Peaceful Burma (ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းျမန္မာ)平和なビルマ

Peaceful Burma (ျငိမ္းခ်မ္းျမန္မာ)平和なビルマ

TO PEOPLE OF JAPAN



JAPAN YOU ARE NOT ALONE



GANBARE JAPAN



WE ARE WITH YOU



ဗိုလ္ခ်ဳပ္ေျပာတဲ့ညီညြတ္ေရး


“ညီၫြတ္ေရးဆုိတာ ဘာလဲ နားလည္ဖုိ႔လုိတယ္။ ဒီေတာ့ကာ ဒီအပုိဒ္ ဒီ၀ါက်မွာ ညီၫြတ္ေရးဆုိတဲ့အေၾကာင္းကုိ သ႐ုပ္ေဖာ္ျပ ထားတယ္။ တူညီေသာအက်ဳိး၊ တူညီေသာအလုပ္၊ တူညီေသာ ရည္ရြယ္ခ်က္ရွိရမယ္။ က်ေနာ္တုိ႔ ညီၫြတ္ေရးဆုိတာ ဘာအတြက္ ညီၫြတ္ရမွာလဲ။ ဘယ္လုိရည္ရြယ္ခ်က္နဲ႔ ညီၫြတ္ရမွာလဲ။ ရည္ရြယ္ခ်က္ဆုိတာ ရွိရမယ္။

“မတရားမႈတခုမွာ သင္ဟာ ၾကားေနတယ္ဆုိရင္… သင္ဟာ ဖိႏွိပ္သူဘက္က လုိက္ဖုိ႔ ေရြးခ်ယ္လုိက္တာနဲ႔ အတူတူဘဲ”

“If you are neutral in a situation of injustice, you have chosen to side with the oppressor.”
ေတာင္အာဖရိကက ႏိုဘယ္လ္ဆုရွင္ ဘုန္းေတာ္ၾကီး ဒက္စ္မြန္တူးတူး

THANK YOU MR. SECRETARY GENERAL

Ban’s visit may not have achieved any visible outcome, but the people of Burma will remember what he promised: "I have come to show the unequivocal shared commitment of the United Nations to the people of Myanmar. I am here today to say: Myanmar – you are not alone."

QUOTES BY UN SECRETARY GENERAL

Without participation of Aung San Suu Kyi, without her being able to campaign freely, and without her NLD party [being able] to establish party offices all throughout the provinces, this [2010] election may not be regarded as credible and legitimate. ­
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Where there's political will, there is a way

政治的な意思がある一方、方法がある
စစ္မွန္တဲ့ခိုင္မာတဲ့နိုင္ငံေရးခံယူခ်က္ရိွရင္ႀကိဳးစားမႈရိွရင္ နိုင္ငံေရးအေျဖ
ထြက္ရပ္လမ္းဟာေသခ်ာေပါက္ရိွတယ္
Burmese Translation-Phone Hlaing-fwubc

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Bangladesh Navy patrol sent as Myanmar enters disputed waters

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=67189&cid=2

Sun, Nov 2nd, 2008 2:50 pm BdST

Kamran Reza Chowdhury
bdnews24.com senior correspondent

Dhaka, Nov 2 (bdnews24.com) — Bangladesh has rushed a naval patrol to the disputed waters of the Bay of Bengal where Myanmar has begun oil and gas exploration activities, foreign ministry officials have said.

"We have lodged a strong protest with the government of Myanmar for entry of its vessels into territorial waters of Bangladesh," foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told bdnews24.com Sunday.

"We summoned the Myanmar ambassador in Dhaka to hand over the protest letter," he said at his foreign ministry office.

Foreign secretary Md Touhid Hossain told bdnews24.com: "There may be this sort of incident between neighbours. We want that the dispute can be resolved through dialogue as Bangladesh has very good relations with Myanmar."

Foreign ministry officials say Myanmar sent vessels and exploration equipment along with engineers within the past few days ago to carry out the exploration works, some 60 nautical miles off Saint Martin's Island.

One official, not wanting to be named, said the Bangladesh Navy had reached the spot and "seen off the Myanmar vessels" late Saturday, but the vessels had returned on Sunday morning.

The area is claimed by both Bangladesh and Myanmar. But Myanmar has awarded a contract of exploration work to a South Korean company, ministry officials confirmed to bdnews24.com.


Bangladesh and Myanmar have been holding on-off talks for years to demarcate their borders in the Bay of Bengal, considered rich in gas reserves.

The foreign ministry has strongly protested the Myanmar action and urged Yangon to remove its vessels and all structures and equipment from the site until the sea border dispute is resolved.

The foreign secretary on Sunday summoned the Myanmar ambassador to Dhaka and handed over the protest letter.

