Russians becoming less keen on books

MOSCOW, June 27 (Itar-Tass)- Is reading still a national hobby in
Russia? Known as the world's most reading nation in the past, modern
Russia shows much less interest in books. Over the past 13 years the
number of Russians who hardly take a book in their hands has increased
from 20 percent in 1996 to 35 percent in 2009, according to a survey
carried out by the All-Russian public opinion centre (VTSIOM).
Forty-two percent of the respondents said they read books
occasionally compared to 49 percent in 1996. It's only one in five
respondents (22 percent) who read books every day.
Newspapers seem to be much more popular with the Russians. More
than a third of the respondents (36%) said that they read them daily, 43%
replied they did that quite often and 21 percent said they never read
newspapers. Nineteen percent of the polled said that they read magazines
every day, 45 percent from time to time and 35 percent said they don't
read magazine at all.
The home library of an average Russian has up 100 books (44%).
Every fifth respondent (21%) has from 100 to 300 books, nine percent from
300 to 500 books, four percent said they had 500 or 1,000 books and only
two percent of the respondents have more than 1,000 books in their home
library. Sixteen percent of the respondents don't have books at home.
The most popular literary genres include classical adventure
novels (26%), classics and "women" detective stories (25% each).
Most Russians prefer borrowing books they want to read from their
friends (51%) or buy them in bookshops (46%). Thirty-seven percent take
books from their home library and only 14 percent - from a city library.
Seven percent of Russians "load" books from the Internet and only two
percent buy books via the Internet.
The public opinion poll was carried out on May 23-24, 2009. It
covered 1,600 people in 140 populated localities in 42 regions,
territories and republics of Russia. The statistical error doesn't exceed
3.4 percent.

.Tajikistan marks National Unity Day.

DUSHANBE, June 27 (Itar-Tass) - Tajikistan will mark Day of National
Unity on Saturday.
It was 12 years ago that the warring parties in the war-torn
Tajikistan singed an Agreement that ended a five-year civil war,
established peace and national accord in the country. The agreement was
signed in Moscow on June 27 with mediation by the United Nations, Russia
and some other countries.
The armed conflict claimed the lives of 150,000 people. It caused a
mass exodus of ethnic minorities from Tajikistan - Russians, Uzbeks,
Germans, Jews and Koreans. The war left more than a million internally
displaced persons and totally devastated the republic's economy. Such was
a price, which Tajikistan paid for the political ambitions of those who
stood behind that bloody war.
In his speech to the residents of the northern Sogdiyskaya region of
Tajikistan, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon said that after the senseless
internal confrontation the Tajik people adopted that crucial document for
the sake of preserving the Tajik nation, consolidating the state as well
as prosperity and development of this country.
During the five years of feud a very hard burden fell on the shoulder
of Russian border guards from the 201st division (now a military base).
The Russian troops defended the southern fringes of the CIS along the
River Piandzh from well-armed detachments of the Tajik opposition that had
entrenched themselves in Afghanistan. Russian riflemen stood on the
demarcation line accompanying relief convoys to civilians.
This year Tajikistan's northern capital - Khudzhand - will be the
epicenter of the celebrations. Prominent public figures and
representatives of all regions of Tajikistan will gather for a meeting in
Khudzhand. President Rakhmon will deliver a speech. It will be followed
by an outdoor concert and sport festivities.
Festivities will be held in Dushanbe and the administrative regional
centers of the Gorno-Badakhshan and Kurgan-Tyubin autonomous districts for
three days.

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