7.08
2010
by Jesus Kalergis ·
Pentozali, folk dance of Crete
Today more than 250,000 people of all ages, Cretan’s and visitors – “ join” their hands and dance to the unique sounds of ‘Pentozali’ for one cause “August 7th: the heart beats in Crete”. The human chain unified all of Crete, along the 200km central road axis of Crete between Chania in the west and Agios Nicholaos in the east. The event is set to make a Guinness World Record as the longest dance chain.
The dance started with a ‘sigano pentozali’ in which the dancers, holding hands, sing as they dance two step-swings forward and two step-swings backward as the line moves slowly to the right. Pentozali, with its small, rapid foot movements and leaps, is one of the most characteristic and most popular dances of Crete, its island of origin. The “five steps” of the dance refer to the five “dizzying” movements: 1) forward, 2) backward, 3) left, 4) right, 5) up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyezK4r9XrA
Local communities prepared for this event by providing free lessons in Cretan dances to visitors and holding competitions for ‘madinada’ (4line poem), the theme of which will be about the event. Thanks to the large number of volunteers who participated to the call of local, national, and worldwide dance groups from New Zealand to Alaska- U.S.A, Canada, Greenland to Antarctica, the event was a huge success. In the case ‘Planet Crete’ makes it to the Guinness Book of World Records, participants will receive a copy of the “Guinness Award” regardless of the whether they live in Crete or their own country.
A large force of Traffic police and a helicopter was mobilized to monitor and ensure safety of all participants.
Inspired by the “day of dance for all people of the planet”, a day after the 65th anniversary of the first atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, ‘Planet Crete’, a non-profit association organized this event to offer messages of fellowship, love and togetherness for the Earth’s people by inviting them to dance along and become one. In addition, the road axis will be symbolically divided into as many parts as the countries-members of the United Nations Organization and a sculpture will be placed at the point of and replacing the borders between the countries. Therefore, visitors from all parts of the planet will be given the chance to walk or drive along the “Street of the peoples’ on earth”.
This unique event of planet-wide dimensions attracted the interest of the international media and is will contribute to the worldwide promotion of Crete and Greece, the increase of Tourism and the role of Crete in the coming together of the people of the Earth.
Source: http://www.200000.gr/
Popularity: 48% [?]
3.08
2010
by GMich ·
Minister blames strikes for up to 9 percent drop in total 2010 revenues, expects rosier future
Income from the tourism sector is expected to fall to a seven-year low in 2010 with the best-case scenario predicting that arrival numbers will be the same as last year’s levels.
Deputy Tourism Minister Giorgos Nikitiadis admitted yesterday that revenues will be between 7 to 9 percent lower than in 2009, attributing the drop-off to continued strike action taking place in Greece.
The minister’s views mirror those expressed by Andreas Andreadis, president of the Panhellenic Federation of Hoteliers, who also expects tourism revenues to shrink by up to 9 percent this year.
If this forecast materializes, that will mean 1 billion euros less for the economy, with income from tourism for the 12-month period falling to 9.4 billion euros.
The last time the figure dipped below the 10-billion-euro mark was in 2003, when it reached 9.5 billion euros, according to Bank of Greece data.
By contrast, the best performance was recorded in 2008, when revenues hit 11.6 billion euros, but this was followed by the international economic crisis in 2009, which resulted in annual tourism receipts falling by 1.2 billion euros.
At the start of July, Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou said that revenues could drop by an annual pace of up to 15 percent.
Athens hotels are likely to be hit hardest from the downturn as was the case last year.
Yiannis Retsos, president of the Athens-Attica Hotel Association, estimates that sector revenues will be 8 to 10 percent lower than last year after sliding by an annual pace of 18 percent in 2009.
Looking ahead, Nikitiadis is upbeat about the course of the tourism sector in coming years.
He believes that the number of arrivals could jump to 25 million people in coming years, from around 14 million currently, in line with a sharp rise shown in neighboring Turkey.
Popularity: 17% [?]
- Source: www.ekathimerini.com
3.08
2010
by GMich ·
The finances of 10 state hospitals, technical colleges, municipalities and other bodies in the wider public sector are going to be checked over the next few days for alleged mismanagement of government funds.
Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou ordered the probes yesterday, based on specific complaints that have been lodged by citizens or watchdogs.
Sources said that inspectors would be visiting several public hospitals in Athens and Thessaloniki, the Municipality of Thessaloniki and technical colleges (TEI) in Halkida, Thessaloniki and on the Ionian islands.
It is thought that this is just the beginning of stringent inspections into how public finances are being used. The government is set to hire private companies to help it sift through the accounting books of many more hospitals and municipalities, sources said. The government has been under pressure from European Union and International Monetary Fund officials to crack down on corruption in the public sector.