"We have told the ambassador that his government will have to remove all structures and take their vessels back to their waters until the dispute is resolved," Touhid Hossain told bdnews24.com.

He said the exploration site is in a disputed area claimed by Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Additional foreign secretary MAK Mahmood, who led the Bangladesh-Myanmar maritime delimitation talks in Dhaka earlier this year, told bdnews24.com that Bangladesh would also press the South Koreas company not to conduct the exploration work in the disputed area.

"We are trying to find out the nationalities of the workers involved in the exploration works," he added.

He said Dhaka would also urge the governments of those workers to ward off their nationals from working in the disputed territory.

Bangladesh and Myanmar signed an agreement last month to force their hands to resolve outstanding issues including a row over Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

bdnews24.com/krc/rah/bd/1438hours
WARNING: Any unauthorised use or reproduction of bdnews24.com content for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited and constitutes copyright infringement liable to legal action.


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The way forward in Burma

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/01/burma-cyclonenargis

In the wake of Cyclone Nargis, we must respond to the suffering of people who cannot wait for distant political change

John Virgoe guardian.co.uk,
Saturday November 01 2008 18.00 GMT
Article history

Megaphone moralising is not a policy and will not help the people of Burma. The west has tried it for two decades, and it has failed.

Unfortunately some, like Benedict Rogers, would rather criticise those who suggest a new direction than offer anything as practical as a policy.

Contrary to his article, the International Crisis Group's new report on Burma/Myanmar is very clear about where the blame lies for the appalling situation:

Growing impoverishment and deteriorating social service structures have pushed millions of households to the edge of survival, leaving them acutely vulnerable to economic shocks or natural disasters.

If not addressed, the increasing levels of household insecurity will lead to further human suffering, and could eventually escalate into a major humanitarian crisis.

Government repression, corruption and mismanagement bear primary responsibility for this situation.

Crisis Group does also say that the errors of western policy have played a role, noting that in their attempt to defeat the regime by isolating it, western governments have sacrificed opportunities to promote economic reform, strengthen social services, empower local communities and support disaster prevention and preparedness. After cyclone Nargis, we see another such opportunity, and we hope the west doesn't blow it again.

The truth is, the efforts to help Burma recover from Nargis are going surprisingly well. In sharp contrast to their initial obstructionism, the Burmese authorities are now cooperating with the international aid effort. If western governments can continue to show generosity – and resist the siren call of measures which punish the people for the failings of their government – there is a chance to build on this opening to address Burma's wider humanitarian and development crisis and promote change in that country.


Nargis was the worst natural disaster in Burma's recorded history. It devastated south-west Burma, leaving maybe 200,000 people dead and 800,000 displaced.

The world looked on aghast at the regime's initial response. As always, the generals put security and political concerns first, and their people's welfare last. They denied foreign aid workers visas, and turned back local volunteers attempting to reach the affected areas. They pressed ahead with a referendum on a new constitution, designed to institutionalise military power.

But what happened next is an untold story. With the referendum out of the way, and encouraged by skilful diplomacy by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, the generals finally decided to open the door to foreign aid.

Western governments mostly put aside their distaste for the Burmese regime and made generous pledges of aid. And the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), long criticised for its lack of action on Burma, stepped up to the plate, coordinating international aid operations and helping overcome the regime's suspicions of western agendas.

By July, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes could describe the relief effort as "a normal international relief operation". While there are still problems, the cooperation between the Burmese authorities and the international community is unprecedented. Visas and travel permits are quicker and easier to obtain than before; bureaucratic obstacles have been removed; communication channels opened; and donors' demands for an independent needs assessment met.

The biggest problem today is lack of funds: the initial generosity of donors has not been maintained. The UN has asked for $482 million, but received barely half that amount. It is essential that this shortfall is met. But there is an opportunity to do much more than the humanitarian minimum. For too long, Burma has been an aid orphan, receiving twenty times less per capita aid than the average for least developed countries – far less even than other pariah states like Zimbabwe or North Korea.

Western policies have restricted aid to just a few sectors such as disease or promoting democracy. And they have severely limited the activities of agencies such as the World Bank or UNDP.

Meanwhile, a development crisis of major proportions has developed. According to the UN, 90% of the population are living on less than 65 cents a day, and more than a third of children under five are malnourished. Educational levels are declining, and civilian institutions decaying: not a promising basis for political reform.

Government repression and economic mismanagement bear primary responsibility for this situation. But 20 years of sanctions and restrictions on aid have made matters worse.

Such restrictions made sense 20 years ago, when it seemed possible that the military could be pushed from power. They make no sense today, when the repression of the 2007 monks' protests, and the regime's determination to push ahead with its referendum in May, have confirmed their imperviousness to external pressure.

