“We haven’t chosen the numbers yet, but we will make an announcement when we do,” the commander of the force, Police Lieutenant Colonel Aung Naing, said at a road safety seminar held in Yangon October 25 and 26.

“I was shocked when I saw a lot of smoke coming out of the club,” said Ms Juree Setavoraphan, the owner of Black Canyon coffee house adjacent to BME II. “About half of my restaurant was filled with customers and when they realised a fire had broken out they all ran.”

THE Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) held a workshop in Yangon October 19 and 20 on protecting children from violence.

THE government of Japan provided US$89,871 to the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries last week as part of its grassroots grant assistance program to improve facilities at the Mandalay regional veterinary diagnostic laboratory.

“In the past, we usually came to Pyinmana by taking pickups running on the Yangon-Mandalay highway but the fares were very high,” said U Myint Han from Thike Chaung village, 26 kilometres (16 miles) from Pyinmana.

“Our buses will not carry too many passengers like other bus lines, they will run only when the seats are occupied and they will be air conditioned,” he said. The Yangon Division Traffic Police Force has set the location of a total of about 100 bus stops along the route in both directions.

“His body was checked by medical specialists and it was found that he suffered from congestive cardiomyopathy,” Police Chief Brigadier General Khin Yee said at a press conference in Yangon last Friday.

THE Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) held a meeting at Parkroyal Hotel from October 24 to 26 to introduce its comprehensive programs and plans to participants from partner national societies that provide funding for MRCS.

The show’s creator, Zomia Media Group, intends for the program to be an avenue for young singers to show off their talent and passion to a larger audience, said U Cho Pyone, Zomia’s managing director.

HUNDREDS of people are gathered in a grassy area in front of Yangon International Airport snapping pictures of loved ones, making the area look more like an outdoor photo studio than a garden.

FARMERS in Myanmar planted 16.9 million acres of monsoon paddy up to October 20, exceeding the government’s target for this year by 0.5 million acres, a senior agricultural official said last week.

“When rains are heavy, there are 18-inch-deep pools of water at the base of the walls, which are easily damaged due to their age,” said a spokesperson from the Department of Archaeology under the Ministry of Culture. “

MEDALS and cash worth K10.9 million were handed out as prizes to 100 farmers, entrepreneurs, businesspeople and students at a ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw last month.

Many third-year students at the university, which was established in 2002, have received offers of scholarships from foreign marine companies with the promise of employment if the terms of the scholarships are fulfilled.

The donation was for the installation of two lifts to replace the old ones in the hospital, which are no longer functioning. The lifts are used to transport patients and medical equipment between the operation theatres and patient wards.

“If it is permitted, two taskforces will be established, one in Yangon for lower Myanmar and another in Mandalay for upper Myanmar,” said Police Major Than Swe from the department.

More than 3.6 million tonnes of cocoa beans were grown worldwide in 2004. This is more than double the amount grown in 1974, when about 1.56 million tonnes were produced.

MYANMAR people need to be aware of the dangers of obesity even though it is not considered to be a major problem here as it is in many other parts of the world, said Dr Daw Khin Lay Gyi, head of Myanmar’s Association of Women Doctors.

MYANMAR plans to join six other Asian countries, including the four co-hosts of the 2007 Asian Cup, in the King’s Cup football tournament in Bangkok in December, the Myanmar Football Federation confirmed on Tuesday.

MYANAMR is hosting the last leg of the 2006 Asian Roundup Archery Championships at the Kyaikkasan Archery Ground in Yangon from November 2-6. A total of 48 medals – 16 golds, silvers and bronzes each – are up for grabs, the Myanmar Archery Federation (MAF) said earlier.