January 14, 1959
ATHENS-MOSCOW: The Athens Municipal Council yesterday debated whether to accept a donation of two street cleaning vehicles from the mayor of Moscow. The council decided to accept the mayor’s offer and his Athenian counterpart is to send him a letter of thanks. During the debate, it was suggested that the gesture could be reciprocated by declaring the mayor of Moscow an honorary citizen of Athens and award him the city’s gold medal. However, the council chairman observed that the gold medal was reserved for heads of state and the decision was postponed until the return of the mayor, who had been absent from yesterday’s meeting. END OF OKA SYSTEM AND THE TRAM: The government yesterday announced a new series of measures aimed at fulfilling conditions for the successful modernization and growth of the national economy. This includes the adoption, as of April 1, of the metric system of measurement (instead of the current Ottoman measurement system of «oka» and «pychi»), the abolition of the tram from Athens’s streets, while ensuring the welfare of its staff, and a new system of commissioning public works and their financial and technical management.
