Serbian food in New York

Belgrade June 28. 2010 (Serbia Today) - Products of six Serbian companies will be represented at the World Fair of food specialties "Fancy Food Show", which will be held from 27 to 29 June in New York. The event will bring together 2400 exhibitors and 80,000 visitors. Serbian companies will presented selection of cheeses, wild mushrooms, raspberries, blackberries, dried fruits, chocolate, prayer and sauces under the slogan "Serbia, naturally." Serbian companies which will exhibit products at the York Fair this year are: Biotrend donors, Areks marzipan, Frigo grand, Igda, Dairy, "Sabac" and "Sirogojno. Presentation of Serbian companies at the fair IS organized by the  U.S. Agency for International Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture of Serbia and Serbian Agency for Investment and promotion of Export.

Roma parents, children and school".

Belgrade, June, 26. 2010 (Serbia Today) - "The data show that nearly 80 percent of Roma children do not complete primary education. Education is one of the fundamental human rights and should be equally accessible for everyone," said presedent of EU delegation in Serbia Vensan Dezer. He added that Roma parents shood able their children, specialu femail, to atend school, and added that children should not be forced to work and provide money for the family. Education Minister Zarko Obradovic, said that his ministry seeks to enable reforms and make education accessible to all marginalized and vulnerable groups of population. According to the dadas of the Minister of Education, the analysis shows that the Roma children are most vunerable when it comes to incusion in the education system in Serbia."Education is the chances to provide better life conditions and reduce poverty among the Roma population," said Obradovic. Project "Education for All" started in February this year and will last till 2012.

EU helps Serbia to solve the medical waste problem

Belgrade, June 24. 2010. (Serbia Today) - Serbia has received 54 new vehicles for the transport of infectious waste, gift of the European Union. Serbia produces 48 tons of medical waste, and 20 percent of this waste is "dangerous contagious”. The new vehicle will enable Serbia to efficiently solve this problem. Head of Delegation of the European Union in Serbia, Vincent d Dezer announced that EU would continue to assist Serbia in improving environmental standards. The EU in the medical waste management project has invested six million EUR - for vehicles 600.000, and the rest to set up steam sterilizers in the medical facilities, purchase of grinder for syringes, needles and scalpels, and training personnel who will participate in this program," said Dezer. Serbian Health Minister Tomica Milosavljevic announced that vehicles for infectious transport materials will be distributed in 25 administrative centers in Serbia. Seven large vehicles will go to clinical centers in Belgrade, Nis, Novi Sad and Kragujevac, Institute of Public Health “Milan Jovanovic Batut ", Department of Public Health and General Hospitals in Leskovac and Subotica. Other, smaller vehicles, will go to the Military Medical Academy, Clinical Hospital Zemun, 20 Institute of Public Health, 13 veterinary institutes, seven general hospitals all around hospitals the and two local hospitals in Belgrade” said Milosavljevic.

Decreased number of car accidents in Serbia

Belgrade, June 23. 2010. (Serbia Today) - The number of traffic accidents in Serbia has decreased by one third compared to the same period last year, say official numbers. As Belgrade daily Vecernje novosti writes this year is also safer for pedestrians, police said. The number of traffic accidents in the first five months of this year was reduced by one third , while the figure is down 25 percent when it comes the deaths. Traffic police warn however that cyclists are more likely to be hurt or killed on the roads in the summer months. Serbian police (MUP) say that 2010 was also safer for pedestrians and that 50 people lost their lives since the beginning of the year while 1,312 sustained various injuries. Police said that the new Law on Traffic Safety, which is being implemented since December 2009, has contributed to this. After several years of disputes, dilemmas and ambiguities, new, more strict traffic regulations have reduced the death toll on the Serbian roads, where an average of 1,000 drivers and pedestrians die annually.

