CIS Institutions of Higher Education sign Memorandum in Baku

CIS Institutions of Higher Education sign Memorandum in Baku

Thu 11 November 2010 05:10 GMT | 6:10 Local Time

Education of CIS member states signed a Memorandum on further development of cooperation between CIS member states.

The Sixth International Forum on theme “Dialogue of cultures and languages in CIS member states and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the 21st century” wrapped up in Baku.

The forum was organized by the Moscow State Linguistic University and the Baku Slavic University under the support of the CIS Intergovernmental Humanitarian Cooperation Fund.

The conference brought together members of the Russian State Duma (Parliament of RF), rectors, teachers and students from Azerbaijan, Russia, Belorussia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kirgyzstan and Moldova.

Workshops, scientific and methodological seminars and lectures were conducted as part of the forum. Also several Institutions of Higher Education of CIS member states signed a Memorandum on further development of cooperation between CIS member states.

The Baku Slavic University signed a treaty on cooperation with Kyiv National Linguistic University, Minsk State Linguistic University and Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University. One of the advantages of this treaty is the establishment of the Center of Azeri language and culture in these universities.

APA

Putin to visit children’s haematology, oncology, immunology centre

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15669495&PageNum=0

11.11.2010, 02.33

MOSCOW, November 11 (Itar-Tass) -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will visit the Federal Scientific and Clinical Centre of Children’s Haematology, Oncology and Immunology in Moscow on Thursday, November 11.

The history of the centre dates back to 2005 when Putin received a letter from Dima Rogachev who had invited the prime minister to eat pancakes with him. Putin visited the 10-year-old boy in August 2005 at the Russian Children’s Clinical Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for leucosis. It was after that meeting that Putin ordered the construction of a specialised oncology centre for children.

Dima died on September 20, 2007 at an Israeli clinic at the age of 12.

The German company Transumed GmbH Medizintechnik started building the centre in August 2008. The prime minister visited the construction site and oversaw the project personally. At a meeting with the organisers of the charitable party “Little Prince” on May 29, 2010 in St. Petersburg, he suggested naming the new centre after Dima Rogachev.

The main purpose of Putin’s visit to the centre is to check the status of the project ahead of its commissioning scheduled for June 1, 2011 -- Child Protection Day. The prime minister will join the children who have been cured from oncology diseases, the centre’s employees and members of the charitable foundation “Give a Life” in planting flowers and trees on the centre’s premises.

Governors should not remain in office longer than three terms – Medvedev

Nov 11, 2010 04:13 Moscow Time

The governors of the Russian regions should not hold their positions for longer than three terms, stated President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting with the staff of the newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

"Two terms, maximum  three, they do not need more in order to prove their worth or to realize their plans." RIA Novosti reports the Russian leader as having said.

"Our governors have worked long, hard and successfully, but this does not mean that it should be a lifetime job. And especially the governor's chair should not be a sinecure (a job which requires little or no effort)." President Medvedev added.
 
According to the president, "There should be continual fresh blood or something that we know well will begin, something that we came to know very well during the period of the 70s and 80s, and that is stagnation."
 
The "top floor" in the decision-making process is the President. If someone appears to have their own view of what it means to hold public office, then this individual has to leave, even if he or she has made a lot of useful contributions." summed up the head of state.

Medvedev says no plans to raise retirement age in Russia in near futurе

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=15669759&PageNum=0

11.11.2010, 08.03

MOSCOW, November 11 (Itar-Tass) -- President Dmitry Medvedev said there are no plans to raise the retirement age in Russia in the years to come.

“We have no plans to raise the retirement age in the years to come not because there are no objective reasons for that, but because such decisions require serious discussion and public consensus,” Medvedev said at a meeting with Rossiiskaya Gazeta staff.

The full text of the discussion on November 8 is printed in Thursday’s edition of the newspaper.

He believes that “hasty decisions in this field can cause public discontent and create socio-political problems we have seen in some European countries.”

The president said that the Russian pension system would remain stable for several years as “there is no enough money to pay pensions.”

“But if we look into the future, we have to think whether our economy will be able to system such expenditures,” he added.

He admitted that Russia has “one of the lowest retirement ages” but also “early mortality”.

“In a society where people live up to 90 years, retirement at the age of 70 appears to be normal. In such a society people are confident that with the high level of health care and proper attention to their own health after retirement they have many years to rest, travel around the world and spend time with grandchildren,” the president said.

“It’s not so simple here. And this is why we cannot just copy Western pension systems. Our life standards are different. And the average life expectancy is different too,” he added.

Russian presidential aide Arkady Dvorkovich said the country might increase the retirement age in several years.

“It is impossible to increase the retirement age as long as the lifespan is unchanged. It is premature to discuss the possible time of enlargement of the retirement age. Such decisions cannot be made unless they gain support of the majority of citizens,” he said.

The share of working pensioners is essential for the enlargement of the retirement age, Dvorkovich said. “We can do that if the majority of pensioners continue to work,” he said, noting that only a third of pensioners had been working before the crisis.

He does not think that the Pension Fund deficit will have to be covered with larger taxes. “Probably, pensions will grow more slowly than they do now, but we do not expect a further rise of the Pension Fund deficit. I think it will stabilise,” he said.

However, Pension Fund head Anton Drozdov said it would be inexpedient to increase the retirement age in Russia.

That would save 70 billion roubles in budget funds from 2012 but the effect would be the opposite starting from 2020, he said.

Central Bank First Deputy Chairman Alexei Ulyukayev said the fundamental basis for that situation was the global aging of the population that provokes constant growth of budget expenditures and commitments for the pension and healthcare systems.

“Obviously, the retirement age and the [wage] replacement rate should be brought in line with the new reality. However this is very hard to do politically. The EU considered raising the retirement age, and a wave of strikes followed immediately. The financial system is a hostage of politics. Harsh actions don't work,” he said.