25TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE OF UZBEKISTAN

Uzbekistan prepares to celebrations of 25th anniversary of Independence

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov signed a resolution “On preparing and organizing celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the state independence of Uzbekistan” on 2 June.

Uzbek leader approved a structure of the Republican Commission on preparing and organizing celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the state independence of Uzbekistan.

The commission will develop a programme of organizational-practical, cultural-educational and information-explanation events.

The resolution underlined that the programme should show achievements of Uzbekistan in independence years, including in economy.

The programme will also demonstrate achievements of Uzbekistan in agriculture sector and industry.

The expenses for holding holidays in Karakalpakstan and regions will be financed due to local budgets and sponsorship resources, in Tashkent – in equal shares due to the state budget of Uzbekistan and local budget of Tashkent.

(Source: UzDaily.com)

economy

Great Success of Uzbek Silkworm Breeders

Silkworm breeders of Uzbekistan have successfully performed the annual contractual obligations by preparing more than 26.2 thousand tons of cocoons.

This great harvest of valuable raw silk, gained through the self-sacrificing work of our silkworms, became a worthy gift to the 25th anniversary of the Independence of our Motherland.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources of the Republic of Uzbekistan, this year silkworm breeders of our country reared such highly appropriate to our climatic conditions and resistant to disease varieties of silkworms as “Ipakchi-1,” “Ipakchi-2,” “Uzbekiston-5,” “Uzbekiston-6”, and from each box of silkworm eggs received an average of 58.2 kilograms of the crop.

Silkworm breeders of the Samarkand, Surkhandarya, Bukhara, Navoi, Syrdarya, Kashkadarya, Fergana regions were among the first to fulfill contractual obligations to the cultivation of silk cocoons. In Jondor, Narpay, Besharik, Bayaut, Jarkurgon, Kasbin, Kyzyltepa, Chust, Kurgantepa districts from each box of silkworm eggs received 60-68 kilograms of cocoons.

Farmers of the farm “Usmonjon domla” in Uychin district from each box of silkworm eggs obtained 78 kg, in the farm “Zolinlik marjon Maksud” in Jondor district this figure is 75 kg, in the farm “Hamidjon Mirzaodil” in Yukorichirchik district – 72 kg, in the farm “Eshbek-ota” Dustlik district – 70 kg, in the farm “Vafo malikasi” in Jalakuduk district – 69 kg, in the farm “Kuvondik Ihtiyor” in Turtkul district - up to 66 kg of high-quality silk cocoons.

The main factor for this huge success of silkworm breeders was the fact that issues of creation of new varieties of silk cocoons and taking quality of raw silk to the level of international standards, reforming the raw conversion process, had been marked as a priority by the Head of our state.

However, the important factor of the effectiveness is the particular attention that is paid to financial stimulation of farmers. In particular, the purchase prices of cocoons increased on average by 11 percent and in the beginning of the season, farmers paid an advance of 43 percent of the estimated cost of the harvest.

Due to attention, paid to development of the industry, silkworm breeders of the Surkhandarya region were one of the first to rear silkworm cocoons. Enterprises carefully prepared for the season, in order to increase crop production and improve product quality.

In recent years, the expansion of existing mulberry plantations, strengthening the fodder base, the involvement of highly qualified specialists to season conduction, timely provision of silkworm breeders with necessary material and technical resources and equipment also played a crucial role in achieving the success of the industry.

Work at the reception units of silk cocoons is actively ongoing. Also, work on preparing for next year season conduction, the processing of mulberry plantation and pest control is continued.

(Source: UzA)

2016 year - The Year of healthy mother and child

Under Reliable Protection

A whopping 7.5 trillion soums (currency rates of CB RU from 06.06.2016, 1$= 2924.63  soums) and $194 million is the cost of ‘The Year of Healthy Mother and Child’ national program, this year’s body of measures to protect children’s interests. It covers all areas of bringing up an intellectual and comprehensively advanced generation, and creating favorable conditions for that.

