| January 2-January 9, 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Three people die in a fire
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One of the neighbourhoods in Tashkent broke in fire when residents illegally used gas to
make a hand-made oven to bake bread. Despite repeated warnings by gas officials, the
residents continued using such an oven. The fire destroyed 3 living houses, about 300 square
meters, leaving tens of people without shelter. Three people, including one child, died.
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President awards two pilots for heroism
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President Karimov issued a decree on awarding Valeriy Kulavskiy and Evgeniy Washurkin,
pilots of the Uzbekistan National Airways Company, an order of "Glory" and a medal of
"Courage" for their attempt to save the lives of 167 passengers on board of A-310, that was
about to collide with another airplane due to the awful mistake of Russian dispatchers.
The airplane was flying to Tashkent from Moscow last September when the crew received an
instruction that could lead to the collision with Boeing belonging to Hong Kong Airlines.
The pilots of A-310 had only a few seconds to make a decision and it was the right decision.
The passengers didn't even notice what was going on.
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New ambassador to Saudi Arabia
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President Karimov appointed Shamsitdin Bobokhonov January 5 an ambassador of Uzbekistan to Saudi Arabia.
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Russian Vice-Premier optimistic about his Uzbek visit
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Russian Vice-Prime Minister Gennady
Kulik said he was optimistic about the results of his visit to Uzbekistan.
Kulik was in Uzbekistan on a two-day working visit January 8-9 as co- chairman of the
Russian-Uzbek intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation. He
held talks with President Islam Karimov.
In his meeting with Kulik, Karimov noted that "both sides are interested in
deepening mutually advantageous economic relations between Uzbekistan and
Russia at the level of modern requirements."
Kulik stressed that "the government of Russia attaches special attention to the
development of long-term all-embracing ties with Uzbekistan."
The talks between Karimov and Kulik focused on the future work of the
intergovernmental commission and a wide range of issues concerning
cooperation between the two countries.
In the morning, Kulik visited the Office of Tashkent City Administration and
went on a sightseeing tour. In the afternoon, he took a trip to the ancient city of
Samarkand.
In the evening, Kulik flew back to Moscow.
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Tajikistan, Uzbekistan to deepen bilateral cooperation
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A Tajik governmental delegation headed
by Prime Minister Yakhyo Azimov and the leadership of Uzbekistan discussed
ways of futher deepening of cooperation between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
As press secretary of the Tajik president Zafar Saidov told Itar-Tass on Friday,
upon the conclsion of the talks the sides signed an inter-governmental agreement
on mutual payments for the transportation of cargoes and supply of gas in 1999,
as well as an greement on Tajikistan's state debt.
Besides, both sides signed an inter-governmental protocol envisaging the
adoption of a number of practical measures aimed at implementing the earlier
concluded bilateral agreements.
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Getting prepared for spring conscription
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On January 14 Uzbekistan will mark the Day of Nation's Defenders or the Army Day. And on
March spring conscription will begin. The number of young people willing to serve in the Army
isn't growing as it was in the past, because in a transition period serving in the army is a tough
thing. Last December during the 13th session of the Oliy Majlis President Karimov announced
that the army would be subject to reform before the year 2000. The service will not be
mandatory any longer. Currently you can avoid service in the army in two ways: either you have
to be really sick to be found unfit for the service or you have to have some solid reason to go
to an alternative service. For example, you should be the father of two kids or the only son in
your family with a single parent who needs your care. In this case you will have 12 to 18
months of alternative service which you will serve in your work place with 20% of your salary
being deducted in favor of the army.
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Tender for high-school products
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This week the Ministry of Public Education held tender for a contract to produce school
appliances, including bagpacks, notebooks, uniform and pen-cases.
School kids acted as judges as they were offered a wide variety of bags and uniform to
make their choice own. In this new academic year 670 thousand first-graders will receive a
full set of school appliances as a gift from the government and it has become a tradition since
1997. Most professors and teachers believe that the institution of a single uniform in high
schools like before brings an order and harmony to schools.
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