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

Bangladesh plans modern naval defense in Bay of Bengal

-
Friday, 25 January 2013 10:50 AFP

Bangladesh is to acquire its first submarines to boost its naval power in the Bay of Bengal, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Thursday, only days after she signed the country's largest defence deal.

A Bangladeshi naval vessel (Photo: Bangladesh Navy)

“We have made a decision to add submarines with base facilities to Bangladesh's navy very soon to make it a deterrent force,” Hasina said, as she commissioned the country's first domestically produced warship at a base in the southern city of Khulna.

“We will build a modern three-dimensional navy for future generations which will be capable of facing any challenge during a war on our maritime boundary.”

The announcement is the latest sign of Hasina's willingness to spend heavily on defence, coming only nine days after she signed a $1 billion defence deal in Russia for the purchase of training fighters, helicopters and anti-tank missiles.

Analysts have said the deal with Moscow represents the biggest military purchase agreement since impoverished Bangladesh won its independence in 1971.

Hasina did not give details of how many submarines the country would be purchasing and from where, but a senior army general has said that Bangladesh is in negotiations with China on the subject.

Bangladesh, a third of whose 153 million population lives below the poverty line, has been expanding its defence capabilities in recent years, building a new air base close to neighbouring Myanmar [Burma] and adding new frigates.

A UN tribunal ended a territorial dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar last March, but the row had brought the two sides close to military conflict in 2008 when Myanmar sent naval ships to support drilling for gas.

Bangladesh has also a long-standing dispute with neighbouring India over their maritime boundary in the resources-rich Bay of Bengal.

Hasina said the amicable settlement of the sea dispute with Myanmar has ensured the country's sovereignty over 111,631 square kilometres (43,100 square miles) of maritime area, nearly the size of the country itself.

She added the defence purchase was essential to ensure security of the huge area, in which Dhaka last month invited bidding from international oil companies to drill for new gas and oil reserves.

According to the state-run BSS news agency, the new warship that Hasina officially commissioned on Thursday was made in Khulna Shipyard under the supervision of the Bangladesh Navy.

The “BNS Padma” is armed with four 37-millimetre and two 20-mm cannons to resist land and air attacks and capable of laying mines.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Related articles:

http://www.mizzima.com/news/inside-burma/8313-as-death-toll-rises-un-calls-on-bangladesh-to-open-border.html

http://www.mizzima.com/news/regional/8256-bangladesh-burma-maritime-agreement-hailed-as-model.html

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