Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-01-31

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Education minister presents higher education streamlining plan

[02] PASOK leader meets SPD leader in Berlin

[03] Natural spas in Greece receive official certification

[04] Farmers continue 'guerrilla' tactics with police at Nikaia

[05] Greek gov't says overdue debt repayment progressing smoothly

[06] Retail sales volume down 16.8 pct in Nov

[01] Education minister presents higher education streamlining plan

The new institution is to include the Agricultural University, Panteion University, the University of Piraeus and Charokopeio University, which are however to retain their independence.

"Adamantios Korais" will be run by a Board of Directors, to be formed by the current administrations of the five universities, which will continue to exist.

Similarly, a federated Institute of Technology (TEI) is also to be established and operate in Athens, as an umbrella institute to include the Athens TEI, Piraeus TEI, and the Higher School of Pedagogy and Technological Education (ASPAITE).amna

The creation of the new federated higher education institutions will see the amalgamation or absorption of 94 university and TEI departments. As a result, the list of educational departments, used by candidates for admission to tertiary education, will now contain a total of 386 departments and/or faculties, compared to 480 so far.

At the same time, the number of cities where various departments are located is being reduced to 51 from 63. The twelve cities to be deprived of TEI and/or university departments are: Ierapetra, Ag. Nikolaos (Crete), Aigio, Amaliada, Lefkada, Argostoli, Nafpaktos, Leivadia, Moudania, Veria, Edessa and Naousa.amna

[02] PASOK leader meets SPD leader in Berlin

After the meeting, Venizelos commented on Steinbrueck's position that Greece belonged in the European Union and the Eurozone, stressing the importance of this message for facilitating the country's return to borrowing from the markets and the recovery of growth in the Greek economy.amna

The foremost duty of all Europeans, he added, "was to help political stability and social cohesion in Greece," assuaging the concerns of Greek society and preventing the rise of the far-right and neo-Nazi forces.amna

[03] Natural spas in Greece receive official certification

In a previous decision the committee had recognized the natural thermal spas of "Loutraki-Pozar" in Aridea, "Souroti" and "Thermi" in Thessaloniki, "Kanistra" in Halkidiki, and "Paranesti" in Drama, all situated in northern Greece, as well as, "Kallithea" on the island of Rhodes and "Loutraki-Perahora" in Corinth, southwest Greece.amna

[04] Farmers continue 'guerrilla' tactics with police at Nikaia

"Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; Creating a diversion, they once again attempted to reach the PATHE on foot, leaving their tractors parked on the old Athens-Thessaloniki national road at the Nikaia junction. Their attempt failed, however, as a strong police force mobilised to stop them, resulting is some minor scuffles and use of teargas.amna

"Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; Meanwhile, Larissa farmers meeting at Platykambos have decided to reinforce the road block at Nikaia and have already started to head to the area on their tractors and farm machinery, having accepted the framework of demands being made by the farmers already at the roadblocks. They are expected to hold a joint meeting at which further demands will be added.

[05] Greek gov't says overdue debt repayment progressing smoothly

The Finance ministry's timetable envisages payments up to 3.5 billion euros by the end of March, 5.0 billion euros in the first half of 2013, 6.5 billion euros in the first three quarters and 8.0 billion euros by the end of year.amna

Ministry officials said that payment of 8.0 billion euros will mean the full repayment of overdue debt to the private sector, as the government will also impose a haircut of an average 3.5 pct on all state debt. The officials said that a haircut on state suppliers in the health sector could range from 2-15 pct.amna

The ministry said that overdue debt repayment was moving according to schedule.

[06] Retail sales volume down 16.8 pct in Nov

"Tahoma","sans-serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419; Hellenic Statistical Authority, in a report published on Thursday, said that the volume of sales in furniture/electrical appliances/home equipment dropped 29.1 pct in November, clothing/footwear fell 21.2 pct, pharmaceuticals/cosmetics fell 20.2 pct, fuel/lubricants were 16.6 pct lower, supermarkets fell 13.3 pct, bookstore ended 13.3 pct down, tobacco fell 6.5 pct and department stores fell 2.2 pct.amna

mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:#0F1419;mso-ansi-language:EN-US; The statistics service said that the retail sales volume index was down 8.9 pct in November 2011. The retail sales turnover index fell 16.6 pct in November, compared with the same month in 2011, after a decline of 6.4 pct recorded in November 2011.amna

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