The Irrawaddy Magazine

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• Photo Exhibition, Book Shows Burma’s ‘Enchanted Spirit’
• Education Advocates Feel Cheated by Last-Minute Amendments
• Letpadan Detainees Call for Public Trial, Medical Attention
• Visa Card Expands Services, Local Card Payments Hampered by Problems
• Students Freed After Letpadan Could Face Trial for Prior Protests
• Govt Begins Probe Into Claims of ‘Burmese Slaves’ in Indonesia
• At Least 42 Burmese Nationals Were Aboard Sunken Russian Trawler
• China Says Burma Apologizes for Bombing, Admits Responsibility
• Municipality, Power Supplier Trade Blame Over Rangoon Water Shortages
• ‘Ha! He Thinks We’re Going to Share This…’
• India’s IT Plans Suffer From Power Cuts, Congestion – and Monkeys
• Burma’s Trade Deficit Jumps 88 % in Fiscal 2014/15
• Sri Lanka: Chinese Leader for 3-Way Talks on Indian Ocean
• Japan PM to Craft WWII Comments with Eye on US
• A Milestone for the President, One Step Forward for Burma’s Ethnic Armed Groups

Photo Exhibition, Book Shows Burma’s ‘Enchanted Spirit’ Posted: 02 Apr 2015 07:01 AM PDT Click to view slideshow. RANGOON — A photo exhibition opened up at Gallery 65 on Rangoon's Yaw Min Gyi Street on Thursday showcasing the work of American photographer David Heath, who is publishing a new photo book documenting Burma's peoples, culture, heritage and landscapes. "Burma: An Enchanted Spirit" includes more than 200 photographs that Heath took in the country while travelling to well-known and remote places in Burma. The exhibition features 36 stunning photos from the book. The book includes a handwritten endorsement by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, which says, "Truly an enchanting book—the pictures reflect the beauty and diversity of Burma faithfully." Heath said at the exhibition's opening that he had shot the photos during five years of travel, during which he visited Kachin State, Monywa town, Pegu Division, Prome, Mandalay, the temples of Mrauk-U and Bagan, the Karen State capital Hpa-An, Inle Lake, Shan State's Tachileik, the Chindwin River and Burma's most southern town, Kawthaung in Tennasserim Division. "This is my favorite country on the planet. The most photogenic place I have ever seen and the most beautiful people that I have ever met," Heath told The Irrawaddy. "So I want to share that with the world and especially with the United States to bring awareness about the culture of the country, how beautiful it is here and to inspire people to come here." Heath said he is now interested in publishing another photo book that documents all of Burma's 135 minorities and tribes. The post Photo Exhibition, Book Shows Burma's 'Enchanted Spirit' appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Education Advocates Feel Cheated by Last-Minute Amendments Posted: 02 Apr 2015 06:45 AM PDT Students protest the National Education Law in Rangoon in November 2014. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Education reform advocates on Wednesday denounced the current draft of an amended education law, passed by Burma's Upper House of Parliament last week, claiming that it deviated from a version agreed upon by stakeholders. The National Education Law, which was passed late last year, was met with protest by students, educators and other advocates. The government agreed to amend the legislation following negotiations with lawmakers, students and other advocates, who collectively agreed upon revisions in mid-February. The version approved by the Upper House on March 26, however, was amended in ways that violated the agreement, according to the National Network for Education Reform (NNER), a group involved in the education reform process and closely aligned with the student movement's leading body, the Action Committee for Democratic Education (ACDE). The NNER said in a statement that the approved draft reverses an agreement about the formation of student and teacher unions, replaces a chapter safeguarding educational freedom with a chapter that establishes a national "strategic commission" backed by the government, and restores centralized control over curricula despite previous agreements that educational agendas would vary by state and region. Regional variations were a central demand of the student movement because of Burma's ethnically diverse population, which under military rule was given only the option of learning in the dominant Burmese language. The repression of minority languages caused severe disadvantages for many in ethnic states and regions. The student movement also demanded a 20 percent increase in the national education budget over the course of the next five years, as well as nationwide free primary and secondary education. Neither of those provisions was included in the approved version, the NNER said. Min Oo, an Upper House parliamentarian and member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), explained that lawmakers had to compromise some parts of the draft for the betterment of the country's education system in the long run. "When we consider the Education Law, we weren't thinking only about satisfying the students, accommodating the NNER, or fawning the government. We thought about establishing a good education system for the next generation and for the future of the country," he said. An upper house committee tasked with revising the law led a number of parliamentary hearings in March that were meant to include members of the ACDE, but several student representatives were unable to attend because they had been jailed after a brutal police crackdown in Letpadan, central Burma, on a core group of protesters. While the committee said in its report that it had reached agreement with negotiators before the amendments went to a vote, the NNER maintained that "the Upper House needs to clarify" how they could have reached agreement on the revisions with only a fraction of the stakeholders present. Min Lwin Oo, a member of the ACDE and president of the Dawei Students Union, told The Irrawaddy that changes to the legislation must be discussed by all key members of the ACDE before they can be accepted. "Six detained student members of the ACDE may disagree [with the revisions]," he said. "I demand that they be freed immediately, and that the ACDE can discuss this together." The post Education Advocates Feel Cheated by Last-Minute Amendments appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Letpadan