Wednesday, january 17, 2017 inside nation healthcare minister reports on new infrastructure development plan A2

B2

B3

Nation&Capital

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 2017

B7

SPORTS

Skier Dmitry Reiherd wins  

silver at World Cup

CULTURE

Tokyo audience welcomes Kazakh 

theatre with deeply moving play

PEOPLE

Gabidullina receives special award 

from International Paralympic 

Committee

B

3,100 calls were 

received by 112 

emergency hot line 

services during one day.

THINGS TO WATCH & 

PLACES TO GO

ASTANA OPERA 

January 20 at 6 p.m.  

Tosca, Opera

January 24 at 7 p.m.  

Spartacus, Ballet

January 28 at 6 p.m.  

Kyz Zhibek, Opera

BARYS

 

ARENA

January 21 at 5 p.m.  

HC Barys – HC Lada Togliatti

January 23 at 7.30 p.m.  

HC Barys – HC Avtomobilist 

 Yekaterinburg

RADISSON HOTEL ASTANA

January 27 at 7 p.m. 

Astana Burns Supper 2018, 

 

Charity Gala Evening

HR agencies will join the 

Electronic Labour Exchange

By Frol Leandoer 

ASTANA – Internet sites and 

private employment agencies are 

connecting with the Electronic 

Labour Exchange www.enbek.kz, 

the press service of the Ministry 

of Labour and Social Protection of 

Kazakhstan reported.

“Today, four internet sites have 

already joined the electronic labour 

exchange: hipo.kz, market.kz, rabota.

nur.kz, zarplata.kz. Search for vacan-

cies posted on these Internet sites 

can be done at the Electronic Labour 

Exchange at www.enbek.kz. To view 

the full information about the vacan-

cy, a transfer to the source site is car-

ried out,” the ministry said.

A total of 27 private employment 

agencies from West Kazakhstan, 

Aktobe, Atyrau, Kostanai, Zhamb-

yl, South Kazakhstan, Karaganda 

regions, as well as Astana and Al-

maty  registered  a  personal  office 

on the website and use the Elec-

tronic Labour Exchange to carry 

out their activities such as media-

tion in the search work and staff 

selection.

The Electronic Labour Exchange 

has been working in pilot mode in 

the employment centres of Astana, 

Almaty, Pavlodar and Shymkent 

since October 2017. Since January 

2018, the launch has been carried out 

throughout Kazakhstan. According 

to the new business processes, the 

employment centres of the popula-

tion will select candidates for vacan-

cies, received through the website 

www.enbek.kz from employers and 

private employment agencies.

A multi-channel procedure for 

registering vacancies without manda-

tory personal visits to employment 

centres is introduced for employers. 

The employer can transfer informa-

tion to the employment centre about 

the availability of vacancies through 

a personal office.

Today, the employment centres 

are moving towards a proactive and 

targeted format of interaction with 

employers. In practice, approaches 

focused on the interests of employers 

will be implemented. As modern HR 

services on the basis of professional 

selection by competence, they will 

select the most suitable potential ap-

plicants for employers.

Blizzard shuts down Astana for one day

By Yerbolat Uatkhanov

ASTANA – Due to a major bliz-

zard, Astana Mayor Asset Isseke-

shev announced an emergency 

situation in Astana Jan. 11, asking 

officials and managers of state in-

stitutions, private companies to 

cease operations for the day. Only 

emergency services are asked to 

continue working.

“We recommend all heads of 

state bodies, educational institu-

tions, business entities (markets, 

shopping and entertainment cen-

tres), construction and other ac-

tivities to stop operation, with the 

exception of the city’s life support 

organisations:  fire  service,  police, 

emergency services, emergency 

medical services, medical institu-

tions, public utilities,” the Astana 

Mayor wrote on the website of the 

city administration.

Nazarbayev International Air-

port stopped operation for a day 

too,  resuming  flights  closer  to 

evening hours. Air Astana delayed 

four flights and canceled 30 flights, 

including 14 international. SCAT 

delayed  nine  flights  and  canceled 

12 flights.

An elementary school student 

also disappeared in the snowstorm 

on route to school but was later res-

cued and returned to his parents.

“Dear Astana residents! Let’s 

be more tolerant on such days of 

unfavourable weather conditions 

and help each other. If you see that 

people cannot walk on the road 

because of strong wind, please 

help them. If cars are stuck, please 

help them as well. Let’s be more 

kind and friendly,” said akim of 

Saryarka district of Astana Arman 

Turlubek.

According to Official Represent-

ative of Emergency Ministry of 

Ministry of Internal Affairs Ruslan 

Imankulov,   Many cases of dam-

age of cars and damage to the roofs 

of private residential and multi-

storey buildings were registered in 

Astana.

The roof of the Agrarian Univer-

sity was damaged and all Kazpost 

branches were shut down. Postal 

deliveries were also canceled.

Astana LRT announced about 

changes in schedule and routes of 

public transport and provided in-

formation via hashtags.

Smart city dev’t launches 

to improve infrastructure

By Zhanna Shayakhmetova

ASTANA – Smart city technolo-

gies are being introduced in the 

country’s five largest cities –  Aktobe, 

Almaty, Astana, Karaganda and Shy-

mkent – as part of the Digital Ka-

zakhstan programme, said Minister 

of Information and Communications 

Dauren Abayev at a Dec. 26 govern-

ment meeting.

The concept is designed to im-

prove the efficiency of all city servic-

es, as people and their needs lie at the 

heart of its mission. Comfort, safety, 

efficiency and environmental friend-

liness are the key characteristics of 

smart cities.

The standard, developed as part of 

the state programme, includes pro-

jects using the Internet of Things, arti-

ficial intelligence and other advanced 

technologies. The document also de-

fines the fundamental principles, ap-

proaches, goals, priorities and tasks 

to implement smart technologies.

