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

Burma to rebuild ‘Death Railway’

-
Monday, 21 May 2012 12:50 Mizzima News

In a plan to attract tourists and boost trade with Thailand, Burma plans to restore a 150-mile section of the “Death Railway,” infamous during World War II. The occupying Japanese army used prisoners of war and Asian labourers to constructed the railway.

map: Wikipedia

Tens of thousands prisoners were forced to work in inhuman conditions to build the 424-kilometre railway through dense jungles and mountains.

The railway connected Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon. According to histories of the railway, about 180,000 Asian labourers and 60,000 Allied prisoners of war worked on the railway during its construction. Of these, around 90,000 Asian labourers  and 16,000 Allied POWs died as a direct result of the project, according to some historians. The dead POWs included 6,318 British personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356 Americans and a smaller number of Canadians and New Zealanders.

The most famous portion of the railway was Bridge 277, “the bridge over the River Kwai,” in the Thailand section of the railway in Kachanaburi, which is today a popular tourist area.

The construction of the bridge was a major plot feature in the book by Pierre Boulle and the film based on it, The Bridge on the River Kwai.

The restored rail section will run from Burma's Three Pagodas Pass area to Thailand, said railway minister Aung Min.

“We will reopen this (rail)road,” he was quoted as saying by local media. “The other countries said they would also help us, and we will continue working for it. We will do a survey and try to start work after the rainy season with the help of the international community.”

The railway could be expected to attract great interest of Western tourists and others and provide a much-needed economic boost for the impoverished area, which is home to Burma's Karen ethnic group. Karen rebels signed a cease-fire with the government in January, a major breakthrough towards ending the long-running insurgency.

Comments

Post a Comment

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