It is not a question of "rewarding" the generals. It is simply a matter of responding to the suffering of the people who cannot wait for the distant prospect of political change.

Donors now need to meet the shortfall in funding for post-Nargis recovery work and expand the scope of bilateral aid programmes beyond the narrowly humanitarian, to include support for livelihoods, health and education. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank and IMF should be allowed to work in Burma – not to engage in large-scale lending, but to provide technical assistance and support economic reform. And we need to see an end to measures that prevent ordinary Burmese making a living, such as economic sanctions in the garment, agricultural and tourism sectors. In short, funding decisions for development projects should be made like they would in any other least developed country.

Of course, donors will face challenges. Burma is a difficult place to operate, with a restrictive and intrusive government and a level of corruption rated second in the world by Transparency International. But aid organisations with a presence on the ground have proved that, despite the difficulties, it is possible to deliver assistance in an effective and accountable way.

Aid restrictions have not succeeded in pushing the generals from power. Given the desperate needs of the country, a fundamental rethink is well overdue. Aid engagement offers a practical – as opposed to purely symbolic – western policy on Burma.

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Panasonic may acquire ailing Sanyo

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20081102a1.html

Sunday, Nov. 2, 2008

Compiled from Kyodo, AP
OSAKA — Panasonic Corp. is looking to buy up Sanyo Electric Co. by acquiring preferred shares from its three major creditors, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of the United States, informed sources said Saturday.

Panasonic is expected to nail down a basic agreement on the plan with Goldman, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. and Daiwa Securities SMBC Co. by yearend, the sources said.



The deal would create Japan's biggest electronics company, a behemoth with annual sales of more than ¥11 trillion. It would also mark the first major step in a full-scale realignment of the Japanese electronics industry.

Sanyo has the world's top share of the market for lithium-ion batteries and is also a strong player in the burgeoning solar cell market.

The acquisition would give Panasonic a dominant share in both fields.

Struggling Sanyo issued ¥300 billion preferred shares to the three financial institutions in 2006. If converted into common shares, the stock would represent about 70 percent of Sanyo's outstanding issues in terms of voting rights.

Buying the 70 percent share would cost Panasonic about ¥620 billion, according to Sanyo's current share price. Sanyo closed at ¥145 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Friday, down ¥1 from the previous day.

The cash from selling the shares to Panasonic would also be helpful to the banks, which are starting to feel the effects of the global financial slowdown.


In September, Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said it invested at least $5 billion in Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in a deal aimed at shoring up the bank's balance sheets while calming creditors at the height of the crisis. Last week, the Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group cut its profit forecast for the current fiscal year by 63 percent.

For Panasonic, the recent plunge in share prices may present an opportunity. Sanyo's stock price has fallen almost a third over the last two months.

The deal would place Sanyo Electric under the wing of the Panasonic Group. Their combined group sales totaled about ¥11.22 trillion in fiscal 2007, surpassing the ¥10.9 trillion rung up by industry leader Hitachi Ltd. the same year.

Panasonic, previously known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., permanently changed its corporate name in October and has been looking for ways to promote merger and acquisition activities in a bid to attain consolidated sales of ¥10 trillion in the 2009 business year.

Fujitsu-Siemens deal
Kyodo News
Fujitsu Ltd. and Siemens AG of Germany have broadly agreed to let Fujitsu make their fifty-fifty joint venture, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, a wholly owned subsidiary by purchasing Siemens' entire stake, sources said Saturday.

The deal will cost Fujitsu about ¥60 billion, they said.

Fujitsu is trying to revamp the Netherlands-based joint venture by fully taking control of its management.


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NLD members discuss party reform

http://www.abitsu.org/?p=2969

By MG | November 2, 2008


By Zarni, Mizzima News, Chiang Mai: National League for Democracy party members from Meiktila and nearby areas discussed questions related to leadership reform and enlargement of the central body during their monthly meeting.

Party members from Meiktila, Tharzi, Wandwin and Taungtha Townships are planning to send a letter to Party Headquarters urging leaders to conduct reform measures in the central body to ensure better performance and efficiency, as the central leadership, they argue, is currently weak regarding political activities.

“We must get ready for the 2010 showdown. It’s already so late now and time is running out. So we must enlarge our central leadership. We are urging them to make the central body workable,” Meiktila NLD Secretary Myint Myint Aye told Mizzima.


The regular monthly meeting, attended by Organizing Committee members from these four townships and MP-elects, determined to call for the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC) to convene a MP meeting, enlarge the CEC and find a solution for the dispute between youth members and the CEC.

The meeting’s resolution highlighted the recent rift between the youth wing and top leadership.

