13 December 2000
DAILY REVIEW FROM TATARSTAN
State Council Chairman Marks Russian Constitution Day
Tatarstan's State Council chairman, Farit Mukhametshin, was the only high-ranked republican official to publicly mark Russian Constitution Day, which is celebrated on 12 December. In his greeting message he emphasized the importance of the constitution adopted in 1993 for laying the basis to the democratic, federal state in Russia. He also wished Tatarstan's citizens success in their further path towards forming a free, truly democratic society.
Russian Duma Deputy From Tatarstan On Russian Basic Law
RFE/RL's Kazan Bureau quoted a statement by a Russian Duma deputy representing Tatarstan, Flura Ziyatdinova, on 12 December as saying that the present federal constitution "played its positive role in forming the new democratic state 7 years ago but it doesn't correspond to the contemporary requirements. The process of bringing the regional legislation in conformity with federal laws makes our lives more difficult.
State Duma Commission Pledges Vast Investments In Tatarstan
A group of State Duma deputies visited Kazan to present the parliamentary Commission on Investments, Tatarstan's media reported on 13 December. The newly formed Commission, chaired by Vladimir Samoylov, told the reporters that the "new era in Russian investment policy was coming, because of the centralized approach in solving the proper problems." Deputy chairman Vladislav Putin, who reportedly is a cousin of the Russian president, told the news conference of the main projects to be implemented in Tatarstan, including the construction of an insulin factory, an anti-cancer vaccine laboratory, and a super computers producing plant. The general-director of the Elemte Investment Company, Zakiya Shafikova, chairman of the republican Trade-Industrial Chamber and a number of well-know local businessmen will represent Tatarstan in the commission.
First Tatar Word Processor Licensed By Rospatent
The Russian Rospatent licensing agency issued a first patent for the computer word processor software with the spell check option for Tatar texts, RFE/RL reported on 12 December. This software was produced by the team of computer specialists from Kazan Technical University named after Tupolev. The new encoding used by the word processor will reportedly allow easy transition from the currently used Cyrillic-based Tatar alphabet to Latin Tatar alphabet, which is to be introduced in Tatarstan over the next 10 years.
By Iskender Nurmi