Serbia has the best hart surgeon

Belgrade, June 22, 2010. (Serbia Today) - Serbian Doctor Dragan Milic (44) of the Clinical Center in Nis recently was given award for the best young vascular surgeon in 2010 outside the USA by the American Association for Vascular Surgery. The USA is the leading country in the world regarding vascular surgery, writes Belgrade daily Blic. Ceremony happened In the presence of about 1,500 guests at the ‘Hynes Convention Center’ in Boston that included the biggest names of the world medicine, I am proud that my name and the name of my country were heard at giving of this award by the large number of people and the elite of the world vascular surgery. The importance of this award is difficult to describe and it is a huge recognition for my work’, Doctor Milic says. ‘Some of the big names already recorded in history of the world vascular surgery were present. One of them is Doctor and Professor Robert Rutherford. All vascular surgeons in the world are learning from his book which is our Bible. He has just promoted its latest edition for 2010. There was also Mr. Thomas Fogarty who invented catheters known as Fogarty catheters, without which a contemporary vascular surgery cannot be imagined. Other famous names present at the occasion were Frank Veith, Roger Greenhalgh, Peter Glovicki, Anton Sidawy… ‘A ceremonial reception at the ‘Public Library of Boston’ was organized by Professor Sidawy, President of the Association. That only contributed to the feeling of pride’, Doctor Milic says. He has been in America since June 9. Until so far he has visited the Harvard University where he has met with representatives of the Yale University as well. He hopes that cooperation between Serbia and the USA will expand in the future. Doctor Miljko Pejic, a vascular surgeon from Uzice has come to America together with Doctor Milic. They two participated together in the work of the reputable forum on popliteal blood vessel diseases held at the ‘Ether Dome’ in Boston known for the first anesthesiology procedure in the world being carried out there. ‘The association was formed by the famous Professor Norman Rich, a living legend of the American surgery and it was him who was leading the forum. It is simply incredible that at the meeting I was elected President of that Forum in the following two years.

Work exploitation of Roma children

Belgrade, June, 21. 2010. (Serbia Today) - Roma children in Serbia are quitting school at an early age and therefore are more susceptible to falling victim to labor exploitation. This is according to d Deputy Ombudsman for Children’s Rights Tamara Lukšić-Orlandić, who spoke in a news conference in Belgrade.“In hot and cold weather we see (Roma) children who wash car windows. Such scenes must be banished“, she insisted. Lukšić-Orlandić said, in reference to June 12, marked as World Day Against Child Labor, that it was not rare for Roma children to do hard work in order to provide for their families. The deputy ombudsman stressed that Roma children were more susceptible to labor exploitation because they were leaving school at an early age and noted that only 10 to 30 percent of Roma children who enrolled into elementary school made it to the final, eight grade. “About 22 percent out of the total population aged from 15 to 18 does not go school, while that percentage is 90 percent with Roma children“, she said. Lukšić-Orlandić also emphasized that the state should work more actively with Roma parents in order to point out to them the importance of their children's education. According to her, regulations which govern the issue of labor exploitation of children in Serbia are good and in accordance with European and global standards. The deputy ombudsman noted that it was lawful for children aged 15 and over to work, but only when it involved light labor, and not night shifts. “Serbia isn't the Middle East and there are no factories where children work“, she said, and added that Labor Inspection in Serbia had not registered examples of labor exploitation of children so far. Researcher of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights Sonja Tošković, who spoke at the same news conference, said that the problem of labor exploitation of children in Serbia was more pronounced in rural areas, and that there were indications that there was such problems in Bor, in eastern Serbia. Tošković announced that the center would begin a field research in September in order to obtain more precise information about labor exploitation of children in Serbia.

Ombudsman: New low of Electronic communication may compromise citizen’s rights

Belgrade, June 19. 2010. (Serbia Today) - Citizens Ombudsman Saša Janković has warned that if the new Law on Electronic Communication is adopted, the citizens' right to privacy may be compromised. Janković said for Radio B92 that there was previously an “agreement with security services” to gradually move toward better protection of civil rights in the country, while the draft law that is currently in parliamentary procedure represents “a step back”. “If the law were to be adopted in its current form, the door would be wide open for abuse, without courts, the guardian, that would decide when the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy of communications could be removed,” he warned. Media reported that the draft would give Serbia's Security-Information Agency (BIA) access to technical details of electronic communication without a court order – not to the actual content of that communication. But the ombudsman and the public information trustee, along with NGOs and the opposition have all voiced their objection to the law, while the ruling coalition defended it, and denied it would enable BIA to effectively wiretap anyone's conversations at will. The draft, the ruling parties say, “explicitly forbids this”. But Janković says that if the door is left open “too wide”, and if courts have no control over the process, “individuals will inevitably abuse the possibilities at their disposal”. “What does all this mean for the citizens? It's possible there won't be only listings (of electronic communications) of criminals and terrorists, but also of people's social networks, journalists' sources,” said Jaković. He noted that the “services” are already given the right to wiretap conversations “without much control” via other legislation that is in place, and that the trend was expected to go toward “better and already accepted standards”. Janković also said he feared that investigative journalism, which he said was “rare in Serbia as it is”, might face insurmountable obstacles with the new law. He went on to tell the ruling parties that “laws last a long time”. “Perhaps they need to be reminded of the fact that the rules remain the same even when the ruling circle of people changes, and that precisely what seems protective to them now, might turn into a dangerous political context for them in the future,” Janković concluded.