India’s 6th navigation satellite ‘IRNSS 1F’ into space
Mar 10
The Indian Space Research Organization ISRO in yet another successful launch, has put the nation’s sixth exclusive navigation satellite IRNSS 1F into space using the rocket PSLV C32. The trusted and versatile polar satellite launch vehicle with the satellite on board lifted off at one minute past 4 in the evening today from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikottta.
The lift off was delayed by one minute to avoid space debris, as said by ISRO scientists. In less than 20 minutes and 15 seconds after lift-off, the rocket placed the payload at an altitude of 489 kilometers. ISRO chairman AS Kirankumar after congratulating his scientists said, the next and the final launch in the current series will be made next month.
The Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System is aimed at providing accurate positional information to aid terrestrial, aerial and maritime traffic, fleet management, mapping services and disaster management. It is being established with a constellation of seven identical satellites in geostationary orbits at a cost of Rs 1420 crore. The spatial resolution under the home-grown system is planned to be better than 20 metres.
AIR correspondent reports, today’s launch is the 33rd continuously successful mission for the polar satellite launch vehicle PSLV C32. The rocket took the flight in its extended version with strap on motors incorporated, to give the needed extra thrust given the heavy satellite lift off mass of 1425 kilogram and the sub-geosynchronous orbit involved. The satellite consists of navigation and ranging equipment including a rubidium atomic clock to provide accurate time.
The ISRO has already operationalized the position information system in a limited scale with the five satellites in orbit. The IRNSS 1F satellite that joins them today would further enhance the position accuracy. Once the next satellite which is final in the series is also put into space, a full-fledged system on the lines of the GPS of the US, Glonass of Russia and Galileo of Europe would be ready for seamless use with primary focus of India and about 1500 kilometers around it. With today’s successful mission, the goal of having India’s own satellite based navigation system is now just another launch away.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated ISRO scientists on the achievement. In a tweet, Mr. Modi said the successful launch of thenavigation satellite is an accomplishment and the country takes immense pride in it.
FM :Banks to take actions on Mallya’s companies
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Mar 10,
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the banks will take all possible actions to recover loan amount extended to the companies owned by Vijay Mallya. Responding to questions raised by Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, in the Lok Sabha, Mr Jaitley said the banks have started taking action against the companies to recover the debt.
He said till 30th November 2015, the total dues compounding with interest is to the tune of over nine thousand crore rupees against Vijay Mallya’s companies. He said some cases were filed in different courts across the country and some counter-cases were also registered.
Finance minister said the first installment of loan was given to the company in September 2004 and later in 2008. He said the accounts of the companies were declared non performing accounts on 30th April 2009.
Earlier, raising the matter Mr Kharge said how the businessman was allowed to leave the country despite objections raised by banks. He also wanted to know why his passport was not confiscated.
Dissatisfied with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s reply over the issue of Vijay Mallya leaving the country, the Congress and the Left parties staged a walkout from the Lok Sabha .
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi today asked how the government allowed Vijay Mallya flee the country. Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Mr Gandhi took a dig at the Centre and said its schemes will only help black marketeers to convert their black money into white. Rahul Gandhi said the Finance Minister during his reply in Lok Sabha on the issue did not tell how the industrialist left the country.
Cabinet approves Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojna
Mar 10,
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, CCEA today approved an 8,000-crore rupee scheme to provide cooking gas, LPG connections free of cost to women members of poor households. Briefing media in New Delhi today, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Cabinet has approved Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana which will be implemented from ensuing financial year, 2016-17.
It will provide access to clean cooking and preserve the health of women and families. Mr Pradhan said the decision will fuel Make In India in petroleum sector, and will also create lots of jobs. He said the scheme is a boost for women’s health as it brings free LPG to poor families that suffered the curse of smoke while cooking.
CCEA has also approved policy for grant of extension to Production Sharing Contracts, PSCs for small and medium sized discovered fields. The policy deals with 28 fields and will grant extensions in fair manner and enable companies to take investment decisions on reserves. CCEA also gave its nod to proposal to grant marketing including pricing freedom for gas from High Pressure High Temperature, Deep water and Ultra Deep water areas.
