Astana will host the second international seminar “Space Days in Kazakhstan” Nov. 13-14, dedicated to the first results of Kazakhstan’s Earth Remote Sensing System (RSSE). “This year, Kazakhstan became the owner of a complete space system for earth remote sensing, with two remote sensing satellites functioning in orbit and in a ground-based centre,” said Chairman of the Aerospace Committee of the Kazakh Ministry of Investment and Development Talgat Mussabayev. At the event, Kazakhstan’s first national RSSE will be presented, in addition to the country’s advanced systems and technology solutions in the field of remote sensing, geo-information systems, geodesy and satellite navigation. Solutions and workshops on applying remote sensing data using high-accuracy satellite navigation systems and creating geo-information systems, as well as images from Kazakh satellites, will be presented. More than 200 local and foreign experts are expected to attend.
First Deputy Minister for Investment and Development Zhenis Kassymbek stated at an Oct. 29 Central Communications Service briefing that Kazakhstan is planning to purchase 61 aircraft by 2020 and open 75 new international air routes, bringing the total of the latter to 128. Kassymbek noted that since the beginning of the year, the air carriers have acquired eight modern aircraft, including five jets by Air Astana, two by Bek Air and one by SCAT. The main objective of the update is to improve safety and eliminate the shortcomings pointed out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Kassymbek said. Eighty amendments were adopted to the law on civil aviation. As a result, the EU committee has lifted restrictions on Air Astana flights to Europe last spring. ICAO conducted a revision this year of the elimination of the faults revealed in 2009 and the validation committee decided to eliminate one of the two essential objections on airworthiness. According to the preliminary report, Kazakhstan Civil Aviation complied with 65 percent of ICAO standards. The ministry announced that the state is continuing to work on the development of airport infrastructure and that by 2020 all the major airports would be upgraded.
Nazarbayev University is comparable with leading educational institutions in the world, according to an assessment given to Metropolitan University by David Robinson Ph.D, professor at Duke University, during an interview with TV Channel 24.kz. He is a lecturer at Nazarbayev University and closely monitors its development. Robinson noted that the main advantage of the university is its unique teaching faculty. Together with other members of Nazarbayev University he is working on attracting world-leading specialists to the Kazakh institution. “We cooperate with prestigious universities in the world in order to jointly create a training programe. For example, we have an MBA programme for managers in the Graduate School of Business at Nazarbayev University. We have prepared this programme with the business school of Duke University, which is always in the top educational institutions in the world,” said Robinson.