The Finance Ministry said it would also investigate 25 tax and customs employees suspected of accepting bribes, falsifying tax returns and allowing illegal imports of textiles from China.
“The Finance Ministry is determined to investigate thoroughly its own services… to restore the credibility of the financial services, which remain focused on the difficult target of increasing revenues,” the ministry said in a statement.
A law passed last week requires all public bodies to report their accounts to central government on a monthly basis. PASOK hopes that this will be the start of the process to win back control over how public money is spent.
General bureaucracy and the lack of computerized records means that although the government has a very precise picture of what money it gives to hospitals, municipalities and other public bodies, it has very little idea of how these funds are spent. For instance, the most recent accounting figures for local authorities are from 2005. Of 1,034 municipalities in Greece, only 30 submit a full budget report.
Popularity: 10% [?]
- Source: www.ekathimerini.com
1.08
2010
by GMich ·
Jurgen Mennel is a former member of the German ultramarathon national team that won silver at the World Championships over 100 kilometers in 1990.
Jurgen Mennel’s 50-year-old feet have a lot of kilometers in them – the social worker from Heilbronn estimates he has run the equivalent of more than seven times around the world.
But Mennel, a spindly man with a receding hairline, does not plan to give his feet a break after having run what he estimates to be 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) over the last four decades.
He wants to mark the 2,500-year anniversary of the ancient Battle of Marathon in Greece to run 2,200 km from his home in Heilbronn to Athens this autumn.
«I saw that the 2,500th anniversary was coming up and thought it would be a great athletic challenge to run from Germany to Greece,» said Mennel, who plans to cover the distance from southwest Germany to Greece in 27 days.
That’s an average of two full marathons a day. Mennel said he wants to honor his legendary forefathers with his run and create awareness about the health benefits of regular exercise.
His is one of several athletics events marking this year’s anniversary of the original marathon run, culminating in the 28th Athens Classic Marathon in October.
The story of the marathon dates back to in 490 BC, when an Athenian soldier, Pheidippides, is said to have been sent to Sparta to announce that the Persians had landed and to request help. After running to Sparta and back, he then ran from the battlefield near Marathon to Athens carrying the news of a Greek victory over the Persians, before collapsing and dying at the end of his effort.
Mennel has spent his life in long-distance running.
On the track since he was 9 years old, he is a former member of the German ultramarathon national team that won silver at the World Championships over 100 km in 1990.
An exhausting daily training regimen has kept him fit enough to put his body through the stress of extreme running, Mennel says. For the last 15 years, he has started his day at 5.30 a.m. by running up to 20 km followed by a dozen more kilometers in the evening.
Even in his day job, Mennel exercises. As a social worker at a Protestant charity, he has spent over 20 years giving people with mental and physical disabilities occupational therapy – unsurprisingly, by running with them.
Mennel’s fitness is even more remarkable as he eschews modern techniques of performance and protein supplements.
«Oh dear, that powder stuff, that’s not sports anymore,» he says. «My secret is that I remain relaxed. I eat meat for protein, and I even indulge in sweets.»
Health experts say it is almost impossible to take in enough calories to sustain the body on a run this long. But Mennel is not worried, saying that he is used to the extreme situations he will face.
To ward off boredom, Mennel has chosen a path through stunning natural scenery. He especially looks forward to the stretch along the Adriatic Sea, where he can also give his body a chance to recover by diving into the Mediterranean.
Other stages, though, give him more cause for concern. Greek marathon runners have warned him about the dangers posed by stray dogs in the mountains of Albania and Montenegro.
He wants to use his run to spread the message that diseases of civilization such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s can be prevented by exercise.
«My generation of over-50-year-olds gets sick all the time,» Mennel said. «These absences can be really devastating to professional productivity and to whole careers, especially in a recession. So employees and companies should incorporate sports into everyday life at the workplace.»
The awareness created is more important than the run itself, Mennel says. His itinerary includes panel discussions and meetings with health scientists and he plans to present the scientific information gathered along the way in a ceremony in Athens upon his arrival.
Mennel is not considering hanging up his sneakers, either. After reaching Athens, he is planning to run to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland in 2011.
Does it take a certain level of insanity to put his 50-year-old body through such a herculean ordeal?
«I don’t think I’m necessarily crazy,» Mennel says with a chuckle. «I’m just predestined to run.»
Popularity: 19% [?]
1.08
2010
by GMich ·
Greece is strongly supporting the European perspectives of the Western Balkans, Alternate Foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas stressed to both Belgrade and Pristina, during his Saturday visit.
