News
How governments shut the internet down to suppress dissent
Access Now, a non-profit digital rights advocacy group, has released its annual report on global internet shutdowns. The report reveals governments around world increasingly shutting down the internet, often to stifle dissent, and frequently doing so during times of protest or elections. The annual report, entitled ...
Rich Haridy
Myanmar to be 1st country in ASEAN Region to launch free and open national research portal
Access to research in Myanmar will increase thanks to a new collaboration agreement between national and international partners, signed in Yangon today, and paving the way for a new national open access portal. The Myanmar Education, Research and Learning (MERAL) portal, to be launched in March, ...
RESEARCH ORGANIZATION OF INFORMATION AND SYSTEMS
Myanmar to Upgrade Urban Infrastructure in State Capitals, Border Town
The Myanmar government is planning to upgrade basic infrastructure and enhance urban management of three major cities in Mon and Karen states that lie along Japan’s planned East-West Economic Corridor for the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS). Minister of Construction U Han Zaw said Monday that his ...
Nan Lwin
Survey Finds Decade-High Numbers of Irrawaddy Dolphins
The number of the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins found in Myanmar this year has increased to 79, the highest in a decade, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society of Myanmar (WCS). The numbers include seven calves aged three months or younger. The Irrawaddy dolphins can also be found ...
Zarni Mann
Hundreds of Fires Light Up Myanmar and Cambodia
NOAA/NASA’s Suomi NPP satellite captured this image of the hundreds of fires burning across large swaths of land in both Myanmar and Cambodia on Feb. 18, 2020. There are many reasons that fires start including weather related ones such as lightning which will ignite dry ...
Lynn Jenner
China’s Belt and Road detours downstream in Myanmar
Ethnic wars, security concerns and official foot-dragging have all conspired to stall China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) plan to build a high-speed railroad from its southwest down through Myanmar’s volatile northern regions to the Indian Ocean. But Beijing has an emerging alternate plan: Develop ...
Bertil Lintner
Myanmar Arrests 49 Rohingya Muslims Attempting to Flee to Malaysia
Myanmar authorities on Wednesday arrested nearly 50 Rohingya Muslims in Yangon region as they attempted to flee the country for Malaysia, a lawmaker said, while a separate group of Rohingya detainees appeared in court in Ayeyarwady region to face charges on traveling without official permission ...
The cost of the coronavirus to Myanmar’s economy
THE IMPACT on Myanmar of the coronavirus outbreak that began in neighbouring China late last year has hit border trade and tourism hard, and there were reports last week that the garment sector was also being affected by supply-chain disruptions. As of February 17, Myanmar was monitoring ...
Ye Mon
Myanmar approves 12 local and foreign investment enterprises
Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) recently approved 12 investment enterprises from home and abroad, said a release from the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) on Saturday (Feb 15). The enterprises, which will create over 6,600 job opportunities for Myanmar citizens, were permitted at the commission’s ...
Accurate media reporting, trust in businesses depend on corporate transparency
Disclosure of company information is required for accurate business reporting and building trust between big business and communities, according to speakers at a seminar in Yangon on February 6. Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) director Vicky Bowman and The Myanmar Times digital editor and deputy business editor ...
Kyaw Soe Htet