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2008 Burmese Constitutional Referendum
A constitutional referendum was held in Myanmar on 10 May 2008 (24 May 2008 in some townships) according to an announcement by the State Peace and Development Council in February 2008. According to the military government, the new Constitution of Myanmar will ensure the creation of a "discipline-flourishing democracy". Multi-party elections followed in 2010. The constitutional referendum law was enacted and a referendum commission was set up on 26 February 2008. Reportedly, the law ensures the secret casting of votes and requires a public count of the ballots to prove it is fair. The draft constitution was published and the date of the referendum finally announced on 9 April 2008. Among the changes that the referendum sought to make are: * One quarter of all parliamentary seats would be reserved for military officers. * The Ministry of Home Affairs would fall exclusively under military control. * Anyone married to a person who was not a citizen of Myanmar would be barred from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, John Wells explains, the English spellings of both Myanmar and Burma assume a non-rhotic variety of English, in which the letter r before a consonant or finally serves merely to indicate a long vowel: [ˈmjænmɑː, ˈbɜːmə]. So the pronunciation of the last syllable of Myanmar as [mɑːr] or of Burma as [bɜːrmə] by some speakers in the UK and most speakers in North America is in fact a spelling pronunciation based on a misunderstanding of non-rhotic spelling conventions. The final ''r'' in ''Myanmar'' was not intended for pronunciation and is there to ensure that the final a is pronounced with the broad a, broad ''ah'' () in "father". If the Burmese name my, မြန်မာ, label=none were spelled "Myanma" in English, this would b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations Secretary General
The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-general and of the secretariat is laid out by Chapter XV (Articles 97 to 101) of the United Nations Charter. However, the office's qualifications, selection process and tenure are open to interpretation; they have been established by custom. Selection and term of office The secretary-general is appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council. As the recommendation must come from the Security Council, any of the five permanent members of the council can veto a nomination. Most secretaries-general are compromise candidates from middle powers and have little prior fame. Unofficial qualifications for the job have been set by precedent in previous selections. The appointee may not be a citizen of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shan State
Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the Endonym and exonym, endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai Province, Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son Provinces) to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma (Myanmar) in the west. The largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km2, almost a quarter of the total area of Myanmar. The state gets its name from Burmese name for the Tai peoples: "Shan people". The Tai (Shan) constitute the majority among several ethnic groups that inhabit the area. Shanland is largely rural, with only three cities of significant size: Lashio, Kengtung, and the capital, Taunggyi. Taunggyi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kachin State
Kachin State ( my, ကချင်ပြည်နယ်; Kachin: ), also known by the endonym Kachinland, is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet and Yunnan, specifically and respectively); Shan State to the south; and Sagaing Region and India (Arunachal Pradesh) to the west. It lies between north latitude 23° 27' and 28° 25' longitude 96° 0' and 98° 44'. The area of Kachin State is . The capital of the state is Myitkyina. Other important towns include Bhamo, Mohnyin and Putao. Kachin State has Myanmar's highest mountain, Hkakabo Razi (), forming the southern tip of the Himalayas, and a large inland lake, Indawgyi Lake. History Traditional Kachin society was based on shifting hill agriculture. According to "The Political Systems of Highland Burma: A Study of Kachin Social Structure", written by E. R. Leach, Kachin was not a linguistic category. Political authority was based on chieftains who depended on support from im ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meikhtila
Meiktila (; ) is a city in central Burma on the banks of Meiktila Lake in the Mandalay Region at the junctions of the Bagan-Taunggyi, Yangon-Mandalay and Meiktila-Myingyan highways. Because of its strategic position, Meiktila is home to Myanmar Air Force's central command and Meiktila Air Force Base. The country's main aerospace engineering university, Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University is also located in Meiktila. As of 2021, the city had a population of 177,442. History The name Meiktila comes from Mithila, the name of an ancient Indian kingdom. The history of Meiktila is closely tied to that of central Myanmar's dry zone, home of the Bamar people. The region had been part of various Bamar kingdoms at least from 11th century CE to 19th century CE before the British Empire took over all of Upper Myanmar in 1885. Meiktila was part of the 1945 Battle of Meiktila and Mandalay, during which the Allied forces under William Slim defeated the Japanese forces. Soon after Burma' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mandalay Division
Mandalay Region ( my, မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီး, ; formerly Mandalay Division) is an administrative division of Myanmar. It is located in the center of the country, bordering Sagaing Region and Magway Region to the west, Shan State to the east, and Bago Region and Kayin State to the south. The regional capital is Mandalay. To the south of the region lies the national capital of Naypyidaw. The division consists of eleven districts, which are subdivided into 28 townships and 2,320 wards and village-tracts. Mandalay Region is important in Myanmar's economy, accounting for 15% of the national economy. It is under the administration of the Mandalay Region Government. History The history of Mandalay Region is the same as that of much of Upper Myanmar except that for much of Burmese history, the political power emanated out of royal capitals located in Mandalay Region. The country's present capital, Naypyidaw, and most former royal capitals of the Bur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myingyan
