ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />STORY: Hundreds demonstrated in Myanmar's former capital Yangon Tuesday against the power outages plaguing the country.<br/> <br />Protests are rare in Myanmar, where dissent was brutally suppressed during 49 years of military rule, which ended last March when a reformist, quasi-civilian government took office.<br/> <br />Demonstrations have since been legalized, although rights groups say the laws are accompanied by tight restrictions, such as the requirement to notify the authorities several days in advance of a rally.<br/> <br />Despite producing hydroelectric power, much of Myanmar's electricity output is exported to energy-hungry China in deals that have irked some residents. Chinese firms are expected to build and run 33 of the 45 planned hydropower plants in Myanmar.<br/> <br />About 75 percent of Myanmar's 60 million people are without regular electricity, according to the Asian Development Bank. Power cuts are a daily occurrence even in the biggest city Yangon.