In his talks with both Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic and Kosovo’s Prime Minister Hasim Thaci, Mr. Droutsas underlined that viable solutions should be sought, based on consensus for all open issues in the region.
He also reiterated that Greece’s position on Kosovo issue is well known and will not change.
Popularity: 11% [?]
30.07
2010
by GMich ·
Prime minister Giorgos Papandreou, during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, announced the creation of a committee to co-ordinate the opening of all closed professions by the end of 2010. The committee will be headed by cabinet vice president, Thodoros Pagalos.
On a general note, Papandreou said yesterday that “2011 will be a tough but creative year” as the government will focus on its social policies while trying to get in a new course of development.
He also said that the current government took decisions that were logical and necessary but, in the past, were blocked by interests.
Popularity: 18% [?]
30.07
2010
by GMich ·
The troika inspection team met with Bank of Greece governor, Giorgos Provopoulos, in the presence of Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou, yesterday afternoon.
Provopoulos briefed the inspectors on the state of the Greek banking system and the results of a stress test regarding Greek banks.
Today, the inspectors are due to meet Papaconstantinou while next week they are expected to finalize their report on the basis of which a second installment of the EU-IMF support package loan to Greece will be disbursed.
Popularity: 12% [?]
30.07
2010
by GMich ·
The re-supply of gas stations with petrol continues to face problems, despite the government’s decision to proceed with the civil mobilization of trucks yesterday.
Truck drivers will vote whether they will go on with their mobilizations during a general union meeting at 12 pm today.
Their decision will be based on the meeting they had yesterday with Transports minister Dimitris Reppas.
Truckers requested tax provisions and cuts, a five year-long period of adjustment for those who recently purchased their business licenses before the full opening of their profession, and the gradual drop of the price of the license before it becomes available with no charge.
Popularity: 15% [?]
29.07
2010
by GMich ·
A decision by the Education Ministry on Tuesday to grant operating licenses to 30 private colleges while rejecting the applications of another 10 institutions has provoked angry reactions from professors at Greek universities as well as representatives of the rejected institutions, it emerged yesterday.
The Panhellenic Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (POSDEP) and the Federation of Technical College Professors (OSEP) said they were planning to take legal action against the foreign universities collaborating with the colleges in Greece that are seeking to operate as franchises.
The two unions, which fear the operation of private colleges in Greece will result in the devaluation of degrees from their own institutions, are also considering taking out an injunction to stop registration at private colleges, sources said.
Meanwhile, sources at the ministry told Kathimerini that the 10 firms which had their applications to set up private colleges refused now had three options: They can start operating as private vocational colleges, which are ranked below universities, they can close down, or they can start preparing a fresh application to set up a new private college for the 2011 academic year.
The ministry’s decision to rebuff 10 colleges will also create problems for students who are already registered with them. The students will be obliged to continue their studies at the foreign university with which their particular college had been collaborating. Otherwise, they can continue studying at the same college, which will, however, be downgraded to the status of a private vocational college.
Popularity: 11% [?]
- Source: www.ekathimerini.com
29.07
2010
by GMich ·
Gas stations around the country are due to be refueled today after the government took the rare decision to order the civil mobilization of striking truck drivers, whose protest has led to widespread gasoline shortages.
Following the collapse of talks between the government and representatives of the truckers, Prime Minister George Papandreou signed the order that forces the drivers to return to work after three days of strike action. The premier’s instructions also allow the transport and finance ministers to “take any other measures necessary to protect public goods that may be at risk from the disruption to the country’s normal social and economic life.”
Although a rare measure, civil mobilization, which effectively makes the drivers members of the armed forces and therefore subject to orders, has been called on in the past by Greek governments. Truckers were forced back to work in 1983 after a lengthy strike, Olympic Airlines staff had to resume their duties after a similar order in 1987 and both PASOK and New Democracy governments used civil mobilization to end strikes by seamen during the previous decade.
There had been hopes that the striking drivers might be able to find some grounds for compromise during a meeting yesterday with Transport Ministry officials but the two sides are too far apart. The truckers are unhappy about plans to liberalize their sector, which is limited to just 35,000 people due to the fact that operating licenses have not been issued for some 25 years. The government, under pressure from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to carry out structural reforms that include opening up closed professions, has said it is not willing to back down. It has, however, indicated that it may offer the drivers some tax breaks.
“No special interest group has the right to hold Greek society hostage,” said Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou. “No one has the right to paralyze this country. No one.”
Gas station owners expect to receive fuel deliveries today and it is thought that most will be in a position to serve customers as usual by tonight.
Popularity: 13% [?]
- Source: www.ekathimerini.com
