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Edith Mirante
@EdithMirante
, 17 tweets, 12 min read Read on Twitter
1. This History Thread is about mining of an array of minerals in Burma (Myanmar) where the geology features varied north-south belts of ores that have long been exploited and exported without protection for environment or workers.
2. Burma trade routes for gems and metals including lead and silver date back to ancient times. #Shan ruby mines were known in 6th Century. #Kachin jadeite was first significantly traded to China (where it would become the obsession of Emperors) in 1784.
3. 1886 British troops took Mogok ruby mines. British surveyed southern Burma tin deposits 1888-1912. Bawdwin, Namtu Shan St. (mined from 15th C. by Chinese) under British exported silver, lead, zinc; future US President Hoover mining engineer there. WW2 Japanese held Bawdwin.
4. After Gen. Ne Win’s military took over Burma in 1962, mines/products belonged to govt. Jade, gems increased generals’ personal wealth while the country grew more impoverished. Ethnic armed organizations fought to keep control of mines such as Karen tin and Kachin jade.
5. Post-1988 junta opened Myanmar to foreign investment: predatory Canadian, Australian, Chinese, Thai etc. joint-ventures. $$ to military govt. No environmental protection. Nostromo report from 2000 link: burmalibrary.org/docs21/Grave_D…
6. Myanmar Mining Law has been revised & Ministry of Natural Resources & Environmental Conservation is in charge. But military occupation, corruption, resource-driven conflict continue. Pollution & unsafe conditions persist across sector. Mae Wong reports: channelnewsasia.com/news/videos/en…
7. Jadeite precious “imperial jade” mined in #Kachin land particularly Hpakant, Myanmar govt controlled, corruption, excavation. Frequent lethal landslides (54 miners killed 22/4/19.) Report @Global_Witness with photos by @minzayar88
globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/m…
8. Burma (Myanmar) long famed for gemstones, esp. high quality rubies, sapphires. Sold at govt. gem emporium. Benefits military; activists call for boycott of Myanmar “conflict gems.” Dangerous mining: story Hla Hla Htay photos @ye_aung_thu video @exiter correspondent.afp.com/myanmars-elusi…
9. Amber mined in #Kachin land reveals scientific discoveries about life in #Cretaceous period. Since 2014 Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) has fought Kachin Independence Army for amber mining area control. My Feb. 2018 thread about the Amber War:
10. Gold mining mainly in rivers, Kachin & Sagaing. Legal & illegal, large & small operations, local & military & Chinese owned. Mines in Hukawng Valley source of conflict. Contamination from cyanide & widespread mercury pollution. Story/photos @thevmilko frontiermyanmar.net/en/the-mercury…
11. Sagaing Div. Letpadaung copper mine run by Canadian “Toxic Bob” Friedland 1990s, since 2011 Chinese Wanbao Corp. Villagers protest social, health, enviro damage, govt. violently suppressed demonstrations. Report by @UnearthMyanmar (A+ source on mining) unearthmyanmar.com/en/story/shado…
12. Tin, tungsten, antimony in Burma (Myanmar) = severe pollution, erosion. Mawchi in #Karenni Kayah St. Heinda mine in south (story by Win Zar Ni Aung, Ye Htut Win.) #UWSA Wa region in NE gained major share of world tin production, now reportedly peaked. frontiermyanmar.net/en/tanintharyi…
13. Coal mining at several sites in Myanmar (Burma) for low-quality lignite, with pollution and health effects reported and protested in surrounding areas. My 2016 Project Maje report on Myanmar coal mines and coal fired power plants: projectmaje.org/coal_report.htm
14. Zomi villagers try to prevent nickel mining on mountainous border of #Chin State and #Sagaing Division. Other mining projects to watch out for in western Myanmar include titanium and aluminum exploration in #Rakhine State.
irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-…
15. Mining sand to use for concrete can cause massive erosion. It damages coastal areas including southern #Rakhine State’s Ngapali Beach as well as the banks of Irrawaddy River. #sandmining frontiermyanmar.net/en/our-land-is…
16. Other problematic mines include Myanmar (Burma) govt. owned uranium mine in #Karenni #Kayah State (the ore is traded to China.) Destructive platinum mining in #Shan State. And a Canadian Company is exploring for lithium in central Myanmar. freeburmarangers.org/2019/04/03/ran…
17/17. Local activists & journalists covering mining issues face intimidation, arrests, violence. Myanmar (Burma) mining sector urgently needs local control, environmental safeguards, worker protection. My previous History Threads & report archive are at projectmaje.org
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More from @EdithMirante see all