The marketing freedom will be capped by a ceiling price arrived at on basis of landed price of alternative fuels. It will help in incentivizing production of natural gas in country and help in enhancing country’s energy security. In a boost to firms like ONGC and Reliance Industries, the Cabinet today approved a new price formula for their undeveloped gas discoveries in difficult areas. This will lead to a near-doubling of rates.
Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told PTI that the price will be the lowest of weighted average of fuel oil and imported LNG or weighted average of fuel oil, naphtha and imported coal. Pradhan said, the new price will apply to undeveloped gas discoveries and not on currently producing fields.
With the current rates, the price of gas will come to 7 dollar per million British thermal unit (mmBtu). Gas price in India is currently at 3.82 dollar per mmBtu, which will fall to 3.15 dollar in April. Since this rate is not enough to incentivise exploration, the government approved the new price formula for undeveloped gas discoveries in deep-sea, ultra-deep sea and high-temperature, high-pressure areas using average of landed price of naphtha, fuel oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
About two dozen discoveries of the state-owned ONGC, Reliance Industries and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) in KG Basin alone are languishing for want of right price.
Government today cleared a proposal to amend the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act to include the provisions of allowing transfer of captive mines granted through procedures other than auction.The step will help in checking the stressed and non-performing assets of banks by allowing them to liquidate the same where a firm or its captive mining lease is mortgaged. It will also spur mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the sector. The MMDR Act, passed by Parliament in March last year, allows transfer of mining leases only in cases where the mine has been acquired through auction.
The Cabinet today also approved new hydro carbon exploration and licensing policy. It will be uniform licensing policy for award of hydrocarbon acreages with new contractual system and fiscal model. The new policy will usher a new era in exploration of hydrocarbons in the country. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, the decision aims to take Indian hydrocarbon sector to new levels globally.
Cabinet also approved amendment to Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 to allow transfer of captive mining leases not granted through auction. The transfer of captive mining leases, granted otherwise than through auction will allow mergers, acquisition and ease of doing business.
Cabinet also gave its nod for signing and ratification of BIMSTEC Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. BIMSTEC comprises seven countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. It also approved creation of an Indian holding company of M/S Dubai Port World with unique asset portfolio.
Cabinet approved MoU with International Monetary Fund, IMF for setting up of South Asia Regional Training Centre by IMF to help in capacity building of Government officials. Cabinet also approved MoU between India and Bahrain on cooperation for prevention of human trafficking especially trafficking in women and children. Cabinet also gave its ex-postfacto approval for MoU between India and United Arab Emirates on Technical Cooperation in Cyber Space and Combating Cyber-Crime.
Cabinet approved proposal to remove minimum capacity utilisation criteria for Single Super Phosphate manufacturing companies. The companies had to use a mandatory 50 per cent of production capacity or produce 40 thousand MT per year to become eligible for subsidy. The manufacturers had been representing for relaxation in order to allow them freedom of production as per market conditions. The decision will help increasing domestic production of Single Super Phosphate and reduction in prices to farmers and savings in subsidy.
