told reporters. "We can see that the support for Mr. Suthep is declining. When he is doing something against the law, most people do not support that." Speakers at protest sites across central Bangkok have given the impression Yingluck is worn out and eager to quit. But she seemed relaxed and cheerful at the meeting, which was held inside an air force base near Don Muang International Airport. Her senior officials stressed the caretaker government had no legal powers to postpone or cancel the election and stressed that even an imperfect poll was better than none. "The ballot box doesn’t solve everything, and she knows that. But at least that’s the right step," Suranand Vejjajiva, secretary-general to the prime minister, told Reuters. Air Traffic Control Assured The protesters say they will occupy the city’s main arteries until an unelected "people’s council" replaces Yingluck’s administration. Thaksin’s rural and working-class support has ensured he or his allies have won every election since 2001 and Yingluck’s Puea Thai Party seems certain to win any vote held under present arrangements. The protesters want to suspend what they say is a democracy commandeered by the self-exiled billionaire Thaksin, whom they accuse of nepotism and corruption, and eradicate the political influence of his family by altering electoral arrangements. There was no sign of trouble at the two targets named by hardliners in the protest movement, the stock exchange and the central Bangkok offices of AeroThai, which is in charge of air traffic control communication for planes using Thai air space. AeroThai said it had back-up operations to ensure no disruption to air travel if its control center was shut down. Suthep’s supporters have blockaded at least seven big Bangkok intersections and are also trying to stop ministries from functioning, forcing many to remain closed, with civil servants working from back-up facilities or from home. Yingluck herself has been unable to work from her offices in Government House since late November. Demonstrators marched to the home of Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal carrying a coffin with his name on it, ASTV news reported. They handed one of his aides a note demanding that he cut LPG prices and resign, it said. According to the official Twitter account of National Police spokesman Piya Utayo, an off-duty policeman dressed in civilian clothes was attacked and had his gun taken off him by about 10 protesters at a rally near the Energy Ministry. 'Red Shirts' to Stay out of Bangkok The latest protests have been less violent than a spasm of unrest in 2010, when troops were sent in to end a two-month protest in central Bangkok by "red shirt" Thaksin supporters. More than 90 people died during those protests. Thaksin, who turned to politics after making a fortune in telecommunications, redrew Thailand’s political map by courting rural voters. He lives in exile to avoid a jail sentence handed down in 2008 for abuse of power. There have been relatively few factional clashes in this upsurge of unrest with the government keen to avoid confrontation. Government supporters said they held protests on Monday and Tuesday in provinces neighbouring Bangkok but had no plans to demonstrate in the city. "All we ask is that Prime Minister Yingluck does not resign," said Worawut Wichaidit, spokesman for the pro-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship. "If (Suthep) and his group achieve their goal … the outcome would be similar to a coup, and we all saw what happened the last time there was a coup," Worawut said, referring to instability and factional strife in the years that followed the last army takeover in 2006. It is widely thought that, if the agitation grinds on, the judiciary or military may step in. The military has staged or attempted 18 coups in 81 years of on-off democracy, although it has tried to stay neutral this time and army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha has publicly refused to take sides. The post Thai PM Stands Firm on Election, Says Protests Flagging appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

‘Vaping’ a Slow Burner in China, World’s Maker of E-Cigarettes Posted: 15 Jan 2014 09:53 PM PST An employee checks electronic cigarettes at a production line in a factory in Shenzhen, southern Chinese province of Guangdong, on Jan.15, 2014. (Photo: Reuters / Tyrone Siu) SHANGHAI — When Qu Liang's wife became pregnant, the 30-year-old Shanghai salesman switched from smoking to "vaping," a practice uncommon in China although it is the world's leading producer of electronic cigarettes. E-cigarettes were invented about a decade ago by a Chinese medical researcher and the country supplies nearly all global demand. Puffing on the devices, or vaping, is surging worldwide, but it forms only a tiny part of China's 1.2 trillion yuan (about $200 billion) cigarette business. Now, rising public awareness about the hazards of smoking, coupled with China's hardening stance on smoking in public, is opening up an opportunity for e-cigarettes to make inroads into the world's biggest tobacco market. "As more and more places become off limits to smoking, I find myself using e-cigarettes more often," said