“Many organisations and inde-

pendent experts are currently en-

gaged in assessing the implemented 

models of smart cities and make rat-

ings of smart cities. Participation in 

these ratings will make the city not 

only a popular travel destination, 

but develop and implement the best 

technologies to effectively address 

the most diverse problems of urban 

development. In this regard, the 

system was developed for assess-

ing key performance indicators to 

assess the region’s readiness and its 

decision to enter the world ratings,” 

said Abayev.

Employee trainings were conduct-

ed in the regions and the criteria for 

assessing the project initiative execu-

tion, pilot zones by regions and road 

map projects 2018 were defined.

Local executive bodies are respon-

sible for project application. The prior-

ities are improving the quality of life, 

increasing the share of e-government 

services, entry into the smart city in-

ternational ratings, implementing ini-

tiative projects according to the smart 

city concept and stimulating paperless 

interaction in G2G, B2B and G2B 

segments. The initial steps include 

launching a laboratory, forming a 

working group, approving road maps 

and creating a competence centre.

“The projects will be implemented 

as part of the public-private partner-

ship, informatisation model, budget 

financing  and  private  investment. 

The projects will be launched using 

benchmarking; that is, with an orien-

tation toward the best world and do-

mestic practices,” said Abayev.

The national standards for smart 

cities based on international standards 

were also developed and approved. 

They  provide  unified  requirements 

for fundamentally new opportunities 

for urban management and a high 

level of security and services through 

innovative solutions in energy sav-

ing, housing and communal services, 

transport, education, health, environ-

ment and information technology.

The collaborative innovation will 

be the main mechanism as the format 

of interaction between state bodies 

and private organisations, which will 

gradually develop new improved 

solutions, approaches and necessary 

changes in laws and regulations.

The special map will be developed 

to access smart city projects. The 

evaluation will be assigned to each 

industry based on compliance with 

the standard indicators.

We can contribute to modernising 

Kazakhstan’s identity, says Belarussian 

ethno cultural centre leader

By Meruyert Abugaliyeva 

ASTANA – Dmitry Ostanko-

vich, leader of Radima Belarus 

ethno cultural centre, recently 

noted ethnic Belarussians living in 

Kazakhstan will make every effort 

to promote the virtues associated 

with Kazakhstan’s identity mod-

ernisation. He spoke about this and 

other topics in a recent interview 

with The Astana Times.

Of approximately 60,300 Bela-

russians currently residing in Ka-

zakhstan, most live in the Kostanai 

(21,000), Karaganda (18,000) and 

Akmola regions (16,000). Approxi-

mately 3,700 live in the capital and 

their representatives founded the 

centre in 2013, uniting people who 

care deeply about preserving and 

promoting the Belarusian language, 

traditions, customs and history.

“In a short period of time, our 

centre managed to conceive and 

hold various cultural projects. 

We organise presentations and 

roundtables and try to make them 

appealing to all the ethnic groups 

in Kazakhstan. There is a folklore 

ensemble called Vyaselka func-

tioning inside the centre which 

is a regular participant in various 

festivals and contests. The prima-

ry focus of its work is performing 

songs that stimulate love for the 

motherland and the high spiritual 

values of our people,” said Os-

tankovich.

The centre has 40 active mem-

bers, including students, public 

service workers, doctors and busi-

ness people. Radima provides op-

portunities for them to communi-

cate and pursue common goals.

Ostankovich noted the centre is 

personally important to him.

“The desire to continually de-

velop prompted me to lead the 

centre. However, it is also a huge 

responsibility and I cannot let peo-

ple down who trusted me with this 

mission. Thanks to the centre and 

the People’s Assembly of Kazakh-

stan, I have made a lot of friends 

in our country and abroad and they 

are not only Belarussians. I can 

also perform my original songs 

during various events,” he said.

“Our centre’s activities are not 

financed by a particular organisa-

tion. We function thanks to the en-

thusiasm and energy of our mem-

bers, the assistance of the People’s 

Assembly of Kazakhstan and the 

Embassy of Belarus in Kazakh-

stan. This support allows our cen-

tre to work actively for the sake of 

peace and friendship,” he added.

Radima has set the 2018 goal 

of stepping up its activities. The 

centre is currently working to 

launch a Sunday school in the city 

and is also determined to work on 

the Nadezhda youth organisation, 

which unites young people and 

children.

“They have their own special 

interests and life attitudes. At the 

same time, they treat the Belarus 

culture and the culture of nations 

residing in Kazakhstan with great 

respect,” he said.

The ethno cultural centre and 

Belarussians can contribute to Ka-

zakh social life. In his programme 

article “Course towards the Future: 

Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s 

Identity,” President Nursultan 

Nazarbayev called for improving 

society by preserving all the best 

of its behavioural and cultural as-

pects accumulated by tradition and 

the history of the peoples residing 

in Kazakhstan.

“The representatives of the Be-

larus nation have lived on the gra-

cious land of Kazakhstan for more 

than 150 years. We deserved the 

sincere respect and love of mil-

lions of Kazakhstan people due to 

our natural kindness and diligence. 

Therefore, we would like to con-

tinue to be a great example of hard 

work and friendliness,” said Os-

tankovich.

“We aspire to strengthen the 

trust and friendly ties between eth-

nic groups in Kazakhstan. It is of 

vital importance to take the good 

virtues from every one and learn 

from each other. In our centre, we 

will make every effort to develop 

in all the directions of spiritual 

modernisation, such as competi-

tiveness, pragmatism, preservation 

of national identity, cult of knowl-

edge, evolutionary development 

and open mindedness,” he added.

---