Uzbekistan Features - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 121 - 126 of 204

Tajikistan and Uzbekistan Discuss Using Lake Sarez For Drinking Water

On August 3, a Tajik-Uzbek working group on the shared use of water from Central Asia's transboundary rivers met in Dushanbe. Participants discussed the potential for using the water from Lake Sarez, in the Tajik National Park in the east of the country, to provide Central Asian countries with clean drinking water. Other potential joint projects between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in the field of water management were also considered. In 2018, the presidents of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Emomali Rahmon and Shavkat Mirziyoyev, first discussed using the Sarez freshwater as drinking water, during a visit by Rahmon to Uzbekistan. The nations subsequently commissioned a feasibility study from the Intergovernmental Joint Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation. Rahmon has repeatedly emphasized that Tajikistan has ample freshwater resources, and has previously used speeches at political forums to suggest using the Sarez mountain lake to provide Central Asian countries with drinking water. The Tajik government has also offered to supply drinking water from Sarez to Iran, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. The Times of Central Asia has previously written that Central Asia will face severe water shortages in the coming years. More than 80% of the available water in Central Asia is used for irrigation, 40% of which is lost during delivery in the fields. With the commissioning of the Qosh Tepa canal in Afghanistan, the water shortage will become even more serious from 2028. The chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank, Nikolay Podguzov, has warned that the Qosh Tepa's construction could threaten Central Asia's water balance.

Home Turkmenistan Life & Culture Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Life & Culture Uzbekistan Features Kazakhstan Life & Culture Turkmenistan Features Uzbekistan Life & Culture Features Kazakhstan Featurees

Central Asian Boxers Poised for Olympic Medals This Week

Mark your calendars: boxers from Central Asia are going for gold in Paris. On Wednesday, Kazakh boxer Nurbek Oralbay will fight for Olympic gold in the 80-kilogram class final. Then, on Friday, Lazizbek Mullojonov of Uzbekistan will do the same in the 92-kilogram final. Kazakhstan’s Oralbay, 24, defeated Dominican boxer Christian Pinales in a 3-2 decision on Sunday and will face Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine in the middleweight final on Aug. 7. Oralbay’s twin brother, Aibek, is also a boxer. He competed in the 92-kilogram class at this year’s Olympics but lost in the quarterfinals. “Their father, a former freestyle wrestler, wanted Nurbek and his brother to follow in his footsteps,” olympics.com reported. “But money was tight at home and boxing coach Askar Yerkebayev (KAZ) offered to train the boys in boxing for free, saying he had a dream to take twins to the world championships - and their father agreed.” The Olympics Games website also reported that Nurbek once pretended to be Aibek in a bout because Aibek was ill. It didn’t offer more details on that subterfuge. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan’s Mullojonov is up against Loren Alfonso of Azerbaijan in the Aug. 9 heavyweight final. Mullojonov, 25, defeated Tajikistan’s Davlat Boltaev in the semifinal on Sunday, and the Tajik boxer gets a bronze medal. Mullojonov, who comes from Uzbekistan’s Ferghana region, was a super heavyweight gold medalist at the 2022 Asian Championships. -- They call him “The Big Uzbek.” Another Central Asian boxer to watch in Paris this week is Uzbekistan’s Bakhodir Jalolov, who competes against Nelvie Raman Tiafack of Germany in a semifinal of the 92-kilogram-plus class on Aug. 7. Jalolov, 30, is a defending champion. He was the super heavyweight champion at the Tokyo games in 2021. He has said he wants to become a professional boxer. -- Nariman Kurbanov of Kazakhstan brought home silver in the men’s pommel horse, the first Olympic medal in gymnastics for the Central Asian country. “20 years of hard work, 35 seconds on the Olympic podium. And now - History!” Kurbanov, 26, said on Instagram. Kurbanov scored 15.433 on Saturday, just falling short of Ireland’s Rhys McClenaghan, whose score of 15.533 propelled him to gold. The road to Olympic success has indeed been arduous for Kurbanov, whose father got him into the sport when he was a young boy. "I had no other choice. My father is a gymnastics coach. He brought me into the gym literally from the cradle. At first, I just ran there, jumped, fooled around. But at the age of five my dad began to train me professionally," Kurbanov said, according to the International Gymnastics Federation. Kurbanov had failed to qualify as an apparatus specialist for the last Olympic Games in Tokyo. -- Veteran sprinter Valentina Meredova of Turkmenistan has competed in Paris, 16 years after making her Olympic debut in Beijing. The 39-year-old ran a 12:01 in the preliminary round of the 100 meters on Friday, finishing fourth in her group and advancing to the next round....

