Author: Tim Norman

AKIPRESS.COM – Computer science will appear in the curriculum of the first grades of schools in Uzbekistan starting from the new academic year, the presidential press service reported following the presentation to the head of state on May 22 of proposals for the development of preschool and school education. “70% of topics in the curriculum have no connection with daily life. The share of practical training will be increased from 40% to 60%. Topics will be taught on solving a specific problem, as well as practical lessons in the form of project implementation,” the press service noted. Advanced training and incentives…

A US military contractor was sentenced this week to three years and 10 months in prison for accepting bribes from an Afghan contractor. Orlando Clark, 57, of Smyrna in Georgia, was deployed to Afghanistan to evaluate bids for US-funded reconstruction contracts in 2011 and 2012. The Department of Justice said Clark and co-conspirator Todd Coleman, an analyst at a different US company, accepted payments of around $400,000 from an Afghan company in return for helping it to win around 10 contracts, including one to build an Afghan police station and a security checkpoint for US forces. To conceal their conduct,…

Governments and institutions around the world are working around the clock to fight COVID-19. Some individuals, first of all, entrepreneurs, make their input too. Kenes Rakishev and Saby Fund spent more than 40 million USD to help his country and its people to keep COVID-19 numbers low. As soon as COVID-19 struck Kazakhstan or even somewhat earlier responsible local businessmen started to brace for impact. Those who participated in charity begun to accumulate funds and develop programmes to help Kazakhstani people drive through the pandemic. Kenes Rakishev supported people with the help of Saby fund. He also aided at least two other…

Georgian Railway on Thursday announced it was launching freight services offering car manufacturers to transport their products to Central Asian states. The company said manufacturers like Toyota, BMW and Audi would be able to deliver their vehicles via Georgia and Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and other countries in the region using the rail service. Until now, car manufacturers have been using [road] cargo to deliver their cars to Central Asia. As a result of the ongoing talks, rail freight of cars may [also] become regular”, it said. The first shipment in the initiative was received at the country’s Black Sea…

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is helping to improve the efficiency of irrigation in the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan, the most densely populated part of Central Asia. The EBRD funds will finance necessary engineering works in three Uzbek oblasts that are heavily reliant on fresh water withdrawals from the Syr Darya river, which is largely fed by glacial melts affected by global warming. An EBRD sovereign loan of up to US$ 199.96 million to the Republic of Uzbekistan will help modernise 118 obsolete pumping stations built in the Soviet era across the Uzbek part of the Fergana Valley.…

Bulgaria on Wednesday announced plans to build a scientific research laboratory at its Antarctic Base, state-run media reported Wednesday. The single-story laboratory unit will be located in the Bulgarian St. Kliment Ohridski Antarctic Base on Livingston Island, according to the BTA news agency. The laboratory unit is planned to be completed within two or three years, funded by the Ministry of Education and Science as part of its National Roadmap for Research Infrastructure initiative. Planned to host scientists working in a range of fields, including geology, geophysics, biology, hydrobiology, and microbiology, the building will have four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a…

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday expressed US support for the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia, where Washington hopes to strengthen its influence in the face of former tutelary power Russia and the growing weight of rival China. The head of the American diplomacy spoke with his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan in the Kazakh capital Astana, during this tour which comes a few days after the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine .  His visit was intended to strengthen the footprint of the United States in this region caught between…