Kazakhstan

“Apashka” is translated from Turkic simply as “Grandma.” But this woman has a name and a secular – Bifatima Dualetova. She lives in south-eastern Kazakhstan, near the border with Kyrgyzstan. In 2002, she found a place in the mountains, which is considered “the navel of the earth” in Turkic – Ungurtas. Allegedly, in this place there is increasing concentration of cosmic energy. Grandma Apashka – Last Dervish in Kazakhstan. She treats people with blood of sacrificial sheep and goats. During...Read Full Story

Wed, Feb 15 2012 21:51 IST | 8 Views | Add your comment SHARE: Kazakhstan is keen to expand civil nuclear ties with India, its envoy here said Wednesday. Ambassador Doulat Kuanyshev said the two strategic partners should look beyond and enhance ties in the nuclear sector, and let Kazakhstan's atomic power company Kazakhprom and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited expand cooperation. "We should look beyond. Kazakhstan is (among) main exporters of natural uranium in...Read Full Story

ALMATY, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Kazakhstan’s economic indicators based on data provided by the State Statistics Agency, government institutions, the central bank and exchanges: * updated today CURRENCY/INTEREST RATE LATEST PREVIOUS Tenge/dollar 148.37 148.37 *Cbank refinancing rate (pct) 7.00 7.50 MONEY Monetary base(trln tenge) Dec 31 2.84 Nov 30 2.96 Go to SourceRead Full Story

Training for church leaders.  (Photo courtesy of Slavic Gospel Assocation) Kazakhstan (MNN) ― Leaders in Kazakhstan are looking to lift the state of emergency that was to last through January 31. Things seem to have settled down in the oil-rich town where riots between striking oil workers and security forces claimed over 50 lives in mid-December. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared the emergency in response to uprisings that took place--a move that was partially aimed at...Read Full Story

By Nate Schenkkan Officials in Kazakhstan are trying to listen to disgruntled residents of Zhanaozen, the scene of violent clashes last December that left at least 17 dead. The problem is, goodwill ambassadors from Astana are not saying the things that seething citizens want to hear. The difficulties surrounding the healing process were on display [...] To continue reading this article, click on the headline.Read Full Story

Monday, February 6, 2012 PHOTOS: Underground Railroad B&Bs; Offer A Cozy Look At Raw History The book case in the plush room upstairs still opens into a secret passage, but the spot where slaves fled through a trap door is now occupied by a jacuzzi. "Sometimes you feel like you're just the steward of this place," says Vince Toreno, the proprietor of Ashley Manor, a restive Cape Cod bed and breakfast. "They say, 'If walls could talk," like it's no big deal, but what would these walls say?" PHOTOS...Read Full Story

Festive Christmas lights appear around Kazakhstan A couple of weeks ago I was asked if I minded going back down to Almaty to work temporarily. I checked the weather forecast and saw that it was a positively tropical 3°C so I decided that it was a good excuse to escape the rapidly advancing winter in Astana and catch up with friends who still live in the city. My arrival in Almaty coincided with the start of the festive season in Kazakhstan. In the UK it is hard to escape Christmas any...Read Full Story

UCI Track Cycling World Cup at the new Velodrome in Astana Kazakhstan In the UK I get little chance to go and watch live sports events. They are always so expensive or at the wrong time for me to attend. However, when I am abroad I often seem to get the opportunity to go to sporting events – often sports that I normally wouldn’t even think about watching! In Almaty I have volunteered a few times at the European Open golf championships and when the England football team played Kazakhstan...Read Full Story

A notice from Claire's gym with the three languages of Kazakh, Russian and English Although Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and Kazakh is the state language, the second official language is Russian. The majority of the population still speak Russian and most places you find yourself, you will be understood if you know some Russian. Luckily, having a Russian degree I haven’t had the usual worries foreigners have when coming to a new place. I have lived in this...Read Full Story

Kazakhstan's international energy image is now that of one of the world's rising oil exporters, an extraordinary feat given that, two decades ago its hydrocarbon output was beyond insignificant when the USSR collapsed. The vast Central Asian nation, larger than Western Europe , has now quietly passed another energy milestone. Kazakhstan produces 33 percent of world's mined uranium, followed by Canada at 18 percent and Australia , with 11 percent of global output. Kazakhstan contains the...Read Full Story