SIGNING OF MOU WITH HARYANA ON “UDAY”
MEDIA INVITATION
(SIGNING OF MOU WITH HARYANA ON “UDAY” )
Dear Sir/Madam,
It gives me pleasure to invite you to the cover following media events:
| Media Event -1 | : | In the august presence of Chief Minister of Haryana Shri Manohar Lal Khattar and Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy , a tripartiteMOU with State of Haryana on “UDAY” (Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) for operational & Financial turnaround of Discoms will be signed by Ministry of Power , Secretary( Energy) of State Government of Haryana & on behalf of DISCOMs of Haryana (Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd. and Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam Ltd.) .Haryana is the 8th State to sign the MOU under UDAY, the other four States being UP, Rajasthan , Jharkhand , Gujarat, Punjab and Chhattisgarh. |
| Media Event -2 | National Scheme of Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP) of LED distribution to be given new name ‘UJALA’ byShri Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy. ‘UJALA’, an acronym forUnnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All, is being implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL). | |
| Day & Date | : | Friday , 11th March ,2016 |
| Time | : | 2.30 PM to 3.30 PM |
| Venue | : | Friendship Lounge, Hotel Ashok , New Delhi. |
Minister of Petroleum and Natural gas (I/C) Sh Dharmendra Pradhan will interact with the media
INVITATION
Dear Sir/Madam,
You are cordially invited to cover the following event:
| Event | Minister of Petroleum and Natural gas (I/C) Sh Dharmendra Pradhan will interact with the media |
| Date | 11th March, 2016 |
| Time | 12.00 Noon |
| Venue | Conference hall, National Media Centre, New Delhi |
We lost Michigan last night, Naresh
GM Mustard Testing Rigged For Unscientific Decision-Making
:
>
> DMH-11 TRANSGENIC MUSTARD HYBRID YIELDS 10.4% TO 27.5% LESS THAN OTHER EXTENSIVELY TESTED CULTIVARS!
>
> Enormous Risks Being Pushed by Crop Developers & Regulators On The Basis Of Unfounded and Exaggerated Claims Of Benefits
>
> New Delhi, March 10th 2016: Releasing data from rapeseed-mustard seed testing evaluations from the country, and comparing it with the results being presented and claimed with regard to the controversial transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11, the Coalition for a GM-Free India along with independent scientists, stated that GM mustard testing has been actively rigged unscientifically to show exaggerated benefits. Evidence to show that unfavourable data (against DMH-11 transgenic mustard hybrid) is probably being suppressed was also shared with the media today. The Alliance also presented data that points to other better alternatives being available.
>
> Speaking to media representatives, Dr Sharad Pawar, a Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) who was also associated with the NDDB project’s testing of Dhara Mustard Hybrids (DMH) as a consultant in the Nagpur University project, said, “By comparing DMH-11 with very old checks or comparators, the crop developers are trying to show exaggerated benefits. It has not been compared with other hybrids like DMH-1. The checks selected do not conform to the ICAR-adopted protocols evolved within the NARS by scores of scientists, may be because it would not make DMH-11 look good against the available best-yielding public sector and private sector varieties or hybrids at this point of time in the country. In fact, DMH-11 would not have proceeded to the next stage way back in 2006-07 if guidelines adopted for promotion of cultivars in varietal evaluation were strictly adhered to. Instead, the testing proceeded by dropping the prescribed national checks like Kranti and other recent cultivars and by using very old varieties as the Checks. It also appears that unfavourable data has been withheld in terms of data submitted to regulators. All of this not only showcases the lack of scientific rigour in the crop developer’s approach to evaluation of a risky technology, but also active connivance on the part of regulators. If it is scientific ignorance on the part of regulators, that is inexcusable too. Existing evidence shows that there are far better non-transgenic varieties and hybrids, rigorously evaluated and released, as well as good agronomic practices like System of Mustard Intensification, which can yield good results for the farmers and the country in terms of production and yield increases. It would be absolutely unscientific and unwise to evaluate anything related to GM mustard DMH-11 based on the current dossier, since the basic claim of yield increase through hybridization does not stand scientific scrutiny, leave alone the other biosafety aspects”. He appealed to NDDB and DBT to officially withdraw from the project so that the government can be saved from the embarrassment of such unscientific work with a risky technology.
>
> Kavitha Kuruganti, Co-Convenor of the Coalition for a GM-Free India said, “We have shown today how GEAC decisions say something, actual permissions say something else, and trial protocols adopted are ultimately different. It should be clearer now for all concerned why data and test results have to be shared at all stages as ordered by the Central Information Commission in 2009, and as recommended by the Supreme Court TEC. If this principle had been followed, DMH-11 would not have reached this advanced stage at all, passing itself off as a superior cultivar! Valuable public funds would have been saved and instead invested in sustainable alternatives for yield increases. We anticipate Dr Pental’s response that he was only following prescribed testing protocols. This would be a completely inadequate and untenable response since scientific rigour requires that best protocols be adopted so that experimentation does not happen at the expense of farmers’ lives and livelihoods later on, due to adoption of non-rigorous evaluation procedures during regulatory testing. Dr Pental chose to follow the ICAR-prescribed varietal release protocols for DMH-1, but is hiding behind the transgenic regulators’ unscientific protocols when to comes to DMH-11. Why?