Qu. Since starting using the product six years ago for health reasons, Qu has started selling e-cigarettes himself, expanding the business from exports to the domestic market this year. E-cigarettes are mostly sold online in China, where government regulation around the product is still lax. Countries like Singapore and Brazil currently ban e-cigarettes. Centered in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen, Chinese manufacturers including Shenzhen Smoore Technology, FirstUnion Group, Shenzhen Seego Technology Co Ltd and Ruyan Tech make around 95 percent of the world's e-cigarettes, slim, battery-powered metal tubes that turn nicotine-laced liquid into vapor that is inhaled. Vaping is potentially a healthier alternative to smoking as the absence of combustion averts some of the harmful side-effects of tobacco smoke. But a big issue is the lack of long-term scientific evidence to support the safety and effectiveness of e-cigarettes, prompting critics like the British Medical Association to warn of the dangers of their unregulated use. Nevertheless, the e-cigarettes market is growing fast, although it is still only a tiny proportion of the global tobacco business. Last weekend, Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were seen smoking e-cigarettes at the globally televised Golden Globes awards ceremony. Some analysts predict e-cigarettes could outsell conventional cigarettes within a decade, particularly as Big Tobacco grapples with declining sales due to government regulation and health-aware consumers. E-cigarette sales in the United States grew at 115 percent each year between 2009 and 2012, and could grow us much as 240 percent this year, according to experts. The global e-cigarette market could increase fivefold to US$10 billion by 2017, according to some estimates. For Chinese manufacturers of e-cigarettes, while the export market is surging, the domestic potential is tantalizing. Even a tiny portion of its 300 million-plus smokers would offer an attractive prize. In 2012, Chinese smoked a total of 2.46 trillion cigarettes—4.8 per person, per day—and the country accounts for one-third of global consumption. "The harsher control of tobacco is great news for electric cigarettes," said Lai Baosheng, general manager of e-cigarette maker Smoore, adding lax smoking rules in China had previously slowed the development of the business. Beijing has moved to clamp down on smoking, reinforcing a ban on officials smoking in public and increasing the price of tobacco by 5 percent this month. Health authorities said they would enforce a ban on smoking in public places nationwide this year—a law that has long been in the works. Smoore shipped over 100 million e-cigarettes to mostly Europe and the United States in 2013 with a sales value of 800 million yuan, double the level a year before, although Lai says the company is starting to eye the opportunity within China as smoking rules harden. Analysts say China's domestic market would have to eventually open up to e-cigarettes. "There's an unavoidable logic here that eventually no one will smoke regular tobacco on this planet," said Shane MacGuill, London-based tobacco analyst at Euromonitor. "China won't be able to become a kind of ghetto of tobacco, so there will have to be some movement towards an alternative, though how soon it's going to happen I'm not sure. It will happen but it will take longer." Tobacco companies such as British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International as well as independent US firms already source e-cigarettes from China. But e-cigarettes could also give them entry into the Chinese market—currently tobacco sales in China are largely governed by a state monopoly. Tobacco imports made up less than 1 percent of China's market in 2012, according to Euromonitor, with the China National Tobacco Corporation dominating 98 percent of the domestic market, according to a paper from Brookings. E-cigarettes offer a potential route into China's closely controlled tobacco market for brands such as Lorillard Inc's blu e-cigarette, Philip Morris parent Altria's MarkTen, BAT's Vype or Reynolds American Inc's Vuse. With China's large state-owned tobacco firms largely steering clear of e-cigarettes—only one has made an obvious mention of looking into the technology—global Big Tobacco could target wealthier, more health-conscious smokers in China's urban centers. But regulation of China's e-cigarettes market is still in flux, and there are serious obstacles, not least China's reluctance to risk losing the massive tax revenues currently derived from regular tobacco. The country could also decide to control any e-cigarette market as strictly as it does the traditional tobacco industry, leaving little room for outside players. "Nonetheless, I think it has to be seen as a potential way in to the Chinese market," said Eddy Hargreaves, tobacco analyst at Cannacord Genuity. "The potential generally is huge and we'd expect it [to catch on in China], albeit it at a slower rate to the United States and Europe." The post 'Vaping' a Slow Burner in China, World's Maker of E-Cigarettes appeared first on The Irrawaddy Magazine.

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