Some who attended the meeting were worried about health situation of Chairman Aung Shwe, while also pointing out the failure of CEC meetings in sending instructions and directives to State and Division levels.

“This resolution is not showing disrespect to our central leaders and is not issued out of either hatred or love. The main point is the ageing of our leaders. Most of them are over 70 or 80 now. Our Chairman is now 91. So, the central leadership is lacking dynamics and efficiency,” Than Myint of the Taungtha NLD told Mizzima.

Two key persons from the NLD leadership, Aung San Suu Kyi and Tin Oo, are still under house arrest. In the current leadership, Chairman Aung Shwe is 91 and most of the rest are in their eighties.

However the party information team was enhanced with new blood through the addition of Nyan Win, Han Thar Myint and Win Naing, some of whom are over 30 years junior to the old guard leadership.

“If we delay in toppling the military dictatorship and establishing a new democratic country, our country and people will suffer,” Than Myint said.

One-hundred nine NLD Youth members from Rangoon Division resigned on the 16th of October after disagreeing over the appointment of new youth leaders by the CEC.

Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the party general secretary, is known among party members for her promotion of youth activities and capacity building.

She formerly held regular literary discussion meetings with youth until again placed under house arrest in May 2003, while some youth members also got a chance to attend English language and public relations courses conducted at foreign embassies.

Topics: Politics |


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China, India feel crisis; Brown seeks Gulf help

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081101/bs_nm/us_financial6_118

Reuters – Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (R) meets British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the Royal Palace in Riyadh … NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Two Asian powerhouse economies felt the sting of the global financial crisis on Saturday as India cut its main short-term lending rate and China said it was bracing for a slowdown.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown traveled to the Gulf in an appeal to oil-rich states to pour money into stabilizing the world financial system and help afflicted countries.

Other countries took steps to shore up their own economies. Russia moved 170 billion rubles ($6.41 billion) from a national fund to a state bank, and Russian shares rose in a special Saturday session.

And German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged German banks to tap a 500 billion euro ($638.9 billion) government rescue package. She and Brown will meet in London on Thursday.

The developments in the worst financial crisis in eight decades followed signs in the past week that world markets were stabilizing, with interbank rates falling and U.S. stocks posting their best week in 34 years.

But in Shanghai, a senior Bank of China executive said the impact of the crisis on China has started to appear.

China has seen a sharp slowdown in industrial profit growth and fiscal income, Executive Vice President Zhu Min said.

The global economy will likely enter recession next year with the United States, Europe and Japan posting negative growth, he said.

"That will have a huge impact on China," he said.

Zhu also said currency volatility was expected to add further pressure on China's banks, which have enjoyed robust profits for years as the country boomed. Earnings growth is now slowing as the economy cools from the impact of the crisis.

"The uncertainties in the world's currency markets have exposed the Chinese banking sector to higher foreign asset risk," Zhu told a financial conference.

ACTION ON LIQUIDITY FRONT

In India -- like China, a magnet for foreign investment in recent years as their economies roared -- the central bank cut its main lending rate for the second time in as many weeks to ease a cash squeeze and spur economic growth.

Analysts said the surprise move showed Indian concern that strains on its economy were quickly becoming more severe.


"These actions were necessary (and had) to be taken on the liquidity front ... the situation was getting worse," said Vikas Agarwal, a strategist at JP Morgan.

The central bank cut the repo rate, its main short-term lending rate, by 0.5 percentage point to 7.5 percent and banks' cash reserve requirements by 1 percentage point to 5.5 percent.

"The global financial turmoil has had knock-on effects on our financial markets; this has reinforced the importance of focusing on preserving financial stability," the bank said.

Policymakers around the world have slashed interest rates in recent weeks and injected huge amounts into their banking systems to try to combat the spillover effects of the global crisis, which is causing credit markets to freeze up and threatens to plunge the world economy into recession.

Britain's Brown, speaking before he left for the Gulf, said Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing states could contribute funds to the International Monetary Fund or other entities to ease the crisis.

"Their interest is in a stable energy price, not in the massive volatility we have seen where oil prices have shot up and then come down again. Their interest too is in a well-functioning global economy," Brown told Sky News.

Business minister Peter Mandelson, in Riyadh with Brown, said Europe should not discourage investment by foreign governments, the day after Britain's Barclays tapped Abu Dhabi and Qatar for the bulk of a $12 billion investment.

Brown's tour precedes a global summit in Washington on November 15 at which Brown and some other world leaders will press for reform in the international financial system.

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, vying to succeed U.S. President George W. Bush in January, swept through battleground states before Tuesday's election.

Russia meanwhile placed 170 billion roubles ($6.41 billion) from its National Wealth Fund with state bank VEB as part of a plan which will allow for state purchases of shares and corporate bonds.