Detainees Call for Public Trial, Medical Attention Posted: 02 Apr 2015 05:26 AM PDT Students and activists in Rangoon on Mar. 27 demand the release of all students and their supporters detained following the crackdown in Letpadan. (Photo: Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Students arrested after the Mar. 10 Letpadan protest crackdown have requested their trials to be opened to the public for future hearings and say that some detainees are in need of medical attention, according to family members. The first hearing for 69 protesters was held on Mar. 25 at the local court in Letpadan, with family members barred from attending. The demonstrators will not appear in court again until next Tuesday. "My daughter told me during my prison visit on Wednesday that the trial should be opened to the public for family members as well as to the media," Thanda Khin, the mother of All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) leader Phyoe Phyoe Aung, told The Irrawaddy. "She told me that she wants the hearing to be done continuously [rather than fortnightly] and in public. She thinks that authorities are just wasting time by scheduling the hearing every two weeks." She added that the detained students looked pale and weak due to the lack of adequate nutrition from the food at Thayawady Prison, and based on the past experience of imprisoned family members, she was concerned for her daughter's health. Phyoe Phyoe Aung's father was imprisoned between 1989 and 2005, leaving Thanda Khin as the sole carer of her 9-month-old daughter. In 2008, both Phyoe Phyoe Aung and her father were arrested for assisting in the burial of corpses left in the wake of Cyclone Nargis, which ultimately claimed 140,000 lives after a stalled emergency response from the government. Thanda Khin told The Irrawaddy she was not hopeful about the prospects for a public trial given her experiences in 1989 and 2008, when her loved ones were convicted behind closed doors. Khin Khin Yu, the mother of student leader Min Thway Thit, who claims he was beaten by more than a dozen police officers during the crackdown, told The Irrawaddy that she wants her son to receive proper treatment at the prison's hospital. "I am worried about him," she said. "He was struck on his head and his hands. He was vomiting on the police truck when he was brought for the first trial last week." Both student leaders say there are other detainees in need of medical attention, according to their parents. 127 people were arrested after the Mar. 10 crackdown. In the following weeks, police arrested other ABSFU leaders to stand trial in Letpadan. Authorities drew a distinction between 'genuine students' and political activists in granting the release of around half of the detainees in late March. The only son of Khin Khin Yu's three children, 32-year-old Min Thway Thit has yet to complete his university studies. His mother said he had lost the documentation necessary to prove his current enrolment, which he was carrying in a bag during the chaotic aftermath of the police attack on the protesters. Family members are allowed to meet the detainees for 5-15 minutes during weekly prison visits, held on Wednesdays and Thursdays under the supervision of at least five prison officers. Visitors said that their conversations with the prisoners, separated by iron bars and glass, are written down and recorded and their gestures and movements are closely scrutinized. "The policewomen told us to have a quick chat, so we could not say much," said Thanda Khin, recalling an encounter with her daughter at Thayawady last week. "We just looked at each other and exchanged smiles." The post Letpadan Detainees Call for Public Trial, Medical Attention appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Visa Card Expands Services, Local Card Payments Hampered by Problems Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:40 AM PDT Myanmar Payment Union isBurma's sole domestic card-based payment system, (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — International payment cards continue to improve their financial services in Burma with Visa Card announcing on Wednesday that its cards can now be used at several Rangoon supermarkets of City Mart, the country's biggest retailer. The domestic card system of Myanmar Payment Union (MPU) meanwhile, continues to suffer from problems as ATMs and bank card readers at stores for the country's approximately 1 million cardholders are often out of service, according to bankers and customers. Visa has teamed up with City Mart and local KBZ Bank to provide payment services for debit and credit card at supermarkets at Rangoon's Junction Square, Golden Valley and Parkson, The Bangkok Post reported. The US firm said its cards are now accepted at 1,800 retailers and at MPU ATMs in Burma. Visa is among a number of international card payment providers that have quickly entered the market after Burma's economy opened up and trade sanctions were lifted following the introduction of reforms by President Thein Sein's government in 2011. MPU announced in 2011 that its card holders can make digital payment or withdraw cash; it now operates more than 1,000 ATMs and 3,000 card readers at retailers in Burma. The number of MPU cardholders is growing rapidly, rising five-fold in the last year to about 1 million now. However, the MPU system, which is being used by 20 local banks that are MPU members, is known to suffer from frequent technical problems that force banking clients to rely on bringing cash instead. "I heard that most users can't pay at available retail shops because of system errors, they just pay with cash until now," said Pe Myint, managing director at Corporative Bank, an MPU member. "MPU is also trying to solve the problem. That's why they're going to form a public company and expect to upgrade the system," he said. "It won't work without system upgrading, as long as they can't do it, card use will not be easy." Banking representatives familiar with the MPU card payment system said it was of poor technological quality, while retailers who obtained the card readers were not offered proper after-sales services to maintain functionality. Another reason cited for continuing problems with card payments and cash withdrawals is a lack of understanding of the card system among customers. Tin Ei, a school teacher from North Okkalapa Township who has a MPU card, said the card readers at the