troops move north

These tactics are ominously reminiscent of the military's moves, before it attacked the Bengali settlers - warned a UN report calling on countries .to deny money and legitimacy to the junta. 

mass atrocities as troops gather     DW television 

Kaladan transport project on verge of completion

"Kaladan is in a very difficult part of Myanmar. There were logistical challenges, even to get to the place," said Indian external affairs Minister S Jaishankar. . 

The project connects Kolkata seaport with Sittwe seaport, in Rakhine State. In Myanmar, it will link Sittwe seaport with Paletwa in Chin State, via the Kaladan riverboat route.  

And then it connects Paletwa by road to Mizoram. This project was scheduled to be completed by 2014. 

The New Indian Express       Feb.15, 2021

Vaccine roll out next week - Khin Khin Gyi

Myanmar on Friday - Jan. 22 - received 1.5 million doses of   Covishield  (AstraZeneca) vaccine,  from India.

India is donating millions of doses of vaccines, to a string of countries in Asia, drawing praise from it's neighbors. 

Shipments have already gone to Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. 

Myanmar's Health Ministry spokesperson Khin Khin Gyi said that the vaccines would be stored in refrigerated rooms and be rolled out next week.  "Health care workers would be first priority and elderly people will be next", she said. 

- Channel News Asia 

Second democratic election

After 3 days of vote counting, the ruling party has claimed a huge victory, likely extending it's resounding wins from the 2015 general elections. 

- The Conversation  

Chennai fishermen @ Sittwe

 

Eight Chennai fishermen rescued by the Myanmar coast guard are likely to return on Monday. 

They were stranded in the bay for 55 days.  They were sheltered in the port town of Sittwe and were flown to Yangon on Saturday. 

- Times of India    September 27, 2020 

Rangoon rolls into plastic age

It was part of tradition, meritorious acts in Buddhist culture.

Neighborhood water pots re-filled by retirees, housewives or anyone looking for karmic credit for a good deed.

Many terracotta pots are gone, replaced in some places by plastic bottles and chained tin cups.

"Diminishing clay water pots could mean diminishing trust and caring, in communities," says U Sue Hnget, a famous Burmese writer.

Village Twante is littered with abandoned kilns.
Potter U Kyaw Soe  has begun to focus on flower pots and decorative planters.  He offers customers refrigerated water, in plastic bottles. His children are majoring in Japanese and geography.

Plastic is now a growing scourge.
Crunch of plastics startle oxen that draw carts.
Structural glazing startle crumbling colonial architecture.
Shorts and soccer jerseys diminish sarongs and bamboo pith helmets.
Disposable plastic bottles float, in Airawathi and Rangoon rivers.

Hannah Beech  - Clay pots that quenched Myanmar's thirst ,  
Times of India    Saturday    October 12, 2019.

Clangour of bells

Thae Su Wai wheels away her new bicycle at Nhaw Kone Village School, near Yangon.

" I have more time to play with friends," she says.

The 11 year old is among the first 200 students to receive bicycles, as part of an initiative by Lesswalk.

- The Straits Times, Singapore.