POLITICAL REFORMS UNDER NEW MYANMAR GOVERNMENT
YANGON, Jan.13:(AFP|RSS-Nepal) - Myanmar's new prisoner amnesty which took effect on Friday is the latest in a series of dramatic reforms under a nominally civilian government which took office about nine months ago.
March 30: Outgoing premier Thein Sein, a former general, is sworn in as president. The junta is dissolved and Senior General Than Shwe retires after almost two decades in power. The West slams the changes as purely cosmetic.
July 6: Crowds of supporters greet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on her first trip outside Yangon since her November 2010 release from house arrest.
July 25: Suu Kyi meets with a minister of the new nominally civilian government for the first time.
August 14: Suu Kyi travels unhindered on her first overtly political tour since her release, drawing large crowds.
August 15: The United States says it is "encouraged" by signs of a thaw between the opposition leader and the new government.
August 19: President Thein Sein meets with Suu Kyi for the first time.
September 6: Myanmar forms a National Human Rights Commission following a UN request to probe alleged abuses.
September 9: Derek Mitchell, the first US coordinator for policy on Myanmar, visits the capital Naypyidaw.
September 18: Suu Kyi tells AFP in an interview that she sees "positive" developments in Myanmar but there is still a long way to go.
September 30: Myanmar suspends a controversial Chinese-backed dam project in northern Kachin state in a rare concession to public opinion.
October 12: One of the country's most famous dissidents, comedian Zarganar, is among 200 political prisoners released as part of a mass amnesty.
November 17: Southeast Asian leaders agree to allow Myanmar's military-backed government to chair the ASEAN regional bloc in 2014.
November 18: Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy decides to officially re-register as a political party and participate in upcoming by-elections.
November 19: Talks are organised between the government and several ethnic groups fighting a long-running struggle for autonomy and rights.
November 30: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Myanmar on the first top-level US visit for half a century.
Suu Kyi says she hopes to run for parliament in the by-elections.
December 1: Clinton tells President Thein Sein the US is "encouraged" by reform steps in historic talks with the new leadership.
December 2: Myanmar authorities agree a ceasefire with a major ethnic guerrilla roup, the Shan State Army South. Thein Sein signs a bill allowing citizens to protest peacefully if they have permission.
January 5: Suu Kyi's party receives formal approval to contest the April 1 by-elections. The European Union says it will open an office in Myanmar to manage aid programmes and play a "political role".
January 6: British Foreign Secretary William Hague says Myanmar may be "on the cusp of a new era" and calls for further reforms during historic visit. January 12: Myanmar's government signs a ceasefire with a major ethnic Karen rebel group mired in one of the world's longest-running civil conflicts.
January 13: A number of high-profile political dissidents, journalists and ousted former prime minister Khin Nyunt are pardoned by the regime.