retailers were highly unreliable, adding that she could not leave her home without cash as a result. "I don't want to bring much cash for my shopping, but I can't use my card in most shopping malls and food shops," she said. "I saw the MPU machines in some shops and restaurants, I tried to use my debit MPU card but it doesn't work." MPU Chairman Zaw Lin Htut acknowledged that the card payment system required an upgrade to improve functionality, adding that Burma's poorly developed telecom infrastructure also hampered the system's performance. "I can say it's not perfect but the development is getting better, it's better than last year," he said, adding that MPU also planned to offer its services at City Mart "soon." Asked if local banks were losing ground to international card systems that have quickly rolled out their services in Burma, Zaw Lin Htut said, "I don't think there will be a big impact on us … because if we look at the domestic user's interest, you will see that our transaction cost is the lowest." In January 2014, MPU announced its members planned to turn it into a public company so that the union could improve its card payment system. Member banks would become shareholders and a board of directors would be staffed with managing directors of the banks. Until now, discussions among member banks about the formation of a public company are ongoing, while the Central Bank of Myanmar is yet to provide its approval for the plan, bank representatives said. MPU was founded in 2011; its members include 20 local banks, three of which are state-owned. MPU set up the first ATM card payment system in Burma, which was lacking because of decades of economic mismanagement and isolation under the former military regime. The expansion of mobile and Internet access in Burma following the entry of two foreign telecom operators last year has improved telecom infrastructure required for electronic card payments. The post Visa Card Expands Services, Local Card Payments Hampered by Problems appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Students Freed After Letpadan Could Face Trial for Prior Protests Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:11 AM PDT Student leaders negotiate with local authorities to gain passage through Mandalay's Taung Tha Township in late January. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawadddy) MANDALAY – Dozens of student activists in central Burma's Mandalay Division may face charges for unlawful assembly, after being released from detention following a recent crackdown on a demonstration in Letpadan. Students at Yadanabon University in Amarapura and the Government Technical College in Myinchan said police had given letters to teachers and school authorities to deliver to those who may face charges. Police in Amarapura and Myinchan declined to comment. The students at both schools said that the notices informed them that they would face charges under Article 18, a controversial provision in Burma's Peaceful Assembly Law that requires prior permission for gatherings. The charges relate to a number of demonstrations held before, concurrent with and after a core group of activists left Mandalay with the intention of marching to Rangoon. The demonstrations, which were held in opposition to a new National Education Law that students and educators view as restrictive and undemocratic, were brutally dismantled by police in Letpadan, Pegu Division, in early March. Of the 127 people who were initially jailed after the crackdown, dozens were released in the weeks that followed. Many returned home to continue their coursework and take exams, believing that they would not be brought to trial. "We don't understand. Since some of us were freed after the Letpadan crackdown, our understanding was that [the police] wouldn't sue us anymore. This shows that the government and the authorities cannot be trusted," said Yadanabon student Nai Ye Wai, speaking to The Irrawaddy after visiting the police station on Thursday. "The police said 37 students and me will have to face trial," he said. "Soon." One of about 10 students facing charges in Myinchan, Han Phyo Wai said the move was likely meant to spook other students and prevent further protests. "We believe this is meant to frighten other students from participating in or organizing protests and demonstrations in the future. Since the news spread in our school, many students are avoiding us and dare not talk to us," Han Phyo Wai said. Five people accused of participating in and supporting a demonstration on March 27 are still being detained in Myinchan, while reports have surfaced that other supporters are now being pursued by police. Thant Zin, who participated in the students' march to Rangoon, was also arrested after last week's demonstration and is still in jail, where he and the other detainees are denied access to counsel and family visits, according to a relative. The post Students Freed After Letpadan Could Face Trial for Prior Protests appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Govt Begins Probe Into Claims of ‘Burmese Slaves’ in Indonesia Posted: 02 Apr 2015 03:34 AM PDT Migrant workers from Burma work on a fishing boat before sailing out of the port of Mahachai near Bangkok in 2010. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON — Burma's Ministry of Labor has begun an inquiry into allegations made in an investigation by The Associated Press that hundreds of Burmese nationals in Indonesia are living slave-like existences to supply the global seafood industry. The international news wire reported last week that hundreds of men, mostly from Burma, were being held against their will on the remote Indonesian island village of Benjina, which serves as the base of operations for a trawler fleet that fishes in the area. Khin Nway Oo, director of the local and overseas employment subdivision of the ministry's Department of Labor, said she had been in contact with Burma's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant government bodies to determine the validity of the AP claims. The Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN), a Thailand-based organization, said Thailand's Labor Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN) was helping to rescue the men, making several trips to the island. Sein Htay, chairman of MWRN, said Tin Mu, the mother of a man who was sold to a trawler from Thailand, had been contacted by her son on Wednesday