The state share purchases helped Russian shares rise sharply in a special session on Saturday, helping them to a 50 percent gain for the week.

SWISS CONCERNS

The Swiss National Bank said it was growing more concerned over Switzerland's economy.

"The situation has noticeably worsened because the financial crisis is clearly affecting the real economy," SNB Chairman Jean-Pierre Roth said in a newspaper interview.

"We have two elements which are not pointing in the right direction -- the nominal development in the franc and the three-month LIBOR rate, which is above our target," Roth told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung. "This is a big challenge for us."

The business outlook weakened in the United States, where the economic crisis has dominated the presidential campaign.

A U.S. Commerce Department report on Friday showed consumers cut monthly spending for the first time in two years in September, evidently bracing for hard times as jobs continue to disappear and credit conditions tighten.

As another week ended in the crisis, the Bank of Japan slashed interest rates and JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest U.S. bank, temporarily halted home foreclosures and offered to renegotiate mortgages.

The Japan rate slash followed a cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday. The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are expected to do the same next week. (Reporting by Matt Falloon; Saikat Chatterjee, Samuel Shen, Edmund Klamann; Writing by Eddie Evans; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

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Myanmar activists losing powerful ally with departure of Laura Bush

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/081101/world/us_myanmar_1

Sat Nov 1, 9:55 PM

By Foster Klug, The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Activists opposing the military-run junta will lose a powerful ally in January when first lady Laura Bush moves out of the White House.


Voter dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush's Republican Party could also cost them Myanmar's fiercest congressional critic in Mitch McConnell.


The Senate's top Republican is battling to retain his seat in the face of Democrats intent on bolstering their control of Congress with a strong showing in Tuesday's elections.


Laura Bush and McConnell, who heads the panel responsible for financing international programs, have used their high profiles to draw attention to human rights abuses in Myanmar.


They have also put the spotlight on the 13-year detention of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and won tough sanctions aimed at isolating Myanmar, also known as Burma.


Activists in the country say her support has been invaluable.


"The world takes an interest in Myanmar's ethnic issues because of her," said Han Tha Myint, a spokesman for Myanmar's opposition National League for Democracy.



"It is moral support for us even though we are not clear how much of the support can translate into change."


Despite the praise, it is questionable whether their efforts have significantly helped Myanmar's democracy movement. The generals remain firmly in power, and Suu Kyi appears no closer to freedom.


David Steinberg, a Myanmar specialist at Georgetown University, said Laura Bush and McConnell's efforts have, in fact, stymied consideration of fresh approaches to Myanmar.


While some in the State Department and Congress are dissatisfied with U.S. policy, "doing anything to change it would be politically unacceptable," Steinberg said, adding that McConnel has resisted others' efforts to deviate from the policy agenda he favours.


"There's no benefit to you, and there's likely to be political harm," he said.


Derek Mitchell, an Asia adviser at the Defence Department during former President Bill Clinton's administration, said it's often difficult to galvanize U.S. officials to focus on a particular issue.


"What (Laura Bush) was able to do was to force the bureaucracy to pay attention to Burma," said Mitchell, an analyst at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.


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Myanmar cyclone survivors rely on handouts, struggle on

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081102/wl_nm/us_myanmar_cyclone_2



By Aung Hla Tun Aung Hla Tun –
Sun Nov 2, 2:51 am ET Reuters –
People look out from their hut, built of tarpaulin and bamboo, located on the swamp of Pay Kunhasay village, … PAY KUNHNASAY, Myanmar (Reuters) – Six months after Cyclone Nargis slammed into army-ruled Myanmar, killing more than 130,000 people, many in the worst-hit Irrawaddy delta continue to rely on handouts to stay alive.

"We get rice and beans from a charity called Care Myanmar, drinking water from the sky and fish from this creek," said Maung Oo, a swarthy 51-year-old, as he stared at monsoon floodwaters lapping against his makeshift bamboo and tarpaulin hut.

Around the village, 40 km (25 miles) south of Yangon, the paddy fields are under water and unplanted, casting doubt on assertions from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization that 97 percent of storm-hit parts of the delta -- once the "rice bowl of Asia" -- is under cultivation again.

"We can't wait to grow our own paddy. We really hate living on charity -- although that is not to say we are not grateful," Maung Oo said.


"We don't want to depend on others but to be honest that's just wishful thinking at the moment because the situation does not allow us to be independent as yet," he said.

It may be another four weeks before he can start planting, he added.

The rough monsoon season weather in the delta in the last four months has also kept the villagers on edge, every storm stirring up fears of a repeat of the May 2 cyclone that crashed ashore with a 12 foot (4 meter) wall of water.

