T he folk music ensemble ‘Dilmun,’ led by musician, singer, theater director and actor Mahmoud Farzinejad, 39, will hold a concert in Rasht, capital of the northern Gilan Province.

Dilmun will perform ethnic music pieces from Gilan on August 30 at 6 and 9 pm  according to Haftsaz (haftsaz.com) a website on cultural programs that sells the tickets.

Ansari auditorium of Khatam-ol-Anbia cultural complex will host the concerts. It is located on Sa’di Street, near Shahrdari Square.

The pieces to be covered are arranged by composer and player of setar and tonbak, Arash Eshqi, 38. Fazinejad will sing.

Other members of the ensemble include Saber Gholamipour on tonbak, Sobhan Sarabi on setar, percussionists Navid Lahiji and Houman Eshqi, Ali At’hari on dayereh, Reza Fakouri on kamancheh and Samira Vahed playing naqareh drum. / Financial tribune /

I ran’s maritime businesses are to receive loans worth 2 trillion rials ($52.5 million) during the current fiscal year (ending March 20, 2018), the head of the Fund for Development of Marine Industries announced. “Up until now, 1.2 trillion rials ($31.5 million) have been allocated to marine Industries,” Mehrdad Mozaffari was also quoted as saying by IRNA. Interest on the loans is between 10-12%, but knowledge-based firms could anticipate a single-digit interest rate. The official also unveiled two agreements with China National Machinery Industry Corporation and a Singaporean company.”The Singaporean firm is ready to finance projects valued at €400 million ($477 million),” he said, without naming the company. Mozaffari elaborated on another agreement and said the Chinese Company would finance 85% of the cost of viable projects specified by Iran. / Financial tribune /

Four Iranian films were honored during the closing ceremony of the 2nd Kargil International Film Festival in the Indian city on August 23.

Yusef Jafari received the award for best director for his documentary “Chocolate Story”, while Milad Jarmuz was picked as best director for his short film “Numbness”.

“Light Sight” directed by Seyyed Moslem Tabatabai was selected as best animation and Marzieh Kheirkhah received the award for best director for her animation, “In the Crosshairs”.

Movies from other countries also received awards at the event.

The award for best documentary went to “Moonlight Princess” by Elke Margarete Lehrenkrauss from Israel, while “17 Years Together” by Javier Fesser from Spain was crowned best short film.

/ Tehran times /

An official at Ministry of Agriculture said Iran produces over 830 thousand tons of red meat every year.

Head of the Agriculture Ministry’s Animal Breeding Center Mohammad Reza Mollasalehi, while pointing to annual production of 830 thousand tons of red meat in the country, said 53% of the overall amount pertained beef while 47% belonged to lamb and goat meat.

The official noted that volume of buffalo and camel meat production in Iran was inconsiderable stating “the large portion of meat production comes from indigenous and industrial cattle.”

“currently, nearly 90% of the country’s demand for red meat is being supplied domestically with only 10 percent of the product coming from overseas,” continued the official adding “2.5 million tons of raw milk is produced annually in the country, of which 94 per cent is for cattle.”

Mollasalehi said cow population in the country was estimated at eight million noting that main priority was to produce milk with meat production landing second.

Referring to the estimation of producing 11.5 million tons of raw milk in the country within the Sixth Development Plan, he said “to this end, dairy cow units and raising per capita of milk production seem to be highly necessary.”

Mohammad Reza Mollasalehi also underscored that the overall figure for annual red meat production needs to climb from the current 830 thousand to one million tons.

/ Meher news /

Young Iranian volleyball players managed to stage a straight-set win against South Korean rivals to secure a spot in final showdown of 2017 FIVB Volleyball Boy’s U19 World Championship in Bahrain.

Held in Isa City Sports Hall of Bahrain on Sunday, the semifinal debut saw Iranians offering eye-catching athletic performances and pulling out a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) win over South Korean rivals.

The stunning victory over South Korea marked the seventh win in a row for undefeated Persians.

Volleyball outfit of Iran had previously thrashed Italy (3-2), Mexico (3-0), China (3-0) and the Czech Republic (3-0) in the preliminary round. Iranians also quelled Turkish and Brazilian rivals in straight sets in the playoff stage of the tournament.

In the encounter against South Korean, Mohammad Vakili, Iran’s coach, had invoked Mahdi Jelveh, Amirhossein Toukhteh, Amirmohammad Falahatkhah, Morteza Sharifi, Amirhossein Esfandiar, Pouria Yali as well as Mohammadreza Hazratpour.

Meanwhile, Russia breezed past Japan in the other semifinal encounter to set up a date with Iran in the finals to be staged today.

The tournament is being hosted by Bahrain in the cities of Riffa and Isa Town from 18 to 27 August 2017. A total of 20 teams are competing in the tournament. / Meher news /

W ith an annual production of close to 3.2 million tons of grapes, Iran ranks the world’s eighth biggest producer of the fruit, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Ali Tahmasebi said.

“Italy, France and the US are the biggest cultivators of grapes in the world,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.

The official noted that there are 294,000 hectares of vineyards in the country, 92% of which bear fruit and that 70% of the land under grape cultivation are irrigated and the rest is rain-fed.

The provinces of Kurdistan, Qazvin, North Khorasan as well as East and West Azerbaijan are the main producers of grapes in Iran. / Financial tribune /

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) is organizing the Celebration of Iranian Cinema, which opened today.

A lineup of five movies, including “Daughter” by Reza Mirkarimi, “Life+1 Day” by Saeid Rustai and “Breath” by Narges Abyar, has been selected to be screened at the three-day celebration.

The acclaimed documentary films “Starless Dreams” by Mehrdad Oskui and “Hey, Humans” by Rakhshan Bani-Etamed will also be reviewed.

The event is organized by the Farhang Foundation, an institute in Southern California that promotes Iranian art, culture and history. / Tehran times /