morning. She asked the NGO to help the man, 27-year-old Wai Lin Soe. "He [Tin Mu's son] said his trawler is in hiding now. We couldn't contact his phone back," Sein Htay said. "I also heard that the Burmese government has also started an operation to help the men." Sein Htay said the missing man's information and a photo were forwarded to LPN, which is now attempting to track down Wai Lin Soe on the island. He said LPN typically works to find Thai men in Indonesia facing conditions similar to those alleged by The Associated Press and bring them back home with the help of Thai police. "This started from Thailand. The Thai government is responsible to take action in this case," he said. "The Myanmar government will need to bring back the workers. They have done this before. They previously brought back more than 100 from Indonesia. They have known about this a long time. They have not done it [repatriated trafficking victims] effectively." The AP investigation found that the trawlers based in Benjina were captained by Thai nationals, though ownership of the company fielding the boats was unclear. The report said the Indonesian government was investigating the firm, Pusaka Benjina Resources. Contacted by The Irrawaddy on Thursday, Harryansah Khairul, counselor at the Indonesian Embassy in Rangoon, said Indonesian authorities had launched an investigation following the report's publication last week. Preliminary rescues had been primarily Thai nationals, he said, though some Burmese men were believed to be among the trafficked victims, but had been issued fraudulent identity documents indicating Thai citizenship. The Associated Press on Thursday said officials from Thailand, Indonesia and Burma were cooperating to put a stop to the industry abuses. "We [will] prove that we don't want to let it happen anymore," Ida Kusuma from the Indonesian Fisheries Ministry was quoted as saying. "I think the company who hired them should take full responsibility to bring them to their families." Sompong Srakaew, CEO & co-founder of LPN, said the problem extended beyond Benjina, telling a freelance Thai journalist that several hundred men who had been enslaved but escaped—among them Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian nationals—are holed up in Ambon, about 450 miles northwest of Benjina. "This is an urgent mission," Sompong told the journalist, who provided The Irrawaddy with the information. The LPN leader said he planned to meet with officials from the Burmese Embassy in Bangkok on Friday regarding more than 30 men, including 23 Burmese, who are seeking repatriation from Indonesia. Sompong encouraged anyone who believes a member of their family was forcibly recruited into the fishing industry to contact his organization. Tin Mu said her son left home in Thanbyuzayat, Mon State, in 2012 for Thailand with the help of a local human trafficker. He got a job at a seafood processing factory in Mahachai, on the outskirts of Bangkok, and worked there for a week before being sold to a fishing boat that had docked carrying fish from Indonesia. His sisters were also in Thailand but lost contact with him after he was on board. The mother came to Thailand seven months after her son left home to look for him. "He said he didn't want to go. He wants to come back. He doesn't have money or a way of contacting. It's like he's lost his way. "He can't escape either. It's like the connection is cut," 55-year-old Tin Mu said. Wai Lin Soe was not aware of the conditions he would face when he boarded the boat, later finding out that he could not get out of the arrangement. Tin Mu managed to contact her son by phone one year after his disappearance. "He would call when his boat made landfall, like once every eight months." The last time she spoke to her son, Tin Mu said he was staying aboard a boat, docked somewhere by the owner who had moored the vessel because authorities were making arrests. Tin Mu said she was afraid to contact any organization prior to the AP article's publication because, like many Burmese migrants, she was working illegally and didn't know who might be able to help her. There are about 500 Burmese men enslaved on Benjina, according to Wai Lin Soe. "I want him to be free from that fishing boat as soon as possible," Tin Mu said. The post Govt Begins Probe Into Claims of 'Burmese Slaves' in Indonesia appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

At Least 42 Burmese Nationals Were Aboard Sunken Russian Trawler Posted: 02 Apr 2015 01:58 AM PDT A rescuer abseils from a Mi-8-MTB-1 helicopter as he takes an exam at an airdrome of the Russian Ministry of Defense, some 80 km (50 miles) east of Russia’s Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk February 6, 2014. (Photo: Reuters) MOSCOW — A Russian trawler sank in just 15 minutes in icy waters off Russia's Far Eastern coast early Thursday, killing at least 54 crew members, rescue workers said. The massive trawler Dalny Vostok, with an international crew of 132, sank at about 4 a.m. local time (1800 GMT on Wednesday) in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula. It did not send distress signals prior to the sinking, the Interfax news agency said. Among the 132 crew members, 78 are from Russia, 42 from Burma and the rest from Latvia, Ukraine and Vanuatu. Emergency services in Kamchatka, citing the head of the rescue operation, said 63 crew members were rescued and the fate of the remaining 15 was unknown. More than 26 fishing boats in the area helped to rescue the crew members, emergency services said in a statement on their website. The fishing boats also recovered 54 bodies. No cause for the sinking was immediately given, but investigators said the ship sank in just 15 minutes and may have collided with drifting ice. The Investigative Committee said in a statement that it is considering all theories but it is likely that the trawler hit "an object" floating in the sea. The Russian Emergencies Ministry sent an Mi-8 helicopter with rescuers and doctors aboard to deliver medical assistance and transport rescued crew members to hospitals in the city of Magadan, the ministry said on its website. It also set up a telephone hotline for families of the crew. Oleg Kozhemyako, acting governor of the Sakhalin region, told Russian television that rescuers spotted two life rafts, but had not yet reached them to check if anybody was on board. Some 1,300 people were involved in the rescue operation, emergency services said. The post At Least 42 Burmese Nationals Were Aboard Sunken Russian Trawler appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

