A tsunami warning was issued yesterday by the Disaster Management Center for coastal areas in Sri Lanka as an earthquake of the magnitude of 8.6 on the Richter scale struck the west coast of Northern Sumatra around 2.08pm local time. Tremors were felt in several parts of the island including Dondra point, Colombo, Jaffna and Trincomalee.

People rushing home after a tsunami warning was issued yesterday. Picture by Saliya Rupasinghe

Residents living near a coal-fired thermal power plant project in southernmost Burma are growing more concerned over health issues associated with the power plant, which could begin operations in April, local media report said.
The power plant, north of Kawthaung about 800 kilometres from Rangoon, is located 50 feet from residential areas and its chimney is about 40-foot high, residents said.
A reservoir that provides drinking water to Kawthaung is about 450 yards from the plant and local people fear the water will be polluted by the plant's emissions.

Burma’s authoritarian government has suspended the construction of a $3.6bn Chinese-backed hydroelectric dam in what is being seen as a conciliatory gesture to its opponents and possibly the most visible sign yet that it is prepared to reform.

The government has come under increasing pressure in recent months over the potential environmental and social impact of the 6,000mw Myitsone dam in Kachin state, northern Burma, which was to be built by the state-owned China Power Investment Corporation.

Witnesses said the tremors were felt in Bangkok, central Burma and as far away as the Vietnam capital of Hanoi where people were evacuated
PANUMET TANRAKSA CHIANG MAI, THAILAND A large 6.8 mag March 24: A large 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck Burma near the border with northern Thailand on Thursday, killing one woman, police and witnesses said.

Witnesses said the tremors were felt in Bangkok,

Rescue Rangoon, June 17: Rescue workers were scrambling to provide aid to tens of thousands left homeless in western Burma and neighbouring Bangladesh on Thursday after floods and landslides killed more than 100 people.

The Chinese state oil giant that has a grip on Burma's biggest gas field is now venturing into neighboring Bangladesh, a move which may stifle long-running conflict over territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal.

"It is the largest Baghair sold in the city market in last 15 years. We bought it at Tk500 a kg and sold up to Tk800," said Haider Ali, the seller of the fish. Even the fish traders of the market wanted a share of this rare fish, he added.

ON the anniversary of the Burmese cyclone, more than a hundred thousand survivors are still living in makeshift shelters hopelessly inadequate to the monsoon rains that will soon engulf the country. But despite the population