Mizzima awarded global JTI certificate for reliable news on Myanmar

-
Image
Mizzima Mizzima, one of Myanmar ’s most prominent news outlets and a press freedom advocate, obtained the Journalism Trust Initiative ( JTI ) certification from global audit firm Bureau Veritas , JTI says in a press statement 5 January.  Operating in clandestine mode within Myanmar and supported by an exiled team, Mizzima strives to fulfil its role as reliable source of news and information for the Myanmar public. “Your Journalism Trust Initiative certification affirms what audiences already know: that principled, transparent journalism matters. Congratulations on this achievement and on your continued contribution to informing citizens about Myanmar,” says Benjamin Sabbah , director of Journalism Trust Initiative “Myanmar’s ongoing conflict has created an intensely contested media landscape, where mis- and disinformation are increasingly deployed to reinforce state propaganda and the prevailing “official” narrative. Although Mizzima is already regarded as one of the most trusted ...
Post a Comment

25-inch Burmese boy reaches for world record

-
Wednesday, 23 June 2010 16:37 Nyein Thu

Rangoon (Mizzima) – At a mere 25 inches (63.5 centimetres) tall, Zaw Bala Aung had lofty dreams of breaking a Guinness World Record, but at 10 years old, he will not officially qualify for the world’s shortest man for another eight years.

The boy, also known as Balagyi, was born in a Burmese village called Htanpoutkone in Kyaukpadaung Township on March 10, 2000, the second child of four and the only son for parents Win Lwin and Khin Hla. However, he is the only one of his siblings with primordial dwarfism and weighs 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms), with a head circumference of 13 inches (33 centimetres).

Yesterday he and his family decided it was time to throw his name in the hat for the title of the world’s shortest man and held a press conference at Karaweik Hall in Burma’s former capital, Rangoon.

“He was medically examined and his medical record is fine,” said a reporter named Khin who was representing the family. “His bone growth had stopped.”

Khin said they recently sent Zaw Bala Aung’s measurements and medical records to Guinness for consideration. Unfortunately, he will not pass the age test.

“To quality for the Guinness World Records title of world’s shortest man, claimants must be 18 years or older (assuming the first year of life is considered year 0, and not year 1),” the measurement body’s website says. “This is irrespective of sexual maturity or a society’s legal, ritualistic or religious coming of age.”

Supporting the entire family by selling shwe yin aye, a traditional Burmese dessert, his father said he was happy that they could do this for his son.

The Guinness World Records has yet to declare a successor to He Pingping, who held the title until March this year when he died at the age of 21. He measured 2 foot, five inches or 74.61 centimetres.

However, Zaw Bala Aung has competition. Nepalese teenager Khagendra Thapa Magar, who is 17 years and eight months and reaches only 20 inches, claims he should be officially verified as the world’s shortest man, but the official body has rejected the claim, at least for another four months.

Popular posts from this blog

World's longest internet shutdown ends in parts of Myanmar

-
Image
Rakhine people travel by motorcycle in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Western Myanmar, 02 February 2021. Photo: Nyunt Win/EPA By AFP The world's longest internet shutdown -- affecting more than a million people for 19 months in one of Myanmar's ethnic conflict zones -- has come to an end, according to a mobile operator based in the region. The internet in parts of Myanmar's troubled northern states of Rakhine and Chin was suspended in June 2019 following "emergency" orders issued by the telecoms department under Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government. Following Monday's military coup, mobile operator Telenor Group confirmed it had reinstated full services in eight townships in Rakhine and Chin states on Wednesday. "Telenor Group and Telenor Myanmar have been advocating for the restoration of services and emphasised that freedom of expression through access to telecoms services should be maintained for humanitarian purposes," the company said in a stateme...
Read more

First ministerial meeting held

-
Image
Mizzima Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw on Tuesday morning, according to a release from the Military True News Information Team Xinhua reported. The Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acting President U Myint Swe and nine newly appointed union ministers were present at the meeting held at the Presidential Palace, the release said. Min Aung Hlaing unveiled plans to include reopening religious buildings and pagodas, resuming domestic travel and hotel businesses as well as industries in line with COVID-19 rules and regulations, and revitalizing the country's economy.
Read more

Indonesia detains British woman on terror suspect list

-
Image
File photo of Indonesian police personnel standing guard. (Photo: AFP) AFP Indonesia has detained a British woman named on a list of global terror suspects and plans to deport her for visa violations, authorities told AFP Tuesday. Tazneen Miriam Sailar -- a Manchester-born convert to Islam married to an Indonesian jihadist who was killed in Syria -- is not charged with terror offences. But she and her late husband are on an Indonesian police list of suspected extremists that includes several foreigners notorious in the West. Sailar, 47, and her 10-year-old Indonesia-born son, were being held in Jakarta after being picked up last year without documents allowing her to remain in the Southeast Asian nation, her lawyer Farid Ghozali said. "She was put (in detention) while awaiting her return, which will be facilitated by the British embassy," Indonesian immigration directorate spokesman Ahmad Nursaleh told AFP. The embassy declined to comment, and it was unclear when...
Read more