Rogozhkin: There are up to 800 militants in the North Caucasus
http://rian.ru/defense_safety/20110113/321034936.html
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13/01/2011 12:05
MOSCOW, January 13 - RIA Novosti. Up to 800 rebels currently in force in the North Caucasus, told reporters on Thursday, the commander of MVD of Russia Nikolai Rogozhkin.
"In the Caucasus there are 500 to 800 militants. However, to calculate the exact number of problematic" - said Rogozhkin.
He noted that some large-scale actions by armed gangs in the Caucasus in the near future should not be expected.
Medvedev to hold anti-corruption council meeting
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20110113/162123203.html
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will on Thursday hold a meeting of the presidential Anti-Corruption Council.
The Berlin-based non-governmental anti-corruption organization Transparency International has persistently rated Russia one of the most corrupt nations in the world. In the 2010 Corruption Perception Index, Russia was ranked 154th of 178, below countries like Kenya, Laos and Papua New Guinea.
Medvedev, who announced the fight against corruption as a priority for him on the post of the country's leader, admitted in 2010 that the anti-corruption drive had so far yielded few practical results.
In July 2010, Medvedev signed five laws on the work of Russia's police but said new legislation was still needed as part of ongoing reforms aimed, in particular, at eradicating corruption in law enforcement bodies, whose conduct has become a great concern after a number of high-profile police scandals.
Konstantin Chuichenko, head of the presidential financial oversight administration, said in late 2010 that corruption costs Russia the equivalent of 2.9% of its GDP every year, with kickbacks in state procurement programs alone accounting for 1 trillion rubles ($33 billion).
MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti)
Medvedev to sum up anti-corruption measures of 2010
http://rt.com/politics/medvedev-corruption-meeting-council/print/
Published: 13 January, 2011, 09:47
Edited: 13 January, 2011, 10:33
President Dmitry Medvedev is to hold a meeting of the Anti-Corruption Council. Fighting corruption has been the cornerstone of Medvedev’s domestic policies since coming into office in May 2008.
The first for this year, the meeting will take place for the fourth time since its creation in 2008.
Ahead of the meeting on Tuesday, Dmitry Medvedev spoke to the head of Russia’s Audit Chamber, Sergey Stepashin, who reported that in 2010 they revealed violations worth more than half a trillion rubles, as well as financial irregularities amounting at 580 billion rubles.
According to the Interior Ministry, around 350,000 corruption crimes were exposed and more than 11,000 criminal cases were launched in 2010.
Fighting corruption has been one of Medvedev’s main priorities from the very beginning of his term. Almost three years after assuming the top job, he now says that the legal framework in the field, virtually inexistent before, has been established.
The year 2008 saw the adoption of the federal law On Fighting Corruption. In April last year, President Medvedev signed a decree concerning the national anti-corruption strategy and national anti-corruption plan for 2010-2011. Russia also joined the UN Convention against Corruption and the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption.
The Council aims to develop a common policy in fighting corruption. The body, chaired by the president, is made up of 24 people, including heads of the Constitutional and Supreme Arbitration Courts, the Prosecutor General, the Justice and Interior Ministers, heads of the Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service, as well as the chief of the presidential administration. In April last year they were joined by members of the Public Chamber.
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Polish minister blasts Russian air traffic controllers over Kaczynski plane crash
http://en.rian.ru/world/20110113/162122846.html
05:51 13/01/2011
Russian air traffic controllers should have banned any landing attempt by the crashed Polish presidential plane crew, Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller said.
Then Polish president Lech Kaczynski and dozens of other top dignitaries were killed when their plane crashed in thick fog near the western Russian city of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. The delegation was on its way to a commemoration ceremony of the 1940 Katyn massacre, in which more than 20,000 Polish officers were executed by Soviet secret police.
"Air traffic controllers' reaction to an attempt of landing should have been unambiguous," Miller said.
But an expert familiar with the investigation said air traffic controllers are not entitled to prohibit landing in such conditions.
Russian investigators said in a new report on the crash released Wednesday that pilot error was the main cause of the tragedy.
Other errors included a dangerous drop in altitude despite poor visibility, a lack of correct reactions from the pilot despite warnings issued by the automatic Terrain Awareness and Warning System, descending at a speed double the safe rate, and the crew's insufficient command of Russian.
Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) head Tatyana Anodina also said a strong contributory factor to the crash was the presence of the Polish Air Force chief in the cockpit, which had a "psychological impact" on the crew.
The first MAK report was presented to the Polish authorities on October 20, and blamed pilot error for the Tu-154's crash in heavy fog, but in mid-December Poland sent it back to Moscow with 150 comments and queries. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that parts of the report were unacceptable."
Polish experts said they were dissatisfied with the documents provided by Russia. Most of the complaints concerned a lack of technical details about the Severny airport in Smolensk at which the plane was due to land.
The late Polish president's twin brother and opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski criticized on Wednesday the Russian investigation of the plane crash.
However, Russian investigators claim in the report that their cooperation with Polish counterparts during the probe was very close and transparent. At least 24 Polish officials took part in the Russian investigation.
Russian investigators need to study a range of official documents and probes to make a further report on the crash, Russian official investigations spokesman, Vladimir Markin, said adding that Poland has not yet transferred any information to the Investigation Committee on phone calls made by the passengers of the ill-fated airliner prior to its attempted landing.
Tusk on Wednesday urgently returned from vacation for the announcement of the results of the MAK investigation, Polish media said.
WARSAW/MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti)
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