Buddhist monks in Mandalay told the BBC that they are not going to take the exams sponsored by the government.
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Burmese Buddhist monks have strongly condemned the Chinese government for their brutal crackdown on Tibet’s monk-led protests in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, which led to at least 12 deaths and many more injuries.
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Burma’s military-controlled censorship board has suspended one weekly magazine for publishing news about a murder case near the home of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and warned another about its coverage of the same incident, according to sources in Rangoon.
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The Burmese junta are systematically preparing for the referendum in May, threatening civil servants into supporting the draft Constitution, according to observers in Rangoon and Mandalay.
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National League for Democracy members in Arakan state and Magwe division have said they are ready to oppose the constitutional referendum the government plans to hold in May.
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Two key leaders of the All-Burmese Federation of Student Unions, Ko Kyaw Ko Ko and Ko Nyan Linn Aung, were arrested by authorities on Sunday, group members said.
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Soldiers and riot police have surrounded Kaba Aye monastery in Rangoon and have increased their presence at other monasteries as well, local eyewitnesses say.
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Rangoon – In an acute display of lack of self respect, Khin Thandar Shwe, daughter of Burmese military junta supremo Snr. Gen. Than Shwe, visited the Myanmar Furniture Fair, pleaded and took away furniture worth approximately USD 10,000 without payment, sources said.
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Even as rumors spread that Burma’s military strongman Snr. Gen. Than Shwe is seriously ill, reliable sources in Rangoon, Burma’s former capital, said it is his wife Kyaing Kyaing who is ailing.
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India Monday tightened vigil along its border with Myanmar in Northeastern state of Manipur, following an insurgent attack last Saturday.
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The Export-Import Bank of Thailand is cleared to hand Burma any remaining funds from a four-billion-baht soft loan to the junta that had been suspended due to alleged irregularities, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said yesterday.
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Thailand and Myanmar signed an investment protection agreement during the one-day visit of Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to Myanmar last week. (more…)

Junta rejects Bangladesh request for gas

Bangladesh has been told by the Burmese energy ministry that its application to buy gas is being turned down for the time being because China and India have priority.
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Hong Kong, China, In most countries teachers with talent and commitment are valued; in Burma some are jailed.
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Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej Sunday described Burmese leader Senior General Than Shwe as being religious person and killings and suppressions in the neighbouring country were “normal’ things.
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Bangkok, Thailand — Thailand’s new prime minister said Sunday Westerners were overly critical of Myanmar and that he had a newfound respect for the nation’s military leaders after learning they meditate like good Buddhists.
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Burma denied a visa to investigator for human rights Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, whose report to the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday cited growing repression following the crushing of monk-led protests in the country last September, the United Nations said.
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In February the SPDC military government announced that a referendum will be held this May, to endorse a new constitution. Following the referendum (presumably, if the regime is successful in engineering a ‘yes’ vote) elections are scheduled for 2010.
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Thailand’s “neighborly engagement” policy with the Burmese junta seemed fully vindicated last week, after Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej returned from an official visit to Naypyidaw with a basket full of sweet deals.
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“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart,” teaches Buddha.
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