“The EIA Procedure and environmental quality guidelines reflect the Myanmar Government’s progress in putting in place laws, regulations, and processes to manage its economy in a more environmentally sustainable fashion. ADB is very pleased to be supporting Myanmar to achieve this,” said Mr. Winfried Wicklein, ADB Country Director in Myanmar.

More than 200 representatives from government, civil society, and development agencies attended the launch event yesterday.

“We believe that the attackers will be punished properly,” he said.

Some older people are witnessing the younger generations glued to their phones and feel that they must be missing out on something and so would like to join the perceived fun of social media.

A resident of Viengchaleun village in Xaysettha district of Vientiane Somsack Vongsagna, is one of many people who started playing with Facebook last year. He soon found he had a lot to learn from his friends and younger people.

Meanwhile other elderly people have also purchased nice mobile phones with all the latest features but they don’t like to play on the internet as they consider it a waste of time. They only use their fancy phones to make and receive calls from their family and friends.

So while some elder people can be seen to be trying to embrace new technology others are not and view it as a bit of a gimmick and wish their children had a few more practical skills.

However the vast majority of younger people cannot imagine life any other way, at least those who can afford fancy phones. But ordinary mobile phones can be found even in some of the most remote villages these days, such is the penetration of technology.

According to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications report to the National Assembly (NA) last year, Lao internet users have increased considerably, rising from only five percent of the entire population in 2008 to about 20 percent in the middle of last year.

Looking internationally, internet ready devices do make things more easy for foreign tourists visiting Laos who might otherwise have difficulties due to language barriers.

Today, it is now very easy for tourists to access information about the country via the internet and many overseas visitors to Laos can be seen doing just that.

A police officer and a Canadian man were killed in the attack, which – with the attackers – took the death toll to seven. Seventeen people, including a Dutch man, were wounded.

Two of the militants were taken alive, police said.

Jakarta’s police chief told reporters: “ISIS is behind this attack definitely,” using a common acronym for Islamic State, and he named an Indonesian militant called Bahrun Naim as the man responsible for plotting it.

The drama played out on the streets and on television screens, with at least six explosions and a gunfight in a movie theatre.

ARMOURED CARS, HELICOPTERS

“The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three dead people on the road. There has been a lull in the shooting but someone is on the roof of the building and police are aiming their guns at him,” Reuters photographer Darren Whiteside said as the attack unfolded.

Police responded in force within minutes. Black armoured cars screeched to a halt in front of the Starbucks and sniper teams were deployed around the neighbourhood as helicopters buzzed overhead.

After the militants had been overcome, a body still lay on the street, a shoe nearby among the debris. The city centre’s notoriously jammed roads were largely deserted.

Indonesia has seen attacks by Islamist militants before, but a coordinated assault by a team of suicide bombers and gunmen is unprecedented and has echoes of the sieges seen in Mumbai seven years ago and in Paris last November.

The last major militant attacks in Jakarta were in July2009, with bombs at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.

The country had been on edge for weeks over the threat posed by Islamist militants. Counter-terrorism police had rounded up about 20 people with suspected links to Islamic State, whose battle lines in Syria and Iraq have included nationals from several Asian countries.

HISTORY OF ATTACKS

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, the vast majority of whom practise a moderate form of the religion.

The country saw a spate of militant attacks in the 2000s,the deadliest of which was a night club bombing on the holiday island of Bali that killed 202 people, most of them tourists.

Police have been largely successful in destroying domestic militant cells since then, but officials have more recently been worrying about a resurgence inspired by groups such as Islamic State and Indonesians who return after fighting with the group.

Alarm around the world over the danger stemming from Islamic State rocketed after the Paris attacks and the killing of 14people in California in December.

On Tuesday, a Syrian suicide bomber killed 10 German tourists in Istanbul. Authorities there suspect the bomber had links to Islamic State.

Among those arrested in Indonesia’s crackdown late last year was a member of China’s Uighur Muslim minority with a suicide-bomb vest. Media said two other Uighur suspects were on the run.

Indonesian security forces have also intensified a manhunt for a militant leader called Santoso, regarded as Indonesia’s most high-profile backer of Islamic State, in the jungles of Sulawesi island. Santoso had threatened to unleash attacks in Jakarta.

– Reuters

Food that had been in cages a long time created bacteria, which also contributed to the reduction of oxygen, he said.

Fish breeders do not use professional standards and only use techniques based on their personal experience, environmental officials said.

The Dong Nai Province’s Veterinary Bureau, however, agreed with the farmers that the cause of the death of fish was polluted water discharged from factories, and not the farmers’ breeding methods.

Bureau officials said that they had told farmers in the past to breed fewer fish in cages, and the farmers had followed their instructions.

Farmers said that water pollution was the cause but noted that the authorities did not mention this factor in their report.

Tran Van Tinh, whose five tonnes of fish died during the incident, told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper that he had invested billions of dong to operate a fish farm. He lost most of his money after the fish died.

Vu Dinh Doanh, who was able to save half of his fish, said the authorities’ conclusion was groundless, based on his years of experience in breeding fish. If fish died in such large numbers, it would have happened before as well, he said.

In addition, feed for the fish is expensive, so he would not waste it, he added.

Several households in the village said that when their fish died, the fish living in the wild also died, so the breeding method was not the reason for the deaths.

“We know that at the end of each year, enterprises in nearby industrial parks clean their factories. The untreated waste water causes polluted water. We expect the Police Department against Environmental Crime to clarify this issue,” Nguyen Van Duong, one of the farmers facing serious losses after the incident, was quoted as saying in the paper.

The farmers said there were dozens of pipes discharging waste water from factories to the river.