China Says Burma Apologizes for Bombing, Admits Responsibility Posted: 02 Apr 2015 01:51 AM PDT A woman walks past Chinese national flags at a crop field in Kokang, near Burma's border with China, on March 24, 2015. (Photo: Reuters) BEIJING — Burma has accepted responsibility and apologized for bombs dropped on Chinese territory last month that killed five people, China's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The incident happened during clashes between Burma government forces and a rebel group called the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). Thousands of refugees have fled to China as fighting flared on the Burma side of the border in the past month or so. The Chinese government was infuriated by the deaths in its southwestern province of Yunnan, and warned of a "decisive" response should there be any repetition. Meeting with his Burmese counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that a joint team formed to look into the bombing had clearly ascertained what had happened, China's Foreign Ministry said. Wunna Maung Lwin accepted the results of the probe, which was that bombs from a Burmese aircraft killed Chinese citizens, and extended his apologies and offered compensation, the ministry said in a statement. "The Myanmar side will go after and punish in accordance with the law those responsible, and will also strengthen internal controls to avoid such an incident happening again," the ministry added. It said Burma will work with China to ensure stability along their 2,000 km (1,250 mile) border, much of which is remote and hard to access. The MNDAA, led by ethnic Chinese commander Peng Jiasheng, was formed from remnants of the Communist Party of Burma, a powerful China-backed guerrilla force that battled Burma's government until it splintered in 1989. The group struck a truce with the government that lasted until 2009, when government troops took over their region in a conflict that pushed tens of thousands of refugees into China's Yunnan province. The post China Says Burma Apologizes for Bombing, Admits Responsibility appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Municipality, Power Supplier Trade Blame Over Rangoon Water Shortages Posted: 02 Apr 2015 01:45 AM PDT Rangoon City Hall, where Yangon City Development Committee is housed. (Photo: Steve Tickner / The Irrawaddy) RANGOON — Rangoon municipal authority and the city's main electricity supplier have been trading blame over who is responsible for growing water shortages in Burma's biggest city. Residents of Rangoon's eastern townships of Tamwe, Pazundaung, Botathaung, Sanchaung and Mingalar Taung Nyunt have suffered from frequent water supply problems since the beginning of March, sometimes for several days on end, while temperatures have been rising as hot season approach. An official at the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC) said water reservoirs at Yegu are full and can supply the townships, but this has not happened properly due to a lack of steady electricity supply by the Yangon Electricity Supply Board (YESB). "Mainly, we supply water from water tanks using water pumps. But now, the water pump in Yegu is out of commission because there is no sufficient electricity supply. It can't operate because of low-voltage electricity," said the official of YCDC's water and sanitation division, who declined to be named. "It is concerned with [YESB]. Water pumps won't work if they don't supply sufficient electricity. But now, we are only operating while there is sufficient electricity," he said. YESB Chairman Aung Khaing said the board had taken measures to ensure that the pumps at Yegu could be operated at all times. "Electricity consumption is very high in summer. We have installed voltage amplifiers for water pumps. But now, YCDC is passing the buck to us," he said. The hot season often sees rolling power outages in Burma's commercial capital as demand soars while power supply from hydropower dams drops due to falling water levels. Some residents complained that authorities had done little to address the water shortages in their neighborhood. "We always face this problem in summer and the division government can't solve this. If they can't even supply water, which is a basic need of people, why are they holding a position of power?" said a Sanchaung Township resident, who declined to be named. "The division chief minister and municipal officials should resign. They didn't formally inform us that they would not be able to supply water. They are doing just as they please," he said. The post Municipality, Power Supplier Trade Blame Over Rangoon Water Shortages appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

‘Ha! He Thinks We’re Going to Share This…’ Posted: 02 Apr 2015 01:09 AM PDT The post ‘Ha! He Thinks We’re Going to Share This…’ appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

India’s IT Plans Suffer From Power Cuts, Congestion – and Monkeys Posted: 01 Apr 2015 11:24 PM PDT A Hindu man shares a roof with a monkey in Ayodhya, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, March 11, 2002. (Photo: Reuters) VARANASI, India — As India launches a US$18 billion plan to spread the information revolution to its provinces, the problems it faces are a holdover from the past—electricity shortages, badly planned, jam-packed cities, and monkeys. The clash between the old world and the new is sharply in focus in the crowded 3,000-year-old holy city of Varanasi, where many devout Hindus come to die in the belief that doing so will give them salvation. Varanasi is also home to hundreds of macaque monkeys that live in its temples and are fed and venerated by devotees. But the monkeys also feast on the fibre-optic cables that are strung along the banks of the Ganges river. "We cannot move the temples from here. We cannot modify anything here, everything is built up. The monkeys, they destroy all the wires and eat all the wires," said communications engineer A.P. Srivastava. Srivastava, who oversees the expansion of new connections in the local district, said his team had to replace the riverside cables when the monkeys chewed them up less than two months after they were installed. He said his team is now looking for alternatives, but there are few to be found. The