healthcare Uzbekistan Environment Environment Home Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Features Uzbekistan Home Local Politics Uzbekistan Local Politics

Uzbekistan Pushed to Clean Up Cities Amid Air Pollution Protests

Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent continues to suffer from high levels of air pollution. According to the IQAir portal, on the morning of August 2 the concentration of PM 2.5 (fine particles in the air) in the city was 5.4 times higher than the WHO base indicator. Protest groups have been holding flash mobs in Tashkent this summer. One participant, Temurkhan Jahangir, believes that the main factor for the city's dangerous air is the government's poor urban planning policy. “The urban development strategy, implemented at the expense of urban densification, was a complete mistake from the start. It is foolish to sell land in the city center and build more buildings between multi-story buildings,” he said. According to the Ministry of Ecology, about 49,000 trees have been illegally cut down in the Tashkent region recently, which has also had a negative impact on air quality. At a meeting on January 29, the country's president Shavkat Mirziyoyev spoke about ecological problems. In particular he criticized the implementation of construction projects that don't consider environmental protection. He instructed the ministry to develop a “master plan” for each city and district of Uzbekistan, for local governors to improve the ecological situation by the end of the year. “On average, 730,000 motor vehicles move in Tashkent every day. In addition, 160,000 to 300,000 motor vehicles enter from the regions. Engines using A-80 gasoline, which does not meet international standards, emit harmful emissions into the atmosphere, exceeding the norm,” the Ministry of Ecology says. Mirziyoyev has also tasked the ministry with comprehensively abandoning A-80 gasoline from 2025 onwards, and developing sustainable public transport. He added that encouraging the population to switch to electric cars must be introduced to support green energy, prevent environmental problems, and reduce harmful emissions.

Central Asia Education Uzbekistan Uzbekistan Features International Affairs Business & Economy Uzbekistan Business & Economy Uzbekistan International Affairs

ADB to Provide $400 Million to Uzbekistan for Energy Reform

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved two loans totaling $400 million to support the Government of Uzbekistan’s initiatives to strengthen the country's financial markets and develop a sustainable market-oriented energy sector. General Director of the ADB for Central and West Asia, Yevgeniy Zhukov emphasized that the active participation of the private sector is very important for Uzbekistan's economic growth and transformation. “Reforms supported by these programs will help shape an enabling environment for regulators and firms to play their part in boosting development by building robust domestic financial markets and addressing energy needs while tackling climate change,” Zhukov stated. A $300 million loan for subprogram 2 of the Power Sector Reform Program will provide budget support for policy actions to improve the power sector’s structure, legal and regulatory framework, and governance to encourage private sector investment and promote financial sustainability. A $100 million loan for subprogram 2 of the Financial Markets Development Program will support regulatory and institutional reforms focused on improving market facilitation to streamline financial transactions and services and increase supply and demand measures to grow Uzbekistan’s capital and money markets. The ADB had previously approved a $100 million soft loan to help Uzbekistan improve perinatal health services for pregnant women and newborns. Uzbekistan became a member of the ADB in 1995, and since then, the bank has provided the country with loans, grants, and technical assistance totaling $12.5 billion.

