Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 15-01-02

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

CONTENTS

[01] ASE marks the beginning of 2015 with special ceremony

[02] Quadrantids, the first meteor shower of 2015

[01] ASE marks the beginning of 2015 with special ceremony

Addressing a special ceremony held in the Athens Stock Exchange to mark the beginning of 2015 in the market, Hardouvelis expressed his optimism that the Greek stock market would rebound in 2015 if a reform policy and a fiscal restructuring would continue and the Greek economy strengthened further.

Referring to the country's prospects in the Eurozone, the Greek minister stressed that no one can remain in the Eurozone unless it fulfilled its obligations and noted that "voices saying that the country will not pay lead to a loss of credibility".

Hardouvelis underlined that the country was not solely depended from its partner-creditors but from a liquidity point of view it was significantly depended from the European Central Bank as the domestic banking system was borrowing around 40 billion euros from ECB's liquidity mechanisms.

The Greek Finance minister said his goal was to grant full independence to the country's Capital Market Commission and improving an existing tax framework for investments.

Addressing the event, George Zanias, president of Hellenic Bank Association, said that Greek banks have begun an effort to boost the Greek economy through financing, which has currently frozen due to political developments, and he expressed his wish that an effort to boost liquidity in the market could resume soon.

Iacovos Georganas, president Hellenic Exchanges Group, acknowledged that a snap election process was putting under revision forecasts for economic growth and expressed his hope that the cost from the snap election would be manageable.

Konstantinos Botopoulos, president of the Greek Capital Market Commission, said that the dynamism of the economy was so strong that it would create new opportunties.

Finally, Theodore Fessas, president of the Federation of Hellenic Enterprises, said that Greece must be transformed into a production country and noted that the country must no lose its European orientation.

Referring to the country's prospects in the Eurozone, the Greek minister stressed that no one can remain in the Eurozone unless it fulfilled its obligations and noted that "voices saying that the country will not pay lead to a loss of credibility".

Hardouvelis underlined that the country was not solely depended from its partner-creditors but from a liquidity point of view it was significantly depended from the European Central Bank as the domestic banking system was borrowing around 40 billion euros from ECB's liquidity mechanisms.

The Greek Finance minister said his goal was to grant full independence to the country's Capital Market Commission and improving an existing tax framework for investments.

Addressing the event, George Zanias, president of Hellenic Bank Association, said that Greek banks have begun an effort to boost the Greek economy through financing, which has currently frozen due to political developments, and he expressed his wish that an effort to boost liquidity in the market could resume soon.

Iacovos Georganas, president Hellenic Exchanges Group, acknowledged that a snap election process was putting under revision forecasts for economic growth and expressed his hope that the cost from the snap election would be manageable.

Konstantinos Botopoulos, president of the Greek Capital Market Commission, said that the dynamism of the economy was so strong that it would create new opportunties.

Finally, Theodore Fessas, president of the Federation of Hellenic Enterprises, said that Greece must be transformed into a production country and noted that the country must no lose its European orientation.

[02] Quadrantids, the first meteor shower of 2015

According to scientists, the Quadrantid meteors probably originate from the asteroid 2003 EH1. Most meteor showers get their name based on the constellations from which they appear to streak. When we look at the so-called radiants, we are looking down the paths of the meteors that strike Earth's atmosphere.

Because of the location of the radiant, only northern hemisphere skywatchers will be able to see the Quadrantids.

The Quadrantids were named after the constellation of Quadrans Muralis, the wall quadrant, which was created by the French astronomer Jerome Lalande in 1795. Quadrans represents an early astronomical instrument that was used to observe and plot stars.

Interestingly, the constellation is no longer recognized by the astronomical community, but was around long enough to give the meteor shower its name, which lives on with the January meteor shower.

The Quadrantids can be quite impressive with a Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) of up to 120 meteors per hour at their peak (under perfect conditions) entering Earth's atmosphere at a blistering speed of nearly 42 kilometers per second. The peak is quite narrow lasting only a few hours, with activity either side of the peak sometimes being weak, but well worth observing.

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