Myingyan (, ) is a city and district in the Mandalay Division of central Myanmar, previously, it was a district in the Meiktila Division of Upper Burma. It is currently the capital of Myingyan Township and lies along the National Highway 2. , the city had a population of 276,096 and the district had 1,055,957. It lies in the valley of the Ayeyarwady River, to the south of Mandalay, on the east bank of the river. The area around the town is flat, especially to the north and along the banks of the Ayeyarwady. Inland the country rises in gently undulating slopes. The most noticeable feature is Popa Hill, an extinct volcano, to the south-east. The highest peak is . above sea-level. The climate is dry, with high south winds from March until September. The annual rainfall averages about . The temperature varies between . The ordinary crops are millet, sesame, cotton, maize, rice and a great variety of peas and beans. There are no forests, but a great deal of low scrubland. Myingyan is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
88 Generation Students Group
The 88 Generation Students ( my, ၈၈ မျိုးဆက် ကျောင်းသားများ) is a Burmese pro-democracy movement known for their activism against the country's military junta. Many of its members were imprisoned by the Burmese government on charges of "illegally using electronic media" and "forming an illegal organisation". A number of Western governments and human rights organisations called for the release of group members on the grounds that they were political prisoners. 8888 Uprising The group takes its name from the 8888 Uprising, a series of student-led protests in 1988 opposing the military rule of Ne Win. In September 1987, Ne Win voided most denominations of the kyat without warning, causing many people to lose their savings overnight. Students who saved money for tuition fees were particularly affected. The announcement led to riots at several universities. The situation was further exacerbated by the shooting of protesting student P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
All Burma Monks' Alliance
All Burma Monks' Alliance (abbreviated ABMA) is a coalition of monks in Myanmar, representing the All Burma Young Monks' Union, the Federation of all Burma Monks' Union, the Rangoon Young Monks' Union and the Sangha Duta Council of Burma. It was founded on 9 September 2007, at the start of the Saffron Revolution, after monks were brutalized at protests in Sittwe and Pakokku. ABMA made several key demands to the ruling State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), including a formal apology to the Sangha, a reduction on fuel and commodity prices, release of political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, and dialogue with pro-democracy leaders for national reconciliation. On September 21 it escalated its demands, promising to "banish the common enemy evil regime from Burmese soil forever", which was met with a violent crackdown. Leaders such as U Gambira were imprisoned and tortured, while others became refugees or went into hiding. Outside of Myanmar, the ABMA supports refugee monks w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bangkok Post
The ''Bangkok Post'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is published in broadsheet and digital formats. The first issue was sold on 1 August 1946. It had four pages and cost one baht, a considerable amount at the time when a baht was a paper note. It is Thailand's second oldest newspaper and the oldest still in publication. The daily circulation of the ''Bangkok Post'' is 110,000, 80 percent of which is distributed in Bangkok and the remainder nationwide. From July 2016 until mid-May 2018, the editor of the ''Bangkok Post'' was Umesh Pandey. On 14 May 2018, Umesh was "forced to step down" as editor after refusing to soften coverage critical of the ruling military junta. History The ''Bangkok Post'' was founded by Alexander MacDonald, a former OSS officer, and his Thai associate, Prasit Lulitanond. Thailand at the time was the only Southeast Asian country to have a Soviet Embassy. The U.S. embassy felt it needed an independent, but generall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Paul
Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well as for Texas's 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013. On three occasions, he sought the presidency of the United States: as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate for the Republican Party in 2008 and 2012. A self-described constitutionalist, Paul is a critic of the federal government's fiscal policies, especially the existence of the Federal Reserve and the tax policy, as well as the military–industrial complex, the war on drugs, and the war on terror. He has also been a vocal critic of mass surveillance policies such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the NSA surveillance programs. In 1976, Paul formed the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education (FREE), and in 1985 was named the first chairman of the conse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a governor's appointment. Congress has 535 voting members: 100 senators and 435 representatives. The U.S. vice president has a vote in the Senate only when senators are evenly divided. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members. The sitting of a Congress is for a two-year term, at present, beginning every other January. Elections are held every even-numbered year on Election Day. The members of the House of Representatives are elected for the two-year term of a Congress. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 establishes that there be 435 representatives and the Uniform Congressional Redistricting Act requires ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
