Bostan arch, Kermanshah

KERMANSHAH, April 24--A conference titled 'Kermanshah--Cradle of Civilization Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow' will be held here on May 12-13.
Elaborating on the objectives of the conference, head of the provincial Culture and Islamic Guidance Department, Abbas Asadollahi-Sahi told ISNA that the event will focus on the ancient, historical, cultural, social, economic and political aspects of the province. It will also provide documentation and review optimal use of capabilities, present a model for fresh activities in the field, prepare the ground for rectifying public culture by pinpointing cultural and artistic maladies, introduce the genuine culture and examine the reasons for cultural divergence and create conditions for self-reliance and cultural cohesion.
He said that some 60 articles have been submitted so far to the secretariat of the conference. The event will review art, literature, archeology, history and historical geography, sociology, anthropology and psychology, beliefs, attitudes and values, politics and economy, management and communications as well as future prospects of the province, he added.
Asked whether the conference will be held at the international level, he said that international seminars should comply with some strict rules and it takes a long time to obtain permission to hold such a conference.
The event will provide a good opportunity to focus on Kermanshah province, he observed, adding that exhibitions of artistic works and handicrafts will also be held on the sidelines of the event.

LA ANGELES,
April 24--A center for Persian studies and culture will be established at UC Irvine, California, thanks to a $2-million endowment from a foundation begun by an Orange County investments manager, university officials announced.
The Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture will become one of the few in the country to focus on the culture of Iranians and Persia, the country that predated modern Iran, Los Angeles Times quoted UCI officials as saying.
Beginning this fall, the center, to be administered by the School of Humanities, will sponsor research grants, lectures and workshops and offer classes in Persian studies and language.
Funding comes from the Massiah Foundation, created by Fariborz Maseeh, who created and then sold a business that manufactured computer chips for pacemakers and aircraft landing gear, among other apparatus.
"It came to me that not only the community of people of Persian descent can benefit, but also we as a nation will benefit," said Maseeh, 45, a UCI Foundation trustee. "We need more understanding of the region in today's interdependent world."
The center is named after a Presbyterian missionary who served in Iran from 1898 to 1941 and founded the American College of Tehran, renamed Alborz College of Tehran in the 1930s.
The gift will fund a department chairman and two professors, one for humanities and another for Persian Performing Arts. Harvard University, Princeton University and the University of Maryland have Persian studies programs, Maseeh said.
Persian culture is hardly new to Irvine, which hosts an annual Persian festival. Census figures show 101,000 Iranians living in the five-county area, but community leaders say the number is closer to 600,000, the largest community of Iranians outside Iran. Most came after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

TEHRAN, April 24--Ayatollah Hassan Mostafavi has called for a revision of textbooks taught at theological schools in the field of philosophy, mystics and religious teachings.
He told ILNA that textbooks should have further explanatory notes and be simplified to make them comprehensible to the public.
Underlining the importance of wisdom in Islam, he asked how it was possible to perceive the Almighty without intellect power.
Innate perception of human being, he added, was not enough to prove the Almighty. "Since we need expression to convey our perception and we need to put forward reasons for our belief in God in the face of anti-religion schools."
Ayatollah Mostafavi said that it is not possible to define prophethood and resurrection without intellect. For a mankind who rejects everything, it is not possible to accept anything other than intellect, he said, adding, "Of course, a person who rejects intellect, is either ignorant or is against the perceptions of the intellect or has been exposed to the Satan.
He called for safeguarding the achievements of philosophy and said that one cannot learn philosophy by reading a text once or twice, or is not possible to claim to be a philosopher just by memorizing the text.
Ayatollah Mostafavi criticized those, who with the minimum knowledge about philosophy, criticize Molla Sadra and said that their level of knowledge about philosophy should reach Molla Sadra's level and then they deserve the right to do so.

TEHRAN, April 24--Poetry by the noted contemporary poet Sohrab Sepehri conveys the secrets of tranquility for readers, observed author Hassan Asghari.
Speaking to Iranian Qur'an News Agency (IQNA), he pointed out that Sepehri's poetry reflected the economic, social and cultural conditions of the 1960s adding that they kept abreast with poetry by Ahmad Shamloo and Forugh Farrokhzad among others.
"Both Shamloo and Forugh followed a different approach. Whereas, Sepehri was exploring the inner life of individuals through mystical and smooth approach inspired by the nature," he noted.
Asghari, who is the author of 'Secrets of Crystal Tears', said that Sepehri's poetry with the mystical approach managed to respond to the inner and outer aspects of life.
"If you take mystics as discovery of existence, Sepehri had reached the point of individual knowledge about existence and giving response to the inner and outer needs of human being," he said.
Segments of Sepehri's mystics can also be traced in Shamloo's poetry, but, this aspect is overwhelming in Sepehri's poetry, he added.

