‘Sleeping Sickness’ Mystery in North Kazakhstan (Almost) Resolved
ASTANA – Sergey Lukashenko, Deputy Director General of Kazakhstan’s National Nuclear Centre has unveiled some of the results of the research conducted regarding the “sleeping sickness” that has engulfed the village of Kalachi, located about 450 kilometres northwest of Astana in the Akmola region. The news about the “Sleepy Hollow village,” as it was nicknamed…
The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty Eager to Set New Trends in Kazakh Service Industry
General Manager of The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty Joe Ghayad, 42, came to Kazakhstan with his own ambitions – to set new trends in the Kazakh hospitality industry. Almost two years after his arrival, The Astana Times talked with Ghayad to discover what has been achieved so far. How has The Ritz-Carlton, Almaty evolved since opening its…
Sweden Marks Its National Day in Astana, Seeks to Boost Economic Ties with Kazakhstan
ASTANA – Swedish companies have nearly dominated the telecommunications market in Kazakhstan since the early 2000s. Kcell, one of the top cell phone companies in the country and a subsidiary of the Swedish TeliaSonera, was established in Kazakhstan in 1998. According to its official web site data, as of Dec. 31, 2013 the company had…
Kazakh-Australian Women’s Doubles Team Reaches French Open Final, Loses in Three Set Match
The Kazakh-Aussie duo of Yaroslava Shvedova and Casey Dellacqua, ranked fifth in the world for doubles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), reached the June 7 French Open doubles final, but lost to a Czech-American duo in three sets. After winning the first set, Shvedova-Dellacqua gave up the next two (3:6, 6:4, 6:2) to Lucie…
Astana Pro Team Wins Giro d’Italia
The Astana Pro team won the team category of the May 9-31 Giro d’Italia in Italy after two of the Astana Pro Team racers finished the 21-stage-race second and third securing the win for the Astana Pro team. Thirty-seven-year-old Italian Paolo Tiralongo won stage nine, his compatriot Fabio Aru, 24, won the 19th and the…
Almaty Dolphinarium Launches with Charity Show
Approximately 700 children attended the grand opening of the new Almaty dolphinairum on May 12 that was accompanied by a charity show, Tengrinews.kz reported, citing Vitaly Staragin, public relations and marketing director of the dolphinarium chain Nemo. The facility is currently located in the vicinity of the Almaty-1 train station but will soon be relocated…
‘Good Life’ Food Festival Organised by Ritz-Carlton Brings Together Int’l Chefs to Almaty
Almaty residents will have a rare chance to try various international cuisines, take part in master classes and simply enjoy good company at The Ritz Carlton, Almaty on May 20-24, as the renowned chefs of the hotel chain have gathered in Kazakhstan’s largest city for the Good Life food festival, the hotel’s press release stated.…
Cossacks Ancestry of Astana: Guarding Identity, Shielding Customs
ASTANA – To this day, Kazakhstan has numerous descendants of Cossacks who became part and parcel of the multi-ethnic fabric of the country’s society. They mostly hail from those who began to come to these lands some three centuries ago as the Russian Empire expanded into the vast Eurasian expanse. “The Siberian Cossacks first appeared…
Golovkin Stops Monroe Jr. in Sixth, Gets 20th KO in a Row
Kazakh Boxer Gennady Golovkin extended his back-to-back knockout streak to 20 on May 20 in Inglewood, Ca., when he floored Willie Monroe Jr. in the sixth round to defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) Middleweight Championship. If just a couple years ago Golovkin’s chances were questioned when he faced names like Mathew Macklin, who, as…
China to Aid Astana Build Light Rail Transportation
ASTANA – The capital’s LRT company signed an agreement on May 7 with Chinese consortium China Railway International Group and Beijing State-Owned Assets Management Co. to establish a new light railway transportation system in Astana, Astana’s city administration announced. Akim (Mayor) of Astana Adilbek Dzhaksybekov and Chairman of Astana LRT Talgat Ardan took part in…
Kazakh-Aussie Duo Wins Madrid Open Doubles Title
Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova (Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking 59) and Australian Casey Dellacqua (WTA ranking 42) upset Spanish pairing Garbiñe Muguruza and Carla Suárez 6-3, 6-7(5) in front of the Spanish home crowd to claim the women’s doubles title at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open that ran May 1-10. The Shvedova – Dellacqua needed one…
Kazakhstan Marks Defender of Fatherland Day and 70th Anniversary of World War II Victory
ASTANA – Numerous festivities and events were held across the country May 7 during Defender of the Fatherland Day and two days later to mark the 70th anniversary of victory in World War II. The Second World War devastated tens of millions of lives across the globe and united countries in the fight against the…
Kazakh Wrestler Wins Category at Qatar Asian Wrestling Championship