A holistic standard

The construction of modern standard design housing in rural areas and new high-rise buildings in cities has improved the living conditions of thousands of families. The large-scale complex of measures on the development of social infrastructure in settlements, improvement of their water supply and other public service systems is underway. Improvement of water supply to rural settlements of Bayaut, Khavast, Mirzaobod, Sardoba and Oqoltin districts in Syrdarya region ranks among the largest projects. It is expected that the completion of the project in 2017 will tackle all the problems of drinking water supply in the region.

The reconstruction, overhaul and equipping of health facilities, nursery schools, general schools, lyceums, colleges and universities, and strengthening of human resources has been underway in the current year too. The introduction of advanced and digital technologies has been a special focus.

Prevention of diseases has been a special priority. The complex of measures on promoting healthy nutrition and physically active lifestyles has significantly expanded along with the service of mother and child screening, prevention of infectious diseases, including vaccination. The Ministry of Health introduced regulations that limit the availability of trans-fatty acids, salt and sugars in ready-made foods.

The use of interactive whiteboards has become conventional in many schools. About three thousand devices of this kind are daily used at schools, while the Ministry of Public Education continues implementing projects on supplying other institutions with such equipment. The advanced technologies make the learning process more interesting, and effective.

A few days ago, all schools in the country held the rally ‘Goodbye, School! Hello College!’, which went under the motto ‘Modern knowledge for modern professions’. All graduates will continue study in academic lyceums and vocational colleges. Specific measures will help to prepare school graduates for marketable trades and vocations.

22 vocational colleges were reoriented for this purpose. The ongoing changes suggest the increasing demand for specialists in service sector and industry. Almost all of the changes are associated with intensified staff training in these areas. For example, the Markhamat College of Agriculture in the Andijan region will now educate specialists for service sector too, and Boz Pedagogical College is radically changing its specialization: it will also train staff exclusively for the service sector.

Freedom of choice

The current education system has been promoting the education of creative and independently thinking generation. Every citizen is free to choose. All the good aspirations of young people are supported by the state, as stipulated by one of the sections of the national program the Year of Mother and Child Health.

The mechanisms of employing graduates of secondary special and vocational education institutions have been streamlined. For instance, quadripartite agreements on mandatory practical training have been concluded this year by 478,900 graduates of vocational colleges, 200,000 organizations and enterprises, administration of educational institutions and corresponding municipalities. Previously, the agreements were tripartite and did not involve the municipalities. The participation of the fourth side has helped to strengthen discipline in observing contractual obligations of all parties of agreements.

The Center of Secondary Special and Vocational Education, jointly with the Ministry of Labor and other social partners, has established a data bank for employment and promotion of college graduates in the job market. It has helped to analyze data on the demand for graduates in certain types of professions in the labor market, as well as to take measures for their further employment.

A scaled range of measures to support the establishment of young families has been underway. Commercial banks allocate mortgage loans to young families for the purchase, construction and reconstruction of housing, and consumer loans for the purchase of durable goods. There are plans afoot to allocate a total of over 280 billion soums for these purposes by the end of the year.

The Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan has been actively involved in the support for young families. It has planned to allocate free loans for the purchase of durable goods and housing to 2,000 young families by means of collective agreements this year.

Young Generation at the Sports March

There is another big event: the Istiqlol stadium in Fergana hosted a grand closing ceremony of the national sports games Universiade-2016. The Tashkent team won the largest number of medals, the first prize in the competitions, the highest award of the original of greetings of President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov to participants of sports Universiade-2016, and his present the Damas car. The teams of Ferghana and Samarkand regions, winners of the second and third prizes respectively, also received the Presidential awards of the Damas cars.

What is behind these lines? First of all, it is a scaled work on involving young people in sports. Most of the participants in this year's Universiade passed all three stages of the national sports games Umid Nihollari, Barkamol Avlod, the Universiade. Many of them have represented the country in international competitions. The games have demonstrated the potential, which is currently growing at the recently built sports facilities.

The Universiade covered 15 kinds of sports - basketball, boxing, volleyball, handball, judo, light and heavy athletics, table tennis, swimming, taekwondo (WTF), tennis, football, chess, freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. The philosophy of the games is based on the desire to support the progress of the country and training of promising athletes for Olympic sports. Today, the country's sports arenas develop more than 60 kinds of sports. Almost half of children are involved in sports, while the number of those who practice sports is growing.