TEHRAN, April 24--High Council for Cultural Revolution has designated April 23 as national architects' day.
According to ISNA, the Association of Celebrated Iranian Architects had proposed in 2002 that a day be designated to honor the architects and forwarded the request to President Mohammad Khatami.
The Interior Ministry and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development called on the High Council for Cultural Revolution to nominate the commemoration day for the great architect of the Safavid era, Sheikh Bahaei, April 23, as national architects' day.
Sheikh Bahaei designed a Public Bath and the Shaking Minaret in Isfahan.
Head of the Association of Celebrated Iranian Architects Alireza Qahari pointed out that architecture in Iran marks a magnificent aspect of cultural heritage thanks to the great architects who lived in different periods of history. They deserve the right a have a day designated as 'national architect day', he stated.
The official said that the Iranian association has also asked UNESCO to register the national architect day. Qahari said that the day to commemorate Sheikh Bahaei will be observed as national architect day from next year.

TEHRAN, April 24--Author and poet Javad Mojabi has said that no one has the right to impose censorship on classic literature.
He said that no one can decide on whether to authorize the publication of poems by Sheikh Sadi and the works of Obeid Zakani except for the public which has preserved them throughout centuries.
The free voice of the people against censorship is effective because, if a literary work appeals to them, they will safeguard it, otherwise, it will automatically fade away.
"The people have preserved classic literature for centuries despite the ups and downs. Therefore how can a group of people say that some parts should no longer exist?"
He said that censorship of classic literature is tantamount to erasing a section of culture. "We see that under every cultural policymaking, a kind of book is being promoted while they stop publishing several other books. During the former regime, the publication of some books was not allowed. Mr. Forughi omitted the jokes from Sadi's collection and several poems from Hafez poetry. Suzani Samarqandi's book was not published for sometime due to ethical censorship."
He said that the publication permit for Rostam Al-Tavarikh or Badaye Al-Vaqaye dating back to the Safavid era was denied due to erotic reasons.
Mojabi said that 'One Thousand and One Nights' story in which all Iranians take pride is currently banned and only a summary of the novel is being published. It is a valuable work which stands at par with Ferdowsi's masterpiece called Shahnameh.

TEHRAN, April 24--Three kilograms of gold dating back to the Achaemenid era 2,500 years ago has have been unearthed in the ancient palace of Bardak-e Siah in Borazjan in the southern province of Bushehr.
Archaeologists believe that the discovery most probably represents the golden layers of the palace's wooden doors or the plates which were usually inscribed on thick golden tablets during the Achaemenid period, reported CHN. The discovery which was made a few days ago beside one of the pedestals of the central hall of the palace includes four pieces of gold weighing three kilograms.
Three of the pieces are thick pleated tablets and the fourth looks like the upper section of an Achaemenid chalice, said the head of the excavation team in Borazjan, Ehsan Yaghmayi.
Referring to the similarity between the pieces which were discovered and the golden and silver folded plates in Apadana Palace in Persepolis, Yaghmayi explained that the tablets should be studied in the lab to see whether they include any inscriptions or texts which can be deciphered and to find out their exact usage.
Bardak-e Siah Palace was discovered in 1977 under the remains of another palace, called Sang-e Siah, and many stone inscriptions and bas-reliefs have also been unearthed. More than 20 other palaces and halls from the Achaemenid period which lie buried under the palm trees in the Dashtestan area have also been identified.

LONDON, April 24--Actor Sir John Mills, the quintessential British officer in scores of films, died Saturday after an Oscar-winning career spanning more than 50 years that included roles in 'Ryan's Daughter', 'The October Man', 'Scott of the Antarctic', 'Dunkirk' and 'Ice Cold in Alex'. He was 97.
Mills died at home in Denham, west of London, after a short illness, a statement from his trustees said, AP reported.
Actor and director Richard Attenborough said Mills was hospitalized last month with a chest infection, from which he did not recover.
Mills' roles ranged from Pip in David Lean's 'Great Expectations' to the village idiot in Lean's 'Ryan's Daughter', for which he won his Academy Award as best supporting actor in 1971.
But he took his place in film history as soldier, sailor, airman and commanding officer, embodying the decency, humility and coolness under pressure so cherished in the British hero.
On Mills' 80th birthday in 1988, historian Jeffrey Richards called him "truly an English Everyman. His heroes have been on the whole not extraordinary men but ordinary men whose heroism derives from their level headedness, generosity of spirit and innate sense of what is right."