Police officials have also begun investigating the incident.

On January 3-5, fish in many fish farms unexpectedly died. The total amount was more than 200 tonnes, causing heavy losses to 150 fish-breeding households in Hiep Hoa Commune.

According to the Dong Nai Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the density of fish cages in the area exceeds the planned density.

There are a total of 272 fish cages owned by 215 households.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, which has asked the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to strengthen monitoring of water quality in recommended areas, said it would improve inspection and strictly punish acts of environmental pollution.

In a related development, the Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has worked with the provincial Judicial Department to help farmers in Long Son Commune in Vung Tau city to complete procedures to proceed with a lawsuit against 14 enterprises in Tan Thanh District for creating pollution in the Cha Va River, causing serious losses to their fish farms.

Earlier, the provincial government had organised a meeting between the enterprises and farmers.

It was estimated that the pollution level was 76 per cent and total required compensation was VND13 billion (US$578,000).

Police said they suspected a suicide bomber was responsible for at least one of the blasts and up to 14 militant gunmen were involved in the attack, Metro TV reported.

“The Starbucks cafe windows are blown out. I see three deadpeople on the road. There has been a lull in the shooting butsomeone is on the roof of the building and police are aimingtheir guns at him,” said a Reuters photographer.

“We have previously received a threat from Islamic Statethat Indonesia will be the spotlight,” police spokesman AntonCharliyan told reporters. But he said police did not know whowas resposible.

He said three policemen and three civilians had been killed.

“I saw a police officer shot right in front of me,” onewitness told TV One.

One explosion went off in front of a shopping centre calledthe Sarinah mall, on a main avenue. Media said a police postoutside the mall was blown up.

Police snipers were deployed among hundreds of othersecurity officers.

A U.N. building near the scene was in lock-down with no oneallowed in or out, a witness said. Some other high-risebuildings in the area were evacuated.

Indonesia’s central bank is located in the same area, and aspokesman for the bank said a policy meeting was going ahead anda decision on interest rates would be announced as planned laterin the day.

An explosion was heard in the western suburb of Palmerah,according to a domestic media tweet, but police said they couldnot confirm a blast there.

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population, thevast majority of whom practise a moderate form of the religion.

The country saw a spate of militant attacks in the 2000s,the deadliest of which was a nightclub bombing on the holidayisland of Bali that killed 202 people, most of them tourists.

Police have been largely successful in destroying domestic militant cells since then, but officials have more recently beenworrying about a resurgence inspired by groups such as IslamicState and Indonesians who return after fighting with the group.

The last major militant attacks in Jakarta were in July 2009, with bombs at the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels.

– Reuters

“Kampung Laweyan tends to serve as an educational tourist spot, where visitors mostly observe the district and learn how to make batik designs,” the chairman of the Kampung Laweyan Development Forum (FPKBL), Alpha Fabela, said.

In the early period of Joko “Jokowi” Widodo serving as Surakarta mayor in 2005, the city administration was actually already developing Laweyan as a batik centre and as a cultural heritage zone.

The 24-hectare zone has various heritage buildings that have a unique blend of Javanese, European, Chinese and Islamic architectural features surrounded by tall fences. Laweyan’s narrow alleys are where the houses of batik makers of the early 20th century can be found.

Therefore, the development of Laweyan as a batik district is directed toward the creation of a home-gallery atmosphere. “The old buildings are revived not only as residences, but also as batik production houses and galleries,” said Surakarta Culture and Tourism Agency chief Eny Tyasni.

Through a tourism package, visitors are taken around to inspect the historic traces of Laweyan’s batik industry from the 1900s. This package includes homestay facilities and practising handmade and printed batik making.

Kampung Laweyan also offers other historic sites, such as the tomb of Kyai Ageng Henis (an ancestor of the Mataram kings), the house of Kyai Ageng Henis and Sutowijoyo (or Panembahan Senopati, founder of the Mataram kingdom) and the house and museum of H Samanhudi, founder of the Islamic Trade Union (SDI).

“We’re conserving 30 historic buildings in Laweyan to support the promotion of heritage tourism. The budget is provided by the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry and the city administration,” revealed Eny.

As a tourism zone, Alpha said the city administration had not yet supplied Laweyan with supporting infrastructure like guideposts, transportation access and parking facilities. “The Batik Solo Trans [BST] route that should pass Kampung Laweyan has no transportation access yet,” he said.

Kauman, the other batik center in Surakarta located not far from the main road, Jl Slamet Riyadi, has maintained the tradition because of the many (royal servant) batik makers of the Keraton Surakarta (Sultanate Palace) living in the district.

While Laweyan produces a lot more modern-styled batik, Kampung Kauman mostly turns out batik with classic motifs based on palace standards by using silk material.

Apart from batik, Kampung Kauman also boasts historic structures such as the (traditional Javanese) mansions, (pyramidal) houses, colonial buildings and Javanese-Dutch architectural constructions.

“Tourism in Kauman is combined with the Laweyan package because both share heritage and batik characteristics. We’ve built city walk facilities for easier access to Kauman,” added Eny.

A batik entrepreneur in Kauman, Gunawan Setiawan, said that through the Association of the Kauman Batik Tourism Village (PKWBK) Kauman residents had been sharing responsibilities with the Surakarta city administration.”The city government takes care of the district’s reordering, while residents create Kauman’s brand as a batik and heritage village,” he indicated. The branding is achieved through batik events like Batik Day and free batik-making workshops for students.

“We’re promoting Kampung Kauman as a religious, historic, educational and tourism spot. Kauman’s proximity to the palace, the Grand Mosque and Pasar Klewer enables it to offer an appealing tourism package,” added Gunawan.