An insurance company has provided an insurance policy to cover Persian Leopard in coordination with Department of Environment.

Ali Teimouri, Director-General of Department of Environment’s Protection and Hunting and Fishing Management Office told reporters on Wednesday that Persian Leopard (panthera pardus ciscaucasica or panthera pardus saxicolor) had been covered by an insurance scheme provided by a Mellat Bank-affiliated insurance company, Bimeh-e-Ma.

“The decision is part of attempts to improve the conditions for endangered species and as an action of priority in national protection scheme of Persian Leopard; the insurance policy is the product of months of hectic work of examination of different insurance schemes which was finalized later today (Wednesday),” he told reporters.

“The articles of the policy included damage sustained by the livestock in leopard’s habitat (sheep, goat, horse, mole and donkey, camel, and shepherd’s dog) or damage on human by possible leopard attack; it also covers damage sustained by road accidents with leopard, poisonous food leopard eats, drought, flooding, wildfire, and other cases (other than age-related death),” he detailed. “A unique feature of insurance policy is that it covers two species of wildlife (leopards and wolf) in the policy which will drastically effect the payment of damage amounted.”

“This is a highly laudable action which the insurance company has voluntarily been involved in; the responsibility still lies with the general public to initiate proper actions of other sort to protect country’s natural national resources,” he asserted. / Meher news /

More than 43,600 tons of tomatoes worth 355 billion rials (over $9.5 million) were exported in the first month of the current Iranian year (started March 21), figures released by the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration show.

The main export destinations for Iranian tomatoes over the period were Afghanistan, Iraq, the UAE, Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Young Journalists Club reported.

/ Financial tribune /

Iranian short film “Animal” co-directed by Bahram and Bahman Ark won the second prize of the 20th Cinéfondation Selection at the 70th Cannes Film Festival, the organizers announced on Saturday.

The film tells the story of a man who attempts to cross a frontier disguised as a ram.

“Paul Is Here” by Valentina Maurel from Belgium won the first prize, while “Two Youths Died” by Tommaso Usberti from France received the third prize.

Winning films will be screened at the Cinema du Pantheon in Paris on Tuesday.

In addition, all the films in the Cinéfondation Selection will be shown at the Cinematheque Francaise on Wednesday and Thursday.

A parallel section to the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival, the Cinéfondation selects fifteen to twenty short and medium-length films presented by film school students from all over the world each year. / Tehran times /

An international seminar on the influence of Persian language and literature on Kazi Nazrul Islam was held at RC Majumder Arts Auditorium, University of Dhaka (DU) on Wednesday.

Abu Rayhan Biruni Foundation (ARBF), Dhaka organized the seminar commemorating the 118th birth anniversary of Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh.

The seminar titled ‘The First International Seminar on the Influence of Persian Language and Literature on Kazi Nazrul Islam: Special Reference to Hakim Umar Khayyam’ was followed by a colourful cultural session, including singing songs and ghazals of Nazrul and recitation from his poems.

Iranian Ambassador in Dhaka Dr. Abbas Vaezi Dehnavi was present at the seminar as chief guest while Professor Abul Kasem Fazlul Haq of the Department of Bengali and Professor Dr. Kulsoom Abul Bashar Mazumdar of the Department of Persian Language and Literature at DU were present as special guests.

Professor Shamim Banu, Institute of Modern Languages, DU; Dr. Abu Musa Mohammad Arif Billah, Department of Persian Language and Literature, DU and Professor Ahmed Kabir, Department of Bengali, DU presented keynote speeches on the topic while Mohammad Ahsanul Hadi, Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, DU delivered the summary of three papers sent by Iranian professors.

Sayeed Ahmed Anis, son of Munir Uddin Yusuf, the translator of the Shahnamah of Firdausi; Shanaz Arfeen, writer and a researcher of Persian Literature; A M M Farhad, AMD of Social Islami Bank Limited, also vice-chair, ARBF, and a writer, and Asad Chowdhury, a major poet of Bangladesh, also took part in the discussion.

The seminar was presided over by Dr. Abu Musa Mohammad Arif Billah, chairman of ARBF.