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Edith Mirante
@EdithMirante
1) This History Thread is about the Rohingya Diaspora beyond Bangladesh. Having fled severe persecution in Burma (Myanmar) to Bangladesh in 1970s-90s and more recent 21st Century genocidal attacks, Rohingyas have often risked a journey farther.
2) Rohingyas seek refuge in many countries, where security and legal status often remain elusive. This infographic map from Al Jazeera shows some refugee population estimates as of Oct. 2017.
3) In 1978 Pakistan offered legal residence to Rohingyas and thousands made their way there, followed by more refugees in 1991-93. Most ended up in slum areas around Karachi and found work in the fishing industry.
thenational.ae/world/asia/roh…
Read 19 tweets
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Edith Mirante
@EdithMirante
1. This History Thread is about the #indigenous people of India’s #Andaman Islands known as #Sentinelese because they live on North Sentinel Island. Their names for themselves, their island are unknown to the outside world.
2. India’s Andaman Islands are an extension of a Burma/Myanmar mountain range in the Bay of Bengal separated from the mainland when sea levels rose post Ice Age. North Sentinel is to the west of the chain.
3. DNA analysis shows current indigenous peoples inhabited the Andaman Islands for about 18,000 years. Their DNA relates to mainland India’s Pauri Bhuiya and Munda peoples. Languages mostly unique to islands, some links to India mainland and Malaysia. journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…
Read 14 tweets
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Edith Mirante
@EdithMirante
1. This History Thread is a brief sketch of the military history 1400-1945 of Arakan, now Rakhine St. of Myanmar (Burma.) It was once an illustrious maritime empire, where historically Muslims and Buddhists were often in the same boat fending off invasions by Burma’s kingdoms.
2. A diverse cosmopolitan trading entity, Arakan had attracted Shan and Burmese (Pyu, Pagan) invaders. In 1406 Burmese (Ava) invaded Arakan’s Lemro cities, whose ruler Min Saw Mon fled to Bengal Sultanate. 1430 Bengal’s Sultan Nasir-ud-din Shah helped Min Saw Mon retake Arakan.
3. 16th C. Arakan was ruled from the city of Mrauk-U. Under King Min Bin Portuguese seafarers aided Arakan’s rise to military power, advising on fortifications, weaponry. Arakan built a formidable navy, challenging the Mughal Bengal Sultanate to control Chittagong port city.
Read 12 tweets

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WonderWoman
@SecretDurga2
#Thread Many young peeps have confusion about KUMARI PUJA lets clear their fact. #Hindu #History #Hinduism

(1/n) In Bengal Kumari pooja was started by Swami Vivekananda 1 year after starting Ram Krishna Mission.
Goddess Durga is worship in various form during her 3 day stay.
2/n) Here we worship as her in "Kumari" form.

The actual word "Kumari" is a sanskrit word, hindi word of "Kumari" is कुँआरी which means अविवाहिताकन्या ।" {U can Google 😌}
When the word itself suggest Kumari, here we can't worship a married/un-virgin girl.
#RamNavami
(3/n) •A girl aged between 1 to 16 year, symbolizing the Kumari form of Devi **NO MENTION OF NON MENSTRUAL GIRL**

[Generally girls get their 1st period in the age of 9-11]

• The Kumari form of the Goddess was empathised as the most dynamic form of her ALL forms.
#RamNavami
Read 7 tweets
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Kim Jolliffe
@Kim_Jolliffe
THREAD: Recent conflict between the #Myanmar military and the Restoration Council of #Shan State seems to represent a notable escalation and big blow to the ceasefire process. 1/9
After RCSS collectors allegedly seized equipment from the #Myanmar military, it retaliated with two symbolic bouts of shelling near the RCSS HQ area. The RCSS has viewed this as a direct message implying ‘we can attack your HQ’. 2/9
The coordinated nature of the attacks, from two separate locations, and the fact that they were so close to the border with Thailand, suggests that senior commanders were involved. And the RCSS have considered this a major infringement on the terms of the NCA. 3/9
Read 9 tweets
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GreatGameIndia
@GreatGameIndia
#THREAD

The Cosmic Movement's penetration of Indian Freedom Struggle, Politics, Education & Religion.

This thread focuses on advanced threat perception from this group. Although this is a vast network covering many areas we concentrate here on key players driving it forward.
This guy is Max Theon original name Louis-Maximilian Bimstein. He founded the Cosmic Movement. As we will see each and every member of this network prefers to hide their original name, identity and history.
Many prominent people were involved with this Cosmic Movement as we will see. One of them was Tomáš Masaryk (who became the first President of Czechoslovakia) also the Princess of Rohan in Vienna and many others. However this group was actually a spin-off of the OTO.
Read 44 tweets
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Pranay Kotasthane 康平
@pranaykotas
Quite amusing that the north-south debate over public finances has been taking place with complete disregard to Public Finance theory itself. Guess it shouldn't be surprising but let me attempt anyways.. #thread
First of all, I'm no expert in the subject. Much of what I know comes from a few textbooks and by listening to Gurus like Dr M Govinda Rao. All mistakes are my own and I'll be happy to learn if I'm going wrong somewhere.
Now any federal system faces one issue. States have more responsibilities but their earnings are less. Which means the only way they can work is by depending on money transfers from the union.
Read 25 tweets
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Simon Harley
@simonharley
A quick, angry #history thread about Room 40 because apparently historians are still making shit up about its location. Last year Barry Gough wrote that it was "in a quiet wing of the Old Admiralty Building". 1/
Those windows outlined in green? That's Room 40. Where the blue lines are? That's the Board Room. @thehistoryguy should know, he's been filmed in it, but still talked rubbish about Room 40. The red lines? The Chief of the Staff's office. In orange? The war room. 2/
The light blue lines are where the Director of Intelligence Division (later DNI)'s office was (he later moved next door). Pink is Alfred Ewing's office where the codebreaking effort began. Dark blue is where the First Sea Lord moved his office later in the war. 3/
Read 13 tweets
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Dr. Richard Duckett
@richard_duckett
A short thread about 'doing' #History, and a glimpse of what I am working on.

#Burma #Myanmar #SOE #Force136 #WW2 #SWW
Step 1: Read translated interview
'After the battle, our company and the Chinese company were ordered to defend the Mawchi road and the Officer-in-Charge was Capt. Thompson of the Bengal Rifles. Jemedar Pan Mya and 16 soldiers were captured fighting the Japanese at Paletwa.'
Step 2: Check out Capt. Thompson
Thompson was not Bengal Rifles, he was 1st Battalion Burma Rifles. Translator or interviewee error? Not to worry. Error found.
Read 12 tweets

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