Myanmar activist awarded Asia's Nobel prize

Source: Reuters

MANILA (Reuters) - An activist from Myanmar who was tortured by the military as a student and now runs an NGO probing infrastructure projects is among this year's winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, its committee said Monday.

Also cited for the award, Asia's equivalent of the Nobel, were two Chinese men, an Indian, a Filipino and a Thai woman.

Ka Hsaw Wa of Myanmar, co-founder of EarthRights International, was recognized for "dauntlessly pursuing non-violent yet effective channels of redress, exposure, and education for the defense of human rights, the environment and democracy," the committee said.

Yu Xiaogang of China was given the award for raising concerns about dams in his country and advocating social impact assessments in all such mega-infrastructure projects.

Ma Jun, also of China and a former journalist, was awarded for publicizing environmental issues in China, including naming over 10,000 companies violating emission standards.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE5720TZ20090803

---

Congrats to all the winners!