city of over 2 million people is impossibly crowded and laying underground cable is out of the question. Chasing away or trapping the monkeys will outrage residents and temple-goers. Varanasi is part of the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist leader who came to power last May. A shortage of electricity is further complicating efforts to set up stable Wi-Fi in public places—daily power cuts can last for hours during the sweltering summer in Varanasi and across much of India. Modi's government has pledged to lay 700,000 kms (434,960 miles) of broadband cable to connect India's 250,000 village clusters within three years, build 100 new "Smart Cities" by 2020 and shift more public services like education and health to electronic platforms to improve access and accountability. Varanasi was the first of an eventual 2,500 locations singled out for street-level Wi-Fi. Industry experts predict that the broadband initiative, along with a surge in smartphone ownership, will mean about a third of Indians will have access to the internet by 2017, from about 20 percent, or 250 million people, now. Expanding internet connectivity and making access cheaper could add up to 1.6 percentage points, or about $70 billion, to India's GDP over a four-year period, consultants at McKinsey have estimated. Global Interest Global technology companies see opportunity in Modi's commitment to a digital future and are adapting their products to India's varied climates and external threats. IBM is in discussions to provide software to help several cities make the leap into the digital age. Network provider Cisco Systems is working with the government in the eastern city of Visakhapatnam to bring more education and healthcare services online, and has developed a "ruggedized" Wi-Fi box to survive India's varied climates and cut down on the need for cables that will be at the mercy of the elements—or monkeys. "We've built outdoor Wi-Fi-access routers specifically keeping in mind Indian environmental conditions," Dinesh Malkani, Cisco's India country head, said in an interview. "You cannot predict what challenges you are going to come up against." Bringing some order to India's chaotic cities with technology is a daunting task. India's urban population is forecast to swell by an additional 220 million to 600 million by 2031, potentially overwhelming already inadequate infrastructure. Many of the new digital projects are simply aimed at improving existing civic amenities: time traffic information to help people better plan their journey, or systems that allow individuals to monitor water leakages or waste management and then inform local authorities. Vinod Kumar Tripathi, an urban planning expert in Varanasi, said Modi's initiatives needed to be coupled with huge investments in improving basic services like housing, roads and waste management. "Everything here is old, outdated and the population pressure just makes it worse. This place was a small temple town and is now a commercial center," Tripathi said in his office overlooking the Banaras Hindu University. The free Wi-Fi service that started in February is certainly stimulating the consumer economy. Boatman Sandeep Majhi makes a living ferrying pilgrims and bereaved families who scatter ashes in the river after performing cremations. He recently purchased his first smartphone to download music and exchange videos with friends, and promote his boat business to tourists on Facebook. But he said the government needed to pay equal attention to the municipal services in a city where cars, rickshaws and carts fight for space through narrow, potholed roads lined with litter. Varanasi remains dependent on a 500-year-old, leaky drainage system for its sewage. "Free Wi-Fi is a good facility for tourists but I think the officials should think about cleaning the ghats," said the 20-year-old, referring to the steps down to the river, which are often caked with cow dung. The post India's IT Plans Suffer From Power Cuts, Congestion – and Monkeys appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Burma’s Trade Deficit Jumps 88 % in Fiscal 2014/15 Posted: 01 Apr 2015 10:15 PM PDT Employees count money at Yoma Bank in Rangoon. (Photo: Reuters) RANGOON —Burma's trade deficit jumped 88 percent in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, driven by rapid economic expansion in the formerly military-ruled country, state media and a Commerce Ministry official said on Thursday. Burma's economy was held back by mismanagement, corruption and the refusal of Western countries to trade and invest because of human rights abuses under the military, which ruled for almost 50 years until 2011. The semi-civilian government in office since then has implemented sweeping political and economic reforms and, in recognition, the European Union, Australia, the United States and other countries have lifted or eased sanctions, opening the door to the global economy. Myanmar imported more than US$16 billion of goods in fiscal 2014/15 and exports totaled more than $11 billion, leaving a deficit of more than $4.9 billion, the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar reported. A senior Commerce Ministry official put the previous year's deficit at $2.6 billion. "It's impossible to cut down exports with the speedily growing market economy and speedily rising living standards," she said, requesting anonymity as she was not authorized to speak to the media. Capital goods such as construction materials for infrastructure projects accounted for about 40 percent of imports, while fuel made up 30 percent and consumer goods 20 percent, the official said. The government will attempt to close the deficit by spending $900 million over the next five years to boost the export capacity of domestic firms, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported. The post Burma's Trade Deficit Jumps 88 % in Fiscal 2014/15 appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Sri Lanka: Chinese Leader for 3-Way Talks on Indian Ocean Posted: 01 Apr 2015 09:36 PM PDT Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a signing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People on March 26, 2015, in Beijing. (Photo: Reuters) COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka's government said Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jinping has proposed three-party talks with India and Sri Lanka to clear any misgivings over