sabaijai

English Dhamma Talks by Ajahn Brahm (18 & 19 June 2012)

(Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastery, Western Australia)

www.bswa.org

Monday 18^th June 2012 - Day Retreat/World Fellowship of Buddhist Headquarters

Topic:    ‘Finding the Meaning in Life’

Time: 9.30 -10.00   Registration
10.00-12.30    Talk & Guided Meditation
12.30-13.30    Lunch break (lunch provided)
13.30-16.00    Talk & Guided Meditation
16.00-17.00    Questions & Answers

Venue:   World Fellowship of Buddhist Headquarters
  Benjasiri Park, between Sukhumvit 22 & 24
  Bus  2, 25, 38, 48, 508, 511  BTS Sky Train Prompong Station
  For map www.wfb-hq.org

Please call tel. 02 661 1284-7 Khun Keerana or email: Keerana1@hotmail.com to reserve your free seats.



Tuesday 19^th June 2012 - English Dhamma Talk/Royal Ballroom, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok

Topic: Dealing with Difficult People

Time: 1.30 -2.00pm    Registration
   2.00 -4.00pm   Talk and Q&A

Venue:   Royal Ballroom, Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
48 Oriental Avenue, Charoenkrung Soi 40

  
Please call tel. 02 659 9000 ext. “Public Relations” should you wish to reserve a seat.   Free admission.  First come first served basis.

COUNCIL OF
THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 14 May 2012

9626/12

PRESSE 195

Burma/Myanmar: EU sanctions suspended
The Council today adopted a regulation that, together with a Council decision adopted on
26 April, will give full legal effect to the suspension of EU sanctions against
Burma/Myanmar. The suspension had been agreed at the Foreign Affairs Council on
23 April.

The EU restrictive measures against Burma/Myanmar are suspended for one year. Only the
embargo on arms and equipment that can be used for internal repression will remain in
force for another 12 months. The suspension of the sanctions is part of the EU’s policy to
welcome and encourage the ongoing reform process in Burma/Myanmar.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, said:

"The European Union welcomes the remarkable changes in Burma/Myanmar and has
decided to open a new chapter in our relations. Now that the sanctions will be effectively
suspended, we encourage trade and investment in the country."

The suspended measures concern trade and investment in the sectors of logging, timber
processing and mining of precious metals and precious stones. In addition, persons
involved in policies that impeded Burma/Myanmar's transition to democracy and military
owned companies or companies controlled by the government of Burma/Myanmar were
targeted by asset freezes and travel bans.


Council conclusions of 23 April (9008/12)
http://register.cons...t09008.en12.pdf
Council decision of 26 April (EU Official Journal)
http://register.cons...t09008.en12.pdf

An Evening with Amnesty International (International Secretariat)

Changes in Myanmar

7pm, Thursday May 24, 2012

Admission Free

Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT)

Maneeya Center, Penthouse

BTS Chidlom

An official delegation from Amnesty International is currently visiting Myanmar for the first time in nine years. Since 10 May, Amnesty has been meeting with government officials, members of the political opposition and civil society, ethnic minority leaders, and former political prisoners.

In an effort to more deeply understand the seminal events of the past several years - the Saffron Revolution, Cyclone Nargis, the arrest and trial of Aung San Suu Kyi, the 2010 national elections, the release of Suu Kyi - as well as to assess the past year's reforms, Amnesty is meeting with many of the people who were directly affected or involved.

Mindful that the prevailing narrative is one of almost unqualified optimism, Amnesty is seeking to identify the human rights improvements, the presistent and ongoing human rights violations, and the new human rights challenges to which the recent changes have given rise. Not since once hoped-for reformer Khin Nyunt was Prime Minister has Amnesty been permitted to do so inside Myanmar itself.

Join us for brief remarks by the delegation followed by Q&A.

Delegates/panelists

:

Donna Guest, Deputy Asia-Pacific Programme Director
Benjamin Zawacki, Myanmar Researcher

UN, Myanmar Agree on Support for First Census Since 1983

30 April 2012

NAY PYI TAW, Myanmar At the invitation of the Government of Myanmar, the United Nations will provide technical assistance and help mobilize financial support for the country’s first census in 31 years, under an agreement signed today in the nation’s capital. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Myanmar’s Vice President Sai Mauk Kham witnessed an exchange of letters signed by their representatives, setting out principles for conducting the proposed 2014 population and housing census in accordance with international standards.

Speaking at the signing, the Secretary-General said he was “very encouraged by the Government’s strong commitment to the project”, and urged donors to support it.

The Government is developing census plans with support from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, including expertise on listing households, making enumeration maps, training enumerators, setting up information technology infrastructure, processing data, and analysing and disseminating the results.

Under-Secretary-General Vijay Nambiar, the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Myanmar,  presented  a  letter  to  U  Khin  Yi,  the  Minister  of  Immigration  and Population,  stating  that  the  census  “will  provide  important  benchmark  data  for national development planning and assessment, including on the impact of the launched reforms”, and facilitate donor support of development priorities.

Mr. Nambiar’s letter stressed that a credible census would need to adhere to several key principles.

• Updated laws are needed to define responsibility, set the scope and timing, secure funding, and oblige enumerators to report accurately and the public to cooperate. Confidentiality must be guaranteed to ensure cooperation.
  
• To ensure the census is universal and “inclusive of all national races”, enumerators must have unimpeded access to all regions of the country.
  
• The census will need a well-structured administration that pools resources from various national institutions.
  
• The country should create a consultative body involving local and national government agencies, NGOs, community representatives and professional associations.
  
• A national information campaign will need to inform the public about the census objectives, content and methods, and their rights and obligations.
  
• Global  standards  for  census  taking,  approved  by  the  United  Nations
  Statistical Commission, must be followed.

U Khin Yi signed a letter in response confirming the Government’s commitment to these principles.

The Secretary-General observed that training people to conduct the census will be challenging, given Myanmar’s lack of recent experience. Another challenge will be to gain access to the whole country. “I hope that current and future ceasefires will make this possible. The involvement of minorities and civil society will be crucial,” he added.

Vice-President Sai Mauk Kham said the 2014 census is a priority for Myanmar and thanked  the  Secretary-General  for  his  support.  He  said  the  Government  “will cooperate closely with UNFPA to oversee the quality of the census so that the result will be accurate and up to international standards.”

Source: UN News Service; United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Myanmar to start providing visas on arrival to South-East Asians
The Nation

Naypyitaw - Myanmar will offer visas-on-arrival for touristsand business people from South-East Asian nations starting on June 1,officials said Sunday.

Myanmar has been under nominal civilian rule since March, 2011,during which time President Thein Sein has initiated a raft of reforms that have led to eased sanctions on the former pariah stateand a groundswell of tourist and business interest in the country.

Initially the visas will only be provided to nationals from member countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), but gradually the service will be extended to other countries, Immigration Minister Khin Yi told dpa.

"New counters for the visas-on-arrival will be opened at international airports," Khin Yi said. "We have started to prepare for this." Myanmar briefly offered tourists visas-on-arrival in early 2010, but terminated the service a few months before the general election held that year on November 7.

Myanmar was under military rule between 1962 to 2010.



-- The Nation 2012-04-30