>
> “It is this kind of intentional unscientific testing that makes the regulators hide data since their inept and unaccountable behavior will get seen by the public, whether it is a case of the regulators rubber-stamping a protocol brought by Delhi University or whether it is a case of the regulators themselves prescribing faulty testing protocols. Field visits and interactions with seed breeders and traders reveals that the real story in rapeseed-mustard is that high yielding varieties are on par with hybrids. Within hybrids, CMS technology is working and there is clearly no reason for the transgenic option with all its associated risks. More importantly, given that an overwhelming majority of mustard cultivation area is under farm-saved seed (leave alone hybrids which are not finding favor with farmers given apparent lack of benefits), non-seed based agronomic benefits have to be exploited fully through approaches like System of Mustard Intensification”, she said.
>
> Data was released in the press conference to prove that DMH-11 testing was rigged to enable claims of yield benefits. However, compared with other extensively tested cultivars, GM mustard actually produces 10.4% to 27.5% lesser yields. Regulatory assessment should focus not only on risks which are being under-reported but also on benefits which are falsely-constructed, the Coalition argued.
>
> For more information, contact:
>
> Dr Sharad Pawar, independent scientist, Nagpur: 9820518757.
>
> DMH-11 TRANSGENIC MUSTARD HYBRID YIELDS 10.4% TO 27.5% LESS THAN OTHER EXTENSIVELY TESTED CULTIVARS!
>
> Enormous Risks Being Pushed by Crop Developers & Regulators On The Basis Of Unfounded and Exaggerated Claims Of Benefits
>
> New Delhi, March 10th 2016: Releasing data from rapeseed-mustard seed testing evaluations from the country, and comparing it with the results being presented and claimed with regard to the controversial transgenic mustard hybrid DMH-11, the Coalition for a GM-Free India along with independent scientists, stated that GM mustard testing has been actively rigged unscientifically to show exaggerated benefits. Evidence to show that unfavourable data (against DMH-11 transgenic mustard hybrid) is probably being suppressed was also shared with the media today. The Alliance also presented data that points to other better alternatives being available.
>
> Speaking to media representatives, Dr Sharad Pawar, a Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) who was also associated with the NDDB project’s testing of Dhara Mustard Hybrids (DMH) as a consultant in the Nagpur University project, said, “By comparing DMH-11 with very old checks or comparators, the crop developers are trying to show exaggerated benefits. It has not been compared with other hybrids like DMH-1. The checks selected do not conform to the ICAR-adopted protocols evolved within the NARS by scores of scientists, may be because it would not make DMH-11 look good against the available best-yielding public sector and private sector varieties or hybrids at this point of time in the country. In fact, DMH-11 would not have proceeded to the next stage way back in 2006-07 if guidelines adopted for promotion of cultivars in varietal evaluation were strictly adhered to. Instead, the testing proceeded by dropping the prescribed national checks like Kranti and other recent cultivars and by using very old varieties as the Checks. It also appears that unfavourable data has been withheld in terms of data submitted to regulators. All of this not only showcases the lack of scientific rigour in the crop developer’s approach to evaluation of a risky technology, but also active connivance on the part of regulators. If it is scientific ignorance on the part of regulators, that is inexcusable too. Existing evidence shows that there are far better non-transgenic varieties and hybrids, rigorously evaluated and released, as well as good agronomic practices like System of Mustard Intensification, which can yield good results for the farmers and the country in terms of production and yield increases. It would be absolutely unscientific and unwise to evaluate anything related to GM mustard DMH-11 based on the current dossier, since the basic claim of yield increase through hybridization does not stand scientific scrutiny, leave alone the other biosafety aspects”. He appealed to NDDB and DBT to officially withdraw from the project so that the government can be saved from the embarrassment of such unscientific work with a risky technology.