"We get scared to death when it's windy so we now keep a radio handy all the time so that we can know the size of the danger by listening to the weather report," his wife, Ma Nu, said, holding up a basic battery-powered wireless set.

Another farmer, 70-year-old Bo Sein, complained that rice seed handed out for replanting was a mixture of varieties that ripen at different times, making it a nightmare to harvest.

"Maybe it's because they came from different sources, but as a result while some plants are ready to harvest others are still not ripe," he said.

HOMES FOR THE FAVOURED

Since Nargis struck, affecting 2.4 million people, nearly 1 million people have received food aid, schools have re-opened, farm animals replaced, and emergency shelter provided to more than 1.7 million people, the main aid coordinating group said.

The Tripartite Core Group, which comprises the United Nations, Myanmar and its regional neighbors, said there was a continued need for relief and longterm support. But only 53 percent of its $484 million aid appeal had been raised so far.

"There are isolated areas which have not been fully reached. Many survivors remain vulnerable, especially in terms of continued access to clean water, adequate shelter and restoring livelihoods," the group said in a statement.

In the cyclone-hit region, a few new homes built by private donors under the aegis of the ruling military junta have sprung up from the devastation.

In some cases, however, they have gone to those with the best connections, rather than the most pressing needs.

"Not all the needy got houses and not all those who got houses were needy," said one resident of Latkhitegon, a village south of Yangon that has received ten new wooden homes.

"Five of them had their homes really badly damaged by Nargis. The other five did not suffer that much damage, but they got the houses because they are the VIPs," the man, who did not wish to be name for fear of reprisals, said.

Thayet Thonebin, a village south of Yangon where half the 340 residents were killed, has fared better in the rehabilitation lottery, receiving 32 new homes courtesy of the Energy Ministry and Malaysian petroleum company Petronas.

However, survivors are still haunted by a sense of shame at relying on handouts and hopelessness at a lack of jobs or prospects.

"We are really ashamed by having to live on the charity all the time. We now have to depend on them for rice," said laborer Maung Tun.

"People like me have been worst hit. The cyclone has crippled the economy in the entire region and there is very little work for us," he said.

(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Darren Schuettler and Valerie Lee)

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Global Recession: One of the Several Crises facing Human Society

http://www.citizen-news.org/2008/11/global-recession-one-of-several-crises.html

Dr Rahul Pandey

I do not remember witnessing this kind of global panic in my lifetime. Probably the twin towers crash generated a reaction of similar magnitude as the recent financial meltdown and recession.

Among others, a lot of well off people are going to be directly affected by the current financial crisis, hence these high decibel alarm bells. Significant market values of high profile companies have been wiped out, rich individuals who invest actively in stock market have suffered devaluation, many companies have begun to fire employees and cut costs, and as bigger companies face slowdown, their smaller suppliers face greater threat to survival. Consumers have begun to tighten spending and fears of recession giving way to depression are already stalking. Though a lot has been written and a lot is yet to be written about this turmoil, my purpose here is to draw up its deeper structural links and paint the broader picture by viewing it together with other crises facing the human society.

This global financial crisis, expected to last longer than most of us hope, joins the other four equally global and longer lasting crises that humanity has been facing since at least a few decades now. The global terrorism and inter-community conflicts. The global warming and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources. Sustaining, if not rising, levels of poverty, unemployment and inequality between and within nations. And the high levels of psychological stress that many of us bear due to modern work and life styles. These crises span all domains of human society – economic, cultural, ecological, and psychological. I will merely remind here that all these phenomena are eventually linked to the structure of the current dominant economic system that man has designed. And the political system that supports it. Let us briefly look at each of these crises in turn.


First, that the current financial meltdown and accompanying economic recession is a direct outcome of undisciplined financial transactions of the free market is not in doubt. The utterly unregulated derivatives and other speculation driven markets combined with large scale lending and borrowing choked the system to the point of no return. Even the temporary fuel and food inflation that preceded and overlapped with the general recession was at least partially due to unregulated speculation and hoarding.

Second, the widespread international terrorism is directly linked to the US-led global wars and can be traced back to its ambitions of strengthening its economic and military control of the globe. While the connection with the economic system is not direct, the desperation of America and its allies for control over global oil reserves and other natural resources did play a role in these conflicts. Control of these resources has been crucial to sustain the high growth economic activities and ultra consumerist lifestyles that are integral to the free capital market driven economies.

Third, it is now well accepted by everyone but a few self-delusory beings that the global warming and climate change is the direct consequence of human-induced rapid burning of fossil fuels. This unsustainable rate of burning has been done to meet the requirement of high growing economies and consumerist lifestyles. As the environmental externalities were not valued by the market, digging the fossil fuels, though ecologically disastrous, made economic sense. It enabled the producers to control energy and material costs and the well off consumers to enjoy the luxuries of energy intensive living like comfortable housing, private transport, and many lavish consumptions.