its activities in the Indian Ocean region. Cabinet minister Rauff Hakeem, who accompanied President Maithripapa Sirisena on a four-day visit to China, told reporters on his return that the proposal was made at the talks between the two leaders. Hakeem quoted Xi as saying that the Chinese government was "looking forward to developing trilateral talks between Colombo, Delhi and Beijing and if there are any issues to be discussed they are always prepared to sort these matters through a trilateral dialog." India has been suspicious of China's increased involvement in a region it perceives to be its traditional territory of influence. China has funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka including an airport, sea port, power plants and highways. Its new Silk Road is seen as a way of encircling India and controlling port access along sea lanes linking the energy-rich Persian Gulf and economic centers in eastern China. During last week's visit, Liu Jianchao, China's assistant minister for foreign affairs, told reporters that it would be beneficial for the three countries to have cooperation in economic and social development. During his South Asian visit last September, Xi won support from Sri Lanka and the Maldives for the Silk Road. However, the new government in Sri Lanka has tried to balance its standing between the two regional giants. Shifting from his predecessor's heavy pro-China policy, Sirisena chose New Delhi for his overseas visit after his January election and ordered a review of China-funded projects, including a port city project that particularly made India uneasy. Soon after Sirisena's visit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Sri Lanka, the first Indian head to visit the neighboring island in 28 years. The US$1.5 billion project that has become the face of China's influence in Sri Lanka is a new city to be built on an artificial land off Sri Lanka's west coast, which is close to India. China will hold outright ownership of part of the land under the agreement. Sirisena suspended the project. He has told China that its future will be decided after considering environmental impacts, national and regional security, said Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne who was also part of the delegation. The post Sri Lanka: Chinese Leader for 3-Way Talks on Indian Ocean appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

Japan PM to Craft WWII Comments with Eye on US Posted: 01 Apr 2015 09:23 PM PDT Sailors stand on the deck of the Izumo warship as it departs from the harbour of the Japan United Marine shipyard in Yokohama. (Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters) TOKYO — When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses Japan’s wartime past in a statement marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the reaction of Washington will likely be as much, if not more, on his mind than that of Asian nations that suffered from Japanese military aggression. US officials have welcomed Abe’s push to strengthen the alliance and give Japan a bigger global security role less constrained by its pacifist constitution. But they have also made clear they are loath to see Abe stir regional tensions with comments that critics could construe as whitewashing history. Abe, whose conservative agenda includes a less apologetic stance over Japan’s wartime past, has previously expressed reservations about earlier apologies. They include a 1995 landmark statement by then-premier Tomiichi Murayama and 1993 remarks by government spokesman Yohei Kono over "comfort women" forced to work in wartime military brothels. More recently, Abe has said he intends to uphold such statements but has also signalled he wants to issue forward-looking comments in his own words to mark the anniversary of the conflict’s end in August. One option, experts say, is for Abe to endorse past government apologies but stop short of repeating, as many in China and South Korea want, key phrases such as references to "colonial rule and aggression" and a "heartfelt apology". "If his strategy is to get past the issue and focus on the future, he can probably do that if he just embraces what previous administrations have said," said Scott Harold, deputy director of the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy at The Rand Corporation, a US-based think tank. "At that point, I don’t think Chinese or Korean unhappiness would get much of an audience in the rest of Asia or the United States." Abe will be able to test the waters in high-profile speeches this month. First, he is expected to address a meeting in Indonesia on the 60th anniversary of the Bandung Conference, a gathering of Asian and African leaders opposed to colonialism. Next, he will speak to a joint session of the US Senate and House of Representatives on April 29, remarks likely to focus on the increasingly tight ties between the two allies as Abe loosens constitutional limits on Japan’s military, enabling closer integration with US forces, as well as his agenda for generating economic growth. "Abe is hoping the positive messages he’ll bring to DC on security cooperation and the economy will outweigh criticisms of him on the history issues," said a US-based Japan expert. "All indications are that this will happen unless there are negative reports in the press about backtracking on history." Already, there are signs Abe is calibrating his comments ahead of the U.S. visit. In an interview with the Washington Post last week, Abe said "comfort women" had been "victimised by human trafficking", a contrast with the stance of Japanese ultra-conservatives who have argued many were prostitutes. Abe did not, however, say who was responsible for the trafficking. Abe’s conservative political allies want him to end what they see as an endless cycle of apologies that they believe distracts from Japan’s record since 1945 as a peaceful nation. "I know there are people, and countries, who are making an issue of whether certain words are there or not," Yoshitaka Shindo, a former member of Abe’s cabinet, told Reuters. "To repeat that over and over for political purposes—I don’t think we have to consider that because Japan is a country that has not gone to war even once during the last 70 years. That is something we must say." Abe’s critics, however, say the prime minister must lay to rest doubts about his view of wartime history that he himself has sparked. "He must erase those