Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-11-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Bill on ANA, MPA merger tabled in Parliament

[02] Greece elected IMO council member for 2006-2007

[01] Bill on ANA, MPA merger tabled in Parliament

The new company will be under the supervision of the minister who has the responsibility for the press and mass media.

Its share capital will belong to the state. The state will be represented by the supervising minister and the finance and economy minister. A representative of the supervising minister and a representative of the finance and economy minister will take part in the general assembly and they will be appointed by decision of the relevant minister.

Staff of all types and categories currently working for the Athens News Agency and the Macedonian Press Agency, and with any legal status, will be transferred to the new company with the same status.

The new company will become the absolute successor of the two merging press agencies and will acquire all its rights and obligations. Pending trials of the two agencies will continue in the name of the new company.

Media bill tabled in Parliament

The bill drafted by Minister of State Theodoros Roussopoulos regarding TV and radio broadcasting was tabled in Parliament on Monday evening.

The bill, which concerns the creation of a National Audiovisual Archive and issues related to the General Secretariats for Communication and Information calls for the following:

An extension on the operating licenses of Attica radio stations until June 30, 2006 (instead of November 30, 2005);

announcements for the issuing of television and radio permits will be made by June 30, 2006;

appointed advisors and the General Managers of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corp. (ERT) will serve a two-year term;

the National Audiovisual Archive that is being set up will serve as a national archive under the jurisdiction of the Minister of the Press and Mass Media;

the General Secretariat for Communication will turn over all its audiovisual material to the Archive;

ERT has the option of turning over its audiovisual material to the archive for safekeeping for a price to be agreed between the two entities.

[02] Greece elected IMO council member for 2006-2007

Member states elected to category A are those with the largest interest in providing shipping services. Other countries elected to this category included China, Italy, Panama, the UK and the US.

Another 10 states comprise category B are those which have the largest interest in international seaborne trade.

Twenty states, not elected under the above two categories but which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation, and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world comprise category C.

"The Council is the executive organ of IMO and is responsible, under the Assembly, for supervising the work of the Organization and co-ordinating the work of the Committees," an IMO statement said.

The 24th session of the IMO Assembly, which began on November 21, is being held at its London headquarters.

According to the Merchant Marine Ministry, reports submitted by the navigation safety, marine environment protection and legal and technical cooperation committees were reviewed during the first week of the session.

The Greek delegation raised the following issues for which relevant resolutions were adopted: Combatting piracy and armed robbery on ships sailing near Somalia; completion of the IMO Model Audit Scheme; formulation of a strategic plan for the period 2006-2011 and defining actions and priorities for the 2006-2007 period; classifying sea regions as particularly sensitive and adopting extra protective measures.

The Assembly concludes its 24th session on December 2.

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