The restoration of historical sites and buildings in other countries whose history is linked to Iran had been suspended for long due to a lack of funds

A budget of 90 billion rials ($2.4 million) has been earmarked in the current fiscal year (started March 21) for the restoration of historical sites abroad with ties to Iran, such as Armenia and Tanzania, announced a top official at Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization.

“A fund for [restoration of sites abroad] has been made available for the first time save for last year’s budget to restore Imam Khomeini’s house in Najaf, Iraq,” said Mohammad Hassan Talebian, cultural heritage deputy at the ICHHTO, IRNA reported.

Restoration of historical sites and buildings in other countries whose history is linked with Iran had been suspended for long due to a lack of funds.

Iran had signed numerous memoranda of understanding with countries hosting historical Iranian structures, which would allow the organization to commission their restoration using Iranian experts. But the ICHHTO was unable to kick-start the projects for the governments did not finance the schemes.

The restoration of Blue Mosque in Armenia, for instance, was stuck in the feasibility assessment phase.  Located in the Armenian capital Yerevan, the Blue Mosque dates back to the 18th century. It seems, however, that Iran has scraped $2.4 million out of its own coffers to restore Iranian heritage sites in other countries.

There are a number of Iran-linked sites spread across the world. Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi, India, is the first Persian Garden in the Indian subcontinent. The tomb was designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyas, a Persian architect.

Kizimkazi Mosque situated on the southern tip of the island of Zanzibar in Tanzania was built in 1107 by settlers from Shiraz.  Kidichi Persian Baths in Zanzibar were constructed by Sultan Seyyed Saeid in 1850 for his Persian wife. The Hamamni Persian Baths are also historical buildings in Zanzibar built between 1870 and 1888. They are referred to as “Persian” because they were built by Shirazi architects.

There are also Persian baths in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Taq Kasra, located near the modern town of Salman Pak, Iraq, is the remains of a Sassanid-era monument, which is sometimes called the Archway of Ctesiphon. It is the only visible remaining structure of the ancient city of Ctesiphon.

Iraq also houses the burial place of Amir Kabir, the wise prime minister who served Qajar ruler Nassereddin Shah from 1848 until his death in 1852. He has been buried in the courtyard of Imam Hussein’s (PBUH) Shrine in Karbala. / Financial Tribune /

Six women have been elected to Tehran’s 5th city council election, registering a record high out of the total 21 members.

The number of female councilors has been doubled in the 5th council elections compared with the previous rounds, in which women’s number was not more than three, Khabaronline reported here on Sunday.

For the first time in Iran’s history six women joined the city council of Tehran in a situation that the total number of members of the council has decreased from 31 in the 4th council to 21 in the 5th.

Shahrbanoo Amani Anganeh, Bahareh Arvin, Zahra Sadrazam Nouri, Nahid Khodakarami, Zahra Nejadbahram and Elham Fakhari gained the 4th, 5th, 11th, 16th, 17th and 19th rankings in the elections, respectively.

Women made up one tenth of the members of the 4th council, while currently they make up about one third of the members.

A number of 10,416 people, including 1,337 women and 9,079 men, had registered for city council election in Tehran province, IRNA quoted the deputy governor of Tehran province for political and social affairs, Shahabeddin Chavoshi, as saying.

According to statists released by the Interior Ministry, a number of 17,885 women, equaling 6.3 percent of the total candidates, have put their names down for the polls all around the country.

The 5th city council election was held simultaneously with the 12th presidential election on May 19.

/ Tehran times /

Archeologists in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan have discovered an ancient cemetery in Dombkouh archeological site.

According to a report available on the website of the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, the cemetery, whose graves are scattered across the 430-hectare site, is home to over 5,000 stone graves. Some contain remains belonging to two and three people.

Found in uncommon shapes (cube, square, circle), the gravestones are categorized in nine groups based on their forms.

What has researchers excited is that “a number of graves date back to the third millennium BC, while the ruins are linked to the Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD)”, said Morteza Hessari, an archeologist with the research team. / Financial tribune /