doubts and the simplest way to do so is to uphold the Murayama Statement unchanged," the 78-year-old Kono told Reuters in an interview last month. Japan’s chilly ties with China and South Korea, long plagued by history as well as territorial rows, have shown signs of a thaw, most recently when foreign ministers from the three countries agreed a leaders’ summit should be held soon. But Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made clear that much of the outlook for improvement depended on Japan proving it was serious about acknowledging its wartime past. A spokesman for South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Abe’s statement should include "comments that reflect a correct perception of history". Washington is keen to see better ties between Seoul and Tokyo, its two key Asian allies, but may not worry so much about complaints from Beijing, some US experts said. "There is already a reaction setting in in the United States that the Chinese are just hopping on this to score political points," said another US-based expert. "My guess is that he will probably say enough so that America won’t get that upset. Then I think he’s okay even if China and South Korea give him a hard time, it will be contained." The post Japan PM to Craft WWII Comments with Eye on US appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

A Milestone for the President, One Step Forward for Burma’s Ethnic Armed Groups Posted: 01 Apr 2015 05:01 PM PDT Government chief negotiator Minister Aung Min shakes hands with NCCT leader Nai Hong Sar as they exchange the draft nationwide ceasefire text. (Photo: Jpaing / The Irrawaddy) Many observers may wonder what goes on within Burma's three-year-long peace process. Some criticize the government's army, commonly known as Tatmataw, for its continuous attacks on the bases of ethnic armed groups, while others blame ethnic armed groups for not speeding up the process. Many are frustrated by the lack of public information—the failure to let the public know what goes on. Some doubt the political will of U Thein Sein's government. The unprecedented agreement on a draft text for a nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) was made on March 31, 2015. Burma observers and people involved in the peace process are excited by this new development. For the President this is a cause for celebration, as it lays the foundation for a continued peace process. However, for the ethic armed groups, this is only the beginning. Their ultimate goal is to achieve a federal state, but consensus must be reached among the ethic armed groups and the leading government. There is still no common understanding and agreement even among the ethnic political parties that are advocating for such a state. As the government celebrates its achievement on the NCA draft agreement, it seems to me that many Burma observers do not pay attention to the variables that could bring about this agreement. Since Thein Sein took the presidency in March 2011, he announced a presidential plan that included the "peace process" on its agenda. Some still doubt whether that was a sincere remark. However, the ethnic armed groups grabbed the opportunity as they viewed him as a negotiable man. Fourteen out of 22 ethnic armed groups agreed on bilateral peace deals between 2012 and 2013. Ethnic armed groups soon realized the need to coordinate and collaborate with each other, which brought about the Working Group for Ethnic Coalition (WGEC). This group became instrumental in formulating the roadmap for the peace process, its timeframe, political dialogue and, most importantly, the role of the military. Cheery Zahau is a human rights activist from Chin State. (Photo: Cheery Zahau) This was a turning point in the peace process game. The government's initial plan—including its end goal and its mechanisms for operation and reporting—was not clear. But the ethnic groups' plan is more consistent. From the early stages of bilateral ceasefire discussions, the ethnic armed groups insisted that they would play outside the confines of the 2008 Constitution until they achieved their end goals. In past ceasefire talks, under the leadership of Gen. Khin Nyunt and his predecessor, Burma's ethnic armed groups were not in a position to create the terms of demand and timeframe. This time, the working group managed to advance the game in terms of timeframe, in terms of demand and even in the interpretation of the terminology used in the draft agreement. This is a major achievement that the citizens of Burma and the international community alike either do not understand or are ignoring. It was the ethnic armed groups that introduced the concept of political dialogue; it was from their bitter experiences that a ceasefire alone would not be enough. This political dialogue is a space, wherein there will be wider and more inclusive participation. The political dialogue is where tough and complicated political issues can be discussed and resolved. In the early phases of the peace process, the government's negotiation team was satisfied with the status quo of accepting or offering business concessions as incentives for agreeing to a ceasefire. The more cautious and sensible Burma observers could see that the government's roadmap for peace was business as usual. The game changed, however, when government negotiators, led by Minister U Aung Min, agreed to the concept of political dialogue. Burma's ethnic groups deserve recognition for their consistency and perseverance. It was the maneuvering of the ethnic groups—both armed groups and political parties—that led the game. The president, it turned out was clever enough to see that and take credit for it. There's no risk in crediting him for the peace agreement, as this reflects well on Burma's reform. For the ethnic groups, however, reaching this agreement is just one step forward out of hundreds. There is still a long way to go toward achieving a federal state, which is the desired outcome of political dialogue. Only if Burma's major political powers—such as the Tatmadaw and political parties—deeply listen to what the ethnic groups have to say, can we say that the democratic transition has been successful and ensure that there will be no deadly reverse on the path to peace. The post A Milestone for the President, One Step Forward for Burma's Ethnic Armed Groups appeared first on The Irrawaddy.

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