News
Give back our alabaster mining sites: residents
Sakyin area residents in Madaya township, Mandalay Region, have urged the government to award more locals, and not companies, with permits for alabaster production. This would create more job opportunities for locals in the district, they said. Resident U Aung Htoo said the mining sites were ...
Minister calls for greater press freedom
The Union Minister for Information, Dr Pe Myint, has called for greater improvement in Myanmar’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index at a celebration to mark the World Press Freedom Day 2017. This year’s celebration was jointly sponsored by UNESCO Myanmar and the Ministry of ...
Myanmar press freedom ranking jumps
Myanmar press freedom has hit an all time high, ranking No. 3 in ASEAN just behind Indonesia and the Philippines, according to the latest survey by Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres. But some veteran journalists also warned that Myanmar media freedom still has a long way ...
Free private high school for under-privileged
A free private high school will be opened in Taunggok township, Rakhine State during this academic year to cater to students who are poor and cannot afford the fees. Sayadaw Eindapala, who heads the school establishment, said, “We cannot pay much to the teachers as ...
Rare Ayeyarwady dolphin death cause for concern
A rare Ayeyarwady dolphin has died after sustaining serious injuries, including losing its tail, during the last week of April. According to U Maung Lay, a spokesperson for the Ayeyarwady Dolphin Conservation and Cooperative Fishermen Association, officials are trying to determine the cause of death. Speaking ...
Weather index-based insurance project to cover crop damage
A weather index-based crop insurance is going to be introduced as pilot projects in Pyay township, Bago Region and Shwebo township, Sagaing Region, starting from May 8. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation deputy permanent secretary U Myo Tint Tun, the insurance ...
Action to be taken against fake news reports
The Ministry of Religious Affairs and Culture has announced on April 30 that it is monitoring the situation and will take appropriate action after ‘fake news’ that Arabic schools in Thaketa township in Yangon Region were closed went viral on social media networks. It said ...
Trouble brewing after giant jade rock seized and deemed state property
Tensions are rising between gem scavengers and the Taut Pa Kye Company in Hpakant township, Kachin State, after a huge jadeite found by scavengers was confiscated as it was said to be state-owned property. After the jadeite was discovered in the Taut Pa Kye Company work ...
Factories urged to follow wastewater regulations
Some factories in the Mandalay Industrial Zone still fail to treat their wastewater to conform to regulations, the region’s Department of Environmental Conservation said. Its assistant director U Thant Zin Tun said the problem has been ongoing since May last year when factories, including four ...
Gold orders drop due to purchase tax
Since the government started to collect tax on gold purchases on April 1, orders at workshops and goldsmiths have dropped. Goldsmith Ko Naung Naung from Chan Mya Tharsi township, Mandalay Region, said the downward trend was worrying because in the past, jewellers would make orders ...