Fourth, though it is not a widely agreed effect, there is a link between the current economic paradigm and economic inequality and poverty. As average income of all economic organizations is roughly equivalent to average wage of all working people, a few can draw very high salaries only at the expense of the vast majority drawing less than average. A way of dealing with such glaring inequality and consequent discontentment has been to sustain a multi-layered and widely distributed income among people. Such multiple layers are created in the form of several hierarchies of employees with differential wage rates, earning differences between companies, between various economic activities, and between countries and geographies. Although such deep economic stratification of society helps in diffusing mass mobilization of discontent and creating cushion of managers, it also reinforces inequality and poverty. Casual wage labourers commonly seen working on farms, construction sites, small and medium factories, small road-side shops, as ragpickers and as private help in rich and middle-class households in the developing countries are examples of the most deprived economic classes in capitalist societies. Their numbers are large but their incomes are far less than prevailing average prices of commodities including several essential ones. A terribly divided lot, they try to survive on the fringes by cutting into their families’ essential needs like nutritious food, adequate clothes, shelter, hygienic surrounding, access to basic healthcare, and education of children.

Fifth, even the economically well off individuals in today’s society suffer from severe levels of psychological stress and related psychosomatic disorders. The most evident proof of this is the rising markets for pharmaceutical products on the one hand, and a variety of psycho-religious and stress relieving services on the other. The latter kind of services are offered by both professional trainers and religious, semi-religious and spiritual healers. The following of these sects has increased phenomenally among high earning individuals leading stressed work, family and social lives. It is not difficult to see that meaningless work roles and stressful working hours in the corporate sector combined with rapid paced consumption driven social life is at the core of most of our psychological problems. It is also not difficult to see that this is integral to the current economic system.

All the above examples of crises are meant to merely restate the fact that they are symptoms of the economic system that is predominantly driven by materialistic growth, consumption and greed. This system has proved to be too cruel and insensitive.

A major correction is therefore needed in this system to move towards a more humane and eco-friendly one. Such a change may of course not come through during the current course of events. Whether and when it occurs will depend on the interplay of political forces. One thing is certain: the battles on the global political arena will intensify and become messy. Capitalist lobbies will use all their financial muscle to try and retain as much autonomy as possible. Religious-Right groups will raise the bogey of 'moral values' and demand greater fundamentalist control over behaviour of organizations and people. Some on the Left will ask for greater authority of the State over people.

Saner voices will be of those who will demand real and greater democratic rights to the ordinary people. Democratic structures and channels that ensure even the economically weakest a proportionate say in the process of decisions and policies alone can guarantee economic, ecological, cultural and psychological contentment for all. We are still far behind such real democracy. But that is the way to move.

Dr Rahul Pandey

The author is a former faculty member of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay and Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, and is currently a member of a start up venture that develops mathematical models for planning and policy analysis. His areas of interest include mathematical modeling, biological evolution, physics, development and environment, sustainable economics and industry, and social change. He can be contacted at rahulanjula@gmail.com


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Japan's PM Aso under pressure after air force chief's denial of aggression


Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso at the Asia Europe Meeting in Beijing in late October. Taro Aso has come under pressure to clarify his own position on Japan's colonial past after his government sacked the air force chief for remarks about World War II.
(AFP/Pool/File/Ng Han Guan)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081102/wl_asia_afp/japanwwiihistorymilitary_081102085800

by Shigemi Sato Shigemi Sato – Sun Nov 2, 3:58 am ET AFP/Pool/File –
TOKYO (AFP) –
Prime Minister Taro Aso came under pressure Sunday to clarify his own position on Japan's colonial past after his government sacked the air force chief for denying Japan's wartime aggression.

Some major newspapers here urged conservative Aso, who took office in September, to state his opinion clearly and to examine why Japan's ruling elite continues to glorify the country's wartime history.

"Why a distorted historical view at the top?" asked a headline in the Mainichi Shimbun's editorial. The Tokyo Shimbun said it wanted to "listen to the premier's perception."

General Toshio Tamogami, chief of staff of Japan's Air Self-Defence Force, was dismissed on Friday after writing in an essay: "It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation."



"We need to realise that many Asian countries take a positive view of the Greater East Asia War," the essay said.

Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada fired Tamogami, saying the essay clearly deviated from a 1995 government statement that apologised for Japan's past aggression and its colonial rule in Asia.

Prime Minister Aso criticised the essay by saying: "It is inappropriate, given his position, even if he (Tamogami) expressed the opinion personally."