Kazakh Greco-Roman wrestler Nurmakhan Tynaliyev, 27, won his category at the May 6-10 Asian Wrestling Championship (AWC) in Doha, Qatar, vesti.kz reported. The Kazakh wrestler beat Kian Men of China in the final in his 130-kilogramme category with a score of 3:2. It was Tynaliyev’s second tournament win. In 2013, he took a gold medal…
American Boxing Commentator Wants to See Golovkin-Mayweather Fight
Former American boxing trainer and outspoken TV commentator Teddy Atlas wants to see Kazakh undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organisation (IBO) middle weight titles holder Gennady Golovkin (32-0, 29 KOs) in the ring with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0), who beat Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2) May 2 in Las Vegas. After the “Fight of…
Bolashak Scholars, Young Professionals Participate in Forum on Country’s Future
ASTANA – More than 400 Bolashak scholars, laureates of the Daryn and Zhas Tulpar Youth State Award and international contests winners took part in the April 20 Educated Youth-Country’s Future forum put on by the Kazakhstan Ministry of Education and Science and the Centre for International Programmes (CIP) which manages the scholarship programme, reported the…
Kazakh Poet Nominated for Poet of Year in Russia
Ust-Kamenogorsk, East Kazakhstan region resident Olga Rastorguyeva was nominated for Poet of the Year by the Russian Writers Union, reported YK-news.kz. She was considered for the Debut of the Year award and has been allowed to publish her poems for free in the Moscow almanac. In total, 800,000 poets submitted their works for consideration to…
Astana Arlans Beat Argentina Condors, Extend Undefeated Streak to 13
The Astana Arlans continued their domination of Group B of the World Series of Boxing (WSB) by knocking out the Argentina Condors 4-1 in an away match on April 19. The victory extends the Arlan’s undefeated streak to 13 wins this season. That same night, Kazakh boxer Vassiliy Levit earned a bid to participate in…
Kazakh Weightlifters Win Four Medals at World Youth Championship
Kazakh weightlifters earned four medals at the April 8-12 World Youth Championship in Lima, Peru. Igor Song and Tatyana Kapustina won gold medals, Aigerim Aulbek took silver and Shyngys Sagyndykov won a bronze medal, while Igor Schwartz and Arystanbek Zhakansha both took eighth place in their weight categories, according to vesti.kz. Song was the…
Autism Resource Centres to Open as Almaty Holds World Autism Awareness Day
Hundreds of blue balloons were released into the sky to draw attention to the Light Up Blue campaign to mark United Nations Autism Awareness Day on April 2 in Almaty organised by AssylMiras, a private fundIn addition, the fund will open four resource centres in Kazakhstan to help combat the growing disease. “We intend to…
State to Allocate 35 Billion Tenge to Support Mechanical Engineering
The state will allocate 35 billion tenge to support domestic mechanical engineering, First Vice Minister of National Economy Marat Kussainov said at the Central Communications Service briefing on April 6. “The National Fund will allocate 35 billion tenge to support domestic engineering, including the production of cars, helicopters and passenger cars in 2015. In total,…
National Women’s Ice Hockey Team Remains Undefeated, Gets Promoted to Division I
The Kazakhstan national women’s ice hockey team finished the fourth International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournament Division 2A held March 30 – April 5 in Dumfries, Scotland undefeated and got promoted to the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey Women Championship Division I, Group B. According to vesti.kz, in the final game against the host of the…
Bolashak Switches from One-Year to Six-Plus-Six Month Language Training System
The Bolashak’s Centre for International Programmes (CIP) and the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan recently announced that they would be switching from the current one-year abroad language training system to a six-month programme to optimise the intensity of the language courses and save the country money. “In 2015, the Ministry of Education and…
Kazakh Doctors Make Cardiac Surgery History with Innovative Device
ASTANA – Cardiac surgeon and Chairman of the National Research Cardiac Surgery Centre (NRCSC) Yury Pya performed breakthrough surgery Feb. 28, introducing the Asis device for the first time in cardiac surgery. The operation was performed during a master class for colleagues from Germany, Turkey, Serbia, Poland and Italy. “For the first time in the…
Kazakh Figure Skater Ten Takes Bronze at Shanghai World Championships
Kazakh bronze medalist at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Denis Ten 10 also took bronze at the March 23-29 World Championships in Shanghai, China. Despite a fall and a technical failure with the music during Ten’s short programme, he managed to come back and win the free skating programme to recapture his third-place position.…
Astana Arlans Remained Undefeated, Defeat USA Knockouts in Miami
Kazakh World Series of Boxing (WSB) team Astana Arlans confidently continued its winning streak on March 28 at the Miccosukee Resort in Miami when they defeated the USA Knockouts 5:0 in front of the Knockouts’ home crowd. The tournament’s opening bout was between flyweight category (up to 52 kilogrammes) boxers Temirtas Zhussupov of Kazakhstan and…
