Sergei Shoigu in Cuba to discuss coop'n in civil defence.

HAVANA, November 10 (Itar-Tass) - Sergei Shoigu, Russian Minister for
Emergencies, arrives here on Tuesday for a working visit at the head of a
delegation of the Ministry for Civil Defence, Emergencies, and Elimination
of the Aftermath of Natural Calamities.

Shoigu is to meet his Cuban counterparts to discuss the development of
bilateral cooperation in the field of civil defence.
Alexander Moiseyev, information counsellor at the Embassy of Russia to
the Republic of Cuba, has told Itar-Tass in an interview that the Russian
delegation will visit Havana within the scope of a tour of Latin American
countries. The delegation already visited Nicaragua, and after visiting
here will travel to Venezuela.
The working visit to Cuba is made at the invitation of the Cuba's
National Civil Defence Headquarters.
Russia provided an urgent humanitarian aid to Cuba that was hit by
three devastating hurricanes in 2008. According to local authorities'
estimates, the hurricanes inflicted damage on the country to the tune of
about $10,000 million. Russian Emergencies Ministry planes delivered
medicines, food, tents, and roofing iron to the island.

.Putin to chair session of State border commission Tue.

MOSCOW, November 10 (Itar-Tass) - A session of the State Border
Commission (SBC) is to be held here on Tuesday under the chairmanship of
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
It is planned to discuss current matters concerning cross-border
cooperation, the socio-economic situation in border regions, as well as
border policy with due regard for the phases of and a timeframe for the
establishment of a common customs territory of Russia, Belarus, and
Kazakhstan.
A government press service official has pointed out that the SBC is a
coordinating bogy ensuring the joint activities of Federal, regional and
municipal authorities, as well as organizations and public associations in
the pursuance of the border policy of the Russian Federation (RF).
The basic orientation for the SBC activities is to create conditions
for the formation and implementation of border policy within the scope of
foreign-political, economic, military, social, financial and other
activities of the RF.
In recent years, the press service official explained, this country
gained considerable positive experience in cross-border cooperation.
Numerous joint projects in the fields of energy, ecology, high
technologies, industry, agriculture, education, science, culture, and
sports are being implemented in border territories.
Investment projects with foreign participation are a special form of
cross-border cooperation: their implementation has a positive effect on
the socio-economic development of border territories. In the process the
RF regions, as a rule, manifest a high degree of interest in further
development of versatile cooperation with neighbouring territories,
including that on the basis of respective programmes of contiguous
countries.
At the same time, in the process of developing cross-border
cooperation, Federal and local government bodies come to encounter a
number of problems that grew aggravated in consequence of the world
financial and economic downturn, including trans-border crime, smuggling,
the trafficking of narcotics, illegal migration, poaching in coastal
waters, etc.
Those present at the SBC session are also to examine border policy
tasks with an eye to establishing a Customs Union (CU) of Russia, Belarus,
and Kazakhstan, the government press service official pointed out.

.Legendary arms designer Kalashnikov marks 90th jubilee.

IZHEVSK, November 10 (Itar-Tass) - Renowned smal arms designer Mikhail
Kalashnikov marks his 90th jubilee on Tuesday in this city, where he has
been living and working for more than half a century.
An all-Russian fair opens here on Tuesday on this occasion.
Demonstration firing from Kalashnkov-developed weapon systems will be held
within the framework of the fair. A ceremonial meeting and a gala concert
are to be held on Wednesday, November 11.
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov was born in the village of Kurya,
Altai Guberniya (region), on November 10, 1919. During the Great Patriotic
War of 1941-1945, he fought at the Bryansk front. It was precisely there
that he conceived the idea of developing small arms that would be in no
way inferior to the German ones. However, his famous AK-47 submachine-gun
was launched into production in Izhevsk only in 1949.
Subsequently, a whole familiy of automatic small arms has been
developed here. The characteristics of many of them still remain
unsurpassed up to now. Over 60 years of work, Kalashnikov advanced in his
career up to the position of chief designer of small arms at the Izhmach
Company.
Kalashnikov has the military rank of Lieutenant-General. He is twice
Hero of Socialist Labour, winner of Stalin and Lenin Prizes, and the
holder of the Order of St Andrew the First-Called.
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