The controversy has come at a bad time for Aso, who cannot afford a diplomatic faux pas as he struggles to boost his low approval rating ahead of general elections that are due within a year.

China expressed "strong indignation" over the essay, which it said generally justified Japan's action during the war. South Korea called it "a distortion of history, which must not be left unchecked."

The opposition vowed to take the Aso government to task over the issue in the upper house of parliament, which it controls.

"If the essay has raised the fear that Japan may do something again, the blame for that must lie with the whole government," Yukio Hatoyama, secretary general of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, said on Saturday.

Despite its officially pacifist position, Japan has often come in for criticism for internal perceptions of its wartime past, with neighbours closely watching for any sign of a militarist revival.

The Mainichi editorial pointed out that Aso has in the past made remarks that sought to rationalise Japan's colonialism. In 2003, he said Koreans had willingly adopted Japanese names during Japan's 1910-1945 rule of the peninsula because it was advantageous when doing business.

It also recalled how Shinzo Abe, who served as prime minister from 2006-2007 using the theme of Japan as a "beautiful" nation proud of its history, supported the 1995 statement, but refrained from admitting the country's wartime responsibility.

"Such attitudes, words and deeds of politicians are at the root of the problem," the Mainichi said.

The Tokyo Shimbun said it wanted to ask Aso whether he felt the essay was "inappropriate" because of its substance or just because of the way it was presented.

"The premier ought to send a clear message about this as a way to cut off the trouble at its root," it said.

In contrast, the conservative daily Sankei Shimbun said that it would be suppression of free speech if "free, individual historical views are snuffed" in order to keep peace in parliament and save ties with China and South Korea.

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90,000 Thais gather to hear former PM Thaksin's address

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/081101/afp/081101133917asiapacificnews.html


Photo: AFP
BANGKOK (AFP) - About 90,000 supporters of exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra gathered in a Bangkok stadium Saturday to await his audio address, raising fears of clashes with rival protesters.

Saturday November 1, 9:39 PM
90,000 Thais gather to hear former PM Thaksin's address

Clad in red shirts signalling their pro-government and pro-Thaksin stance, fans of the ousted ex-PM began arriving at Rajamangala sports stadium in Bangkok's eastern outskirts early in the morning.

The former premier, who fled to Britain in early August following his wife's conviction for tax evasion, is due to telephone the rally from an undisclosed location abroad at 8:00pm (1300 GMT).

Special Branch police said only a few seats remained empty at the sports ground.

"I think the number of crowd is maximum 90,000," an officer, who would not be named, said.

An army colonel told AFP that more than 2,000 troops were on standby in case the police required their assistance.

Jatuporn Prompan, an MP from the ruling People Power Party (PPP), said earlier that 100,000 people were expected to show up to hear the former premier speak.

Jatuporn told AFP Thaksin "will speak for an unlimited time on whatever topic he wants."



It will be Thaksin's first address to supporters since leaving the kingdom and being sentenced in absentia on October 21 to two years in jail for violating corruption laws.

Thai society is split between those who love or loathe the twice-elected multi-millionaire.

His fans, calling themselves the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), come mostly from the country's majority rural poor and say they are upholding democracy.

His detractors, represented by the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), have occupied the grounds of the prime minister's offices since August calling for the government to step down.

They claim the PPP, which was elected in December last year, is running the country on behalf of Thaksin, whom they accuse of corruption and nepotism.

PAD protests in early 2006 helped lead to the coup that unseated Thaksin later that year. The return to power of his allies angered the PAD and the old military and bureaucratic power elite in the palace.

Crowds of PAD supporters descended on the British embassy on Thursday to demand Britain extradites Thaksin, who still faces trial on many other corruption charges.

Thailand's current prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat -- Thaksin's brother-in-law -- has been under increasing pressure to resign since bloody clashes on October 7 between PAD supporters and police left two people dead and nearly 500 others injured.

On Thursday further violence left two volunteer PAD security guards in a critical condition after a hand grenade was tossed at one of their protest camps in front of the regional UN headquarters in Bangkok.

A grenade was also thrown at a judge's house and a man was found shot dead near the rally site.

Somchai, visiting Chiang Mai, told reporters he was concerned about clashes between protesters on Saturday and urged both sides to be peaceful.

"I worry a third party could exploit the situation so I ask both sides to be extremely cautious... Our country has already suffered a lot," he said.

PAD organiser Suriyasai Katasila said the group would not confront the pro-government rally.

"The PAD will not move from its stronghold at Government House to confront the UDD. The PAD has stepped up security measures to the maximum," Suriyasai wrote on the group's website.

"PAD will monitor closely the phone-in by Thaksin," he added.

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