>
> Kavitha Kuruganti, Co-Convenor of the Coalition for a GM-Free India said, “We have shown today how GEAC decisions say something, actual permissions say something else, and trial protocols adopted are ultimately different. It should be clearer now for all concerned why data and test results have to be shared at all stages as ordered by the Central Information Commission in 2009, and as recommended by the Supreme Court TEC. If this principle had been followed, DMH-11 would not have reached this advanced stage at all, passing itself off as a superior cultivar! Valuable public funds would have been saved and instead invested in sustainable alternatives for yield increases. We anticipate Dr Pental’s response that he was only following prescribed testing protocols. This would be a completely inadequate and untenable response since scientific rigour requires that best protocols be adopted so that experimentation does not happen at the expense of farmers’ lives and livelihoods later on, due to adoption of non-rigorous evaluation procedures during regulatory testing. Dr Pental chose to follow the ICAR-prescribed varietal release protocols for DMH-1, but is hiding behind the transgenic regulators’ unscientific protocols when to comes to DMH-11. Why?
>
> “It is this kind of intentional unscientific testing that makes the regulators hide data since their inept and unaccountable behavior will get seen by the public, whether it is a case of the regulators rubber-stamping a protocol brought by Delhi University or whether it is a case of the regulators themselves prescribing faulty testing protocols. Field visits and interactions with seed breeders and traders reveals that the real story in rapeseed-mustard is that high yielding varieties are on par with hybrids. Within hybrids, CMS technology is working and there is clearly no reason for the transgenic option with all its associated risks. More importantly, given that an overwhelming majority of mustard cultivation area is under farm-saved seed (leave alone hybrids which are not finding favor with farmers given apparent lack of benefits), non-seed based agronomic benefits have to be exploited fully through approaches like System of Mustard Intensification”, she said.
>
> Data was released in the press conference to prove that DMH-11 testing was rigged to enable claims of yield benefits. However, compared with other extensively tested cultivars, GM mustard actually produces 10.4% to 27.5% lesser yields. Regulatory assessment should focus not only on risks which are being under-reported but also on benefits which are falsely-constructed, the Coalition argued.
>
> For more information, contact:
>
> Dr Sharad Pawar, independent scientist, Nagpur: 9820518757.
T10Sports KHELO Challenge.
T10Sports KHELO Challenge | Multi Sport | Apr 2016 | Spring Edition
Today at 6:50 PM
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Why Organized Prayer is Banned in US Public Schools
|
Htin Kyaw for the presidency
Myanmar next president
Htin Kyaw for the presidency.
Three presidential candidates will be nominated on Thursday – one by the lower house of parliament, one by the upper house, and one by the military bloc. The constitution gives the armed forces a quarter of seats in both houses.
Htin Kyaw, an Oxford graduate with a degree in economics, was nominated from the lower house.
Henry Van Thio, an MP of the ethnic Chin minority, is the NLD’s nominee from the upper house.
At a later date, possibly late next week, parliament will hold a vote for president. The unsuccessful candidates will become vice presidents.
Aung San Suu Kyi, a hugely popular democracy icon and Nobel laureate, has vowed to rule “above” the president, despite being barred from top office by the army-scripted constitution,
As the ruling party’s favoured presidential candidate, Htin Kyaw is now on course to become the country’s first head of state in decades who is not a former top-ranking member of the military.
Htin Kyaw runs the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity to assist people in Myanmar’s poorest areas founded by Aung San Suu Kyi, and has from time to time served as her driver.
Suu Kyi has said that she will run the country regardless through a proxy she will name. But she and the NLD leadership have kept the identity of their nominee a closely guarded secret, even from rank-and-file MPs.
They have done so partly out of fear that a rushed, overly enthusiastic reaction to the election victory could put the sensitive transition at risk. In 1990, the military tossed out results of an election that the NLD won and remained in power.