It is hard to imagine what would be the fate of the children who come to the stadiums and gyms today? Would it be possible to protect them from the destructive influence of alien forces? As part of promoting healthy lifestyles under the national program the Year of Mother and Child Health, the construction of sports facilities of different purposes, ranging from school gyms to the specialized sports schools, has been in progress this year.

According to the Ministry of Public Education, today, sports clubs rank among the favorite options of extracurricular education for school students. The authorities take every effort to create all conditions for everyone to choose sports to his liking.

In the follow up of the program on establishment of music and art schools, the government has approved a new program by 2020. The new program accentuates the need for improving the quality classes, which should make these institutions more attractive for students. Ceratin measures are taken to advance the skills of teaching staff and provide them with new educational literature, collections of music texts... The organization of various festivals and competitions has been an important part of this work. Since 2016, the traditional national competitions have become international.

Upgraded with new buildings and tools, Barkamol Avlod children's centers have shifted to a different format. Now, the list of clubs is compiled in view of the demands and interests of children.

Summer vacations are ahead. This year, they will be organized at a drastically new and eventful level. The Ministry of Public Education has approved the Concept for Organization of Summer Recreation for Children. It implies that, unlike previous years, all the schools and institutions of extracurricular education will work this year.

Appeal to books

Great importance has been attached in recent years to promoting reading and publishing new books for children and adolescents. Literature plays an important role in the spiritual development of a personality, formation of independent thinking, preservation of the native language and national values for future generations.

In 2010-2015, Uzbekistan implemented a program on publishing the works that help children and adolescents to achieve the spiritual maturity. Only nine publishers worked in Uzbekistan before independence, while today there are more than a hundred publishing houses that annually release more than 40 million copies of literature of more than 2,000 titles. Their products win prizes at international book fairs in Germany, China, Russia and other countries.

Fairs and exhibitions of domestic publishing houses have become traditional. One of them, the exhibition fair ‘Holiday of Books’ was held last week throughout the country. The visitors learned about the new arrivals of domestic publishing houses, and had a unique opportunity to talk with poets, writers and publishers.

The national program the Year of Mother and Child Health has addressed another very important issue of promoting reading and domestic publishing houses. A network of bookstores Kitob Olami (Book World) with modern service is currently expanding. The visitors are offered a wide range of products, and a chance to sit with friends over a cup of coffee. The first store was opened in the capital to be followed by affiliates in the regions. Branches in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Andijan, Namangan, Ferghana and Samarkand regions have already started working.

Kitob Olami has been cooperating with publishers O’zbekiston, Milliy Encyclopedia, O’kituvchi, Chulpon, Gafur Ghulom publishing houses and other publishing and printing houses. It also established close partnership with more than a hundred small publishers and authors, offering readers high-quality and inexpensive books.

 The complex organizes different kinds of actions. ‘Book and school’, ‘Book and crafts’, ‘Book and Sports’ have been particularly popular among the youth. Book fairs have been held in 286 secondary schools, 120 vocational colleges and academic lyceums of the capital.

Educational institutions are provided with book sets, which replenish their library stock. Similar events take place in educational institutions of Tashkent region as well. Book festivals and fairs are scheduled in camps during summer vacations. The children's section is always full of children. The bookshelves present fairy tales in Uzbek, Russian and English languages, coloring books, encyclopedias, gaming publications. There are also tales and literature in Braille for blind children. The wide and bright rooms provide good atmosphere for reading. It has become a tradition to hold charity holidays for children on weekends to promote children's interest in reading.

(Source: «Uzbekistan Today» newspaper)

International cooperation

Uzbek delegation to attend CIS PMs Summit

A delegation of Uzbekistan will participate in a session of the Council of the Heads of Governments of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic.

The session of the Council of the Heads of Governments of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will be held in Bishkek on 7 June 2016.

According to the Uzbek Foreign Ministry, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Rustam Azimov will head the delegation of Uzbekistan.

The CIS PMs will discuss actual issues of developing multilateral cooperation within the Commonwealth.

(Source: UzDaily.com)