Home Tajikistan Life & Culture Uzbekistan Turkmenistan Life & Culture Turkmenistan Life & Culture Tajikistan Uzbekistan Features Kazakhstan Life & Culture Tajikistan Features Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Features Uzbekistan Life & Culture Features Kazakhstan Featurees

Central Asia Picks Up Golds as Olympics Near Second Week

Diyora Keldiyorova, who became Uzbekistan’s first Olympic champion in judo, says she has an even bigger goal. “To change the life of women in Uzbekistan is my mission,” Keldiyorova said, according to the International Judo Federation. The Uzbek sensation spoke after her victory in the 52-kilogram class at the Paris Olympics on July 28. It was an extraordinary achievement for an athlete from a country without much of a tradition in women’s judo. On her way to gold, Keldiyorova defeated Uta Abe, the gold medalist at the last Olympics in Tokyo and a four-time world champion. The Uzbek’s win over Abe “may very well be remembered as one of the biggest upsets of these Olympic Games,” olympics.com reported. Abe was distraught after the defeat. Among those congratulating Keldiyorova was Timothy Smart, Britain’s ambassador to Uzbekistan. He said “it is a medal which shows all girls in Uzbekistan, that they can achieve anything they want!” “Olgʻa, Oʻzbekiston!” Smart said - Let´s go, Uzbekistan. -- Another gold medalist in judo from Central Asia was Kazakhstan’s Yeldos Smetov, who defeated home favorite Luka Mkheidze of France in the 60-kilogram class final. Smetov, 31, won silver at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and Kazakhstan put him on a postage stamp to celebrate. Then he won bronze in 2021 at the Tokyo games, which were delayed from the previous year because of the pandemic. [caption id="attachment_21130" align="aligncenter" width="221"] Yeldos Smetov; image: Post of Kazakhstan[/caption] “Nothing is impossible,” Smetov said after winning gold in Paris, according to Kazakhstan’s Olympic committee. “I achieved this goal on the third attempt.” Smetov, who has been performing at a world-class level for many years, attributed the longevity of his career to family and knowing the limits of his body. “After each competition, I spend all my time with my family, not thinking about sport. I am also careful with the bigger injuries; I never go back to competition until fully recovered. A lot of rest is necessary especially when a career is this long," Smetov, who has five children, told the International Judo Federation. “The first day of this Olympic Games brought my gold for Kazakhstan and the second brought Diyora’s gold for Uzbekistan, so this is already an incredible games for Central Asia," Smetov said. -- The Paris games were a disappointment for one of the world’s top tennis players, Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, though. Russia-born Bublik lost 4-6, 4-6 to Taylor Fritz of the United States in the first round of the singles. He and his partner, Aleksandr Nedovyesov, fell by the same score in the first round of the doubles to the Brazilians, Thiago Monteiro and Thiago Seyboth Wild. “It was an honor to represent Kazakhstan at the Olympics once again,” Bublik said on Instagram. He is currently ranked 25th in the world. Another Kazakh tennis star, world No. 4 Elena Rybakina, had said just before the games that she was sick and would not participate. “After the Wimbledon tournament, I fell ill...

Home Uzbekistan Life & Culture Uzbekistan Features Local Politics Kazakhstan Life & Culture Kazakhstan Features Uzbekistan Life & Culture Kazakhstan Featurees

Russia’s “Internet Isolation” Strikes Central Asia

According to numerous reports, including stories from emigre journalists formerly of the radio station, ECHO who now broadcast out of Lithuania, Russia’s purported throttling of YouTube is affecting swathes of the platform’s users across Central Asia. On forums and social media, users have complained that the site is not working properly. This comes as the authorities in Russia are attempting to wean its citizens off of YouTube, one of the sole remaining sources of uncensored news, and onto its replacement, RuNet, as part of a wider drive towards “internet isolation.” In a press release to state-owned news agency, TASS, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that “YouTube is not a neutral platform, it works out the political directives of Washington. In addition, YouTube ignores Roskomnadzor's demands to remove over 60,000 materials with violations.” Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Industry, Construction and Science-Intensive Technologies, former journalist Aleksandr Khinshtein has also stated that the “degradation” of YouTube. is a “forced step aimed not against Russian users, but against the administration of a foreign resource, which still believes that it can violate and oppose our legislation with impunity.” Khinshtein, an architect of legislation targeting the LGBT+ community for being an “element of hybrid warfare” against Russia, is subject to sanctions in the UK for his part in Russia’s war in Ukraine. Despite these open admissions, however, the Kremlin has also sought to lay the blame for the disruption on Google for using "grey and semi-criminal schemes" to manage server payments, which have caused its local subsidiary to go bankrupt. In the meantime, caught in the crosshairs of this wider battle, some users across Central Asia are continuing to have problems accessing the platform, with speeds down by as much as 70%.