Author: VK
In Georgia, the names of some of the candidates for president have been announced: these are Georgi Margvelashvily from the "Georgian Dream" ruling coalition, Shalva Natelashvili - leader of the Labour Party and Nino Burjanadze, chairman of the party "Democratic Movement United Georgia".
Meanwhile, according The Georgian Times, another female politician, president of the "Georgian-Abkhazian-Ossetian international movement for peace, democracy and development," Professor Nestan Kirtadze decided to join the presidential race. In an interview to the newspaper she figuratively said that her competitors are not definite persons but stagnation, unemployment and poverty in Georgia. Speaking about the reasons that prompted her to take this step, she said that every politician coming to power have to bear the desired idea to the people, like Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze, Mikhail Saakashvili. The ruling coalition proposed candidate for the current election not based on some kind of idea, but only on the basis of personal friendship with the Prime Minister. Kirtadze worries about the political reality when whoever is introduced by Bidzina Ivanishvili as a candidate, he will have a better chance in the elections. So she decided not just to offer the public one more candidate for the presidency but to bring the idea which she promotes as president of the international organization of the Georgian-Abkhaz and Ossetian movement". " I am given the chance”, Kirtadze said, “to attract the attention of international institutions, politicians, experts, ordinary people, both inside and outside the country, to a peaceful alternative to the platform and initiatives related to the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian problems. Ultimately, the idea is the public integrity of Georgia. "
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The important issue of fresh water in Azerbaijan is raised by the newspaper "Echo" in an article by Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, director of the Institute of Geology of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Yusif Israfilov. According to the scientist, despite the measures in the last decade, the available freshwater resources of the republic is are still insufficient, and this limits the development of almost all sectors of the economy, as well as issues of public health, which is directly dependent on the quality of drinking water.
Most of the arable land of the republic is located in areas with a climate characterized by scarce precipitation (200-300 mm per year), and agricultural production is impossible without irrigation. The soil and climatic conditions and the relief are likely to increase the irrigated area by half, but today it is not possible due to shortage of water resources. Thus, most of the water, up to 80% is used in agriculture, industry accounts for 15%, and only 5% is given to the public water supply. As a result, even the largest cities of the country - Baku, Ganja, Sumgait receive only 60-70% secured conditional drinking water, and 90% of villages do not have central water supply.
To improve this situation, the author proposes, in particular, because of the large loss of water in the canals of water-supply systems in agricultural production, to cover them with tile or let irrigation water through the pipes, which will increase the efficiency of these systems by 40%.
The author also considers the transition to modern water-saving irrigation technology: drip, sprinkler, spray irrigation, aerosol (depending on the type of crops), which will save about 6 cubic kilometers of water per year. But because of the high cost of these technologies for individual land user solving these problems, according to the scientist, needs to be based on special programs developed by the state.
Another "source" of saving fresh water is the elimination of leakage from water distribution networks. Due to their deterioration, in the center of Absheron water losses amount to approximately 50-60% of the total flow.
Basing on the scale of the problems, their solution is possible only with the active participation of the state. For several years, various ministries and departments of the republic developed a program on the use of water resources, taking into account, of course, their own interests. The scientist believes that management is only possible with the development of a single general scheme of complex use and protection of water resources of the country. It is expedient to develop under the guidance of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, involving all relevant departmental research organizations, and management of all water resources of the Republic and, in general, the implementation of the whole water policy should be optimally carried out by a single state agency.
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In Armenia, the area of information technology is rapidly developing. According to the newspaper "Voice of Armenia", a 25 percent increase has been registered every year since 1998. In 2012, the annual turnover of this sector reached $ 250 million; there were more than 350 companies with a total number of employees amounting to 7800 specialists. Each year, the state adopts programs of the establishment of Armenia as a country with high technology; it is taking steps to promote IT-sphere, including the allocation of funds for this from the state budget.
The newspaper notes that today the information technology industry in Armenia generates the highest added value, so it is necessary to build and strengthen the image of Armenia as a regional IT-hub, and to promote the brand "Armenian IT" abroad. To this end, the government adopted a policy of full involvement of multinational companies respected in this area into this sphere. At present, in Armenia there are "Innovation Center" Microsoft "and the Armenian-Indian training center, as well as joint programs with “Cisco", " National Instruments "," Nokia "and others.
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The newspaper of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic "HayZinvor" tells about the preparation of the shooters of the Russian military base in Armenia. Since 2013, practical exercises at the training complex "Kamhud" and "Alagyaz" have been carried out with the use of new automated systems of range equipment. Automated systems, according to the publication, are designed to provide not only the firing of small arms, but also of military equipment - tanks T-72BM and infantry fighting vehicles BMP-2. The set of equipment can be operated in automatic and manual modes. New treatment complex, the article tells, provides the ability to collect, display and process the results of fire against targets in real time.
Polygon team will make more than 100 multi-function mobile and stationary targets, simulating armored vehicles, manpower, machine guns and anti-tank calculations of imaginary enemy for the new training period. More than 300 hours of field training sessions are designed for winter training period for practical training of snipers.
The article says that in a training complex "Kamhud” a specialized troop snipers shooting range for the unit is created. The possibilities of the new shooting complex will allow creating a dynamic, ever-changing environment of targets at ranges of 100 to 550 meters. In a limited space conditions will be simulated for training activities in the rock mass, wooded areas, as well as in buildings and city streets. Special lighting of targets will allow shooting at night, according to the publication. The new range will be put into operation this summer.
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In Ingushetia, the results of the republican target program "Development of small and medium enterprises in the 2009-2012" were summed up. According to the "Serdalo" newspaper referring to the director general of the Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship and Competition Yusuf Zurabov, during this period 319 entrepreneurs received state support in the form of micro-loans for a total of 61.9 million rubles. The fund manager said that their goal is not only to give money to the entrepreneur, but also to track whether they will go on purpose and to see the end result. During the years of the republican target program a number of small businesses in Ingushetia has significantly increased and reached 9248; from them the budget received taxes in the amount of 330 million rubles. Largely due to the small and medium enterprises, the subsidization of the republic has decreased by 11%. Head of the Fund also said that negotiations were held with the management of "KAMAZ" to open representative office in Ingushetia and set up production of road construction equipment, which will create 200 new high-tech jobs in the republic.
