The first pan-Russian forum of teachers of Russian language and literature was held in Makhachkala. The forum was attended by more than 800 winners of national and regional professional competitions ‘The best teacher' and the priority national project 'Education' were held, as well as university professors, scientists, linguists, students and pupils of Dagestan. According to the newspaper Dagestani Pravda, the agenda of the forum ‘The Russian language and literature is the basis of the unity of the educational space and understanding of the peoples of Russia’ expressed a certain message – the succession of the cultural heritage of the country.
Teachers from 60 Russian regions, members of the Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature, which initiated the holding of the forum in Dagestan, took part in the work of the sections of pedagogical skills, the literary salon of the Theatre of Poetry from Alexander Pushkin to Rasul Gamzatov, project presentations, meetings with chief editors of leading teaching magazines, a festival of pedagogical ideas in Derbent, initiating young Dagestani teachers into language and literature teachers. The universities of the republic, where round tables were held, these days have become a polygon for the approbation of bold ideas and proposals.
The head of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, in his speech acknowledged the significance of the fact that the teachers' forum is being held in Dagestan: because the Russian language unites all the peoples of the multinational state. He noted that Dagestan is the country's only republic which recognizes the Russian language as both a state and also a national language.
The president of the Russian Education Academy, Ludmila Verbitskaya, noted that 277 languages and dialects are used in Russia, 89 in the public education system, 30 as a language of teaching and 59 as a subject of study.
The chairman of the Committee on Science and Education of the Public Chamber of Russia, Lyubov Dukhanina, said that a lack of knowledge of the Russian language is often the cause of problems in the education system: "Sometimes kids cannot solve problems in mathematics and physics not because they do not understand the subject, but because they failed to understand the task."
During the forum, an agreement between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Academy of Education was signed, its purpose is the further development of education and science in the region, more efficient use of educational, scientific and innovative potential, training of highly qualified personnel for the needs of the republic.
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It is 'tangerine' season in Abkhazia. Every autumn, citrus fruits, feijoa and diospyros are delivered from the neighboring state to the central part of Russia. The information agency Abkhazia-Inform reports that more than 415 tons of agricultural products have been imported since the beginning of October this year, which is 213 tons more than in the same period of last year. 298 tons of tangerines were exported. And in the last year 184 tons of tangerines were exported during this period.
The peak season is expected in the second half of December, as the demand for tangerines on the eve of the New Year holidays increases. At this time, 700 tons of orange cargo per day comes from Abkhazia. Last year during the 'tangerine' season (October-February) the customs officers of Sochi issued more than 30 thousand tonnes of tangerines.
As representatives of the customs post automobile checkpoint in Adler said, all agricultural production is being issued on a priority basis as perishable. According to the agreement "On the movement of goods by individuals for personal use across the customs border of the Customs Union and on customs operations connected with their release", citizens can't bring goods if the total customs value of them exceeds an amount equivalent to 1500 Euros, or the total weight of which exceeds 50 kg, into the territory of the Customs Union without payment of customs duties and taxes. If you exceed the cost or the weight norms, the declaration of goods is made in written form with the payment of customs duties at a flat rate of 30% of the customs value, but not less than 4 euros per kilo. The standards of importation of commercial quantities of goods are not limited quantitatively by the legislation quantitative, the customs value of the commercial shipment is charged 18% VAT.
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Armenia climbed three positions, finishing 35th out of 189 countries in the ranking of Doing Business-2016 of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Commenting on this assessment, the head of the Union of Domestic Producers, Vazgen Safaryan, expressed the opinion in the local weekly Business Express that simplified procedures for starting a new business are a positive indicator, but are insufficient to assess the degree of favorable conditions for its further existence. "Estimates of the international structures of a particular operating functions must be sustained with real consequences, that is, to take into account which positive results are being provided by this function later," the head of the UDP noted. According to him, in order to successfully develop business in Armenia there is a need for free market competition, providing a budding entrepreneur with a preferential tax period and subsidized loans, state export promotion, insurance of exports, state compensation for licenses on costs associated with these procedures. "If there are no such things, then a business stops where it starts. Today there are 60-70 thousand companies in Armenia, but they are constantly being reduced in quantity and in volume, as the economic policy of the country does not create a favorable field of operation for them," Safaryan complained.
This view is supported by the economist and expert of the Anti-Corruption Center 'Transparency International', Artak Manukyan, the Aravot newspaper reports. He believes that the published data can not be taken as absolute truth. Thus, the Doing Business' report noted as a positive indicator that Armenia facilitated the process associated with obtaining a building permit. In particular, the requirements of approval of the architectural design and implementation of technical control over the construction do not apply for the programs with low risk. Manukyan said that, on the basis of such trifles, it is pointless to assume that there have been major reforms in the business environment of the country. According to Manukyan, there are plenty of shady and corrupt risks in the Armenian business environment, and the methodology by which the World Bank calculates an index is not based on the shadow sector. If any businessman wants to come and work in Armenia, he must take into account that there is a shadow economy and corruption. "The best assessment of business in Armenia is a decline in foreign investment in our country and the presence of unfair competition in the market – there is no better indicator," the expert believes.
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The newspaper ‘South Ossetia’ and the online edition of Sputnik-South Ossetia reported that the republic summed up the preliminary results of the national census, which was held from 15 to 30 October. According to preliminary data, more than 51 thousand people are living there, about 30 thousand of whon live in Tskhinvali. The census was conducted for the first time in a quarter of a century. According to the last census, held in 1989, the population of the republic amounted to 98.5 thousand people. More than 65 thousand of them are Ossetians, 28 thousand Georgians, 2 thousand Russians. The remaining are Armenians, Jews and representatives of other nationalities.
As the head of the State Statistics, Inal Tibilov, said, the final data will be ready in the middle of 2016. The data of the national census of South Ossetia will be published as a handbook and posted on the website of the State Statistics Service.
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A new adaptation of Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe awaits film buffs in a new Georgian-Azerbaijani movie called 'Robinson and the Nine Fridays', the Internet portal Sputnik-Georgia reports.
The director of the film, Giorgi Kikaleishvili said that it is an absolutely apolitical, hilarious comedy. "I think it's time to let everyone know that positive things also happen," he told reporters. Robinson lives in a normal "Italian courtyard" in the Georgian capital. Despite his cheerful neighbors, the hero's life was boring and monotonous until one day he had a strange dream in which an angel gave him the keys to happiness. Soon, Robinson found himself on a desert island, where his major adventures started. The focus of the film is Georgian-Azerbaijani friendship, good-neighborliness and love. The shooting took place in Tbilisi and Baku.
Such stars of Georgian cinema, theater and music as Vakhtang Kikabidze, Kakhi Kavsadze, Keti Topuria and Dato Hudzhadze starred in the film. The singer, songwriter, actor and Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, the actor Bahram Bagirzade and the singer Manana Japaridze took part in the film from the Azerbaijani side. Nikoloz Ramishvili was the scriptwriter of 'Robinson and the Nine Fridays'. The film will released in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Kazakhstan in late November 2015.