Suu Kyi has repeatedly said she hopes to reach a compromise with the armed forces that will allow her to assume the presidency.
But talks since the election to bridge the differences failed, sources in her camp said, leading to a deepening rift between Suu Kyi and the military.
The secrecy has fueled a presidential guessing game in a country keen to see the NLD, many of whose members were jailed during years of military rule, complete its transition from democracy movement to ruling party.
Lawmakers from the NLD-dominated parliament that sat for the first time on February 1 said Wednesday that they were eager for the nomination process to get under way.
“It is a very big change, like the Magna Carta,” said Myint Lwin, a lower-house lawmaker from the NLD. “I’m proud to be involved in this history.”
Speculation on the NLD presidential nominee has ranged from Suu Kyi’s personal physician to her chief of staff. In recent days, it has focused on her close friend Htin Kyaw. He runs the Daw Khin Kyi Foundation, a charity to assist people in Myanmar’s poorest areas, founded by Suu Kyi and named after her mother.
Three presidential candidates will be nominated Thursday
– one by the lower house, one by the upper house and one by the military bloc in parliament. The constitution gives the armed forces a quarter of seats in both houses.
“We will propose the vice presidential candidates tomorrow in both Pyithu and Amyotha Hluttaw,” said NLD spokesman Zaw Myint Maung, referring to Myanmar parliament’s lower and upper houses.
Because the NLD has a comfortable majority in both chambers, it will effectively control two of the nominations, with the party’s second pick widely expected to be a representative of one of Myanmar’s ethnic minorities.
The two losing nominees become vice presidents, meaning that a nominee from an ethnic party would be proposed with that role in mind, in line with Suu Kyi’s goal of forming a government for national reconciliation.
Local media have named Thet Swe, a former navy chief who stepped down last year to run in the election representing the far-flung Coco Islands, as one of the possible nominees for the military.
The three nominees do not need to be lawmakers, but they will be vetted by a parliamentary commission.
After that, both houses of parliament will come together for a joint session to vote on the presidency.
The NLD’s huge majority means that the candidate it backs will win.
The president picks the cabinet that will take over from President Thein Sein’s outgoing government on April 1, with the exception of the heads of the home, defense and border security ministries. They will be appointed by the armed forces chief.
There was confusion among members of parliament Wednesday about how soon the presidential vote will take place. A director from the parliament told Reuters that the vote would not be held until at least Monday.
New NLD members of parliament said they remained in the dark about who would be nominated.
“We only have the news from Facebook,” said Sein Mya Aye, a lower house NLD lawmaker.
Aung San Suu Kyi has released a letter to her supporters apologizing for not becoming the country’s next president.
Released to the media Thursday shortly before Myanmar’s parliament was set to begin the process of selecting the new chief executive, the Nobel Laureate apologized for “not fully fulfilling the people’s desire.”
She added that she would persevere and asked for people’s continued support “to reach the goal peacefully.”
Her National League for Democracy party (NLD), won an overwhelming number of seats in parliament during November’s general election. But a clause in the military written constitution prevents her from assuming the nation’s top job because her sons have foreign citizenship.
“I’m very sad. She is the right president. But hopefully one day she will become President. I 100 percent hope,” said Nay Myo Htet, an NLD lawmaker, immediately after reading the party leader’s letter shown to him by VOA News in the lobby of the Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house of parliament).
The parliament in Naypyidaw will begin the presidential selection process by first choosing three vice-presidents, one from the lower house, one from the upper house and one from the military. After a vetting period, the entire parliament will select one of the three to become the nation’s next president.
After the elections last year, Aung San Suu Kyi had said she would run the government, saying she would be “above the president.”
But closed door talks in recent weeks between her and the military had led to speculation that the two sides might reach a deal to suspend the constitutional clause that bars her from the presidency. That appears now not to be the case.
The new government will take office on April 1.
The November general election was the first since a nominally civilian government was installed in 2011 after decades of military dictatorship.
myanmarnews.net
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