Antenna: News in English (AM), 97-04-12

Antenna Radio News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

News in English, 12/04/97

TITLES

• Greek prime minister talks about the social dialogue
• Sheeps may be able to make ...cow milk!
• And, an impressive art exhibit on..."the City" held in Athens.

SIMITIS

The Pasok government intends to start talks with workers, trade unionists and pensioners on several matters, from bonuses, to overtime and pension age.

The social dialogue the Pasok government will start in the next few weeks, will be focused on nineteen specific points, concerning the state-fund insurance system, the employment, the labour relations and the country's economic development.

That was specified by the prime minister in the session of the common party- and-government committee.

The government will announce its positions to the social groups by Monday.

The government has come under fire from many social groups for its belt- tihtening economic policies, that's why it has decided to proceed to a social dialogue on a number of issues, from bonuses, to overtime and pension age. Several pensioners organizations will hold one-day rallies in major cities all over the country on April 17th over the government's policy on pensions.

Prime minister Kostas Simitis considers this dialogue as highly important for the promotion of the government's policy. He made clear though that no social group should start this dialogue having taken for granted its vested rights. "There is a certain point of view which denies reality", he said, adding, "This point of view is based on what exists, claiming that what is considered as vested right should be preserved. But all vested rights cannot be preserved, since they suffer changes by reality's conditions".

On Friday, the government's cabinet held a session to discuss the absorption of the EU funds and the establishment of a new way of state- supplying. Before the cabinet's meeting, several ministers talked to reporters about the social dialogue. Justice minister Evangelos Venizelos said, "No rights of the country's workers will be affected".

And deputy Labour minister Christos ProtOpapas added, "Our aim is to find commonly accepted solutions so that we bring positive changes in the fields of development and employment".

ND

Referring to the social dialogue the government intends to start, Karamanlis said that his own party is particularly interested in the dialogue and accused the Pasok government for unnecessarily state-spending economic policy.

"The country's economy needs immediate measures which will bring changes that should not affect the low-income workers nor the pensioners", Karamanlis added.

Talking about the greek-turkish relations, the new leader of New Democracy called the government to clarify its positions over a dialogue with Turkey. "New Democracy is not opposed to a dialogue as long as Turkey respects international law and international agreements", Karamanlis said.

ALBANIA

The multinational force will secure the western port of Durres, the port of Avlona and Tirane's airport for aid deliveries to the impoverished population.

Ships from other European nations participating in the force also started their voyages to Albania on Friday. Italy will provide the largest number of troops, more than 2 thousand, France is sending one thousand, Greece and Turkey 7 hundred each, Romania four hundred, Austria and Denmark about one hundred each.

The Greek troops will set off for Albania next Tuesday.

MILK

In the northern city of Yiannitsa, scientists of the Cattle-Breeding Institute started an interesting experiment, where 28 sheeps' foetuses were injected with special cow genes, which produce a specific substance, the caseine.

Twenty-eight lambs were born in January, and in the next three months, after special DNA tests, scientists could tell whether the experiment was succesful or not and how many sheeps will be able to make milk containing certain ingredients of the cow milk.

The Institute researchers explain that the experiment aims to improve the milk production conditions and the milk products themselves.

A question still remains though : WHERE could stop the limits of researchers ?

TENNIS

Greek tennis veterans aged from 37 to ...83 years had a lot to remember at Kifissia's sports club courts. This year's Panhellenic Tennis Veterans Championships brought four hundred tennis players together, among whom Panathinaikos coach Velimir Zaets.

They surely proved that they haven't forgotten the art of the sport. After having grabbed their old tennis rackets, they offered the sports lovers who had the chance to watch the championships, a wonderful tennis show for two weeks.

Kifissia's sports club president Dimitris KourtAkis explains, "We wanted to get more people, and especially the youth, to the courts so that they discover the magic of athletism".

ART EXHIBIT

The city, and especially the modern city was the main theme of an original art exhibit held in the Greek-American Union downtown Athens.

Sixteen painters from Greece and the United States presented their work inspired by everyday's life in the modern city, a city with a similar image all over the world.

Humour, criticism or romantism were the means with which the participants to the exhibit tried to express their own representation of the City of this century, with its everyday's problems, with its smog, its traffic jam, its communicational suffocation, its television networks.

In the 19th century, art makers faced our planet as a huge challenge, an awe-inspiring spectacle.

Today, in the 20th century, artists are competing with their cities, as for them, the universe has been identified with their cities.

At the work of Maclewan's entitled "Global Village", the cities are desperately identical.

From New York to Dakar, from Turine to Nairobi, the cities present in general the same characteristics. And art HAS to take position on these characteristics.

© ANT1 Radio 1997

Antenna Radio News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article