Starting a Business Made Easy!

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• Starting a Business Made Easy!
• Benefactor Honoured in Cairo
• New Political Party Launched
• Greece’s Demographic Data
• Revisiting the Greek Character of Cappadocian Dialect
• Ancient Musical Instruments in Melbourne
• Mobile Films Festival Award

Starting a Business Made Easy! Posted: 05 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT As of April 4, starting a business in Greece is getting simpler due to the introduction of a one-stop shop service aimed at slashing red-tape. Through a wide network of contact points, including 59 chambers of commerce and 3,200 notary offices, a new firm can be established in a "single procedure that lasts about one hour," the Ministry for Regional Development and Competitiveness said in a statement. The only prerequisite is that the person opening the company should not have any outstanding dues with the tax office or social security funds. Apart from helping prospective entrepreneurs save time and money, the new faster procedures would help fight corruption due to the elimination of complicated procedures, the ministry added.

Benefactor Honoured in Cairo Posted: 05 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT Deputy Interior Minister and Government Spokesman George Petalotis attended a ceremony held in Cairo to honour Nestoras Tsanaklis, one of the most important benefactors of the Greek community in Egypt. The ceremony took place at Tsanaklis' grave at the Greek Cemetery of Saint George in old Cairo on April 3. Nestoras Tsanaklis was the second president of the Greek Community in Cairo. He gave a considerable part of his fortune for the construction of St. Constantine of Cairo, the oldest and biggest Greek Orthodox church in the Egyptian capital. He also founded the Tsanakleios School in Komotini (photo), his native city, the building of which houses today the Rectorate of the Demokritos University of Thrace. While in Cairo, Petalotis represented the government in the celebrations for Greek Independence Day.

New Political Party Launched Posted: 05 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT Veteran leftist politician Fotis Kouvelis was formally elected president of the new Democratic Left party with a sweeping majority at the close of the party's four-day inaugural congress (March 31-April 3). Kouvelis, who ran uncontested, was elected with 97.31% of the vote after receiving 652 votes out of 670 delegates.

Greece’s Demographic Data Posted: 05 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT The third Demography Report was published jointly by Eurostat, and the Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, on April 1. According to the latest data, the life expectancy of Greeks is slightly above the European average (82.7 years for women compared to an EU average of 82.4, while for men the average is the same as in the EU, 77.8 years). Also, in 2010 foreigners in Greece represented 8.4% of the country's total population (about 954,800). Seven percent of foreigners come from third countries while 1.4% from EU member-states. Eurostat: Latest figures on the demographic challenges in the EU

Revisiting the Greek Character of Cappadocian Dialect Posted: 05 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT The British School at Athens hosted on April 4 an Upper House Seminar titled Revisiting the (somewhat different but nevertheless) Greek Character of the Dialect of Cappadocia. The speaker of the event was Petros Karatsareas, researcher from Cambridge University, Department of Linguistics. Cappadocian Greek is a Modern Greek dialect that was spoken in the Cappadocian plateau of inner Asia Minor by a number of Greek Orthodox communities until 1924. According to Karatsareas, Cappadocian Greek is an extreme case of language change and dialectal variation among the Modern Greek dialects that should not be viewed exclusively as the result of language contact with Turkish. The findings of Karatsareas' study may open a fresh round of scientific discussion on the true character of the Cappadocian dialect, which, while differing from more familiar Modern Greek dialects in many senses, is nevertheless, in reality, Greek.

Ancient Musical Instruments in Melbourne Posted: 05 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT A collection of 42 ancient Greek musical instruments will be hosted in the Hellenic Museum of Melbourne, starting on April 4. The instruments to be displayed belong to the collection of the Ancient Greek Musical Instruments Museum in Katakolo and are accompanied by detailed descriptions and diagrams. They are the product of extensive research based on ancient Greek literature and vase paintings. Exhibits include the monochord, the helikon and the syntonon of Pythagoras – on which the ancient philosopher studied the musical scales and the mathematical relations that define them, – the triangular harp, the pandoura, the Homeric phorminx, the Dionysian barbitos, the Ptolemaic helicon. The exhibition is held under the auspices of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture.

Mobile Films Festival Award Posted: 05 Apr 2011 03:32 AM PDT The Hong Kong International Mobile Film Festival – already in its second year – is a global event bringing together the best from the relatively new field of mobile film development. Nine local festivals from around the world nominate the best 100 mobile films globally to participate in this international competition. The Greek mobile film festival Shoot It was represented in this year's event by the film Thumbnail by George Kouvaras. The film was shot in 123 days and 75 different locations; it features only one hero and conveys the message that any event in life can be a source of inspiration. It was shortlisted in the 10 best films of the international festival and received the Best Drama Gold Award.

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